SuperDuper-Tennis Archive

Thursday, April 30, 2009

April 29,30 - Breaking News (Tennis.com)

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | Posted by SuperDuper | | Edit Post
Last updated on 4/29/2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Kamakshi Tandon

The TickerFederer, who won his opening match 6-4, 6-4 against Ivo Karlovic, on how the rain in Rome has affected the courts:

"It’s tough to kind of maintain those courts with the rain. There's always the occasional bad bounce and you've got to live with that.

"The ground underneath is harder so there is less clay, because there seems like a concrete almost under it, and then you have the clay on top which makes it slippery. In Monaco or Hamburg, probably Madrid as well, you just have clay and surfaces that when they get wet you can dig in. Here it seems not possible and that's why if it's nice weather the ball can bounce really high."

The TickerPost-match reaction from Andy Murray, who lost his opening match in Rome to Juan Monaco: "Conditions changed a lot during the match... Maybe when the courts dried out he was able to dictate more of the points.

"It wasn't my best but I was still very close to winning. I've found ways of coming through when I haven't been playing my best early in tournaments this year. On the clay, that's something that I need to try and work out a little bit more. But I’m not going to be too disappointed.

"I'm playing with new racquets this week -- the same weight and balance but it's just always when you get new racquets it takes time. You have to string them three or four times before they come out the right way because the grommets are new."

The TickerVictoria Azarenka exits 6-4, 6-3 to Gisela Dulko in Stuttgart.

The TickerMarion Bartoli on her academic talents: "I think I was really good at everything. Okay, it’s a little too much to say this but really, you should see my marks. I’d get 19 out of 20 in maths or 18 out of 20 in French.

"Everything was so easy. I would read a page and know it by heart already. It’s just like a gift, and I was lucky to be able to work like this because it gave me time for tennis.

"Everyone was telling me it was better if I just come back to school and my studies and not [do] sports, because I was just not at the level. But that just gave me the challenge. I said, 'Okay, everything at school is coming very easily,' and maybe it was too easy for me. I like to go for more challenging stuff, so I said, 'You think I can’t do it? I’m going to show you that I can.'"

The TickerAndy Murray goes down to Juan Monaco 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in his opening match at Rome.

The TickerRichard Gasquet wins an all-French battle against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(2), 6-4 in the first round of Rome. Schedule delays caused by rain mean that Gasquet will play a second match, against Ernests Gulbis, later on Wednesday.

The TickerBarbara Schett and Joshua Eagle became first-time parents this week with the birth of a son, Noah. Eagle, 35, and Schett, 32, both former pros, were married in 2007.

The TickerThe WTA Board of Directors will look at both internal and external candidates to fill the CEO position vacated by Larry Scott, reports the SportsBusiness Journal. An executive search firm has been hired to find prospective external candidates.

The TickerGuillermo Coria has announced his retirement. "I didn't feel like competing anymore," he said. "I'm very happy with the decision I've taken since I have new projects and I will be able to spend more time with my family."

During one stretch between 2003 and 2004, the Argentine won 48 out 50 matches on clay, including two titles in Hamburg and one in Monte Carlo, as well as Sttutgart, Kitzbuhel and Sopot back-to-back in the summer of 2003.

Despite his claycourt prowess, however, "El Mago" never managed to capture the French Open. He was upset by surprise Dutchman Martin Verkerk in the 2003 semifinals and suffered a heartbreaking loss against countryman Gaston Gaudio in the 2004 final, letting slip a two-set lead and two match points in the fifth set.

He was never quite the same again, also suffering a shoulder injury in 2006 that decimated his serve and kept him off the tour for a year. He played sparingly thereafter. The 27-year-old has played only once this season, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Harel Levy at the Bangkok challenger.

"In 2005 I began to feel less and less like competing," he said. "My passion just wasn't the same and it's impossible to do things well when it's like that. In this sport, you have to be at 100 percent."

The TickerDinara Safina convincingly wins her first match as No. 1, defeating Sara Errani 6-0, 6-1 in 51 minutes. "It was a good match but I can play much better," said Safina.

The TickerTommy Robredo comes back from a set and two breaks down to defeat Marat Safin 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in the first round of Rome.

"He was leading 6-2, 4-1, 30-0 with serve, which is nearly the end of the match," said Robredo. "But suddenly I just won a couple of points and then I could break him in that game. Then he was serving 5-4 and I saw that the first point he did a double fault, so I did my best all the time and finally I broke him and won the tiebreak, which was really close.

"Obviously when I won the second set I thought that it was my time right now, because I know Marat. When things like that happen to him, maybe sometimes it's tough for him to keep playing the same level."

The TickerMarcos Baghdatis loses 6-4, 6-1 to Lukasz Kubot in the first round of the Ostrava challenger.

The TickerMaria Sharapova has pulled out of Rome and Madrid, still continuing her recovery from shoulder surgery last year.

The TickerThe Victoria Supreme Court in Australia has heard an application by Lleyton Hewitt's legal team to have the financial arm of his previous management company, Octagon, added to his countersuit against the agency.

Octagon had earlier filed a lawsuit accusing Hewitt of breaching his contract, claiming the company was entitled to a bigger portion of his earnings from 2000 onwards. Hewitt is countersuing, alleging that Octagon mismanaged his funds.

During the hearing, said News Corp. reports, Hewitt's lawyer told the judge that the former world No. 1 had suffered a "loss of proper return on investments held." Octagon's legal representatives said Hewitt had put significant amounts of money in German and Swiss banks and withdrawn AU$2 million in personal expenses in 2003.

Hewitt and the agency severed ties at the end of 2004, but his 2005 and 2006 earnings from previously-negotiated contracts are also part of the dispute.
Blogger Social Bookmark Gadget

0 comments:

Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blogger Template created with Artisteer by SuperDuper.

Become SD-Privy Member and see the difference... SD-Privy Membership!

X