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Post by jimm on Aug 11, 2008 14:12:57 GMT
Murray makes early singles exit A dejected Murray suffered an embarrassing defeat in Beijing Britain's Andy Murray went down 6-7 (5/7) 4-6 in a shock first-round defeat by Chinese Taipei's Lu Yen-Hsun in the men's singles at the Beijing Olympics. The world number six cut a frustrated figure throughout as he struggled to cope with the shots of 77th-ranked Lu. Murray was twice a break up in the first set before double-faulting to lose it on a tie-break. The 21-year-old also had chances in the second set but Lu proved the more consistent player. Murray will return later on Monday when he and brother Jamie play their first-round doubles match against Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer. Defeat in the singles was a bitter blow for Murray, who came into the tournament in superb form following his maiden Masters Series victory in Cincinnati. He was expected to beat the little-known Lu comfortably but he never found his form at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. Murray's range of shots normally prove match winners but the persistence of Lu's play proved suffocating and led to an increasing amount of unforced errors. As the mistakes increased Murray's mood darkened and both ball boys and spectators felt the sharp end of his tongue as he vented his frustration. The body language of the Scot, who was be-decked in an ill-fitting GB shirt, spoke of an irritable man who was struggling to concentrate. Despite having built a 5-2 lead in the first set Murray crumbled, losing first his serve and then the set, by double faulting in the tie-break. The second set started just as badly with Murray immediately broken before a rain delay offered an opportunity for a change in momentum. Murray rallied in the third game of the second set, breaking back with some aggressive groundstrokes that had thus far been absent from his repertoire. The world number six held his serve with a hard-fought game in the fourth but Lu was proving an awesome opponent, especially when capitalising on mid-court balls. Buoyed by the support of the crowd, Lu maintained his composure to hold his serve and keep the pressure on Murray. Even the Scot's first successful lob of match in the ninth game of the second set could not affect Lu's determination, as he fended off the best his opponent could offer. Lu raised his game even further with a sweeping cross court pass to set up three set and match points. Murray's concentration may have been lacking but the man from Chinese Taipei would not be found wanting in the same way. Lu broke serve to win at the first opportunity and forced Murray to take an embarrassing exit from the men's singles in Beijing.
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Post by jimm on Aug 22, 2008 20:12:52 GMT
Etienne de Villiers To Step Down As ATP Executive Chairman Tennis News Links tennispro.com blog daily teaching tips by Scott Perlstein
Tennis Social Networking For The Ambitious Player - 24hTennis
Etienne de Villiers, Executive Chairman and President of the ATP, governing body of the men's professional tennis circuit, today announced that he will not be renewing his contract at the end of the 2008 season. Executive Chairman since June 2005, Mr de Villiers has overseen the most extensive set of changes to the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990.
The changes, which will see $1 billion of new investment into the ATP Tour, include record breaking levels of prize money for players, new, world class tournaments, an enhanced, healthier calendar structure, unprecedented levels of promotional spend and a new brand look and identity based on extensive consumer research, designed to make the Tour more fan friendly.
Etienne de Villiers said: "I was tasked by the ATP Board, three years ago, to create a vision that would involve bold changes for our sport. I believe that has now been achieved. I believe we have delivered the biggest modernisation of the ATP Tour since its inception, have attracted unprecedented levels of investment into men's tennis and have begun to feed the growing appetite for men's tennis globally, both in established and emerging markets. I am incredibly proud of what the Board and my dedicated team have achieved for men's tennis and I am honoured to have played a part in taking our great sport to the next level. Now that this much needed change has been realised I believe this is the right time for someone new to build on this strong platform. I leave knowing, without doubt, that finally our players, tournaments and above all our fans have the foundations of a world class sport they truly deserve."
Heineken Auckland Open Chief Executive and ATP Board member Graham Pearce said: "Etienne has been an outstanding leader for our sport over his three year term, not least in the past months as we were forced to defend ourselves, successfully, in a Delaware court of law. He was asked to instigate change to our sport and he has done that and more. The levels of investment into facilities and promotion, as well as rises in prize money, are unprecedented for our sport and are set to take men's tennis to the next stage of global popularity. Etienne has put in place a programme of change that is far reaching and exciting, and the end result is a sport that will be reinvigorated and ready to fulfil its true potential. Men's tennis owes him a huge debt."
Etienne de Villiers joined the ATP in June 2005 as Chairman and became Executive Chairman and President in November 2005. As well as overhauling the management structure of the ATP, Mr de Villiers undertook for the first time, extensive, global research to understand the fan's perspective of the sport. The result was the overhauling of the doubles format to create a more popular version of the team game; fan friendly initiatives such as Hawkeye being introduced to the ATP Tour; a series of measures designed to improve player health including the end of 5 set finals and byes for seeded players at Masters tournaments resulting in substantial increases in player turn out and the first increases of player prize money in over five years.
Mr de Villiers, working with the tennis industry, has also put in place a series of changes designed to unlock the potential of men's tennis, not least the creation of a new ATP World Tour calendar with key tournaments strategically placed to ensure 'swings' of events leading into the sport's five 'pillars' - the four Grand Slams and the ‘Barclays ATP World Tour Finals’ (formerly known as the Tennis Masters Cup). Working together with the Sony Ericcson WTA, in 2011 five of the nine ‘Masters 1000s’, the ATP’s top tier, will be major mandatory combined events - a format that fans acknowledge is one of the sport’s major attractions and mirrors the success of the Grand Slams.
In addition, post US Open, the calendar will now be strengthened by an Asian swing of three weeks that will showcase the world's best players at new tournaments - Shanghai "Masters 1000", and the Tokyo and Beijing "500s". This will be followed by an enhanced European indoor swing concluding at the new look Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London's iconic O2 Arena. The new Tour calendar ensures a healthier schedule for players, with less travel across continents and less congested sections of the season.
Mr de Villiers will fulfil his current three year term as ATP Executive Chairman, a term that ends in December 2008 and will now assist the ATP Board in their recruitment of a successor.
The best new for the ATP in years. Alomst as bad as our Mr. R. Draper. But not quite.
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Post by Supermarion on Aug 22, 2008 23:13:49 GMT
And Larry?
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Post by Supermarion on Sept 8, 2008 22:33:56 GMT
Roger 2 sets up on Murray GO ROGER!!
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Post by jimm on Oct 11, 2008 23:21:43 GMT
MCENROE EDGES BORG, TARGETS IVANISEVIC FOR PLACE IN BUDAPEST FINAL John McEnroe took everything that Bjorn Borg could throw at him at the BlackRock Tour of Champions event in Budapest on Friday before winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 (Champions' Tie-Break) to keep his final hopes alive. He will face Goran Ivanisevic in their final group match on Saturday with the winner likely to reach the final. Both Borg and McEnroe were pumped up for their latest classic confrontation and the Budapest crowd were involved throughout. Borg dictated play, hitting most of the winners and the unforced errors. The first set was very close, with only one break of serve separating the two men. The second set was a topsy-turvy affair. In the first few games of the set the two men swapped breaks of serve before Borg took a decisive break to lead 4-2 with a spectacular running crosscourt forehand pass. That break proved decisive and Borg clinched the set aptly with a stunning backhand winner down the line. The Champions’ tie-break was nail-biting, with high quality tennis played throughout. McEnroe was never ahead until the last couple of points. He took his first match point when a Borg backhand sailed long. "There were some shots that he hit that were unbelievable," said McEnroe. "I was like ‘no, please, I don’t want that to go in too!’ But I’ve seen him hit those kinds of shots so many times before." Borg felt McEnroe had been fortunate to win the Champions' Tie-Break. "Well, I think John was very lucky in the tie-break to be honest. I think we played a very, very close match," he said. McEnroe will now meet Ivanisevic in his final group match as he tries to keep his final hopes alive after losing to Pat Cash on the opening day. "Goran is one of the best players on the tour and he’s got one of the biggest serves in the history of tennis, so he’s very difficult to play against," said McEnroe. "I know it’s going to be tough but I try to get myself ready for playing four days in a row at these events so I’m definitely going to give it 100% and hopefully I’ll be able to return a few of his serves. Just because he's younger and not as good looking, I’m not going to hold that against him!" In Group B, Henri Leconte defeated Guillermo Vilas, and the Frenchman will now meet Sergi Bruguera in a winner-take-all confrontation on Saturady. Bruguera scraped past Thomas Muster 4-6, 6-3, 13-11 (Champions' Tie-Break). Matches are played over the best of three sets, with a Champions’ Tie-break (first to 10 points with a clear advantage of two) to decide the winner. After all round-robin matches are complete, the top two players in each group will meet in Sunday's final. Last week, Richard Krajicek beat Goran Ivanisevic in a thrilling final to win his first ever BlackRock Tour of Champions Title at the AFAS Classics in Eindhoven. In the final event of the year, Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg will take on McEnroe and Ivanisevic in an eight-man field at the BlackRock Masters Tennis in London, December 2-7. Even Mac said he was lucky Borg plays tennis from another dimension. Then he always did
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Post by Supermarion on Oct 11, 2008 23:36:28 GMT
Be interesting to know what racquets Bjorn and Mac are playing with these days.
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Post by jimm on Oct 20, 2008 4:21:25 GMT
Murray seals second Masters title By Piers Newbery Murray has now won seven career titles and four in 2008 Andy Murray battled past a tired Gilles Simon in Madrid to secure back-to-back Masters Series titles.
The Briton, 21, followed up his semi-final win over Roger Federer with a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory.
Simon struggled physically, having needed final set tie-breaks in his previous three matches, including Saturday's defeat of Rafael Nadal.
Murray, the world number four, won his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati in August.
He becomes the first British player to win two titles at the elite Masters level, which is below only the Grand Slams in importance, with both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski having won in Paris during their careers.
Murray is also the first Briton to win four titles in a season, having taken titles in Doha and Marseille earlier in the year.
In truth, the Scot was well below his best in Sunday's final as he failed to find any rhythm against an opponent who appeared exhausted from the early stages.
My serve this week has been awesome and that's the reason why I won the tournament
Andy Murray And while the Frenchman struggled to cope, Murray was able to rely on the almost impregnable serving that saw off Federer on Saturday.
He made 67% of first serves over the one hour and 34 minutes and did not face a single break point, although he had to fend off two set points in the second set tie-break.
Murray was largely content to rally from the baseline and wait for errors from Simon, and it worked as early as game five when he forced three break points and converted the third with a winning lob.
He had little trouble seeing out the set, taking it with a superb service game that included three aces, and had an early chance in the second set but played a wild forehand on break point.
It proved to be the pattern for much of the match, with both players hitting occasional winners but failing to string them together.
Murray saw off a brief threat in game six with a backhand winner down the line past the on-rushing Simon and it came down to a tie-break, which at last produced some real drama.
MY SPORT: DEBATE Brilliant stuff from Murray. It surely won't be long before he wins a Grand Slam.
ManUnited2008 The British number one recovered an early mini-break but from 3-2 up played three drop shots in a row, two of which were unsuccessful.
He was not to be deterred, however, and went for another when facing two set points at 6-4 down, just about getting away with it and going on to win four straight points, Simon missing with a volley on match point.
"I planned to play a little bit better than that from the back of the court," said Murray. "Both of us made a lot of mistakes but both of us were a little bit tired from yesterday, him probably more than me.
"But my serve this week has been awesome and that's the reason why I won the tournament. I don't think he had a break point in the whole match.
"I think he'd won his last five finals so he's tough in finals, I knew it was going to be a difficult match.
"Maybe I put a little bit too much pressure on myself because I was expected to win and I knew he was going to be tired but I saved my best tennis until right at the end and deserved to come through."
Murray, who has already qualified for the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai, will head to St Petersburg next week to defend the title he won last year. "
As a Brit, I suppose I should give him some modicum of Cheer. But I cant. His copy book has too many blots on it.
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Post by jimm on Oct 26, 2008 19:05:10 GMT
Murray wins second St Petersburg Open title Andy Murray’s breathtaking form on the ATP tour continued with a straightforward 6-1 6-1 victory over Andrey Golubev to claim the St Petersburg Open for a second successive year. Murray, currently ranked number four in the world blew his 21 year opponent away in less than an hour and although Golubev had two break point chances against the defending champion, Murray never appeared threatened by Golubev, ranked 150 in the world and is more accustomed to life on the Challenger Circuit. Murray will now travel to Paris for this week’s Master Series event. He has a bye into the second round where he will face either American Sam Querrey or Marcos Baghdatis. In Lyon, Ross Hutchins and Stephen Huss were unable to add another ATP title to their collection- the pair was defeated by second seeds Michael Llodra and Andy Ram 3-6 7-5 8-10. I would like to say something positive, but his loutish behaviour negates that.
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Post by Supermarion on Nov 14, 2008 18:41:35 GMT
The thing beat Fed again.
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Post by jimm on Nov 14, 2008 18:47:31 GMT
The thing beat Fed again. Yes Spose I better post a news report on the match
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Post by jimm on Nov 14, 2008 18:49:00 GMT
MASTERS CUP, Shanghai: Dates: 9-16 November Starts: 0600/1000 GMT daily Coverage: Live on Sky Sports; live text commentaries on BBC Sport website; every match live on Radio 5 Live sports extra
Andy Murray knocked Roger Federer out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai as the defending champion struggled with a lower back injury in a dramatic match.
World number two Federer had to win the final round-robin match in the Red Group to stay in the tournament, but he went down 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 to Murray.
That ensured Gilles Simon, who earlier beat Radek Stepanek, made the semis.
Murray will now face Nikolay Davydenko in the last four on Saturday, after Simon plays Novak Djokovic at 0900 GMT.
"When you play against Roger you've got to expect him to play great stuff, especially when he's behind," said Murray. "I dealt with it pretty well though and came back.
"I'm going to be a bit tired tomorrow but a win over Roger Federer means almost as much as winning the Masters Cup to me - to win against him and have a record like I do is awesome. I know I'm going to be tired but this means a lot to me."
Friday's final group match was a unique experience for Murray, who went into the match with a 3-2 record against Federer but knowing he did not need to win, having already qualified.
It made little difference to the quality of play as both men came out firing in front of a packed crowd at the Qi Jhong Stadium.
With everything to play for, Federer took the initiative and got the first break in game four when Murray went long with a forehand.
I don't quit once I step on court
Roger Federer
The Scot responded immediately when an edgy Federer netted a backhand in the following game, but he had to save three more break points in his next couple of service games as the champion kept up the pressure.
Finally, Federer made the decisive breakthrough in a superb 10th game, firing a beautiful backhand winner and a crunching cross-court forehand before Murray dumped a drop shot in the net at set point.
It did not appear to boost the champion's confidence though and he played a poor game to drop serve at the start of the second.
He handed Murray the break with two wayward forehands and soon slipped 5-2 down after a disastrous seventh game, with two double-faults and two dreadful volleys giving Murray the double-break.
Remarkably, it was the Briton who then suffered a shocking slump in form and he became increasingly angry as Federer wiped out the advantage, Murray double-faulting to bring the score level at 5-5.
Federer appeared in trouble when he slipped a mini-break down early in the tie-break and, despite winning the point of the match with a backhand smash, it was Murray who was in control throughout.
As the final set got under way, Federer twice had lengthy treatment from the trainer on his lower back - an area he had suffered problems with in the build-up to the tournament.
Murray duly broke serve early in the decider and Federer, moving gingerly between points, looked on the verge of spoiling his record of never having quit during a match.
But the Swiss was still able to play some magnificent strokes, in particular a killer drop shot and a sweeping backhand down the line in game five as he recovered from 3-0 down to move ahead with a break at 4-3.
The drama was not over, however, as a pumped-up Murray got back on level terms yet again when Federer missed a regulation smash, to the astonishment of the 15,000 spectators.
Murray failed to convert any of seven match points in a fabulous 10th game but made no mistake two games later, sealing victory at the eighth opportunity after three hours and one minute when Federer made an error.
Afterwards, Federer - who had been chasing a fifth victory at the end-of-season event - admitted he had struggled physically,
"I don't quit once I step on court," said Federer. "My body was hurting. Normally the best of three sets is peanuts and it's a shame I couldn't handle it today."
Simon earlier completed his group matches with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Radek Stepanek to finish with a record of two wins and one defeat in the Gold Group.
The Frenchman, ranked ninth in the world, only made it into the eight-man field when Rafael Nadal pulled out with an injury on the eve of the tournament.
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Post by Supermarion on Nov 16, 2008 0:27:11 GMT
He's a Briton? News to me.
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