Tuesday, April 28, 2015

TENNIS TUESDAY: Djokovic Skips Madrid; Kerber On Clay Hot Streak; Isner Turns 30; Mauresmo On Maternity Leave


Kerber On 11-Match Winning Streak On Clay; Keys, Sharapova, Wozniacki In Her Wake
Building on her win on the green clay of Charleston a few weeks by coming back from 1-4 down in the final set to defeat Madison Keys, German Angelique Kerber has been absolutely on fire during the clay season so far. She defeated the reigning French Open champion on Thursday and then continued her winning ways by coming back from 3-5 down in the final against Caroline Wozniacki to ride the hometown crowd support to snatch the Stuttgart title. This is her 5th career title and she had to defeat two Top 5 players to do it, which she did in two 3-set thrillers.

John Isner Turns 30
John Isner had a big birthday on Sunday, turning thirty years old. The Top American has not made as much an impact in the majors as Andy Roddick but in this era of men's tennis it is very possible for 30-somethings to have success on the tour and hoping that continues with Isner in the next few years.

Djokovic Says Enough Is Enough; Gives Someone Else A Chance To Win Something!
After winning the first three Masters series titles of 2015, World #1 Novak Djokovic has decided to withdraw from next week's Madrid Masters. Since he also didn't play last year he is not losing any ranking points. I'm sure the rest of men's field thanks Nole and wishes him a peaceful week!

Mauresmo Is Pregnant And Taking Time Off From Coaching Andy Murray 
Andy Murray has made an important statement for women's equality in sports by naming former WTA #1 Amelie Mauresmo as his coach. Mauresmo, 35,  announced recently that she is expecting her first child in August, and while she is on maternity leave (an issue which has never come up before for the coach of an elite men's player) she will be replaced (temporarily) by Jonas Bjorkman.

Wawrinka Getting Divorced And Nobody's Happy
Stan Wawrinka had previously separated from his wife (ostensibly in order to focus on his tennis) but later reconciled well before he won his first Grand Slam title in Australia last year. Recently he announced that the two are definitely getting divorced and his wife issued a statement of her own clarifying her side of the story. His results have been spotty in 2015, with the former World #3 now down to #9 in the latest rankings.

Serena Officially 3rd Longest Stay At #1 (Behind Steffi and Martina)
Serena Williams has now been World #1 for 114 weeks in a row, which is third all-time, behind Martina Navratilova's 156 weeks (3 solid years!!) and Steffi Graf's 186 weeks and just 1 week ahead of Chris Evert's 113 weeks. Her current streak is exactly twice as long as her longest previous hold on the #1 ranking at 57 weeks. She has been #1 on 6 different occasions in her career. In her current #1 streak only 8 players have beaten her, but bizarrely Alize Cornet has done so three times!

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