SPAIN 3, GERMANY 2 Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor) World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer both scored wins on Sunday to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Germany, and book Spain’s place in the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals. To begin play on Sunday, Nadal forced a decisive fifth rubber by impressively defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a battle between two players inside the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard levelled the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Germany at 2-2 after two hours and 16 minutes, breaking the 20-year-old on six occasions en route to his second three-set win in three days. Speaking on court after the crucial win, Nadal...
Leander Paes continues to span the sport’s generations, entertaining with the same youthful enthusiasm and passion that he first showcased 29 seasons ago. The evergreen Indian, a feisty competitor with a familar smile never far away, has today become the sixth player in ATP World Tour history (since 1973) to record 750 doubles match wins (750-433). It is perhaps apt, that the 44-year-old hit the milestone on Davis Cup duty by recording his 43rd doubles victory for India since his debut in March 1990, to break the long-standing team match wins record of Italy's Nicola Pietrangeli. In tandem with Rohan Bopanna, the duo has kept India in its Asia/Oceania Group I tie versus China on Saturday. Only five other players...
Sam Querrey often visited the BNP Paribas Open with his family growing up, so it comes as no surprise that the Californian favours the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in March. After three Masters 1000 quarter-final appearances – 2007 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, 2008 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and 2012 Rolex Paris Masters – the American could reach his first semi-final, should he beat Milos Raonic on Friday in Indian Wells. This week, he reflected on his Masters 1000 journey, which includes teaming up with John Isner for the 2011 Internazionali BNL d’Italia doubles crown. What is your favourite Masters 1000 tournament and why? I love all of the Masters 1000 tournaments, but Indian Wells is probably my...
The competitive fire still burns in Tommy Haas, but the spirit and, importantly, the willingness to train for quick-fire 60-minute or physically demanding encounters has fizzled out. Beginning his career when new string and racquet technology were both dramatically changing the sport, the former World No. 2 called time on his 21-year professional career Thursday night for a new chapter — time with his family, chauffeuring around his two daughters and completing his learning curve as Tournament Director of the BNP Paribas Open. “I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was able play professional tennis for a living for more than two decades,” said Haas, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday. “The sport gave me cherished friendships, an...
Former World No. 1 Ken Flach, one of the world’s leading doubles players of the 1980s, a winner of six Grand Slam titles and the 1988 Seoul Olympics gold medal (w/Seguso), passed away aged 54 on Monday after a brief illness. One week ago, Flach was playing 36 holes of golf, the sport he was addicted to, in California. Later that day, Flach fell ill with bronchitis, which in the space of four days turned into pneumonia and then into sepsis. Put on life support, he slipped away on Monday night with his family by his bedside at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Carling Bassett, a former WTA pro and the wife of Robert Seguso, said in...