Tennis Frontier

Category: News

General Tennis News from the Tennis Frontier

Djokovic Sweeps Past Nadal in Miami

Playing at top form, Novak Djokovic took out Rafael Nadal in the Sony Open final, 6-3, 6-3. Nadal had a break point in Djokovic’s first service game, but failed to convert, where Djokovic broke the world No. 1 in the sixth game of the first set, and again in the first game of the second. The Spaniard had a point to break back in the second, but Djokovic held on. He won the second set and the championship by breaking Nadal again at 3-5.

The Serbian has now won the last four Masters Series 1000 titles; additionally, he and Nadal combine to currently hold all nine.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 30, 2014
Serena Williams Wins Record Seventh Title in Miami

World No. 1 Serena Williams won her record-breaking seventh title in Miami on Saturday, beating Li Na in the final, 7-5, 6-1.

After a shaky opening game, Li Na, the No. 2 seed, broke to open the set. She then held, and looked to be in control of the match, eventually going up a double break, to 5-2. However, despite error-riddled play from Williams, Li Na failed to capitalize on the lead, and got broken both times she served for the set. It was exactly what Williams needed to gain confidence, and she began playing remarkably better.

When serving to stay in the set at 5-6, Li Na was broken a third consecutive time, giving Williams the first set 7-5.

Each player held to open the second set, but Williams broke Li Na’s second service game, giving her a 4-1 lead. Trouble on serve continued for the Chinese No. 1, as Williams, in true dominant form, broke again to go up 5-1 after another lengthy game, then held easily, serving it out 6-1. It was Williams’ 59th career title.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Francisco Carbajal

March 29, 2014
Juan Martin Del Potro Sidelined for Rest of Season

Juan Martin Del Potro has been sidelined for the rest of the season, due to surgery on his left wrist, according to a report from Tennis World Magazine.

The Argentine, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, retired after losing the first set of his opening match in Dubai last month, and hasn’t played since. He withdrew first from the Indian Wells Masters 1000, and most recently cited a wrist injury as the reason for withdrawing from the Miami Masters 1000.

According to the report, the surgery will require an 8-10 month recovery period, thus precluding him from playing for the rest of 2014.

In 2010, the former US Open champion had surgery on his right wrist, which took him out of the game for a year. It wasn’t until the end of January, 2012, before he got back into the Top 10.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 22, 2014
Djokovic Survives Federer in Desert Classic at Indian Wells

Indian Wells is considered by many to be the “Fifth Slam” — arguably the most important of the ATP 1000 tournaments. This year’s edition featured upsets (Nadal and Murray), and the emergence of some of men’s tennis’s more promising younger players (Dolgopolov, Gulbis, and Dimitrov). However, when all was shaken out, it still came down to two stalwarts: Djokovic and Federer. The complete overhaul of the men’s game will have to wait.

The set-up was big: Federer was playing a renewed game with his bigger racquet, and Djokovic was having his worst start of the year since 2006. Roger, who had beaten Novak in Dubai, and gone on to win the title, was having a far better start to his year than last, when he won only one title, a 500-level tournament, in Halle. The prevailing wisdom was that Djokovic needed the win more than Federer.

In the first set, Federer came out aggressive and tricky. He was all over the court, and up at the net often, which clearly had Djokovic off-balance. The Serb started slowly, with a shaky serve, and the Swiss broke his first service game. Federer continued the attack, and won the first set 6-3.

The second set saw a steadier Djokovic, and a less-aggressive Federer. The Serb’s serve was much stronger, and he was making inroads into the Federer serve, which had dropped considerably. Also, Federer had faded from his attacking stance, preferring to go toe-to-toe at the baseline with Djokovic, who broke in the seventh game of the set for 5-3. Federer’s first serve was abandoning him at this point, while Djokovic’s was getting better. He won the second set 6-3.

The third set held all of the intrigues that the match warranted. Djokovic broke Federer’s serve in the third game, but the Serb failed to serve it out at 5-4. Federer seemed to remember that the attacking game had gotten him the first set, but rather too late. Though he got the match to a tiebreak, Djokovic’s stronger serving and better baseline game got him the trophy. Final score: 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3.)

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 17, 2014
Pennetta Dry-Spell Ends in the Desert of Indian Wells

Flavia Pennetta overcame the No. 2 seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in the California desert. This is the biggest tournament win by the 32-year-old Italian, who is coming back after wrist surgery in 2012.

Pennetta broke at 1-1 to take the lead in the first set, but it soon became apparent that Radwanska was compromised. She took a medical timeout for a nagging knee injury, and never could get back into the match. At times, she couldn’t move to the ball at all, though she hung in to the end. She choked back tears in her speech.

The first Italian women ever to reach the Top 10 in 2009, Pennetta was ranked No. 21 coming into the match, and will be No. 12 when the new rankings come out tomorrow.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 16, 2014
Delbonis Defeats Lorenzi in Brazil Open

Federico Delbonis, the 23-year-old Argentine, defeated Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in Sao Paolo today, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to take the title at the Brazil Open. It was only the second final for Delbonis, and the first for the 32-year-old Italian, with the Argentine coming up with his first trophy.

Delbonis was ranked No. 61 going into the tournament, and should get to a career-high No. 44 when the rankings come out tomorrow; Lorenzi, No. 114 this week, will get to No. 100, having ever reached a career best No. 49 in the ATP World Rankings.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Carine06

March 2, 2014
Dimitrov Outlasts Anderson in Acapulco

Grigor Dimitrov won his first 500-level ATP title at the Abierto Telcel Mexicano, defeating Kevin Anderson of South Africa in a nearly three-hour match that went into the wee hours of Sunday, 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5). The 22-year-old Bulgarian had won only one previous title, in Stockholm last year, though he is deemed one of the bright future stars, and this win gives some encouragement to that notion. For Anderson, the loss was his second consecutive in a final, having lost in Delray last week, though both players will see a rise in the rankings on Monday, Anderson most likely to a career high 17-18.

The two players were fairly evenly matched through the first set, though Dimitrov sprinted through the tiebreak to take the first set, but the young Bulgarian faded a bit in the second, and Anderson went up 3-0. He won the second at 3, and went up an early break in the third, needing only to hang onto his big serve to win his first 500 title, but he double-faulted to give the break back in the eighth game, and the momentum shifted back to Dimitrov. The second tiebreak was a much tighter affair, but the Bulgarian took the title on his first match point.

It was an unexpected final match-up, in a tournament that this year included a rather new cast of characters due to a surface change. The Abierto Mexicano has switched to hard courts and become appealing as a tune-up to the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. But even considering the change, it was a surprise final line-up. Dimitrov had taken out No. 2 seed Andy Murray the day before, and Anderson had seen off the top seed, David Ferrer, by retirement.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 2, 2014
Cibulkova Overcomes McHale in Acapulco

Top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova won the Abierto Telcel Mexicano over Christina McHale of the US, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. This was Cibulkova’s fourth career title. She was the runner-up in this year’s Australian Open to eventual winner, Li Na.

Her opponent, Christina McHale, was the surprise finalist. The #70 ranked 21-year-old American made a strong showing in her first WTA final. She has a career-high ranking of 24, and will surely see her ranking go up after this tournament.

Acapulco, a combined women’s and men’s event, saw a surface change this year. After 20 years as a clay court tournament, it was contested for the first time this year on hard courts. This makes it a good tune-up event to Indian Wells, also a co-ed event, and one of the premier events on both tours. The surface change for Acapulco has been seen as a boon for the event.

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In other WTA news, Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic won her third WTA singles title by defeating Garbine Muguruza of Spain 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the Brazil Cup final on Saturday. The Spaniard was leading 6-4, 5-2 and serving for the match when her game fell apart. The 32-year-old Zakopalova won 11 straight games to close out the match.

Zakopalova was playing in her third final this year, with only her first win since 2005.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): NAPARAZZI

March 2, 2014
Federer Wins Record Sixth Dubai Title

Roger Federer rebounded from a set and a break deficit to defeat Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 for the trophy at the Dubai Duty Free Championships. It was a topsy-turvy affair, with several swings in momentum and breaks of serve. As Berdych’s first serve percentage dropped, however, Federer’s came up, and the Swiss overall had more winners and fewer unforced errors than the Czech (25-23 v. 20-29.)

Federer defeated Novak Djokovic yesterday to secure his place in the final and the victory today sees him at at 14-2 win-loss start to the year, which seems to bode well, after a less-than-stellar 2013 for the great champion. ‘Things definitely went my way out here tonight,” Federer said. ”I’ve had a lot of tough matches in the last year and a half so it was nice to get a lucky break again.”

Berdych recently the saw the end to his even longer drought, winning the title in Rotterdam three weeks ago, ending an 18-month streak without a trophy. ”He’s the greatest player of all time and he’ll never give up and give you anything for free,” Berdych said. ”I knew that and thought I was ready for it, but my execution wasn’t good enough to hold it to the end.”

The win gives Federer his 78th career title, putting him one above John McEnroe, and alone at third on the all-time list behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94). In addition, as his first title of 2014 (first since Halle last June), the win in Dubai means that Roger has won at least one title in each of the last 14 years.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

March 2, 2014
Cilic Wins Delray

In a battle of the big men, Marin Cilic of Croatia won the Del Ray Open in Florida, 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-4. Cilic was serving for the match in the second, but the South African found a way to break, and then won the tiebreak, forcing the third set. It was a tight match, but Anderson was always playing catch-up.

Cilic has recently taken on Goran Ivanisevic as his coach, which seems to be producing the results that have long been awaiting him. One amongst a string of 1990’s celebrity players to start coaching current stars, this seems to have some legs and make some sense. Cilic is surely on a roll.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

February 24, 2014