Tennis News

From around the world

Croatian umpire banned for 10 years

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

A Croatian umpire who worked at the US Open despite being suspended as part of a betting investigation has been given a 10-year ban.

Denis Pitner was originally banned for a year in August for passing on details about a player’s fitness and accessing an account used for betting.

But a United States Tennis Association error meant he was able to work at Flushing Meadows for the 2015 event.

Pitner’s suspension will run until 19 April 2026.

The ban covers any officiating at Grand Slam tournaments and events organised or sanctioned by the ATP, WTA and ITF.

The suspension of Pitner and a life ban for Kazakh umpire Kirill Parfenov were revealed following a Guardian investigation earlier this year.

Despite his original ban, Pitner also successfully applied to work at the Qatar Open in Doha in January.

The announcement of his 10-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation on Tuesday also revealed he applied to work at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.

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Khachanov Shows Off Speed Barcelona 2016

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Khachanov Shows Off Speed Barcelona 2016

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Emirates ATP Rankings 18 April 2016

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Emirates ATP Rankings 18 April 2016

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Monte Carlo 2016 Players Revue

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Monte Carlo 2016 Players Revue

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Edmund Dzumhur Win In Bucharest 2016 Highlights

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Edmund Dzumhur Win In Bucharest 2016 Highlights

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Djokovic Wins 2016 Laureus Sportsman Of The Year Award

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Djokovic Wins 2016 Laureus Sportsman Of The Year Award

Serb beats five other stellar athletes for prestigious award

World No.1 Novak Djokovic was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second year in a row. The Serb was on hand in Berlin to accept his award, dedicating it to Formula One driver Niki Lauda and footballer Johan Cruyff. Djokovic topped fellow star athletes Stephen Curry, Lewis Hamilton, Usain Bolt, Jordan Spieth and Lionel Messi for the award. 

“He had a great year again,” said Djokovic’s coach Boris Becker, a Laureus Academy member. “He’s played 88 matches, has won 82, He won three out of the four Grand Slams, reached the final of the French Open, he’s won seven other tournaments. Very few players, if any, had a year like that.”

Djokovic also earned Sportsman of the Year honours in 2012, following in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal (2011) and four-time winner Roger Federer (2005-08).

He tweeted ahead of the ceremony:

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Almagro Bows Out In Barcelona Opener

  • Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Almagro Bows Out In Barcelona Opener

Gabashvili saves two match points to oust former finalist

Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili came back from the brink to overcome former finalist Nicolas Almagro 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 on Monday at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell. Almagro, the 2013 runner-up (l. to Nadal), made a first-round exit for just the second time in 13 appearances at this ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tournament.

World No. 54 Gabashvili saved two match points while serving down 3-5 in the second set and broke Almagro to love in the next game. He clinched the victory after two hours and 11 minutes as he capitalised on his seventh match point opportunity.

There were mixed results for NextGen stars on Monday. Eighteen-year-old Alexander Zverev, the 2015 ATP Star of Tomorrow presented by Emirates, dismissed fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Hyeon Chung fell to Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-4.

Another 19 year old, qualifier Karen Khachanov, went the distance to defeat Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) in two hours and four minutes. He recorded his first ATP World Tour main draw win since a quarter-final effort three years ago in Moscow.

Four-time finalist and No. 3 seed David Ferrer will start his Barcelona campaign against Radek Stepanek. The Czech qualifier, the oldest player in the main draw at 37 years of age, defeated Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 7-5.

A pair of Spaniards also advanced on the first day of main draw action. Wild card Albert Montanes beat countryman Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-3, while Inigo Cervantes advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Croatian qualifier Franko Skugor.

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Williams & Djokovic win Laureus awards

  • Posted: Apr 18, 2016

Tennis players Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were named the sportsman and woman of the year at the annual Laureus World Sports Awards.

The awards honour the most notable sporting figures and their achievements of the previous year.

Serbia’s Djokovic, 28, reached all four Grand Slam finals last year, winning three of them, while American Williams, 34, also won three.

Brazil’s Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias was disabled sportsperson of the year.

The 27-year-old, who earned seven gold medals at last year’s IPC Swimming World Championships, has now won the honour three times after landing it in 2009 and 2013.

New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks were named team of the year and their captain Dan Carter won the comeback of the year award. Carter was named man-of-the-match in the final, four years after missing the previous World Cup because of injury.

US golfer Jordan Spieth, 22, took the breakthrough of the year accolade after winning both the Masters and US Open in 2015.

German triathlete and 2015 World Ironman Champion Jan Frodeno, 34, was named action sportsperson of the year; Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, 28, was team athlete of the year – just a day after scoring his 500th career goal; and three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda, now chairman of the sport’s Mercedes team, received a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony in Berlin.

A special spirit of sport award was given posthumously to Johan Cruyff, in recognition of his work helping to deliver sport-related projects for underprivileged children around the world. The Netherlands football legend, who both played for and coached Ajax and Barcelona, died of cancer on 24 March, aged 68.

Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Edwin Moses said: “He represented everything that was good about sport.”

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Bucharest 2016 Qualifying

  • Posted: Apr 18, 2016

Bucharest 2016 Qualifying

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Nadal And Nishikori Launch Barcelona 2016 In Style

  • Posted: Apr 18, 2016

Nadal And Nishikori Launch Barcelona 2016 In Style

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