Tennis Frontier

Author: Owen Gigg

  • Naomi Osaka wins maiden major at the US Open amid controversy

    Naomi Osaka wins maiden major at the US Open amid controversy

    20th seed Naomi Osaka has secured the first grand slam title of her career at the US Open by defeating American Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows.

    In a match clouded with controversy, Osaka prevailed 6-2 6-4.

    Williams, bidding for a 24th major title to tie the record of Margaret Court was defaulted a game late in the second set after calling umpire Carlos Ramos a “thief” for calling a prior violation for coaching.  The other violation came courtesy of a smashed racquet.

    The crowd appeared sympathetic to Williams and boos rang out until the ceremonies. Osaka was left in tears on the podium.

    naomi osaka

     

     

  • Djokovic Claims Thirteenth Major Title At Wimbledon

    Djokovic Claims Thirteenth Major Title At Wimbledon

    Novak Djokovic put a torrid couple of years behind him to secure his fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-2 6-2 7-6(3) over South African Kevin Anderson. It was his first major since the 2016 French Open. It marked the end of a road back to form having struggled with elbow issues, confidence problems and multiple changes to his coaching entourage.

    With his young son Stefan watching from the stands, Djokovic put on businesslike performance, dominating all aspects of the encounter. It was a contrast to the battle royale he faced with Rafael Nadal in the Semi-finals on Friday.

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    Anderson threatened to extend the match in the third set with five game points but Djokovic’s will prevailed under pressure and Anderson pushed a forehand return into the net to bring an end to proceedings.

    Photo by Carine06

  • Angelique Kerber Claims First Wimbledon Title

    Angelique Kerber Claims First Wimbledon Title

    Angelique Kerber claimed her first Wimbledon title and third major with an almost flawless performance against Serena Williams.

    The 30 year old German won the encounter in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 and rarely looked pressured on the way to victory. She made only 5 unforced errors in the entire match.

    Williams, who defeated Kerber in the 2016 final had only given birth to her daughter 10 and half months ago and this match was just her fourth tournament since returning to the tour. Her finals appearance validated the decision of the Wimbledon committee who seeded her for the tournament.

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    Kerber was the first German to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf took the title in 1996 and only a French Open title leaves her short of a career Grand Slam.

     

    Photo by TennisStreaming

  • Federer Wins 98th Title In Stuttgart

    Federer Wins 98th Title In Stuttgart

    Roger Federer secured his 98th ATP title in Stuttgart with an impressive straight-sets victory over Milos Raonic of Canada 6-4 7-6(3).

    It was a first title on the grass courts of Stuttgart for Federer, who had been beaten here by Tommy Haas (2017) and Dominic Thiem (2016).

    Federer, who turns 37 in August will now travel to Halle to defend his title at the Gerry Weber Open before launching his Wimbledon campaign.

    Match Highlights:

    Post Match Interview:

    The veteran Swiss also returns to Number One in the World Rankings and spoke with the media after the match.

    It’s been a lot of fun this week. I played great in the in the big moments. I was there especially against Kyrgios and Raonic so I’m very pleased you know.

    The fans were absolutely amazing – they came up in big numbers and really supported me all week and at the end.

    I played some of my best tennis already right away you know on my comeback so it’s a great feeling.

    I’m first of all very pleased that I can go as a world number one to Halle, a place where I’ve enjoyed so much success and where I have such a close relationship to the tournament and the family and the fans over there. So I’ll be travelling there tomorrow and then get ready for my match. I think I’m playing already on Tuesday so only one day off with the travelling so it’s gonna be quite hectic you know from now till then. But no problem, I signed up for it and I can’t I can’t wait to play again actually.

    Federer was presented with a Mercedes-Benz CLS 450 4MATIC Coupe in addition to his prize money.

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    Click to discuss the Stuttgart Open in the Forum.

  • Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart Open

    Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart Open

    stuttgart open
    Credit: Mercedes Cup

    Known locally as the “Cradle of the automobile”, Stuttgart is home to Daimler, Porsche, primary sponsor Mercedes-Benz and of course, the Stuttgart Open – an ATP 250 event to herald the beginning of the grass court season.

    The tournament made the switch from clay to grass from 2015, primarily as a move to extend the grass court season. The first edition of the tournament in Stuttgart was held in 1898, with Mercedes-Benz assuming the role of title sponsor in 1979.

    An added incentive for ATP World Tour players to win the tournament? The champion takes home a new Mercedes-Benz.

    The city is the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg and ranks as the country’s sixth largest.

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    The winner of the Stuttgart Open won’t be getting a bus home. Mercedes Benz will be giving the winner a new car. Pictured is Lucas Pouille, the 2017 winner with a nice little sporting tourer – a Mercedes-Benz E 400.

    Who’s playing?

    Roger Federer is the name in highlights.  The Swiss makes his return to the pro tour after skipping the clay season for the second year running.
    Federer will be joined by 2017 winner Lucas Pouille, Nick Kyrgios, and Milos Raonic as the big contenders. Exciting youngster Denis Shapovalov and veterans Philip Kohlschreiber, Tomas Berdych and Mischa Zverev add to a strong field.

    roger_federer lucas_pouille nick_kyrgios milos_raonic philip_kohlschreiber denis_shapovalov

    Fact Flash

    Grass court king Roger Federer hasn’t enjoyed too much success in Stuttgart since it’s return to the grass court format. He lost in the 2016 semi-final against Dominic Thiem and was a first-round casualty last year against veteran Tommy Haas.

    Click to Discuss the tournament in the Tennis Frontier Forum.

     

  • Nadal Wins Record 11th French Open Title

    Nadal Wins Record 11th French Open Title

    Rafael Nadal’s unprecedented domination of the French Open continues with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over Austrian Dominic Thiem.

    Thiem, playing his first major final had the toughest assignment in tennis – beating Nadal on the hallowed dirt of Roland Garros over five sets. The Austrian entered the match with 3 previous wins on clay over Nadal, and while still a heavy underdog, was regarded as the best available contender.

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    The 25 year old Austrian made a valiant attempt but was ultimately second best in all departments as Nadal extended his grip on the Roland Garros to 11 wins.

    Nadal leaped out to a 2-0 lead before Thiem battled back with a break of his own to level the score at 2-2. The set stayed on serve until Thiem was serving at 4-5. A poor game littered with unforced errors handed Nadal the first set. Losing the first set was not a good omen for the Austrian. Nadal has a 95-0 record when capturing the opener on clay in a best of five format.

    With the first set in the bag, Nadal loosened up and won the second set fairly convincingly. The biggest test for him came early in the third set with the onset of cramp in the left thumb. A massage and a salt pill helped put him back on track to see out the match and claim another historic title. The Spaniard wrapped proceedings up in two hours and 42 minutes.

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    The win meant Nadal matched Margaret Court’s record of majors at a single event but the Spaniard’s is the more impressive. Court’s major title wins took place at the Australian Open in an era where some of the top players elected not to travel Down Under.

    The title gives Nadal a total of 17 majors, moving to within 3 of long-time rival Roger Federer. The Swiss elected to miss the clay court season and hostilities will be renewed at Wimbledon.

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    Featured Image Photo by Marianne Bevis

  • Simona Halep Wins Her Maiden Major at Roland Garros

    Simona Halep Wins Her Maiden Major at Roland Garros

    World Number One Simona Halep has secured the first grand slam title of her career at the French Open by defeating American Sloane Stephens at Roland Garros.

    In a match of momentum swings, Halep prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to take a major at her fourth attempt.

    Stephens dominated the early proceedings and led by a set and break. Ironically, this was the same situation as Halep had been in against Jelena Ostapenko during the 2017 final before losing the match. The irony was not lost on Halep.

    Halep said. “So I said there is a chance to come back and win it. So I believed in that and my game was more relaxed. I could make more things on court, and that’s why I could win.”

    “All the experience from those three finals that I lost … was a positive thing and gave me a little bit more power to believe,”

    As Halep continued to extend the rallies, Stephens began to tire.  Her unforced error count increased and her serve became less potent.

    Halep wrapped up the second set and then leaped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set before Stephens finally got on the scoreboard. The Romanian then served out the match to secure her first major title.

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    Photo by TennisStreaming

  • J&T Banka Prague Open, WTA International

    J&T Banka Prague Open, WTA International

    Stuttgart champion Karolina Pliskova has dropped out of the J&T Banka Prague Open.  Pliskova was originally drawn to play her twin sister Kristyna in the first round. This wasn’t a scenario she looking forward to, citing “our matches are terrible” and “I do not want to beat her.”

    The top seed will now be the local favourite and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

    Seeds:

    2 KVITOVA, Petra
    3 KASATKINA, Daria
    4 GAVRILOVA, Daria
    5 STRYCOVA, Barbora
    6 ZHANG, Shuai
    7 BUZARNESCU, Mihaela
    8 SINIAKOVA, Katerina
    9 SASNOVICH, Aliaksandra

    Strange but true:

    Prague hosts a graffiti wall devoted to John Lennon. Since 1980, it’s been repainted numerous times and is laced in graffiti lyrics from Lennon and The Beatles.

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    Click here to Check out the Draw and Discuss the tournament in the Tennis Frontier Forum

  • Grand Prix Der Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem – Tennis Morocco

    Grand Prix Der Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem – Tennis Morocco

    Serena Williams spoke in a recent interview with BBC Sports of bringing a WTA event to Africa.

    “I think it would be amazing. It would be so fun – the help that we could do, and the awareness and the athletes and the amazing players that would come out of Africa would just be unbelievable.”

    Serena might have overlooked the Grand Prix Der Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem, a WTA International event hosted in Morocco since 2007… or more likely she is considering an event on a larger scale.

    Either way, the Morocco Grand Prix has been flying the flag for the WTA in Africa since 2007.

    Grand Prix Der Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem - Tennis Morocco

    Hosted at the Club des Cheminots in Rabat, the tournament offers a $250,000 prize pool and while it might not attract the global superstars of women’s tennis, it does attract some well-known faces from the tour. Elise Mertens (1) and Dominika Cibulkova (2) head the field this year.

    Seeds:

    1 Elise Mertens
    2 Dominika Cibulkova
    3 Petra Martic
    4 Timea Babos
    5 Timea Bacsinszky
    6 Zarina Dyas
    7 Aleksandra Krunic
    8 Su-Wei Hsieh

    Elise Mertens

    Strange, but true…

    For a period of the 17th century, Rabat was run by pirates under the Republic of Bou Regreg. These Barbary pirates used the city (along with its neighbor Salé) as a base for their attacks on ships in the area.

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    Click here to Check out the Draw and Discuss the tournament in the Tennis Frontier Forum

  • Rafael Nadal discusses the Barcelona Open (Interview)

    Rafael Nadal discusses the Barcelona Open (Interview)

    rafael nadal photo Photo by y.caradec

    Rafa, welcome back to Barcelona. You arrived here straight off the back of yet another win in Monte Carlo how much of a high are you one right now?

    Well, thank you very much. Yes very happy with what happened last week of course. It’s been a great week and I enjoyed a lot the way that I played Monte Carlo and always playing in Monte Carlo is special and pleasure you know?

    So, yeah – here I am at Barcelona again. It’s a tournament I know very well and I feel a little bit like home even if my home is Majorca. I am from this club and I enjoyed the fact that I can play here in front of my people.

    You say you feel like home here you turn up here you get ready to play on a court which has your name. Is there much
    more homely feeling anywhere else on the tour?

    Well this part of the season all the events are so special for me now so I really enjoy playing every week and this week is not an exception and now having two weeks in a row at home – Barcelona and Madrid, this is a special two weeks back to back, so happy for everything and I’m just trying to to be ready for the tournament again.

    …and of course here last year you did “La Decima”, what are your memories of winning a tenth title here and how great a feeling was it?

    Yeah was fantastic now and was an unforgettable moment when I received a present on the on the centre court with a video after winning the tenth. Yeah was so special and just can say thanks to all the members here of the
    club. It made me feel like this last year – victory against a very tough opponent in the final. It was a great final …so yeah

    A great moment and you’ve already had it last week and you’ve got it again this week. You turn up here needing to perform to keep hold of the number one spot. Is that extra motivation for you now?

    No, for me that the extra motivation is justing playing the tournament. If I’m playing Monte Carlo, for me like a love story and here almost the same and yes… My real motivation is just playing Monte Carlo last week, now playing Barcelona. That’s a tournament that I had a lot of success that I really feel the passion for playing on it so that’s all.

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    Click for Tournament Draws, Scores, Updates and Discussion in the Forum.