STARS
Ayumi Morita beat Ksenia Lykina 6-1 6-3 to win the 2008 Dunlop World Challenge women’s event in Toyota City, Japan
Martin Vassallo Arguello won the Lima Challenger 2008, beating Sergio Roitman 6-2 4-6 6-4 in Lima, Peru
Go Soeda beat Hyung-Taik Lee 6-2 7-6 (7) to win the Dunlop World Challenge men’s singles in Toyota City, Japan
Grega Zemlja beat Martin Alund 6-2 6-1 to win the Abierto Internacional Varonil Ciudad de Cancun in Cancun, Mexico
SAYING
“This was our worst defeat. We had a sinister weekend.” – David Nalbandian, who earned Argentina’s lone point in Spain’s 3-1 Davis Cup victory.
“I think he’s my natural successor. He’s very close to this group of players who are integrated into the nucleus of the team and he’s demonstrated his qualities as a coach by leading Feliciano (Lopez), who has shown notable progression in the last while.” – Emilio Sanchez, on Albert Costa’s prospects for becoming Spain’s Davis Cup captain.
“I am like a machine, fit for every match, and I give my best for all my matches. I have a consistent style of play, which is my major strength and keeps me going. I am fine with the current ATP schedule and love playing tennis, which keeps me going.” – Nikolay Davydenko.
“It goes back to what my dad said: I peaked at 12 years old.” – Jimmy Arias, who in 1980 at the age of 16 became the youngest player to make the main draw of the US Open.
“She will have an opportunity but she will have to earn it.” – Craig Tiley, Australian Open tournament director on Jelena Dokic playing in a wild card playoff for a direct entry into the first Grand Slam tournament of 2009.
SUFFERIN’ SUCCOTASH
His business manager says Jimmy Connors is “extremely disappointed and embarrassed” about an incident that led to the tennis legend being charged with a misdemeanor. Karen Scott says a man tried to pick a fight with Connors and his son before a basketball game between the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of North Carolina. Police asked Connors to leave, but the eight-time Grand Slam tournament champion was arrested after he said he wanted to wait for his son to finish watching the game. Connors was charged with disrupting campus activities and refusing to leave a university facility.
STEPS DOWN
The day after leading Spain to its third Davis Cup championship, Emilio Sanchez Vicario retired as captain of the victorious team. “I will not be there for the tie against Serbia,” said Sanchez, referring to Spain’s first-round tie in 2009. “I started something three years ago and the cycle is now complete with this reward for all the players, and I hope that whoever replaces me can share all the magical moments I have experienced.” The next Spanish captain is rumored to be Albert Costa, the 2002 Roland Garros champion.
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SAME IN ARGENTINA
Alberto Mancini apparently is through as coach of Argentina’s Davis Cup squad. He announced his resignation just hours after Spain clinched its third Davis Cup title, defeating Argentina 3-1 in the best-of-five-matches tie. The fifth match was not played. According to reports, Mancini had planned to resign after the final regardless of the outcome.
SCORING MORE
As an incentive to play better, Chinese tennis players will be able to keep more of their winnings. China’s players will keep 70 percent of the money they win, twice the amount they have been able to put into the bank. But the country’s top players, including Li Na and Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie, are eligible to keep even more if they do well at Grand Slams and other big tournaments. In China, the sports associations have paid for coaches, travel and other expenses for the players. In making the announcement, Sun Jinfang, head of the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA), didn’t say if the players would now have to pay for some of their own expenses.
SQUARING OFF
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer could resume their rivalry in their opening 2009 tournament. The world’s top two players are scheduled to play the Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar, which begins January 5. According to Nasser al-Kholiafi, Qatar tennis federation president, the star-filled field will also include Andy Murray and Andy Roddick. The Qatar Open is one of three tournaments that will begin the 2009 ATP season, the others being the Brisbane International in Australia and the Chennai Open in India.
STOPPED
Kimiko Date-Krumm’s latest tournament ended quickly in the singles. Once ranked number five in the world, Date-Krumm lost her second-round match in the 2008 Dunlop World Challenge Tennis Tournament in Toyota, Japan, to Russian wild-card Ksenia Lykina 5-7 7-5 6-3. She did much better in the doubles, teaming with China’s Han Xinyun to reach the final, where they lost to Finland’s Emma Laine and Britain’s Melanie South 6-1 7-5.
SLUITER RETURNS
Dutch tennis player Raemon Sluiter is returning to the ATP tour after a 10-month retirement. He reached his highest world ranking of number 46 in 2003. The right-hander from Rotterdam turned pro in 1996 and earned a little more than USD $1.6 million in his career. Sluiter began his Davis Cup career in 2001 by upsetting Juan Carlos Ferrero as the Netherlands beat Spain and Germany to reach the World Group semifinals before losing to France. He also has a Davis Cup victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
SET TO EXPLODE
A live bomb from World War II was discovered when a court at a British tennis club underwent renovation. The bomb was thought to be a piece of old farm machinery and handed to Steve McLean, chairman of the Greenlaw Tennis Club in Berwickshire, who put it in a bin. Six weeks later, he realized it was a bomb and called police. Army bomb disposal experts took the bomb away so it could be detonated safely.
STUMBLE
The first event in a closed tour for Asian players was canceled because of the lack of top players. The Asian Tennis Federation said it was planning a closed Asian Tennis Tour to help Asian players make more money. The first two events were to be held in India in December, a men’s tournament in Pune, followed by a women’s event in Indore. But some of the eight countries who had pledged their participation in the tour ended up nominated their third- or fourth-string players for the tournaments.
SENDS WARNING
John McEnroe hasn’t been quiet about his chances at the BlackRock Masters Tennis championships at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The lefthander, who at the age of 49 is by far the oldest in the eight-man draw, sent a video message to his rivals warning them not to underestimate him. McEnroe’s recent victory in Luxembourg has convinced the American that he can still compete. McEnroe is in a group with American Pete Sampras, Frenchman Cedric Pioline and Britain’s Jeremy Bates. The other group consists of Sweden’s Stefan Edberg, Australian Pat Cash, Britain’s Greg Rusedski and France’s Guy Forget. Jamie Murray, Wimbledon mixed doubles champion in 2007 and the brother of Andy Murray, will play doubles, joining, among others, Peter Fleming, Henri Leconte, Mansour Bahrami, Mark Woodforde and Anders Jarryd. Goran Ivanisevic withdrew from the singles field because he will undergo knee surgery.
SITTING ON TOP
For the third consecutive year, France has more players in the year-ending ATP Top 100 than any other nation. This year, however, Spain has tied France with 14 players in the Top 100. With Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at number six and Gilles Simon at number seven, it is the first time since 1986 that two Frenchmen have been in the year-end Top Ten. Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte did it then. Twenty-nine countries are represented in the Top 100. After France and Spain, Argentina has nine players in the Top 100, followed by the United States with eight, Germany and Russia with seven each, Croatia with five, the Czech Republic and Italy with four each, and Serbia and Belgium with three apiece.
STARS FOR SALE
The Heineken Open has reportedly been forced to shell out record appearance fees in order to land a couple of top players for the tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, beginning January 12. The headliners will be world number eight Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and former champion David Ferrer of Spain. Tournament director Richard Palmer would not reveal the exact amount of appearance fees he had to pay to get the two, but said it was considerably less than the sums some top 10 players were demanding.
SO HAPPY
Organizers of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, are smiling these days. Because of the changes in the ATP calendar for 2009, Lleyton Hewitt and the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, have committed to the US Clay Court. The Houston event now doesn’t bump up against Davis Cup competition or a popular clay-court tournament in Europe. And it directly follows the Masters 100 tournament in Miami, Florida. “This is a perfect example of how we’ve improved our prospects of getting some players we probably wouldn’t have had a shot at before,” said Van Barry, tennis director of River Oaks Country Club, site of the tournament.
SERBIAN DREAMS
The decrepit courts of the Milan Gale Muskatirovic Sports Centre in Belgrade, Serbia, will be restored in time to hold an ATP tournament in May. Tennis Masters Cup champion Novak Djokovic and his family are behind the changes, having acquired the ATP event only a few weeks ago. The Serbian government, city of Belgrade and municipality of Stari Grad will jointly pay more than USD $1 million for the venture. The courts also will be used by the Serbian Tennis Federation for Fed Cup and Davis Cup practice as well as university competition. When completed, the complex will have seven courts with seating for 5,000 at the Central Court. The restoration is scheduled to be completed by mid-April, two weeks before the tournament will begin.
SYDNEY CALLING
The Medibank International Sydney 2009 tournament will feature a number of top players, including Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, David Nalbandian and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Officials say the competition will be Sydney’s international sporting event of the Australian summer. Also in the field will be Russian Elena Dementieva and Frenchman Richard Gasquet, while Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt will be gunning for his fifth title in the tournament.
STICKING WITH IT
Argentina’s David Nalbandian refuted rumors that he is considering quitting his country’s Davis Cup team because of its loss to Spain. “For me it’s really an honor to represent my country. I’m going to continue defending these colors in the best way possible. For me, playing Davis Cup is the best and I’m upset that people have doubted me.” Nalbandian won the opening singles in the three-day competition, beating David Ferrer. But he and Agustin Calleri lost their doubles match and his “reverse singles” match was never played because Spain had already wrapped up its victory. “We’ve played in two Davis Cup finals in the last three years and I still think we can win it,” Nalbandian said.
SET FOR CHENNAI
India’s two top-ranked singles players, Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj, have been given wild cards into the Chennai Open tournament scheduled to begin January 5. The third wild card into the main singles draw has been offered to Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic, who will partner India’s Leander Paes in the doubles. India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner, Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, have also entered the tournament. While Paes and Bhupathi are India’s best-known players, neither play singles that much any more.
SAD NEWS
Anne Pittman, who coached Arizona State’s women’s tennis program for 30 years, died in Tempe, Arizona, after suffering a stroke. She was 90 years old. Pittman guided ASU to a 338-71 record from 1954 through 1984 and led the Sun Devils to national championships in 1971, 1972 and 1974. In 1995, she was selected as one of the charter members and only coach into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Women’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. During her tenure, the women’s tennis coach was considered a volunteer position. Pittman refused to retire until funding was approved during the 1983-84 season to make the coach a paid, full-time position.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Toyota (women): Emma Laine and Melanie South beat Kimiko Date-Krumm and Han Xinyun 6-1 7-5
Lima: Luis Horna and Sebastian Prieto beat Ramon Delgado and Julio Silva 6-3 6-3
Toyota (men): Frederik Nielsen and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Chen Ti and Gazegorz Panfil 7-5 6-3
Cancun: Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach beat Lee Hsin-Han and Yang Tsung-Hua 7-5 6-2
SITES TO SURF
London: www.theblackrockmasters.com/
Australian Open: www.australianopen.com/
ATP: www.atptennis.com
WTA Tour: www.sonyericssonwtatour.com
ITF: www.itftennis.com
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
SENIORS
BlackRock Masters Tennis, London, England, carpet
Peter Fleming
On This Day In Tennis History
Since the tennis world is silent this week, TennisGrandstand.com will fulfill your tennis fix with an excerpt from the new tennis book “ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY.” The book, which makes an excellent holiday gift, is written by tennis historian and sports marketing guru Randy Walker, the former USTA publicity specialist. Here’s some of what happened from November 27 to November 30. For more information on the book, go to www.tennishistorybook.com.
November 27
1973 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black player to win a title in the apartheid nation of South Africa, winning the doubles title in the South African Open with Tom Okker, defeating Lew Hoad and Bob Maud 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the final. After initially being denied a visa based on his anti-apartheid views, Ashe is permitted to play in the event by the South African government. Ashe requests to tournament officials that the bleacher seating not be segregated during the tournament, but his wishes are not granted. Says Ashe to local reporters, “You can’t integrate the place in one full sweep. It is important to recognize the progress that has been made.” Ashe loses the singles final the day before to Jimmy Connors 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Chris Evert wins the women’s singles title, defeating Evonne Goolagong 6-3, 6-3.
1982 – John McEnroe clinches his fourth career Davis Cup title for the United States as he and Peter Fleming defeat Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte 6-3, 6-4, 9-7 to give the U.S. an insurmountable 3-0 lead over France in the Davis Cup final in Grenoble, France. McEnroe is also on victorious U.S. teams in 1978, 1979 and 1981 – winning the clinching singles point in the fourth rubber in 1978 against Britain and in 1981 against Argentina. Says McEnroe of his title-winning performances, “Each one is different and each one’s nice in its own way. This was one of the best, if not the best, because we beat their team in front of a large crowd and played well, and I played on my worst surface and won the matches. Argentina, when we beat them last year in Cincinnati, was probably the most exciting final I was involved in. This and Argentina were definitely the two biggest.”
November 28
1999 – Pete Sampras wins the year-end ATP Tour Championships for a fifth time, defeating world No. 1 Andre Agassi 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in the championship match in Hannover, Germany. Agassi had defeated Sampras 6-2, 6-2 in round-robin play earlier in the tournament. Writes British journalist Stephen Bierley, “It was perhaps fitting, given that this was the last major singles tournament of the millennium, that the best player of modern times won it so emphatically.”
1985 – Wimbledon champion and No. 4 seeded Boris Becker loses to Dutchmen and No. 188th ranked Michael Schapers 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6),6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open. “I surprised myself at how badly I can play,” says Becker of the grass court loss.
1998 – One day after clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record sixth consecutive year, Pete Sampras is un-gloriously dumped in the semifinals of the ATP Tour World Championships by Alex Corretja of Spain, who defeats the world No. 1 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) after saving three match points. Fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya also advances into the championship match, defeating Tim Henman of Great Britain 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Says Sampras, who hits 50 unforced errors in the loss, “It’s a tough way to end it. I had mixed emotions, coming so close to winning, being in the final. But the achievement of doing it six years in a row, and the fans giving me a nice ovation, it was a very good feeling. But it wasn’t the way I wanted to end the year.”
2001 – Thirty-year-old Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic begins his six-month service in the Croatian Army. Says Ivanisevic, “Now that I’m in the army, you can all sleep peacefully…I have to do basic drill, but after that they will probably send me to catch (Arab terrorist Osama) bin Laden.”
November 29
1991 – Pete Sampras makes an inauspicious Davis Cup debut, losing to Henri Leconte 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the Davis Cup Final in Lyon, France. The 28-year-old Leconte, the former top 10 player ranked No. 159 in the world and recovering from back surgery that threatened his career, plays perhaps the most inspirational tennis match of his career. Says Leconte, “It’s the greatest day of my life, the win of my career. I’ve proved I’m still around.” Says French captain Yannick Noah “He played like I dreamed he would.” Says Sampras, ranked No. 6 in the world of his baptismal Davis Cup appearance, “It’s certainly a different experience.” Andre Agassi’s earlier 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Guy Forget makes the score 1-1 after the first day of play.
1998 – Alex Corretja rallies from a two-sets-to-love deficit to win the biggest title of his career, defeating fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in four hours to win the year-end ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover, Germany. Corretja, who lost to Moya in the French Open final earlier in the year, says he used Ivan Lendl’s two-set-to-love comeback win over John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final as inspiration for his comeback. Says Corretja, “At that time Lendl was my idol. Today I was thinking, ‘Come on, try to do like your idol’ … try to find some energy from somewhere and try to think about your tennis and try to push him to see if he is going to be able to finish in straight sets. Even when I was two sets down, I was still thinking that I could win this match. That’s why I think I won.” Says Moya, “Two sets up, maybe I relaxed a bit. I thought the match was not over. It’s never over when you play against Alex. But I had a really big advantage. I had many chances to beat him, but they went and he started to play better. It’s a big disappointment.”
November 30
1973 -Rod Laver and John Newcombe each win five-set struggles to give Australia a commanding 2-0 lead over the United States, the five-time defending Davis Cup champions, in the Davis Cup Final in Cleveland, Ohio. Twenty-nine-year-old Newcombe beats Stan Smith 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the opening rubber, while 35-year-old Laver defeats 27-year-old Tom Gorman 8-10, 8-6, 6-8, 6-3, 6-1. The loss is Smith’s first-ever defeat in five previous Davis Cup Final appearances and only his second singles loss in 17 previous Davis Cup singles matches in all. Says Smith, “I played tougher matches under tougher conditions, but it’s the best I’ve seen Newk play.” Newcombe, the reigning U.S. Open champion, calls the win, “the toughest five-set match I have won in the last five years.” Laver, playing in his second Davis Cup series in his return to the competition for the first time since 1962, needs 3 hours, 22 minutes to outlast Gorman.
1990 – Andre Agassi wins a dramatic five-set match over Richard Fromberg, while Michael Chang is steady in a straight-set dismissal of Darren Cahill as the United States takes a 2-0 lead over Australian in the Davis Cup Final at the Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg, Fla. Agassi, the world No. 4 and a French Open finalist earlier in the year, struggles on the indoor red clay court against Fromberg, playing in his first career Davis Cup match, but barrels through to win 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Chang, the 1989 French Open champion, has little difficultly with Cahill, a serve and volleyer, winning 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-0.
2003 – Mark Philippoussis wins perhaps the most courageous and most heroic match of his career, as he clinches Australia’s 28th Davis Cup title, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0 to give Australia the 3-1 victory over Spain on a grass court at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Philippoussis, playing in his hometown, fights through a torn pectoral muscle that inflicts him with sharp pain with every serve and groundstroke he hits. But spurred on by a screaming crowd of 14,000 supporters, Philippoussis, the losing finalist to Roger Federer earlier in the year at Wimbledon, plays the match as if his life were on the line. “The crowd was incredible,” says Philippoussis after the match. “This is what Davis Cup is all about. There is no way I could have got through without them. It gets you up and numbs the pain because they are so loud.” Eleanor Preston writing for The Guardian writes that Philippoussis “veered between triumph and disaster before fighting back nerves, fatigue and pain from an injured pectoral muscle to win.”
On This Day In Tennis History
The following are events that happened this week in tennis history. Look out for the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY due out later this year from New Chapter Press (www.newchapterpressmedia.com)
March 8
1986 – Ken Flach and Robert Seguso give the United States a 2-1 lead over Ecuador with a 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Andres Gomez and Ricardo Ycaza in the Davis Cup first round in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
1985 – The United States plays its first Davis Cup tie in Japan and takes a 2-0 lead over the Japanese as Eliot Teltscher defeats Kaoru Maruyama 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 and Aaron Krickstein defeats Shozo Shiraishi 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the Davis Cup first round in Kyoto, Japan.
1981 – Needing to sweep the final two matches to avoid a first-round upset by Mexico, Roscoe Tanner and John McEnroe respond without losing a set, defeating Jorge Lozano and Raul Ramirez, respectively, to give the United States a 3-2 win over Mexico in the first round in Carlsbad, Calif. The win is the first for U.S. Captain Arthur Ashe.
1987 – Miloslav Mecir upsets world No. 1 Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
1992 – Michael Chang defeats Andrei Chesnokov 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.,
1995 – Two-time champion Jim Courier loses in the second round of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., falling to No. 34–ranked Carlos Costa of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-3. Said Courier, “Losing is never easy, but I’m at a stage right now where I feel I can handle it.”
March 9
1986 – Jimmy Arias defeats Raul Viver 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the fifth and decisive match as the United States defeats Ecuador 3-2 in the Davis Cup first round in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
1980 – In what eventually becomes Tony Trabert’s last Davis Cup tie as U.S. captain, John McEnroe is defeated by Guillermo Vilas 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to clinch Argentina’s 4-1 victory over the United States in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1971- No. 1 seed Rod Laver wins his opening round match at the Australian Open, defeating Colin Dibley 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Defending champion Arthur Ashe needs five set to overcome Australian Ray Ruffels 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, 0-6, 7-5.
1991 – World No. 5 Guy Forget upsets top-ranked Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Jim Courier also advances into the final, defeating Michael Stich 6-3, 6-2.
March 10
2006 – The senior tennis circuit returns to the United States for the first time since 2001 as the Outback Champions Cup Series begins in Naples, Fla., as Mats Wilander defeats Aaron Krickstein 2-6, 6-2, 10-2 in the opening round robin match of the series. Tour co-founder Jim Courier defeats Mikael Pernfors 6-2, 6-2. in the final match of the day, Pat Cash surprises John McEnroe 2-6 7-6(5), 10-6 in the Super Tie-break.
1971 – No. 1 seed Rod Laver is upset by Mark Cox 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the third round of the Australian Open in Sydney. No. 3 seed and fellow Australian John Newcombe is also upset, losing to Marty Riessen 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.
1991 – Twenty-year-old Jim Courier, ranked No. 26 in the world, wins his second career singles title, defeating No. 5 ranked Guy Forget 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “To win it – and it sounds like a cliché – but it’s a big honor for me,” said Courier.
1996 – In her second tournament in her second comeback attempt in professional tennis, Jennifer Capriati routs Shi-Ting Wang of Chinese Taipei 6-0, 6-0 in 43 minutes in the second round of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
March 11
1991 – Steffi Graf’s record reign of 186 weeks as the No. 1 ranked players comes to an end as Monica Seles overtakes Graf as the No. 1 player. Seles would hold the No. 1 ranking for a total of 178 weeks during her career.
2001 – Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, Wash., became the first American in six years to win singles and doubles titles in the same event, capturing both at the Citrix Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Fla. Gambill, 23, defeats Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 7-5, 6-4, in the singles final, for the second singles title of his career Gambill pairs with 18-year-old Andy Roddick of Boca Raton, Fla., to win the doubles title over Thomas Shimada, a Philadelphia-born Japanese national, and Myles Wakefield of South Africa, 6-3, 6-4, in the final. Pete Sampras, at the 1995 Stella Artois Grass Court Championships at Queen’s Club, London, was the last American to win singles and doubles in the same event.
1990 – Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Capriati’s debut tournament comes to an end as she is defeated by Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the Virginia Slims of Florida in Boca Raton, Fla. “It’s been the greatest week of my life,” said Capriati of her first WTA tournament. “It was exciting just to make the finals…I was tired at the end.”
1971 – Arthur Ashe defeats Cliff Drysdale 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open played at White City, Sydney, Australia.
2006 – In one of the most stunning and disastrous reversals of fortune, Michael Chang, playing in his “Champions” circuit debut at the Outback Champions Series – Naples event in Naples, Fla., leads Mikael Pernfors 6-0, 5-0 in a round robin match, only two lose two games in a row and then ruptures his left Achilles tendon running for a drop shot. Chang is taken off of the court in a stretcher and loses the match 0-6, 2-5, ret., and is forced to withdraw from the competition.
1990 – Stefan Edberg defeats Andre Agassi 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6) in nearly three-and-a-half hours in the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
2007 – Roger Federer’s bid to break Guillermo Vilas’s record of 46 straight wins in men’s tennis ends in his opening round match at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Federer, the No. 1 player in the world, is stunned by No. 60 Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 6-2, ending his match win streak at 41. `He just kept the ball in play and moving me around,” Federer said. “He put me away when he had to. He played the perfect match. The right guy won.” Canas who was reinstated into professional tennis after serving a 15-month suspension due to breaking the ATP’s banned drug policy, was a “lucky loser” entrant into the event after losing in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. Said Canas, “It’s my first Masters Series after I start again and to beat the world No. 1 and to play like this is great for me.” Said Federer of the blown match win streak, “Sooner or later it had to happen, so it’s OK. It’s no problem.”
March 12
1989 – Ivan Lendl wins his 75th career singles title, defeating Stefan Edberg 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Eagle Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
1997 – Pete Sampras loses his first match in the 1997 season, losing to Bohdan Ulirach of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 7-5 losing his opening match at the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Said Sampras who started the year 17-0, “It was pretty ugly. I just made error after error. … I was missing a lot of groundstrokes, normal shots; I just wasn’t very comfortable out there.”
1971 – Margaret Court needs only 32 minutes to defeat fellow Australian Lesley Hunt 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Australian Open in Sydney, Australia. Court requires only 10 minutes to win the first set of the match. Thirty-six-year-old Ken Rosewall defeats Tom Okker 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 to advance into the men’s singles final.
1996 – Chanda Rubin ends the second tournament in the second comeback of unranked Jennifer Capriati, defeating the 19-year-old 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
1996 – Carlos Costa of Spain, ranked No. 38 in the world, upsets reigning Australian Open champion Boris Becker 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
1995 – Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi set up a dream final in the Newsweek Champions Cup by registering semifinal victories over Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker respectively. Sampras defeats Edberg 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, calling Edberg, “one of the classier guys I have ever played” following the match, while Agassi defeats Becker 6-4, 7-6 (4).
1993 – Thirty-year-old Tracy Austin is defeated by Stephanie Rottier of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
March 13
1987 – Aaron Krickstein overcomes a vocal Paraguayan home crowd to defeat Hugo Chapacu 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to help the United States to an early 1-0 lead over Paraguay in the Davis Cup first round tie in Asuncion, Paraguay. Paraguay ties the score at 1-1 when Victor Pecci defeats Jimmy Arias 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
1971 – Evonne Goolagong advances into a Grand Slam final for the first time in her career, defeating Winnie Shaw of Scotland 7-6, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Australian Open in Sydney, Australia. Defending men’s singles champion Arthur Ashe defeats Bob Lutz 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the men’s singles semifinals.
1996 – Playing his second match as the world’s No. 1 ranked player, Thomas Muster is defeated in his opening round match at the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., losing to Adrian Voinea of Romania 6-3, 7-5. “For me, being No. 1 is maybe the same as Pete (Sampras) winning Wimbledon six times in a row,” said Muster of his No. 1 status. “It’s a personal thing, a dream come true.”
1995 – In their 14th career match-up and re-match of the Australian Open men’s singles final six weeks earlier, Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in a sun-down final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., avenging his loss in Australia. “If we battle for the next 10 years, it will be great for the game,” said Sampras. “It’s different when I play Andre. It’s like two heavyweights going at it.”
2007 – Defending champion Maria Sharapova serves up 13 double faults – and loses her No. 1 ranking – in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Sharapova actually served for the match at 6-4, 5-4, but loses seven straight games to lose the match and surrender the top ranking to Justine Henin.
March 14
1988 – Andre Agassi is named to the U.S. Davis Cup team for the first time in his career. Agassi, 17, is named to play against Peru in the first-ever Davis Cup zonal match for the United States.
1987 – Ken Flach and Robert Seguso overcome a two-sets-to-love deficit, bad line calls, and objects thrown from the stands to defeat Victor Pecci and Francisco Gonzalez 5-7, 9-11, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to give the United States a 2-1 lead over Paraguay in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Asuncion, Paraguay.
1971 – Margaret Court and Ken Rosewall win singles titles at the Australian Open at White City in Sydney, Australia. Court defeats first-time Grand Slam finalist and fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 to win her nation’s national championship for the 10th time in the last 12 years. Rosewall defeated defending champion Arthur Ashe 6-1, 7-5, 6-3, benefiting from 13 Ashe double-faults. Court’s title was her sixth straight Grand Slam women’s singles title on the heels of her 1970 Grand Slam.
1994 – Andre Agassi defeats Boris Becker 6-2, 7-5 in the third round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla. Down 2-6, 0-2, Becker hands his racquet to ball-girl Stephanie Flaherty who plays a point with Agassi and gains mini-celebrity status at the tournament.
1999 – One day after defeating Gustavo Kuerten to clinch the world’s No. 1 ranking, Carlos Moya is defeated by Mark Philippoussis 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “To be No. 1 and then win the title on top of that would have been the perfect beginning, but today he’s better than me so that’s it,” said Moya after the match.
1996 – Steffi Graf needs two hours and 44 minutes to fight off a bad back and defeat Lindsay Davenport 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals of the State Farm Evert Classic in Indian Wells, Calif. “Every match she plays, there is something wrong with her,” said Davenport. “but even when she is so hurt, she always plays real well.”
March 15
1987 – In one of the strangest Davis Cup matches in U.S. history, 285th-ranked Hugo Chapacu defeats Jimmy Arias 6-4, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 9-7 in five hours and five minutes. Chapacu is unable to convert a match point at 5-4 in the third set, but comes back from a 1-5 fifth-set deficit and saves three match points to win a force a fifth and decisive match between the United States and Paraguay.
1996 – Both Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi lose chances of recapturing the No. 1 ranking in the world from Thomas Muster of Austria with quarterfinal losses at the Newsweek Champions Cup. Paul Haarhuis stuns world No. 2 Sampras 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1, while Agassi, ranked No. 3, loses to Michael Chang 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Sampras summed up the lost opportunity to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking, buy simply saying, “C’est la vie.”
1998 – Temperamental Marcelo Rios of Chile loses a second-set tie-break in 32 points – the only set he would lose all week – and wins the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., defeating Britain’s Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-7 (15-17), 7-6 (4), 6-4. Said Rios of his reputation as one of the meanest players in tennis, “I’m nice sometimes. In Chile, there’s even a lot of kids who want to be like me.”
1999 – Carlos Moya becomes the No. 1 player in the world, replacing Pete Sampras in the top spot on the ATP computer. Moya only holds the ranking for two weeks before Sampras reclaims the top spot.
2001 – Controversy erupts at the Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells, Calif., as Venus Williams pulls out of her scheduled semifinal match against younger sister Serena Williams because of an injured right knee. Wrote Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, “This last-minute development left officials angered and mystified, raising the persistent question of credibility. Timing was one issue, as the withdrawal was announced only four minutes before the match was to have started. Some fans among the crowd of 11,767 asked for refunds and ESPN was stranded and resorted to showing the earlier semifinal between Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters.”
March 16
1987 – In a match completed at 2:35 am, Victor Pecci of Paraguay defeats Aaron Krickstein 6-2, 8-6, 9-7 to give Paraguay an unbelievable 3-2 upset of the United States in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Asuncion, Paraguay.
1988 – Gabriela Sabatini fights off three set points in the first set and defeats 14-year-old newcomer Monica Seles 7-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
1992 – American qualifier Robbie Weiss, a former NCAA singles champion from Pepperdine University ranked No. 289 in the world, registers one of the biggest ranking upsets ever in men’s tennis, defeating No. 2 ranked Stefan Edberg 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla. Said Edberg following the match, “Robbie played a good match. I played a poor match.”
1996 – Steffi Graf wins her 96th career singles title in her first tournament appearance in 1996, defeating Conchita Martinez 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the final of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.,
March 17
1978 – John McEnroe and Peter Fleming make their Davis Cup debut as a doubles team, defeating Ivan Molina and Orlando Agudelo 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 giving the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Colombia in the Davis Cup first round at the Cleveland Skating Club in Cleveland, Ohio.
1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge conducts the draw for the 1927 Davis Cup competition on the front lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
1992 – John McEnroe receives no luck of the Irish in what becomes his final match ever at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla., losing to Richard Krajicek 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round.
1996 – In a final played with on-court temperatures surpassing 110 degrees, Michael Chang defeats No. 68th ranked Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “Today I could actually feel the heat coming through the soles of my shoes,” said Chang following the match. “They announced 110 degrees, but I was told it was 130 degrees, they just didn’t want to scare anybody.”
2001- Booed as she entered the court for her final round match against Kim Clijsters at the Tennis Masters Series –Indian Wells, Serena Williams withstood the harsh fan and media allegations of match-fixing, by defeating Clijsters 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fans reacted harshly to the Williams family after Venus Williams had abruptly withdrawn from her semifinal match with Serena Williams the day before. “In the beginning, I was a little shocked,” Serena said. “Then I was like, ‘Wow, this is getting old. Move on to something new…I prayed to God just to help me be strong, not even to win, but to be strong, not listen to the crowd.” The withdrawal and aftermath came on the heels of tabloid story in the National Enquirer stating that Williams father Richard had fixed the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters.
2007 – Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia wins her second Pacific Life Open championship in Indian Wells, Calif., – and her second career title – defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s singles final. “I think all the best things in life are worth waiting for, moments like this,” Hantuchova said, who won her first title in Indian Wells five years earlier. “I guess all the hard work and everything I had to go through makes the victory that much sweeter.”