© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
Copyright
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
© Copyright Tennis Identity 2016 | Whiting Burgess LLC
© Tennis Identity
Madison Keys says she will miss the Australian Open after having wrist surgery.
The 21-year-old American, who is ranked No. 8 in the world, said Friday in a statement on Twitter that she had arthroscopic surgery on her left wrist three days after the season-ending WTA Finals in October.
The right-hander described the procedure as minor, saying it didn’t involve any tendon issues and went very well.
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) December 23, 2016
© Tennis Identity
PRAGUE (AP) Petra Kvitova’s recovery from surgery on her left hand is going well after a knife-wielding intruder attacked her.
Kvitova was released from a hospital on Friday, three days after she was operated following injuries Tuesday in the attack her at her home in the town of Prostejov.
Kvitova says she was told by the surgeon who operated on her in a specialized clinic in the northern town of Vysoke nad Jizerou on Tuesday that her recovery is ”fine and without complications.”
Kvitova says ”I feel better day by day.”
Apparently in a good mood and smiling, Kvitova offered thanks for support she received from other players and fans.
© Tennis Identity
In October 2016, twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan set a milestone that will likely stand the test of time as they celebrated their 1,000th doubles match win on the ATP Tour.
The 38-year-old twin brothers notched their 1,000th win after they defeated Pablo Cuevas and Viktor Troicki in the quarterfinal match at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna. They are the first doubles team to achieve this feat.
The American siblings, who turned pro in 1998, won their first match in Atlanta that same year. They have since won 112 doubles career titles as a doubles team, more than any men’s doubles team in the open era. Their wins include 16 Career Grand Slam titles, 34 Masters 1000, and 4 ATP Finals.
“We are happy to get our 1,000th win here. Vienna will always be a special place for us. And we are happy to celebrate this record with Thomas Muster, one of our heroes of our youth,” said Mike.
“We’ve been aiming for the number 1,000 for a few years now. It’s outstanding, that we reached it tonight in Vienna. We have relished the fact that the fans have stayed to support us. This city will always have a special place in our hearts,” said Bob.
© Tennis Identity
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Australian Open organizers say they will offer 50 million Australian dollars ($36.2 million) in prize money for the 2017 tennis tournament, including $A3.7 million ($2.68 million) each to the men’s and women’s singles champions.
It is a 14 percent increase in prize money from 2016, and offers A$50,000 ($36,220) to a first-round loser in the tournament which begins on Jan. 16.
Tournament director Craig Tiley says ”we are committed to further improving the pay and conditions on the international tennis tour to ensure every professional tennis player is properly compensated.”
The U.S. Open has the largest prize money for a Grand Slam tournament, a purse of $46. 3 million and $3.5 million for each of the singles champions.
© Tennis Identity
The great Roger Federer treated his fans to an exclusive training session that was streamed live from Dubai on Twitter and Periscope, a live video streaming app.
16th-ranked Federer, who was forced to cut his 2016 season short due knee injury, was joined by Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who’s ranked No. 15.
During his Ask Me Anything session, the Swiss mentioned that he’ll start his season at the Hopman Cup. When asked if he will play Madrid, a clay court tournament, Federer said he wasn’t sure about his clay court season.
“The whole clay court season I’m not sure yet. Let me first play Hopman Cup and Australian Open. After that let me see how my knee is, my body is. I am so excited to be playing again. I have no pain while playing now. I am enjoying myself, Federer said.
Watch Federer’s training session:
© Tennis Identity
Professional tennis players spend at least eight months out of the year on the road, which can get pretty lonely. Due to the long tennis season and the competitiveness of the sport, it’s necessary for a player to keep a well-oiled super team.
Like pop stars and A-list actors, high-profile players travel with entourages. A tennis entourage usually includes coach (or coaches in some instances), physiotherapist, trainer, chef (for a few superstars), nutritionist, hitting partner, the other half, children, and pets. Each of these behind-the-scene unsung heroes (few of them such as super coaches are sung) provide their respective bosses with a specific, crucial task to ensure the players are well-equipped to execute their game plans.
Each day this week we will feature one top player’s team, starting with Novak Djokovic’s team.
TEAM DJOKOVIC
Since hiring super coach Boris Becker three seasons ago, 12-time Grand Slam titlist Djokovic has dominated the men’s game. Under Becker’s tutelage, the 29-year-old Serb added six Grand Slams to his already-impressive trophy case.
© Tennis Identity
NEW YORK (AP) Patrick McEnroe is the new co-director of The John McEnroe Tennis Academy.
Patrick will join director Lawrence Kleger at the academy, which has been open to New York-area youth since 2010.
SPORTIME tennis club and the academy made the announcement on Wednesday. John McEnroe says: ”There probably isn’t anybody that understands American tennis and New York tennis better than Patrick.”
The 50-year-old younger brother of the seven-time singles Grand Slam champion will join the team led by SPORTIME managing director Bennett Schlansky.
Patrick says he’s excited to bring his ”lifetime of learning” to the academy.
© Tennis Identity
PRAGUE (AP) — Petra Kvitova could return to tennis in about six months, the surgeon who operated on the two-time Wimbledon champion’s left hand said Wednesday.
Kvitova was injured Tuesday when a knife-wielding intruder attacked her at her home in the town of Prostejov. The attacker is still at large and police have asked the public for help.
Kvitova underwent nearly four hours of surgery on Tuesday at a specialized clinic in the northern town of Vysoke nad Jizerou.
“When we talk about (playing tennis), it will take about six months,” said surgeon Radek Kebrle of the Hand and Plastic Surgery Institute. “It’s a serious injury and we have to deal with that accordingly.
“She’s young and healthy and has long, slim fingers,” he said. “That’s a good prognosis.”
© Tennis Identity
American Stevie Johnson’s miraculous comeback at this year’s U.S. Open first round match against Evgeny Donskoy is up there with the best of them.
Serving down two sets, 2-5 and 0-40, Johnson somehow managed to dig himself out of the pack-your-bags deep hole. Facing three match points on his serve, Johnson was able to hold.
The American fought his way to a tie-break, where he dominated Donskoy, taking the third set 7-6(2).
In the fourth and fifth sets, Johnson picked up his serving, and Donskoy’s return level dropped. The top American also fed off the crowd and amped up his game, finishing the fifth set with 15 winners, or two fewer than he had hit during the entire first two sets.
When asked during his on-court post-match interview how he managed to save three match points, Johnson had no clue.
© Tennis Identity
Whenever the Summer Olympics event comes around, the question whether tennis belongs in the Olympics is brought up. This year’s Summer Games event wasn’t any different.
It didn’t help that Zika virus, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, dominated the story lines right before the 2016 Rio Olympics. This prompted several top players such as Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych, Simona Halep, and Karolina Pliskova to skip the event as they raised concerns over the Zika virus.
However, the Rio Olympics did not disappoint as there were compelling stories that arguably made the case that tennis does indeed belong in the Summer Games.
One of the big stories was the men’s first round match featuring top seed Novak Djokovic and injury-plagued Juan Martin del Potro. In what was one the most shocking outcomes of the tournament, the unseeded Argentine handed Djokovic a devastating loss, reducing him to tears.
© Tennis Identity
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka gave birth to a baby boy.
The two-time Grand Slam winner announced the good news on social media. She wrote, “Our son was born healthy and so happy!”
Today I had my hardest fight and my very best victory! Our son was born healthy and happy! So thankful and blessed! Thank you ❤ pic.twitter.com/zsoFRivnvQ
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) December 20, 2016
Azarenka announced her pregnancy a few months after sweeping Indian Wells- Miami “Sunshine Double,” a tough feat.
© Tennis Identity
PRAGUE (AP) Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been injured by a knife-wielding attacker at her home.
The player’s spokesman, Karel Tejkal, says Kvitova suffered a left hand injury and has been treated by doctors.
Tejkal says the incident, which he described as a burglary, occurred Tuesday morning in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov. He says Kvitova’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Kvitova posted on Twitter about the incident:
Thank you for all your messages. As you may have already heard, today I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife
© Tennis Identity
Before the 2016 French Open, Novak Djokovic had been trying unsuccessfully to add his name to the exclusive list of Career Grand slam winners that includes Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova.
Despite winning a lot of big tournaments, his impressive trophy case was missing the elusive Roland Garros trophy. He had tried for so many years but Rafael Nadal, the nine-time French Open who has lost only two matches since his Roland Garros debut, kept getting in the way.
2015 looked to be Djokovic’s year after he defeated Rafael Nadal, the favorite, in the quarterfinal match in Roland Garros in 2015. Rightfully so, Djokovic was pegged as the huge favorite to go all the way after dispatching Nadal but Stan Wawrinka did not get that memo as he defeated Djokovic in four-sets final.
Finally, he was able to conquer Roland Garros in 2016 after defeating Andy Murray in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. With this win, he was finally able to cap his career Grand Slam, adding his name to the career Grand Slam exclusive club.
Watch video of Djokovic’s career Grand Slam:
© Tennis Identity
How to assess 2016 in the world of tennis? I answer unequivocally that it was a season of high intrigue and deep dimensions.
Three different men—Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka—were victorious at the majors. In the women’s game, they, too, had a trio of victors on the four most prominent stages, with Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, and Serena Williams claiming the top honors. Meanwhile, Argentina came through to win the Davis Cup and the Czech Republic triumphed in the Fed Cup. It was simultaneously a year of reaffirmation for some great players and a time when others broke down barriers and succeeded on the highest level for the first time. I present you now with my annual Flink Awards.
WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Prior to 2016, the industrious and enterprising German Angelique Kerber had never been past the semifinals in 32 career Grand Slam tournament appearances, but this enormously appealing individual made amends and took both the first and last majors of the year gone by. She upended Serena Williams to secure the Australian Open title at the end of January, and claimed the U.S.Open title in September. This stylish left-hander also made it to the final of Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, and the season-ending WTA Championships.
© Tennis Identity