Clezar Defence Downs Albot At 2015 Challenger Finals
Clezar Defence Downs Albot At 2015 Challenger Finals
Canadian makes online announcement
Milos Raonic announced on Thursday that he and Ivan Ljubicic will no longer be working together. The Canadian, No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has been working with the former No. 3 for over two years.
Raonic shared the news on his personal Instagram account:
“I wanted to take a moment to reflect. On a year full of many tough challenges, the biggest being myself. In 2015 I faced my biggest challenges yet, in regards to my health. My team, family, loved ones, supporters and fans have stood by me strong through the toughest of these moments and for that I am grateful. Thank you!
I have learned many important lessons throughout this year. Many of which I am sure will assist me in achieving my goals. I have plenty of challenges ahead of and hard work that I look forward to thriving in.
Looking forward to 2016, a year that I believe I can make big strides towards my goals and to the ambitions that I would like to fulfill.
I’d like to thank Ivan Ljubicic for the tremendous amount of support, knowledge and understanding he has given me. The decision has been made that we will not continue our professional relationship in the upcoming year, we will remain close friends and I would like to wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
As for the rest of my team, we will continue charging toward our goals. Training hard, training smart.
I can’t wait to be back competing.
Much gratitude,
Milos”
Raonic will kick off his 2016 season at the ATP World Tour 250 event in Brisbane.
No sooner had Serena Williams got her hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish than the focus of the tennis world immediately switched to the US Open and the quest for that elusive Calendar Year Grand Slam.
Once in New York, everything appeared to be going to plan for Williams, who cleared the opening five hurdles with increasing confidence. Meanwhile her principal rivals were falling like dominos. When No.2 seed Simona Halep lost to Flavia Pennetta in the first semifinal, Williams’ path to the title appeared clear. However, her own final four foe, Roberta Vinci, had not read the script.
When Vinci stepped onto Arthur Ashe the crowd was unequivocally not on her side. Two hours and one heart-warming interview later, it was eating out of the palm of her hand.
By the time she handed the microphone back to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi following her stunning upset of the World No.1, any animosity felt towards Vinci had completely dissipated. Won over by her gallant display on the court and charmed by her effervescent personality off it, Flushing Meadows had a new darling.
In her four previous encounters with Williams, Vinci had failed to win a set. Expectation levels going into their fifth meeting were low. So much so that in a candid post-match press conference the Italian even confessed that she had booked her flight home to coincide with the final.
This move appeared a prescient one when the World No.43 dropped a one-sided first set, but as the contest wore on belief started to course through her veins. After ending one marvelous exchange midway through the final set by poking away a volley, she cupped a hand to one ear, imploring the Arthur Ashe faithful to put their partisanship to one side. By the time she crossed the finishing line a couple of games later they had.
“That a lot of the public were for her is normal,” Vinci said. “But the crowd was amazing all match. Also, for me at the end, a lot of them were supporting me too, no? It was a nice feeling!”
The magnitude of the achievement was not lost on Vinci, who was appearing in the last four of a major for the first time. She also became just the eighth player ranked outside the Top 40 to beat a World No.1 at a major.
“For me it’s an amazing moment. It’s incredible. I have so many things in my mind right now! It was an incredible match. I lost the first set, but I still tried to stay aggressive. In the end I was serving and it felt impossible, but I tried to stay focused and not think about the match or Serena’s incredible play.
“It’s the best moment of my life.”
HERNING, Denmark – With 7,000 home fans cheering her on, Caroline Wozniacki outdid World No.1 and good friend Serena Williams to win the Energi Denmark Champions Battle on Thursday night.
Wozniacki, who has beaten Williams before in WTA-level competition – at Miami in 2012 – conjured up that magic again, her rock solid baseline game helping her to a 6-3, 6-4 win at the exhibition.
“It was such a great thing to play in front of my home crowd here in Herning, and at the same time to play against a great champion and a good friend,” Wozniacki said afterwards. “I hope very much to be able to play in Denmark again in the future. It’s been a great pleasure to come and play here.”
“It’s been so nice to see Caroline’s home country again,” Williams, who played Ana Ivanovic at the exhibition event last year, said. “I’ve enjoyed my stay and the nice, friendly Danish people I got to meet.
“And playing in front of the Danish tennis fans again was nice, even though I didn’t win!”
Wozniacki didn’t just win the exhibition, she also pocketed a Shamballa bracelet worth 100,000 Danish krones (just over $14,000). The bracelet was on display during the pair’s media day on Wednesday.
And here are a bunch of pics from Thursday night’s big match, all courtesy of Claus Frederiksen:
All week we’ve been counting down the 50 most clicked on players on wtatennis.com this year. We covered 50 to 41 on Monday, 40 to 31 on Tuesday, 30 to 21 on Wednesday and 20 to 11 on Thursday, and we’re finally at the countdown of all countdowns – the Top 10 Most Popular Players Of 2015.
So let’s get right into it, and right now – here are your Top 10 Most Popular Players Of 2015!
10] Venus Williams (USA)
The former No.1 had a renaissance year, winning three WTA titles – including her two biggest in five years at Wuhan and Zhuhai – and finishing at No.7 on the year-end rankings. She’s No.10 here.
9] Petra Kvitova (CZE)
The Czech won three WTA titles in 2015 – including the Premier Mandatory in Madrid, where she became the only player to beat Serena Williams in straight sets this year. She’s No.9 here.
8] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
It was a breakthrough year for Muguruza, the finals of Wimbledon and a phenomenal Asian swing taking her all the way to No.3 on the year-end rankings. She was the eighth-most clicked on player.
7] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Always one of the most popular players on the tour, Wozniacki – who finished in the Top 20 for the eighth straight year this year – is actually 10 spots higher on this countdown (No.17 to No.7).
6] Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
Another one of the tour’s most popular names, Ivanovic – whose season was highlighted by her first Grand Slam semifinal in seven years in Paris – is 10 spots higher here as well (No.16 to No.6).
5] Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
And then there’s Bouchard – after reaching the semifinals or better at three of the four majors and peaking at No.5 in the world in 2014, the Canadian was the fifth-most clicked on player in 2015.
4] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
The four-time WTA Fan Favorite Of The Year winner revived her game in the fall, winning three titles – including the WTA Finals – and she’s one spot higher than her year-end ranking here (No.5 to No.4).
3] Maria Sharapova (RUS)
Another banner year for Sharapova – her eighth Top 4 finish, ninth Top 5 finish and 10th Top 10 finish – and, as always, she’s one of the most-clicked on players on wtatennis.com, this year No.3.
2] Serena Williams (USA)
The World No.1 had another historic year, winning three more Grand Slam titles to bring her career haul to 21, just one short of the Open Era record. She finished second on this countdown, though…
1] Simona Halep (ROU)
And for the second year in a row, the one and only Simona Halep – who had her best ever season, finishing at No.2 on the year-end WTA Rankings – was the most clicked on player on wtatennis.com.
Thank you for counting down with us and stay tuned throughout the off-season for more WTA fun!
Inigo Cervantes and Guido Pella continued their strong run of form less than a week after squaring off for the Montevideo title.
Cervantes qualified for the semi-finals from Group A at the ATP Challenger Tour Finals, while Pella advanced to the last four from Group B. The top seeded Argentine downed the Spaniard for his fourth title of the year Sunday in Montevideo.
Cervantes opened proceedings on Thursday in Sao Paulo with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Paolo Lorenzi. The 25 year old, who recently entered the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time, upset top seed Lorenzi in one hour and 36 minutes. He fired five aces, converting on all four break points, while saving six of seven faced. It was his 47th match win of the season – tied for the fifth most in a single season in ATP Challenger Tour history.
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“You have to believe that you can win every match because if you don’t enter the court with positive thoughts, it gets hard,” said Cervantes. “I felt much better today than yesterday. The first match is always more complicated. I served better today, felt a little bit more calm during the whole match.
“Tomorrow it’s a double edged-sword. It’s a dangerous match because he has nothing to lose tomorrow. I have to try to play my game and I would like to reach the semis with three victories.”
At 2-0 in Group A, Cervantes will be joined by either Lorenzi or Daniel Munoz-de la Nava in the semis. World No. 87 Munoz-de la Nava moved to 1-1 with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Farrukh Dustov in the first match of the day. Seventh seed Dustov is eliminated from semi-final contention, falling to 0-2 in round robin play.
Lorenzi is set to battle Munoz-de la Nava in a winner take all clash. It will be the seventh encounter between the two 33 year olds. Lorenzi leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-1, with wins in qualifying at Roland Garros 2009 and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami two years later. He won their lone meeting in 2015 in the Cortina Challenger semi-finals.
“The opponent was completely different from the first match,” Munoz-de la Nava said. “Dustov is a hard court player, with a great serve and quick points. Inigo serves really well, but we played long points.
“Everytime I play Paolo the matches are long and tough. He has won most of them, but I’m going to try to play well.”
Group B Down To The Wire
Pella stopped eighth seeded wild card and local favourite Guilherme Clezar 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 31 minutes to move to 2-0 in Group B. The Argentine saved all five break points faced.
Pella improved to 45-13 on the year, extending his win streak to seven straight.
“I’m really happy,” Pella said. “That was the goal, winning the first two matches. I had some help from Albot. Tomorrow I’m going to give it all to advance without losing a match. Marco has nothing to lose, so it won’t be easy
“This was my best match here. He played a great first set, but I think I played extremely well too. It was really tough, it always is against Guilherme, because he is good on both wings and also serves great.”
A spot in the semi-finals will be on the line when Radu Albot faces Clezar on Friday. Sixth seed Albot rallied past Marco Cecchinato 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, overcoming eight aces from the Italian. Cecchinato is eliminated with the loss.
“I played him before,” said Albot, who became the first Moldovan to enter the Top 100 earlier this year. “He’s also very good on clay, but he has not played that many tournaments in the last few weeks. Maybe he’s not in his best moment right now as I am. But I just kept fighting and pushing the ball in the court
“I never played against Clezar. But he’s playing home, playing well. I saw his match against Cecchinato. Very aggressive player with good hands. Usually we say ‘when you play home, the balls help you, you know?’. So I hope the balls will not help him tomorrow.”
2008 US Open finalist Jelena Jankovic may have finished outside the Top 20 for only the third time in 10 years, but the former No.1 still had some highly impressive results that kept her in the conversation into the very last week of the year, finishing second in her round robin group at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
“I mean, anyone can win,” she said after her win over nemesis Sara Errani. “The competition is so tough these days that anyone can win on a certain day. Those players are playing so well that it’s just a matter of, you know, here and there little bits that make a difference.”
A 2010 champion at the BNP Paribas Open, Jankovic made her first splash of the season in Indian Wells, where she reached the final over a slew of WTA Rising Stars in Lauren Davis, Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys, and Belinda Bencic. Recovering from a set down to defeat 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in the semis, the Serb had chances to serve for the title against then-World No.3 Simona Halep, but ultimately fell to the inspired Romanian in three sets.
“I could sigh again,” Jankovic said after opening her runner-up press conference with a deep exhale. “I could sigh a couple more times. I mean, where to begin? I mean, overall it was a great final and we both fought so hard. We were grinding from the first point.”
A solid stretch during the grass court season brought her into her only Grand Slam second week of 2015, but in this case, quality is even more memorable than quantity. Soldiering through a pair of grueling three-setters over Russians Elena Vesnina and Evgeniya Rodina – winning a 10-8 final set against the former – Jankovic battled back from the brink against defending champion Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships to upset the No.2 seed, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
“I cannot stop smiling. I’m really, really happy,” she said after the July 4th victory. “I don’t know how to explain.
“It’s a really big win for me, especially playing on Centre Court against a two‑time champion, Wimbledon champion. I was just happy to be playing and competing on grass. Grass is not my favorite surface. And Petra plays so well on it. I think it’s her favorite surface. It shows by winning two Wimbledon titles.”
For much of the second half of the season, the Serb’s best results came in Asia. A run through a WTA 125K Series tournament in Nanchang propelled her into the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open, where she beat Keys and two more WTA Rising Stars in Karolina Pliskova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova before running out of gas to Halep.
Despite a disappointing day at the US Open, Jankovic nonetheless returned to Asia in search of better results, which she earned with titles in Guangzhou – beating rival Svetlana Kuznetsova and WTA Rising Star Denisa Allertova en route – and Hong Kong, where she ended Venus Williams’ chances to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and avenged a loss to Angelique Kerber from a few weeks prior in Wuhan.
With plenty of match wins under her belt – 41 to be exact – the veteran proved she can still compete with the best of the best, and will likely be dangerous and looming in 2016.
Some of the biggest WTA stars – including Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard and Victoria Azarenka – tweeted up a storm on Thanksgiving on Thursday. Here are 15 of the very best.
The draw for Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, 2-6 December has been made, with Tim Henman and James Blake set to clash in the round-robin stages.
Henman and Blake both reached a peak ranking of No.4 in the world, and met just once in their professional careers, with Henman winning 6-3, 6-3 in Canada in 2002. They will clash for a second time at the Royal Albert Hall in the evening session on Wednesday 2nd December. Younes El Aynaoui completes the group. Wednesday will also see the introduction of Davis Cup hero Jamie Murray, who is due to play in doubles matches in both the afternoon and evening sessions.
Last year’s champion Fernando Gonzalez has been drawn in Group B against Sebastian Grosjean and Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse. The winner of each group will clash in the ATP Champions Tour Final on the afternoon of Sunday December 6th.
The event will also feature a series of Legends exhibition matches headlined by seven-time Grand Slam Champion and Royal Albert Hall favourite John McEnroe. The American will face off against old rival Mats Wilander on Thursday evening before taking on flamboyant Frenchman Henri Leconte in the Sunday evening session. Every session also includes a doubles match, and the ever-popular Mansour Bahrami will return, along with the 1987 Wimbledon Champion, Pat Cash.
On Saturday 5th December, Tie Break Tens will launch. A new, exciting format of quick-fire tennis, Tie Break Tens will be headlined by World No.2 Andy Murray. He is joined by Henman, Davis Cup team-mate Kyle Edmund and World No.7 David Ferrer. A fifth player is still be announced, and a sixth will qualify from the Champions Tennis field. Each of the ten matches at Tie Break Tens will be contested over a first-to-ten-point tie-break. The six-man field will be drawn into two groups of three players, using a round-robin format. The top two players in each group will go through to the semifinals, with the winner taking away a cheque for $250,000.
There will also be a number of new initiatives for the crowd to enjoy on and off the court at this year’s Champions Tennis. The tournament will feature ‘Aegon Crowd Call’ for the first time; a new, unique line-calling system where spectators hold up cards which read ‘in’ or ‘out’. Saturday afternoon will be ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ where, as well as being encouraged to wear their loudest Christmas knitwear, visitors will enjoy a jazz band. There will be player autograph sessions in the public areas each day.
Spectators arriving on Saturday morning can upgrade to a Family Advantage Pack where kids can get tips from players, enjoy Santa’s Grotto and find out about ‘Miss-Hits’ from Judy Murray. Kids can also have their faces and nails painted, hair braided, and experience the magical world of ‘George and the Ice Cream Castle’.
FULL ORDER OF PLAY*
ATP Champions Tour Singles
Group A Blake, El Aynaoui, Henman
Group B Gonzalez, Grosjean, Malisse
Wednesday 2nd December
At 1.30pm Gonzalez v Malisse
Larsson/Leconte v Murray/Wilander
At 7.30pm Blake v Henman
Grosjean /Murray v El Aynaoui/Pernfors
Thursday 3rd December
At 1.30pm Grosjeanv Gonzalez
Cash/Larsson v El Aynaoui/Leconte
At 7.30pm McEnroe v Wilander
Bahrami/Malisse v Henman/Pernfors
Friday 4th December
At 1.30pm Grosjean v Malisse
Bahrami/Larsson v Pernfors/Wilander
Tie Break Tens Qualifier Blake v Malisse
At 7.30pm Blake v El Aynaoui
Tie Break Tens Qualifier El Aynaoui v Gonzalez
Cash/Grosjean v Gonzalez/Leconte
Saturday 5th December
At 1.00pm El Aynaoui v Henman
Tie Break Tens Qualifier Finals
Bahrami/McEnroe v Cash/Pernfors
LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
At 6.00pm Tie Break Tens – Andy Murray, Tim Henman, David Ferrer, Kyle Edmund, a qualifier and one player TBC
LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
Sunday 6th December
At 11.45am ATP Champions Tour Final
Bahrami/TBC v Pernfors/TBC
At 4.00 pm Leconte v McEnroe
Cash/TBC v Larsson/Wilander
*All timings may be subject to change and are dependent on the length of play. The Management reserves the right to alter the order of play at any time.
Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall is the season-finale of the ATP Champions Tour and is played over five days, with two sessions each day – one in the afternoon, one in the evening, with a mixture of singles and doubles matches.
Champions Tennis has enjoyed record ticket sales for 2015 and the last remaining tickets are available from £23.50 at www.royalalberthall.com/tennis or by calling the Royal Albert Hall box office on +44 (0) 20 7070 4404. Hospitality packages are available via www.championstennis.co.uk/hospitality/ or by calling +44 (0) 20 8233 5854.
For more information about Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, go to www.championstennis.co.uk
For more information about Tie Break Tens, go to www.tiebreaktens.com