Posted: 22.03.09 18:26. Post subject: In Press

 Posted: 22.03.09 20:01. Post subject: Moya Suffers Hip Inj..

 Posted: 24.03.09 04:53. Post subject: Ostrava To Host Czec..

Ostrava To Host Czech Republic-Argentina Davis Cup Tie
By Alberto Amalfi Monday, March 23, 2009
Tennisweek.com

Former feuding Davis Cup teammates David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro settled their differences and shared the doubles court at Indian Wells, reaching the quarterfinals before bowing to Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish in the BNP Paribas Open.

Del Potro and Nalbandian are expected to reprise their relationship as teammates when Argentina travels to Ostrava to face the Czech Republic in the July 10-12 Davis Cup quarterfinals.

This will be the third successive home tie that the Czechs have staged at the CEZ Arena in Ostrava. They defeated Belgium in last year’s first round and surprised a loaded French team featuring four top-25 players in Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet and in this year’s opener.

The Czech Republic is looking to reach its first Davis Cup semifinal since 1996 against last year’s runner-up Argentina, who defeated Netherlands in this year’s first round in Buenos Aires. Neither Nalbandian nor del Potro played in that tie, but first-year captain Tito Vaszquez said both del Potro and Nalbandian, who was initially on the squad for the opening-round tie but was forced to pull out with a virus, promised to play if Argentina reached the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

"Del Potro and Nalbandian said that they would be present if we qualified for the quarterfinals and obviously they are confirmed because they are the two most important players we have," Vazquez said. "In the next few weeks, we will decide who will complete the team."

Argentina will likely need both men on board to beat a Czech team led by Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych. Nalbandian and del Potro rain into each other at the airport en route to Indian Wells and seemed to settle their differences that erupted during the 2008 Davis Cup final. The pair played doubles together at Indian Wells and Nalbandian said he is not averse to playing doubles in Davis Cup though he prefers to focus his solely on singles.

The del Potro-Nalbandian rift was rooted in Spain's upset of host Argentina in the November, 2008 final in Mar del Plata. Moments after Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco roared back from a 1-5 hole in the third-set tiebreak to stun Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri and shock the Argentine faithful into silent submission, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-3, in giving Spain a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five match Davis Cup final, Argentina's top two stars reportedly went at it in the locker room.

Behind closed doors in the locker room afterward, Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro got into an argument with Calleri stepping between the two men before tensions escalated. The core of the contentious clash was Nalbandian's belief that del Potro put himself ahead of the team by playing the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai two weeks before the Davis Cup final, risking re-injury to his already cracked toe nail, rather than returning to Argentina to rest, recovery and train to ensure he was at full strength for the nation's first home Davis Cup final in history. Nalbandian staked Argentina to a 1-0 lead in the final before del Potro lost to Feliciano Lopez in the second match. Nalbandian also apparently had harsh words for del Potro's father. Del Potro fired back that Nalbandian still had the opportunity to give the team a 2-1 lead, but failed to produce the much-needed win partnering Calleri in the doubles match.

Chela did not play the final, but admitted after Argentina's first-round win, the team must repair the relationship between del Potro and Nalbandian to move forward.

"I wasn't in the team last year but obviously something broke down and it has to be fixed," Chela said.

The Czech Republic will almost certainly choose a fast court to host Argentina. Berdych beat del Potro, 6-1, 6-4, in the Tokyo final last year. Stepanek was a 7-6(7), 6-4 victor over del Potro in last month's Memphis quarterfinals. Nalbandian has won two of three matches with Stepanek, all three were played on hard court, and owns a 4-1 career edge over Berdych.

 Posted: 29.03.09 18:07. Post subject: Flamenco Night In Mi..

Flamenco Night In Miami
By Tennis Week Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fast feet dancing across the court at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday night even before Gisela Dulko upset third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic.

A flamenco dance hosted by Andalucia, preceded Rafael Nadal's night match, and served as a popular promotion for the Andalucía Tennis Experience Tournament, to be held from April 4th to 12th in Marbella (Málaga). World No. 1 Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Amèlie Mauresmo and Carla Suárez are among the players scheduled to play.

"Today we have witnessed a historical session in the world of tennis thanks to the promotion which is being carried out by the Andalusian Regional Government in the Sony Ericsson Open of Miami," WTA Tour Executive director Larry Scott said.

 Posted: 14.04.09 23:06. Post subject: Biofile: The Juan Ca..

Biofile: The Juan Carlos Ferrero Interview
By Scoop Malinowski
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tennisweek.com

He was named for a Spanish king and moments after Juan Carlos Ferrero ruled Roland Garros with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Martin Verkerk in the 2003 French Open final, his thoughts immediately turned to family.

In the aftermath of his most important match, the soft-spoken Ferrero dedicated his victory to his mother, Rosario, who passed away when he was 16 years old.

"My mother (died) when I was 16," Ferrero said. "I want to send a kiss to her. To win this tournament, I am so unbelievably happy."

Ferrero would go on to attain the World No. 1 ranking after beating Andre Agassi in the 2003 US Open semifinals and bowing to Andy Roddick in the final.

The man nicknamed "the mosquito" delivered a stinging forehand in his rise to the top of tennis, but after capturing four titles in seven finals in 2003, Ferrero went fallow in enduring a five-year title drought.

He helped lead Spain to the 2003 Davis Cup final in Australia where the host Aussies posted a 3-1 victory. Ferrero flew home to Spain, then flew back to Australia less than a month later and advanced to the Australian Open semifinals where he fell to Roger Federer. Had Ferrero beat Federer he would have taken over the World No. 1 ranking, but instead he was felled by a case of the chicken pox, missed the entire month of March and would finish the season ranked out of the top 30 for the first time in five years.

The heavy workload of his career-best 2003 season seemed to sap Ferrer's strength and send his ranking into a free fall. Though he reached finals in Cincinatti (2006), Costa do Sauipe (2007) and Auckland (2008) breaking through to win a title proved to be elusive.

On Easter Sunday, Ferrero returned to the championship form. The 29-year-old Spaniard, whose ranking had plummetted to No. 115, snapped a five-year title drought and became the lowest-ranked man to win an ATP title this season by dispatching fifth-seeded Frenchman Florent Serra, 6-4, 7-5, to capture the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca.

It was Ferrero’s first title since October of 2003 when he beat Nicolas Massu to win Madrid. He is now four wins removed from his 400th career victory.

"This is a special tournament for me. Ten years ago I played my first ATP World Tour tournament here and now I’m back winning the title," Ferrero said. "I’m very happy; it was a great week for me."

Ferrero, who handed Rafael Nadal his lone loss on clay last season in Rome in a match that saw Nadal bothered by blisters on his feet, had played 110 tournaments since his last title. It was his first clay-court championship since beating Martin Verkerk to win the 2003 Roland Garros title and propelled him to No. 75 in the rankings.

The winner of 12 career ATP singles titles, Ferrero has registered career wins over Agassi, Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter, Marat Safin, Federer, Marcelo Rios, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian and Tommy Robredo.

Scoop Malinowski caught up with Ferrero for this Biofile interview.

Height/Weight: 6-foot, 160 pounds.

Born On: February 12, 1980 in Onteniente, Spain.

Tennis Inspirations: "My mother (Rosario). Pete Sampras. Andre Agassi. Jim Courier. I liked the matches of Sampras with Agassi. (Were they friendly to you?) No, not so much [laughs]."

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: "I like to listen to music, to drive my car, motorbikes, stay with my friends or my family, watch the television."

Favorite Movies: "It's tough to say. I have a lot. But maybe John Q I like a lot. Notebook of Noah. I have so much."

Musical Tastes: "Pop rock, all of it, doesn't matter."

Early Tennis Memory: "Maybe when I played with my father (Eduardo) in the fog with a wood racquet [smiles]."

Favorite Meal: "Meat with french fries."

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Vanilla."

Current Car: "Renault Spyder."

Pre-Match Feeling: "I say, I'm gonna play now. I have to play normally. Have to play good to win. I need to stay positive for the match. I feel good always before the match. I'm playing good now and I feel so good."

Greatest Sports Moment: "When, the greatest, I was number one. And when we won Davis Cup in 2000 (def. Rafter and Hewitt in final to lead Spain over Australia 3-1)."

Most Painful Moment: "Maybe when my mom is dead ('97). I think it's my worst moment. Because, what can I do with my life when my mom is dead?"

Worst Tennis Moment: "When I went until 115 (April 6, 2009) in the ranking maybe."

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: "Maybe these years when I was working too hard and I didn't go up as quickly as I want."

Favorite Tournaments: "Roland Garros. Australian. Some small tournaments also, like Bstaad, Umag, of course Valencia is my hometown."

Closest Tennis Friends: "All the Spanish guys. I'm friends with everybody but most closer of course to Spanish."

Funniest Players Encountered: "It's difficult to say...(Alex) Corretja, (Fernando) Vicente."

Toughest Competitors: "A lot [smiles]."

Favorite Athletes To Watch: "Football, Real Madrid. Auto racing I like so much. Golf, Sergio Garcia. I like to see boxing. Mike Tyson — the most spectacular. I like to see him. It's crazy in the boxing."

What was the best you ever felt on court? The best you ever played?: "2003 semifinal (U.S. Open) against Agassi. I play one of the best matches that I play because that match was very important to me. If I win the match I get number one in the world. And the stadium was full, 23,000 people and also against Agassi, I think was probably the best memory that I have on the court. It was the first time I beat him on hard court."

 Posted: 18.04.09 15:30. Post subject: mmmm8 пишет: Отпра..

mmmm8 пишет:

quote:

Отправлено: Сегодня 13:42. Заголовок: Сюда, потому что про.. - новое! Сюда, потому что про бедного Мою забыли. Карлосу будут делать операции и он пропустит весь 2009 год, но надеется вернуться в 2010-м http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/weitere/ticker/tennis/news/top2/iptc-bdt-20090417-533-dpa_20965654/

 Posted: 18.04.09 20:56. Post subject: Карлосу будут делать..

quote:

Карлосу будут делать операции и он пропустит весь 2009 год, но надеется вернуться в 2010-м

Только в след. году?
На спортс.ру писали, что операция уже сделана и Карлос собирается вернуться после ЮСО...

quote:

Карлос Мойя вернется на корт после US Open Экс-первая ракетка мира Карлос Мойя перенес операцию на тазовой кости, боли в которой беспокоили его на протяжении долгого времени. На корт теннисист вернется через четыре-пять месяцев. «Врачи сказали мне, что процесс восстановления займет от четырех до пяти месяцев. Думаю вернуться после US Open. Это лучшее время для того, чтобы спокойно оценить состояние своего здоровья и как следует подготовиться к следующему сезону», – цитирует Мойю «Спорт-Экспресс»

http://www.sports.ru/tennis/7647643.html

Эх... вернулся бы... Возраст такой, что может передумать... тьфу-тьфу-тьфу

 Posted: 18.04.09 22:41. Post subject: хруня я тоже видела..

хруня
я тоже видела новость, что Карлос планирует вернуться после USO:

quote:

Spain's Moya eyeing return after U.S. Open Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:21pm BST MADRID, April 16 (Reuters) - Former world number one Carlos Moya is planning to return to the tour in four or five months once he recovers from surgery on a troublesome pelvic bone, the Spaniard said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday. "They have told me that the recuperation period will be between four or five months," Moya, who topped the rankings for two weeks in March 1999 after winning the previous year's French Open, told Marca. "I think that to come back after the U.S. Open (in September) it's best to accept the situation in a relaxed way and have more guarantees for next year," the 32-year-old added.

 Posted: 21.04.09 16:36. Post subject: http://jpe.ru/gif/s..

quote:

21/04/2009 - Gaudio returns to winners circle in Barcelona, sets up rematch of 2004 final Former champion Gaston Gaudio outlasted Argentinean compatriot Diego Junqueira to win his first ATP Tour main draw match in almost two years. The 2002 winner recovered from a break down in the final set to outlast his younger opponent 64 36 64, and improve his career record at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 to 19-6. Having struggled with motivation in 2008, Gaudio saw his ranking drop its current No. 966. The 2004 Roland Garros champion has played a full schedule so far in 2009, and Received a wild card invitation to compete at this year’s Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell from organisers. The win represents his first success on the main ATP Tour since a first round victory in Paris in 2007. He advances to face sixth seed Tommy Robredo in a rematch of the 2004 final, won by the Spaniard in five sets. Gaudio’s compatriot Guillermo Cañas is also on the comeback trail, but had less luck in his battle with France’s Arnaud Clement. Cañas, the 2007 finalist in Barcelona, got off to a strong start but allowed his opponent to took control of the match in the first set tiebreak, which he won without conceding a point before establishing a 5-1 lead in the second. Cañas was able to claw one of the breaks back, but eventually capitulated 76(0) 63. A pair of Spaniards secured wins in the opening matches on the side courts, with Daniel Gimeno Traver blasting past fellow-qualifier Fabio Fognini of Italy 61 63, and Oscar Hernández scoring a minor upset over 64th-ranked Argentian’s Eduardo Schwank 62 64. Wild card Alberto Martín was the sole home player to make an exit on the second morning of play, taking just four games from world No.22 Igor Andreev. Martín, playing the event in Barcelona for the fourteenth consecutive year, was unable to make an impact against the Russian, a semi finalist two weeks ago in Casablanca. There were no upsets in the day’s early doubles matches, though all were close contests. Lukas Kubot/Oliver Marach ousted the Spanish partnership of Marcel Granollers/Tommy Robredo 36 63 (10-8), Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer came from behind to beat Nikolay Davydenko/Igor Kunitsyn 36 64 (10-6), and Simon Aspelin/Wesley Moodie came from match point down to beat Marc López/Fernando Vicente 76 26 (12-10). http://www.barcelonaopenbancosabadell.com/index.asp?lang=eng

 Posted: 29.04.09 02:58. Post subject: Гильермо Кория объяв..

Гильермо Кория объявил о завершении карьеры.

click here

 Posted: 29.04.09 04:25. Post subject: Argentina's Cori..

Argentina's Coria retires from tennis

4/28/2009 8:16:00 PM

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -Former French Open finalist Guillermo Coria retired from tennis at age 27 on Tuesday.

Coria, a finalist for Roland Garros in 2004 and formerly ranked third in the world, said he had been considering stepping down from the sport for months.

``I didn't feel like competing anymore,'' Coria said in statements published on the Argentine Tennis Association's Web site. ``I've made the decision I will not play again.''

Coria won nine titles during his career, reaching his peak in 2004, when he lost in the final of the Roland Garros to Gaston Gaudio, catapulting him to third in the world rankings.

Coria's decline began a year later after he won the Umag tournament - his last title.

``In 2005 I began to feel less and less like competing,'' he said. ``My passion just wasn't the same and it's impossible to do things well when it's like that. In this sport, you have to be at 100 percent,'' added Coria, who is currently ranked 672.

Coria turned pro in 2000 at age 18, and was suspended in 2001 for two years. But the ATP reduced the penalty to seven months after a lab test showed the multivitamin he ingested was tainted with steroids. In June 2007, after claiming he'd lost a potential $10 million in earnings, Coria settled a lawsuit with the New Jersey-based maker of the multivitamin.

In 2003 he won three tournaments in three weeks, and by the end he was South America's highest-ranked player. He also was the first Argentine in 21 years to reach the season-ending Masters Cup.

Coria's last tournament was in March at a challenger in Bangkok, his first event in eight months. He lost in the first round.

``I'm very happy with the decision I've taken,'' he said, ``since I have new projects and I will be able to spend more time with my family.''

 Posted: 29.04.09 08:53. Post subject: Tatiana только не э..

Tatiana
только не это

 Posted: 29.04.09 09:09. Post subject: я сижу перевариваю н..

я сижу перевариваю новость, с одной стороны все логично и понятно, с другой стороны - поверить не могу и не хочу что это правда

 Posted: 29.04.09 09:15. Post subject: Рано или поздно это ..

Рано или поздно это должно произойти. Последний выигрыш был год назад в первом круге Касабланки. Даже на челленджерах череда проигрышей. Куча двойных ошибок в каждом матче

Волшебство, увы, ушло...

Желаю Гильермо найти себя и найти жизненное волшебство за пределами кортов и турниров

 Posted: 29.04.09 14:10. Post subject: Olga http://jpe.ru/..

Olga

Эх, Гиле... А вроде бы был настроен ещё попробовать вернуться в этом году.

 Posted: 29.04.09 20:25. Post subject: http://jpe.ru/gif/s..

Неожиданно как-то... Хоть бы на РГ сыграл...

 Posted: 29.04.09 21:07. Post subject: INTERNAZIONALI BNL D..

INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA (MEN)
ROME, ITALY
April 28, 2009

Tommy Robredo

T. ROBREDO/M. Safin 2-6, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously a slow start today. Took a while to get into the game. Just explain sort of the first set and a bit, because he was in control.
TOMMY ROBREDO: Yeah, well, absolutely. He was leading 6-2, 4-1, 30-Love with serve, which it's nearly the end of the match.
But suddenly I just won couple of point and then I could broke him that in that game.
Then, well, he was serving 5-4 and I saw that the first point he did double fault. So I did my best all the time, and finally I could broke him and win the tiebreak, which it was as really close tiebreak.
Then at the end of the third set, I new that if I was tough mentally I could beat him, because he would not be as tough as he was at the beginning.
Yeah, I think it was a great comeback.

Q. Did you feel a swing in momentum or a point in the game where you thought, This is mine to win?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Obviously when I won the second set I thought that it was my time right now, no, because I know Marat a lot of years. When things like that happen to him, maybe sometimes he gets pissed and then it's tough for him to keep playing the same level, no?
In the first game, I had Love-15 and a couple of chances to win the points, and then I did stupid mistakes. But then the second time he was serving then I broke him, and then he was leading pretty easy. It was helpful for the end of the match.
(Translated from Italian.)

Q. Would it be the concentration in the second set that changed the course of the match?
TOMMY ROBREDO: Well, normally a player, when he sees that the situation is 4-1, 30-Love and the other one is serving against him, they would think that they've lost the match.
But then Marat let me break, and so I went to 4-2, and then I went 4-3. At 5-4, my serve, he made some mistakes. That's when I was able to go 5-All. At 5-All we were still quite close. I didn't really know whether the match would go my way.
It was really only on 6-5 that I realized that had match was going my way.

Q. What would you say about the conditions?
TOMMY ROBREDO: They were terrible. At each point the shoes would pick up so much clay that it was like ice skating. There was no grip at all. He fell; I fell also. It's normally impossible to play, but we're players and we're used to this. Even though it's difficult, we have to play in these conditions.

 Posted: 29.04.09 22:27. Post subject: Coria Calls It Quits..

Coria Calls It Quits

By Richard Pagliaro
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tennisweek.com

Five years ago, back in the days before Rafael Nadal came to regard the red clay of Roland Garros as his own personal playpen, the man who appeared poised to claim the title of clay court king, Guillermo Coria, came within a point of winning the Roland Garros championship before bowing to Gaston Gaudio in an all-Argentine final.

That major near-miss will be the moment many remember when contemplating Coria's career, which symbolizes the plight of a supremely talented player who provided flashes of brilliance on some of the game's greatest stages but never completely fulfilled that promise by winning a major championship.

The man whose slick sleight-of-hand skills with a tennis ball made him resemble a magician in his prime, reached the 2004 French Open final and a career-high rank of No. 3. But he never recovered from the collapse of confidence he suffered after squandering a two-set lead and two match points in the Roland Garros final and the subsequent shoulder surgey that diminished his serve to a shell of what it was.

Conceding he has lost the passion for the game he learned from his teaching-pro father shortly after he learned to walk, the 27-year-old Coria has called it quits, concluding a career that saw him collect nine tournament titles, register a 218-114 record and reach two US Open quarterfinals.

"I didn't have any more desire to compete," Coria told Radio Continental. "I had been thinking about it for several months and in Thailand I realized that it was a struggle for me to travel."

Playing his first tournament in nearly 18 months after a lengthy layoff due to shoulder surgery, back problems and a confidence crisis, Coria returned to the site of his first career tournament title and lost to 11th-ranked Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, at the Vina del Mar tournament in January of 2008. Though he has played sporadically in Challenger events over the past years, Coria could not summon the resolve and results to return to the game full time. He played one match this season, falling to Israel's Harel Levy, 6-3, 6-2, in last month's Bangkok Challenger. The man who was a near constant top 10 presence in 2004 and 2005 had seen his ranking plummet to No. 672 when he pulled the plug on his career.

Coria, who owns a tennis academy and is an avid soccer player and rock guitarist, said he plans to spend more time with his family.

"I'm happy with the decision I've taken because I have some new projects and more time to dedicate to my family," Coria said. "I began to feel less and less like competing. My passion just wasn't the same and it's impossible to do things well when it's like that. I've made the decision I will not play again. In the last three years, things have not worked out the way I wanted and I haven't had so much passion for what I do. In this sport, you always have to be 100 percent."

His retirement closes the book on a career that was rooted in tennis from the moment he was born.

Coria's father, Oscar, named him after Argentine Hall of Famer Guillermo Vilas and while he was named for that nation's greatest champion in many ways he was an outsider from his junior days. Unlike many Argentine players who were born or trained in bustling Buenos Aires, Coria came from Venado Tuerto, a small town three hours outside Buenos Aires — and the fact he was not a city kid seemed to fuel his inner drive to prove he could compete — and beat — the world's best players.

Though he was an undersized junior sometimes mistaken for a ball kid, Coria's flair for finesse, his ability to create acute angles and take the ball early — attributes he said he developed watching two of his tennis heroes, Andre Agassi and Marcelo Rios — and his supreme court sense made him one of the world's best juniors. Coria partnered David Nalbandian to win the 1997 Wimbledon junior doubles title and defeated Nalbandian to capture the 1999 Roland Garros junior singles crown, finishing that season as World No. 2 in the ITF junior rankings.

At the age of 19, Coria conquered Gaudio to claim his first career ATP title at the 2001 Vina del Mar. Three months later, his career struck a roadblock.

During a routine drug test in April of 2001 in Barcelona, Coria tested positive for metabolites of nandrolone. The five-foot-nine, 145-pound Coria claimed the Nandrolone entered his system when he ingested a contaminated supplement containing the banned substance.

The Argentine appealed the charges against and and subsequently proved to the deciding tribunal that (1) the source of Nandrolone was a commercially available nutritional supplement contaminated at the point of manufacture, one not labeled to contain a banned substance among its ingredients nor marketed as such; (2) he was completely unaware that the supplement was contaminated with a banned substance; and (3) he acted reasonably to fully abide by the Tennis Anti-Doping Program rules. As a result, the ruling against him was labeled a doping offense but with exceptional circumstances and Coria was suspended from the ATP Tour for seven months, was forced to forfeit ranking points and was fined a total of $98,565 in prize money.

When the ruling was released in December of 2001, Coria said: "I am devastated by this penalty, which I consider too harsh in light of the fact that I proved to the tribunal that I did everything possible to abide by our anti-doping rules. I have not and would never take banned substances to enhance performance."

The suspension — and his belief that neither the ATP nor many prominent players supported him in his appeal — disappointed and frustrated Coria, who always maintained he was victimized by an an injustice. When Greg Rusedski tested positive for nandrolone metabolites in 2004 — Rusedski later sucessfully won an appeal arguing he ingested the nandrolone through a supplement given to him at an ATP tournament — Coria quickly and publicly supported the former US Open finalist.

"This (support) didn't happen for me," Coria said. "A lot of players didn't believe I was innocent. But I hope Greg Rusedski comes out of it because I know what he's going through and yes I would sign a petition for him."

The treatment Coria received from the Tour and his peers remained a sore spot for him deepening his distrust of some in the sport.

"When I was suspended many players didn't think my ban was long enough," Coria said. "I had contaminated vitamins and they didn't believe it. It affected me very badly indeed and it was hard to get over it. It's difficult for me now because players are rallying around him and they didn't rally around me."

Coria later sued the supplement manufacturer, Universal Nutrition, before reaching a settlement. Though financial terms were not disclosed, it was rumored Coria collected a seven-figure settlement.

Returning to tournament tennis with the flashes of the fire of a man who had a personal score to settle, Coria produced some of his best tennis. In 2003, he won five titles in seven finals to become the first Argentine since Vilas (seven titles) and Jose-Luis Clerc (five titles) in 1982 to win five championships in a season. He swept Gaudio and Agustin Calleri in succession to claim his first Masters Series crown in Hamburg, fell to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Monte Carlo final and upset his childhood hero, Agassi, to advance to his first career Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros. A heavy favorite against big-serving Martin Verkerk, Coria, in a momentary fit of frustration, turned and fired his racquet toward the back wall, inadvertently grazing a ball kid. He could have been disqualified on the spot, but Coria, clearly horrified by his action, apologized immediately. The match continued, but Coria did not recover, bowing to Verkerk, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-6(0).

The following year Coria returned to Roland Garros poised to win the Parisian prize he had collected as a junior. He swept former French Open champion Carlos Moya and Nalbandian in straight sets to set up what would become one of the most breathtaking and bizarre battles in French Open final history against Gaudio.

Coria won 11 of the first 12 games before tightening up and watching Gaudio rally to fight off two match points and complete a grueling 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6, triumph. Gaudio became the first Argentine man since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to rule Roland Garros, while a distraught Coria, who suffered one of the most heart-wrenching Grand Slam finals in years, was left to pick up the pieces of his shattered competitive psyche.

In many ways, that final served as a clear divide in clay-court tennis. Coria, whose game was predicated on quickness, court sense and feel, would battle the young Nadal brilliantly before bowing in the 2005 Monte Carlo final. The pair faced off again in Rome with Nadal earning an epic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) triumph. Though he fought valiantly, Coria came up short against the sheer physicality and desire the muscular Mallorcan brought to the court.

Shoulder surgery followed in 2006, forcing Coria to miss Roland Garros for the first time since 1999 and essentially marking the beginning of his decline.

The 5-foot-9 Coria was never a big server, but his first serve lost some of its sting in the aftermath of shoulder surgery. During the 2005 U.S. Open, Coria complained of a hand injury that hampered his serve. He survived 20 double faults faults to defeat 2004 Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu in the fourth round of the Open that year, but was stricken with a disease of double faults at crucial times in his quarterfinal loss to Robby Ginepri. Coria committed five of his 14 double faults in the fifth set and ended the match on a double fault in falling to Ginepri. Since that loss, Coria has posted a 17-22 record.

He never really recovered from the collapse of confidence in his serve. During the 2006 Tennis Masters Series-Monte Carlo match Coria committed 20 double faults, a full five games worth of double faults, yet still fought back from a a 1-6, 1-5 deficit to defeat France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.

The strain of fighting his own service woes and his waning confidence and commitment gradually became too much for Coria to overcome. In a sense, Coria and Gaudio — two former rivals forever linked in history by what transpired that day in Paris five years ago — have been driven from the game by physical issues that have become mental. They are two of the slightest Grand Slam finalists in recent years — neither man stands taller than 5-foot-9 or weighs more than 155 pounds — and have both been chewed up by the clay courts they once commanded. While Gaudio's one-handed backhand was once a premier weapon on clay and Coria has fine feel and an innate understanding for the geometry of the court, both have had to work so hard to hold their serves and face a significant size and strength disparity in giving up 25 pounds to players like Nadal and Roger Federer.

There are no quick fixes in clay-court tennis and so the two players who once faced off in the French Open final found themselves facing an arduous road back and now Coria has come to the end of the road though he still inspired those who remembered the magic he once brought to court.

 Posted: 30.04.09 06:18. Post subject: Magician and Cat Pos..

Magician and Cat

Posted 04/29/2009 @ 5 :14 PM
By Pete Bodo
TENNIS.com

By now, most of you probably have heard the news: Guillermo Coria has officially retired - although I would never take any retirement announcement by a professional athlete as a binding decision. Kim "Champagne Kimmy" Clijsters is plotting a comeback, Martina Navratilova appears to have been given more competitive lives than a cat, and y'all remember how Brett Favre ended up in New York Jets green-and-white in the fall of 2008. Even that clay-court icon Bjorn Borg thought twice about his decision to quit, and made a aborted comeback effort in 1982.And wasn't that Kimiko Date Krumm who just won Monzon?

One of the least appealing aspects of being a is professional athlete is that you leave the game - or get shoved out of it - at an age when you're in your prime by almost any other standard. In fact, you're probably fitter and stronger than at any previous point in your life. Calling it quits may be an even tougher decision to make when, as in Coria's case, there's no real physiological reason for throwing in the towel. "I didn't feel like competing any more," he said in his official retirement statement, "I've made the decision that I will not play again."

So ends the twisted tale of 27-year old Guillermo Coria, aka El Mago (the Magician), the former French Open finalist (2004) and world no. 3, who just can't find the most useful and fundamental weapon in a tennis player's arsenal, desire. It's an interesting quality to contemplate, now that Rafael Nadal, 22, is ripping through yet another clay-court season with an astonishing degree of attentiveness and focus. You know, you can debate two-handed vs. one-handed backhand, or the role of the winner-to-error ratio in tennis, until the cows come home. The bottom line is that tennis is like a cheesy romance novel - it's all about the passion, hot blood, and overarching desire - the only thing tennis lacks is those dudes in frilly white shirts.

This point is being driven home on a daily basis in Europe, where the question "Why should Rafa even care?" is answered: Because he wants more of whatever it is he gets out of all this, and he'll stop at nothing to get it. At the end of the early hard court season, one of the big questions in my mind was the degree to which Nadal's success at the Australian Open and on the hard courts of Indian Wells and Miami would influence his results on the spring clay-court circuit that he has dominated for four years now. Nadal's answer has basically been, Not at all, because it isn't about checking things off a to-do list (de-throne Roger Federer; win Olympic gold, take the title in Melbourne. . .), it's about loving your job, which for me means going out every day to prove that I'm the baddest hombre on the planet.

Coria once had that desire, too. It earned him a lot of money and made him famous; it carried him to a no. 3 ranking. Now, still in his physical prime, he's like the proverbial person who's lost his religion. This was something unexpected.

The first time I saw Coria play was at the Orange Bowl of 1998, where he was seeded no. 6. He slashed and scampered all the way to the final before losing to some kid named Federer. At the time, Coria was still just 16. He looked like a bandy-legged version of the rock guitarist Eddie van Halen; he had the same stringy hair and beady eyes. But Coria was built on a small platform, standing 5-9 and barely breaking 150-pounds.

Coria's agent at the time, Proserv's Patricio Apey Jr., was very high on Coria (it's part of his job description), although we were already in an era dominated by big, rangy players (think Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg et al). One thing that Coria clearly did have was heart - and that can easily make up for what a player may lack in inches or pounds. And Coria moved beautifully, with the light, nimble steps of a cat.

That mobility enabled him to win the battle for court position, and that was the great key to his success. He acquired his nickname, El Mago, because of his great touch and unpredictability, and because he had a Houdini-esque ability to escape from seemingly precarious positions to win a point. The less esoteric way to put this is that he was one of the first among an emerging group of players who had a knack for making the transition from defensive retrieving to offensive dictating in the blink of an eye.

Out of curiosity, I checked out Coria's fan website, and found myself moved by the heroic effort to make the Guillermo Coria saga seem the ordinary story of a successful tennis pro. Here's one passage:

Then there was a large hiccup in the road on the path to glory beginning in 2006, a transitional time of elusive and often mysterious happenings, which saw King Coria fall from #8 in the world out of the top 100. And then off the tour for an entire year with injuries and uncertainty. The main recipe to his magic potion had always been his passion for his craft, and it was this that finally brought his retirement at age 27.

Hiccup?????

The man's career went over the cliff. At one point on his way down, Coria made over 20 double faults in a series of matches. He became one of that mysterious group of athletes who utterly and completely loses it. Here in the U.S., we have a name for that kind of thing: Steve Blass disease. Blass was the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball pitcher who, like Coria, woke up one day to find that his "stuff" had vanished. He couldn't throw the ball over the plate and soon left baseball.

But there's a big difference in these two cases, because I presume there was nothing wrong with Coria's strokes, or even his serve - at least not until he set foot on the court to play a match. As he said in his retirement statement, Coria no longer wanted to compete. And if you look at the differences between Nadal and Coria's records, you'll see just how important it is for a tennis player to want to compete and win. It's the unseen, extra hand on the grip of the racket; it puts bite into the serve and snap into the passing shot.

There's no greater gift than the gift of appetite. And when great players begin to struggle, the way Roger Federer is struggling, the root cause is almost always appetite. For once the appetite goes, the player begins to ask, Why? Why do I need to win Monte Carlo again? Why do I need to beat the no. 24 player in the world? Why does there have to be a winner and a loser, every time?

Coria has apparently decided that he can't really answer such questions with conviction. Part of this must be because he's fallen so far, so fast. The list of names between his own and that of the no. 3 ranked players is so long and so filled with talent, that it has to be disheartening. It's like Coria is waking from a pleasant dream in which he reached the no. 3 ranking, but he's now subject to a new reality - one that started to take shape in the 2004 Roland Garros final.

You may remember the Coria was the favorite to win the title that year. He beat former Roland Garros champ Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals, and Tim Henman (that's no typo!) in the semifinals.But, in an all-Argentinian final against unseeded Gaston Gaudio, Coria buckled. He served for the match twice in the fifth set, at 5-4 and 6-5, and had two match points - each of them swept away by his own hand, as he went for winners and missed the line by inches. Gaudio came back to win, 8-6 in the fifth.

Some pundits believe that losing the French Open final just kept eating away at Coria, corrupting his game like an insidious virus. There were also rumors of marital discord. Others attribute his loss of form to back troubles. But there's never really been a satisfactory answer for his dramatic and sustained loss of form, or at least none better than the one he offered: He just didn't feel any joy in competing any more. The kid, named after Guillermo Vilas and the son of a tennis coach, was simply burned out.

The curious thing about the story is that Gaudio, nicknamed El Gato (the Cat) has also struggled mightily since he won that title at Roland Garros. He's currenly ranked no. 762, while Coria quit with a ranking of 672. Unless Gaudio makes a move, Coria can at least claim to have surpassed Gaudio in the rankings. That French Open final was one of the most riveting in many years, and the men who contested have each paid a price for their moment of glory.

 Posted: 01.05.09 13:43. Post subject: ну ооооооочень мален..

ну ооооооочень маленькая ПК Монако после победы над Марри:
ROME, ITALY

J. MONACO/A. Murray
1-6, 6-3, 7-5


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You looked after the first set. How did you turn things around?
JUAN MONACO: At the beginning I think I start very nervous. Then on the second set I start thinking to be a bit calm, start playing slow. I was trying to hit very hard the ball on the first set, and that wasn't tactic to play against Andy.
Then I play calm like six, seven balls every game, every point, try to make him a little bit tired.
Then at the final set, I trust a little bit on my game. I was playing very well the second set. That's it. I was playing well. I have the chance, and I think I played very well the last three or games.

End of FastScripts

 Posted: 11.05.09 20:09. Post subject: Давид Феррер: «Чувст..

Давид Феррер: «Чувствую уверенность перед следующей встречей»

Двенадцатый сеяный испанец Давид Феррер, обыгравший в первом круге турнира в Мадриде аргентинца Гильермо Каньяса со счетом 6:2, 6:2, остался доволен своей игрой.

«Я доволен своей игрой, хотя и удалось потренироваться здесь, в условиях высоты, всего один день, чувствую себя хорошо. Матч прошел относительно комфортно для меня, и я чувствую уверенность перед следующей встречей», – цитирует Феррера официальный сайт АТР.