Emirates ATP Rankings 14 March 2016
Emirates ATP Rankings 14 March 2016
Mar152016
Maria Sharapova has been suspended as a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations after her failed drugs test.
The Russian, 28, tested positive for meldonium in January and has been provisionally suspended from 12 March.
Sharapova has been suspended from “any planned activities while the investigation continues,” said the United Nations Development Programme.
She has held the role since 2007 and a UNDP spokesperson added it “remains grateful for her support of our work”.
According to the UNDP website, the organisation “works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion”.
The former world number one said she has been taking meldonium for health reasons for the past 10 years.
The drug was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) banned list on 1 January and Sharapova provided a positive test at the Australian Open later in the month.
Sportswear company Nike, Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer and German carmaker Porsche had already halted their relationships with Sharapova.
ATPWorldTour.com rounds up Monday doubles play in Indian Wells
After an almighty scare against Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in their opening match, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have landed a more routine victory to advance to the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday.
The No. 3 seeds, bidding for their third Indian Wells title, saw off Roberto Bautista Agut and Victor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 in 49 minutes, winning 87 per cent of second-serve points and saving three of four break points.
They will meet either eighth seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Nenad Zimonjic or David Goffin and Joao Sousa for a place in the semi-finals.
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez took down the American-Canadian pairing of John Isner and Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-5. The Spaniards even out-aced their big-serving opponents 5-2 and were more effective on both first and second serve points won. They saved all three break points faced.
After their upset of top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the first round, Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski were unable to back it up against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem. The Poles were defeated 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 by the German-Austrian pairing.
Watch live doubles matches from Indian Wells.
To watch the BNP Paribas Open online, visit TennisTV.com.
Secure your place for the season-ending showdown from 13-20 November 2016
Tickets to the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are now on public sale, the ATP announced on Tuesday. From today, fans can secure their place at the season-ending showdown taking place from 13-20 November at The O2 in London, featuring only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams, by purchasing tickets at www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com.
Just three months into the 2016 season, all eight qualification spots in singles and doubles remain up for grabs as players continue to battle throughout the season for a chance to compete for the last title of the year in London.
Featuring the likes of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer, the current Top 8 in the Emirates ATP Race to London features some familiar names, while 22-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem will be looking to maintain his impressive start to the season that sees him currently lying at No. 3 in the Race.
Buy Your Tickets Now
Last year’s tournament, which saw ATP World No.1 Djokovic defeat Federer for a fourth successive season-ending crown in London, welcomed more than 260,000 fans through the gates. The total seven-year attendance since the event moved to London in 2009 stands at 1.8 million fans. And with a record 102 million broadcast viewers tuning in across the eight days of competition, the tournament’s worldwide following continues to grow.
“The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 in London continue to get bigger and better,’ said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President. ‘The O2 has served as a perfect host venue to our season-ending tournament since 2009 and the incredible support the players have received from fans each year has made the event even more special. As the Emirates ATP Race to London develops throughout the season, we look forward to another spectacular season-ending tournament in 2016.” “It’s a very special event, we are very privileged to be a part of it,” said current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
This year’s tournament will offer a US$ 7.5 million in prize money. The prestigious event has been contested in major cities around the world with a rich history dating back to the birth of The Masters in 1970 in Tokyo. Since 2000, the event has taken place in cities such as Lisbon, Sydney and Shanghai, before moving to London in 2009 where it will be held through 2018.
Judy Murray has stepped down as Great Britain’s Fed Cup captain after five years in the role.
BBC Sport understands she has decided the promotion play-off loss to Belgium in February was her last in charge.
The Scot, 56, has spoken about spending more time as a grandmother after son Andy became a father in February.
There is no obvious replacement, though former British number one Anne Keothavong, who played 39 Fed Cup ties, would be a strong candidate.
The 32-year-old retired three years ago to pursue a career in broadcasting.
Britain has been stuck in the second tier of the Fed Cup for 12 years.
In 2012 and 2013, they qualified for World Group play-off ties in Sweden and Argentina but lost both and had to return to the round robin stage the following year.
In 2014 and 2015, a wrist injury deprived the team of Laura Robson, while Johanna Konta withdrew this year to avoid “jeopardising an ongoing intestinal issue”.
Konta’s decision, which was made just a few days after she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, is said to have dismayed the captain.
It is clear the format of the Fed Cup has proved a great frustration for Murray, along with the politics of the Lawn Tennis Association.
Her ideas often seem at odds with the direction the governing body has taken.
It has also become apparent she feels more should have been done to build on the success of both of her sons and a generation of talented Scottish players.
It remains to be seen how involved Murray will want to be in the future of British tennis.
Her contract with the LTA allowed her to spend time mentoring some of Britain’s most promising female coaches.
Murray’s Tennis on the Road programme, which promises to “bring tennis to a whole new generation of kids” in Scotland, is now supported by the LTA, too.
Her Miss-Hits scheme, which targets girls between the age of five and eight, was launched in partnership with the LTA in the summer of 2014.
Sixth-seeded Czech sets Raonic clash in Indian Wells
Tomas Berdych’s BNP Paribas Open campaign is fast gathering pace after his second straight-sets win on Monday. The sixth-seeded Czech accounted for 19-year-old Croat Borna Coric 6-1, 7-6(3).
It comes after Berdych’s 7-6(4), 6-2 defeat of 2013 runner-up Juan Martin del Potro and sets up a fourth-round meeting with No. 12 seed Milos Raonic.
The 30-year-old Berdych had claimed his only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter with #NextGen star Coric, at Halle last season.
Berdych has reached the quarter-finals or better three times at Indian Wells, with his best result coming with a run to the semi-finals in 2013 (l. Nadal). He will be aiming for his fifth straight quarter-final of 2016 when he faces Raonic. The Canadian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-2.
More than two dozen top tennis players should be investigated for possible links to betting rings, according to an Italian prosecutor.
Roberto di Martino says their names have appeared in evidence seized from gamblers suspected of fixing matches.
They include two players who have been ranked in the world’s top 20.
So far, only Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali, two Italians, have been investigated and charged but Di Martino says others should be investigated too.
He also told the BBC and BuzzFeed News that tennis authorities should be doing more with the evidence he has gathered.
“Surely if these foreign players were Italian, they would certainly have been at least questioned,” Di Martino said. “They should have provided some explanations.”
Di Martino has been conducting a two-year inquiry into a suspected match-fixing ring involving Italian tennis players and gamblers.
His inquiry has obtained internet chat logs and recordings of phone calls between players and gamblers.
He says more than two dozen non-Italian players are mentioned by the gamblers and believes these players should be investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU).
He would not reveal the identity of the players mentioned in the seized evidence but he added: “Interestingly, they are not so-called second-tier tennis players, but also players of some importance.”
Starace and Bracciali have been accused of conspiring to fix matches between 2007 and 2011 for up to 50,000 euros (£38,800).
They are due to appear in court in May and deny charges of conspiracy to commit sports fraud.
Di Martino claims he has “concrete evidence” about two specific matches in 2009 and 2011 in Barcelona involving Starace.
He suspects there are 30 other matches that may have been corrupted, by a number of players, including at Wimbledon and the French Open.
The BBC and BuzzFeed News have learned the names of the players contained in Di Martino’s investigation files.
A source close to the inquiry said two of these players had been described in an internet chat log between two gamblers as their “horses”.
The source told us using this term could mean the players were under the control of the gamblers.
These chat logs were among hundreds of files prosecutors sent to the TIU three months ago.
But Di Martino said TIU investigators had visited him and made it clear they were “exclusively” interested in the Italian players.
“The international aspect seems more problematic than a situation involving a few Italian players,” he said.
“It would be possible to identify, possibly hit, many foreign players who definitely are part of this system.”
Di Martino criticised the TIU for failing to act on hundreds of alerts it has received about suspicious betting on tennis matches.
“I do not understand why there was no real initiative by the integrity unit to establish if there was something dirty behind this,” he said.
Tennis has been accused of covering up evidence about widespread gambling on matches by players.
In January, tennis authorities launched an inquiry into corruption after the BBC and Buzzfeed News revealed the TIU had failed to act on repeated warnings about 16 top players suspected of being involved in throwing matches.
The TIU said in a statement that it “acts on all evidence” as part of its “a long-standing and total commitment to eradicating betting-related corruption in the sport”.
It said it was investigating the allegations against Bracciali and Starace.
Cilic and Gasquet land contrasting third-round victories in Indian Wells
Tenth seed Marin Cilic has booked a fourth-round showdown with French No. 8 seed Richard Gasquet at the BNP Paribas Open after a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Leonardo Mayer on Monday. The Croat improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Argentine to 3-0 after the one-hour, 26-minute affair.
Cilic hit six aces and won 83 per cent of first-serve points. He saved both break points faced. It marks the second time he has reached the fourth round in Indian Wells and he will be looking for his first win in three meetings with Gasquet.
The Frenchman earlier posted a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 result against Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov. Gasquet won 82 per cent of first-serve points and broke on five of his 10 chances. It marked his third FedEx ATP Head2Head win in as many meetings with Dolgopolov, an opponent who reached the semi-finals in the desert in 2014 on the back of a third-round upset of then-World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
Belgian 15th seed David Goffin fought back to deny Argentine Guido Pella 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Goffin had an abundance of break-point chances, but only converted on four of the 18. Serving, he fended off six of the eight break points he faced. He awaits the winner of No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka and Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.