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Brayden Schnur Breaks Down in Tears During Heartfelt Runner-Up Speech at New York Open

The 23-year-old Canadian had has best week ever on the ATP tour.

Canada’s Brayden Schnur had never won a match at the ATP level prior to last week. But the 23-year-old former NCAA standout took his game to the next level by rolling all the way to the title match at the New York Open, where he was finally stopped by Reilly Opelka in a thrilling three-set final.

After the defeat, the down-to-earth Canadian broke down in tears during a heartfelt runner-up speech in which he reflected on his journey and the people in his life that have sacrificed in order to help him achieve his dreams.

Schnur, a Pickering, Ontario native, rises from 154 to a career-high ranking of 107 as a result of his best week on tour.

Rankings Report: Career-High Rankings for Medvedev and Cecchinato; Wawrinka and Opelka Surge

Stan Wawrinka surged 27 spots in the rankings after reaching his first ATP final since 2017 at Rotterdam.

Daniil Medvedev and Marco Cecchinato reached career-high rankings on Monday, at No.15 and No.17 in the world respectively, while Gael Monfils climbed 10 spots to No.23 after winning his 8th career title at Rotterdam.

Wouldn't be a @Gael_Monfils match without one of these…#abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/QwlWIsgOUA

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 17, 2019

Stan Wawrinka was also a climber, as the Swiss rocked up 27 spots to No.41 in the rankings as a result of reaching his first ATP final since 2017.

But the biggest riser inside the Top 100 was American Reilly Opelka. The 6’11 mega server claimed his maiden title at the New York Open with a 43-ace performance against Brayden Schnur and rises 33 spots to a career-high perch at No.56.

New York's newest skyscraper 🗽

👏👏@ReillyOpelka towers above Brayden Schnur 6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(7) to claim his maiden ATP title at @NewYorkOpen pic.twitter.com/TgsvzwJTbG

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 17, 2019

Spain’s Jaume Munar, who reached back to back quarter-finals at Cordoba and Buenos Aires, jumps to a career-high ranking of 66, while Ernests Gulbis rises 10 spots to No.74 on the strength of his quarter-final appearance at Rotterdam.

France's Ugo Humbert also cracked a career-high ranking of 75 thanks to his title at the Cherbourg Challenger.

Sitting just outside the Top 100 at 107 is Canada’s Brayden Schnur, who made a jump of 47 spots by reaching his first career final at the New York Open. Schnur, 23, had never won a main draw match on tour before last week.

Maria Sharapova Withdraws from Indian Wells with Shoulder Injury

The Russian hasn't set an official timetable for her return. Maria Sharapova‘s injury woes continue. The former World No.1 and five-time major champion has played just 61 matches since she returned from her infamous doping ban in 2017—and that number won’t be rising any time soon. The Russian announced that she’ll miss the BNP Paribas Open in March due to a shoulder issue.

Unfortunately, Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from #BNPPO19 due to a right shoulder injury.

With her withdrawal, Mona Barthel moves into the main draw. We will miss Maria this year and hope to see her back at Indian Wells next year! pic.twitter.com/HfMl66KgqE

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) February 13, 2019

Sharapova has gone 42-19 in those 61 matches since she has returned to the tour in 2017.

She has one title and four semi-finals to her name since then. Sharapova has struggled with the shoulder for quite some time. She cut her 2018 campaign short in mid-September due to shoulder injuries as well, and the shoulder has bothered her periodically over the last decade. She originally has surgery on the shoulder in 2008

Sharapova at the Australian Open: "I have spoken about my shoulder openly in the last few weeks, months, years. It's definitely been an issue for the majority of last year and going into this year, as well. It's a pain-management type of thing. I'm still working through it."

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 13, 2019

Nadal To Attend Tennis Center Inauguration

King of clay to attend inauguration in Mexico on February 18th.
Rafael Nadal will be on hand when the world's first Rafael Nadal Tennis Center celebrates its inauguration this month.

The world No. 2 will attend the inauguration of the Rafa Nadal Tennis Center in Costa Mujeres, Mexico on February 18th.

Tsitsipas: Brain-Exploding Experience

Former world No. 1 Carlos Moyá, Technical Director of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca and Abel Matutes Prats, CEO of Palladium Hotel Group, will also attend the event.

The Rafa Nadal Tennis Center is part of the facilities of both hotels TRS Coral Hotel and Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres Resort & Spa that the chain is building.

The 32-year-old Nadal has spoke for years about the importance of training and playing on natural surfaces.

Photo credit: Rafa Nadal Academy

With that in mind, the Rafa Nadal Tennis Center Costa Mujeres with feature eight red clay courts, a soccer ﬁeld 7, one paddle court, a gym for warm-ups, stretches and basic training, an exhibition of objects and clothes from Rafa Nadal, a store with exclusive premium sports products, and a bar/cafeteria with TV screens so guests can watch tennis and other sports.

Tennis Twitter Scores as Super Bowl Fizzles

Tennis' social media highlights from a snooze-fest Super Bowl.
Super Bowl was stupor bowl.

Super Bowl 53 was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl, the lowest-rated Super Bowl in a decade and a general snooze-fest unless you're a member of Patriot Nation.

More: Kyrgios Calls Out Yastemska

Still, tennis stars scored on social media even as the big game fizzled.

Sunday was a special day for Sloane Stephens, who showed her support for the Patriots wearing a Pats No. 44 jersey in honor of her departed dad.

It’s almost game time!!! 🏈 Who you got?! Go @Patriots #SuperBowlSunday pic.twitter.com/m6oGPEMwmx

— Sloane Stephens (@SloaneStephens) February 3, 2019

Sloane's father, the late John Stephens, was a Patriots running back who made the Pro Bowl in 1988 wearing No. 44.

The big game brought us a twitter battle between former world No. 1 players.

Former doubles world No. 1 Rennae Stubbs, sharing sentiments many football fans feel, declared she's sick of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichik always raising the Lombardi trophy.

Stubbsie flat-out challenged Patsies, er Patriots fans, hash tag "Hate the Pats."

I’m going to say it out loud! I’m so over Tom Brady and Bill Belichick!! Yes i said it!! 🤷‍♀️🤮 oh and Gronk! Yeah all u Patriot fans bring it on!! 😂 #hatethepats 😂😂😂

— Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs) February 4, 2019

Former world No. 1 Chrissie Evert, Stubbs' ESPN colleague, fired back bestowing the ultimate title on Brady with multiple exclamation points for emphasis.

Rennae!!! It’s a dynasty! How can you not like Tom Brady? He’s the Roger Federer of football! https://t.co/JCjH2qHrL7

— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) February 4, 2019

Winning Ugly author and long-time Bay area resident Brad Gilbert, already emotionally gutted after another dismal and abysmal season from his Oakland Raiders, suffered further trauma during the game.

Gilbert was horrified by the halftime show.

Typically a man of many words, the ESPN analyst delivered a brutal one-word review of Maroon 5's performance: Awful.

Awful https://t.co/va9epCUMeV

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) February 4, 2019

Absolutely terrible where was Andre 3000 https://t.co/Bn15TO3KqQ

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) February 4, 2019

Before the game, champion of equality Billie Jean King congratulated the Rams for making history featuring the first male cheerleader in Super Bowl history, hashtag "equality for all."

Cheers to the first male cheerleaders in Super Bowl history! #EqualityForAll #SBLIII⁠ ⁠ https://t.co/f1iGBdIfk3

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) February 4, 2019

After the game, King, whose brother Randy was a former Major League Baseball player, praised Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick for building a dynasty.

Congratulations to the ⁦@Patriots,⁩ champions of #SuperBowlLlll. Tom Brady and Coach Belichick are truly a dynasty, and ⁦@Edelman11⁩ is an MVP of the highest order. #SuperBowl https://t.co/3T1rxbkXXm

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) February 4, 2019

Nancy Armour raised an intriguing question: should Patriots MVP Julian Edelman even be playing the big game given his four-game PED suspension?

The point here isn't that Edelman's a bad dude. The point is that the @NFL has a joke of an anti-doping program that isn't designed to catch, or punish, its stars. Solid by @nrarmour https://t.co/mNzbTRMsJr via @usatoday

— Eddie Pells (@epells) February 4, 2019

Serena Williams owns a piece of the Miami Dolphins and while her beloved Fins failed to make the Super Bowl (again), Serena made her mark on game day as only Serena can.

In case you missed it, the 23-time Grand Slam champion starred in an ad for Bumble, a mobile app and platform for women to connect for dating, friendship or networking.

Serena's spot has already earned more than a half-million YouTube views.

And if you've ever seen Serena loosen up her serving shoulder tossing a football in practice, you know she can throw the ball almost as well as she serves.

Sickened Saints fan Ryan Harrison summed up the feelings of bitter New Orleans fans following the refs blown no-call in the NFC title game.

Updates NFL power rankings

1. Refs
2. Saints
3. Pats
4. Bears ( minus Parker )
5. Chiefs
6. Eagles ( Foles )
……

17. Eagles ( wentz )

…..

31. Bama
32. Rams

— Ryan Harrison (@ryanharrison92) February 4, 2019

Yastremska Called out for Gamesmanship by Nick Kyrgios, Rennae Stubbs

The 18-year-old Ukrainian won her second title on Sunday, but not without some controversy. Dayana Yastremska defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(3) in a dramatic final at the Toyota Thailand Open in Hua Hin on Sunday, and when it was over Nick Kyrgios took to Twitter to call out the Ukrainian champion for calling for a medical timeout while trailing 5-2 in the deciding set.

“That medical was trash,” wrote Kyrgios.

That medical was trash 🤦🏽♂️

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) February 3, 2019

During the match the MTO drew the ire of Tomljanovic, who protested during the changeover to chair umpire Jenny Zhang but was told that there was nothing that could be done about the situation.

Later in the day Rennae Stubbs, former WTA star and current coach of Karolina Pliskova, replied to Kyrgios on Twitter, calling Yastremska’s medical timeout “Bush league.”

Bush league ! Karma is a b——

— Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs) February 3, 2019

Yastremska had her left knee looked at and worked on before returning to the court after a five-minute delay as Tomljanovic served for the title with a 5-2 lead in set three. The Ukrainian would take the next four games, seeing the trainer and having the same knee treated during each of the next two changeovers.

Players are limited to one three-minute medical timeout for non-acute, treatable injuries, and it is expected that they ask for the trainer only if there is an injury. But there's a whole lot of grey area in there as who can really say if a player is injured or not?

Untimely MTOs are a common phenomenon in tennis, and they are seen by many as an attempt by one player to game the system.

It is also generally frowned upon when players take medical timeouts before their opponents are about to serve, but in this case changeovers were only occurring prior to Tomljanovic’s serve, so Yastremska would have had to stop the match on an even game to do it on her serve.

One looking at it from Yastremska’s side of the coin could say that she was carrying a knee injury and needed the medical attention to clear up a blockage in that area. Who are we to say that she wasn’t feeling pain in the knee? Technically she did nothing against the rules—unless she was faking the injury to buy time and take Tomljanovic out of her groove.

It isn’t the first time Yastremska has received some negative attention for her disregard of tennis’ unwritten code of ethics. She has twice retired with her opponent one game from victory over the last 15 months. Again, in such situations, it’s hard to know what the player is feeling. That’s what the rules are put in place for—the safety of the players is paramount, and sometimes controversy follows as a result.

Wilson Drives Depth With New Clash Release

New Clash collection line launches on February 8th.

Wilson aims to drive depth with its new Clash racquet collection.

The brand announced the launch of the Clash line today.

More: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Naked And Alive

The Clash line, which was created over three years, is billed as the first racquet series explicity created for the modern swing featuring racquet flexing without compromising stability or power.

Essentially, Wilson is aiming to create a modern racquet providing power with unprecedented feel thanks to the frame's flex.

The brand said it applied motion capture technology to track the racquet swing planes and "dimensionalize the modern player's angle of attacking bringing to life how much more vertical it has become over time."

Armed with that data, designers at Wilson Labs tried to alter conventional racquet construction providing a level of fluid movements to the frame.

The Clash features two new technologies: FreeFlex and StableSmart.

FreeFlex is a carbon mapping system that the brand claims "unifies carbon at unconventional angles throughout the racquets' frame for a higher degree of flexibility both vertically and horizontally."

Wilson says StableSmart is a new frame geometry designed to provide powe and stability.

The new Clash line includes the Clash 100 and Clash 100 Tour. Both frames retail for $249 and will available for sale on February 8th.

Photo credit: Wilson

Naomi Osaka’s Advice to Daughter After Aussie Open: GO TO SLEEP

Moms will be moms. Don't believe us? Ask Naomi Osaka…

What did Naomi Osaka’s mom tell her when the pair finally talked on the phone after Osaka won the Australian Open on Saturday night?

Go to bed!

Some things never change.

Speaking on Good Morning America with hosts Robin Roberts via satellite, Osaka said her mom warned her that she better get some rest-asap.

“She was upset at me and she kind of yelled at me to go to sleep,” Osaka said. “Yeah I think that was the most important thing for her.”

During the brief interview Osaka exhibited some of her trademark shyness with people she isn’t all that familiar with. She kept her answers short, talking about her sister, her family, her personal interest in photography and what advice she would give to young people who might look to her for advice.

“I would just say everyone has their own path so you should just keep going and never give up—don’t compare yourself to other people,” she said.