ATP
What a balls-up!
IS it something about the shape of our balls that has men’s tennis in turmoil?
Carlos Alcaraz thinks so.
A lot of players have complained about the balls in use this year, including Novak Djokovic and the constant change of ball for different tournaments.
American Taylor Fritz experienced four different balls in four consecutive events – something he described as a nightmare – and something Alcaraz, and others, say is causing stress and injuries on players’ bodies.
Alcaraz last week suggested every swing be played with the same ball.
So, all tournaments in Australia play with the same ball, and then come to South America with the same ball, the US with the same ball.
“Every swing should play with the same ball and not change in every tournament,” the said.
“I think if I hear well, we’ve played with 20 or 21 different balls, something like that, in a year. It’s crazy.
“Some players have already started dealing with various arm issues this season and Alcaraz believes that everyone could end up injured if the ATP doesn’t step in.
“If the ATP want the best players in every tournament, they should change it. If not, every player’s going to be injured because of that.”
Djokovic has held talks with the ATP about the issue.
“I actually had the conversation with Andrea Gaudenzi (president of ATP) and Massimo Calvelli, the CEO,” the world No.1 said in Paris.
Swiss Stan Wawrinka joined the debate when he shared a photo of four different types of balls used over four weeks.
THE British Lawn Tennis Association sacked a council member last week who used Twitter – X – to post an offensive remark about the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.
Wasim Haq, who was appointed to the LTA Council 2021 to help promote diversity and inclusion within the sport, posted: “Adolf Hitler would be proud of Benjamin Netanyahu”.
An LTA statement read: ‘The LTA Board considered this matter today and agreed that the tweet posted by Wasim Haq on 11 November was unacceptable and in no way reflects the LTA’s position or values.
“Therefore the Board have agreed that Wasim Haq will be removed from his role as an independent councillor with immediate effect.”
Haq was also sacked from a similar role at the English Football Association.
YES, we know it’s still November, but Andy Murray is already in the Christmas spirit, working on a TV special for a festive cookery show.
Murray needed a helping hand with his skills, so he turned to the woman in the UK known as the Queen of the Kitchen.
Mary Berry, whose mother was Scottish, joined the former Wimbledon champion and his granny Shirley Erskine for a masterclass in cooking up some seasonal favourites for the show.
Murray,36, admitted the cooking was nerve-wracking as Berry, 88, taught him how to make kedgeree in the kitchen of the Cromlix Hotel in Dunblane, Scotland.
Murray’s mum Judy, took to Twitter, or whatever it’s called this week, hoping that her mother had her hearing aid in.
“So Mary Berry’s in the Cromlix kitchen teaching Andy how to cook and Granny is assisting.
“So obviously there’s shortbread. Hope she remembered her hearing aid. Granny I mean. Not Mary.”
PLANS for a major expansion to Wimbledon are in jeopardy after the scheme, approved by one London borough, was set to be rejected by a neighbouring one.
The majority of the scheme sits in the borough of Merton, but a number of the proposed tennis courts lie just north of the borough’s boundary, in Wandsworth.
The development was approved by Merton Council last but Wandsworth planning officers have recommended the application for refusal.
A Wandsworth planning officer’s report said the Wimbledon development should be rejected as it ‘would constitute inappropriate development’.
The report read: “The proposed development would result in the net loss of open space/green infrastructure by reason of the development of substantial areas of parts of the site that are primarily grass, with no replacement provision provided.”
More than 2,000 objections to the scheme were submitted to Merton Council while a change.org petition to ‘Save Wimbledon Park’ has attracted more than 14,000 signatures.
WIMBLEDON update: A demonstration organised by residents in the borough of Merton, south London, took place recently to protest against Merton Council’s approval of the Wimbledon Tennis expansion.
RAFA Nadal’s plans for a 2024 farewell tour are still on track with the Spanish legend saying he was sure he’ll be returning to competition ‘soon’.
Nadal missed nearly all of 2023 with a hip injury that required surgery.
He wrote on Thursday on social media: “I confirmed yesterday I’ll be back”.
“Stay tuned,” he then wrote on Instagram.
It is still not known if that farewell year will begin in Melbourne in January.
STILL no comeback in sight for Emma Raducanu, but plenty of time for shopping g on Black Friday.
The young Brit, who hasn’t played a competitive match since Stuttgart early this year, took to Twitter – X to tell of her recent purchases:
“Black Friday week has me with a wireless printer, salted pistachios, electric piano, pukka pad set, pens and a sheet to put on my car so i don’t need to scrape ice off the windows in the winter,” Raducanu posted.
No new tennis racket?
AND finally … ever heard of the Necker Cup?
No, neither had we before a story popped up on our news feed yesterday that Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson was hosting his own pro-am event and charity dinner on his own private Caribbean island.
The event ended yesterday, but not before those with enough money could mingle over a five person with several ATP and WTA players, including Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who was pictured playing with Branson before being entertained by singers Michael Bolton and Jewel.
And their cost? You can book as a spectator for $69,000 per couple for the five days or play in the cent for $99,000.
We are told that since 2012, the Necker Cup has raised over $4,000,000 for a number of charities.
But there’s more… Memo to the woke Bouchard, who cannot grasp that millionaire tennis stars are open to criticism.
Bouchard called an Instagram poster who questioned why the divisive Nick Kygrios was acting as a commentator at the ATP finals ‘a hater’.
The fan wrote: “When are you people going to stop giving this guy a platform?” Perfectly legitimate criticism for a player who loves to criticise everyone else.
Bouchard responded: “Stop being a hater!”
No, Eugenie, it’s not hate in the real world – it’s called opinion – something the woke generation of today seemingly cannot handle.
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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