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Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournaments:
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Monte Carlo, Monaco

Last Week’s Winners:
US Men’s Clay Court Championship – Stevie Johnson
Grand Prix Hassan II – Borna Coric

Borna Coric Wins 1st ATP World Tour Title in Marrakech
20-year old Borna Coric won his first ATP Tour Title at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech!  Borna had an incredible comeback in the final against Phillip Kohlschreiber, saving 5 match points in the 2nd set and coming back from 0-3 down in the 3rd.  This was Borna’s second final in Marrakech, and his third final overall.   The win puts Borna back in the top 50 of the rankings and up to #2 in the #NextGen race to Milan, just behind Sascha Zverev.  Borna had knee surgery late last Fall after being forced to withdraw from his match at the US Open.  We’re glad to see him back on court and playing well!

Monte Carlo = The Most Beautiful Tournament of the Year
Forget Wimbledon.  The tournament in Monte Carlo is at the top of our tennis tournament bucket list.  The Monte Carlo Country Club hosts the tournament, and center court is surrounded by view of the mountains and sea.  Tune in to Tennis Channel all week for some spectacular views and tennis!

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15000 personnes attendues aujourd'hui #MCRM2016

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Rafael Nadal Going for Perfect 10
Rafa, the undisputed King of Clay, has already won a record breaking 9 titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Roland Garros.  He is the only player in the open era to have won a tournament at least 9 times.  Could he go even further and make it a perfect 10?

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#Practice 👍🎾 @rafanadalacademy

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Stevie Johnson Wins 2nd Title in Houston
After a rough start to 2016, Stevie Johnson has been on a roll since last year’s grass court season.  He picked up his first ATP World Tour Title in Nottingham, made the 4th round of a slam for the first time, and picked up a bronze medal at the Olympics.  Stevie worked hard in the off season, shedding nearly 20 pounds, and it’s shown!   He won the 2nd title of his career, and his 1st on clay, at the Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston.  Stevie took out Jack Sock in the semifinals before defeating Thomaz Bellucci in the finals.   And as is the tradition at the tournament, Stevie celebrated the victory by jumping into the pool at the River Oaks country club!

Music, Sports, Tennis

Arthur Ashe Kids Day Kicks Off 2016 US Open

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Arthur Ashe Kids Day is one of our favorite annual events because it combines our two loves:  music and tennis!  This year’s event was entertaining from start to finish, with performances from some of music’s hottest rising stars and fun tennis games with pros and non-pros alike.  And it’s all for a good cause – proceeds from the event benefit the USTA Foundation, National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL), and charities selected by participating tennis pros.

Flo Rida got the crowd pumped up with everyone’s favorite hype song “My House,” welcoming everyone to the new and improved Arthur Ashe Stadium featuring the amazing new roof!  Spectators were able to see just how easily the roof can be opened and closed. (It’s fast and very cool to watch).

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Hosts Laura Marano, Joey Bragg, and Jordan Fisher kept the party going with their fun dynamic.  Joey took a seat in the “tennis emperor” chair, better known as the umpire chair, to officiate over the festivities.

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Laura Marano performed her hit “Boombox,” followed by her brand new single, “La La!”  This was the first time Laura performed her new single, and we can already tell it’s going to be a hit.

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Four Olympians were brought onto the court for the Xerox Target challenge:  Juan Martin Del Potro (Silver Medal, Men’s Singles); Venus Williams (Silver Medal; Mixed Doubles); Stevie Johnson (Bronze Medal, Men’s Doubles); and Monica Puig (Gold Medal, Women’s Singles).  The four pros were joined by NJTL winner, Mykael, for some target practice, each raising over $14,000 for the charity of their choice!  Every target hit = $1000.

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Jack Sock took the court with Ansel Elgort and some NJTL players to show off their tennis skills.  We must say all of the kids who participate are awesome and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them on the pro side of AAKD down the road!

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Boyband Forever In Your Mind got a taste of what the pros feel as they played their hits “Hurricane” and “Enough About Me,” from just behind the baseline on court!  FIYM have come a long way since 2015, when they performed outside on the Hess Festival Stage.  The guys had Arthur Ashe Stadium rocking!

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Jordan Fisher brought down the house with his insane vocal range and falsetto in his debut single, “All About Us.”  He can SING.  AAKD has a knack for booking young talents before they make it big, and we say look out for much more from Jordan!

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The Hess Festival Stage on the grounds hosted performances from up and coming singers like Citizen Føur, Los 5, and Tegan Marie.  Citizen Føur nailed their performance, throwing in some amazing dance moves.  Tegan Marie’s powerful vocals carried through the grounds.  You’ll definitely be hearing more from these two!

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Didn’t make it out to AAKD?  Tune in to ABC on Sunday, August 28th at 2PM to catch all the music and tennis highlights from the stadium show!

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Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
Western & Southern Open – Cincinatti, OH

Between all the withdrawls and negativity surrounding the games, we weren’t that excited about tennis at the Olympics before it started.  But man, did this week prove us wrong!  The tennis games at the Olympics turned into a compelling and emotional week, starting with that epic match between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro which feels like ages ago.

Men’s Singles
Gold: Andy Murray (GBR)
Silver: Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
Bronze: Kei Nishikori (JPN)
It was just SO. GOOD.  to see Del Potro and Rafael Nadal (who finished 4th) playing well again.  SO.  GOOD.

 

Men’s Doubles
Gold: Rafael Nadal & Marc Lopez (ESP)
Silver: Florin Mergia & Horia Tecau (ROU)
Bronze: Stevie Johnson & Jack Sock (USA)
Impressive that Nadal, the flag bearer for Spain, wasn’t sure if he would even be able to play in every event on site.  He ended up making it to the semis in singles and won the gold with good friend Marc Lopez in doubles.

 

Mixed Doubles
Gold: Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Jack Sock (USA)
Silver: Venus Williams & Rajev Ram (USA)
Bronze: Lucie Hradecka & Radek Stepanek (CZE)
How awesome was it to see two American teams on the podium for the medal ceremony?  Also Jack Sock now has a Gold Medal and Bronze medal along with Wimbledon and US Open Doubles/Mixed titles.

 

Women’s Doubles
Gold: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Silver: Martina Hingis & Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
Bronze: Lucie Safarova & Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)

 

Women’s Singles
Gold: Monica Puig (PUR)
Silver: Angelique Kerber (GER)
Bronze: Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Puig made history, winning Puerto Rico’s first ever gold medal, in ANY sport.  Great for the country and great for the sport!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJFp0qKg9Gm/

 

US Open Wild Cards Announced
Get excited if you’re not already (or in case you haven’t been counting down since last September like us).  The US Open Qualifying Tournament starts in just ONE WEEK!  The USTA announced Wild Cards for the Main Draw & Qualifying Draw, including former champ Juan Martin del Potro.  Vamos!

Main Draw Wildcards
Juan Martin del Potro
Francis Tiafoe
Rajeev Ram
Michael Mmoh
Ernesto Escobedo
Bjorn Frantangelo
Mackenzie McDonald

Qualifying Wildcards
Reilly Opelka
Vasil Kirkov
Mitchell Krueger
Sekou Bangoura
Tennys Sandgren
Ryan Shane
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
Christian Harrison

The US Open Qualifying Tournament starts on Tuesday, August 23rd and is free and open to the public.  Get all the info at USOpen.org!

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 101
Where to watch:  ESPN and WatchESPN.com
Main draw play runs daily through the finals on Sunday, July 10th
Social Media: #Wimbledon @Wimbledon

Marcus Willis’ Dream Run
If you’ve been following Wimbledon coverage at all, no doubt you’ve heard about Marcus Willis.  The British tennis instructor, ranked 772 in the world, played his way through pre-qualifying AND qualifying, and won his 1st round main draw match.  Willis had been on the brink of quitting tennis earlier this year, and was once nicknamed “Cartman” for being so out of shape.  With the win, Willis has earned £50,000 in prize money and the right to face Roger Federer in the 2nd round on Centre Court.  Anything is possible!

Seeds Out on Day 1
While there were some dramatic wins, there weren’t too many upsets on day 1.  Of the seeded players: #20 seed Kevin Anderson, lost a tough 5 set match to Denis Istomin.  Gael Monfils, playing his first match since Rome, lost to countryman Jeremy Chardy.    Pierre-Hugues Herbert took out the #21 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber in 4 sets.  Pablo Cuevas lost in 5 sets to the Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.

State of the Union
American men went 3 for 6 on Monday, with Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Stevie Johnson advancing to the 2nd round.  Taylor Fritz, the youngest player in the men’s draw, takes on Stan Wawrinka today while the top American John Isner faces Marcos Baghdatis.  Donald Young, Dennis Novikov, and Rajeev Ram are also in action.

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😏 #SW19

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Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Roland Garros Week 1

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After a rainy start, we made it through the 1st round of Roland Garros!  Here’s what you might have missed.

Roland Garros 101
Where to watch:  Tennis Channel and Tennis Channel Plus, NBC
Main draw play runs daily through the finals on Sunday, June 5th.
Social Media: #RG16 @rolandgarros

Murray, Wawrinka Survive Scares
Both Andy Murray and defending champ Stan Wawrinka were pushed to 5 sets in their opening round matches.  Murray’s 37-year-old opponent Radek Stepanek, who made it through qualifying, was impressive but couldn’t cross the finish line.  If Wawrinka had lost, it would have been the 1st time the defending champion lost in the 1st round at Roland Garros.

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Matchy matchy #RG16

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Seeds Out In Round 1
Marin Cilic, Fabio Fognini, Kevin Anderson, Phillip Kohlschreiber, and Stevie Johnson all lost their opening round matches.   And while he’s not seeded at this tournament, another disappointing loss from Grigor Dimitrov to Victor Troicki in 5 sets.

Nadal Off To Winning Start
Rafa was impressive in his defeat of Australian Sam Groth 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, in just 80 minutes.  And he just casually hit this tweener winner.

2nd Round Matches To Watch
We’re looking forward to Jack Sock vs Dustin Brown and Borna Coric vs Bernard Tomic.

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Raw emotion. #RG16

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#Merica Status Update
Jack Sock, John Isner and Bjorn Frantangelo all advanced to the 2nd round.   Stevie Johnson, Sam Querrey, Taylor Fritz, Brian Baker are all out of singles action.

Roof Coming in 2020
With the US Open debuting its completed roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium this year, Roland Garros will be the only slam without a roof.  Not for much longer!  Tournament directors announced they will have a roof on Court Philippe Chatrier by 2020.  While this is great for rain delays, how about some stadium lights so players don’t have to stop when it gets dark? (while rain is frequent, it does get dark every single night…)

Doubles Action Starts Wednesday
There are lots of doubles matches on the schedule for Wednesday, including reigning US Open champs and hometeam Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.  Mahut has a chance of reaching the #1 ranking in doubles during Roland Garros.  #ALLEZ  Other pairs to watch include the Bryan Brothers, who just won the title in Rome, and Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, who just won their 1st title as a team in Geneva.