The French Open (French: Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between mid-May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. It is one of the most prestigious events in tennis, and it has the widest worldwide broadcasting and audience of all events in this sport. Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men's singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, some say that the event is the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.
2009 French Open Tennis (Roland Garros) will be start- Sunday 5/24/2009 ...
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Murray wins Cincinnati Masters
(BEIJING, August 4) -- Andy Murray of Great Britain defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 7-6(4), 7-6(5) on August 3 to win the Cincinnati Masters. It is Murray's first ATP Masters title.
Murray, who came into the Cincinnati Masters as the No.8 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Djokovic for the second time in eight days to achieve his sixth career title win.
Both Murray and Djokovic will compete in the tennis tournament at the Beijing Olympic Games on August 10-17.
Murray, who came into the Cincinnati Masters as the No.8 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Djokovic for the second time in eight days to achieve his sixth career title win.
Both Murray and Djokovic will compete in the tennis tournament at the Beijing Olympic Games on August 10-17.
Source:http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/
Djokovic ends Nadal's winning streak
(BEIJING, August 3) -- Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Rafael Nadal 6-1, 7-5 on August 2 to advance to the final of the Cincinnati Masters, ending the Spaniard's 32-match winning streak.Djokovic will face Britain's Andy Murray in the final on August 3.
Nadal, who has to wait until August 18 to be declared World No.1, went into the semifinals suffering from blisters.
Australian Open champion Djokovic has defeated Nadal in four of their six matches on hardcourt.
By reaching the semifinals of the event, Nadal accumulated enough points to overtake Roger Federer of Switzerland as the world's No. 1 player; however, the title isn't yet Nadal's until point totals from the past 52 weeks are officially calculated on August 18.
Source:http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/
Wozniak takes title in Stanford
Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak beat sixth seed Marion Bartoli to claim her first WTA Tour title at the Stanford Classic.Wozniak was playing in her eighth match of the week, having qualified, and it was only her second final after finishing runner-up in Fes last year.
But she came through 7-5 6-3 against 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli.
"I believed in myself but I never thought I would win the tournament," said Wozniak. "I surprised myself and I'm so proud of what I accomplished."
She added: "Going through the qualifying and playing eight matches isn't easy."
Her French opponent took a medical timeout at 2-1 down in the second set for a left hip injury and struggled with her movement from then on.
"My leg was moving so slowly and I wasn't able to hit the ball like I was in the past matches," said Bartoli.
"It started to get really bad in the second set but I just wanted to finish the match so the fans could see a complete match."
Wozniak, 20, capitalised on a good performance against Serena Williams in the semi-finals that resulted in the American retiring when well behind.
She becomes the first Canadian since Jill Hetherington in Wellington, 1988, to win a women's singles title.
Elsewhere, France's Pauline Parmentier won her second WTA title with a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka at the Gastein Ladies event in Austria.
"It was a wonderful week for me," said the 53rd-ranked Parmentier.
"I am glad that I played well consistently. The rain made it hard as we had to play many matches in just a few days."
But she came through 7-5 6-3 against 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli.
"I believed in myself but I never thought I would win the tournament," said Wozniak. "I surprised myself and I'm so proud of what I accomplished."
She added: "Going through the qualifying and playing eight matches isn't easy."
Her French opponent took a medical timeout at 2-1 down in the second set for a left hip injury and struggled with her movement from then on.
"My leg was moving so slowly and I wasn't able to hit the ball like I was in the past matches," said Bartoli.
"It started to get really bad in the second set but I just wanted to finish the match so the fans could see a complete match."
Wozniak, 20, capitalised on a good performance against Serena Williams in the semi-finals that resulted in the American retiring when well behind.
She becomes the first Canadian since Jill Hetherington in Wellington, 1988, to win a women's singles title.
Elsewhere, France's Pauline Parmentier won her second WTA title with a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka at the Gastein Ladies event in Austria.
"It was a wonderful week for me," said the 53rd-ranked Parmentier.
"I am glad that I played well consistently. The rain made it hard as we had to play many matches in just a few days."
Source: BBC SPORT
Serena still aiming high
World number five targets Olympics successSerena Williams says she has no intention of ending the season without a major title.
After falling short in all three Grand Slams this year, the 26-year-old has only the US Open and the Beijing Olympics to aim for, but she is determined to put together a strong run in the closing months of the season.
The top seed at this week's Stanford Classic, Williams was beaten by Jelena Jankovic at the Australian Open and Katarina Srebotnik at Roland Garros before losing out to sister Venus in the final at Wimbledon.
She has three titles to her name this season, having won in Bangalore, Miami and Charleston, but does not consider that to be a good return.
"I can't say I'm pleased with my year because I haven't won any grand slams this year," Williams said.
"That's always been the goal for me. I didn't play well in Australia, the French I shot myself in the foot and at Wimbledon I couldn't get it together in the final.
The top seed at this week's Stanford Classic, Williams was beaten by Jelena Jankovic at the Australian Open and Katarina Srebotnik at Roland Garros before losing out to sister Venus in the final at Wimbledon.
She has three titles to her name this season, having won in Bangalore, Miami and Charleston, but does not consider that to be a good return.
"I can't say I'm pleased with my year because I haven't won any grand slams this year," Williams said.
"That's always been the goal for me. I didn't play well in Australia, the French I shot myself in the foot and at Wimbledon I couldn't get it together in the final.
Perfectionist:
"So I have to win something eventually. I feel like I should be able to win for the most part and sometimes I get disgusted because I didn't make the right shots, or made a lot of errors.
"I don't like to lose. I'm a perfectionist and feel like I should be the best at what I do."
Williams will play three tournaments before departing for China, after which she will be at Flushing Meadows for the US Open.
"I'm feeling good," said the world number five. "I have goals and have almost no points coming off this summer. I can only move ahead.
"The Olympics and US Open are hovering. I think I'll be ready for them."
"I don't like to lose. I'm a perfectionist and feel like I should be the best at what I do."
Williams will play three tournaments before departing for China, after which she will be at Flushing Meadows for the US Open.
"I'm feeling good," said the world number five. "I have goals and have almost no points coming off this summer. I can only move ahead.
"The Olympics and US Open are hovering. I think I'll be ready for them."
Source: Sky Sports
ATP Tour - Murray pulls out of Indianapolis
British number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week's Indianapolis Tennis Championships in order to prepare for the Olympics and the US Open."Andy wants to take some rest and recharge his batteries before a very gruelling period including the Beijing Olympics," a spokesman said on his website.
The 21-year-old has returned to the world's top 10 after reaching the quarter-finals at this year's Wimbledon where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal of Spain.
Murray is still scheduled to play in the Toronto Masters which starts on July 21 but was quoted by the BBC saying: "I'm playing less tournaments after Wimbledon because I have to make sure I have enough rest days and am not burnt out by the time I get to the US Open. It's a tough stretch."
He added that playing in next month's Beijing Games was one of his main priorities this season.
"It's not just about the tennis, it's about being in such a great competition. Very few athletes get the chance to do it these days. If you're lucky you might get the chance... once in your career. To do it at 21 is great and I want to do well.
"It is an honour to represent your country and I am looking forward to it."
Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Italian Simone Bolelli have also pulled out of the Indianapolis event for personal reasons, while injuries have forced South Korean Lee Hyung-Taik (ankle) and Japan's Kei Nishikori (stomach muscle) to withdraw.
The 21-year-old has returned to the world's top 10 after reaching the quarter-finals at this year's Wimbledon where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal of Spain.
Murray is still scheduled to play in the Toronto Masters which starts on July 21 but was quoted by the BBC saying: "I'm playing less tournaments after Wimbledon because I have to make sure I have enough rest days and am not burnt out by the time I get to the US Open. It's a tough stretch."
He added that playing in next month's Beijing Games was one of his main priorities this season.
"It's not just about the tennis, it's about being in such a great competition. Very few athletes get the chance to do it these days. If you're lucky you might get the chance... once in your career. To do it at 21 is great and I want to do well.
"It is an honour to represent your country and I am looking forward to it."
Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Italian Simone Bolelli have also pulled out of the Indianapolis event for personal reasons, while injuries have forced South Korean Lee Hyung-Taik (ankle) and Japan's Kei Nishikori (stomach muscle) to withdraw.
Source: Yahoo!sports
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)