Kei Nishikori beat France’s Julien Benneteau 7-6(4), 6-4 to take the final of the Malaysia Open, an ATP 250 event. It was Nishikori’s third title of this season. For Benneteau, it was another disappointment, as he lost his 10th straight final without yet having an ATP trophy.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
Andy Murray ended his 14-month title drought, and saved five championship points against Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the second set of the Shenzhen Open final. Robredo was leading in the breaker by 6-2, but Murray stormed back and took the set. Then, in the wilting heat and humidity, the Scot raced through the third set to eventually win the match and the 250 trophy, 5-7, 7-6(9), 6-1.
It was Murray’s first title since winning Wimbledon in 2013. In the interim, he has had back surgery, and undergone a coaching change. Robredo was looking for his first title since Umag in July of 2013.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
Roger Federer and the Swiss team will be trying for their first ever Davis Cup trophy when they meet the talented and entertaining French team in December. Switzerland has the benefit of two major title holders, including Stan Wawrinka, but the French have depth on the bench. Their semifinals team featured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, and the veteran Julian Benneteau. The French will also have home-court advantage, with the surface yet to be announced, and already much-debated in the blogosphere. Davis Cup finals don’t always feature so much star-power, and this one should generate more than the usual amount of interest.
In World Group playoffs, the USA made it through comprehensively over Slovakia, while Spain, which has won four Cups in the last 10 years, was downgraded in a loss to Brazil. Serbia, the winner in 2010, is still fighting to stay alive over India. Canada, Croatia, Belgium, and Australia are also through into the World Group for next year.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): elPadawan
Everyone is speculating about when Rafael Nadal will return to competition after being sidelined with a right wrist injury, which caused him to miss all of the North American summer hard-court season, including the US Open. Here are some updates from the Spanish- and Catalan-speaking press.
Puntodebreak reported yesterday (September 10th, 2014) that he will play an exhibition with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Kazakhstan on September 25th, which would seem to indicate that he’s on his way to Beijing for the China Open, which begins September 29th.
Terra Peru published an article two days ago saying that he’s training for the tournament in Beijing and Nadal says he hopes to play there. However, he also says that the doctors have told him to proceed with caution, because if he has a relapse of the injury, the recovery could be long, indeed.
There is video from iB3 of him training without a brace, but not hitting using the right hand on the two-hander. This is from his local television station and appeared on September 4th. The commentary and interview are in Catalan. It says that the training goes a bit slowly, but still states that he hopes to play in China.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
The 14th seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia became the lowest ranked player to win the men’s title at the US Open since Pete Sampras in 2002. He shut down 11-seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The final line-up was a surprise, when each man beat the #2 and #1 seeds, respectively, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, in a semi-finals day of upsets on Saturday. This was the first final since the Australian Open 2005 to feature none of the so-called “Big Four,” (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray,) and only the third of the last 39 men’s finals not to be won by one of them.
The loss is a disappointment for Japanese fans, who were rallied behind Nishikori as the first Asian man to come so far in a Major tournament, including semis. Nishikori, who had debated even playing here, after a recent surgery on his toe, had a tough road to the final, having to defeat three top-5 players in the last 3 rounds, two of which went to five sets, and one, against Wawrinka (3) that finished at 2:26am, tying the latest matches ever at the Open. Cilic, for his part, beat two top-6 seeds.
While the match started nervously from both, they held serve until the 6th game in the first set, when Cilic got the break. Cilic he also broke in the 4th game of the second set, and the fifth game of the third. Once he had the breaks, he only needed to hold serve and did. Cilic’s percentage of first serve points won, 80% versus 55% for Nishikori was one of the telling stats of the match. Additionally, Nishikori’s winners-to-unforced errors count was 19-30, whereas Cilic put up 38-27. The 5’10” Nishikori had trouble finding open space in the court against the 6’6″ wingspan of the Croat. But, in the end, Cilic was the one with purpose and focus, and didn’t let the Japanese man into the match. Nishikori, for his part, wasn’t allowed to play his tricky, agile game, being shut down but Cilic’s big serve and powerful hitting.
2014 has seen four different winners of the men’s Slams, as it did 2012. But in 2012, the wins were divided evenly between the “Big Four.” This year has let two new winners in: Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open, and Marin Cilic in this US Open. The tennis world will be watching to see if this trend continues into 2015.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): si.robi
Serena Williams has won the US Open for the sixth time, beating her good friend Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-3. This makes Serena’s 18th Major title overall, tying her with Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and putting her four titles behind Steffi Graf, the all-time leader with 22 Majors.
The first set was a nervy affair, featuring five straight breaks of serve, and more errors than winners. In the second, Williams broke Wozniacki in the first game, giving her a lead she never relinquished. The Dane seemed to be finding her game midway through the second set, but it was too little too late.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
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The US Open is set to open main-draw play tomorrow, and visitors will get a first look at the improvements which are part of a roll-out list of renovations, a $500 million bid to make the US Open not just competitive with its companion Majors, Australia, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but, ideally, the best of them.
The schedule is for a five-year transformation of the US Open grounds. In the first phase, which are new this year, elevated seating has been constructed around the practice courts and tournament courts 4, 5, and 6, allowing fans to watch matches on the courts, as well as view the practice courts. In the past, viewing of the practice sessions was from one end only, and once it became 3 fans deep, there was essentially no view. It was casual and haphazard, at best. Now, there is seating for 1,300 fans to watch their favorites practice from close-quarters.
Also new this year, Court 5 now will be the US Open’s seventh television court, featuring two video screens and has added Hawkeye.
Eventually, the renovation will include two new stadiums replacing the current Louis Armstrong Stadium and Grandstand . The Grandstand will be relocated from the northeast to the southwest corner of the grounds , and a retractable roof will be added on Arthur Ashe Stadium by 2018. Court 17, the Center’s newest show court, debuted in 2011.
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Photo credit: Kiu
Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic outlasted Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to take his second career title at the ATP level. Rosol, who is 29 and ranked #33 in the world, left Janowicz disappointed in his attempt to win his first trophy.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
Petra Kvitova has won the Connecticut Open for the second time, dominating Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the final, 6-4, 6-2. Kvitova, ranked No. 4 in the world, is the reigning Wimbledon Champion, and had previously won here in 2012. Rybarikova, No. 31, had suffered an injury to her right thigh in her semifinal match against Camila Giorgi and appeared hampered by it, though she did not call for the trainer during the final.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Kenneth Hong
Roger Federer won his 6th title at the Western and Southern Open in Ohio, beating David Ferrer of Spain, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. The win was his 80th career title, but his first at the Masters 1000 level since his last win here in 2012, thus ending a bit of a drought for the 17-time Slam winner in important tournaments.
Federer broke Ferrer, who has never beaten him, in the 8th game of the first set, when the Spaniard double-faulted. In the second set, Ferrer survived a long game on his serve where the Swiss had multiple break point chances. Federer’s subsequent service game also went very long, and Ferrer broke through. It seemed that the late semi-final match of the night before may have taken its toll on Federer, who only finally held serve at 0-5. Ferrer served the set out at 5-1.
In the fourth game of the deciding set, Federer broke Ferrer, and broke him again in the last game, to win the set and the championship.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis