ATP news

Le vendredi 21 décembre 2007

Décès d'un espoir du tennis québécois
Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot
La Presse
Le milieu du tennis québécois est en deuil. L'un de ses meilleurs espoirs, Noa Joly-Messier, est décédé du cancer mercredi à l'âge de 17 ans.

Numéro un québécois chez les 16 ans et moins, l'athlète de Repentigny s'entraînait en Floride en mars 2006 quand il a ressenti un malaise. Après une batterie de tests, le verdict des médecins a été sans appel: un cancer de l'abdomen. Il est décédé mercredi matin à l'hôpital Sainte-Justine.

«C'était un petit gars extraordinaire, qui avait une joie de vivre incroyable, dit son ancien entraîneur Daniel Cloutier. Il voulait faire carrière dans le tennis et il avait d'excellents résultats même s'il tardait à grandir.»

Durant ses 16 mois de traitements, Noa Joly-Messier n'a presque pas touché à ses raquettes de tennis. «C'était un grand passionné de tennis, mais il s'est développé d'autres passions dans la vie, dit Daniel Cloutier. Quand son cancer l'a empêché de jouer au tennis, il s'est mis au golf, puis au ski, puis à la musique. La société perd une personne de grande qualité. Si ça n'avait pas fonctionné pour lui dans le milieu du tennis, ça aurait fonctionné ailleurs dans la vie.»

En 2006, il a échangé des balles avec la Française Nathalie Dechy durant la Coupe Rogers. L'été dernier, il a rencontré son idole Roger Federer. «Marie-Ève Pelletier me disait que la Française Nathalie Dechy s'informait régulièrement de lui, dit Daniel Cloutier. Noa était un rayon de soleil, une personne qui vous marquait facilement.»

Même s'il ne pouvait plus pratiquer son sport, Noa Joly-Messier continuerait à assister à ses cours au programme sport études de l'école secondaire Félix-Leclerc, à Repentigny. «J'ai reçu son dernier bulletin la semaine dernière et il avait une moyenne générale de 98%», dit Daniel Cloutier.

Noa Joly-Messier laisse dans le deuil sa mère Claire Messier, son père Claude Joly ainsi que ses trois frères et soeurs. Les funérailles auront lieu demain à 10h30 à l'église Ste-Béatrice de Laval.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20071221/CPSPORTS08/712210947/-1/CPSPORTS08

RIP

Philippoussis concedes latest injury could end career

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Former world number eight Mark Philippoussis has conceded his latest knee surgery may end his tennis career.

The 31-year-old withdrew from the Australian Open wildcard qualifying tournament earlier this week and said he would need surgery on his troublesome right knee.
He is expected to be out for at least two months.

"I'm not thinking about a comeback at the moment," the Australian, who has had a succession of debilitating knee injuries, told reporters.

"I'm just going to be thinking about spending time with my family, spending time at home and then assessing things - you know, where life will lead me and what direction I want to take in life and whether I'll be going again."

The former U.S. Open and Wimbledon finalist added that even if the surgery was successful it could be too hard for him to make a comeback.

"I'll be honest, you've got to understand it's more a mental battle getting back from injury after injury.

"I don't want to be getting up sore and going to the gym and battling day after day."

Philippoussis has won 11 ATP tour titles and almost $7 million in prize money.

(Writing by Greg Stutchbury; editing by Miles Evans)

Nadal knocked off in Chennai Open final
Youzhny rolls over ‘tired’ No. 2 player 6-0, 6-1 for tournament title
updated 11:35 a.m. ET, Sun., Jan. 6, 2008 AP



CHENNAI, India - Rafael Nadal, fatigued from a nearly 4-hour match the previous day, was routed by fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-1 Sunday in the final of the Chennai Open.

The 19th-ranked Youzhny clinched the fourth title of his career by shocking No. 2 Nadal, who managed to hold his service just once.

The 57-minute contest turned out to be a letdown for Nadal, who needed 3 hours, 54 minutes to overcome fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya in what was the longest three-set match on the ATP Tour in 15 years.

“Maybe I was a bit tired after the long semifinal, but I lost the final because Mikhail played very well,” said Nadal, who hasn’t won a title since July.

The error-prone Nadal saw his hopes of starting the year with a title vanish as the Russian hit winners from the baseline and executed deft drops. Nadal’s only hold came in the second game of the second set.

“Rafa was not Rafa,” Youzhny said. “I did not win today, it was Rafa who lost. I did not expect it to be so easy. I was lucky as he just couldn’t move and couldn’t play.”

Nadal took a medical time-out during the second set, but said he had no fitness problem.

“I had no injury, just wanted the trainer’s help in overcoming tiredness,” he said. “I lost in the semifinal last year and have now played the final. Next year, I’ll win the title here.”

Youzhny defeated defending champion Xavier Malisse in the quarterfinals, and unseeded teenager Marin Cilic in the semifinals.

Nadal leads their head-to-head series 6-4.

Monfils pulled out due to knee tendinitis

seems like Tommy Haas withdrew too(I guess not ready after his shoulder surgery)

expect Mario Ancic to pull out do to glandular fever(poor Mario he's such a good player)

You won't believe what Justin Gimelstob said! (who ever lives outside of USA probably doesn't even know who he is...he actually commentates for Tennis Channel and Espn etc. It would be absolute disgrace if he stays there any longer)

Tennis official Justin Gimelstob serves up sexist rant against top female players

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/06/27/utgime227.xml

"I really have no interest in her … I wouldn’t mind having my younger brother, who’s a kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits of that."


He said he wanted to hit her hard in the midriff when serving at her: "If she’s not crying by the time she walks off the court then I did not do my job."

"She’s a bitch," he said in the hour-long interview. "Hate's a very strong word. I just despise her to the maximum level just below hate."

and so on ...

What a jerk
He should be banned for good

Idiot

Andy Murray's Video Game Habit Loses Him Girlfriend
More time for the PS3 then!

The Daily Telegraph reports that Scots tennis player, Andy Murray, has split from his 22 year-old girlfriend, Kim Sears, due to "long hours playing video tennis and PlayStation 3 games such as the best selling Call of Duty sequel."

Local UK rag, The Sun also reports an unnamed source stating that Sears, "felt she was playing second fiddle to it. There are a number of reasons for the break-up. But computer games did factor."

This isn't the first time that video gaming has cropped up in relationship to Murray. Coach, Brad Gilbert, pointed out in August '08 that, "He (Andy) lives a quiet, relaxed life, focused on being a tennis player but he is obsessed with video games. I don't play video games."

The 10 best men's tennis players of the decade
By Chris Chase

As the decade winds down, Busted Racquet will celebrate the past 10 years of tennis with various top 10 lists. Today, we at look at the 10 best male players of the 2000s:

10. Juan Carlos Ferrero -- Grand Slams: 1, Weeks at No. 1: 8

Injuries prevented Ferrero from a lengthy career, but not before he became the 21st man to ever ascend to No. 1 in the rankings in September of 2003.

9. Novak Djokovic -- Grand Slams: 1, Weeks at No. 1: None

In one year, Djokovic went from No. 23 to No. 3 in the rankings. He's stayed there for 92 of the past 112 weeks.

8. Pete Sampras -- Grand Slams: 2, Weeks at No. 1: 10

Where, oh where, to put Sampras? By the time the time the world had calmed down from Y2k panic, the peak of the best player of last decade was over. But Sampras still won two Slams in the decade, culminating in his 2002 U.S. Open swansong.

7. Gustavo Kuerten -- Grand Slams: 2, Weeks at No. 1: 43

The first-ever Brazilian to win a Grand Slam and reach No. 1, Kuerten won three French Open titles, two of which came during the decade. If our "decade" was from, say, 1995 to 2005, Kuerten would be a bit higher on the list.

6. Marat Safin -- Grand Slams: 2, Weeks at No. 1: 9

At his best, I'd take Safin over the next man on the list. The only problem is, Safin was at his height so inconsistently that it's tough to rank him any higher. The Russian was ranked in the year-end top 10 just three times (2000, 2002 and 2004), but does have those two Grand Slams to his credit.

5. Andy Roddick -- Grand Slams: 1, Weeks at No. 1: 13

Surprised Roddick is so high? Me too. But the American has one thing going for him that almost every other member of this list doesn't: longevity. This was the eighth straight year Roddick finished in the year-end top 10. He may only have one Grand Slam (the 2003 U.S. Open), but he's been consistent enough to be a threat in every non-Paris major since then. Plus, it's not his fault he happened to be born around the same time as the greatest player ever.

4. Andre Agassi -- Grand Slams: 3, Weeks at No. 1: 51

Though his career straddles both the '90s and '00s, Agassi played some of his best tennis in the current decade. It was sort of surprising that he "only" won three Slams in the aughts (Aussie 2000, 2001, 2003), but he reached the finals of the U.S. Open twice as well.

3. Lleyton Hewitt -- Grand Slams: 2, Weeks at No. 1: 80

Not to take anything away from Hewitt, but his success was largely predicated on his timing. Had he been born a few years earlier, he'd have been Patrick Rafter. Had he been born a few years later, he'd be Novak Djokovic. Neither of those things is an insult (the pair have three Grand Slams between them, after all), but there's little chance Hewitt would ever have seen No. 1 if he was playing against Federer and Nadal at his peak.

2. Rafael Nadal -- Grand Slams: 6, Weeks at No. 1: 46

If he's not the greatest clay court player of all-time, he's right behind Bjorn Borg. At the start of the year Nadal looked like he was on his way to supplanting Roger Federer and ending the decade at No. 1. But injuries ruined his year and now the tennis world is left to wonder: Are Rafa's best days behind him?

1. Roger Federer -- Grand Slams: 15, Weeks at No. 1: 259

There are hundreds of ways to describe Federer's greatness, but consider this: In the decade, he won 15 of 40 Grand Slams (37.5 percent). And since his first (Wimbledon, 2003) he took home the title in 58 percent. Thank goodness Nadal came around, or else men's tennis would have had as much suspense as a Harlem Globetrotters game.