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Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
Miami Open – Miami, FL USA

Last Week’s Winner:
BNP Paribas Open – Roger Federer

Introducing the (One-Handed) Backhand Boys
Roger Federer may have won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells over the weekend, but he also won the internet and the hearts of fangirls around the world with the return of the Backhand Boys.  Federer joined fellow one-handed backhanders Grigor Dimitrov and Tommy Haas for a singalong of Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.”  You might recall the trio singing  together back at the Australian Open, and this new video shows they’ve been working on their moves and their vocals.  Tour soon?

As much as we love the Backhand Boys, we think they could use a couple of extra members to make up the classic 5 member boyband!   We’d love to see Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Richard Gasquet or Feliciano Lopez join the lineup.  Auditions in Miami?

The Backhand Boys could use a rival boyband just to keep things fresh.  May we present *NSYDE OUT led by some of the best forehands on the ATP Tour: Juan Martin del Potro, Jack Sock, and Rafael Nadal with Vasek Pospisil (he so needs/wants to be in a boyband) and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Denis Shapovalov Wins 1st Challenger Title
#NextGenATP player Denis Shapovalov won his first challenger title over the weekend in his native Canada at the Challenger Banque Nationale Drummondville.  At 17-years-old, Denis is the youngest ATP Challenger winner so far this year and now the youngest player in the top 200.  Denis defeated his friend and countryman Felix Auger-Aliassme in the semi-finals en route to the title.

Gael Monfils Out With Injury
Gael Monfils is one of the most entertaining players in tennis, with an explosive game and incredible athleticism.   Unfortunately, his big game has led to quite a few injuries over the years, and Gael’s latest setback is a tear in his Achilles’ heel and chondropathy Patella.  He is out of the Miami Open and will start rehab.  We hope to see Gael back on court soon!  (so we can see more shots like this)

ATP University Class of 2017 Graduate in Miami
Every year in Miami, the ATP World Tour hosts “ATP University” for the youngest players on tour.  The 3-day program teaches the players about life on tour including player relations, social media, nutrition, and finance.  It also gives the new players a chance to get to know each other and adjust to their hectic new schedule.  This year’s class included young Americans Reilly Opelka, Noah Rubin, Michael Mmoh, and Stefan Kozlov.

Roger Federer Covers GQ‘s April Issue
Things can be rough for a tennis fan in the off-season.  It’s hard to fill the time normally spent with following scores and matches across the globe with some non-tennis related activities.  Which is how back in December, with no brackets to fill out, tennis fans made it their priority to vote Roger Federer as the Best Dressed Man in GQ‘s Most Stylish Man poll.   Federer won the poll in a landslide, taking out Kanye West, Ryan Gosling, and more in the process.  With his new honor, Federer is on the cover of GQ‘s April issue.  Read the story here!

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells, CA

Indian Wells Brings The Heat
While we’re having a blizzard/icy mess in the Northeast, the tennis world is in blazing hot Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open, one of the best tournaments of the year.  We’d gladly take 97 degrees over this snow!   Although the best part of having a snowday is we get to watch the incredible matches on the schedule for today!  The tournament has been getting lots of buzz for the so called “quarter of death” that includes Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios and more, who are all in action today.  We can’t wait for Zverev vs Kyrgios, Sock vs Dimitrov, Nadal vs Verdasco, Del Potro vs Djokovic..

Vasek Pospisil Shocks Andy Murray
Canadian Vasek Pospisil has had a rough year.  He dropped out of the top 100 in the rankings, and has had to play through Qualifying and Challengers to keep up.  Vasek made it through the qualifying draw in Indian Wells before facing Andy Murray in the 2nd round.  He ended up beating Murray, whom he had never taken a set off of, in 2 straight sets: 6-4, 7-6(7).  It was the biggest win of Vasek’s career so far and we hope it will help give him the confidence to go back to the high level we all know he’s capable of!  After all, Anything is Pospisil.

Mylan WTT Roster Draft Announced
Each of the six Mylan WTT Teams rounded out their teams today, adding more players in the roster draft to the previously announced marquee players.  Check out each team!  This year’s WTT season runs from July 16 to August 2nd, with the top 2 teams advancing to the finals in San Diego on August 5th.

1. New York Empire
John Isner, Genie Bouchard, Mardy Fish, Guido Pella, Kristin Flipkens, Maria Sanchez
2. Springfield Lasers
Jack Sock, Jean-Julien Rojer, Daria Kasatkina, Benjamin Becker, Michaella Krajicek
3. Philadelphia Freedoms
Andy Roddick, Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend, Darian King, Donald Young, Fabrice Martin
4. Washington Kastles
Sam Querrey, Venus Williams, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Martina Hingis, Bruno Soares, Madison Brengle, Anastasia Rodionova
5. Orange County Breakers
Yanina Wickmayer, Michael Venus, Andreja Klepac, Teymuraz Gabashvili
6. San Diego Aviators
Shelby Rogers, Rajeev Ram, Raven Klaasen, Darija Jurak

 

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells, CA

Last Week’s Winners:
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – Andy Murray
Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Sam Querrey
Brasil Open – Pablo Cuevas

World Tennis Day Hits MSG
Madison Square Garden hosted the 10th Anniversary of the BNP Paribas Showdown last night, in celebration of World Tennis Day.  This year’s showdown featured Team Americas vs Team World, played in a modified World Team Tennis format.  Captain Andy Roddick led Team Americas, with Jack Sock, Venus Williams, and Juan Martin del Poetro.   Captain Lleyton Hewitt led Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori, and Garbiñe Mugaruza for Team World.

The event featured 6 sets of Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles, and Men’s Doubles, with each game counting toward the team’s overall score.   We loved the team format, especially as tennis is mostly an individual sport.  It was a fun night watching so many great competitors on court in a more relaxed setting.  There were trick shots, tweeners, and “ole, ole, ole, ole, Delpo, Delpo” cheers all night long.  In the end, Team World defeated Team Americas 29-24.

Sam Querrey Wins 9th Title in Acapulco
Sam Querrey just had one of the best weeks of his career.  He won his first ATP 500 level tournament in Acapulco in style, taking out 3 top-20 players on the way.  Sam was impressive all week, defeating David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, and Nick Kyrgios en route to the final against Rafael Nadal.   Sam defeated Rafa 6-3, 7-6(3), in a  It was Sam’s first victory over Rafa, and Rafa’s first career loss in Acapulco.  Acapulco has one of our favorite trophies of the year – and doesn’t Sam look so natural in that hat?

Brasil Open Features Ball Dogs
Ball kids are an important part of any tennis tournament – they couldn’t run without them.  The Brasil Open in São Paulo is the first to feature ball dogs!  The dogs, from 2 local non-profit shelters, chase down and retrieve balls from all over the court.  They also help promote local shelters and adoption.  We love this idea and would love to see more tournaments get involved!

Indian Wells Announces Wild Cards
Wild Cards were announced for the BNP Paribas Open, which kicks off this Wednesday in Indian Wells.  Bjorn Frantangelo, who nearly defeated Novak Djokovic in IW in 2016, received entry along with #NextGen Americans Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Stefan Kozlov, and Reilly Opelka.   The draw will be announced at 3pm local time today.   Fingers crossed they don’t all end up playing each other in the first round!   Make sure you tune into to the tournament, which starts on Wednesday, March 8th on ESPN.

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Let The Clay Season Begin

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The clay season is officially underway, with the tennis world shifting to the red dirt until the big finale at Roland Garros in June.

This Week’s Tournaments:
US Men’s Clay Court Championship – Houston, TX USA
Grand Prix Hassan II – Marrakech, Morocco

Americans In Action In Houston
The US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston is the only ATP clay court event in North America.  Most of the US men are in action this week – John Isner, Jack Sock, Stevie Johnson, Sam Querrey lead the pack along with rising stars Francis Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Reilly Opelka.

Indian Wells-Miami Double Winners
Winning the Indian Wells and Miami double is one of the toughest tasks in tennis.  This year,  5 of the 6 champions in Indian Wells also took home titles in Miami.  Novak Djokovic won the double for a record 3rd year in a row.  Victoria Azarenka was the first women’s singles player to pull off the double since Kim Clijsters in 2005.  The French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut continue to impress and added the 2 Masters 1000 titles to their growing list.  American Bethany Mattek-Sands teamed up with Lucie Safarova this time to win Miami.

Davis Cup Venue Announcements
We’ve been (im)patiently waiting for news on where the next Team USA tie will be since they booked their spot in the quarterfinals in March.   Per the Davis Cup Twitter, the venue for the USA vs Croatia tie happening in July will be announced on April 25th! (fingers crossed for an East Coast spot!)

John Isner Splits with Coach Justin Gimelstob
Justin Gimelstob announced in a statement on his website he will no longer be working with top American John Isner for personal reasons.  The pair worked together for just over a year.  We’re looking forward to seeing who John adds to his team.

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Indian Wells

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All eyes are on the California desert as the first Masters 1000 event of the season is taking place this week in Indian Wells.  The BNP Paribas Open is one of our favorite tournaments of the year to watch.

This Week’s Tournament
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA

#MERICA
The Americans have been making a splash at the tournament so far.  18-year-old Francis Tiafoe, one of the ATP World Tour’s #NextGen stars, was impressive in taking out Taylor Fritz and then playing a close match against world #18 David Goffin.  He may have lost but the match proved he could go toe-to-toe with a top 20 player.  Pittsburgh native Bjorn Fratangelo was also impressive in his match against Novak Djokovic, taking the first set 6-2 (no easy task) and fighting until the very end.   Be sure to catch fellow Americans John Isner, Sam Querrey, Stevie Johnson and Jack Sock in action today.

Jack Sock For President
Babolat launched a brilliant new campaign with the rising American star Jack Sock that we can totally rally behind.  Watch his “campaign” video below and make sure you sign up for a “S.O.C.K” at JackSockForPresident.com to show your support for #SockIn16!    We’re looking forward to a showdown between Jack and Dominic Thiem later today.  Let’s rally, America.

Grigor Dimitrov Hot Shot
Grigor lost in the 2nd round to another #NextGen player, Alexander Zrevev.  (We don’t want to talk about it.)  But not before hitting this crazy leaping behind the back shot.   Teach us your skillz.

Nadal vs Verdasco
Verdasco may have beaten Rafa in the 1st round of the Australian Open earlier this year, but there’s no bad blood between the two.  The teamed up for doubles in Indian Wells, loosing to the Bryan Brothers in an entertaining match.  They’ll face off against each other again today, 3rd on Stadium 1.  Will Rafa get revenge?

RAFA_Verdasco_2016_IW

header photo from BNP Paribas Open