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.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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