Watch some of the best points of the year
Watch a countdown of the best Hot Shots from ATP Challenger Tour events in 2015, featuring Thanasi Kokkinakis, Marcos Baghdatis, Dustin Brown, Frank Dancevic, Adrian Ungur and Yoshihito Nishioka.
A blistering start to 2015 saw Timea Bacsinszky establish herself in the Top 10 and walk away with the WTA Most Improved Player Of The Year award.
Tim Smyczek enjoyed a career year in 2015, but the American’s most memorable moment came off the court, marrying girlfriend Ana Pier on 21 November in Irving, Texas.
The 27 year old, who reached a career-high World No. 68 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in April, was joined by friends and fellow players Denis Kudla, Rhyne Williams, Alex Kuznetsov, Scott Oudsema, Brendan Evans and Phillip Simmonds, along with coach Billy Heiser.
“This weekend I married the woman of my dreams,” Smyczek posted on his Facebook page. “It was great to have our families and friends join together for the special occasion. Happy to say Ana and I are already looking forward to our honeymoon. See everyone back on court Down Under after the New Year.”
The ceremony was held at the Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas, the venue of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Irving, where Smyczek reached the final in March. Wedding bells rang often in 2015, with Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Nicolas Almagro, Lukas Rosol, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Marc Lopez and Martin Emmrich also tying the knot.
Smyczek claimed a pair of ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2015, winning on home soil in Dallas and Tiburon. He also won tour-level matches at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells, Miami, Delray Beach and Nottingham.
Photo by Jacqui Cole Photography (jacquicole.com)
Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows that Novak Djokovic and Ivo Karlovic were the clear return and service leaders in 2015 on the ATP World Tour
Novak Djokovic built his historic 2015 season on the foundation of his imposing return game. Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers reveals that the World No. 1 placed in the Top 2 of the three key return game categories.
The Serb won more return games than any other player both in raw and percentages terms. Djokovic won 364 return games (in 87 matches), 64 more than second-placed Andy Murray, who won 300 return games (in 77 matches).
Djokovic’s winning percentage was also better than any other player. He won 34.43 per cent of all return games played, finishing well clear of second-placed David Ferrer, who won 33.61 per cent of return games played. (Figures in the return-of-serve charts below have been rounded.)
| Player | Return Games Won % | Return Games Won | Matches |
| Novak Djokovic | 34% | 364 | 87 |
| David Ferrer | 34% | 274 | 69 |
| Rafael Nadal | 31% | 297 | 80 |
| Andy Murray | 31% | 300 | 77 |
| Gilles Simon | 31% | 244 | 63 |
Djokovic also finished second on the list of points won returning first serve:
| Player | First Serve Returns Won % | Points Won | Matches |
| David Ferrer | 34% | 1,117 | 69 |
| Novak Djokovic | 33% | 1,403 | 87 |
| Rafael Nadal | 33% | 1,261 | 80 |
| Roger Federer | 33% | 1,159 | 72 |
| Andy Murray | 32% | 1,277 | 77 |
And Djokovic topped the list of points won returning second serve, with a success rate of 57 per cent.
| Player | Second Serve Returns Won % | Points Won | Matches |
| Novak Djokovic | 57% | 1,607 | 87 |
| Andy Murray |
55% | 1,367 | 77 |
| David Ferrer | 55% | 1,211 | 69 |
| Gilles Simon | 55% | 1,143 | 63 |
| Tomas Berdych | 54% | 1,224 | 79 |
Ace Is The Place
For the first time since records were kept in 1992, three players this year hit more than 1,000 aces in the same season. Ivo Karlovic (1447), John Isner (1260) and Kevin Anderson (1,074) all made it to four figures. Karlovic finished just 30 aces shy of countryman Goran Ivanisevic’s all-time season record of 1,477. The Croat topped the aces list for the fifth time (2007-2009 and 2014).
| Player | Aces | Matches |
| Ivo Karlovic | 1,447 | 63 |
| John Isner | 1,260 | 68 |
| Kevin Anderson | 1,074 | 70 |
| Gilles Muller | 765 | 55 |
| Milos Raonic | 743 | 47 |
Record Setter
Karlovic shattered the previous record for percentage of service games won in a season. ‘Dr. Ivo’ won 96 per cent of his service games in 2015, topping his own record of 94 per cent in 2007.
| Player | Service Games Won % | Service Games Won | Total Service Games |
| Ivo Karlovic |
96% | 873 | 914 |
| Milos Raonic | 94% | 608 | 647 |
| John Isner | 93% | 846 | 907 |
| Roger Federer | 92% | 818 | 890 |
| Novak Djokovic | 89% | 968 | 1,082 |
So what happens when the world’s best returner meets the world’s best server? In the first week of the 2015 season, Karlovic upset Djokovic 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 in the first round of Doha. In their first meeting in seven seasons, Djokovic won just 15 per cent of first-serve return points (well below his 2015 average of 33%) and 50 per cent of his second-serve return points (below his season average of 57%).
Karlovic boosted his chances of victory by putting 74 per cent of first serves into play.
The International Premier Tennis league played its last night in Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena, and with the WTA’s singles and doubles year-end No.1s set to go head-to-head, it was sure to be an exciting night.
Serena Williams’ Philippine Mavericks enjoyed a home crowd advantage against a team yet to lose a match this season in Sania Mirza’s Micromax Indian Aces. After splitting the first two sets, Williams and Mirza played a rousing set of mixed doubles – Williams with Treat Huey, Mirza with Rohan Bopanna – but it was Mirza’s superior doubles sensibilities winning the day and the 22 minute set, 6-3.
Undaunted, Williams remained on the court to play former World No.4 Samantha Stosur and win an all-important set of women’s singles by the same score to help turn the tide towards the Mavericks, who ultimately edged the Aces, 25-24.
The other match of the night saw former No.1 Ana Ivanovic play a nearly 40 minute set of women’s singles against Karolina Pliskova, who forced the Serb to a 6-5 tiebreak. Ivanovic’s teammate Kristina Mladenovic later stepped up in mixed doubles against good friend Belinda Bencic, who was partnering Nick Kyrgios. Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor went on to win their set, 6-4, as the OBI UAE Royals clinched a 26-23 win over the OUE Singapore Slammers.
Check out the best tweets of the night:
Afternoons in the plank: a single move for stronger abs! #KeepingFit pic.twitter.com/i0n3jwwAFJ
— Ana Ivanovic (@AnaIvanovic) December 7, 2015
@DreddyTennis Happy birthday Dustin! ??? #Slammers #SlammersNation pic.twitter.com/ByTmlgbQJk
— #TeamBelinda (@FanOfBencic) December 8, 2015
Whatever you said @serenawilliams was funny and entertaining as always ???? pic.twitter.com/0cnof4u34F
— Jarmila Gajdosova (@tennis_jarkag) December 8, 2015
Opponents today but friends always. #TeamBeliKiki ?? @BelindaBencic @KikiMladenovic pic.twitter.com/Jxyg8CXzP6
— #TeamBelinda (@FanOfBencic) December 8, 2015
When you spot the last free seat on the tube pic.twitter.com/OMbjdinyVC
— WTA Reactions (@WTAreactions) December 8, 2015
The winning moment! @PHLMavericks bag a nail-biting fifth set. #IPTL2 #BreakTheCode @milosraonic @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/UEF4cmzRBt
— IPTL (@iptl) December 8, 2015
Mixed feelings! Off to Delhi! @RafaelNadal @MirzaSania @fabsantoro72 @DodigTennis @bambamsam30 @rohanbopanna #Tenfie pic.twitter.com/IjRTq8v3TP
— IPTL (@iptl) December 8, 2015
Great last night in Manila. Go #philippinemavericks @iptl pic.twitter.com/u0aQrbMhox
— Treat Huey (@TreatHuey) December 8, 2015
When Daria Gavrilova and Maria Sharapova stepped on court for their second round meeting at this year’s Miami Open, nearly 100 places separated the players on the tennis ladder. However, it was clear early on that Gavrilova was in no way daunted by the challenge in front of her.
Haring after every ball she could reach – and plenty she could not – Gavrilova’s attitude immediately won over the crowd. There was inspiration to complement this perspiration, too, the former junior No.1 marrying defense with attack to shock her childhood idol in a result that reverberated around the tennis world.
This was the most high-profile performance in an impressive 2015 campaign that ended with the 21-year-old being crowned WTA Newcomer Of The Year.
Since recovering from torn anterior cruciate ligament a few years back, Gavrilova’s career has been on an upward trajectory. The work invested into the technical and physical sides of her game whilst off the tour really started to pay off this January, as she came racing out of the traps with strong performances in her adopted homeland of Australia.
Better was to come in spring, the youngster following the upset of Sharapova by coming through qualifying to reach the semifinals in Rome. While she was unable to quite match these feats in the second half of the year, now perched inside the Top 50 it is safe to say the best is yet to come.
Gavrilova credits much of her improvement to the off-court structure implemented by her coach Nicole Pratt. “I’m more professional now,” Gavrilova told WTA Insider during the US Open. “I know how it works now. I look at the players and I understand that’s what everyone does. Two years ago I had no idea what you needed to do to achieve what I wanted to achieve.
“First of all I didn’t have any base. I didn’t have any structure. Now I have a good base. I have a fitness coach, I have Nicole, I always have a coach on the road. I always know what I’m doing. I have a plan for every match. Even in training I know what I want to achieve.”
Gavrilova adds her name to a select band of players to have won the WTA Newcomer Of The Year, with Tracy Austin, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki among her predecessors.
The WTA Awards are voted for by a combination of media and fans. Gavrilova received 68% of media votes and 36% of fan votes (Daria Kasatkina was next with 33%).
Image copyright Park of Keir Councillors in Stirling have rejected plans for a controversial sports and housing development near Dunblane.
The greenbelt development was being promoted by Judy Murray in the face of strong local opposition.
Planning officers at the council had earlier recommended that the Park of Keir application be refused.
Councillors said they had decided to reject the bid after carefully considering the arguments for and against the project.
The proposed development, between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, would have included tennis and golf facilities along with a visitor centre and museum, all set in a new country park.
The plans also included luxury homes to help pay for the scheme.
But planning officers said the application should be refused because it was sited on greenbelt land.
They also said there was not enough affordable housing proposed and added the residential element was contrary to Scottish planning policy, because residents would have to travel for basic amenities and services.
The scheme had received high-profile support from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and golfer Colin Montgomerie.
However, campaigners said the loss of greenbelt land to the development was too high a price to pay. There were more than 1,000 objections to the scheme and only 45 in support.
Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green Party councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, spoke against the proposal at Tuesday morning’s hearing on the plans.
Following the decision, Mr Ruskell said: “I’m delighted that this proposal has been rejected. It would have been totally wrong to rip up our democratically-agreed local plan to make room for executive housing on this treasured greenbelt area.
“For over 25 years, local communities have fought against development at Park of Keir. Judy Murray had a good idea but it was in completely the wrong location – I’m sure that sporting legacy can be secured elsewhere.”
Ms Murray said on Friday that she wanted to leave a legacy to the success of her two sons, tennis players Andy and Jamie Murray.
A spokeswoman for Stirling Council said: “Having carefully considered and discussed extensively all the arguments for and against this proposal, Stirling Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel has today refused the application for a development at Park of Keir.”
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LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Maria Sharapova and a host of other tennis players and celebrities are set to light up Los Angeles this coming weekend at Maria Sharapova & Friends, presented by Porsche.
Three of the WTA’s brightest young stars – Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Laura Robson – will join Sharapova at the event, as will ATP stars Kei Nishikori, Jack Sock, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang. Comedy stars Chelsea Handler and Will Arnett will partner with the pros in mixed doubles.
“It’s been a long-term goal of mine to host my own tennis event and bring professional tennis back to Los Angeles,” Sharapova said of the event, which will take place at the UCLA Tennis Center. “I want to thank my great partner Porsche for believing in this project from the beginning, along with the players, entertainers and sponsors that are supporting Maria Sharapova & Friends. I hope the fans enjoy the highly competitive tennis, comedy and entertainment, and walk away having had a great weekend.”
The line-up for Saturday, December 12 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Roddick & Robson vs Chang & Keys)
Men’s Singles (Roddick vs Chang)
Women’s Singles (Sharapova vs Keys)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Will Arnett vs Roddick & Chelsea Handler)
The line-up for Sunday, December 13 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Nishikori vs Robson & Sock)
Women’s Singles (Keys vs Stephens)
Men’s Singles (Nishikori vs Sock)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Chelsea Handler vs Sock & TBD)
Tennis Channel coverage begins live at 2pm PT/5pm ET both days – check out their TV schedule here.
Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from the event will go towards the Maria Sharapova Foundation, which raises money for underprivileged kids around the world. Read more about the foundation here.
And come back to wtatennis.com this weekend for coverage from Maria Sharapova & Friends!
ATPWorldTour.com looks back on the year in the words of those who made it all happen. Here’s the wit, the wisdom (and some occasional wackiness) from today’s top players, our Top 100 Quotes of 2015. Our first installment, Nos. 1-50:
1. “It’s the best year of my life, no question about it.” — Novak Djokovic
2. “Once you find that peace, that place of peace and quiet, harmony and confidence, that’s when you start playing your best.” — Roger Federer
3. “You don’t play someone’s reputation.” — John Millman on the prospect of facing Roger Federer in Brisbane
4. “I’m always sort of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘That’s who I have to compare myself to: to myself.’” — Milos Raonic
5. “My brother is telling me that ‘Anything is Pospisil’ is trending on Twitter. That’s always nice to hear.” — Vasek Pospisil
6. “I feel more comfortable living in Japan. They have much better food.” — Kei Nishikori
7. “It’s important to know your limitations as a player so you don’t pull off shots that are totally stupid.” — Roger Federer
8. “I like all the surfaces, to be honest. I don’t discriminate any of them.” — Grigor Dimitrov
9. “Pressure is part of what we do. It’s always present.” — Novak Djokovic
10. “I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn’t a prodigy. I’m a late-bloomer. Whatever happens, I’m proud of what I’ve done.” — John Isner
11. “I was assured that it’s gluten-free, it’s not processed, completely organic and natural and I could eat it.” — Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic on the Centre Court grass at the All England Club
12. “Nobody had ever touched a tennis racquet in my family, so it was a sign of destiny. God and life have arranged things for me to play this sport.” — Novak Djokovic
13. “Was the guy from One Direction here?” — Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Queen’s Club
14. “One thing I do have is guts. I will go for it. My whole life is about perseverance, just trying to find a way to succeed. Sometimes the chips are against you; sometimes they fool you.” — Leander Paes
15. “Scared? I don’t like this word. I don’t like to say we have fear. There are moments when it’s more difficult than others when we are looking for solutions, but we are not scared. We are not afraid.” — Gael Monfils
16. “From when you walk onto the court, you start every match as equal.” — Andy Murray
17. “It’s this crazy number. It’s just so long and it looks so good, looks so great, so grand and everything. Now we’re on to 2,000, right?” — Roger Federer, who reached the 1,000-win milestone in Brisbane
18. “Twenty-seven titles: Brugnon, Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet — oh là là.” — Pierre-Hughes Herbert on France’s legendary Four Musketeers, who combined for 27 Grand Slam doubles championships
19. “I love the back-against-the-wall situation.” — Lleyton Hewitt
20. “I’ve won much more than I ever dreamed.” — Rafael Nadal
21. “I don’t like revenge. It doesn’t come from positive emotion.” — Novak Djokovic
22. “I won’t be turning into Novak anytime soon.” — John Isner on his return game
23. “I have two lives, and all the problems I might have, I feel like I drop them once I step on to the match court.” — Roger Federer
24. “‘If’ doesn’t exist in sport.” — Rafael Nadal
25. “You go through the pain barrier out there on the court.” — Lleyton Hewitt
26. “Try your best. Fight hard until the last point. That’s all that you can do on the court.” — Tomas Berdych
27. “There are no shortcuts. Play your best tennis, give your heart out and anything can happen.” — Grigor Dimitrov
28. “You cannot shy away from entering the long, grueling points and moving your opponent side to side and him doing the same with you. If you’re scared of that, you won’t go very far.” — Roger Federer
29. “It’s simple: just keep fighting and keep believing; try not to show weakness out there.” — John Isner
30. “Success is being happy. It’s not about winning every single tournament.” — Andy Murray
31. “When you win, when you lose, it’s not because of the racquet. Never. It’s because of yourself.” — Rafael Nadal
32. “Tennis is a funny sport sometimes; you can be up winning, and all of a sudden it can change with one shot.” — Bernard Tomic
33. “I’m not trying to be anyone else. I’m just myself.” — Nick Kyrgios
34. “I’m a country boy. I always wanted to play on the big courts. That was my dream. Now I’m living that dream.” — Sam Groth
35. “Tennis is an extremely difficult sport.” — Andy Murray
36. “In this sport you always can fall down.” — Rafael Nadal
37. “The serve is the only thing you know about yourself when you play tennis. Nobody can touch you when you serve. Nobody can disturb you. You have the ball in hand.” — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
38. “If you enjoy the sport, respect the game, the game will give back to you.” — Bernard Tomic
39. “For me, a finalist trophy is not the same. Everybody knows that.” — Roger Federer
40. “We shouldn’t spend too many words about him. We all know how good he is. He’s the greatest ever.” — Novak Djokovic on Roger Federer
41. “Sometimes you make mistakes, but it’s important to get out of those crisis times as soon as possible.” — Novak Djokovic
42. “Let’s make another 500, you know? Let’s try to chase Roger now.” — Tomas Berdych after winning his 500th career match in Dubai
43. “Every day is a different day. Every day is a chance for me to improve.” — Rafael Nadal
44. “You can lose concentration at any time in a match. We, as humans, do that all the time, and it’s really about how quickly you can get it back.” — Andy Murray
45. “He does everything the best. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on.” — John Isner on Novak Djokovic
46. “The game is bigger than any athletes we’ve ever had.” — Roger Federer
47. “You are the hunted one.” — Novak Djokovic on life at No. 1
48. “Sometimes your game is not there.” — Grigor Dimitrov
49. “It’s not so simple to just stay in the moment and trust your game and your strength that you can turn it around.” — Roger Federer
50. “I believe in old-school hard work.” — Roger Federer
– Serena the Superhero: espnW and Marvel Comics collaborated on this project to turn 25 women into superheroes. Serena Williams is included as Super Galactic Slam.
– Han Xiyun wins the Australian Open wildcard: Han defeated Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-0, on Sunday to win the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff, earning a main draw wildcard at the Australian Open in January.
– Drama defined the 2015 WTA Season: Christopher Clarey for The New York Times takes a closer look at how the 2015 season played out for the women.
“I just thought it was a really good year for women’s tennis,” said Pam Shriver, a former star who is now an ESPN analyst. “A lot of it had to do with Serena, but there were also some other really interesting runs. In a lot of the big events, I thought the women matched the men’s story lines or even bettered them for the first time in many years.”
– Caroline Wozniacki goes Ballin’: First Eugenie Bouchard, now Caroline Wozniacki. Ballers is really picking up the tennis cameos:
Ballin on set with the #Ballers today!???Thank you guys for having me!! @therock #andygarcia @robcorddry pic.twitter.com/JiBQX0lRRV
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) December 7, 2015
– The evolution of on-court coaching: Pat Cash talks to Darren Cahill (Simona Halep), Sam Sumyk (Garbiñe Muguruza) and Rob Steckley (Lucie Safarova) about on-court coaching and how its best optimized for the players.
– Cross-training with Kvitova: Petra Kvitova is doing a little bit of everything to get ready for the 2016 season:
Swimming in the afternoon. How do we look?! ? pic.twitter.com/R9JwB5BTQE
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) December 6, 2015
– Calling all Arrested Development fans: Will Arnett will team up with Maria Sharapova at the Maria Sharapova and Friends event this weekend.
Comedian @arnettwill & @MariaSharapova vs @chelseahandler & @andyroddick in #MariaAndFriends Sat, Dec 12 @UCLA. pic.twitter.com/waDOgIzt1B
— IMG Tennis (@IMGTennis) December 5, 2015
– Get them shiny, Nick Kyrgios: Belinda Bencic gets the treatment before a recent IPTL match for the Singapore Slammers.
Now we know who's the boss here: @BelindaBencic. pic.twitter.com/zzFizb58Yq
— Aliny Calejon (@alcalejon) December 6, 2015