Tennis Tips, Tricks And Gear

The Tower of Tandil has just three matches under his belt in 2019.

Juan Martin del Potro is hoping to begin building form in Madrid, as he makes a return from a two month hiatus, which was needed to continue the rehabilitation of his fractured right patella.

The Tower of Tandil, making his first competitive appearance since February, has been drawn to face either Laslo Djere or Dusan Lajovic in the second round (after a first-round bye), and he’ll also pair with Kei Nishikori in doubles.

“I’m progressing every day,” Del Potro told reporters. “Coming to this tournament is one more step for me in my rehabilitation and my final recovery to feeling completely fit again and completely healing the knee injury. I think that I’m feeling better every day and I’m starting to train with the best players, which gives me my rhythm and gets me playing my best tennis. And although I need time to adapt to that rhythm, I think this is a good time for me to start to do that and that’s why I’m here.”

Del Potro, who injured the knee last October in Shanghai, has made just one tour-level appearance this season. He lost in the quarter-finals at the Delray Beach Open, and quickly realized that his knee, while better, was not quite ready for prime time.

He says that he’ll know a lot more about his form and fitness after he and Nishikori take on Robert Lindstedt and Fabio Fognini in the first round of the doubles.

“To me, playing doubles is important to test myself, to move and to start to get a feeling for playing in an official match and not just training,” he said. “If I feel as we expect after the doubles and nothing strange happens, I’m sure I’ll want to play the singles match. That’s what I’m hoping, but I have to take it day by day and hope. I’m not in any rush to start playing and to return to the tour, but my return is getting closer and closer… So it will be a few days or more yet, but I am really looking forward to doing it.”

Gracias por el cariño, Madrid 🤗 @MutuaMadridOpen pic.twitter.com/obRlDVF9M2

— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) May 3, 2019

The German opens his bid for a third straight title on home soil at Munich.

It has been a shaky season for Alexander Zverev, but he remains dominant at his familiar stomping grounds at Munich. The two-time defending BMW Open by FWU champion eased past Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero on Wednesday to book his spot in the quarter-finals and stretch his winning streak to nine matches.

Zverev escaped a difficult first set that saw him broken twice by taking the final game from Londero (see the above hot shot for the German’s critical play in the game).

He then found his focus and rambled through the second set behind two breaks of serve to clinch his win in 64 minutes.

Zverev improves to 13-7 on the season and 13-3 lifetime at Munich. He will face Chile’s Cristian Garin in the quarter-finals.

Garin, who has been extremely impressive as a longtime promising talent that is finally making his mark on tour in 2019, eased past Diego Schwartzman 6-1 7-5 to improve to 16-6 on the season.

Third-seeded Marco Cecchinato (d. Martin Klizan) and eighth-seeded Marton Fucsovics (d. Monteiro) also advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday in Munich.

The draw currently shapes up as follows…

Top half QFs set at @BMWOpenbyFWU — good matchups. pic.twitter.com/YBQJ0K0quA

— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) May 1, 2019

The Spaniard says he's improving week to week on the clay.

Rafael Nadal isn’t going to let his recent difficulties on clay dampen his enthusiasm for the biggest events of the season. The Spaniard, who fell in semi-final action at Monte-Carlo to Fabio Fognini and then at Barcelona to Dominic Thiem, says he is gaining confidence despite what many perceive to be surprising losses.

"After this week, my confidence is back," Nadal said, according to ATPWorldTour.com. "I really believe that I made very good improvements to create a good base to try to achieve my goals during the next couple of weeks.”

Nadal believes he has made significant strides since Monte-Carlo, where he gave a particularly scathing assessment of his form in his straight-sets loss to Fabio Fognini in the semi-finals.

With a week off before next week’s Madrid Masters, expect Nadal to be in a more ferocious mindset as he begins the final leg of his Roland Garros preparation.

The hunger will certainly be there.

Nadal has not entered the month of May without a title on the year since 2004, and he has recently given up ground to two of his biggest clay rivals. Fognini became just the fourth player to own three or more wins over Nadal on clay while Thiem became just the second player to reach four wins against Nadal on clay.

Players to defeat Rafael Nadal four times or more on clay

Novak Djokovic 7
Dominic Thiem 4

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) April 27, 2019

But Nadal is not concerned about the losses or the media’s reaction to his slow start on clay. He’s focused on maintaining his fitness and making steady improvements to his form as April turns to May. The Spaniard has always been the master of improving with each passing week during the clay season, and if he continues to do so he should be on track for a Roland Garros title defense.

"It was a big difference [to Monte Carlo],” Nadal said of his loss to Thiem. “Against Fognini I played the worst match probably in 14 years on clay. Today I played a good match of tennis.”

Nadal was satisfied with the way he performed against Thiem on Saturday in Barcelona, despite the fact that he struggled on serve and won just 43 percent of his second-serve points.

“The serve [was] an important part of the match this afternoon,” Nadal said. “I didn't serve well at all, especially the second serve. So when I started to miss the second serve, I really lost a little bit of the confidence on trying to go for a good first serve, because I was without confidence on the second, so that affects the first."

He added: "I really felt competitive for the first time in a way that I want to feel myself. And as I said before, I am happy and I am confident that I made a big improvement this week."

Clay season just got brighter.
Adidas is bringing the blues to red clay.

The triple-stripe brand unveiled its latest collection of high-performance apparel for the spring clay-court season—the new Escouade collection—for men and women.

More: Kuznetsova Prevails in Comeback Win

The range, which features bold designs and contrast color blocking, will be launched with the start of the outdoor clay-season and Roland Garros.

The collection will be worn on court by adidas endorsers including Alexander Zverev,  Stefanos Tsitsipas, Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, Dominic Thiem and Caroline Wozniacki.

The Escouade Collection has been designed to make a statement on the European clay courts with bold graphics and two distinct colorways: a light blue, black and white colour story for Roland Garros, and vibrant red, light grey and dark purple for spring Masters events.

Available for men and women, this lightweight apparel range incorporates mesh layering and micro perforated fabrics for additional breathability and adidas’ industry leading performance technologies – including Climalite and Climacool to keep athletes cool and dry while on court.

Photo credit: adidas

The daughter of Serena is a pretty big star in her own right.

Olympia Williams has hit the big time. Well, to be fair, she hit the big time the moment she was born—she is the daughter of 23-time major singles champion Serena Williams after all (and she does have 559k Instagram followers)…

More: Naomi Osaka Inks Apparel Deal with Nike

But this week Olympia starred in her first TV spot for Pampers. The “wild child” is featured with Serena in a spot for the diaper company.

“I would say to parents of a wild child—instead of worrying, embrace it and make the most of it,” says Williams in the advert.

“Our newest member to the Pampers family, tennis legend, entrepreneur and super-mom Serena Williams shares what life is like as the parent of a wild child,” says Pampers. “Together, we’re encouraging parents to support their active, spirited, curious babies with the help of our Cruisers 360 FIT diapers – designed to keep up with every wild move a baby makes.”

The Russian has not played since last September.Svetlana Kuznetsova will make her return to the WTA Tour next week in Switzerland.

IMy First tournament will be at Lugano (next week) . Начну свой сезон с турнира в Лугано, на следующей неделе . 🤗🤗🤗🎾🎾🎾 ✊🏻 @ Playa Gavà https://t.co/e9bccXJHR9

— Svetlana Kuznetsova (@SvetlanaK27) April 2, 2019

The 33-year-old Russian made a comeback from a wrist injury in 2018 (starting her season at Indian Wells) and won the title at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. in August. But Kuznetsova pulled the plug on her season in September after just five more matches.

This winter Kuznetsova announced that she’d be missing the beginning of the season to continue rehabbing.

“In order to get ahead of all the rumors, I want to answer the question that worries the media and my fans. With great regret, I have to inform you that I don’t have time to recover by the beginning of the next game season. We made a difficult decision together with my team and doctors: we will give my body to recover from injuries and then begin intensive training. In the next few days I’ll undergo intensive therapy and try to keep my body in good shape.”

Kuznetsova owns 642 career wins and 18 titles. The two-time champion is a former World No.2 has reached the quarter-finals or better at 16 majors and won 152 major singles matches.

Last year she hinted that the end of her career may be coming sooner than some think. Kuznetsova underwent surgery to her left wrist in 2017.

"Of course I'm thinking about my future,” Kuznetsova told the Russian website RT last April. I'm 32 now and I can play for two or three more seasons, but anyway later I will have to find new goals and priorities in my life. Without hesitation I would definitely change my tennis trophies for a happy family life," she said.

The American could miss more than a month, depending on what further tests reveal.
John Isner‘s camp is hinting that the big man may indeed have suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during his final with Roger Federer at the Miami Open.

Christopher Clarey of the New York Times reports that Isner is awaiting further test results for clarity, but at the moment they do believe he is dealing with a stress fracture that could potentially keep him out for much of the clay season.

Word from John Isner camp is that it appears he did suffer a stress fracture in his left foot during Miami Open final against Federer. More definitive test results forthcoming but could miss 4 to 6 weeks. If so, quite a pity for a big man back in excellent form (6th in the race)

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) April 2, 2019

“Somewhere along in the first set I started feeling some pain on the top of my foot, and it didn't go away,” Isner told reporters after he fell to Federer 6-1 6-4 and had his Miami Open winning streak stopped at 11 matches. “It only kept getting worse.”

Isner had the injury looked at during a medical timeout in Sunday’s final. He continued to play but was visibly hobbled by the end of the contest.

“It's a terrible feeling, because you're on an island out there, and, you know, you have no teammates to hide behind and going up against the greatest player ever, you know, playing in this incredible atmosphere, and my foot's killing me.”

Isner told reporters that he had never felt an injury like this before: “I have never had anything like this before, ever. I mean, I have had a few injuries in my career. I have been very fortunate. I have stayed healthy throughout my career. Something happened today. It wasn't like a certain point, either. I just all of a study started feeling something, and it just kept getting a little worse, getting worse and worse as the match went on.”

The pair of NextGen ATP starts have developed a solid friendship.

Next Gen ATP stars Denis Shapovalov and Frances Tiafoe are developing quite a rivalry on the court. But off the court it’s a much different story. There is a great deal of support between the two players, as they’ve developed a great relationship over the years.

That’s what made Shapovalov’s 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 victory over the American a bit bittersweet when it was all said and done on Thursday in Miami.

“I think we're definitely pretty close,” Shapovalov said of Tiafoe. “It kind of developed throughout the years on tour. Honestly, in juniors, we kind of knew of each other, but he was really good at a young age and I was just starting up. Obviously I saw him around, but we didn't hang around too much.

“Then once we started playing pros, we played Laver Cup together, all this, and we just started getting closer and closer, and obviously we have practiced together a bunch of times. We've played each other a bunch of times. It feels like every time we play we kind of bring out the best in each other. It's always an honor to be on the court with him.”

Shapo and Foe have a really good friendship/respect going.

Shapo says part of him feels bad about Tiafoe losing: "I know he deserves it as much as I do. He works so hard. He's such a great person."

— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) March 29, 2019

Shapovalov, who advanced to his third career Masters 1000 semi-final and will face Roger Federer on Friday, says that he is always wishing the best for Tiafoe—unless of course the pair collide in the draw like the did tonight and on two occasions in 2018.

“I think it's tough in the sense that I wish the best for him, and I love seeing him go deep in tournaments and doing as good as possible. But, you know, when you're on the other side, like, for example today when you win, obviously you feel great, but part of me does also feel kind of bad, you know, just in the sense that he couldn't go on in the tournament. I know he deserves it as much as I do. He works so hard. He's such a great person.”

Respect between two young stars 🤝@FTiafoe @denis_shapo #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/LRJGoyhB8k

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 29, 2019

Kvitova's testimony was key to the prosecution. The man who stabbed Petra Kvitova in a botched burglary in 2016 has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

33-year-old Radim Zondra was convicted by a regional court in Brno, Czech Republic, of causing Kvitova serious bodily harm.

Kvitova, who testified against Zondra in February via video feed to avoid facing the subject, was informed about the sentence, and her spokesman Karel Tejkal said she "respects the ruling of an independent court."

"She's satisfied with the verdict because she identified the convicted person as the attacker," Tejkal said, according to the Associated Press.

Kvitova’s testimony was key to the prosecution.

Kvitova said the suspect, who entered her apartment after claiming to be there to inspect the boiler, grabbed her from behind and put a knife to her throat. When she grabbed the knife with both hands, the left hand was injured.

Kvitova, who suffered severe lacerations to the digits of her left hand and needed career-saving surgery to repair damaged tendons and nerves in the hand, says that she found herself lying on the floor with blood everywhere, as she screamed. She later offered the man money and he took the equivalent of $440 and left.

Zondra can appeal and so can the prosecution. He is currently in jail for another crime.

Kvitova returned to the game in May of 2017 and since then has climbed back to the top of tennis, becoming a true inspirational figure of the sport. She won five titles last season and began 2019 by reaching the final of the Australian Open after claiming the Sydney title.

The Swede is working with David Goffin for the second time and hopes to get his charge on track. Former Australian Open champion and World No.7 Thomas Johansson is ready to hit the ground running with David Goffin. The pair began working together about three weeks ago after the Belgian split with longtime coach Theirry Van Cleemput in Australian and Johannson and his former charge Filip Krajinovic parted ways.

The Swede has history with Goffin as he was a part of the Belgian’s team in an advisory role in 2016. As World No.20  Goffin looks to get his season on track in Miami ahead of a round of 16 clash with American Frances Tiafoe, Johansson, who know is the head coach, knows the pair will have their work cut out for them with all the young guns in the game rising and becoming a part of the conversation.

“I think this time is more challenging because I think the depth in tennis now is amazing, Johansson said. “Now is the first time ever that the youngsters are coming up and actually challenging the big guns. The mental part of the game in today’s tennis is that the youngsters are coming up. As you get older you are more aware of the risks, you are more aware of the dangers on the court. These youngsters, they are coming out firing left and right.”

Goffin has had his share of injuries over the years, including a badly sprained ankle, an eyed injury and some arm problems, but he’s in better health now and ready to make improvements.

“He has been very unlucky with injuries,” Johansson said. “The good thing now is that he’s healthy, he’s hungry, he wants to work hard. He knows what he’s capable of. Now he just needs a couple of months with no injuries and hopefully some good results.”

Johansson wants his charge to think aggressively and to beat his opponents to the punch.

“With David we are trying to make him play a more offensive game, to not be afraid to come into the net, to take a little bit more risk sometimes, because if you go up sometimes against Novak, Rafa or even a guy like Tsitsipas, you have to try to play smart against them. It’s very tough to beat them from the baseline, so when the opportunity comes you have to strike.”

But he also knows that Goffin’s break and butter is quickness, defense and counterpunching. Not blessed with great size or power, Goffin relies on an ability to use the whole court and an ability to use his speed and finesse to create problems for his opponents.

“David is not a player that is basing his game on power. His game is based on being quick on the court, changing directions really fast. And the same with his serve, he doesn’t have a serve like [bigger players] but he serves tactically very good,” he said. “You have to be smart on the court and you have to know what kind of battles you have to fight against them, and sometimes it’s not about the power it’s more about changing directions really fast or cutting corners on the court—that’s what David is one of the best guys in the world at.”

Despite a 4-6 start to 2019, both Johansson and Goffin believe that a big win can change the complexion of a season. Perhaps that time is coming here in Miami.

“We try to work on a couple of things that I think is a key in his game. Maybe he hasn’t had the start of the year that he would have liked, but we try to work smart, we try to work on a couple of things. … a big win and things can change.”