Tennis-Nadal and Djokovic vie for Maradona’s attention
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have enjoyed the support of Diego Maradona during their opening matches at the World Tour Finals but the Argentine soccer great will have split loyalties when the duo meet on Wednesday.
The top two players in Group A won their opening round-robin encounters and victory on day four of the season-ending championships will almost certainly secure them a place in this weekend’s semi-finals.
French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Nadal has a commanding 15-7 advantage in their head-to-heads but significantly on hardcourts, Djokovic has come out trumps in seven of their 11 meetings.
With this in mind, Nadal knew he would have to do better than his three-set tussle against Andy Roddick on Monday.
“Right now I have to play better. I have to play with a little bit more energy,” said the world number one, who lost all six sets he played here last year.
“I have to play with a little bit more positive attitude.”
Maradona has been a regular visitor this week to the O2 Arena on the Thames riverbank and his presence has energised Djokovic, who thumped Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych on Monday.
How important is the Federer-Nadal rivalry for tennis?
The ATP World Tour Finals are supposed to be a showdown between the world’s eight best players although even before a ball has been hit in anger, the talk of a Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final showdown has been gathering momentum.
The Federer-Nadal rivalry has been the lifeblood of tennis since the duo first traded shots at the Miami Masters over six years ago but lately fans have been suffering withdrawal symptoms as the two men have locked horns just once all season.
While this has been good news for rivals such as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, pundits such as Boris Becker feel there is no better advert for tennis than the epic clashes between Federer and Nadal — who between them have won 25 grand slam titles.
“Every sport needs a rivalry between the one and two in the world and tennis has it with Federer and Nadal. It’s just amazing for the fans to watch two players that are so different by personality, by character, by playing style,” six-times grand slam champion Becker told Reuters.
“They beat each other up, one day the Swiss wins the tournament, the other the Spaniard wins, so it’s great for tennis and I hope it continues for a couple more years because that’s something any sport needs.”
Federer, more than anyone, wants the rivalry to continue because he would dearly love to narrow the 7-14 head-to-head record against his Spanish foe but to do that he needs to shake off an affliction that is creeping more and more into his game – matchpoint-itis
Kim fires coach who guided her to Olympic glory
LONDON (Reuters) – Olympic champion Kim Yuna has fired her coach Brian Orser less than six months after he guided her to glory at the Vancouver Games.
Kim, the most famous female athlete in South Korea, credited Orser for her dazzling gold-medal performance in February when she earned record scores in the short and free programmes, but that did not stop her abruptly terminating her four-year association with the Canadian.
“Meehee Park, Kim’s mother,…met with Brian Orser…and informed the two-time Olympic medallist that he would no longer be retained to coach Kim,” Orser’s management IMG said in a statement.
“No reason was given for the sudden and unexpected decision.”
Orser was told he was being fired on Aug. 2 but had delayed making any announcement as he had hoped to work things out.
Kim’s management company AT Sports later released a statement saying relations between the duo had been “uncomfortable” since May and that South Korea’s only Olympic figure skating gold medallist had been training alone since June.
“I am grateful to the coach, Brian Orser, for being with me to help win the Olympics. I hope he may teach other athletes and achieve good results,” Kim said in a statement.
Figure skating-Kim fires coach who guided her to Olympic glory
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Olympic champion Kim Yuna has fired her coach Brian Orser less than six months after he guided her to glory at the Vancouver Games.
Kim, the most famous female athlete in South Korea, credited Orser for her dazzling gold-medal performance in February when she earned record scores in the short and free programmes, but that did not stop her abruptly terminating her four-year association with the Canadian.
“Meehee Park, Kim’s mother,…met with Brian Orser…and informed the two-time Olympic medallist that he would no longer be retained to coach Kim,” Orser’s management IMG said in a statement.
“No reason was given for the sudden and unexpected decision.”
Orser was told he was being fired on Aug. 2 but had delayed making any announcement as he had hoped to work things out.
Kim’s management company AT Sports later released a statement saying relations between the duo had been “uncomfortable” since May and that South Korea’s only Olympic figure skating gold medallist had been training alone since June.
“I am grateful to the coach, Brian Orser, for being with me to help win the Olympics. I hope he may teach other athletes and achieve good results,” Kim said in a statement. Under Orser, Kim captured a series of titles, including the world title in 2009.
Where have all the American champions disappeared to?
When Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were engaged in a constant merry-go-round for the world number one spot throughout the 1990s, little did they know that a decade later American tennis players would have been left feeling dizzy with disbelief after they were completely wiped out from the Top 10.
Andy Roddick woke up on Monday to discover he had slid down two spots to number 11 and his little stumble meant that for the first time since the inception of rankings in 1973, the Stars and Stripes will not feature in the ATP’s top 10.
However, the fact that Roddick had managed to delay the U.S. from this debacle until this week is a remarkable feat in itself considering no American man has won a grand slam since the U.S. Open in 2003.
That was the year Roddick thought he had picked up the American baton from the likes of Sampras and company when he won his first major title and ended the year ranked number one. Little did he know that seven years later, he would still be searching for grand slam title number two or that American men would go through a barren spell lasting 27 majors and counting.
“What the lack of a U.S. top-10 male this week points out… is how lucky U.S. tennis fans have been over the years,” Courier told the Miami Herald. “I hope this will be a moment for American people to finally reflect on how strong and consistent Andy Roddick’s career has been so far since he has largely been the lone American man in the top 10 in recent years.
“I am sure plenty of people will get worked up about this, but not me. I can’t seem to recall an article that mentioned how remarkable the ongoing U.S. top-10 presence was in the past few years but I am also not surprised that the lack of a top-10 player will now get ink. The game is deep with global talent but the U.S. will have a top-10 presence again, probably within a few weeks.”
Federer hooks up with Annacone to rediscover magic touch
LONDON (Reuters) – Roger Federer has hooked up with Pete Sampras’s former coach Paul Annacone for a “test period” in a bid to rediscover his winning touch.
It was only three months ago that the Swiss, winner of a record 16 grand slam crowns, was world number one and the defending champion at three of the four majors.
But after suffering a triple setback in the European season when he surrendered his French Open title in the quarter-finals, lost his number one ranking and failed to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2002, Federer has conceded he needs outside help.
“I’ve been looking to add someone to my team and I’ve decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone,” the world number three said on his website (www.rogerfederer.com).
“As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for (Britain’s) Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences.”
Widely considered as the greatest player to have wielded a tennis racket, Federer has shunned full-time help ever since splitting from Swede Peter Lundgren six months after winning his first grand slam at Wimbledon in 2003.
Darren Cahill, Jose Higueras and Tony Roche have made cameo appearances in Federer’s players’ box since while working with him on a temporary basis.
Rivals left choking on Nadal’s dust
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) – The dust storm Tomas Berdych kicked up on the baseline as he stood five points from defeat in the Wimbledon final summed up just how exasperating it was to be in the firing line of Rafael Nadal’s forehand.
Berdych stepped on Centre Court armed with a sledgehammer forehand that had so sensationally flattened Roger Federer in the quarter-finals but when he faced-off with Nadal on Sunday, his chief weapon looked like a poor imitation of the real thing.
“Weak parts of him? Not many of them,” shrugged Berdych after he was beaten 6-3 7-5 6-4 in the most lopsided men’s final at the All England Club for five years.
“His biggest weapon is his left hand. It’s really tough to find the right rhythm.”
For the past three months, almost no one has been able to find the “right rhythm” or a way to nullify the 24-year-old’s forehand as the Spaniard has trampled on all those before him to win 31 of his last 32 matches.
Last June, one medical expert predicted Nadal was a spent force as he “had knees of a 33-year-old”.
If anything, after being denied a chance to defend his Wimbledon title 12 months ago because of tendinitis to both knees, Nadal made sure his naysayers were left red faced.
Analysis: Rivals left choking on Nadal’s dust
LONDON (Reuters) – The dust storm Tomas Berdych kicked up on the baseline as he stood five points from defeat in the Wimbledon final summed up just how exasperating it was to be in the firing line of Rafael Nadal’s forehand.
Berdych stepped on Center Court armed with a sledgehammer forehand that had so sensationally flattened Roger Federer in the quarter-finals but when he faced-off with Nadal Sunday, his chief weapon looked like a poor imitation of the real thing.
“Weak parts of him? Not many of them,” shrugged Berdych after he was beaten 6-3 7-5 6-4 in the most lopsided men’s final at the All England Club for five years.
“His biggest weapon is his left hand. It’s really tough to find the right rhythm.”
For the past three months, almost no one has been able to find the “right rhythm” or a way to nullify the 24-year-old’s forehand as the Spaniard has trampled on all those before him to win 31 of his last 32 matches.
Last June, one medical expert predicted Nadal was a spent force as he “had knees of a 33-year-old.”
If anything, after being denied a chance to defend his Wimbledon title 12 months ago because of tendonitis to both knees, Nadal made sure his naysayers were left red faced.
Serena ponders epitaph: “Tough, mean.. but nice as well”
LONDON (Reuters) – When Serena Williams hangs up her racket for good, she wants her tennis epitaph to read: “That Serena, she was tough and she was mean on the court but she was really funny and nice off it.”
For the seven opponents who were blown away by her thunderous serve over the past fortnight at Wimbledon, “tough and mean” does not quite do justice to standing on the other side of the net and being caught in the crossfire of a Williams bullet.
The American sent down a record 89 rockets – shattering her own previous tournament mark of 72 — as she wiped the floor clean to win her fourth singles crown at the All England Club with a 6-3 6-2 victory over an unfortunate Vera Zvonareva.
It was little wonder that after such a stupendous exhibition by her fearsome muscle-bound right arm, there was no doubt in her mind who the Venus Rosewater Dish belonged to.
“I’m going to definitely give it (the trophy) to my serve. It really deserves it,” she told a select group of invited journalists as she stroked her upper right arm with her sparkling finger nails, a small red ‘S’ inscribed on both her pinkies.
“I’m so excited, I really hope I can keep up serving like that. This is a new turn in my life and I would love to continue to do that.”
If rivals are discovering that Williams’s serve is coming down harder, faster and more powerful than ever before, they can blame Samantha Stosur for the sudden transformation.
Nadal still wary two years on from Federer epic
LONDON (Reuters) – The last time Rafael Nadal appeared in a Wimbledon final, he spent the night before tossing and turning in bed in nervous anticipation of the clash against the game’s greatest player Roger Federer.
Two years after beating the Swiss in the match considered the sport’s most memorable and with Federer absent from the showpiece final for the first time since 2002, the Spaniard is no less wary about the man standing between him and an eighth grand slam title, Czech Tomas Berdych.
While the rest of the tennis world is still trying to come to terms with the fact the Swiss maestro will not emerge from the players’ entrance on Center Court Sunday, Nadal does not find Federer’s absence and Berdych’s emergence that strange.
“It shows just how tough the tour is,” the 2008 champion told Reuters in an interview on the eve of the final.
“What Roger did was amazing and unbelievable. It’s impossible to be there all the time. What he did, six titles and one final in seven years, is impossible to repeat.”
Since Nadal lost his first two Wimbledon finals to Federer, it was not surprising that he was looking forward to trading blows with a new Czech face across the net.
“Two years ago when I played against Roger, the night before I didn’t sleep a lot,” he said as he slouched back on a chair after emptying his pockets of two mobile phones and a bulging black wallet.
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