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Nishikori Revisits Junior Glory Days In Buenos Aires

  • Posted: Feb 17, 2017

Nishikori Revisits Junior Glory Days In Buenos Aires

Top seed reflects on Roland Garros boys’ doubles win with Massa

Kei Nishikori’s connection to Argentina goes way beyond his partnership with current coach Dante Bottini. More than a decade after winning the 2006 Roland Garros boys’ doubles title, Kei Nishikori and former Argentine player Emiliano Massa reunited at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

After Nishikori defeated Diego Schwartzman in his opening match on Wednesday, he met up with Massa in the player’s lounge to relive those special memories. What they lacked in verbal communication during their junior playing days, they made up for with a natural partnership on court.

“We almost lost the first two matches. We barely spoke English at the time, so we talked very little to each other,” recalled Massa to the Argentina Open website. “What I remember most is his speed. Not only his movements, but also the acceleration.”

Their careers ultimately went in radically different directions. Massa was forced to retire from competitive tennis at age 23 due to injuries, while Nishikori went on to become a Top 10 fixture and global superstar. But the Argentine showed nothing but happiness for his former doubles partner and even took a picture with Nishikori to remember their reunion.

“I have the greatest memories with him from my junior years. It was the first time I won a Grand Slam and it was a very special moment for us,” said Nishikori. “Emiliano is an extremely nice guy. It’s been almost 10 years since we had seen each other and unfortunately he had so many injuries. [But] it’s been great to see him. All the memories came back.”

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Johnson, Paes Hit The Basketball Court; Rotterdam Rocks With Fans

  • Posted: Feb 17, 2017

Johnson, Paes Hit The Basketball Court; Rotterdam Rocks With Fans

It hasn’t all been about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.

Follow all the latest off-court action on MyATP! Download the app for iPhone or Android or visit MyATP.com.

AMN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were among the stars to treat fans to autograph signings.

Fernando Verdasco took a ride around Rotterdam with Peugeot. Watch

Robin Haase was in the hot seat at a Q&A with young fans on kids’ day.

Lukasz Kubot, Marcelo Melo, Mate Pavic and Alexander Peya participated in a Pro-Am.

Memphis Open – Memphis, Tennessee

Robert Lindstedt, Michael Venus, Brian Baker, David O’Hare and Joe Salisbury made a memorable visit to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital headquarters in downtown Memphis. Read

“Worries you have or problems you think you have are nothing compared to what you see these families and kids going through,” Venus said. “These kids are obviously fighting some pretty huge things here. They’re walking around and they’ve got a smile on their face. It’s pretty special.”

Ivo Karlovic enjoyed an NBA game between the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans and met the league’s oldest player, Vince Carter (age 40). The two professional athletes exchanged pleasantries and traded equipment on the court: Carter gave Karlovic a pair of autographed shoes, size 16.5; Karlovic gave Carter an autographed tennis racquet. Steve Johnson, Leander Paes and Darian King were also in attendance at the game. Read

King paid respect to “The King” by visiting Graceland. The 24 year old, who has made Barbados tennis history in Memphis, visited Elvis Presley’s former residence. Read

Sam Querrey and Johnson played table tennis during a visit to the ServiceMasters offices.

The #NextGenATP stars were in full force in Memphis, with Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe visiting with fans in suites and Jared Donaldson assisting at the tournament draw ceremony.

Salisbury and O’Hare participated in kids’ day, while Oliver Marach was the lucky player to hang out with kids at a School Field Trip Program.

Argentina Open – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer took to a different court location ahead of the tournament. The duo had a hit on Puente de la Mujer, a rotating footbridge in the commercial district of Buenos Aires. Read

“It’s a really beautiful place here and [it’s] really fun to have some time with David,” said top seed Nishikori. “I hope I can stay healthy here this week and hope I can enjoy this week.”

Federico Delbonis assisted with the draw ceremony and met local fans, while Pablo Cuevas and Carlos Berlocq participated in Q&As on stage.

Ferrer visited the offices of La Nacion for an interview with Sebastian Fest.

Moet and Chandon off-court news 

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FedEx Express, ATP Continue World Tour Courtship

  • Posted: Feb 16, 2017

FedEx Express, ATP Continue World Tour Courtship

Partnership renewal through to 2019

The ATP and FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), the world’s largest express transportation company, today announced a partnership renewal which sees FedEx continue as a global Platinum Partner of the ATP World Tour for a further three years, through 2019.

Building on FedEx’ extensive history of sports sponsorships around the world, FedEx will maintain its international ATP sponsorship programme which includes 17 tournaments, across 11 countries.

“With its unique global footprint, the ATP World Tour is the perfect match for FedEx. We share many values with this globally popular sport, such as speed, precision, anticipation and service,” says Rajesh Subramaniam, EVP Global Marketing and Communications, FedEx. “Since the sponsorship began in 2010, we have seen many priceless moments on the court and the passion of the fans has continued. With this year’s addition of the Dubai and Rio de Janeiro tournaments to our sponsorship, we expect to reach an even wider global audience of millions of fans through television and other media.”

“The ATP World Tour has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years, and our partnership with FedEx has delivered great results since 2010. We’re thrilled that FedEx has had such a positive experience and will continue its sponsorship,” said Chris Kermode, Executive Chairman and President of the ATP. “We look forward to further working with FedEx to continue the growth and impact of the sponsorship.”

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Del Potro In Training Ahead of Season Debut

  • Posted: Feb 16, 2017

Del Potro In Training Ahead of Season Debut

Argentine gives behind-the-scenes insight into his preparations

Ahead of one of the most eagerly awaited returns to the ATP World Tour for 2017, Juan Martin del Potro has released behind-the-scenes footage of his preparations back home in Argentina. The former World No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings announced earlier in the week he would start his season at the Delray Beach Open, the site of his tour comeback last season.

This week, he hit the courts with Gael Monfils and #NextGenATP player Elias Ymer at Crandon Park in Miami to practise for his season-opening campaign. His video footage from Tandil and Buenos Aires was filmed with his physiotherapist Diego Rodriguez before he shifted his preparations to the U.S.

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Karlovic, 37, Meets His 40-Year-Old NBA Counterpart

  • Posted: Feb 16, 2017

Karlovic, 37, Meets His 40-Year-Old NBA Counterpart

Croatian is the oldest player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings

During a meeting between the two masters of their sports, Vince Carter waited until the end to share his words of advice with Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday evening.

Carter, who at 40 is the oldest player in the NBA, met Karlovic before the New Orleans Pelicans took on the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum. The two professional athletes exchanged pleasantries and traded equipment on the court: Carter gave Karlovic a pair of autographed shoes, size 16.5; Karlovic gave Carter an autographed Head Radical racquet.

Carter was excited by the new stick. He told Karlovic that his tennis-playing daughter will love it. Then Carter delivered the two words of wisdom that Karlovic has surely heard by now: “Stay young,” Carter said.

“You, too,” Karlovic replied.

Karlovic

The 6’11” Karlovic, who lives in Miami, prefers the Miami Heat over the Memphis Grizzlies but he still enjoyed meeting an NBA legend. “It was a big honour for me. I know of him. I have watched his games, his dunking contests and everything for 10 years or even more,” Karlovic told ATPWorldTour.com. “It was really cool to meet a guy like that.”

Carter is still playing great basketball with the Grizzlies, and Karlovic has been producing his best tennis in recent years. Last year, the Zagreb native won two ATP World Tour titles – Newport and Los Cabos – the most he had won since 2007 when he won three titles.

At the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in July, Karlovic, then 37 years, 4 months old, became the oldest ATP World Tour singles titlist since Marty Riessen won a title in Lafayette, Louisana, at 37 years, 9 months old in 1979. This week, Karlovic is the top seed at the Memphis Open. On Thursday, Karlovic will take on Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, who beat Aussie Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-0 on Wednesday.

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The Memphis Open was featured a few times during the Grizzlies game on Wednesday evening. Steve Johnson and Leander Paes played a mini-game of tennis after the first quarter, and Darian King was the honourary captain during the pre-game captains meeting. King met NBA stars Anthony Davis, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.

“It was a great moment,” King said. “I didn’t recognise how big, how physical they are. I’m going to try to get that size.”

Speaking of sizes, the 16.5-size shoes Karlovic received from Carter are a little small for the big Croatian. Karlovic wears a size 17. But he doesn’t plan on donating the gifts.

“I want to give these a try tomorrow to see if I can squeeze into them,” he said.

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