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Tennis Tuesday: ATP News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
Rogers Cup – Toronto, ON Canada

Monfils Wins Citi Open in D.C.
Frenchman Gael Monfils won his biggest title to date, the 500 series Citi Open in Washington, D.C.!   Monfils had to battle the extreme heat (on-court temperatures exceeded 130 degrees) and the tough serving Ivo Karlovic in the final, saving 1 match point in the process.  We hope Monfils can carry his momentum throughout the Summer!


World Team Tennis Kicks Off This Weekend
WTT action starts this Sunday, with matches in New York, Springfield, and San Diego!  We can’t wait to see Mardy Fish and the Washington Kastles take on the New York Empire at the legendary Forest Hills Stadium in Queens!  Visit WTT.com for the full schedule & team rosters.

Rogers Cup Doubles Draw
If you haven’t taken a look at the Rogers Cup doubles draw, go check it out!  There are lots of fun and/or random teams pairing up this week, like Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka; Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock; and John Isner and Sascha Zverev.

Roger Federer Ends 2016 Season Early
World #3 Roger Federer announced today that he will be ending his 2016 season early in order to fully recover from his knee surgery earlier this year.  He will miss the Olympics in Rio as well as the remainder of the season.  Roger promises fans that he will come back stronger next year and reflects on his injury-free career thus far.

https://twitter.com/ESPNTennis/status/757991741580513280

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Tennis Tuesday: ATP News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournaments:
Citi Open – Washington, DC USA
Generali Open – Kitzbuhel, Austria
Konzum Croatia Open – Umag, Croatia
J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open – Gstaad Switzerland

Davis Cup Semifinals Set
After a drama filled weekend, 4 teams advanced to the Davis Cup World Group semifinals:  France, Argentina, Croatia and Great Britian.  It was a shame for the home teams – all of the teams advancing were visitors.  Croatia rallied from 0-2 down to take the tie against the US in 5.  (We’re still not over it.)  The semifinals are set to take place in September, just after the US Open.  With #Merica out, we’ll be rooting for Team France.  ALLEZ!

It’s The Greatest Time Of Year
The American Summer hardcourt season officially starts this week, with the Citi Open in DC.   Lots of American players are in action, including top seed John Isner and #NextGen players Taylor Fritz and Francis Tiafoe.  Tune into Tennis Channel to watch all the action!  Also, heads up that the US Open starts in just 41 days!  Enjoy this A+ fangirl instagram of Grigor from the Citi Open.

Arthur Ashe Kids Day Lineup Announced
The US Open kicks off with the annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day event on August 27th.  This year’s performers included Flo Rida, Forever In Your Mind, Laura Marano and Troye Sivan.   Players Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic will be making appearances as well.  Click here for more info and to get your tickets now!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHxUvllg0rp/?taken-by=aakidsday

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Fritz
Taylor Fritz wed Racquel Pedraza on July 7th in his hometown of Rancho Santa Fe, California.  Fellow players in attendance included best man Reilly Opelka, groomsman Tommy Paul, Stevie Johnson and Mardy Fish.  Congrats Taylor & Racquel!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHxgQMhDJu0/?taken-by=taylor_fritz

 

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.

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: ATP News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournaments:
Aegon Open – Nottingham, England
Wimbledon Qualifying – London, England

Lleyton Hewitt Receives Wimbledon Doubles Wildcard
We knew Lleyton couldn’t stay away from tennis for too long!  While he officially retired from singles at this year’s Australian Open, Lleyton has since suited up for Davis Cup doubles and he was just given a wildcard into Wimbledon.  Lleyton is teaming up with fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson in doubles.  Get your “c’mon!” cheers ready.

Dominic Thiem Hot Shots
Thiem has pretty much been a highlight reel lately.  Check out some of his hot shots from Halle.  We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we are so on board #TeamThiem.

Herbert/Mahut Win Queen’s Club Title
The French duo picked up their 4th title of the season at the Wimbledon warm up.  We’re hoping to see them team up at both Davis Cup in July and the Olympics in August.  ALLEZ!

Andy Murray Wins Record 5th In London
Murray couldn’t have asked for better prep for Wimbledon.  With coach Ivan Lendl back on his team, Murray defeated Milos Raonic in a 3 set final.  He became the first man to win a 5th Queen’s Club Title.

Sascha Zverev Beats Roger Federer In Halle
Thiem isn’t the only young gun to have defeated Federer this season – 19-year-old Sascha Zverev took out Federer in 3 sets in the semi-finals in Halle.  We’re excited to see more from this #NextGen player this season!

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: ATP News Roundup

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We’re just a week away from Wimbledon qualifying!  Which means we’ve arrived to the two 500 level grass court tournaments, in Halle and London.  The Queen’s Club draw is particularly STACKED.  Isner vs Del Potro, Kyrgios vs Raonic & Lopez vs Cilic are all 1st round matches.  But could we get a little sunshine?  Please?   We’re pretty sure we’ve had rain delays every single day for the last month.

This Week’s Tournaments:
Gerry Weber Open – Halle, Germany
Aegon Championships – London, England

Dominic Thiem Wins 4th Title of 2016
Thiem continues to impress in 2016, and took home his 4th title of the season in Stuttgart.  He defeated Roger Federer on the way to his first grass court title.  Thiem has now won a hard court, clay court and grass court title in 2016, making him only the 9th active player to do so in the same year.  With the win Thiem surpasses #1 ranked Novak Djokovic in match wins this year – Thiem has 45 while Djokovic has 44.


Nicolas Mahut Wins 3rd Ricoh Open Title
Mahut is currently the #1 ranked doubles player in the world (usually teaming up with Pierre-Hugues Herbert), and he just added another grass court singles trophy to his name.  This is the third time Mahut has won the title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Keep Up With The  #NextGen
The ATP launched a dedicated #NextGen site, so you can keep up with all of your fave players!  Check it out here.   Taylor Fritz started a diary reflecting on his big year.  Fritz also had the chance to play with his dream doubles partner, Juan Martin del Potro in Stuttgart last week.

Thanasi Kokkinakis Delays Return To Tour
Kokkinakis was due to return this week, with a wildcard into the Aegon Championships in London, but he has pushed back his return to the tour.  He’s been out all of 2016 recovering from shoulder surgery, and will be out at least through Wimbledon.  We’re hoping he’ll be back in action for the US hard court swing this Summer!

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Let The Grass Season Begin

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After a rainy couple of weeks, we made it through the clay court season and a history making Roland Garros.  Fittingly, the sun started to shine down on center court just minutes after the final point was played.   The tour has already shifted to the grass court season, with Wimbledon just 3 weeks away.

This Week’s Tournaments
Mercedes Cup – Stuttgart, Germany
Ricoh Open – s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Novak Djokovic Wins 4th Consecutive Major
Djokovic finally won his first Roland Garros title, completing a career grand slam in the process.  He also won his 4th consecutive major, and is the first player to win 4 consecutive majors since Rod Laver in 1969.   No doubt he has his eyes on completing the calendar slam this year!

Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez Win Men’s Doubles
Spain did not have a men’s singles champion this year, especially after the withdrawl of Rafa Nadal.  But Spanish players took home both the men’s doubles and women’s singles titles!  It was heartwarming to see veterans Lopez/Lopez (no relation) win a slam – the first for Feliciano and the second for Marc.  The Spainards are also the 6th different team to win a slam in the last 2 years.

Dominic Thiem Enters Top 10
Thiem continues to build on his impressive season.  He advanced to the Semi-Finals in Roland Garros, before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.  As a result, Thiem jumped to #7 in the world.  We’re sure we’ll be seeing him climb even higher.  We love his big game and his attitude and are #TeamThiem all the way.

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Roland Garros Week 2

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It’s been an eventful week at Roland Garros since we last checked in … even with play being pretty much canceled 2 days in a row.  We’re doing an anti-rain dance so we can watch some tennis tomorrow!  (Or at least so the 4th round matches can get finished?)

manofthehouseraindance

Rain Rain, Go Away
Monday, May 29th was a complete washout, with all match play canceled for the first time since 2000.  Tuesday wasn’t much better, with a stop and go day, players got in just over 2 hours of play.  And unfortunately things aren’t looking much better for the rest of this week.  Djokovic took the rain in stride, carrying an umbrella sourced from the crowd in 1 hand and his racquet in the other.

Nadal Withdraws With Wrist Injury
We can’t even talk about this still.  After looking strong in his first 2 matches, Nadal called a press conference where he announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to a left wrist injury.   Not the best way to celebrate his big 30th birthday, on June 3rd!  Get well soon Rafa!!

Bottom-Half Quaterfinals Set
Richard Gasquet was impressive in taking out Kei Nishikori in the 4th round, reaching his 1st Roland Garros quarterfinal as the last Frenchman standing in singles.  He’ll take on Andy Murray, while defending champ Stan Wawrinka will take on Albert Ramos-Vinolas.  The top half will catch up.  Some day.

Wawrinka Hits With Ballkid
One of the reasons we love Stan – he stayed warmed up during a medical time out to hit with a ballkid.  He totally made this kid’s day/year/life!

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.

 

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.

 

#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.

Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: Roland Garros Preview

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The second slam of the year is already underway, with qualifying action starting yesterday in Paris.  Here’s our list of everything you need to know!

Roland Garros 101
Where to watch:  Tennis Channel and Tennis Channel Plus
Draws will be revealed on Friday, May 20th
Main draw play starts Sunday, May 22nd daily through the finals on Sunday, June 5th.
Social Media: #RG16 @rolandgarros

Novak Djokovic Aiming for Career Slam 
While it seems like Djokovic has won pretty much everything over the last few years, there is 1 title that has eluded him – the French Open.  He beat Rafa in the Quarterfinals last year, then lost to an inspired Stan Wawrinka in the final.  Could this be the year he completes the career slam in Paris?
Rafa Going for #10
One man likely standing in Djokovic’s way is Rafael Nadal, the 9 time champion.  While Djokovic currently owns their head-to-head, Rafa has been re-gaining confidence and their last meeting in Madrid was close.
 #NextGen Americans To Watch
Taylor Fritz is playing in the main draw of Roland Garros for the 1st time, with his ranking high enough for direct entry.   Several Americans advanced through the first round of qualifying, including Frances Tiafoe, Ryan Harrison, and Jared Donaldson.  Tommy Paul, who defeated Fritz in the 2015 Junior Roland Garros final, also advanced on day 1.   Bjorn Frantangelo, winner of the USTA’s French Open wild card challenge, also received direct entry to the main draw.

Doubles!
It’s been a fun couple of years for doubles, with different teams winning each slam.  We’re sure the hometown team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut will get tons of support – they’ve already won 3 Masters titles this year.  The Bryan Brothers just won the title in Rome, defeating Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil in the final.
Vive Le France!
The last time a Frenchman won Roland Garros was Yannick Noah in 1983.  We’d love to see another French player win the title.  One thing is for sure – the French players are always entertaining to watch!  Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Benoit Paire, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Gilles Simon & more.  ALLEZ!
Sports, Tennis

Tennis Tuesday: ATP News Roundup

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This Week’s Tournament:
Internazionali BNL d’Italia – Rome, Italy

Portland To Host USA vs Croatia Davis Cup Tie
After much anticipation the USTA announced that Portland, Oregon will be the site of the next Davis Cup tie in July.  Portland is where USA won the cup in 2007, and we’re hoping for another victory against Croatia in July!  Stay tuned to the USTA website for ticket info!

Novak Djokovic Wins Record 29th Masters 1000 Title
Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the Mutua Madrid Open final to capture his 3rd Masters title of 2016, and his 29th overall.

Why We Love Gael Monfils
If you’ve seen a Monfils match, you know that anything is possible.  He’s an incredible athlete who will jump, dive and go for every ball.  How does he jump so high?  In practice, he leaped over Davia Gavrilova.