ATP
Stars ready to earn their stripes
IT’S been coming for a while but American men’s tennis is witnessing a resurgence.
Three young Americans in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since 2005.
Add in world No. 9 Taylor Fritz and 17th-ranked Frances Tiafoe and you can see there is much to be pleased about with US tennis.
And interestingly we hear the group have been feeding off each other, as part of a ‘team’, even though men’s singles, by its name, is not a team sport.
Ben Shelton, JJ Wolf, Sebastian Korda and Tommy Paul have grabbed the spotlight this past fortnight.
Shelton, hadn’t even left the USA before this tournament had begun.
Given that less than 20% of Americans traveled outside their own country in 2019, it is perhaps understandable, but to be a success in world tennis travel for about 10 months of the year is a pre-requisite.
And this latest crop of young Americans have certainly done that.
The last time three American men reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal was the 2005 US Open, Andre Agassi, James Blake and Robby Ginepri.
And the last time in Melbourne? Answer: 2000 – Agassi, Pete Sampras and Chris Woodruff.
No American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003.
But there are currently nine Americans in the top 50 today – plus Shelton and Wolf.
And the majority are under 25. Jenson Brooksby, Reilly Opelka and Maxime Cressy are just three.
NOVAK Djokovic reportedly flew in famous sports doctor Marijana Kovacevic last week at Australian Open to help the Serb deal with his troublesome hamstring.
Kovacevic has worked with a number of football superstars in the past, most notably Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
She is famous for massaging injured players using fluids derived from horse placenta.
TALK about overkill … Victoria Azarenka was ordered to remove a Paris St Germain soccer shirt she was wearing before her semi-final loss at the Australian Open on Thursday night because it violated Open rules surrounding displaying sponsor logos.
Azarenka walked onto Rod Laver Arena wearing the jersey but was told by umpire Alison Hughes to remove it.
The 33-year-old had worn the shirt onto court before several of her matches at Melbourne Park, explaining she wears it because it’s the club her son Leo supports and wants to play for one day.
Azarenka had also worn the jersey during press conferences, but the umpire told her to remove it and warm up in the outfit she was going to play in.
“I think it’s the issue with the sponsorships,” Azarenka said.
“I guess the logos are too big … I know that I’m not allowed to play in that. I knew those type of things.
“But I can still step on the court in what I want to step on the court. I do it for my own reasons.
“My son wore the white jersey today to his practice, and I tried to wear a white jersey to my match but couldn’t. So that’s OK.
WITH the Netflix series Breaking Point currently airing footage of Matteo Berrettini with one time love Ajla Tomljanovic, news has broken in Italy that Berrettini has a new girlfriend.
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist has reportedly been spotted with a 36-year-old Italian model, Melissa Satta.
Satta, who was married to footballer Kevin Prince Boateng and recently split from Italian entrepreneur Mattia Rivetti, now hosts a television show.
NOVAK Djokovic can perhaps quite rightly complain that some fans disagree with him being allowed to play at the Australian Open, despite receiving a three year ban for lying to immigration officials and trying to illegally enter the country in 2022.
But there is no excuse for the appalling behaviour of his father and other Serb supporters on Wednesday evening, wearing pro-Russia T-shirts and chanting support for a barbaric country that has illegally invaded another.
Djokovic insisted his father was “misused” by pro-Russia fans he posed with for photos at Melbourne Park. Really?
Srdjan Djokovic knew exactly what he was doing.
And Craig Tiley. Where do you stand?
Significantly quiet on this issue, hoping it will go away perhaps.
POLITICS poked its ugly nose into sport again in Melbourne during the week when the corrupt state of Azerbaijan called on the International Tennis Federati to sanction Karen Khachanov, who wrote messages of support for the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after his wins.
Khachanov, a Russian who has Armenian roots, twice wrote “Artsakh stay strong!” on a camera lens following victories in Melbourne. Artsakh is the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The tennis player should be punished for the provocative actions and to keep such a situation from being allowed to repeat itself,” the Azerbaijani Tennis Federation said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades with over 30,000 people killed in a war in the early 1990s.
A brief six-week war in 2020 saw thousands killed before Russia brokered a ceasefire.
“I have Armenian roots. From my father’s side, from my grandfather’s side, even from my mom’s side.
I’m half Armenian,” Khachanov explained to reporters.
“I just wanted to show strength and support to my people. That’s it.”
SO a Russian and a Belarusian made it to the women’s final.
A neutral final. Really?
Last summer’s Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina says she is from Kazakhstan. Bit she was born in Moscow and still lives there.
A flag of convenience? You bet.
- Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk was asked whether Wimbledon should continue to ban players from those countries. She believed they should.
Given the problems around so-called neutrality in Melbourne this last two weeks, SW19 is unlikely to drop their policy.
HEADLINE of the week….
PICTURE OF THE WEEK…
Whoever said the ballkids were being used and exploited, obviously didn’t speak to this lad, thoroughly enjoying his time at the Open. Barely tall enough to see over the net.
FINALLY … Quote of the week?
“Prickly Victoria Azarenka refuses to answer totally legit questions about Srdjan Djokovic’s actions, and scorns media for asking. Is this a #WTA board member and de facto immigrant to the US, or a Moscow-adjacent pawn?”
Respected journalist Pete Bodo discussing Victoria Azarenka’s apparent defence of the Djokovic family.
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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