DAVIS CUP FINAL SET: CROATIA VS ARGENTINA

This Week In Tennis
Vol. 37

Davis Cup and two WTA events were the extent of tennis action the week after the year's final Grand Slam event. Argentina and Croatia advanced to the Davis Cup final, while Oceane Dodin and Christina McHale won the first WTA titles of their careers in Quebec and Japan respectively. Off the courts, tennis dealt with the hacking of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) which revealed the medical records of several of the sports' top players. The issue at hand were several Therapeautic Use Exemptions (TUE) granted to players throughout the course of their careers, substances that without the exemptions would result in a positive doping test and suspension. 

#ThisWeekInTennis recaps the last week of tennis through tweets, articles, podcasts, and rankings. 

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​RUNDOWN

• Davis Cup dominated action on the ATP Tour with Argentina and Croatia the victorious teams in semifinal action. 
• Christina McHale scored the first WTA title of her career, overcoming a set and a break deficit to win the Japan Open Women's Tennis tournament.
• Oceane Dodin also won the first title of her career, taking the Coupe Banque Nationale final in straight sets over Lauren Davis.

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​From wta.com: "Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but coming into this week in Québec, the fearless Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slams - though she did reach the semifinals of a WTA 125K Series event in Limoges."

• More from the Davis Cup: Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro played a five-set, five-hour marathon to open the Great Britain/Argentina semifinal tie. 
• A Russian hack of WADA revealed medical information of several top tennis stars, including the Theraputic Use Exemptions (TUEs) granted to Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal, Petra Kvitova, and others.  
• The hack prompted swift responses from the ATP, WTA, Venus Williams, and Rafael Nadal. 
• CiCi Bellis forgoes her Stanford scholarship and opts to turn pro instead.
• U.S. Open ratings are in and the numbers represent a decline for both the men and women's finals over 2015. 
• Current Wimbledon Junior champ, Denis Shapovalov, won his first ever Davis Cup match in straight sets.
• The Battle of the Sexes happened 43 years ago. 
• The ITF confirms Varvara Lepchenko failed a doping test (meldonium), but will face no sanctions.

Qué manera de terminar una seguidilla de momentos únicos y muy fuertes, que no imaginaba ni en mis mejores sueños! https://t.co/ao3EtjwcNh

— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) September 18, 2016

Men in black are ready! Opening #CROFRA tomorrow at 2 PM CET vs @richardgasquet1. Come on, #Croatia! Photo:@DavisCup pic.twitter.com/OHPcoWid6c

— borna coric (@borna_coric) September 15, 2016

I found an emoji in the wild □. Let's find more! #WildEmojis #EmojiHunteRF pic.twitter.com/pu6HBx3pTB

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 14, 2016

Great stuff from #BernieTomic today, massive for us to go in 2-0 up on the first day. Looking forward to closing this out □□□□□□□□ #DavisCup

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 16, 2016

At it again!! ...the usual ploy to stay in the news by slanging fellow players in media. #Patriotism

— Rohan Bopanna (@rohanbopanna) September 18, 2016

..... And the girl who never took a vacation took one day off...and then she came back https://t.co/AtaP4aljQE

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) September 17, 2016

Such an amazing week taking the tie and playing/winning my first #daviscup match. Loved every moment of it #gocanada pic.twitter.com/GRgQecAvhz

— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) September 18, 2016

Teamwork. #DavisCup
Love this pic. □ pic.twitter.com/Uaro1d7XME

— judy murray (@JudyMurray) September 18, 2016

El Matador, True Champion @RafaelNadal .Honour to share the court with you @DavisCup on home soil □□ pic.twitter.com/3hn30Phhu2

— Leander Paes (@Leander) September 18, 2016

RANKINGS WATCH

• ​ATP: Dimitrov (+1 to #21), Almagro (-4 to #48), Jaziri (+15 to #55), Brown (+14 to #68), Sela (+4 to #70), Lajovic (-13 to #73), Pavlasek (+26 to #80), Struff (-20 to #87)

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• ​WTA: Kasatkina (-4 to #29), Zhang (+9 to #40), McHale (+11 to #42), Ostapenko (-6 to #46), Beck (-9 to #47), Wickmayer (-12 to #51), Siniakova (+12 to #53), Lucic-Baroni (-6 to #60), Golubic (+6 to #67), Davis (+21 to #83), Broady (-9 to #87), Dodin (+39 to #93)

​ON THE WEB

​Behind Bethanie Mattek-Sands’s Drug-Use Exemption, Questions About Her Doctor
​McHale Fightback Earns Tokyo Title
Pospisil: I Feel Like I've Found My Rhythym and My Tennis Again
Thanks to Visa Mishap, Ironman McGee Wins First CH Title
Indian Youngsters are Very Good, Country Needs More Tennis Clubs 
No Boycott as Tunisia's Jaziri Defeats Isreal's Sela for Istanbul Tennis Title
​Argentina’s Davis Cup gamble pays off to leave Britain’s Dan Evans devastated
In Tennis, Top Players are No Spring Chickens
Serena Williams Won't Rush Back After Battling Injuries in 2016
Tennis Opens up Bidding for Hosts of Davis, Fed Cup Finals

​PODCASTS

Beyond The Baseline - Dirk Nowitzki on the state of German tennis, favorite players
​Realz Tenis Fanz - FINALLY we can close the US Open 2016
The Tennis Podcast - Davis Cup Semis - Argentina Break British Hearts; Face Croatia In Final
Break Point Podcast - Episode 45