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Melo Named GQ Brasil’s Man Of The Year For Sports

  • Posted: Dec 11, 2015

Melo Named GQ Brasil’s Man Of The Year For Sports

Top-ranked doubles standout bringing tennis back into spotlight in homeland

It’s been some year for Marcelo Melo. First he captures his maiden Grand Slam doubles title alongside Ivan Dodig. Then breaks up the Bryan Bros. Dynasty, becoming the first player not named Bob or Mike to rise to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings since Sept. 12, 2012. Now he’s been named Man of the Year For Sports by GQ Brasil.

GQ Brasil writes: The Brazilian brought tennis into the spotlight again, after Guga [Kuerten] retired in 2008. The two Brazilians to reach the top of the rankings, one in singles and the other in doubles, have known each other for a long time. “I met Guga when I was still young. I used to hit some balls with him to help his recovery after his hip injury. I think it is very hard [for me] to do what he has done for the sport, in the same proportion, but I hope to do it.”

Between training and tournaments, Melo dedicates his time to reading. Successful athletes’ biographies are his favorites: “I read that whenever the ball fell in the hand of Michael Jordan in the last seconds of the game, he thought, ‘This was the opportunity I wanted!’ … I always think this is my chance.”

He and Dodig had lost in the Wimbledon final in 2013 and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2014. “When I returned to Brazil, I told Daniel [his brother and coach] and Cris [his physical trainer]: “I don’t want to go through these moments of ‘almost.’ We need to find a way to overcome the ‘almost.’”

Melo found success in 2015 regardless of whom he teamed up with, including Dodig, Max Mirnyi, Julian Knowle, Bruno Soares, Raven Klaasen and Lukasz Kubot. In all, he won six titles with three different partners.

With Dodig, the Brazilian reached semi-finals at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo, and the duo captured its second ATP World Tour team title in Acapulco. Then came Roland Garros, where, cheered on by Kuerten, Melo would team with Dodig to capture his first Grand Slam title, beating the two-time former champions and No. 1-ranked pairing of Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 in a thrilling final. Melo/Dodig had fallen to the Bryans in the 2013 Wimbledon final 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

While Dodig honed his singles game on the Challenger circuit, Melo didn’t miss a beat. Teaming with Klaasen, the first-time pairing reeled off back-to-back titles in Tokyo and Shanghai. But he wasn’t done yet. In Vienna, he took the court for the first time with Kubot, and the tandem went all the way to the Erste Bank Open title, coming back from a set and 2-4 down to beat second seeds Jamie Murray/John Peers 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6.

Melo reunited with Dodig to win the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris and reach the semi-finals at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The man they call “Girafa” (he’s 6-foot-8, 192 lbs.) says it’s not his imposing presence on the court that separates him from others, but his mind, his ability maintain composure in tough moments.

The soft-spoken Melo is looking forward to his next challenge: the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where he’ll play alongside countryman Bruno Soares.

 The complete GQ Brasil article (in Portuguese) can be found here.

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Robson rejects Aussie Open chance

Robson rejects Aussie Open chance

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Laura Robson’s ranking has plummeted to 555 in the world

Laura Robson has decided not to use her protected ranking of 58 to gain direct entry into January’s Australian Open.

The 21-year-old has played in eight events since a 17-month lay-off with wrist problems, including the US Open.

However, playing in New York – where she lost in the first round to Elena Vesnina – means the world number 555 can only use the protected ranking to enter one more Grand Slam.

She may now instead opt to wait for the French Open.

In the meantime, Robson is likely to try and build up her ranking at smaller events.

Four other Britons – Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene, Johanna Konta and Heather Watson – all gain direct entry into the draw in Melbourne.

Kyle Edmund is currently the third alternate for the men’s singles, meaning he stands a good chance of avoiding the qualifying competition.

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Madison Keys Splits With Davenport

Madison Keys Splits With Davenport

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Madison Keys’ highly-touted partnership with Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond won’t continue into the 2016 season. Keys’ agent confirmed the split to WTA Insider on Wednesday.

Keys is now working with former ATP player Jesse Levine in Boca Raton, Florida. She will continue to work with her trainer Scott Byrnes and will add a traveling physio for the new season.

Keys and Davenport began working together during the 2014 off-season and what was meant to be an off-season training session turned into a more robust partnership in 2015. With Davenport at the helm, Keys made her first Slam semifinal at the Australian Open and made the second week at three of the four majors, including the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. She also made her second Premier final at the Family Circle Cup, finishing the season at No.18.

Due to her family and commentating responsibilities, Davenport was unable to travel full-time with Keys. Those responsibilities were spread out between Davenport, her husband Jon Leach, and Raymond. Keys’ agent told WTA Insider that discussions with Davenport about her role in 2016 began after the US Open but no final decisions were made until after the season ended.

Keys and Levine know each other well. Levine hit with Keys before her run to the final in Charleston and the hope is that his work ethic and positive energy, combined with his quality as a consistent hitting partner, will help the 20-year-old American continue to develop her game.

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Vote Now For Best Play Of 2015

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Vote Now For Best Play Of 2015

Roger Federer takes on Kei Nishikori for point of the year honours

What was the best play of the 2015 season? Was it Roger Federer’s extraordinary three-shot combination in Indian Wells, or Kei Nishikori‘s tweener lob in Montreal?

Cast your vote now! 

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Federer Faces Nishikori For 2015 Play Of The Year

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Federer Faces Nishikori For 2015 Play Of The Year

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Women lead rise in playing sport

Women lead rise in playing sport

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

An increase in the number of women playing sport has driven improved participation figures, according to the latest survey by Sport England.

People regularly playing sport stands at 15.74 million over 12 months, a rise of 1.65 million since 2005/06.

Bucking the normal trend, the number of women playing sport and being active is increasing faster than men.

Swimming remains the top sport overall but continues to decline, with athletics a close second and rising.

Sport England’s Active People Survey began in 2005/06 and measures the number of people taking part in sport across the nation, with findings published every six months.

There was good news for tennis, cricket, boxing and rugby union, with increases in the numbers taking part but football and cycling experienced falls.

Participation figures for lower socio-economic groups and disabled people were low and remain static.

“It’s good news that more women are playing sport, and driving an overall increase in the numbers,” said Jennie Price, Sport England’s chief executive.

“It’s particularly great to see This Girl Can is making a real difference. That’s because we’ve really focused on what drives women’s attitudes and behaviours.

“If we’re to see a further step change in the total number of people playing sport, we need to take a similar, consumer-focused approach in areas where the figures are stubbornly low, like disability and lower socio-economic groups.”

  • Top sports: The number of people playing regular sport in England rose by 245,000 in the year to September, with the number of women participating regularly up by 150,000. The top five sports in which adults take part at least once a week are: Swimming (2.5 million), Athletics(2.3 million), Cycling (2.0 million), Football(1.8 million), Golf(0.74 million)
  • Gender: 8.73 million males aged 16 years or over (40.7%) played sport once a week during the period October 2014 to September 2015, an increase of 949,600 since 2005/06; 7.01 million females aged 16 years or over (31.2%) played sport once a week, an increase of 703,800 since 2005/06.
  • Athletics: The sport with the biggest improvement saw a rise of 98,700 to 2.3 million, much of it driven by more women taking part in running.
  • Swimming: Price had said she was “very concerned” by the previous set of participation figures in January, and the decline continues, albeit at a slower pace. The latest fall of 39,300, to 2.51 million, was “welcomed, [but] the sector has much more to do to reverse its fortunes.”
  • Tennis: A week after the Lawn Tennis Association came in for criticism from Andy Murray, among others, for its lack of success in bringing through junior players, the governing body can at least point to continually improving participation figures. The LTA had funding cut by Sport England in 2012 as participation declined, but the latest figures show 22,800 more people aged 16 and over – a total of 445,200 – played once a week.

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The Ever-Improving Timea Bacsinszky

The Ever-Improving Timea Bacsinszky

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Big wins and titles are great, but for Roland Garros semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky, it’s all about the improvements a player makes along the way.

“I think you can improve all the time, even if it’s on small things – which is quite nice because then you always have a goal,” the 2015 WTA Most Improved Player Of The Year said during the WTA Insider Podcast. “Our real goal is to improve a little bit, all the time, on everything. So I can say, ‘OK, I run better than last year. This was a great improvement. I can defend better, and maybe I will still try even more for next year.’

“Overall, I think you can improve in every department, even for myself because I’m a pretty complete player.”

Bacsinszky’s complete game clicked for much of the 2015 season, carrying momentum from the year before when she upset Maria Sharapova en route to the quarterfinals of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, and even farther back than that, when she decided to give tennis a second try after a foot injury led her to step away from the game.

“The comeback is over for me. It was like a second career. Now I’m starting my third career, because I would obviously like to last longer, to be healthy, and still enjoy playing.”

Timea Bacsinszky

If her third career is anything like her second, there will certainly be plenty to enjoy. The Swiss began 2015 in bright fashion, beating Petra Kvitova to make the finals in Shenzhen, and later going on a 15-match win streak that took her to two titles and into the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open against World No.1 Serena Williams.

“I played 16 matches in a row with 15 wins. I was quite happy, and that was also with flights in between, some jet lag. My body was really well prepared, and I have to thank my physical coach for that, my coach too – my team. This is also about scheduling, to be healthy, to be fit to play and to last long. Everyone is different. You just have to try to find the best balance for yourself.”

Bacsinszky played balanced tennis through a heroic Fed Cup weekend – almost single-handedly leading the Swiss Team into World Group I over an Agnieszka Radwanska-led Poland – and into the clay court season, besting Kvitova for a second time in Paris to meet Williams again in the final four of the French Open. Leading by a set and a break, the rising Swiss played flawless tennis before the American was ultimately able to raise her game. Dealing with the loss, Bacsinszky explained, was compounded by the exponential increase in attention.

“I lost on a Thursday, got back on Friday, and on Saturday morning I went into the city to buy some things for a friend’s birthday. I was just walking with shades – it was sunny! I was not hiding, or something – but maybe 40 people recognized me in Lausanne.

Timea Bacsinszky

“It was a tough loss and everyone was there to remind me. They’re super proud, but they keep on talking about it and you have to have the same face for the first person and the last, even if there were like 40 in between. This is sometimes tough because we’re normal human beings and we cannot be perfect every day, and sometimes we have tougher days and just don’t want to talk. But because we’re public we have to be nice and have to talk.”

The glare of the spotlight was hardly hers alone; Bacsinszky was one of many successful Swiss Misses (and Misters in Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer) to grab headlines, but even that presented its fair share of challenges.

“The Swiss media started to talk about how there’d be two men in the Top 5 and maybe two women and comparing Belinda [Bencic] and me, which makes no sense because yes, we’re Swiss, but she’s 18 and I have another story. I’m not comparing myself to anyone. I have my own career, and that’s it.

“I’m the first Timea Bacsinszky and I’m going to be the last one too. Unless…” she trailed off with a chuckle. “But then they’d have to have the same last name spelling as mine, so good luck with that!”

Suddenly in a position to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, Bacsinszky admitted she lost focus of what brought her there in the first place.

“What am I chasing? I’m going to burn myself playing zillions of tournaments until the end of the year just to maybe qualify for something? I talked a lot with my team and they helped me to realize that I didn’t have to play to be in the top at the end of this year. I almost wanted to rush everything, which is something I wasn’t doing for two years. I had been the one who was always saying, ‘slow down, it’s all right.’

Timea Bacsinszky

“I realized I’m not chasing anything. I just want to be happy with my game to feel that I’m improving every day when I step on the court, in practice or at a match. If you try to run after something all the time, for me it makes no sense. I’m just trying to improve, and if I get the chance to go there, then good for me.

“If not, it’s all right. I will go to bed every evening, and I will wake up in the morning and have a nice breakfast. Life goes on.”

Taking her time after the US Open, Bacsinszky was refreshed and ready for the end of the Asian Swing, reaching the biggest final of her career at the China Open, losing a tight two-setter to Garbiñe Muguruza, and narrowly missing out on a Singapore berth.

But Singapore was never the goal, neither were her Grand Slam successes. Timea Bacsinszky truly came back for the love of the game.

“I’m just already focusing on the next year,” she said, adding an extra ‘s’ to emphasize how she was thinking beyond 2016. “I hope my career is going to be long and I have to preserve my body as well.”

With two careers under her belt, Bacsinszky’s “big eyes” have seen what it takes to succeed on the big stages; all that’s left to do is improve.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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Full Circle Moment For Gavrilova

Full Circle Moment For Gavrilova

  • Posted: Dec 10, 2015

Daria Gavrilova returned to Australia 12 months ago to finish what she started. Ranked outside the Top 200 and hoping to earn an Australian Open wildcard two years after her Grand Slam debut, the former junior No.1 and Youth Olympic Gold Medalist felt at home at the Happy Slam long before playing under its flag.

“I have loved Australia for a long time,” the 2015 WTA Newcomer of the Year said during the Miami Open. “I have been coming there since maybe 2010 and always loved it there.”

Moscow born and Melbourne based, Gavrilova first tasted WTA success in 2013, reaching the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier – besting future Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard for a spot in the main draw. Looking back, the Aussie admitted she had a lot to learn.

“It’s a completely different level,” she told WTA Insider. “The standard is a lot higher [than in juniors], so I had to improve in all aspects of my game.”

That opportunity for improvement came under inauspicious circumstances. A torn ACL took her off the circuit for just over eight months; working with former WTA No.35 Nicole Pratt, the time was well spent.

Daria Gavrilova

“It was a good pause for me as it gave me a chance to work on all areas of my game – especially physically.”

“We had a broken body that we had to re-build,” Pratt explained in the spring. “I think it was a blessing in disguise. She spent nine months off of the tour and got better physically and mentally.”

Once able to stay back and gut out wins over junior competition, Gavrilova started stepping into the court, taking advantage of an instinctive all-court game. Closing out the 2014 season with a WTA main draw finish at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, she won the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff without dropping a set and rode an eight-match win streak into the round of 16 at the Brisbane International.

“I didn’t really need a pre-season because I was out for so long. So of course, getting some matches under my belt was a good thing for me because I haven’t played many tournaments that year at all.”

A fiery competitor, she immediately began challenging the game’s best, pushing Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep to three sets at the Apia Sydney International and BNP Paribas Open, respectively – battling the former until 3:10am.

“I got close to beating both girls and it gave me confidence to feel like I belong at this level and that I can beat anybody.”

The third time proved lucky for Gavrilova, who played efficient tennis to dispatch then-World No.2 Maria Sharapova in straight sets for the biggest win of her career. A spotlight was suddenly back on the Aussie, and it was abundantly clear that she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The experience of playing those big tournaments in a main draw is the first step in moving forward in my career. I have learned to handle the big occasions better – like playing on big stadium courts – and I absolutely loved it.”

Daria Gavrilova

She made a seamless transition to the clay courts in Rome, taking out a slew of big names – including two eventual French Open semifinalists in former No.1 Ana Ivanovic and 2015 WTA Most Improved Timea Bacsinszky – en route to the semifinals.

“My favorite match this year was against Ana on Pietrangeli; the court was so beautiful and the crowd was amazing!”

With a quarterfinal appearance in Eastbourne, the 21-year-old proved dangerous on all surfaces this season, later upsetting French Open finalist Lucie Safarova at the Rogers Cup and finding herself one game from taking out Petra Kvitova at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Matching her coach’s career-high ranking in early October, Gavrilova proved prescient when it came to where she’d land by year’s end, but the newly minted Aussie has much bigger goals for the stacked season to come.

“When we had a Fed Cup dinner in Miami with the Aussie team, I made a joke that my end ranking is going to be No.37, and I made No.36 so yes, I have achieved my goals.

“This is the first time I have really done a dedicated pre-season, knowing that I will be in main draw of all the upcoming events I want to play. In 2016, I want to get my Grand Slam results better than 2015; I’m also really excited to represent Australia at Fed Cup and Olympics.”

A year after needing a wildcard to enter her home major, Daria Gavrilova stands just four ranking spots outside the Top 32 seeds; look for this dangerous floater to rise even higher in 2016.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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