Tennis News

After working her way back into the Top 5 in the WTA rankings with her remarkable 2014 season, Ana Ivanovic got off to a less than stellar start to the year when she was ousted in the opening round of the 2015 Australian Open.

The loss came as a surprise, considering the Serbian star had reached the final of the Brisbane International two weeks prior.

“With it (Australian Open) being such a big event, and because I was in good form coming into the tournament, I did have a bit more expectation. But unfortunately things didn’t go so well in the week leading up to the tournament,” she was quoted as saying by gulfnews.com.

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It appears that Ivanovic broke her toe ahead of the tournament and was unable to get herself in peak condition ahead of the season-opening Grand Slam event.

“I broke my toe and wasn’t able to practice as much as I’d planned. I felt quite stressed and these things combined meant that I wasn’t able to play my best tennis. But my opponent, Lucie Hradecka, played a great match and she deserved to win,”

The 27-year-old Ivanovic has been a consistent player on the tour, apart from her performances at the Majors. It is an issue that she is currently aware of and keen to fix en route to a second Grand Slam title.

“I haven’t had very good results in the Grand Slams lately so I need to work on my approach. Maybe I should try something different, so I can relax more when I’m playing these big events.”

Ivanovic is scheduled to take part in the Dubai Open next week, along with the remainder of the upper echelon of the WTA rankings.

“For sure, I can’t wait to get back on the court. The season is still very young and there is a lot to play for. I am looking forward, not back,” the 2008 Australian Open finalist said.

Stan Wawrinka will look to rebound from his semi-final exit at the Australian Open, when he arrives to Rotterdam as the fourth seed of the tournament. The Swiss No. 2 will begin his campaign against local talent Jesse Huta Galung, whom he has never faced previously on the professional tour.

Follow the match live here: Wawrinka v Huta Galung

Although Wawrinka has not played in Rotterdam since 2005, he is excited to perform at the event. He trained with Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday and is prepared to play his first February indoor tournament in a decade.

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“It’s good indoor conditions. I’m happy with my level in general. I’m excited to start here.I want to win tournaments and finish at the best [Emirates ATP] Ranking. I’m hungry to be here and improve. I have to be clever with my schedule and what I’ll play this year.”

The former Aussie Open champion will meet Dutch wildcard entrant Jesse Huta Galung in his opening round match at the event. The 29-year-old is ranked at No. 248 in the ATP Rankings and will be hard-pressed to topple the fourth seed at the event.

“I’ve seen him many years, but I’ve never played or practised with him,” Wawrinka said of his upcoming opponent. “I’ll watch a few videos and talk to my coach. The Dutch always play well here, he will be pumped for the first match and he’ll be ready and dangerous.”

This marks the first time that these two competitors will meet on the ATP World Tour. Wawrinka will undoubtedly be the favourite at the event, and will be expected to close out the match in quick fashion. However, considering this is an opponent he has never played before, it is more than possible that Galung takes advantage of having nothing to lose, and push the Swiss to deep waters.

Prediction: Stan Wawrinka in Straight Sets

Following an outstanding fortnight in Melbourne, where it became clear that the British No. 1 was en route to a return to form, Andy Murray will continue his upward trend in Rotterdam, where he will look to work his way through a tough draw to lift the title. His first obstacle at the Dutch tournament will be France’s Nicholas Mahut, whom he has encountered previously on four occasions. The Scot leads the head-to-head series 3-1.

Follow the match live here: Murray v Mahut

After a humdrum 2014 season that concluded in a thrashing at the hands of Roger Federer, Andy Murray made a remarkable return to form at the start of the 2015 season when he secured a spot in the final of the Australian Open for the fourth time in his career. However, he ended up imploding in the later stages of the match, which implies that he is yet to get his emotions under control following the Lendl era.

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While Murray on blames himself for his 0-4 record in Melbourne finals, he is happy to be back playing “close to his best” and looks forward to improvements over the coming months.

“It’s pleasing to be back playing close to my best. I still feel like I can make improvements in my game. I think I can get a few percent better over the next couple of months,”

His first opponent in Rotterdam will be Nicolas Mahut, who overcame Nikoloz Basilashvili and Nadal-vanquisher Michael Berrer to reach the main draw of the event.

This marks the fifth time that Murray and Mahut will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Scot leading the head-to-head series 3-1. Murray is also 2-0 against Mahut on hard courts, although this will mark their first meeting on that surface on nearly seven years. Given the Briton’s continued rise up the ranks, and his return to form, there is little doubt that Murray should move past Mahut with relative ease.

Prediction: Andy Murray in Straight Sets

After news that a Tunisian player had suspiciously withdrawn from a tournament ahead of a potential match-up against an Israeli in the following round, the ATP World Tour has officially cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The Associated Press revealed that the ATP was satisfied with Malek Jaziri’s withdrawal, and added that he had a legitimate injury.

Jaziri, took the first set off Denis Istomin in Round 1 of the Open Sud de France. He later retired from the match after he suffered an elbow injury and called for the trainer on two occasions.

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This incident immediately took center stage, as in 2013, the Tunisian Tennis federation forced Jaziri to withdraw from am ATP Challenger match against Israeli opponent Amir Weintraub in Uzbekistan. This led to the International Tennis Federation placing a ban on Tunisia from the 2014 Davis Cup.

Here is Jaziri’s reasoning as quoted by Fédéric Bernès in l’Équipe (via @markalannixon)

“My phone is off, it’s not working. I haven’t received any orders or pressure. I’m playing Denis, he’s no piece of cake. I hadn’t looked at my next match, and even if I’d known … I got a golfer’s elbow at the Australian Open (reached the 3rd round). The travelling after, the time differences, that didn’t help. I’ve only hit the ball once in the last eight days. I took pain killers but I’m still hurting. Not so much when I hit the ball, but just after bringing the racquet back. It’s like a tendinitis in the forearm. You have to be smart in cases like this – I’ve got some big tournaments ahead in Memphis, Indian Wells, Miami and I didn’t want to run the risk of aggravating the problem. My cervical vertebrae really hurt this morning.”

Following their investigation, the ATP announced that they were fully satisfied with the Jaziri’s story, as well as that of the medical staff on duty at the time in Montpellier.

”The ATP is fully satisfied as to the legitimacy of the player’s reasons for retiring from his match due to an elbow injury,” it said. ”Accordingly, this matter is considered closed.”

On Sunday afternoon, tennis fans were lucky to witness a little bit of history; 34-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos became the oldest man to win his maiden title on the ATP World Tour.

The Dominican upset Thomaz Bellucci in the semi-final and then got through an even bigger challenge in Feliciano Lopez to lit the crown. While it was a turbulent effort, he eventually dispatched his Spanish adversary 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(5).

“The truth is that Quito has become a very special city for me,” Estrella Burgos said. “It actually already was, as I’ve won Challengers here. Today has been a very tough day for me where I was a set up, and later I lost the tie-break. In the third set I was up a break, and I didn’t manage the nerves well.

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Burgos also hit 19 aces in the final – nine over the number he needed to pass 7,000 aces in his career.

“I got a little bit nervous, but thanks to God, I relaxed a bit in the tie-break, and I was able to win the mini-break and win the match.”

The entire contest lasted two hours and 17 minutes, but Lopez believes his opponent dominated most of the encounter.

“He practically dominated the whole match,” admitted Lopez. “In the tie-break I was ahead, and then I had a very easy backhand shot that I missed and that killed me. It would have put me at 5-4 with two serves. That would have been a good opportunity, but tennis is like this.”

Following strong showings throughout the week, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Andreas Seppi will meet in the final of the Zagreb Open to crown a new champion in the Croatian tournament. While the crowd would have rather cheered on their hometown hero Marin Cilic, they will get to witness the sixth meeting between these two talented competitors. Seppi leads the head-to-head series 5-0 and will look to remain undefeated en route to his first title since 2012.

Watch the final match here: Garcia-Lopez v Seppi Live Stream

Few expected to see Marcos Baghdatis in the semi-final stage of an ATP World Tour event again, and his run came to an end at the hands of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The Spaniard defeated his Cypriot opponent 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the final in Zagreb.

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“I am really happy to be in the final,” said the World No. 33. “I didn’t start well. I was a bit nervous. Then I started to play much better with good rallies from the baseline. He made a few mistakes with his forehand which is not his best shot. I was able to break him twice at 4-4 (in both sets). I look forward to being in the final tomorrow.”

World No. 41 Andreas Seppi needed 90 minutes to conclude the second semi-final in Zagreb and defeat Marcel Granollers in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-1.

“It was not an easy match,” Seppi said. “I was a break down in the first set. We were both tight but then I managed to play much better in the second set.

“It is never easy to play a tie-break but I served really well. I was able to break immediately at the beginning of the second set and I tried to be more aggressive with my forehand. Winning in two sets is good for my confidence.”

This marks the sixth time that Seppi and Garcia-Lopez will meet on the professional tour and could turn out to be as lopsided as the head-to-head record shows. However, Garcia-Lopez has looked phenomenal this season and could swing that momentum in his favour if he continues this sort of form.

Prediction: Andreas Seppi in Three Sets

34-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos is looking to become the oldest first-time title winner on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era when he clashes with Feliciano Lopez in the final of the Ecuador Open in Quito. This marks the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Burgos leading the head to head series 1-0.

Watch the final match here: Lopez v Estrella Burgos Live Stream

Talented Spaniard Feliciano Lopez took part in a surprisingly long match – not because of the competitiveness of the encounter, but because the lights went out due to a power outage that led to a three-hour delay. However, he eventually got past Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 7-6(1) to reach the final.

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“It was a crazy match,” Lopez said. “In the first set tie-break, he made a few unforced errors with his serve, and I won the set. He was dominating the second set, I thought he had it… I had already made up my mind that I was going to play a third set, but later there were a few errors, a few good balls, and the match got balanced again. “I think that it will be a very complicated match,” Lopez added regarding the final.

Up against No. 72 ranked Thomaz Bellucci, Victor Estrella Burgos earned a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory to advance to the final of the Quito tournament.

“I think that I’ve been able to manage my emotions well,” Estrella Burgos said. “I hope that tomorrow I’ll be good physically so that I can play my game and try to win the match. I know that I have a lot of chances to win the tournament, and I’m very positive about it.”

This is undoubtedly the most intriguing final on Sunday – at least from a storyline perspective. Victor Estrella Burgos has the opportunity to win his first ever career title on the ATP World Tour, and could do so against an opponent he has already defeated previously last season. It will be interesting to see if he can get past the final obstacle this week.

“[Estrella Burgos] has been playing great. He plays very well in this conditions, and he’s been performing really well all week.”

Prediction: Feliciano Lopez in Three Sets