India’s most celebrated tennis event, the Aircel Chennai Open, is all set to move to a new home. IMG-Reliance, the right holders of the tournament along with Government of Maharashtra and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), made the announcement on Wednesday, revealing Pune to be the new city to host the 2018 edition of the ATP World Tour 250 event. It will now be called the Maharashtra Open. “We welcome the world-class ATP tournament to our state,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. “We are happy to host the Maharashtra Open and are sure that we will take it to newer heights by bringing in an elite field every year.” The Chennai Open became an important fixture on India’s...
Imagine you go for a casual hit with your friends in Central Park on a sunny afternoon in New York, look across to the adjacent court and there is Roger Federer, plain as day, getting in a practice session of his own on a non-match day at the US Open. That was the unique experience for lucky members of the public on Wednesday in the Big Apple, as Federer decided to spare himself a trip out to Flushing Meadows and take advantage of the US Open court in Central Park, following advice from Eric Butorac. “I think we were looking for if there was any place at all in the city to play tennis at,” Federer explained to the media...
Six #NextGenATP Americans — Jared Donaldson, Ernesto Escobedo, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe — all feature on GQ.com, the international men’s magazine. In a piece titled, ‘US Open 2017: These Are the Young Americans Who Will Save American Men’s Tennis’, Chloé Cooper Jones writes, “Long gone are the days of Hall of Fame Americans Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, who won a combined 22 Grand Slam titles. And while the Williams sisters have given American fans plenty to cheer for on the women’s side of the tour, there hasn’t been a men’s Grand Slam Champion from the States since Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open win. [ALSO LIKE] “But this may be about to change. As the chokehold...
Tennis writer Jon Wertheim once dubbed him “the Roger Federer of tennis research”. Now as the go-to man for all things data and stats-related in tennis media, well-known statistician king Greg Sharko has been recognised with the Bud Collins Award. Officially the ATP Director of Media Information, “The Shark” has been a fixture of the ATP since 1986. He has edited the yearly ATP Media Guide since 1990 and is best known for his extraordinary depth of tennis facts and stats. The International Tennis Writers Association honoured Sharko in New York City on Sunday night for his three decades of service to the media. “I'm very honoured to be the first recipient from the ATP of the Bud Collins Award,”...
Steve Johnson has been an Angels fan for as long as he can remember. “Since the day I was born basically,” he attests. Living just down the road from Angel Stadium, the Johnson family frequently attended the MLB games, with Steve growing up idolising the likes of Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson, David Eckstein, and Jered Weaver. On one of those perfect Orange County evenings out with the family, a 13-year-old Johnson even managed to snag a foul ball. The couple sitting next to them had vacated their seats when the errant ball flew their way. “The foul ball came off pretty fast, smacked their seats pretty good, so I'm glad they weren't sitting there because it probably would've hurt a...
