Tennis Planet.me

Our players go head to head guessing player names. And Hubi is certainly getting ’S’ for sass 😎 H2H: A-Z Challenge - Part One.

 

 

Marketa Vondrousova v Ons Jabeur Condensed Match | Australian Open 2023 Second Round.

 

 

Memories of a champion: Henri Leconte I Roland-Garros. Memories of a champion: Henri Leconte I Roland-Garros. A boys’ champion in 1980 and a men’s doubles winner four years later with Yannick Noah, Henri Leconte talks about his rise to glory at Roland

....-Garros before reflecting on his 1988 final defeat to Mats Wilander.

 

 

Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina's BEST points from her first WTA 1000 title run! 🏆

 

 

Camila Giorgi vs. Kaia Kanepi | 2023 Miami Round 1 | WTA Match Highlights.

 

 

Bianca Andreescu vs. Emma Raducanu | 2023 Miami Round 1 | WTA Match Highlights.

 

 

Lesia Tsurenko vs. Leylah Fernandez | 2023 Miami Round 1 | WTA Match Highlights.

 

 

Lajovic Upsets Murray In Miami Opener. Isner joins Murray as former champs to exit on Day 1.

World No. 76 Dusan Lajovic brushed aside his recent modest hard-court record to upset two-time former champion Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5 on Day 1 of men's main-draw action at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Serbian, who was once as high as No. 23 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, had won just four of 16 matches on hard courts since the start of 2022. But the 2019 Monte-Carlo finalist won his first career meeting with Murray to pick up his first hard-court win of the season.

Lajovic’s victory was underpinned by his strong performance on second serve against one of the game’s best returners. He won 72 per cent of second-serve points and saved two of the three break points he faced, while converting all three opportunities on Murray's serve. He failed to serve out the match at 5-4 but after missing two match points from 40/0 in the final game, he closed out the match when Murray framed a forehand at the end of an extended rally.

“When I didn’t close it out I thought it’s happening again,” Lajovic said of Murray’s ability to pull victory from the jaws of defeat this year. “Honestly that last game I was super right at 40/0 and he was able to put pressure on me. Luckily he shanked the last forehand, which he normally doesn’t do.”

Murray ends the ATP Masters 1000 'Sunshine Doubles' with a 2-2 record in Indian Wells and Miami, having reached the third round at the BNP Paribas Open. The 35-year-old Scot slips to 8-5 on the season, highlighted by a run to the Doha final (l. Medvedev).

Lajovic, who also now has an 8-5 record on the season, next faces American serve/volleyer Maxime Cressy. “I don’t like playing guys like him. They try to provoke you and put you under pressure on your own service games. I’ll try to stay mentally stable.”

A second former tournament champion was bundled out on Day 1 of men's action when 21-year-old American Emilio Nava upstaged veteran countryman John Isner 7-6(5), 7-6(4). Nava did not face a break point and withstood 15 aces from the 2018 Miami champion to set a second-round meeting with another American, ninth seed Taylor Fritz.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/lajovic-murray-miami-2023-wednesday

Alcaraz First-Person Essay: 'I Am Ambitious And My Goals Are Big'. Spaniard drew inspiration from Nadal & Djokovic, who made immediate impacts after coming back from injury.

The injury has been a learning process. I had to be calm and it has helped me to mature a lot off the court. These were not easy days for me, they were quite hard. I had to stay focused and train to come back stronger. During my recovery, as I have done on several occasions, I worked a lot with my psychologist. She helps me a lot both on and off the court. The off-court side is almost more important, as you spend most of your time there.

I thought a lot about Nadal when I was recovering from my injury. Often when the best players have been out for a long time, they win their first tournament back. I wanted to be one of those players. Those examples of successful returns have motivated me – like what Rafa did at the 2022 Australian Open, and when Djokovic has returned from absences, he has won important tournaments. These examples are inspirations to think, 'let's get back training' because I also want to come back the best I can to try to win…

… In Miami, I’m going to have to start defending a lot of points. I think about that subconsciously because you want to be at the top of the rankings. But together with my team, we have always said that the important thing is the race to the Nitto ATP Finals. If you have a good year in the race, you will finish high in the rankings. I don't worry too much about defending points, I just think about enjoying the tournament I am playing, and trying to do the best I can…

…I want to beat Nadal and Djokovic, but I am not here to take any Grand Slams away from them or prevent either of them from being the best of all time. I am just trying to write my own history.

I want to win Slams. I am ambitious and my goals are big, I'm not going to lie. My dream is to be one of the best in history, to try to get somehow close to them. I know it will be very complicated - maybe even impossible - but in this world you have to think big and dream big. In the end, that is my dream today.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/alcaraz-eurosport-essay-2023

Medvedev Not Ready To Toe The Line In Miami. Former World No. 1 vows to stick to his winning formula... for now.

Daniil Medvedev isn’t ready to throw out the playbook just yet.

Despite scavenging just five games from Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s one-sided BNP Paribas Open final, ‘Deep-court Daniil’ says that he won’t be altering his court position should he face the World No. 1 again at the Miami Open presented by Itau this fortnight.

“It's possible [that I may not play as deep] but I'm not sure if I would do it,” he said Wednesday of his next hard-court meeting with Alcaraz, whenever that might come. “For sure if I lose two matches in a row staying back and [I get beaten] just as easy I have to definitely change something. But one match is not enough."

Alcaraz exploited Medvedev’s positioning through a combination of well-timed serve/volley plays, his signature drop shots, and by taking advantage of the slower court conditions to take big cuts from the ground to clock a series of winners past the 2021 US Open champion.

But Medvedev believes that faster conditions at other hard-court events – including in Miami – will favour his preferred position deep behind the baseline.

"I'll only have to wait for a match on faster hard courts to see if my court positioning will work when the ball is flying faster through the air and the opponent won't have as much time to play serve and volley and play from the baseline,” he said. “During the match there was a small time when I tried to play a little more aggressive and closer to the baseline. But on those one or two games he was serving bombs so that didn't help me. And it's not that easy to change things up during a match.”

Despite his 6-3, 6-2 loss to Alcaraz in the Indian Wells title match, Medvedev arrives in Miami high on confidence, having won 19 of his past 20 matches, a run comprising titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and the BNP Paribas Open final. That already is an improvement on the two titles he won last year. Medvedev, who is 23-4 on the season, said that rediscovering his consistency has underpinned his recent surge back into the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I managed to get back in the zone, which I didn't really have for all of 2022, when I was less consistent,” he said. “I would have some good matches or tournaments but out of nowhere I would have one bad match. I've managed to avoid that the past four weeks. I have no idea how I have done it, but I am really happy and want to continue.”

Medvedev’s first-round opponent in Miami will be the winner of the all-Spanish clash between Roberto Carballes Baena and Bernabe Zapata Miralles. He is in the bottom half of the draw, so could only meet Alcaraz should both players reach the final.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/medvedev-keeps-faith-in-court-position-miami-2023

‘At times I was really pissed off to be part of that era’: Novak Djokovic speaks to CNN about competing with Nadal and Federer.

Click here.

Women's tennis works to safeguard against predatory coaches.

 

Lindsay Brandon, the WTA's new director of safeguarding, poses for a portrait at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Friday, March 10, 2023, in Indian Wells, Calif. The women’s professional tennis tour is increasing efforts to protect players from predatory coaches and others. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lindsay Brandon is a lawyer whose past clients include athletes disputing doping suspensions. In her new post as the WTA’s first director of safeguarding, Brandon is leading an increased effort to protect athletes from predatory coaches — and others — on the women’s professional tennis tour.

“Safeguarding is about emotional abuse. Physical abuse, as well. And it’s not just coach-athlete,” Brandon said in a telephone interview from the BNP Paribas Open, which wrapped up Sunday in Indian Wells, California, and was the first tournament she visited as part of the job she began 3 1/2 months ago.

“There are other people that are part of this process,” Brandon told The Associated Press. “There can be athlete-to-athlete issues. There can be issue with respect to training staff separate from coaches. Those are just some of the examples.”

Her priorities include managing the WTA security team’s investigations of complaints — she did not reveal how many are currently active — and “monitoring any potential concerns,” along with improving education and creating a safeguarding code of conduct she hopes will be published in 2024.

The aim of that code, which Brandon said is separate from a general code of conduct that already exists, is to create a rulebook that outlines behavioral standards and establishes procedures to follow if a matter arises. It will apply to anyone who is credentialed “in the WTA environment,” Brandon said, including players, coaches, physiotherapists, other members of entourages, tournament staff and tour staff.

“Safeguarding is multifaceted and strongest when the entire population is educated, invested and held to the same standards. ... We have a diverse body of players, staff and support teams, so the challenges and areas of concern will vary. As the governing body, our focus is making sure that players feel they can come forward and share their concerns, which plays a critical role in being able to address the issues that may be at hand,” WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon said in an email to The Associated Press.

Might be hard to gauge the success of such an initiative so soon, but Simon found at least one positive measure.

“We are seeing more athletes coming forward," he said, "which is a great initial result.”

Adding what Simon called “the expertise of a dedicated safeguarding position” is the biggest public-facing step taken by the Florida-based WTA in this area since the issue of protecting players drew increased attention last year: A French player once ranked as high as No. 39 accused her former coach of rape; another player sued the U.S. Tennis Association for failing to protect her from a coach she says sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19; 2002 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Pam Shriver, who won 21 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles, said she “had an inappropriate and damaging relationship with my much older coach” that began when she was 17 and he was 50.

“Maybe we need to talk more to players and tell them what’s going on with everything so they know to be careful,” said two-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia. “Maybe it’s never enough and we should do more.”

Simon expressed a similar sentiment during an interview at the tour’s season-ending championships in November.

“We have ... background checks on our coaches. We have an athlete assistance program in place. We have mental health experts who are here to help if there’s an emotional issue. We have all sorts of education programs. We have investigators coming in,” he said. “One of the things that we’re educating everybody on is: We need to help ourselves. If you see it, you need to report it. We need to work with our players to have them learn to set up the appropriate boundaries around themselves and what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Brandon, who said she played tennis through high school and for one tournament in college, came to the WTA after about seven years working for Howard Jacobs, a well-known sports lawyer who recently helped tennis pro Varvara Lepchenko get a doping ban reduced from four years to 21 months.

“Lindsay’s knowledge in this area (applicable rules, inappropriate behavior, etc.) is likely more in-depth than anyone the WTA could have hired for this role,” Jacobs wrote in an email to the AP.

Brandon planned to travel to the Miami Open, where play begins Tuesday, and “as many tournaments as I reasonably can this year,” including smaller events where younger players compete.

“The earlier you can provide support and outreach to these athletes, the better,” Brandon said. “I tell people that I don’t want to just be a response resource; I want to be a support resource and a preventative resource, as well.”

Lindsay Brandon, the WTA's new director of safeguarding, poses for a portrait at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Friday, March 10, 2023, in Indian Wells, Calif. The women’s professional tennis tour is increasing efforts to protect players from predatory coaches and others. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lindsay Brandon is a lawyer whose past clients include athletes disputing doping suspensions. In her new post as the WTA’s first director of safeguarding, Brandon is leading an increased effort to protect athletes from predatory coaches — and others — on the women’s professional tennis tour.

“Safeguarding is about emotional abuse. Physical abuse, as well. And it’s not just coach-athlete,” Brandon said in a telephone interview from the BNP Paribas Open, which wrapped up Sunday in Indian Wells, California, and was the first tournament she visited as part of the job she began 3 1/2 months ago.

“There are other people that are part of this process,” Brandon told The Associated Press. “There can be athlete-to-athlete issues. There can be issue with respect to training staff separate from coaches. Those are just some of the examples.”

Her priorities include managing the WTA security team’s investigations of complaints — she did not reveal how many are currently active — and “monitoring any potential concerns,” along with improving education and creating a safeguarding code of conduct she hopes will be published in 2024.

The aim of that code, which Brandon said is separate from a general code of conduct that already exists, is to create a rulebook that outlines behavioral standards and establishes procedures to follow if a matter arises. It will apply to anyone who is credentialed “in the WTA environment,” Brandon said, including players, coaches, physiotherapists, other members of entourages, tournament staff and tour staff.

“Safeguarding is multifaceted and strongest when the entire population is educated, invested and held to the same standards. ... We have a diverse body of players, staff and support teams, so the challenges and areas of concern will vary. As the governing body, our focus is making sure that players feel they can come forward and share their concerns, which plays a critical role in being able to address the issues that may be at hand,” WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon said in an email to The Associated Press.

Might be hard to gauge the success of such an initiative so soon, but Simon found at least one positive measure.

“We are seeing more athletes coming forward," he said, "which is a great initial result.”

Adding what Simon called “the expertise of a dedicated safeguarding position” is the biggest public-facing step taken by the Florida-based WTA in this area since the issue of protecting players drew increased attention last year: A French player once ranked as high as No. 39 accused her former coach of rape; another player sued the U.S. Tennis Association for failing to protect her from a coach she says sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19; 2002 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Pam Shriver, who won 21 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles, said she “had an inappropriate and damaging relationship with my much older coach” that began when she was 17 and he was 50.

“Maybe we need to talk more to players and tell them what’s going on with everything so they know to be careful,” said two-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia. “Maybe it’s never enough and we should do more.”

Simon expressed a similar sentiment during an interview at the tour’s season-ending championships in November.

“We have ... background checks on our coaches. We have an athlete assistance program in place. We have mental health experts who are here to help if there’s an emotional issue. We have all sorts of education programs. We have investigators coming in,” he said. “One of the things that we’re educating everybody on is: We need to help ourselves. If you see it, you need to report it. We need to work with our players to have them learn to set up the appropriate boundaries around themselves and what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Brandon, who said she played tennis through high school and for one tournament in college, came to the WTA after about seven years working for Howard Jacobs, a well-known sports lawyer who recently helped tennis pro Varvara Lepchenko get a doping ban reduced from four years to 21 months.

“Lindsay’s knowledge in this area (applicable rules, inappropriate behavior, etc.) is likely more in-depth than anyone the WTA could have hired for this role,” Jacobs wrote in an email to the AP.

Brandon planned to travel to the Miami Open, where play begins Tuesday, and “as many tournaments as I reasonably can this year,” including smaller events where younger players compete.

“The earlier you can provide support and outreach to these athletes, the better,” Brandon said. “I tell people that I don’t want to just be a response resource; I want to be a support resource and a preventative resource, as well.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/womens-tennis-works-safeguard-against-064327738.html

Swiatek pairs up with Federer's sportswear brand On. But if she is a Nadal fan shouldn't she.......................?????????

World number one Iga Swiatek has signed a partnership deal with Swiss sportswear brand On, co-owned by Roger Federer, the Polish tennis player said on Monday.

"I'm very excited to be the first female player to join with On," Swiatek -- who previously competed wearing Japanese brand Asics -- said in a statement on the On website.

The Swiss company, which started out developing running shoes, also announced a deal with 20-year-old player Ben Shelton.

The American made a name for himself by reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals in January on his first time outside the United States.

"Iga and Ben represent the next generation of world-class talent. Both players demonstrate On's competitive spirit and embody current and future champions of the sport," Federer said in the On statement.

Federer, who retired last year with 20 Grand Slam titles, invested in On in 2019 and designed its first pair of tennis shoes.

https://sports.yahoo.com/swiatek-pairs-federers-sportswear-brand-151520531.html

'I have never felt that much hate' says Belarus's Sabalenka.

Belarus' world number two Aryna Sabalenka says she has faced "hate" in the women's tour locker-room but hopes tensions with Ukrainian players will eventually ease.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka lost to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in Sunday's Indian Wells final and at the media day for this week's ATP-WTA Miami Open was asked about her recent comments on "tensions" in the locker-room between Ukrainian and Russian and Belarus players.

"It was really, really tough for me because I've never faced that much hate in the locker room," said Sabalenka.

"Of course, there are a lot of haters on Instagram when you're losing the matches, but like in the locker room, I've never faced that," she added.

"It was really tough for me to understand that there's so many people who really hate me for no reason, like no reason. I mean, like I did nothing," she said.

Sabalenka said sometimes the tension had gone beyond awkward silences and abrupt conversations.

"I had some, not like fights, but I had some weird conversations with, not the girls, but with members of their team. It was really, it was tough. It was tough period. But,  now it's getting better," she said.

In comments at Indian Wells Sabalenka had said she had been in a dispute with Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko's coach Nikita Vlasov.

Tsurenko was due to play Sabalenka at Indian Wells but withdrew before their match.

The Ukrainian said she had a "panic attack" and had also been upset with a conversation about the war and the position of Russian and Belarusian players with WTA CEO Steve Simon.

- Still not so good -

Sabalenka said she had found it hard to deal with the locker-room atmosphere initially.

"I was really struggling with that because I really felt bad, like I did something and it's still not so good in the locker room with some of the Ukrainian girls. But then I realised that it's not my fault and I did nothing bad to them. And I'm pretty sure that the rest of the Russian and Belarusian athletes did nothing to Ukrainians," she said.

"I just realized that this is all emotions and I just need to like ignore it and focus on myself with understanding that I did nothing bad. And I cannot control emotions of others," she said.

"It seems like, everyone's just ignoring each other," she said.

"Not everyone actually, I'm still talking to some of the Ukrainians, but there are some of the girls who are like really aggressive against us. So I'm just staying away from that," added Sabalenka.

Poland's world number one Iga Swiatek has criticised the WTA for not doing enough to support Ukrainian players saying that "everything we discuss in tennis is about Belarusian and Russian players."

Another Belarusian player, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, said she disagreed with that view.

"Obviously there is certain players that have different feelings and behaviors. Overall I don't necessarily share the same opinion as Iga does. I would encourage her to look at the things that have been done before she makes comments," said Azarenka, who is a member of the WTA Players Council.

"Obviously as a player council (member) I am happy to provide all those facts that have been done. And I think that would be a more appropriate way to have that conversation," she added.

The Russian and Belarusian players were barred from last year's Wimbledon tournament by the British organisers but Sabalenka said she is hoping for a change of heart for this year's tournament.

"I was really sad about the decision (last year), but I cannot control their decision. And I just really hope that they will let us play this year," she said.

https://sports.yahoo.com/never-felt-much-hate-says-204245827.html

Giorgi hits 14 double-faults at Miami Open, hangs on to win. Wonder what that says about WTA!!!!!!!!!!!!

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Camila Giorgi hit 14 double-faults, blew a 5-0 lead in the final set and needed four match points before finally pulling out a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) victory against Kaia Kanepi in the first round of the Miami Open.

The match lasted 3 hours, 32 minutes, tying for the longest on the WTA Tour this season. The players combined for 30 aces – 19 by Kanepi, who also had seven double-faults.

In the third set, Kanepi was not moving well, and Giorgi raced to a big edge. But after dropping just two of her initial 15 service games, the Italian got broken twice in a row while serving for the victory at 5-1 and 5-3 in the third set.

Kanepi saved one match point at 5-3, another at 5-4 and another in the concluding tiebreaker. Giorgi finally ended things on her next chance with a cross-court forehand winner. She’ll next face 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a three-time champion in Miami and two-time winner at the Australian Open.

All seeded players at the hard-court tournament received first-round byes. Women’s matches in the main draw began Tuesday; the men start Wednesday.

It was a rough afternoon for the Czech teenage sisters Brenda and Linda Fruhvirtova. First Brenda, who turns 16 on April 2, lost the initial nine games of a 6-0, 7-5 loss to Wang Xiyu. And then Linda, 17, exited with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss against qualifier Katherine Sebov, who now meets No. 3 Jessica Pegula.

In other action, Rebecca Marino eliminated Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (4), 6-2 to set up a second-round match against 2022 French Open runner-up Coco Gauff; Irina-Camelia Begu trailed 2-0 in the first set and then 5-1 in the second before coming back in both to beat wild-card entry Alexandra Eala 6-2, 7-5; and Marta Kostyuk was a 6-3, 6-2 winner against Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Claire Liu, an American who is ranked 59th, advanced to a second-round meeting against defending champion and No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek when Katerina Siniakova stopped playing in the second set Tuesday because of an injured wrist.

https://sports.yahoo.com/giorgi-hits-14-double-faults-033809784.html