Tennis Tips, Tricks And Gear
WTA Rankings: Jabeur Rises to Career-High No.3
The Tunisian continues to blaze a trail on tour. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur has cracked the WTA’s Top 3.
Jabeur, who won the Berlin title on Sunday, nudges past Spain's Paula Badosa to claim her career-high ranking. While Iga Swiatek remains at No.1, with Anett Kontaveit at No.2.
See the full WTA rankings table here
Jabeur has put up a 30-9 record in 2022, winning titles at Madrid and Berlin. She has won 16 of her last 18 matches and will head to Wimbledon as one of the players favored to make a deep run, but not until after she plays doubles this week at Eastbourne with Serena Williams.
Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur have finally united in Eastbourne.
This is Serena’s first on-site practice. pic.twitter.com/DCoISA9gFE
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) June 21, 2022
Career-High 12 for Coco Gauff
18-year-old Coco Gauff was one victory away from reaching the Top-10 but the American fell to Ons Jabeur in the semis at Berlin and thus comes in at No.12 – still a career-high – in Monday’s rankings. Gauff is the second highest-ranked teenager on tour at the moment – Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu is one tick higher at No.11.
Saville Back in Top 100!
After making her return from Achilles surgery earlier this season, Australia’s Daria Saville has achieved an impressive rankings milestone.
The former World No.20 is back inside the Top-100 at 96, an enormous achievement, given that Saville was outside the top 600 for a spell in February.
Top 100 in 5 months since being back on tour😁 Next stop: Wimby! pic.twitter.com/1qCdeTB36z
— Daria Saville (@Daria_gav) June 16, 2022
Saville reached the round of 16 at Indian Wells and the quarterfinals at Miami. At Roland-Garros she ticked on into the third round. Last week she qualified and reached the round of 16 at Berlin.
Andreescu up an other 5
Bianca Andreescu keeps nudging her way back to the top 50. The Canadian picks up another five spots this week after reaching the round of 16 in Berlin to rise to 65. The former World No.4 was at 121 when she began her comeback from a six-month hiatus in Stuttgart in April.
ATP Rankings: Hurkacz Back Inside Top 10, Kyrgios Rises 20
Poland's top man is back in the top 10 ahead of Wimbledon. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Hubert Hurkacz is back in the top ten after his run to the title in Halle, while Nick Kyrgios, Filip Krajinovic and Oscar Otte are on the rise.
Here’s a peek at this week’s ATP rankings, after events in Halle and Queen’s, which also helped determine seedings at Wimbledon.
See the full rankings table here
Hurkacz Top 10
The Pole, who impressively stormed to his first grass court title in Halle last week by taking out Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nick Kyrgios and Daniil Medvedev, returns to the top 10 at No.10 in the rankings. The 25-year-old Pole is the only mover inside the Top 10 of this week’s ATP rankings.
At 28-11 on the season, Hurkacz is one spot off his career-high ranking of nine.
Kyrgios jumps 20
Not quite high enough to be seeded at Wimbledon, but Nick Kyrgios jumps 20 spots to No.45 to enter the Top-50 once again, thanks to a semifinal run at Halle.
Remember the Aussie was outside the Top-100 as recently as April 3. Kyrgios has reached semifinals in his last three events and comes in at 15-6 in 2022 as of this week. He is currently in Mallorca, where he will face Laslo Djere in first-round action at the Mallorca Championships.
Krajinovic to 31
What a difference a week makes for Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic. The 30-year-old entered the week with an 0-4 lifetime record on grass before shooting to the final in Queen’s. He lost to virtually unbeatable Matteo Berrettini on Sunday but still rose 17 spots in the rankings to 31. Krajinovic is five spots shy of his career-high ranking of 26.
Top 50 for Oscar Otte
Reaching his biggest career semi-final on home soil in Halle, Oscar Otte marks a career milestone with a Top-50 debut. The 28-year-old German comes in at 37 this week (up 14 spots) – Otte was outside of the Top-100 when the 2022 season began.
He has never finished an ATP season inside the Top-100 before.
Federer down to 96
We have had some good news recently from Roger Federer regarding his plans to return to the tour in 2023, but for the moment, his ranking is sinking. The Swiss drops 28 spot to No.96 and will fall outside of the Top-100 after Wimbledon.
Querrey Biggest Riser
American Sam Querrey made the biggest jump inside the ATP’s Top-100, rising 22 spots to No.99. He reached the round of 16 at Queen’s before falling to Krajinovic in three sets. Querrey, a former World No.11, is back inside the Top-100 for the first time since October of last year.
Russian and Belarusian Players Will Be Permitted to Play US Open
The USTA says that players from Russia and Belarus will be permitted to play in New York under a neutral flag.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday June 14, 2022
The USTA has announced its decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players compete at the US Open, under a neutral flag. The announcement was communicated via email, in a statement sent to Tennis Now.
“The USTA will allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in the 2022 US Open, but only under a neutral flag,” the statement read.
“Alongside the other Grand Slams, the ITF, the ATP and the WTA, the USTA, which owns and operates the US Open, has previously condemned, and continues to condemn, the unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The USTA, standing with these other tennis entities, supported the banning of the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations from the ITF, and therefore all international team competitions, and the directive for players from those countries to play under a neutral flag when competing outside of international team competitions.”
Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from playing at Wimbledon this year, but recently competed at Roland-Garros under a neutral flag.
“We recognize that each organization has had to deal with unique circumstances that affect their decisions. Based on our own circumstances, the USTA will allow all eligible players, regardless of nationality, to compete at the 2022 US Open,” the statement read.
The USTA also announced its intention to provide support to the “Tennis Plays for Peace” program.
“The USTA will work with the players and both Tours to use the US Open as a platform to further the humanitarian effort of the “Tennis Plays for Peace” program,” the USTA said. “In addition, the USTA will introduce a broad, comprehensive set of initiatives to amplify existing Ukrainian humanitarian efforts, including committing to significant financial support, for which details will be announced soon.”
“Tennis has done much through Tennis Plays for Peace for humanitarian support of Ukraine,” Mike McNulty, USTA Chairman of the Board and Presidentl said. “Unfortunately, the need for help only continues to grow. The USTA will be responding very soon with a broad set of initiatives that will include significant financial assistance and other programs to further support humanitarian relief and the people of Ukraine.”
It’s Official: Serena Williams Gets Main Draw Wild Card into Wimbledon, and Eastbourne for Doubles
The seven-time champion will play for the first time in a year. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday June 14, 2022
Wimbledon has made it official – Serena Williams, seven-time singles champion, has been granted a wild card to this year’s Championships.
The 40-year-old American, who has not played since retiring from her first-round match at Wimbledon last year, is one of six singles wild cards that the tournament named on Tuesday.
She joins five British women – Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Sonay Kartal, Yuriko Miyazaki and Katie Swan – on the list.
Singles wild cards at Wimbledon:
Van Rijthoven! Wawrinka! …. S-E-R-E-N-A!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Mg8VrQu7xW
— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) June 14, 2022
On the men’s side, Stan Wawrinka and Tim Van Rijthoven were given main draw wild cards, along with five other British men – Liam Broady, Jay Clarke, Alistair Gray, Paul Jubb and Ryan Peniston.
Main draw play begins on June 27, while qualifying kicks off on June 20.
Additionally, Williams has also accepted a wild card to play doubles at Eastbourne next week. She will pair with Tunisia's Ons Jabeur.
She's back. And back at Eastbourne. 👀
Read more about @serenawilliams returning to the #RothesayInternational 👇
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 14, 2022
Medvedev Begins Grass Swing With Win In ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Daniil Medvedev kicked off his grass-court season with victory Thursday, moving past Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The 26-year-old, who is up to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, grew into the match against the Frenchman at the ATP 250 grass-court event. Medvedev saved three set points in the first set as he rallied from 2-5 down, before he clicked into gear in the second set to secure victory after one hour and 54 minutes.
The top seed dominated the longer exchanges with his flat hitting to earn a first victory over Simon, improving to 1-3 in their ATP Head2Head series. He will next play Ilya Ivashka after the World No. 49 defeated Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-2.
Last season Medvedev captured his first grass-court tour-level title in Mallorca. The 13-time tour-level champion is still searching for his first trophy of 2022, with his best result a run to the final at the Australian Open.
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Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced on his debut in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, eliminating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.
The Canadian, who held a 10-3 record on grass in 2021, saved both break points he faced against the home favourite and struck 13 aces to triumph after one hour and 48 minutes. The World No. 9 will next face Karen Khachanov after the fifth seed clawed past Pole Kamil Majchrzak 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) .
Dutch wild card Tim Van Rijthoven upset World No. 14 Taylor Fritz 6-7(9), 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in just his second ATP Tour event.
The World No. 205, who edged Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden in the first round, fired 18 aces to set up a meeting with Hugo Gaston. In a rain-disrupted match, Frenchman Gaston moved past American Jenson Brooksby 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 26 minutes.
In an-all American clash, #NextGenATP star Brandon Nakashima downed Sam Querrey 7-6(4), 7-6(8) in 89 minutes. The 20-year-old, who is making his debut in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, will next play Adrian Mannarino following the Frenchman’s 6-2, 6-3 win over fourth seed Alex de Minaur. Mannarino lifted the trophy at the ATP 250 grass-court event in 2019.
Ruud: Play Defensive Against Rafa and He’ll Eat You Alive
The Norwegian made history for his country, and hopes to take lessons from his trip to the final in Paris. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday June 6 2022
Casper Ruud went through trial by fire on Sunday in Paris. Not only was it his first ever match against King of Clay Nadal, the Norwegian had to do it in a final at Roland-Garros, where Nadal has never lost.
Though he was blitzed, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0, Ruud hopes to learn from the experience.
“It was tough for me to really know where I should play the ball because from both sides he has – many people have said that he kind of has two forehands because his backhand is also strong, even though it's maybe a little bit weaker, Ruud said, adding: “I didn't know exactly where to play there in the end and he made me run around the court too much. When you are playing defensive against Rafa on clay, he will eat you alive.”
Still, Ruud can hold his head high after becoming the first Norwegian to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, semifinal and final at Roland-Garros. As the ATP’s leading clay-court winner since the start of 2020, he is set up for a bright future at the world’s biggest clay-court tournament.
And the experience of playing the final should help him massively in the years to come.
Doing Norway proud, @CasperRuud98 🇳🇴#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/rGYjKxBrdn
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022
“It was a little bit, honestly, a bit tough to find myself too comfortable in the situation in the beginning, but as the match went on, I tended to feel a little bit better and I could calm down and breathe out a little bit more. But it was challenging because you are playing him, the most winning-slam player ever, and on this court in the final it's not too easy.”
The Norwegian had plenty of praise for Nadal after the final.
“I didn’t have what it takes today, to beat Rafa in the final at Roland-Garros,” he said. “Like I said coming into this match it’s the toughest challenge we have in the sport, to beat him here at Roland-Garros. Even though you like to think he’s getting older and you try to think maybe this is the chance or this is the day, he showed once again why he has won so many times and he really stepped up there in the second and third set and outplayed me for sure.”
Ruud will head back to the drawing board, and he hopes to use the experience as motivation and as a critical learning experience in his development.
“So I know what it takes to win here now, I guess, and I will of course work on a lot of things in my game, and it gives me just a small taste of what hopefully can be happening more times in my career, so it gives me of course a lot of motivation,” he said. “To play Rafa at Roland-Garros is a dream in itself and to do it in a final is something I will remember for the rest of my life. He’s a true champion, a true legend of the sport, and to have shared a court with him at least once and do it here in this situation is special”
Brain Game: Where Nadal Drew A Line In The Parisian Clay Against Ruud
What happened when Rafael Nadal hit three — and only three — balls in the court against Casper Ruud?
Calculated clay-court carnage.
Nadal defeated Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the Roland Garros final on Sunday on the back of dominating points in which he hit exactly three balls in the court when serving and receiving. In a one-sided final that saw the Spaniard win the final 11 games of the match, Nadal and Ruud surprisingly played very evenly in the 0-4 shot rally length, with Nadal winning 28 points and Ruud 27.
And then the fifth shot of the rally arrived, and it acted like a proverbial line in the Parisian clay.
Five-Shot Rallies (Nadal Serving)
Rally length in tennis is dictated by the ball landing in the court, not hitting the strings, which means the server can only win odd-numbered rallies, and the returner can only win even-numbered rallies. A five-shot rally is an ideal rally length for Nadal’s chess-like strategy, giving him two more strategic moves after the serve to either construct a winner or force an error. This is where his dominance in the final blossomed in all its glory.
Points Won In Five-Shot Rallies
Nadal = 11 points won (3 winners/8 errors extracted from Ruud)
Ruud = 3 points won (1 winner/2 errors extracted from Nadal)
Ruud won four-shot rallies 9-6, but things dramatically changed when one more shot was hit in the court. Nadal forged an impressive 11-3 advantage in five-shot rallies. Getting to hit two more shots after the serve is a sweet spot for Nadal to initially gain a positional advantage and then extract errors from his scrambling opponent.
Six-Shot Rallies (Nadal Receiving)
The returner is typically on defence to start the point in six-shot rallies, weathering the storm of an aggressive serve and then playing defence with a Return +1 groundstroke. Getting to neutral on the third shot is typically considered a minor victory for the returner. Those rules simply didn’t apply to Nadal in the final.
Points Won In Six-Shot Rallies
Nadal = 13 points (10 winners / 3 errors extracted from Ruud)
Ruud = 3 points (0 winners / 3 errors extracted from Nadal)
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Nadal forged an eight-point advantage in five-shot rallies (11-3) and was even more dominant in six-shot rallies, creating a 10-point advantage (13-3). Of all the rally lengths played in the final, Nadal hit the most winners (10) in six-shot rallies. You can picture in your mind the Spaniard rolling back a high return from deep in the court, then moving quickly to the baseline to attack the next shot to Ruud’s backhand and then hitting a run-around forehand winner through the vacant deuce court, out of reach of Ruud’s running forehand.
Nadal forged a dominant 24-6 point advantage when you combine five and six-shot rallies. It is important to note that in both five and six-shot rallies, Nadal hits exactly three shots in the court.
What’s fascinating is that seven and eight-shot rallies had far less bearing on the outcome. Ruud won seven-shot rallies 5-4, and Nadal won eight shot rallies 6-3. There were a sizable 30 points played in five and six-shot rallies and just 18 points played in seven and eight-shot rallies.
Nadal’s Rally Advantage
0-4 Shot Rallies = 1-point advantage (28-27)
5-6 Shot Rallies = 18-point advantage (24-6)
7-8 Shot Rallies = 2-point advantage (10-8)
Hitting three balls in the court, whether serving or receiving, was the sweet spot of Nadal’s lopsided victory. He did well to survive the initial onslaught of the 0-4 rally length and then went straight to work hitting 13 winners and extracting 11 errors from his third shot of the rally.
Three shots in the court is an ideal strategic blend of defending first, outmaneuvering second, and dropping the hammer on the third shot. The Parisian mid-length master plan was hidden in plain sight.
Zverev Has Torn Ligaments in His Right Foot
The German is heading home to undergo further tests on his injured foot. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday June 4 2022
After suffering an injury during his Roland-Garros semifinal with Rafael Nadal on Friday in Paris, Alexander Zverev announces that he has torn several lateral ligaments in his right foot.
The German, who fell in the backcourt at the end of the second set against Nadal, and was forced to retire the match, says he needs to undergo more tests to determine what the next steps will be.
“I am now on my way back home. Based on the first medical checks, it looks like I have torn several lateral ligaments in my right foot,” he said.
“I will be flying to Germany on Monday to make further examinations and to determine the best and quickest way for me to recover,” Zverev said. “I want to thank everyone all over the world for the kind messages that I have received since yesterday. Your support means a lot to me right now!”
Nadal’s Secret Weapon in Paris – His Longtime Doctor
The Spaniard has Angel Ruiz Cottoro by his side at Roland-Garros, and it makes a big difference.By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 1, 2022
With his doctor available 24/7 in Paris, Rafael Nadal is feeling fit – for now.
After his thrilling 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory over Novak Djokovic on Court Philippe-Chatrier, on that saw the Spaniard move aggressively on his baseline for four hours and 12 minutes, Nadal again spoke of the importance of having his doctor, Angel Ruiz Cotorro, at his side at Roland-Garros.
“I told you that in Rome that I gonna have my doctor here with me, that having the doctor here you can do things that helps, no?” Nadal said after his 29th win over Djokovic and his 23rd over a reigning World No.1. “So it's not the moment to talk about that. I said that we are gonna talk about that after the tournament when my tournament finish.
I am putting everything that I have to try to play this tournament with the best conditions possible, no? I don't know what can happen after, honestly, but here I think I gonna be fine.”
It has been an impressive recovery from Nadal, who has battled his chronic foot injury, known as Weiss-Muller syndrome ( a rare, under-diagnosed cause of chronic mid foot pain), for the last year. He cut his 2021 season short because of it, and left the court hobbled in Rome two weeks ago, after his round of 16 defeat to Denis Shapovalov.
After that defeat Nadal seemed sanguine about his chances in Paris (unlike many in the media) due to the fact that his doctor would be by his side at Roland-Garros to help with pain management.
"It was a very emotional night"
— @RafaelNadal on his four-set win over Novak Djokovic:#RolandGarros
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2022
Nadal has spent eight hours and 33 minutes winning his last 2 matches in Paris. He went 4:21 to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime in five sets on Sunday, and another 4:12 to take out Djokovic in the match of the tournament on Tuesday evening.
The contest was played in an electric atmosphere, the crowd supporting Nadal against his greatest rival in a way they had never done before.
After the match Djokovic said he was not surprised at all by his rival’s revival.
“I'm not surprised at all. It's not the first time that he, you know, is able to few days after he's injured and barely walking to come out 100% physically fit,” he said. “You know, he's done it many times in his career, so I'm not surprised.”
Perhaps we should not be, either.
Nadal will face Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday in Paris. He improves to 110-3 lifetime on the terre battue and is two wins from Grand Slam title No.22. If he wins it, his doctor will deserve extra credit.
‘Miss By A Mile Or Hit A Winner’: The Zverev Approach To Match Point
Leading by two sets to one and with a chance to clinch his quarter-final clash at Roland Garros with Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth-set tie-break, Alexander Zverev decided to gamble.
“It is one shot that I like to do,” said Zverev in his post-match press conference when asked about the backhand down-the-line return winner that sealed his 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) victory on Tuesday. “I have done it a lot in my career.“I had to win the match myself. I feel like you’re either going to miss it by a country mile or going to hit a winner. So, I hit a winner, which I’m quite pleased about.”
The final point was a microcosm of Zverev’s approach to the match. The third seed seemed intent on dictating play from the start on Court Philippe Chatrier, where aggressive serving and groundstrokes powered him to a two-set lead over the Spaniard. Zverev believes that mindset was crucial in securing his maiden win over a Top 10 opponent at a Grand Slam.
“I think Carlos is one of the best players in the world right now. It seems quite impossible to beat him. But I knew that I had to play my absolute best from the first point on.
“Letting him go ahead in the match, letting him get the confidence was going to be a very difficult thing for me to come back from. In the end I’m happy that I won in four sets and didn’t have to go to a fifth set.”
As he moves within two matches of a maiden Grand Slam crown in Paris, Zverev acknowledged his expectations have changed when it comes to big matches at the majors.
“At the end of the day, I’m not 20 or 21 years old anymore,” said Zverev. “I’m 25. I am at the stage where I want to win, I’m at the stage where I’m supposed to win, as well.
“We still have the best players in the world playing with Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal], and Roger [Federer] is coming back. Then you have the new generation, but I think our generation is very strong as well. We have [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Daniil] Medvedev who is a US Open champion. I won big events like the Olympics, as well.”
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The sort of resilience he showed in withstanding a strong Alcaraz fightback will be key for Zverev if he wants to progress further at the clay-court Grand Slam, where he faces World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or 13-time champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. No matter who his opponent is, the German hopes that Tuesday’s performance will stand him in good stead.
“There is a reason why they are the best in the world at Grand Slams,” said Zverev. “One [Nadal] has 21, the other one [Djokovic] has 20. They have been top of the game for the past 15, 20 years, and there is a big reason for that.
“Yes, I have not beaten them in majors, but I feel like I was very close. I feel like I have had very difficult and tough matches against them…But there is a big difference between having a tough match and beating them.
“Hopefully I can manage and take this win today and put it on the court on Friday.”
