General Tennis News from the Tennis Frontier
The doubles match is the focus of Day 2 of the 2014 Davis Cup Final. The French team of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau will face off against the Swiss team of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka (who replace Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer).
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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3:30 P.M.:
Federer/Wawrinka (SUI) d. Benneteau/Gasquet (FRA) — 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
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Day 1 of the 2014 Davis Cup Final will feature two singles matches. First up will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, vs. Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland. They will be followed by Gael Monfils, of France, vs. Roger Federer, of Switzerland.
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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2:00 P.M.:
Wawrinka d. Tsonga — 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Monfils d. Federer — 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
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According to Reuters, six-time World Tour Finals champion Roger Federer has withdrawn before the final, giving Novak Djokovic his third year-end title in a row.
The tournament’s website has posted: “His opponent, Novak Djokovic, will play a pro set (first to eight) against Andy Murray. Murray will then team with John McEnroe in a doubles exhibition against Tim Henman and Pat Cash.”
On court, Federer said, “Unfortunately, I’m not match fit to play the match tonight. Clearly I wish it wasn’t so. I tried all year to be ready for the [Barclays] ATP World Tour Finals, and I didn’t want it to end this way. I tried everything I could last night, also today – painkillers, treatment, rest, so forth, warm-up, until the very end – but I just can’t compete at this level with Novak. It would be too risky at my age to do this right now and I hope you understand.
“I wanted to come out personally and excuse myself. It’s been a great week for me. I played some great tennis and I love coming to The O2 and to London, and there’s been so many great memories for me here. Congrats of course to Novak, who’s played an amazing season, and an amazing tournament here as well. I hope we can play some more great matches, hopefully next year.
“Thanks to all you guys for making it special to come out and play tennis all around the world. I know you guys travel, as well, and spend a lot of money on tickets and so forth. We really, really appreciate it – me in particular. It keeps me going, it makes me tick, especially at this age. Hopefully, I can come back next year and get another chance to compete for the title here. So thank you very much and I’ll see you soon. I appreciate it.”
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
Bob and Mike Bryan beat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour finals, 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7.
In the first set, both teams were able to hold serve easily, barely losing a point on serve. In the tiebreak, Dodig/Melo managed to pull out a mini-break lead, and clenched the set when Mike Bryan returned a serve wide.
At 1-2 in the second set, Melo quickly got down 15-40. They managed to save the first break point, but lost the game on a double fault.
Serving to stay in the set, Melo again went down double break point, and this time Bob Bryan grabbed the set with a backhand volley.
The super-tiebreak opened with a flurry of mini-breaks. Eventually the Bryans pulled out a 9-7 lead, and on championship point, Melo sent a lob long.
This was the Bryan brothers’ fourth time winning the prestigious year-end championship. They had previously won in 2003, 2004, and 2009.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
On Sunday, November 16, in the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic will face World No. 2 and six-time year-end championship winner Roger Federer. In the doubles final, the Bryan brothers will play the team of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo for the title.
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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Doubles — 3:30 P.M.
Bryan/Bryan vs Dodig/Melo
Singles — 6:00 P.M.
Djokovic vs Federer
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
The semifinals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will take place on Saturday, November 15. The afternoon session pits Novak Djokovic, who just secured the year-end No. 1 ranking, against the US Open finalist Kei Nishikori. The evening session features 17-time Grand Slam titlist Roger Federer, who will face his compatriot Stan Wawrinka, this year’s Australian Open champion.
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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Afternoon Session:
Doubles — 12:00 P.M.
Dodig/Melo d Kubot/Lindstedt — 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
Singles — 2:00 P.M.
Djokovic d Nishikori — 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
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Evening Session:
Doubles — 6:00 P.M.
Bryan/Bryan d Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin — 6-0, 6-3
Singles — 8:00 P.M.
Federer d Wawrinka — 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(6)
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
Round robin play at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals concludes on Friday, November 14. The afternoon session features World No. 1 and the defending champion Novak Djokovic, facing off against the Czech Tomas Berdych. The evening session will conclude with Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka playing the US Open champion Marin Cilic.
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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Afternoon Session:
Doubles — 12:00 P.M.
Kubot/Lindstedt d Rojer/Tecau — 6-5, 7-6(4)
Singles — 2:00 P.M.
Djokovic d Berdych — 6-2, 6-2
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Evening Session:
Doubles — 5:45 P.M.
Bryan/Bryan d Peya/Soares — 7-6(3), 7-6(2)
Singles — 8:00 P.M.
Wawrinka d Cilic — 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
The WTA Finals, as it’s termed now, featured world No. 1 Serena Williams against the top Romanian, No. 4 seed Simona Halep. This was the first time Simona Halep made the trip to the year-end championship, whereas Serena was looking for her third WTA Finals title in a row.
Williams needed just 1 hour and 9 minutes to defeat Halep with a score of 6-3, 6-0. The match was close early in the first set but at 3-3 Serena took the next nine games to close it in a hurry.
The inaugural event in Singapore, where the year-end championship dubbed WTA Finals was held this year and shall be for next four years, was more than just the competition between the top eight ladies in tennis; this was a spectacle of show, passion, mishaps, missed opportunities, triumph, and of course defeat. It was obvious from the beginning this will be a championship like none before since it all started at a packed 21st Century resort’s shopping center.
In addition to the regular competition, this year the WTA added mini-events titled “Rising Stars” and “Future Stars”, as well as legends matches, stretching the show to 10 days.
Round Robin competition brought many surprises. Both top seeds suffered losses and only one made the semifinals. At the end, No. 4 seed, Simona Halep, and No. 8 seed, Caroline Wozniacki, led their respective groups.
Although routed in straight sets by Simona Halep in the Round Robin stage in one of the worst defeats of her career, Serena Williams returned the favor by only allowing three games in the final match, and none in the second set.
Williams will retain her No. 1 ranking for the remainder of the year and beyond. Halep improved to No. 3.
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): VOXSPORTSdotNET
The BNP Paribas WTA Finals concludes today with the singles and doubles finals. Serena Williams (1) will face Simona Halep (4) in the championship match. In their round-robin encounter, Halep beat Williams 6-0, 6-2.
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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Center Court — 4:00 P.M.
Cara Black/Sania Mirza (3) d. Su-Wei Hsieh/Shuai Peng (2) — 6-1, 6-0
Not Before 7:00 P.M.
Serena Williams (1) (USA) d. Simona Halep (4) (ROU) — 6-3, 6-0
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Day 6 of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals features the semifinals. First up are Serena Williams (1) and Caroline Wozniacki (8). They’re followed in the evening session by Simona Halep (4) and Agnieszka Radwanska (6).
[Scores added as known. All times are local.]
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Center Court — 12:00 P.M.
Su-Wei Hsieh/Shuai Peng (2) d. Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Rodionova — 6-1, 6-4
Not Before 2:30 P.M.
Serena Williams (1) (USA) d. Caroline Wozniacki (8) (DEN) — 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6)
Not Before 6:00 P.M.
Simona Halep (4) (ROU) d. Agnieszka Radwanska (6) (POL) — 6-2, 6-2
Cara Black/Sania Mirza (3) d. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik — 4-6, 7-5, 11-9
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Click here to discuss the Williams/Wozniacki semifinal in the discussion forum.
Click here to discuss the Halep/Radwanska semifinal in the discussion forum.
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