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Djokovic Nominated For 2016 Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year Award

  • Posted: Mar 03, 2016

Djokovic Nominated For 2016 Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year Award

Serb can claim prestigious award for the third time

Novak Djokovic has been nominated for the 2016 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award. The 2012 and 2015 winner joins Usain Bolt (athletics), Stephen Curry (basketball), Lewis Hamilton (motor racing), Lionel Messi (football) and Jordan Spieth (golf) as nominees for the award.

Djokovic is coming off a career-best 2015 season, having won 11 tour-level tournaments, including three Grand Slams, a record six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. He ended the year with an 82-6 record.

So far in 2016, the No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings has compiled a 14-1 match record, with titles at Doha and at the Australian Open. He notched his 700th tour-level win in Dubai last week.

The 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards will be presented in Berlin, Germany on 18 April.

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Konta through to last eight in Mexico

  • Posted: Mar 03, 2016

British number one Johanna Konta saw off Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in two hard-fought sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Monterrey Open in Mexico.

Konta, ranked 21 places higher at 27 in the world, won 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) after two hours and four minutes.

The Briton is through to her second quarter-final of 2016, having reached the last four at the Australian Open.

Fourth seed Konta goes on to face another Belgian in Kirsten Flipkens or Alison van Uytvanck.

British number two Heather Watson takes on Slovenia’s Polona Hercog later on Wednesday.

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Future Stars To Clash At The O2 In November

  • Posted: Mar 02, 2016

Future Stars To Clash At The O2 In November

Second edition of Lacoste U14 Invitational announced

Six of the best young players in the world will meet at London’s O2 Arena in November to contest the 2016 U14 Invitational Presented By Lacoste. Stefan Leustian of the United States is the first player to qualify for the second edition of the event, by virtue of winning the 2016 Les Petits As, Le Mondial Lacoste tournament.

In the first edition of the tournament, held during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London last November, Chun Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei took the title over Jack Draper of the United Kingdom. The other U14 players who took part in the event were Mathys Erhard (France), Matheus Gozzi de Queiroz (Brazil), Carlos Gimeno Valero (Spain) and Nini Gabriel Dica (Romania). 

In 2015, the youngsters played in a round-robin format, with the best player from each group facing off for the winner’s trophy. The full player lineup for the 2016 event will be unveiled shortly.

Lacoste has been the official partner of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the past 15 years.

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Watch Expanded Coverage Of March Masters Online

  • Posted: Mar 02, 2016

Watch Expanded Coverage Of March Masters Online

Catch all the action live from Indian Wells and Miami.

The 2016 BNP Paribas Open promises to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the year and with TennisTV’s increased coverage from Indian Wells, fans can watch more live matches than ever before.

With more than 100 ATP World Tour matches streamed live across eight courts, watch coverage of ATP World Tour matches from Thursday 10 March, as the world’s best tennis players compete for glory in the Californian desert.

Can 2015 champion Novak Djokovic successfully defend his title? Watch official live HD coverage all the way through to the finals on Sunday 20 March.

Learn More About TennisTV

More Doubles 

In another first for 2016, TennisTV will also be streaming ATP World Tour doubles matches from the quarter-finals on.

Subscribe now for over 100 matches broadcasts available as full match replays for seven days, a comprehensive video library and the TennisTV multiscreen to watch up to four matches live or on demand at once.

Miami Open and Beyond

TennisTV will also be bringing fans more extensive coverage of the Miami Open this year with up to eight courts of live tennis matches – a 50 per cent increase in coverage compared to 2015.

With increased court coverage from eight of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments – including WTA combined tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid and Cincinnati – more than 250 extra matches will be streamed live on TennisTV in 2016.

2017

The TennisTV team is already making big plans for 2017, after receiving fan feedback in a recent subscriber survey.

There are plans to make TennisTV available on more devices, stream more live matches, and make all matches available as full replays throughout the season. Viewers will be able to enjoy a classic full match archive and create playlists of favourite matches.

If you are not already watching TennisTV, subscribe now.

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Murray plans to play whole Davis Cup

  • Posted: Mar 02, 2016

Andy Murray says he will play a full part in Great Britain’s Davis Cup defence this year.

Murray, 28, previously suggested that playing the whole competition would be tough in a congested summer that includes the Olympics.

But before this weekend’s first-round tie against Japan he said he would play in a quarter-final that falls between Wimbledon and the Rio Games.

“That’s the plan, but it’s hypothetical just now,” said the world number two.

If Britain can get past Japan, who include world number six Kei Nishikori, they will face either Kazakhstan or world number one Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.

That tie would come a week after the Wimbledon final and a week before the Masters tournament in Toronto, which in turn ends six days before the Olympic competition gets under way in Rio.

Immediately after that comes the Masters event in Cincinnati, which is the final major tournament before the US Open in New York.

“Providing everything goes well, I would play in the Davis Cup, then have a little break and play Toronto and the Olympics, and potentially not play in Cincinnati,” Murray told BBC Sport.

“I’ve always enjoyed representing my country. Statistically I’ve played by far my best tennis when I’ve played for Great Britain.”

Meanwhile, GB captain Leon Smith said a back injury sustained by Kyle Edmund, who is likely to join Murray in playing the singles rubbers against Japan, will be assessed on Thursday.

“We stopped the practice straight away because he has actually played a lot of tennis,” said Smith. “The guys have had a look at it, but you have to wait and see how it calms down.

“We will probably give it a run-out tomorrow before we make any final decisions.”

If Edmund is deemed unfit to start the tie on Friday, his place is likely to go to Dan Evans, who would be playing in front of a home crowd in Birmingham.

Elsewhere, captain Lleyton Hewitt could come out of retirement to play for Australia in their tie against the United States.

Hewitt, 35, called time on his career after the Australian Open in January, but is on stand-by if Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic fail to recover from illness and injury respectively.

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Murray Returns; Top 10 Stars Feature In Davis Cup

  • Posted: Mar 02, 2016

Murray Returns; Top 10 Stars Feature In Davis Cup

Six players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings feature in 2016 Davis Cup World Group first round ties this week. ATPWorldTour.com previews the eight ties.

AUSTRALIA vs. UNITED STATES
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, Melbourne, Australia

Twenty eight-time champion Australia takes on 32-time winner United States for the 46th time (20-25), but the first time since a 1999 World Group quarter-final when Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter led Australia to a 4-1 victory.

This week, Hewitt makes his debut as Australia’s captain, having selected Bernard Tomic, in-form Nick Kyrgios, Sam Groth and John Peers. Jim Courier, the United States captain, who, like Hewitt, is a former World No. 1, has opted for John Isner, Jack Sock, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.

Courier said, “The crowd will be behind them. We are here to play whether it is as an underdog or not. None of that matters, which I wish it did. We have to go to battle and play. Lleyton is as competitive as anyone in our sport. I expect him to have his team ready to go and we will be in the same camp here. There is a great history between our nations of competing in the right way and shaking hands afterwards with good sportsmanship.”

World No. 11 Isner, who has an 8-9 in singles rubbers for the United States, admitted, “There is certainly pressure on every player that is competing this weekend and we know that. I don’t think there is any extra pressure on me by any means. I am preparing for the team that has been submitted. It can change come Thursday, but as of right now, I am prepared for all of them.”

The Bryans have an all-time US Davis Cup doubles team record of 23-4.

Looking forward to the tie, Bob Bryan said, “This will be John Peers’ first tie. He has had a great couple years and has played us tough in the past. We know a lot about him and he knows us well. He showed that he can play on grass by making the final at Wimbledon (w/J. Murray in 2015). We have played Groth, as well. He brings the big serve and it is tough to break. If that is the team they put out there, it will be a tough match — a break here or there or some tie-breaks.

GREAT BRITAIN vs. JAPAN
Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, Great Britain

Defending champion and 10-time titlist Great Britain takes on Japan for the first time since 1931. Great Britain, playing at home for the fourth time in its past five ties, is looking to secure its 150th victory in the international competition.

World No. 2 Andy Murray went 11-0 in Davis Cup rubbers in 2015, and has a stellar 27-2 record in singles rubbers. Playing for the first time since the Australian Open final and the birth of his daughter, Sofia, on 7 February, Murray is joined by Kyle Edmund, who has played one tie and risen to No. 83 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, his brother, No. 2-ranked doubles player and Australian Open champion, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot.

World No. 6 Kei Nishikori leads Japan, holding a 1-6 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Murray. Nishikori has an 11-match winning streak in Davis Cup rubbers dating back to February 2012, when he lost to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in three sets. Taro Daniel, Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama join Nishikori.

SERBIA vs. KAZAKHSTAN
Pionir Hall , Belgrade, Serbia

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic leads Serbia, the 2010 champion, having recovered from an eye infection that affected him during last week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Djokovic is 27-7 overall in singles rubbers and unbeaten in 11 matches. World No. 23 Viktor Troicki, the Apia International Sydney champion in January, Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic also compete for Serbia.

Kazakhstan has reached the World Group quarter-finals for the past three years. The nation features Mikhail Kukushkin, Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Andrey Golubev and Dmitry Popko.

FRANCE vs. CANADA
Vélodrome Amédée Detraux, Guadeloupe, France

Nine-time champion France, under the stewardship of new captain Yannick Noah, fields a strong line-up featuring four Top 20 players, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon. France beat Canada 4-1 in Vancouver in 2012.

Milos Raonic remains sidelined due to an adductor tear suffered in the Australian Open semi-finals, while Daniel Nestor misses only his second tie in 15 years. Canada’s captain Martin Laurendeau is currently training in Guadeloupe with Philip Bester, Frank Dancevic, Vasek Pospisil and Adil Shamasdin.

GERMANY vs. CZECH REPUBLIC
TUI Arena, Hannover, Germany

Three-time champion Germany takes on three-time winner Czech Republic for the 15th time, with the two nations’ last clash coming in 2016.

World No. 7 Berdych is two match wins away (48-16) from recording his 50th victory for the Czech Republic, which includes Lukas Rosol, Jiri Vesely and Radek Stepanek. Kohlschreiber leads Michael Kohlmann‘s German team, which also includes teenager Alexander Zverev, Dustin Brown and Philipp Petzschner.

“I think it’s great that the top guys play Davis Cup,” Kohlschreiber told the official website. “We are not counting on winning this point [against Berdych]. I think we are very strong in the No. 1 and No. 2 position to play hopefully great matches against their No. 2.”

Vesely told the official website, “Germany has a strong team. [Philipp] Kohlscreiber, [Alexander] Zverev is coming up pretty strong in the last few weeks, so it will definitely be a very tough match, but still I do believe that we have a very strong team to be competitive to have a good chance to win that tie.”

ITALY vs. SWITZERLAND
Adriatic Arena, Pesaro, Italy

Italy, the 1976 titlist, and 2014 champion Switzerland square off for the seventh time. Switzerland defeated Italy in the semi-finals two years ago.

World No. 40 Andreas Seppi is the highest ranked and most experienced player competing in the tie, alongside fellow Italians Paolo Lorenzi, Simone Bolelli and Marco Cecchinato. Swiss captain Severin Luthi has Marco Chiudinelli, Henri Laaksonen, Adrien Bossel and Antoine Bellier at his disposal.

BELGIUM vs. CROATIA
Country Hall du Sart-Tilman, Liège, Belgium

Last year’s finalist Belgium meets 2005 champion Croatia for the first time since 2004.

David Goffin, with a 12-3 singles record for Belgium, will go head-to-head against Croatia’s No. 1, World No. 12 Marin Cilic, unbeaten in six singles rubbers. Goffin is joined by Kimmer Coppejans, Rubens Bemelmans, Arthur de Greef, while Cilic plays alongside Borna Coric, Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a very interesting tie,” said Coric. “I’m really looking forward to the Davis Cup because I love spending the week with the guys and I think that it’s a great competition. We’re going to have fun but we’re also going to work very hard. I think it’s a good match for us.”

POLAND vs. ARGENTINA
Ergo Arena, Gdansk, Poland

Former World No. 14 Jerzy Janowicz leads Poland against Argentina, the four-time finalist and World Group nation for the past 15 years. Leonardo Mayer went 6-0 in rubbers last year leading Argentina into the semi-finals (l. to Belgium).

Janowicz plays alongside Kamil Majchrzak, Lukasz Kubot, Marcin Matkowski, while Mayer is joined by Guido Pella, Carlos Berlocq and Renzo Olivo.

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InfoSys ATP Beyond The Numbers Breaking Back

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2016

InfoSys ATP Beyond The Numbers Breaking Back

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Emirates ATP Rankings 29 February 2016

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2016

Emirates ATP Rankings 29 February 2016

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Stars Of Tomorrow: Taylor Fritz

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2016

Stars Of Tomorrow: Taylor Fritz

The Next Generation teen talks exclusively to ATPWorldTour.com about his rapid rise to the Top 100

“After the match, I sat in the same spot in the locker room for three hours. I didn’t stretch, I didn’t do anything. I just sat there for three hours thinking about what just happened. I spent so long thinking about that moment and training for it and it was gone in 60 minutes.”

Walk into the men’s locker room at the US Open and the first thing you will notice is the cacophony of smells. The hairs on the tip of your nostrils salute a mixture of sweat, soaps and salves as the door shuts behind you.

But the most pungent aromas of all are the intangible ones. Anxiety, ecstasy, anticipation and opportunity waft through the air, as players seek to live out their dreams and find glory on one of the biggest stages in sport.

On the first day of qualifying last year, another vivid fragrance was present as Taylor Fritz sat alone in the corner: A cocktail of disappointment and desire permeated the air around the American teen. A perpetual stream of players circulated through the locker room as he sat, motionless and numb, replaying over and over what had just transpired on Court 6. The hours passed. A static expression remained affixed to his face.

Sixty minutes. No more. No less. A lot can happen in exactly one hour. For Fritz, it felt like five minutes. A routine 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Luca Vanni in the first Grand Slam qualifying match of his young career had left the California native reeling. Years of hard work came down to this. And it was over in an instant.

“That loss made me think, ‘Wow, what am I doing?’” Fritz told ATPWorldTour.com in an exclusive interview. “It’s how I played that match that was so disappointing. It was horrendous. I couldn’t hit a ball. I was getting tired after a couple shots. I think I was nervous, but I didn’t feel nervous. I was playing like I was nervous. That’s definitely not something I’m known for now, being nervous and tight. It was so unlike me and to do it of all times in US Open qualifying. I thought I worked so hard to get there. It made me work that much harder.”

Every champion has a turning point in their careers: a sobering moment that provides a fresh perspective on how to take the next step towards greatness. Sixty minutes can breeze by in a blink. For Fritz, it was quick and painful. But those battle scars that seem indelible at first are nothing more than a reminder that it’s not how far you fall, rather how high you bounce that counts.

Fritz would go on to win the US Open boys’ title two weeks later, defeating close friend and countryman Tommy Paul in an all-American final. It was a fitting end to a stellar junior career, but just the beginning.

Taylor’s Titanic Rise
The transformation from teen to machine was already underway in New York. Where many would acquiesce to feelings of frustration and dismay, Fritz is wired differently. With 10 days between his qualifying defeat and the start of the junior tournament, he put in the hard yards, ratcheting up the intensity with 7 a.m. practices. Fritz immediately went home to California after lifting the boys’ trophy and re-dedicated himself at the USTA’s facility in Carson.

“I really started enjoying working hard. That meant going to the court and working so hard that I want to quit tennis, and then doing it again the next day. That’s my philosophy. You work so hard that you want to quit tennis. You get to the point where you are so dead and tired and you say it’s not worth it. Then you come back and do it again the next day and do it again and again and again.”

Fritz would begin a historic rise to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, joining elite company at every turn. An 11-match winning streak on the ATP Challenger Tour would kick-start his professional career, claiming back-to-back titles in Sacramento and Fairfield. He became just the second player aged 17 and under to win consecutive Challenger crowns, catapulting 462 spots to World No. 232.

Youngest Americans To Crack The Top 100

Player

Age of Top 100 Debut

Year

Michael Chang

16 yrs, 3 mos.

1988

Aaron Krickstein

16 yrs, 5 mos. 1984

Andre Agassi

16 yrs, 5 mos. 1986
Billy Martin 16 yrs, 7 mos. 1973
Pete Sampras 17 yrs, 3 mos. 1988
Jimmy Brown 17 yrs, 8 mos. 1983
Jim Courier 17 yrs, 11 mos. 1988
Jimmy Arias 18 yrs, 3 mos. 1982
Donald Young 18 yrs, 3 mos. 2007
Taylor Fritz 18 yrs, 4 mos. 2016
John McEnroe 18 yrs, 4 mos. 1977
Andy Roddick 18 yrs, 7 mos. 2001

While Fritz’s sudden success caught the attention of many, it was the manner in which he won matches that was most striking. The Rancho Santa Fe native made an impact with his back against the wall, gaining a reputation for performing in clutch situations. He turned away a combined 47 of 51 break points faced en route to lifting the two ATP Challenger Tour trophies, including 15 of 16 against fellow American teen Jared Donaldson in the Sacramento final. As Fritz stresses, such a potent weapon gives him great confidence in knowing no deficit is insurmountable. It’s an innate trait.

“I surprised myself at first, but now it’s become something I’m known for,” Fritz admitted. “It’s an incredible thing to be known for, being clutch in those situations. It’s a huge honour to be thought of in that way.

“Having that ability to come up clutch in those pressure moments and competing well in those big situations is not something you can model after someone. It’s not something you can teach or learn. It’s something you either have or you don’t. I know a lot of people who were incredible practice players. The second they got to the match they just couldn’t perform in those situations. For me, the reason I play tennis is to compete like that. Someone might be nervous in those situations, but I’m excited for those opportunities. Those moments when there’s a big break point, I enjoy that.”

It should come as no surprise that Fritz’s idol is another steely server, Pete Sampras. Like ‘Pistol Pete’, Fritz prides himself on not just the power behind his delivery, but also the placement, disguise and execution.

“He’s the best American player ever. It makes sense that I really admire him a lot with his serve and athleticism. One moment stands out when I was younger. Honestly, I can’t remember what tournament it was or who he was playing. It was just his confidence he had in himself. He was up a break and didn’t care about his opponent’s serve. He let his opponent have those games, because he knew 100 per cent that he was going to serve it out with that one break. Some people are really nervous and pressing for a double break. He was so confident and there was no pressure at all. That’s something I saw and it impressed me a lot.”

Fritz left Sacramento and Fairfield soaring in confidence and in the Emirates ATP Rankings. A quarter-final finish in Monterrey, Mexico would put him on the precipice of the Top 200, but it was a chance encounter with Sampras that sent his trajectory skyward. The former World No. 1, who was competing at the concurrent ATP Champions Tour event, gave the teen the experience of a lifetime: a practice session on his 18th birthday. Fritz was in awe, but it was Sampras who doled out the superlatives.

“He’s got a great game,” Sampras told ATPWorldTour.com. “He hits the ball big, has a monster forehand. I haven’t seen him play that much, but he’s got a few big weapons. He’s a big kid. I was just talking to him a little bit about what it takes, that it’s hard work and sacrifice. He’s on his way and he’s got the right attitude, willing to learn and listen. He’s got a great future.”

As the Challenger season moved to its finale on the indoor hard courts of Charlottesville, Knoxville and Champaign, it would be another defeat that further shaped Fritz’s future. The American who accumulates the most Emirates ATP Rankings in two of the three events is awarded the USTA’s main draw wild card into the Australian Open. Fritz came up just short of the prize, but he points to that loss as initiating a chain reaction that launched him to the Top 100.

Fritz entered his 2016 campaign with a third ATP Challenger Tour title, in Happy Valley, and opened Australian Open qualifying with a pair of victories over Hiroki Moriya and Michael Berrer. Trailing 0-4 in the third set of his final round clash against Mischa Zverev, Fritz showed his true mettle, reeling off six straight games to seal the victory and qualify for his first Grand Slam championship.

Fritz’s mother, Kathy, a former Top 10 player on the WTA Tour, never had a doubt he’d pull through.

“Taylor feels like he’s going to win no matter what. He’s very confident in himself and is just a real fighter on the court. I always told him that great players hate to lose more than they like to win. I think that’s true with him. He likes to win but he really hates to lose.”

Taylor says it was an experience that shaped his season.

“That’s just me, 100 per cent who I am. I’ve always had the heart to compete and fight no matter what. I’m going to fight to the very end. I’m never going to give my best effort and lose a match. If it has anything to do with losing, I’m not going to just throw in the towel. I was thinking that a lot people would throw in the towel and he’s probably hoping I’m going to throw in the towel. He’s probably hoping at 4-0 that I’m going to let him have this one. That’s what I’d be thinking if I was up 4-0. Once I got that first break back, then I felt the pressure was on him.

“When people ask me about losing out on the U.S.T.A’s wild card play-off for the Australian Open, I’m glad I lost out on it. Also the experience I had against Berrer, it was windy and rainy at 10 at night, on the last court at the Australian Open. I know it doesn’t sound very pleasant but those are experiences I wouldn’t trade anything for.”

Mother Knows Best
Some things are guaranteed in life. Park in an illegal spot, you pay a fine. Devour an entire pizza, you’ll be paying the gym a visit the next day. Become the youngest American to reach an ATP World Tour final (in Memphis) in 27 years, and you’ll have a lot of media commitments.

“It’s crazy what winning four matches does. I’ve probably heard the same question about the group of young Americans 30-40 times. About the group and how we drive each other and the pressure it puts on us. I’ve heard that one so many times. I’ve done about six full interviews on the phone now since Memphis and I was doing a couple a day there.”

It is this respect for the entire process both between the lines and outside them that comes from Taylor’s Mum. After a lengthy career on the women’s Virginia Slims circuit in the 1970s, Kathy May Fritz had much to impart on her son.

“One thing I told him in Memphis, after he beat Steve Johnson in the second round, was that it was a great win but don’t let your guard down. You have another match tomorrow. You can celebrate for a little bit, but you have to re-focus. That’s one thing I found after a great win. It was hard for me to re-focus and come back and do it again the next day. He was able to do that. At this point it’s great that he’s not satisfied. After a great win he wants to get as good as he can possibly get and I really admire that.”

Also a quarter-finalist at three Grand Slams, including the 1978 US Open, Kathy reflected on Taylor as a child. Despite being a precocious, active boy, he didn’t take to tennis immediately.

“When he was first handed a racquet, he didn’t like it, but he always had unbelievable hand-eye coordination. When he was two years old, he’d go out and hit a golf ball and it was incredible. Everything he did was with a ball. He’d have unreal hand-eye coordination. Back then, kids always did what their friends wanted to do, so my husband invited over local boys for a tennis clinic. That’s how he got interested in it.

“He made the goal to be World No. 1 from a young age. He’s always set goals for himself, even throughout the juniors. He’s met every one of them. When he sets his mind to something, he’s always been able to achieve it.”

A sports fanatic, Fritz spent much of his childhood moving between playing basketball, tennis and lacrosse. At the start of his sophomore year of high school, he made the commitment to tennis, but it wasn’t smooth sailing at first. The dedication to working hard and pushing himself to be the best was absent. He revealed that taking the leap wasn’t an easy process. At age 15, Fritz was invited to the U.S.T.A. training facility in Boca Raton, Florida, for a month-long training camp with top players in his age group. The right-hander concedes he was the worst of the bunch. In desperate need of a push in the right direction, he identifies it as the moment everything changed.

“To just go to this camp I had to quit the high school basketball team I was playing on. I wanted to see how I compared to all these guys. I knew they were all better than before going, so I thought it was great practice for me to get a lot better. It was tough. I couldn’t compete with them, I couldn’t move on the clay courts. I wasn’t good enough. I was missing everything. It just put everything into perspective of where I was at. I wasn’t near as good as those guys. Then I started moving up and I got to the top group of guys and just stayed with them.

“My idea of tennis was an hour of practice a day and zero work in the gym. That was the time where I had to make the decision. All these guys beating up on me is going to be the end or I’m going to accept it and come back stronger. I decided to stick with it and here I am three years later and I’ve improved so much and come so far.”

Looking To The Future
While Fritz now works with David Nainkin, former personal coach of Wayne Ferreira, on a full-time basis, he looks back on his time with Christian Groh as being the most beneficial in cultivating his game from its infancy. It was his time with Groh that helped build the necessary foundation to grow his career.

“For about two years, I’d be with Christian three or four times a week. He played a big part in getting me to work hard and helping me to catch up with the other guys. Practice with Christian meant I’m going to work hard and this was a time when I didn’t enjoy it. I was still learning then about what it really took. Working with Christian taught me that.”

With a run to the final at the ATP World Tour event in Memphis last month, in just his third tour-level tournament, Fritz became the youngest American to reach a title match since then 17-year-old Michael Chang won the Wembley (London) crown in 1989. Add Sampras, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi and you have the list of every American aged 18 and under to reach an ATP World Tour final in the past 30 years. Elite company to say the least.

“I keep thinking that before he turned pro in September he was ranked around No. 900,” Kathy added. “He hadn’t played many pro tournaments and after that it was a whole new level. It’s incredible.”

Following a quarter-final finish in Acapulco, Fritz already achieved the goal he set for himself just two months ago: cracking the Top 100. That was his target for the entire season. With just 35 Emirates ATP Rankings points to defend between now and September, it’s time to set the bar even higher.

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When Breaking Back Can Be A Back Breaker

  • Posted: Mar 01, 2016

When Breaking Back Can Be A Back Breaker

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers looks at which players bounce back best after having their serve broken.

When is a break of serve in tennis not really a break? When you get broken straight back.

Protecting your serve is a high priority in our sport, but the inevitable is going to happen – everyone is going to lose their serve at some stage. The best players in the world don’t let the disappointment of getting broken get them down for long. The perfect antidote is to break straight back, effectively cancelling out the advantage the opponent briefly held.

The ability to break straight back after getting broken also speaks to the mental strength and fortitude of the player as much as the technical prowess and specific technique of returning serve.

Leaderboard

From January 2015 up to the 2016 Australian Open, nobody in the world was better at breaking immediately back after being broken than the World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic. In the 2015 season, the super Serb won 34 per cent of his return games to be No. 1 in this specific category. But he was even better after getting broken.

Djokovic won a commanding 38 per cent of his return games immediately after getting broken to lead a handful of players that break more often than their season average right after feeling the despair of losing serve. Spaniards David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal were next in line as the most successful players to break straight back after being broken in 2015, with Ferrer at 36 per cent and Nadal at 34 per cent.

 Player 2015 Return Games Won  Breaking Straight Back
After Being Broken 
 Novak Djokovic  34%  38%
 David Ferrer  34%  36%
 Rafael Nadal  31%  34%
 Andy Murray  31%  31%
 Roger Federer  27%  30%
 Kei Nishikori  27%  29%
 Stan Wawrinka  21%  26%
 Tomas Berdych  26%  25%
 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  20%  19%
 Richard Gasquet  22%  17%
 Kevin Anderson  16%  12%
 Ivo Karlovic  10%  8%
 Milos Raonic  12%  6%

Personal Best

Another way to dissect these key Infosys metrics is to analyse how well each player did against their own personal average. Stan Wawrinka had the most improvement, breaking back immediately 26 percent of the time as opposed to his regular rate of breaking 21 per cent of the time.

 Player  Percentage change
 Stan Wawrinka  +5
 Novak Djokovic  +4
 Roger Federer  +3
 Rafael Nadal  +3
 David Ferrer  +2
 Kei Nishikori  +2
 Andy Murray  0
 Tomas Berdych  -1
 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  -1
 Ivo Karlovic  -2
 Kevin Anderson  -4
 Richard Gasquet  -5
 Milos Raonic  -6

Djokovic was up 4 per cent on his personal average, while Roger Federer and Nadal were up 3 per cent. The only other Top 10 players to improve their performance breaking back immediately after dropping serve were Ferrer and Kei Nishikori – both with a 2 per cent improvement.

It’s often hard to put a finger on the difference between good and great in our sport, but these key Infosys ATP Beyond the Numbers metrics do just about as good a job as anything at uncovering just that. Breaking immediately back clearly showcases a player’s mettle to not let adversity get the better of them. It’s a mental trick as much as anything else, cancelling out advantages, and stopping an opponent’s sudden momentum in its tracks.

Big Servers

The metrics also uncovered that big servers, such as Ivo Karlovic, Kevin Anderson and Milos Raonic, have more difficultly in this key category than we perceived they would. Raonic had a substantial 6 per cent drop from his 2015 season average, while Anderson was down 4 per cent, and Karlovic down 2 per cent.

The advantage of the big server is the ability to hold a lot more than normal, but it also seems that it is tougher for this specific style of player to immediately break back. An old tennis saying is that a break is not a break until it’s consolidated with a hold, and it seems that some players can tap into this fable a lot better than others. 

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