Karlovic FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016
Karlovic FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016
Jul122016
Americans Kozlov, Baker also advance on Tuesday
Sixth seed Adrian Mannarino won 122 points in his first-round match at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport on Tuesday. His opponent, Aussie wild card James Duckworth, won 124.
But in tennis, not all points are created equal, and it was the 28-year-old Frenchman who won the biggest points to move into the second round 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-6(4).
The two-hour and 35-minute match was about as close as they come. Both players lost their serve exactly four times. But in the two set tie-breaks that Mannarino won, he suffered exactly one less mini-break than Duckworth. The left-handed Mannarino also took full advantage of the two opportunities he had to serve out the tie-breaks.
He next will face Aussie Sam Groth, who hit 23 aces to beat Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny 7-6(2), 6-4.
American wild card Stefan Kozlov earned his third ATP World Tour match win with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over German veteran Benjamin Becker. The 17 year old next will face countryman Donald Young.
Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic swept American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4. Dancevic’s reward for winning three consecutive matches, including qualifying? A second-round match-up with big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, a two-time Newport finalist.
In a battle of Aussies, John-Patrick Smith got the better of Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4. In the second round, Smith will face 34-year-old Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, who prevailed against American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 7-6(6).
Brian Baker won the all-American battle against Austin Krajicek 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. “It’s just one of those matches where you just have to compete pretty hard and take advantage of some break points when you get them,” said Baker, who saved five of six break points and converted three.
The 31-year-old qualifier, who’s had 11 surgeries since 1999, will face fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis in the second round for the first time. Baghdatis, who made the quarter-finals on the grass in Halle and Nottingham, is making his Newport debut.
In doubles, Baker teamed up with Wimbledon doubles semi-finalist Rajeev Ram to sweep Young and South African Dean O’Brien 6-3, 7-5 in 62 minutes. Fourth seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan, both of India, advanced with a 2-6, 6-3 10-6 win against Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic and American John Paul Fruttero.
Read More: Baker Hopes For More Good Memories In Savannah
The richest purse in the history of tennis will be on offer at this year’s US Open.
Prize money for the event will be $46.3m (£35m) – an increase of $4m (£3m) on the 2015 event.
Both the men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $3.5m (£2.6m) – a record payout for the tournament, which runs from 29 August to 11 September.
The average increase per round for the singles competition is 10% above the 2015 US Open.
World No. 156 Daniel Gimeno Traver caused an upset on Tuesday in Hamburg in the first round of the German Tennis Championships 2016 as he defeated second seed Benoit Paire 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
The Spaniard recorded his first tour-level win since April and sixth of the season as he saved 14 of the 21 break points he faced to topple Paire in two hours and nine minutes on centre court.
Seventh seed Martin Klizan avoided an upset as he rallied from the loss of the second set to beat Igor Sijsling 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes. After struggling with injuries to his right foot and neck, the No. 47-ranked Klizan claimed his first tour-level win since capturing the biggest title of his career at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Rotterdam (d. Monfils).
Stephane Robert ousted 2014 Hamburg champion Leonardo Mayer 7-6(3), 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes. But there was success for Argentine Mayer’s countryman, Renzo Olivo, who defeated Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes.
Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Heather Watson says she is keen to team up with partner Henri Kontinen again after the Olympic Games in Rio.
The 24-year-old won the title with Finn Kontinen, 26, on Sunday having not played together before the event.
“I loved every second of playing with him and we just gel and get along so well,” Watson told BBC Radio Guernsey.
“The only thing that would really stop us is the rankings, in being able to get into the draw.”
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Watson went out in the first round of the singles to Annika Beck after failing to convert three match points in a dramatic final set.
In the mixed doubles the pair received two walkovers before beating defending champions Martina Hingis and Leander Paes in round three.
“I had great partners in both doubles and mixed doubles to lift me up and I ended up playing really well in both, so I’m glad I stuck with it,” she added.
“Henri said as soon as we won our first match he thought we’d win it and I thought, ‘you know what, me too.”
Next up for the Guernsey player is the Olympics in August with Watson one of four players confirmed to represent Great Britain in Brazil.
“It’s been a big goal of mine and I’ve been talking about it a lot,” she said.
“It was big for me to make the cut to get in and be able to play in Rio, so now that I’m going I can’t wait.”
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Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles champion Alfie Hewett has revealed that he forgot the winning rally of their final.
The 18-year-old won his first Grand Slam title along with Gordon Reid.
The second seeds came from a set behind to beat top seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 4-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6).
“I actually had to re-watch the match point because I just couldn’t remember what had happened,” Hewett told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“One of the players asked what was the rally like at match point and I couldn’t answer them, I just couldn’t remember what had happened – it was an insane moment.
“Thoughts start coming in your head about winning two or three points before, you’ve just got to try to keep as calm as possible.”
Despite his success, Hewett was asked if he would rather be a Wimbledon champion or watch his team Norwich City win at Wembley? “Wembley, all day long.”
As a triple Grand Slam champion who says he feels “more motivated than ever”, Andy Murray may just have triggered the second golden period of his career.
Winning two Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal in the space of 12 months, as he did during the summers of 2012 and 2013, will be an exceptionally difficult trick to reproduce. But he appears to have time on his side.
Murray will turn 30 next May. Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg did not win a single Grand Slam between them after entering their fourth decade, but players like Murray and Novak Djokovic – who is just seven days younger than the Briton – seem to have the attributes required to extend their winning years.
Fitness is one major element, and the back surgery Murray had in September 2013 has enabled him to expand his game on all surfaces. Another is desire, which cannot be taken for granted.
“Before I won Wimbledon in 2013, I was unbelievably motivated to win it,” Murray told BBC Sport as he reflected on his second All England Club title.
“But then after I won there, I didn’t quite know where to go or what I was trying to do. It felt like this was all I was meant to do, really.”
The extreme motivation required has now returned – thanks to his daughter Sophia, and his lifelong rival.
Losing three Grand Slam finals to world number one Djokovic in 18 months, and becoming a father who really would like his daughter to remember him playing at the highest level, has stoked his inner fire.
It is not fair to assume Murray will win more Grand Slam titles. Who, after Wimbledon 2013, thought he would have to wait three more years to add a third?
And don’t read too much into Djokovic’s third-round exit at Wimbledon. He has, after all, featured in six of the past seven Grand Slam finals – winning five of them. He is likely to arrive refreshed at the Rio Olympics and ready to do battle once more.
Between them, though, Murray and Djokovic could win the lion’s share of Grand Slam titles over the next three years.
It will be very tough for developing talents such as Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Alex Zverev to match them consistently over that timeframe – and other than beaten Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic it is hard to identify a player in his mid-twenties who has serious potential to become a multiple Grand Slam winner.
Murray’s next goal is to defend his Olympic singles title and to win a medal with brother Jamie in the doubles. He will talk to coach Ivan Lendl this week about the best way to prepare for Rio and the US Open, which follows on just two weeks later.
After losing five finals in Melbourne, Murray will feel he has a score to settle with the Australian Open – and given his performance on clay over the past two years, the French Open should also be on his bucket list.
Murray enjoys setting himself new targets as his career progresses. For most of his 11 years as a professional, he has prioritised Grand Slams over rankings, but a tilt at the world number one spot is now becoming more enticing – and more realistic.
“I’d rather set the bar as high as possible and not quite achieve it than say I’d be happy finishing at five in the world, and finishing at three,” the Wimbledon champion explained.
“I’d love to get to number one, obviously, but I think a lot of people are forgetting what Novak’s done because he lost in the third round here. The last 18 months have been unbelievable – he’s hardly lost any matches at all – so I know that if I’m going to get there, I’m going to have to win more matches against him.”
There are currently almost 5,000 ranking points between Djokovic and Murray – which is a vast margin. However, the ATP rankings are calculated over a 12-month period, and if you look only at the points amassed since the start of the year, Djokovic’s lead shrinks to 815 points.
Were Murray able to continue his rich vein of form – and go on to beat Djokovic in the final of the US Open in September – then that advantage would be cancelled out.
Game on.