Tennis Acumen

Hold Your Head High, Elena

PETE ZIEBRON

Elena Dementieva, earlier this year at Indian Wells.            Pete Ziebron Images

Elena Dementieva shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement today at the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar.  Following a 64 62 loss to Francesca Schiavone, Dementieva addressed the crowd and thanked her supporters and family:

"This year is very special for me because this is my last tournament....I would like to thank all the people around the world for supporting me for all my career, especially my Fan Club.  You were always there for me and no matter win or losing, I could always feel your support.  Thank you for your devotion.

And most important, I would like to thank my family, especially my Mom.  Well she was very supportive, encouraging, inspiring, she was always there for me and I know it's a very emotional moment for her as well.  It was a long way and we did it together.  I wouldn't have done so well without you.  So I love you Mom."

Dementieva concludes her career with the following achievements:

• Gold Medalist at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
• 16 WTA titles  
•  Top 10 year-end ranking in 8 of the last 9 years  
•  Runner-Up at 2 Grand Slams: 2004 Roland Garros & 2004 US Open 
• 7 additional Grand Slam semifinals 
•  2005 Fed Cup Champion  (5-1 record in singles) 
• Silver Medalist at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games
•  Career high world #3 in April, 2009

Although the tennis world often poked fun at her unusual and sometimes ineffective service motion throughout her career, Dementieva was arguably the best player in the game once the ball was in play and delivered solid play resulting in qualifying for the Year End Championships for 10 of the last 11 years.

 

Melanie Oudin Headlines 2nd Annual Goldwater Women's Classic in Phoenix

PETE ZIEBRON

 

Melanie Oudin, who advanced to the round of 16 at the 2009 US Open, will compete in the Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic at the Phoenix Country Club.  The world #68 will play in the Fed Cup Finals for the United States against Italy on the first weekend in November in San Diego and then travel to Phoenix for the $75,000 Goldwater Classic which begins on November 7.

Oudin will be joined by an impressive field that is expected to include:

•  Mirjana Lucic, 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist
•  Sabine Lisicki, 2009 Charleston Champion & Wimbledon quarterfinalist
•  Varvara Lepchenko, Defending Goldwater Champion
•  Coco Vandeweghe, 2010 San Diego and Tokyo quarterfinalist

Mirjana Lucic of Croatia owns an Australian Open doubles title with Martina Hingis from 1998 and also advanced to the Wimbledon semifinal in 1999 where she fell to Steffi Graf in a tight 3-set match.  German Sabine Lisicki defeated Venus Williams and current world #1 Caroline Wozniacki en route to her 1st career title in Charleston and also beat Wozniacki once again in the 4th round at Wimbledon in 2009.  

American Varvara Lepchenko went a torrid streak and won the last 30 consecutive games of the 2009 Goldwater Classic defeating Sacha Jones in the Final. Since August, American Coco Vandeweghe advanced through qualifying in both San Diego and Tokyo, defeating 6 top-50 players including world #9 Vera Zvonareva, along the way to reach the quarters in both tournaments.

Sara Stablein, Co-Tournament Director of The Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic enthusiastically reports that this year's purse now stands at $75,000, up from $50,000 last year.  The tournament is sponsored by the Grant Woods Law Firm and benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley.  Proceeds are dedicated to establishing the Quickstart Program, designed to introduce the sport of tennis to youth.

The Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic is the last opportunity in the United States in 2010 for players to earn WTA qualification points for the 2011 Australian Open.

64-1 Federer Leads Troicki in Career Titles

PETE ZIEBRON

Roger Federer won his 64th career title today in Stockholm.      
Charles Gabrean Photography

World #2 Roger Federer defeated Florian Mayer 64 63 to win his 64th career title at the IF Stockholm Open.  The victory ties him for 4th all-time with Pete Sampras as he surpassed Bjorn Borg by winning in Borg's home country.

Also today, Viktor Troicki won his 1st career title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating Marcos Baghdatis 36 64 63.  It was the 3rd time in the tournament that Troicki came from one set down to win a match.  

Troicki has come very close to beating the best in the world in the last 2 months:

• In the 1st round at the US Open, Troicki held a 2 set to 1 advantage over countryman and runner-up Novak Djokovic.

• Last month in Tokyo, he held 3 Match Points against eventual champion and world #1 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.  

 

At the Kremlin Cup, Troicki continued to play well against top competition and defeated world #13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2nd round  His inspired play for the rest of the week earned him his 1st ATP Final victory in 3 attempts.

Roger Federer played in Stockholm for only the 2nd time in his storied career and made history across the board at the tournament.  This week, Federer played in his 900th career ATP singles match and also won his 50th match of the year for the 9th consecutive time, a feat last accomplished by Pete Sampras.  Sweden also marks the 18th different country where Federer has won a title.

The ATP tour continues this week with three 250 tournaments in Europe: the St. Petersburg Open in Russia, the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna and the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.                                                  

Andy Murray Wins 6th Masters 1000 in Shanghai; Asian Swing Wrapup

PETE ZIEBRON

World #4 Andy Murray     Pete Ziebron Images

Andy Murray raced through Roger Federer to win his 6th Masters 1000 at the Shanghai Rolex Masters today.  Murray did not drop a set during the week and saved all 6 break points in the Final, defeating Federer 6-3 6-2 in only 85 minutes.

• With the win, Murray improves to 6-1 in Masters 1000 Finals, 16-8 in career Finals and an impressive 8-5 against Federer. 

The victory is only the second of the year for Murray and his first also came against Federer, ironically in another Masters 1000 Final in Toronto in August.  Last year Murray won a career-best 6 ATP titles.

Despite the loss, Federer will regain the world #2 ranking from Novak Djokovic, whom he defeated in the Shanghai semifinals.  Federer played magnificent tennis during the week, besting rivals John Isner, Robin Soderling and Djokovic in the process.  In the victory over Soderling in the quarterfinals, Federer dropped yielded just 2 games and won the match in 53 minutes.  Today however, Federer allowed Murray to get into several points and as a result, Murray kept driving the ball to Federer's backhand to win the key points of the match.

ATP Asian Swing Roundup

Rafael Nadal committed to a lighter ATP schedule in 2010 so it was a surprise that he decided to play for 3 consecutive weeks in Asia.  Guillermo Garcia-Lopez topped Nadal in the PTT Thailand semifinals in Bangkok and went on to win the tournament defeating Jarrko Niemenen, becoming the 8th Spaniard to win an ATP title in 2010.  Concurrently, Mikhail Youzhny topped Andrey Golubev at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lampur.

Following Garcia-Lopez and Youzhny's wins in the 250 tournaments, the ATP tour graduated to the 500 level and meandered through Asia for the China Open in Beijing and the Rakuten Japan Open in Tokyo.  In Beijing, Novak Djokovic defeated David Ferrer and would then continue to play spectacular tennis before falling to Federer in the Shanghai semifinals.  Nadal beat Gael Monfils in the Tokyo Final and then suffered a surprising loss in the 3rd round in Shanghai to lefty Jurgen Melzer.  

The earlier than expected departure for Nadal in Shanghai marked the first time that he failed to make at least the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event in 2010.  Earlier this year, Nadal swept the Masters 1000 clay events in Monte-Carlo, Rome and Madrid, reached the semifinals at Indian Wells, Miami and Toronto and was a quarterfinalist in Cincinnati.

The ATP Tour returns to Europe next week featuring a pair of 250 tournaments, the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and the IF Stockholm Open.