Serena Williams admits that her Wimbledon fourth-round appearance - she lost to Marion Bartoli in straight sets - was possibly more than even she could have expected after missing much of the past year through injury and her
pulmonary blood clot problems of last February. "I feel like I showed up and did a halfway decent job,” Williams said in Washington as she eases back into the sport by playing summer TeamTennis for a few weeks. “I’m hoping to continue to build on that and do better.” The American who owns 13 major titles and once stood atop the WTA rankings, will have a long hard fight to return, with her ranking now at 175th after losing her All England club champion's points from 2010. “I haven’t played in a year except for two tournaments,” Williams told local media, adding that her ranking "is what it is.” Williams currently stands an unaccustomed 15th in the internal US rankings, another unpleasant result of her long time away from tennis. She has now played four matches since coming back.
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The Euro/Africa Zone Group Two second round is a relative backwater of the Davis Cup and there are far greater stages for world no.4 Andy Murray to get emotional but tears of joy flowed from the Scot after showing three full houses of his Caledonian compatriots what a tennis force he can be.
Clearly touched by the support shown at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena, Murray was overcome at the completion of his 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Gilles Müller, the world No 81, which set up a home tie against Hungary in September in which victory for Great Britain would secure promotion back to the Group One of the Euro/Africa Zone for 2012, potentially alongside nations such as the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia. All Murray was asked for was a word on the extent of the local support and he momentarily lost his composure. There was not a hint that that would happen on the court, as he lost only four points on his serve in three sets of genuine tension. There was no doubt that, throughout the tie, Murray donned the mask of serious intent, so much so that when he was allowed to take it off, he could not contain all of his emotions. “I was not expecting that to happen but it did, “ said Murray. “I thought it was a really good match with a good atmosphere. Davis Cup is just different to all the other tournaments you play during the course of the year and I think that showed today. “There was a desire on my behalf to do my best and really play well. It would have been very easy after Wimbledon to come here and have a bit of a let down. It’s happened to me in the past and I didn’t want it to happen again. I trained well in the build up, felt good moving on the hard and today was a great end to a long spell.” Murray will now take things easy for a week or so and then begin an intensive training schedule in Miami to make sure he is in top condition for the defense of his Rogers Cup title in Montreal (beginning August 8) before the second Masters 1000 event of the summer in Cincinnati and then the US Open. “It was the last match I will play for four or five weeks until I begin Montreal,” he said. “So it was nice to finish on that note and it makes a big difference for me to play in Scotland. I don’t the chance very often and it’s the first time in a long time I have played up here. I was beginning to think I was jinxed with ties up here in Glasgow. “Five years ago when we played Serbia and Montenegro here at Braehead, I was really ill and could only play the doubles. Then a few years later we played Ukraine here and I came back from Dubai so sick that I lost loads of weight and couldn’t play at all. I’m just glad everything was OK this time.” Once again Murray provided an exemplary performance from the service line against Muller, allowing his opponent only four points from his own delivery throughout the one hours 46 minute win. The British no.1 was determined that nothing less than a five-star performance to round off his first Davis Cup tie in 22 months would do and he said: “ I played well, I served well and was moving well. “I chased every ball down and made it really difficult for him from the start. By the middle of the second set, he didn’t have any tactics left and played quite a lot of drop shots. I knew I just had to stay tough from there, make him play a lot of balls and return well. I served quite a lot of aces and high percentage of first serves. All in all it was a good win.” U.S. Captain Jim Courier asked his team of Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and Bob and Mike Bryan to give it their all against Spain in the Davis Cup Quarterfinal tie, and each team member did just that, fighting to the last point behind a sellout crowd at the Frank Erwin Tennis Center in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, the U.S. team came up just short to the Spaniards, who defeated the Americans, 3-1.
Photo GalleriesCaptain's BlogEvan King Blog Eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Andre Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall Of Fame on Saturday, along with Fern ‘Peachy’ Kellmeyer in Newport, Rhode Island. “I’m thrilled and humbled and quite honestly a bit terrified to be here standing in front of you today,” Agassi said during his induction speech.
The 41-year-old American had an illustrious career on the ATP World Tour, spending 101 weeks atop the South African Airways ATP Rankings, and claiming 60 titles along the way. He triumphed at the Australian Open four times, hoisted the trophy at the US Open twice, won Wimbledon and Roland Garros, and captured the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to become only the third player in history to achieve a career Golden Slam, joining wife Steffi Graf and preceding Rafael Nadal. On Saturday, the Las Vegas native showed his appreciation for the sport that was the nucleus of his life for so many years. “I fell in love with tennis far too late in my life but the reason that I have everything that I hold dear is because of how much tennis has loved me back,” proclaimed Agassi. “Tennis has not only given me much, it has taught me much.” Agassi thanked his friends and family who helped him along the way. Among those in attendance were long-time trainer and friend Gil Reyes, former coaches Nick Bollettieri and Brad Gilbert, Graf and their two children, Jaden and Jaz, and Agassi’s parents, Betty and Mike. Agassi’s father was the driving force behind his son’s introduction to tennis and Andre thanked him for pushing him to the limits. “Dad when I was five you told me to win Wimbledon. When I was seven you told me to win all four Grand Slams. And more times than I can remember, you told me to get into the Hall Of Fame. And when I was 29, don’t know if you remember this, you told me to marry Steffi Graf… best order you ever gave me… so dad please don’t ever stop telling me what to do!” Added Agassi, “If we’re lucky in life we get a handful of moments when we don’t have to wonder if we made a parent proud, we don’t have to ask them, we just know, I want to thank tennis for giving me one of those moments today, it’s one of the many things in which I need to thank this sport.” But perhaps Agassi’s greatest gratitude towards the sport is for all the life experiences and wisdom he accrued during his career. “It’s no accident that tennis uses the language of life, service, advantage, break, fault, love. The lessons of tennis are the lessons of maturity,” said Agassi. In 2001, Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free public charter school in the area’s most at-risk neighborhood for grades 3-5. The academy has since expanded to a K-12 program, and its inaugural class graduated in 2009. “I believe we have a responsibility to each other. A responsibility to create more than we consume, a responsibility to build things that will outlast us. A responsibility to find our own limits and push through them,” declared Agassi. “Even when life’s challenges, weigh us down, make us unrecognizable to ourselves, we can always begin again. There’s always time to thrive. It’s not too late to be inspired, it’s not too late to change, it’s not too late.” Two graduates of Agassi’s Academy were invited by committee organisers to be part of the ceremonies. A.J. Green sang the national anthem and Simone Green addressed the crowd with an inspiring speech. “I chose a student because I believe the Hall of Fame really connects our past and our present and our future. It's what this establishment does so well,” believes Agassi. “I can't think of anything that represents us better than a child and their future, and the fact that tennis has given me a chance to allow a future of their choosing for them. So there was a lot of symbolism to me with the past being connected with tomorrow.” Agassi is scheduled to play in the Hall Of Fame Classic Exhibition on Sunday, partnering Brad Gilbert. The two will take on Hall Of Famer Owen Davidson and former World No. 4 Todd Martin. Novak Djokovic took the No. 1 player in the world ranking and the Wimbledon crown away from Rafael Nadal, while Petra Kvitova pulled off the upset of former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova. In men's doubles, the Bryan Brothers captured a record 11th career Grand Slam
title. Photo Gallery Video Interviews Well, Venus is now currently rank 34 in the world, while the sister Serina falls to 175 in the world. What is happening the American Tennis?
Martina Navratilova looked down with pride and joy from the Royal Box as the new Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova hoisted the famous Venus Rosewater trophy so well known to the nine-times winner and announced a
new era in women’s tennis. Navratilova believes Kvitova, both a fellow Czech by birth and also a left-hander, is destined to become the dominant force on the WTA scene and "I think we're seeing a new player taking charge,” said Navratilova. “She’s not scared out there and she’s playing forceful tennis. “Before the final I was talking to someone who works with me and we were trying to figure out the fourth best leftie that ever played. “There’s Monica (Seles), myself and then Ann Jones but we couldn’t really come up with another one. But now with Kvitova a Wimbledon winner, she’s up there.” However Navratilova is insistent the era of the Williams sisters is not yet over. "I'm sure they'll be a force to be reckoned with at the US Open if they stay healthy,” she said. “I wouldn't write off Serena just yet. She'll get in great shape. She still did amazingly well. I thought both sisters, considering how little they played, they looked sharp. But I think as Venus is two years older it gets harder after 30. I know that well." Navratilova found agreement on her views of Kvitova from two other American tennis luminaries. John McEnroe emerged from the BBC TV commentary booth after watching the eighth seed beat former champion Maria Sharapova 6-3,6-4 and said: “You've a feeling we have just seen a really special talent.” Tracy Austin, who won the US Open twice, is convinced Kvitova's immensely powerful game will reward her with further major titles after her triumph was watched by a global audience of tens of millions. 'I think this is the first of many for Petra,' said Austin. Rafael Nadal’s public relations chief Benito Perez Barbadillo refuted earlier claims that the world no.2 and Wimbledon runner-up was suffering from a stress fracture of the foot.
Nadal is reported to fine but resting for the next 11 days. He is scheduled to play a golf tournament in his native Majorca on July 16 and will then resume practice thefollowing day in preparation for the preparation for his US Open title defense. Novak Djokovic was truly hailed a Serbian national hero as around 100,000 Serbs packed the streets of Belgrade to welcome home the new
Wimbledon champion. The 24-year-old, who has also officially claimed the world no.1 spot on the ATP World Tour rankings from the man he beat on Centre Court, Rafael Nadal, was greeted by a deafening roar as he arrived in an open-top bus, which took several hours to the make the journey from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport to the Serbian Parliament Building of Nikola Pasic Square. Traffic on the main motorway ground to a halt and tens of thousands of fans chanted Djokovic’s nickname “Nole, Nole” as the player held aloft the trophy he won with an emphatic four-set win final. “This is absolutely unbelievable and I owe all of you eternal gratitude for this reception,” Djokovic, who will lead Davis Cup holders Serbia in their quarter-final tie away to Sweden next weekend, told the crowd. “The time has come to bare all my emotions to you and all I can say is that you are the best in the world because only Serbian fans can throw a party like this. You have made the happiest day of my life even better and I dedicate this trophy to you. Djokovic was surrounded by his entire family on a specially erected podium where several rock bands played during the celebrations. The champion and his two younger brothers Marko and Djordje even joined in the singing with the bands and he declared: “We have a soul that is second to none and with the team event coming up, I can promise you we will do everything in our power to win it all again.” The celebrations culminated when Djokovic and his family engaged in a traditional Serbian folk dance as fireworks lit the skies above Belgrade on a warm evening. However the celebrations continued long into the night with Serbian flags were everywhere. Some of the chanting was nationalistic and demeaning of Nadal. ‘Are you watching this from Madrid, Rafa’, and ‘Keep practicing that backhand of yours,’ were popular taunts. Serbia’s former Davis Cup coach Radmilo Armenulic enthused: “Young people are here in droves because they look up to this extraordinary young man and draw inspiration from his accomplishments. He is a role model and a true champion, finding the strength and willpower in his family and close friends, which is the best way to keep your life on the rails.” |
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