Eugenie Bouchard and Aleksandra Wozniak invite fans to the 2014 Fed Cup World Group II first round tie between Canada and Serbia at Centre Claude-Robillard in Montreal on February 8 and 9.
Novak Djokovic after defeating Radek Stepanek
Novak Djokovic talks to Craig Gabriel after winning the first rubber of the 2013 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final in Belgrade.
Simona Halep changes her coach
Strange stuff in the Romanian camp.
Simona Halep had a truly unbelievable second part of the season to win 6 tournaments from June to October and reach a career high world no.11.
Given the fact that the Romanian has achieved most of these results in the last few months she is widely expected to reach the top 10 quite soon.
So life is nice for Simona… but strangely enough there was the announcement that she will part ways from her coach Adrian Marcu to try to achieve more (well.. this is rather strange… she was doing that bad).
By the way Simona announced that they are still in good relationship and that the decision came as she wants to take further steps in her career. Interesting!
ITF blasts at Federer and Djokovic about unfair criticism to anti-doping system
There is so much mess about the anti-doping system that even big guns such as Djokovic and Federer are openly criticizing (for different reasons) how things are conducted.
Djokovic is defending his dear friend Vicktor Troicki for his (now) 12 months ban and Federer says that he feels they are not controlled enough.
From the ITF: They are unfair
The ITF’s anti-doping manager Stuart Miller vented his opinion regarding the system to say “I think that tennis is doing a good job in the programmes it has and we’ve had two fairly high-profile cases recently with Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki and let’s not forget both of those cases resulted in violations for the athletes concerned.
To me that shows that the programme is successful in catching the people it is supposed to be catching so I don’t think it’s necessarily fair criticism. Our programme includes in-competition and out-of-competition testing, with both urine and bloods samples taken and the recent introduction of the athlete’s biological passport, another too”.
Chris Kermode to be the next ATP chief executive
According to many the late Brad Drewett was one of the best CEO the ATP has ever had. Unfortunately Brad had to cope with a terrible disease to pass away in May. The ATP has been looking for a suitable replacement for 10thmonth and apparently they found a suitable in Chris Kermode, the actual Managing Director of the World Tour Finals and he is the tournament director at Queen’s
As a pro Chris didn’t achieve great heights as his best rank was no. 141 in the 80s, but apparently he is doing a great job at the World Tour Finals and at Queen’s
Mike Bryan: He is a good dude
Using a typical American (and funny) expression Mike Bryan commented “Kermode’s a good dude. I like him. He supports doubles. He’s done a great job at this event. He’s been good to us at Queen’s.”
Stepping in Drewett position will be quite hard for Chris… but… good luck to him!
Furious Del Potro, refuses to play the Davis Cup against Italy
There is still a sour blood between Del Potro and the Tennis Association in Argentina.
Delpo has rejected once again the offer to play the Davis Cup for his country. Argentina will play the first round tie on the home soil the 31st of January (this is always a terrible date as it is too close to the Australian Open), but they will miss their most representative player.
Delpo: This is a hypocritical two-faced stance
Juan Martin is furious at its Federation to comment “I won’t be available in this first tie to be played against Italy. I’m tired of being invited by email or messages and being pressured at the same time through certain media with stories about whether or not I’ll play the Davis Cup, trying to make me look bad to public opinion.
“It seems to me a hypocritical two-faced stance, the same as last year when any reply or non-reply was quickly known by some journalists,” added Delpo.
The feeling is that if the situation would have been managed with more common sense, Argentina wouldn’t have this thorny problem. Another mess between a tennis federation and it’s most representative player.
Davis Cup: Djokovic, Berdych bring the final to a 1-1 scoreline
A predictable start in the Davis Cup final.
Novak Djokovic didn’t have many problems at beating world no.44 Radek Stepanek. Probably the Serb struggled only when he squandered a 5-2 led in the first set, but after that there was no problem at all for the world no.2.
Novak: I was a bit nervous
Djokovic still gets quite emotional in big matches to comment “I was a bit nervous in the first set. I was very important to win that one against high-quality player like Radek.”
Berdych had a very easy one against world 117 Dusan Lajovic. Tomas left only 0 games to his opponent to square up the result.
Berdych: the situation was not easy
“It was a tough one, playing the guy I actually saw for the first time on court. He had nothing to lose. These situations are not easy. I am glad I was able to make it happen in straight sets.” Said Tomas.
Today we have the doubles that may decide the outcome of the final. Bozoljac and Zimonjic will take on Hajek And Rosol, Unless the Czech decide to make Stepanek and Berdych to play also the doubles (that wouldn’t be the first time.
Maria Sharapova Interview Porsche private showroom
Porsche’s brand ambassador, Maria Sharapova, shares some thoughts about the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, her first Panamera experience and the fun of customizing her prize Porsche.
Davis Cup: Doubles will be critical for Tomas Berdych
The heat is on and both teams (Serbia and Czech Republic) are making their plans.
With world no.2 Novak Djokovic in full form and with Serbia unable to present a “competitive” single player with Nole (Troicki is banned and Tipsarevic is injured), the lickely scenario is a 2-2 scoreline in singles. In fact, Djokovic is widely expected to win both singles and the “2nd Serbian” to lose both. So doubles will be the key point.
Berdych
“That’s definitely the most important point. It’s been one of the most important points that we’ve earned in many ties in the past and there will be no exception this time…We both know each other well on court. That’s why the results are great.
We are both great singles players. We have many experiences in doubles, especially in Davis Cup, so I think these are the positive things that can help us to go through again,” said Tomas
