This Week In Tennis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RUNDOWN
- Monica Puig turned in the performance(s) of her career, stringing together a series of upsets on her way to Olympic singles gold in Rio. Puig's gold medal was the first ever for Puerto Rico at the Olympics.
- Andy Murray won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour final in Rio. He also had a quick response for John Inverdale when the BBC presenter said Murray was the first tennis player with two Olympic gold medals.
- Juan Martin del Potro scripted one of the feel good stories of 2016, turning his opening round upset of Novak Djokovic into a silver medal. The former world #4 previously won a bronze medal at the London Games in 2012.
- Rafael Nadal began his Rio campaign amidst uncertainty as to whether he would be fit enough (wrist) to compete. The Spaniard won doubles gold alongside Marc Lopez, and reached the semifinals in singles, losing to del Potro and then to Nishikori in the bronze medal match.
- Venus Williams earned a record 5th Olympic medal in tennis when she won a silver medal alongside Rajeev Ram in mixed doubles. The pair were twice a point from losing their first match, but rallied to reach the final against Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock.
- Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova won the women's doubles gold medal. The Russian team, winners the previous week in Montreal, beat Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky in the final.
- At the Hall of Fame Championships in mid-July, Ivo Karlovic became the oldest ATP singles champion since 1979. The 37-year-old scored another title last week in Los Cabos.
- Sania Mirza issued a statement regarding her split with Martina Hingis. The top ranked doubles player clarified rumours of a rift between the two and stated they will compete together at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
- Police are investigating whether British tennis player, Gabriella Taylor, was poisoned with rat urine at Wimbledon.
PRESS
|
Q. You opened your Olympics by carrying the flag in the opening ceremony; you ended it by having the flag raised. Have you thought about the bookends and what does that mean to you?
ANDY MURRAY: It means a lot. Obviously, getting to carry the flag at the opening ceremony was an amazing experience. I was very honored to get the opportunity to do that. I found that quite emotional, as well. The day after I found out, the day I did it as well, I had to sort of kind of regroup and get my mind on the matches. So to finish it with a match like that, as well, obviously I was very emotional at the end. It's been a buildup of emotions over the last 10 days or so. Just very happy that I got over the line tonight. Q. You've been an escape artist this week, escaping Djokovic, Nadal, the elevator at the Olympic Village. Did you just run out of steam? Did you think you were going to escape this, too? JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No. I want to escape from here, I'm so tired (laughter). Too many things in only one week. But this will be for the rest of my life on my mind. I never thought something like that at the beginning of the tournament. It's even bigger, like a dream. Now I got a silver medal, which means a (goal/gold?) for me. I cannot believe I will bring another medal for my country. Q. Is it a bit of a bittersweet moment for you? You take home the silver, which is great, but it's not the gold. ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I mean, of course it's not the medal I wished, but still it's silver. Before I came here, I said to myself I will give everything to win the medal. I won the silver one, and I'm proud, yeah, to represent my country. It's an honor, yeah, to win the silver medal and to go with a medal back home. |
Q. Monica, such an emotional moment for you and everybody watching. What does it mean for you to do this for your country and for yourself?
MONICA PUIG: It's just amazing. You know, I know my country really appreciates this, and I really wanted to give this victory to them. The way that I did it tonight, I wouldn't want it any other way. Q. What emotions were you actually experiencing once you had finished and won, taking in the moment? MONICA PUIG: Just a lot of relief, a lot of tension going away. Also I couldn't really believe what just happened. It was such an amazing moment. The ball seemed to be going out kind of slow, so I wish it would have sped up a little bit. I'm just so excited. Q. Venus, when you left London last time, you were already talking about Rio. Is it too farfetched or anything for you to contemplate Tokyo? VENUS WILLIAMS: I mean, God willing. I imagine if I really wanted to be there I could. So Tokyo is about if I want to be there and if I want to continue to work this hard. It's a lot of hard work. So I'm going to have to want to do the work. So we'll see. Q. Rafa, that must have been mighty tasty. Talk about what it means to you to win the gold in doubles. You're one of only four tennis players who have ever won singles and doubles. RAFAEL NADAL: Thank you very much. It was amazing experience, especially doing that with one of my best friends, with Marc, is something unforgettable for me, for both of us, I think. Win a gold medal today after two months and a half with no practice, with no preparation at all, just working on the gym, is something that is a dream, no? The moment was unbelievable, and we had fun. We fight hard. The only thing that we can say is that we are very, very happy. |
|
|
RANKINGS WATCH
- ATP: Thiem (+1 to #9), Karlovic (+4 to #20), Isner (-3 to #22), Anderson (+2 to #24), Carreno Busta (+7 to #48), Chardy (-14 to #53), Young (-8 to #57), Lajovic (+13 to #59), Evans (+20 to #60), Youzhny (-11 to #68), Mayer (+21 to #73), Millman (-17 to #91), Gulbis (-39 to #100)
- WTA: Kasatkina (+3 to #24), Bencic (-11 to #27), Errani (-8 to #32), Cornet (-10 to #58), Watson (-10 to #76), Lisicki (-5 to #84), Tsurenko (-28 to #85), Allertova (-5 to #90)
ON THE WEB
Monica Puig, Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal Showed us What the Olympics Does to Tennis
On Thursday in Rio, Rafael Nadal won for Himself, for Spain, but Above all for a Friend
Monica Puig's Olympic Run Didn't Start this Week; She's Been Aiming for it all Year
How Tennis Star Venus Williams Quietly Became a Fashion Mogul
Andy Roddick's glad the tennis grind is behind him
Estrella Burgos Wants To Change Tennis
Tennis And The Olympics Make An Awkward Match
Rochester's Greatest Tennis Player is Calling it Quits
Seena Hamilton, a Pioneer in Youth Tennis, Is Dead at 92
Mattek-Sands/Sock Win Mixed Doubles Gold As Venus Williams Earns Fifth Olympic Medal
PODCASTS
The Body Serve - Are You Feeling O-lympic Today?
The Tennis Podcast - Murray, Puig, Del Potro, Nadal Win Medals And Hearts In Rio
No Challenges Remaining - Golden Girl Monica Puig and More Rio Results
Realz Tenis Fanz - The Realz Olympic Edition: The Madness, Mess, Matches and Menz
Mind The Racket - Golden Gab
WTA Insider - Monica Puig's Golden Moment
Beyond The Baseline - Analyzing Rio 2016 Olympic tennis upsets, chaos
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.
ARCHIVES
September 2022
July 2022
June 2022
January 2022
September 2021
September 2020
August 2020
May 2020
November 2019
August 2019
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
January 2018
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
October 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
RSS Feed