Master 1000 Monte-Carlo: Successful debut for defending champion Djokovic - UBITENNIS
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Master 1000 Monte-Carlo: Successful debut for defending champion Djokovic

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TENNIS – Master 1000 Monte-Carlo defending champion Novak Djokovic swept aside Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-0 in just 45 minutes in a one-sided match in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Master, the first European clay tournament of the season. Diego Sampaolo

The match did not break the record as the quickest match in history recently set by Jarkko Nieminen against Bernard Tomic with 28 minutes but there was no match today as Djokovic was simply too strong for Montanes.

The match lasted just two games. Montanes won the second game for 1-1 before Djokovic dominated the rest of the match without dropping his serve. Montanes, who beat Benoit Paire in three sets in the first set, earned three consecutive break points but Djokovic saved them to take the 2-1 lead. Djokovic converted his fourth break point chance at 4-1. This was one of the five breaks of serve in this match for Djokovic who lost just 10 points on serve and saved four break points.

Montanes saved two set points but Djokovic closed out the first set at third opportunity. The second set was a training session for Djokovic who dropped just five points in the second set to seal the win on his first match point in just 45 minutes. Djokovic improved his record in his head-to-head matches against Montanes to 6-0. Djokovic will take on either lucky loser Pablo Carreno Busta or Gael Monfils who beat Kevin Anderson.

Djokovic admitted that he has a different approach this year to the clay season in preparation for the Roland Garros, the only Grand Slam title missing in his cabinet.

Last year I put a lot of energy into winning the Roland Garros title. It was in my thoughts constantly. It didn’t help me for the tournaments prior to that, like Madrid and Rome. I have a different approach this year. I want to do well in the next clay tournaments in preparation and eventually get myself in a very good position in terms of confidence for the French Open”, said Djokovic

Djokovic has claimed his 11th consecutive win. The Monte-Carlo based star is looking to clinch his fifth consecutive Master 1000 Tournament, including Shanghai, paris Bercy last year and the second Indian Wells-Miami double of his career last March. He won last year’s final against Nadal and finished runner-up twice to the Spaniard in 2009 and 2012.

His coach Boris Becker followed Djokovic from the stands after missing Indian Wells and Miami

Jo Wilfred Tsonga, semifinalist last year in Monte-Carlo, had to dig deep to battle past Phillip Kohlschreiber. The German won the second set 6-1 to force the match to the third set. After wasting two match points Tsonga broke closed out the match on his third match point when Kohlschreiber sent his forehand wide.The Frenchman hit 19 winners to 39 unforced errors and won 76 percent of his first serve points to win for the seventh time in eight matches against the German. Tsonga, a semifinalist at the Roland Garros last year,

Last year’s Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer swept aside Jeremy Chardy with 6-3 6-0 in 65 minutes.

Italian Andreas Seppi won for the first time in his career after four defeats against Michail Youzhny with 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in just over two hours. Seppi entertained the crowd for a spectacular Federer-style tweener at 3-3 in the first set which could become one of the candidates for “the shot of the week” award.

Seppi broke serve in the fourth game of the first set with a backhand Youzhny broke straight back before saving five break point chances to draw level to 3-all. Seppi got the decisive break at 4-3 before sealing the first set with 6-3 in 44 minutes.

The second set went on serve. In the fifth game Seppi earned a break point chance and Youzhny got two break point chances in the following game but all three chances were saved. Youzhny saved a break point at 4-4 with an ace. Seppi had to save three set points at 4-5 with his serve. The second set came down to the tie-break. Seppi stormed to 5-2 before earning two match points. He closed it out on his first match point.

Seppi is playing for the ninth time in Monte-Carlo but he has never got through the second round. He lost eight times in the second round and in the first round last year against his compatriot Fabio Fognini.

I have already made a tweener against Murray in Rome. It is so special to made a special shot on this prestigious stage in Monte-Carlo”, said Seppi.

Seppi fended off six of the seven break points he faced to set up a second round against Pablo Andujar. Seppi has not claimed back-to-back wins this year so far this year.

Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a break down in the third set before winning the final six games of the match to beat Marcel Granollers with 6-2 4-6 6-2.

French qualifier Michael Llodra upset last year’s Wimbledon qualifier Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 6-2 in just 66 minutes to set up the next match against Lukas Rosol. The young Pole suffered his sixth consecutive defeat since the quarter finals in Rotterdam.

Teymuraz Gabashvili fought back from a set down to overcome Giles Simon 4-6 6-4 6-4 to set up a second round match against eight-time champion Rafa Nadal.

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Alexander Zverev Deserves More Respect According To Boris Becker

According to Boris Becker, Alexander Zverev deserves more respect from tennis journalists.

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Alexander Zverev (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.

 

Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.

This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.

The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.

Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.

“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.

“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”

Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.

Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero Analyses Key Areas For Carlos Alcaraz’s Development

Juan Carlos Ferrero has outlined the next steps in Carlos Alcaraz’s development.

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(@tennisnewsbrazil - Twitter)

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.

 

The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.

Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.

Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.

“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”

It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.

One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.

Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.

“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.

“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.

“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”

Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.

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Australian Open Chief Confident Nadal Will Play But Kyrgios’ Participation Uncertain

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Nadal RG 2022 by Night (foto @RolandGarros)

The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.  

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.

“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. 
“He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”

Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.

“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’

Will Kyrgios play?

Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity. 

“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios.
“Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …” 

Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment. 

“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented.
“So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”

The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions. 

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