Robicia Tennis

For you the tennis fan

Pro tennis is back in Australia

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Matches have been played at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre yesterday and continue until 30 June. This is part of the UTR Pro Tennis Series events.

Christopher O’Connell is the top ranked player competing in Sydney

The series moves to Melbourne and Brisbane 29 June – 2 July, Adelaide 5-8 July and Perth 7-10 July.

Christopher O’Connell at no. 116 is the top ranked Australian men’s player competing in Sydney. He was joined by world no. 197 Aleksander Vukic, no. 216 Max Purcell and others.

Women were also competing at the event with world no. 441 Alexandra Bozovic and Lisa Mays notching up wins on Saturday. Also competing in the round robin format are no. 310 Abbie Myers and no. 247 Ellen Perez.

Australia’s pro tennis players are competing for $450,000 prizemoney.

“With so much of the tennis season still uncertain, our aim through the UTR Pro Tennis Series is to give as many of our athletes the chance to compete and, importantly, also earn prize money, after months of not being able to make their living playing the sport they have devoted their lives to,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley explained.

“Our team has put an enormous amount of time and effort into the planning of these events, and have worked closely with the authorities and tennis staff around the country on the ground to ensure they are run according to strict local biosecurity protocols.”

Players will enter using their Universal Tennis Rating (UTR), giving them an opportunity to compete locally and have their results count globally via the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system.

“We are excited to work with Tennis Australia to bring the UTR Pro Tennis Series to the country and provide an innovative way for professionals to compete close to home safely and have their results count on a global scale,” Universal Tennis Chairman and CEO Mark Leschly said.

“Every tennis player – from social and league players to pros – in Australia can use Universal Tennis to measure their competitive ability. Players who have participated in Tennis Australia comps and tournaments already have a UTR, and can view their rating and register for events on MyUTR.com for free.”

de Minaur back in action in Spain

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Screen shot from Alex de Minaur match

Australia’s Alex de Minaur is 2-0 in a return to competitive tennis, although it is only in exhibition matches.

After bunkering down in Alicante, Spain during the quarantine period de Minaur is competing at the Region of Valencia Tennis Challenge.

World No. 26 de Minaur defeated Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3 on Friday and followed that up with a win over Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.

He will next face world No.12 Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday. Both players are undefeated in the round-robin format.

The matches are being played on clay courts with an umpire and ball kids. The line judges are not being used to limit the number of people involved.

Against world No. 25 Carreno Busta the Australian was up 4-2 before getting pegged back. de Minaur broke for 6-5 and served out the first set.

In the second set de Minaur got one break of serve and that was enough to seal the match.

The 21-year-old Australian last played at the ATP 500 in Acapulco when he lost in the first round against Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia. It was the Australian’s first match back from an injury he sustained during the ATP Cup.

Tennis is suspended through to July 31 but is that being overly ambitious

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The ATP and WTA have announced the suspension of tournaments through to the end of July.

The WTA said, “”We regret this is the case but will continue to be guided by medical experts for when it is safe and possible to return to WTA competition. We continue to monitor the situation closely and are hopeful to be back on the court as soon as possible.”

“Due to continued uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we regret to announce our decision to extend the suspension of the Tour,” said Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman. “Just like tennis fans, players and tournament hosts all over the world, we share in the disappointment the Tour continues to be affected in this way. We continue to assess all of our options in an effort to resume the Tour as soon as it is safe to do so, including the feasibility of rescheduling events later in the season. As ever, the health and well-being of the tennis community and wider public remains our top priority in every decision we make.”

The August date to commence tennis could be wishful thinking. With the aviation industry pretty much at a complete standstill it will be difficult to get players to tournaments.

Australia is talking about have their borders closed into 2021. Tennis Australia are looking at many different scenarios in order to be able to hold the Australian Open in 2021.

With tennis not being played now for several months the governing bodies of world tennis have come together to raise in excess of USD $6 million to create a Player Relief Program to assist players who are particularly affected by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Program will target around 800 ATP/WTA singles and doubles players that are in need of financial support.

At this stage the US Open is set to go ahead although it could be at an alternative venue and the French Open is scheduled to run from Sunday, 20 September – Sunday 4 October.

Wimbledon cancelled for 2020 due to coronavirus

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For the first time since World War Two there will not be a tournament held for The Championships.

Below is the text from an email that was distributed by the All England Tennis Club to announce the news.

Dear Guest

You will no doubt have heard the news yesterday that, with great regret, the Main Board of the All England Club (AELTC) and Committee of Management of The Championships took the difficult decision that the 134th Championships, due to be staged in 2020, will be cancelled and instead staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.

The highest priority in our decision making has been our regard for public health, and the wellbeing of all those who come together to make Wimbledon happen. Please refer to the detailed media announcement on wimbledon.com alongside a list of frequently asked questions.

We appreciate that this news will have been received with great disappointment by all those looking forward to The Championships this year. We have been overwhelmed by the passion for Wimbledon expressed as a result of the announcement and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your understanding of these unique and unquestionably challenging circumstances. It is your love for The Championships that has shaped our event over the years, and will continue to do so.

We are developing our plans to use the Wimbledon channels to showcase the best of The Championships over the years and do our best as much as possible to fill the gap left by no tournament this year as we also turn our attentions to preparing a fantastic Championships for 2021, so please do follow along across wimbledon.com and our social media platforms.

If you are interested in attending The Championships 2021, we will be opening the registration process for the Wimbledon Public Ballot for 2021 in the autumn of 2020. With that in mind, we ask you to ensure that your email address remains up to date via your myWIMBLEDON profile so that we can continue to contact you.

In addition to planning for The Championships 2021, our efforts will now be focused on contributing to the emergency response and supporting those affected by the coronavirus crisis. We have made contact with the local authorities in Merton and Wandsworth as well as the NHS to offer our facilities and whatever other assistance we can, including equipment, and we are distributing food supplies through our partnership with City Harvest. Through our charity, the Wimbledon Foundation, we are offering support within our local communities, and more broadly for the London and UK population through donations to the British Red Cross, the Foundation’s emergency response charity partner.

We thank you for your continued support at this difficult time and hope you and your families remain safe and well.

Kind regards,

The All England Lawn Tennis Club

ATP and WTA announce an extension of the COVID-19 suspension

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Amended 5 April

ATP and WTA Tours until July 13, 2020 and Wimbledon cancelled.

We have seen sport around the world closed down due to the coronavirus. Tennis being one of the first of the big sports to close things down after Indian Wells was cancelled.

Below is a photo from the last tournament actually played in Canberra. The smoke that enveloped the city saw a Challenger tournament moved to Bendigo in January of this year and just days out from the 2020 clay court tournaments the coronavirus suspension saw the Canberra clay court tournaments postponed.

Canberra, Australia – 31 March 2019: ACT Clay Court International #2 women’s final – Olivia Rogowska and Priscilla Hon on centre court in Canberra. (Photo by Rob Keating http://robiciatennis.com )

Below is the text from an update from the ATP. At the end of the message they had a dig at the French Open organisers after they had rescheduled their tournament without consulting other key stakeholders.

After careful consideration, and due to the continuing outbreak of COVID-19, all ATP and WTA tournaments tin the Spring clay-court swing will not be held as scheduled.  This includes the combined ATP/WTA tournaments in Madrid and Rome, along with the WTA events in Strasbourg and Rabat and ATP events in Munich, Estoril, Geneva and Lyon. 

The professional tennis season is now suspended through 7 June 2020, including the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour. At this time, tournaments taking place from 8 June 2020 onwards are still planning to go ahead as per the published schedule. 

In parallel, the FedEx ATP Rankings and WTA Rankings will be frozen throughout this period and until further notice.

The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to professional tennis demand greater collaboration than ever from everyone in the tennis community in order for the sport to move forward collectively in the best interest of players, tournaments and fans. 

We are assessing all options related to preserving and maximising the tennis calendar based on various return dates for the Tours, which remains an unknown at this time. We are committed to working through these matters with our player and tournament members, and the other governing bodies, in the weeks and months ahead.

Now is not a time to act unilaterally, but in unison. All decisions related to the impact of the coronavirus require appropriate consultation and review with the stakeholders in the game, a view that is shared by ATP, WTA, ITF, AELTC, Tennis Australia, and USTA.

Indian Wells tournament called off due to coronavirus fears

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One coronavirus case has sent the cards crashing in Indian Wells. The WTA Premier Mandatory and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments have been called off. The Indian Wells tournament is seen as one of the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams.

The Riverside County Public Health Department has declared a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley after a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19) locally.

“There is too great a risk, at this time, to the public health of the Riverside County area in holding a large gathering of this size,” said Dr. David Agus, Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. “It is not in the public interest of fans, players and neighboring areas for this tournament to proceed. We all have to join together to protect the community from the coronavirus outbreak.”

“We appreciate the proactive stance tournament organizers are taking to ensure public health and safety,” said Martin Massiello, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Eisenhower Health.

“We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of the local community, fans, players, volunteers, sponsors, employees, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” said Tournament Director Tommy Haas. “We are prepared to hold the tournament on another date and will explore options.”

It remains to be seen what will happen with the Miami Open which is due to start on 25 March.

As of Saturday, 16 Florida residents have tested positive for COVID-19, including five Florida cases that have been repatriated from elsewhere and a non-Florida resident, according to Florida’s Department of Health website.

“We’re past the point of containment,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the first two years of President Trump’s administration, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“We have to implement broad mitigation strategies. The next two weeks are really going to change the complexion in this country. We’ll get through this, but it’s going to be a hard period. We’re looking at two months, probably, of difficulty,” Gottlieb said.

Australia books a Davis Cup finals spot

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Australia faced Brazil without their top two ranked singles players in a Davis Cup final qualifying tie.

Jordan Thompson and John Millman stepped up to fill the places of Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios after both were unavailable due to injury.

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Thompson got the Aussies off to a perfect start when he defeated Brazil’s top ranked player Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-4. Monteiro is ranked at no. 82 and Thompson sits at no. 63.

“It’s massive,” Thompson said of his victory. “I didn’t want to be sending Johnny (Millman) out there 0-1 down. It’s the perfect start being 1-0 up.”

“He told me to put returns in. Any return is a good return. Scoreboard pressure,” Thompson said of the advice captain Lleyton Hewitt shared during a tight opening set.

“You have to listen to that because Lleyton’s been out there.”

Next up it was world no. 43 John Millman facing world no. 113 Thiago Seyboth Wild.

The 19-year-old Brazilian took the first set and Millman was down a set and a break, with Seyboth Wild serving for the tie, before staging a remarkable comeback in the second set tiebreaker and the final set to claim a 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 win.

After his fightback win Millman said, “I used the bench, the team, I soaked up the experience of Lleyton and Roachy especially and I’m just happy I got through. That’s what Davis Cup is about. It’s never giving up, and I think that’s the Australian way.

“To be honest with you, at the start of the match I was a little shell-shocked. He came out of the blocks on debut, obviously a lot of confidence from last week, but he was playing an amazing match.

“When you’re staring at the brink of defeat you can either go out quietly or you can give it everything. I knew that if I could just turn it around and just give myself that extra chance I could get the win.”

Day Two Action

On day two the doubles rubber was first up on the Adelaide centre court.

Experienced Australian doubles player John Peers teamed up with James Duckworth who was making his Davis Cup debut. They faced Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves who took the match 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(6).

The Australian’s were twice two points from sealing their spot in the finals but the Brazilians held their nerve to take the win.

Millman this time was facing Monteiro with the chance to seal the qualifying spot.

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As he did in his first match Millman found himself a set down after dropping the tie-breaker. Both players had dropped serve once in the opening set. They would not get broken again.

Millman fought back to win the second set in a tie-break to setup a deciding set.

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In the third set tie-breaker Millman jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Monteiro came back to 4-3. Millman surged again to claim the match and with that book Australia’s spot in the Davis Cup finals.

Millman won the match 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 7-6(3).

“That is what Davis Cup tennis is all about,” Australia’s captain Lleyton Hewitt said.

“Johnny had to come out here and back up what he did yesterday – and what a performance.

“That is going to go down as one of the great weekends in his career.”

“I always believed,” Millman said.

“The body was a little sore; the emotion levels were perhaps a little bit down at times – it’s tough to be up the whole time.

“But that is when you have really got to use your bench and use the experience that is Lleyton Hewitt and Tony Roche … they dragged me up when I was nearly down.”

After the qualifying ties here is the full list of teams that will lineup for the finals held in Madrid on 23-29 November.

Automatic qualification

Spain (defending champion)
Canada (2019 runner up)
Great Britain (2019 semi-finalist)
Russia (2019 semi-finalist)
France (2020 wild card)
Serbia (2020 wild card)

Qualifiers (12 nations winning their Qualifier ties on 6-7 March)

Australia
Austria
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Kazakhstan
Sweden
USA

Sharapova can’t shoulder the load and calls time on her tennis career

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After 28 years of tennis and five grand slam titles, Maria Sharapova has decided to step away from the tennis tour.

The 32-year-old Russian wrote an essay which was published on the Vanity Fair website.

She opened by saying “How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known? How do you walk away from the courts you’ve trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love—one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys—a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years?

I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis—I’m saying goodbye.”
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Sharapova enjoyed early success in her career winning the Wimbledon title in 2004 as a 17-year-old. Two years later she won the US Open. In early 2008 she won the Australian Open and then she completed a career Grand Slam in 2012 after claiming the first of two French Open titles. Her last came in 2014.

The determined Russian was world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005 and last held the top spot on June 25, 2012.

Things started to go south for Sharapova after her admission that she had tested positive for the recently banned substance Meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, where she had reached the quarterfinals. A 24-month suspension—later reduced to 15 months.

She won a total of 36 singles career titles, 645 singles matches and more than $38 million in on-court prize money. The Russian also amassed a fortune away from the court through endorsement and business.

Sharapova hinted at what will be in her future, ”

In the meantime, there are a few simple things I’m really looking forward to: A sense of stillness with my family. Lingering over a morning cup of coffee. Unexpected weekend getaways. Workouts of my choice (hello, dance class!).

Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of. It’s how I tested myself and how I measured my growth. And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I’ll still be pushing. I’ll still be climbing. I’ll still be growing.”

In the end her shoulder injuries became too much to overcome and that was where she said, “My body had become a distraction.”

All the best to Maria in what might come next.

Djokovic is great at eight

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Novak Djokovic has continued his domination on Rod Laver Arena. Since he won his first Australian Open title in 2008 each time he has reached the final he has walked off as champion.

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This time Djokovic faced Dominic Thiem. The Austrian searching for his first Grand Slam title at his third attempt, Djokovic aiming for his eighth at Melbourne Park.

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Djokovic came out firing. He broke the fifth seed in the second game for a 2-0 lead and then consolidated the break for 3-0. Thiem held for 3-1. Another hold for the Serbian second seed and it was 4-1.

Thiem who had defeated world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals then started firing and he was able to break Djokovic in the seventh game to get back on serve. Thiem would then hold to level the score at 4-4.

Djokovic held easily before applying the pressure to Thiem as he jumped out to 0-30. Thiem would get to 30-30 before his third unforced error game Djokovic a set point. He was able to save that and go to game point before back-to-back unforced errors gave Djokovic a set point, this time he converted.

In the second set it was Thiem that had the early 3-1 lead and as in the first set the person in the lead would be pegged back to see the scores at 4-4.

Just when you thought Djokovic was getting on top he stumbled and Thiem levelled the match at a set all.

Djokovic was looking a bit off. He would stumble a bit at times and wasn’t sure footed. He was given warnings for taking too much time on serve and he also had the doctor provide treatment. The second time violation saw him lose a first serve and this rattled the Serb.

The defending champion pretty much gave away the third set as Thiem claimed it 6-2 to got to a two sets to one advantage.

In the fourth set Djokovic was looking his old self. His serve had improved and he was relentless from the back of the court.

Djokovic got a key break in the eighth game of the fourth set, helped by a Thiem double fault.

As the match moved into a fifth set the question was about the fatigue factor for Thiem. He had spent a lot more time on court to reach the final.

Thiem for a short period seemed to be feeling the effects of another five setter, he wasn’t pounding the ball with the same impact as earlier in the match. Just when you thought he was gone the Austrian stepped it up a level and was competing hard.

In the third game Djokovic made his move. Thiem hit four unforced errors to concede the game. Thiem looked to break back immediately however Djokovic fought off two break points to maintain his one break advantage.

That was the last break point opportunity that Thiem would see. Djokovic held on to claim his eighth Australian Open title and he also secured the no. 1 rank in men’s tennis.

“I would like to start by saying congratulations to Dominic for an amazing tournament,” said Djokovic, during the on-court ceremony. “It wasn’t meant to be tonight. Tough luck and it was a tough match, but you were very close to winning it and you definitely have a lot more time in your career and I’m sure that you will get one of the Grand Slam trophies. More than one.”

Thiem served 13 Aces to 9, double faults were 5-5. The 1st serve percentage was almost even with Djokovic serving at 64% and Thiem at 63%.

Both players won five from 12 break points. The winners were 55 for Thiem and 46 for Djokovic. Unforced errors were 57 for both players.

Ram and Salisbury claim their first Grand Slam doubles title

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35-year-old Rajeev Ram from the USA and 27-year-old Joe Salisbury from Great Britain have denied Max Purcell and Luke Saville from becoming the first Australian pairing to claim an Australian Open title since 1997 when Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde lifted the winners trophy.
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Ram and Salisbury constantly had their Australian opponents on the back foot as they were fighting off break points.

The American-British duo had eight break points in the first set before they finally converted before sealing the first set in 42 minutes.

They quickly broke in the second set and raced to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Purcell and Saville had only one win at this level before being awarded a wild card to compete.

The Australian’s success in doubles will help boost their singles ambitions as that is their main priority.

“It’s been great fun to share the court with a really good mate,” said Saville.

“And to win five matches at a Grand Slam, it’s amazing. It wasn’t the result we wanted today. We played well first round, to knock off the eighth seeds in the second round in an epic was amazing.

“Probably the semi [was a highlight], to come from a set down against the fourth seeds, and even our third round, on Show Court 3, on Australia Day, was a joke.

“Just the whole week. We even played pretty well in the singles. Maxie qualified, which was huge for him as well. I lost second round in a heartbreaker which was tough. But we can really build on this Aussie Open, honestly, it’s been a roller coaster, it’s been long few weeks for us, we’re gonna take a few days to digest the result. It really sets up our year, honest.”

Ram will be ranked at no. 5 and Salisbury at no. 4. Saville jumps to no. 38 and Purcell will be at no. 40.