Queen's: Why Injury Was The Best Thing To Ever Happen To Gilles Muller - UBITENNIS
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Queen’s: Why Injury Was The Best Thing To Ever Happen To Gilles Muller

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6 years ago

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LONDON: On a lukewarm Friday afternoon at The Queen’s Club, Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller extended his winning streak to seven matches after disposing of former champion Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-6(5).

 

Engaged in the battle of the big servers, Muller was forced to draw upon his wealth of experience. Coming through the first set with the help of one poor service game from Querrey, the second was a test of nerves. After 11 games with no break point occurring, Muller was on the verge of allowing Querrey back into the match. Twice the American had set point at 6-5, but both of those were saved by Muller’s variety in his game.

A familiar trend followed in the tiebreaker with opportunities coming and going. Twice the Luxemburg player dropped serve before coming back. The roller coaster encounter began to frustrate Querrey, who handed out match point to his rival after misjudging a return of serve. Victory was then sealed with a delicate Muller volley at the net.

“I think on grass everything goes so fast, and I feel like even when you don’t play well you can still stay in the match with your serve.” He said following the match.
“I think what makes the biggest difference is that the big points, you kind of feel like you’re always taking the good choice on important moments like I did on break point today. If you look at the whole match there was almost no break chances for both of us.”

At the age of 34, Muller continues to rise up the rankings. It all started in January when he claimed the Sydney Open title. It was an emotional experience for him and his family. 16 years had gone by without him claiming a single ATP trophy. It was a moment of celebration, but it also took him into unfamiliar territory.

“When I got it (Sydney title), it was tough, to be honest. The first weeks after that were kind of a lot of questioning in my mind. So what do we do now? It’s something you work for for so long, and then basically you reach that goal, so what are we doing now?”

Injury heartache to title joy

Now he has two tour titles to his name after triumphing at last week’s Rosmalen Championships in the Netherlands. It wasn’t always easy for the 6’2” player, who produced a total of 12 aces in his match today. During 2013 he was forced to end his season in June due to a troublesome elbow injury. The absence results in him spiraling down the rankings and drifting further away from his top-20 dream. Returning to action the following year, his desire to win was no less as he climbed 320 places within a 12-month period.

Muller is not the only one to draw positives from an injury break. The most significant is that of Roger Federer, who won the Australian Open in January title after a six-month injury absence. Like the Swiss player, Muller is ironically thankful for being injured.

“You can see in Roger, it’s kind of the same example. He took a couple months off and was able to work very hard, which he never did probably before in all his career. So that was very good for me, actually.” He explained.
“(It’s) strange to say, but that injury was probably the best thing that happened to me.”

It isn’t just an injury that has attributed towards Muller’s surge. It is also fatherhood. It is usually the parents that inspire the child, but not in the case of the 34-year-old. Who dreams of playing on the biggest stages of tennis with his two sons watching with pride.

“One thing that always kept me going was my two boys at home. I always dreamt of playing in front of them and them seeing me play the big tournaments.” He explained.

A lot of focus concerning players rise in the rankings circulates about their physical preparation and fitness. Muller and others prove that this isn’t always the case. Sometimes absence makes the heart grows fonder, which is exactly what happened to Muller’s motivation when out injured in 2013. The world of tennis is never black and white.

Muller will play Marin Cilic in Saturday’s semifinal for a chance to reach his ninth ATP final. Five out of those eight previous finals occurred after his injury setback.

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Roger Federer Targets Djokovic And Alcaraz For Laver Cup 2024 After Team World Thrashes Europe

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4 days ago

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25/09/2023

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Image via https://twitter.com/LaverCup/

Roger Federer says he would love to see the two highest-ranked players on the men’s Tour play in the next Laver Cup after this year’s tie ended in a crushing defeat for Europe. 

 

Team World, which is captained by John McEnroe, dominated the clash in Vancouver after surging to a 10-2 lead heading into the final day of competition. On Sunday they were required to win only one match to claim the overall title which they did in the opening doubles match. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe ousted the European duo of Andrey Rublev and Hubert hurkacz 7-6(4), 7-6(5). 

“I am proud of these guys. We brought together a great group of some youth and experience, guys that have been here before. Everybody played well,” McEnroe said of his team’s 13-2 victory.
“It was an awesome week. We kicked some ass.”
“Winning is a whole lot better than losing. We struggled the first couple of years, and now we have tasted winning and it feels good.”

In contrast, Europe didn’t have much joy at the event with their only victory being from Casper Ruud who defeated Tommy Paul on the second day of the tie. Since the start of the competition in 2017, Europe won four consecutive titles but 2023 is the second year in a row that they have been defeated. 

Hoping that this losing streak will come to an end next year when the event is held in Berlin, Federer says he wishes Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will play. Djokovic has played in the Laver Cup twice before but Alcaraz is yet to make his debut.

“They destroyed Team Europe. Team World played fantastic, they really brought the energy. Everybody brought a point, they were stronger in the doubles. In the singles too, they were moving fast, they were ready to go. They thoroughly deserved victory,” said Federer.
“I would like to see Novak again, Alcaraz and Novak on the same team. Sascha Zverev would be great for the German market. Someone like [Holger] Rune, that really hurt Team Europe. Rune and [Stefanos] Tsitsipas pulling out. [Daniil] Medvedev would be great. I like watching [Andrey] Rublev, and maybe someone will come through,” he added.

Federer is a co-founder of the Laver Cup with his management company Team 8 partnering up with Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo Lemann to create the event. In 2019 the team competition was awarded ATP Tour status with a spot on the official calendar and access to marketing facilities under an agreement. However, ranking points are not awarded to players. 

Due to the nature of the format, only one match was played on Sunday with fans not getting the chance of watching any singles. Something two-time French Open champion Ruud admits is a problem. 

“Two of the times that I have played was maybe in a way a little bit unfortunate with only one deciding doubles (match) on Sunday,” Ruud commented.
“The crowd didn’t get to see a singles (match) after or whatever. That’s not in my hands to decide what the format looks like.’
“But last year in London was great in many ways because you had so many great players and it came down to almost the last match. When I watched on TV the first series, it was so exciting because Roger played a couple of times, the final match of the Sunday and clutched it for Team Europe. It’s been a couple of years without playing that last singles match. But it’s a great initiative. Me, as a golf fan, watching the Ryder Cup all my life in my childhood, it’s great for tennis to have this event.”

The 2024 Laver Cup will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin between September 20-22. 

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India’s Sumit Nagal Receives Sponsorship Boost After Revelling Financial Struggles

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1 week ago

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21/09/2023

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Image via https://twitter.com/nagalsumit/

A leading food and drink company has pledged to support India’s highest-ranked men’s player who was unable to train at his usual facility in Germany earlier this year due to a lack of money. 

 

Earlier this week world No.159 Sumit Nagal made a public plea for financial support to help him continue his career as a tennis player. In recent years he has been based at the Nansel Tennis Academy in Germany but was unable to train there during the first three months of the 2023 season due to a lack of funds. During this period he relied on his friends, including former player Somdev Devvarman, to help maintain his fitness. 

“If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros. I did get a bit of help. Mr Prashant Sutar is helping me with MAHA Tennis Foundation and I also get monthly (salary) from IOCL but I don’t have any big sponsor,” Nagal told the Press Trust of India.
“I am investing whatever I am making. The yearly cost where I travel with one coach is costing me around Rs 8 million to Rs 10 million (90,000-113,000 euros) and that is just with one travelling coach (no physio). Whatever I have made I have already invested,” he added.

Nagal, who is 26 years old, has reached the semi-finals of better at five tournaments on the lower-level Challenger Tour so far this season. His only Grand Slam result was at the US Open where he lost in the first round of qualifying to Taro Daniel. It was at the US Open where he took a set off Roger Federer before losing in 2019. 

Despite being the only player from his country to be ranked in the top 400, Nagal is currently not part of the Target Olympics Podium Scheme. An initiative set up by the Indian government to provide support to their top athletes.

After learning about Nagal’s ongoing struggles on the Tour, a leading company has decided to support the tennis player by signing a three-year deal with him. Gatorade specializes in sports drinks and is manufactured by PepsiCo. Under the deal, Nagal will receive support with his recovery and nutrition from experts at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI).  

“I am deeply moved and grateful to join hands with Gatorade. This association comes to me at a pivotal time, and I am thankful my hard work and passion is getting recognized and appreciated. With Gatorade by my side, I am sure I will reach new heights and give it my all both on and off the court,” the Indo-Asian News Service quoted Nagal as saying on Thursday. 

Speaking about the new partnership, Ankit Agarwal from PepsiCo India has hailed the collaboration. Agarwal is the company’s Associate Director of Energy & Hydration. 

“Sumit is a role model for the new-gen athletes of India with his career being a true example of hard work and sweat that makes talent shine,” he said.
“As a brand that is dedicated to supporting athletes in removing barriers to sporting success, we are delighted to welcome Sumit to the Gatorade squad.”

Nagal has been ranked as high as No.122 in the world. So far in his career, he has won four Challenger titles with two of those occurring this year in Italy and Finland. 

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(VIDEO): Malaga Line-Up Set As Davis Cup Most Unpredictable Tournament In History

UbiTennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta explains why any of the eight teams in Malaga could win November’s Davis Cup Finals

Published

1 week ago

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19/09/2023

By

(@DavisCup - Twitter)

The Davis Cup quarter-final line-up is set after an incredible Group Stage over Bologna, Split, Manchester and Valencia.

 

Now eight teams remain including Novak Djokovic’s Serbia, Great Britain and Australia.

However surprise teams such as the Netherlands, Finland and the Czech Republic will also appear in the quarter-finals.

Ten-time champions Great Britain will face Serbia with the winners taking on the winner of the quarter-final between Italy and the Netherlands.

In the other half of the draw Canada will be heavy favourites against Finland while the Czech Republic face Australia.

The final eight tournament will take place in Malaga and will take place between the 21st and the 26th of November.

However this year’s Davis Cup could be the most unpredictable version in the tournament’s history with there being no Spain or USA.

It really could be anyone’ tournament with Tennis’ most prestigious team competition up for grabs in November.

In this video UbiTennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta explains why this year’s Davis Cup finals could be the most unpredictable edition of all-time and why any of the teams could win the title.

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