After coaching Andre Agassi to a Roland Garros title, ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert believes his former charge has the tennis wisdom to do the same for defending champion Novak Djokovic. Speaking on an ESPN conference call ahead of Roland Garros, the former No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings shared his thoughts on the partnership. Although some have questioned how successful the new coaching arrangement will be, Gilbert said the similarities in their playing styles could spark a successful relationship. “Andre played his best tennis from 29 on. Djokovic just turned 30. Today's 30 is like 25 used to be,” said Gilbert. “A lot of times when I'm watching Djokovic, when he's playing at his best, nobody plays closer...
The season of “La Décima” ascends to its final stage during the next two weeks, and the conquistador, Rafael Nadal, appears primed for more history. Nadal will go for a record 10th title at Roland Garros, the season's second Grand Slam, which starts Sunday. He's approaching unprecedented tennis history: No man or woman has won a Grand Slam title 10 times in the Open Era, since April 1968. But Nadal, who won Roland Garros crowns in 2005-08 and '10-14, has already entered double digits at two tournaments this year. The Spaniard captured his 10th title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Two weeks ago, he also won his fifth Mutua Madrid Open crown. Nadal...
Novak Djokovic has a familiar face in his corner this week in the build-up to Roland Garros, which gets underway on Sunday. With his pigeon-toed walk, former World No. 1 Andre Agassi has been drafted in to help the Serbian recapture his peak form and confidence. Agassi has returned to top-level tennis for the first time since retiring at the 2006 US Open and Djokovic, the defending champion in Paris, has been all smiles in recent days. ”It feels like a new chapter,” said Djokovic, who admitted to talking to Agassi on the phone after each match at the Mutua Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d’Italia. “I was very glad that he accepted to come in person to Paris and...
Stan Wawrinka will attempt to retain his Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open title on Saturday when he faces German qualifier Mischa Zverev in the final. The Swiss star, who is tied 1-1 lifetime against Zverev in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, is aiming to lift the 16th tour-level trophy of his career. Wawrinka improved to a 19-8 record on the season when he defeated Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 39 minutes on Friday. He is 6-5 in clay-court finals and his last crown came in September 2016 at the US Open (d. Djokovic). "The crowd has been great this week," said Wawrinka. "They are very loud and support me a lot when I need most. I’m...
Third seed Tomas Berdych will play for his first ATP World Tour title of the season after earning revenge against Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 7-6(2) on Friday during the semi-finals of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. Berdych had lost to Raonic in straight sets eight days ago at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, and Raonic led their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-2. But the 31-year-old Berdych delivered nine aces to eke out a tight win and reach his first ATP World Tour final since last October, when he beat Richard Gasquet to win the Shenzhen Open. “Best match here definitely. I'm improving match by match, which is good and that's very important. I'm happy with the way the week...
