tennis stars news: September 2011

Friday, 23 September 2011

Caroline Wozniacki Italian player Alberta Brianti

2007
On 4 February, she won an $75,000 ITF singles title in Ortisei, Italy, beating the Italian player Alberta Brianti. On 4 March, she won the $75,000 ITF tournament in Las Vegas, beating top-seed Akiko Morigami in the final.
She obtained a wild card for the Pacific Life Open main draw and made her Tier I debut there. She was knocked out in the second round by Martina Hingis.
She thenmade the semifinals of the AIG Open in Tokyo in October, her first career WTA Tour semifinal, and as a result became the first Danish woman to reach a WTA semifinal since Tine Scheuer-Larsen at Bregenz in 1986. She was defeated by Venus Williams in straight sets.

Caroline Wozniacki

David Ferrer spanish professional tennis

David Ferrer Ern born April 2, 1982 in Xàbia, Alicante, Spain is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently #5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000. Ferrer is known as a clay court specialist, although he has had success on hard courts as well, as evidenced by his semi-final appearances at the 2007 US Open and 2011 Australian Open. He was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2008 and 2009. He was also runner-up at the Tennis Masters Cup in 2007.[1] He first achieved a top–10 ranking in 2006 and reached a career high ranking of No. 4.

David Ferrer

Monday, 19 September 2011

Roger Federer spot in Davis Cup World Group

Roger Federer & Co overcomes Australia to earn spot in Davis Cup World Group
The Australia vs. Switzerland tie at the Royal Sydney Golf Club was suspended on Sunday night due to bad light. Australia’s number two and Davis Cup veteran Lleyton Hewitt was playing Swiss number two Stanislas Wawrinka. The match was in the fifth set when the referee decided to call it a day and for the match to continue at 11.00am today. It was 2-2 in rubbers. Wawrinka won the fifth deciding rubber today in three minutes, two minutes less than the actual warm up.
Switzerland was 5-3 up in the fifth set when both teams were sent home around 6pm last night. Wawrinka and Hewitt returned to the Royal Sydney grass court this morning. Hewitt was serving at 3-5 and Wawrinka immediately broke his serve to win the match 4-6, 6-4 6-7 (7) 6-4 6-3 and the tie to claim a spot in the Davis Cup World Group next year. Australia will face yet another year out of the World Group.
“I was struggling a bit today,” said Hewitt. It was always going to make life tough even if I was able to hold serve in that first game and then he was going to serve and I probably wasn’t going to be at my best to be able to return the next game. I went out there and gave it what I could but it wasn’t to be.”

It looked like Hewitt was going to hold serve in the first game of the day. He raced to a 30-0 lead but then struggled to move and he hit two double faults in the same game to lose his service game and give Switzerland a 3-2 win over Australia.

“It’s amazing to be in the same team but for sure in Switzerland it is never easy because it doesn’t matter what I am going to do or which ranking I am going to have because it’s never going to be enough for Swiss people they always look to Roger, but that’s ok,” Warinka said.

Wawrinka said he was happy with his form and beating an accomplished player like Hewitt on grass felt really good. He also said it was one of the best Davis Cup matches he has ever played.

Lleyton Hewitt will continue to work hard and recover from his foot injury. Davis Cup has always been important to the former world number one and he said, “As long as I haven’t retired I’ll still be putting my hand up for Davis Cup.”

Roger Federer

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Rafael Nadal's take 'inconsistent'

CORDOBA, Spain -- Rafael Nadal shouldn't blame the Davis Cup for the crowded tennis schedule after playing the event infrequently in recent years, the head of the International Tennis Federation said Saturday.

Nadal was again critical of the busy schedule Friday after winning the first match in Spain's 2-0 Davis Cup semifinal lead over France. It came four days after he lost the U.S. Open final in New York to Novak Djokovic. Asked if players could strike over the convoluted calendar, Nadal did not rule out "strong action."

But ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said Nadal's argument was "inconsistent."

"Nadal has all the right to feel tired after playing 70 matches this year, but that's not the fault of the Davis Cup, which he has played only three times in the past two years," Ricci Bitti said at Cordoba's bullring.

Nadal helped Spain lift the Davis Cup trophy in 2009.

"Nadal says we don't listen to the players but the date of the Davis Cup was changed against the wishes of the ITF and its president," Ricci Bitti said. "We still feel the dates, especially those in September, are not right."

Nadal was among a group of top players -- including Roger Federer -- which lobbied the ITF to move Davis Cup dates to the week after Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2009.

French player Michael Llodra backed Nadal's stance after pairing with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to trim the deficit to 2-1 against Spain. Llodra also said the calendar should be reviewed.

"It makes us have to change and adapt to a new surface very quickly," Llodra said. "I know Rafa loves playing here and representing his country, but the ITF should probably think about it and change some things."

Nadal said organizers only cared about money and not the players' health in remarks Friday. Talk has emerged about making the Davis Cup a biannual tournament, but Ricci Bitti said was "nonnegotiable."

"Playing Davis Cup can't just be about money, you also have to give something back to the sport," Ricci Bitti said.

rafael nadal

Vera Zvonareva to lead Russia in Fed Cup final

MOSCOW (Russia): World number four Vera Zvonareva will lead Russia in the Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic, the country's tennis federation said on Friday.

The Russians also named 16th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova (19) and Ekaterina Makarova (43) for the Nov. 5-6 tie at the Olympic indoor arena in Moscow.

Captain Shamil Tarpishchev has relied on the same team that crushed Italy 5-0 in the semi-finals in April. "We have decided to go with the same line-up as had played against Italy because these girls have developed good team spirit and camaraderie," Tarpishchev said.

"I think they have shown they are really want to play on the same team and help each other."

Russia will be bidding for their fifth Fed Cup title since 2004, while the Czechs are looking for their first since splitting from Slovakia in 1993.