ATP
Cancun ‘disaster’ could see WTA chief go
THE last-minute scramble to find a host for the year-ending WTA finals was a disaster, according to several players.
Former World No.3 Elina Svitolina was just one not happy with the WTA’s decision to host the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
Several players labelled the court conditions ‘unsafe’ as many others criticised the training facilities.
And the weather also had a major negative impact on the event. Cancun is always vulnerable to wind and rain in October/November. So why the WTA go there?
In all honesty, the cash-strapped WTA had little choice – there was, at such a late stage, no other option.
“I saw the court was not ready, I don’t know why the WTA wanted to host it in Cancun,” Svitolina said last week.
“It’s a shame for the best eight players in the world to be playing in these conditions, it’s terrible for our sport to be honest.”
WTA CEO Steve Simon has since apologised in an open letter to platers.
But the damage has already been done and there is zero chance Cancun will be asked to host the event again.
But it didn’t end there…
Polish channel Canal+ Sport was pretty brutal in its assessment of the conditions.
And they copped some feedback from organisers, but stuck by their earlier critical remarks.
“It’s our job to show you what’s on the ground, the station said.
“What’s more – some people from the WTA are already starting to snoop around, saying that they don’t like it, that we’re telling the truth. Well, that’s too bad.
“This is our role here. That’s why we came here, not for a holiday.”
As for Simon? Martina Navratilova has already called for him to go.
SAUDI sports washing continues at a pace, with tennis now firmly in the middle eastern regimes sights.
And tennis authorities are falling over themselves to cash in.
The ATP seems happy to hand a Masters 1000 tournament to the desert kingdom, the second highest-level tournament category in tennis after the Grand Slams.
And the cash-strapped WTA is on its knees begging for support with the WTA Finals being offered up after a disastrous Cancun event.
So far, the Saudis have secured hosting rights to stage the Next Gen ATP Finals and talks to buy either Miami or Madrid are progressing well.
Such an event could of course have a major impact on the lead-up to the Australian Open, as GST’s Bill Scott confirmed on Wednesday.
Outlined to start in January 2025, the Saudi tournament would finish just days before the start of the Australian Open, threatening a number of existing lead-in events such as the United Cup mixed national teams event.
The United Cup will be held next year in Perth and Sydney in January while other players warm up at the Adelaide International or in Auckland.
And how much are the Saudis paying? According to reports, around half a billion dollars.
MEANWHILE, in New York the owner of the Mets baseball team, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, has unveiled a $8 billion plan for a 50-acre casino, hotel and music complex in Queens, next to the US Tennis Center.
‘Metropolitan Park’ would encompass 20 acres of green space with Cohen claiming it would generate $130 billion in economic impact over the next three decades in an area.
“It’s time the world’s greatest city got the sports and entertainment park it deserves,” Cohen said.
Cohen’s big plan though might see the light of day – he has still to persuade Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State legislature – both of which are yet to be convinced.
EMMA Raducanu turns 21 tomorrow and will never be in the world’s top 10 again.
A brave prediction or solid forecast?
Raducanu is still injured – possibly the longest sick note in tennis history – and is now ranked at 285.
But get this, she still pulls £10 million in off-court deals from companies like Nike, Porsche, Vodafone and Evian.
Will she name her comeback in 2024? Many had hoped so, but in a recent interview for Amazon Prime, Raducanu told Laura Robson her recovery was still ongoing.
ONE player who is making a comeback is Former No.1 Naomi Osaka.
She will will kick off her comeback at the Brisbane International in January.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka has also been confirmed for Brisbane.
But Aussie Nick Kyrgios has told Brisbane officials it will be a “wait and see” approach as he returns from injury.
Kyrgios, 28, has played only one match this year after a stunning 2022 that saw him reach the Wimbledon final and a US Open quarter-final.
COACHING merry-go-round… Italian Matteo Berrettini is rumoured to have teamed up Thomas Enqvist as his new coach for 2024.
Berrettini is still recovering from an injury sustained at the US Open ion September.
And Andy Murray has split with long-time coach Ivan Lendl for a third time.
“Ivan has been by my side at the biggest moments in my career and I can’t thank him enough for all that he’s helped me achieve,” Murray said.
CONGRATS to Belinda Bencic, who announced on social media during the week she is to become a mom.
“Expecting our little miracle soon!” she wrote in Instagram in a joint post with boyfriend Martin Hromkovic. “We can’t wait to meet you.”
Bencic gave no hint of a due date, she last played in September in San Diego.
AND staying with the tennis relationship theme, Paula Badosa admitted last week criticism over her dating Stefanos Tsitsipas has hurt.
For some reason their relationship has attracted negative headlines, with some saying his poor court performances are because has focused too much on his new girlfriend.
“That has hurt me a lot because with the whole issue of the injury, I have actually been able to dedicate myself quite a bit to helping him,” she told El Pais.
“We both love tennis and he is also a super-working person, we are very similar in the goals we set for ourselves.
“We talk a lot about tennis and we help each other a lot.
“I can understand that we are public figures and that we are exposed, but in the end, we are two 25-year-olds and all this is delicate, because it is an innocent relationship.”
AND finally….
Seeing double? No, just another Alcaraz coming through the system.
Carlos Alcaraz’s younger brother Jaime recently finished as the runner-up at the Rafa Nadal Tour Masters event in Mallorca.
Jaime Alcaraz, 12, had a great campaign at the under-12 tournament, eventually falling 6-0, 6-1 to Russian Stefan Shangichev.
Alexander Zverev cooled the jets of a teenaged tearaway on Tuesday, schooling Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to power to his fifth career semi-final at the French Open.
The world No. 3 German finished runner-up in Paris two years ago and is still seeking his first trophy at one of the majors.
Zverev has been a consistent presence at the business end of the event here, figuring iin five of the past six semis.
But the achievement doesn’t amount to much for the seed, who has his eye on the big prize.
“I want to keep going. I don’t really care so much about a semi-final,” he said. “I want to win all the matches in front of me.
“Today was a tough test against a good player – that’s it for now.”
The 29-year-old who becomes the ninth man to play five Paris semi-finals, got away slowly as the 19-year-old Jodar showed his intentions with an early break..
But the seed began turning the tables on his young opponent while trailing 5-2 in the opening set after dropping serve in the eight-minute opening game.
Jodar’s unravelling began as he served for the first set leading 5-4 but was unable to close it out.
From then on, Zverev was in control.
The German won the opener in a tiebreaker and dominated the second to claim that chapter also.
In the third, he broke the fading youngster in the first and last games of the set
before closing out the win with a running forehand down the line on match point.
“He had perfect rhythm in the first set and I didn’t,” the winner said. “I was playing too short and too defensive.
“The ball was also not bouncing as high as it did in (last week’s) heat, I had to flatten out my shots.
“He outplayed me at the beginning of the first, but I managed to come back.
he seemed a bit nervous when he served for (the set).
“I took my chances, it was a good match for me.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev in control at Roland Garros – by ATPTour.com
Matteo Berrettini took Italian revenge on Monday against the Argentine who knocked out Jannik Sinner with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) fourth-round demolition of Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the French Open.
Former top 10 player Berrettini, now mended after several seasons of intermittent injury absences sent the South American packing in a solid clay display.
The Italian saved three Cerundolo set points in the third-set tiebreaker, with Berrettini claiming a match point on an inside-out forehand, and following up with a serve winner..
“I feel great,” Berrettini said. “I’m happy with the support in a full stadium.
“This is why we train and fight, I’m enjoying the atmosphere with my team and family.”
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime booked the last eight as he put out another South American in Canadian-born Chilean AlejandroTabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
FAA becomes the first Canadian man to complete the set of quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The 30-year-old Berretini from Rome is competing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021 when he also reached the last eight here.
The current No. 105 is the lowest-ranked men’s quarter-finalist in Paris since in 2007.
Cobolli lost his first set of the tournament as he ran up against an American with negligible experience on clay, defeating Zach Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).
The 10th-seeded Italian’s victory put him into his second Grand Slam and his first in Paris.
“I was a little bit nervous to close the match today,” the winner said. “It means a lot, this tournament, for me.
“Sometimes it’s not easy when you have to close, especially when you are up in the score like I was today.
“But also Zachary played a really good match today after the second set… tennis is like this. At the end, I was happy, and that’s the important thing.”
Svajda came to the major with only one career match win on clay. He began correcting that in the third round by beating Francisco.Cerundolo.
Cobolli cruised through the first two sets but his perfect set record took a dent in the third as Svajda forced a tiebreaker and saved a match point after closing the Italian’s 5-1 lead and forcing a tiebreaker.
It took a tiebreak fourth set to settle the outcome after more than three and a quarter hours.
Alexander Zverev stayed on track for a possible fourth Grand Slam final as the highest seed remaining in the men’s draw at the French Open moved efficiently into the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The German who has finished runner-up at the Australian and US Open plus Roland Garros, defeated qualifying lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
With this week’s second-round losses by world No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic, Zverev could have one of his best chances at lifting a major trophy.
The 29-year-old reached his eighth Roland Garros quarter-final as he beat his Dutch opponent on de Jong’s 26th birthday.
He needed a tiebreak to secure the opening set but picked up momentum before crushing it in the third set to get off court in a relatively quick two and a quarter hours.
“I had some early difficulties but he started well,” the winner said. “But once I found my rhythm I felt comfortable on the court.
“That is important for my game. It’s (his game) is there, I just have to show it on the match court.”
With the recent 10-day heatwave now gone, temperatures dropped into the mid-20s Celsius, which should make for more comfortable conditions.
But Zverev is not so sure: “To be honest, I like the heat, I prefer it. My ball flies a lot faster through the air and opponents struggle a bit more.
“I also spend a lot of time in Florida so I’m used to the heat. But we have to make the best of it, things can change within one day.”
Zverev will bid for the semi-finals in a matchup against Rafael Jodar, the prodigy who won an all-Spanish fourth-rounder 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The fightback took nearly three and three-quarter hours and put the 19-year-old into his first last-eight spot in only his second Grand Slam appearance.
He has reached the last eight here for a sixth straight year.
Jodar, ranked No. 707 a year ago, is the fifth man this century to reach the quarters in his main draw debut at the event.
The youngster made a 4-1 start in the opening set but soon found himself in a five-set dogfight against a 34-year-old dealing with a shoulder injury.
The winner of a clay title in March has now taken victory in 19 of his last 22 matches.
“He’s young and incredibly talented,” Zverev said of his next opponent. “He came onto the clay scene in two months.
“He will be a difficult challenge but I’ll be ready for it.”
Main photo:- Favourite Alexander Zverev wins third round match – by ATPTour.com
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