Tennis
Stars Stumbled at Wimbledon as Murray, Djokovic Crash Out
Defending Champion, Andy Murray on Wednesday crashed out at the quarter finals of Wimbledon after losing in a five set game to 24th seeded Sam Querrey of the U.S. 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1.
It was indeed a difficult match for the defending champion as he was limping between points and fading down the stretch. He had come into the tournament dealing with a sore left hip and it clearly impeded him at Centre Court. He grimaced as he stumbled or landed awkwardly while attempting shots.
The American took full advantage to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career — and the first for any American man anywhere since Andy Roddick was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009. “I am still in a little bit of shock myself,” Querrey said.
Murray was not the only surprise exit. Three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic stopped playing because of a right arm injury while trailing 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (2), 2-0.
After dropping the opening set, Djokovic took a medical timeout while a trainer massaged his arm. A day earlier, during his fourth-round match, Djokovic had his right shoulder worked on by a trainer.
But seven-time champion Roger Federer moved into his 12th semifinal at the All England Club with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic. That left Federer as the only member of the sport’s so-called Big four still standing: In addition to the exits for Murray and Djokovic, Rafael Nadal lost in the fourth round. That quartet has combined to win each of the past 14 Wimbledon titles.
In Friday’s semifinals, Querrey will face 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia, who also won a five-setter Wednesday, getting past 16th-seeded Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 with the help of 33 aces. On the other half of the draw, Federer will face Berdych.
Murray is normally a terrific returner, but Querrey hit 27 aces. He was impeccable for portions of the match, finishing with 70 winners and only 30 unforced errors.
“He was dictating all of the points,” Murray said.
From 1-all in the fourth, Querrey grabbed eight games in a row to take that set and lead 3-0 in the last.
“I didn’t start my best, but I just kept with it. Kept swinging away and then really found a groove in the fourth and fifth set,” Querrey said. “And everything kind of seemed to be falling my way then.”
It is the second year in a row that the 29-year-old Californian upset the defending champion and top-seeded man at the All England Club. In 2016, he ended Djokovic’s 30-match Grand Slam winning streak by beating him in the third round.
Murray didn’t have that sort of recent dominance, but he is a three-time major champion and had been to at least the semifinals at the All England Club in seven of the past eight years.
The hip, though, was a problem this time. Murray had to skip some practice sessions and pull out of a couple of planned exhibition matches before Wimbledon. Even though he kept insisting once the tournament began that he was OK, he was not capable of his best.
Murray’s serve speeds slowed, and his backhands didn’t have their usual verve. He couldn’t play his usual court-covering defense.
“I was pretty close today. It wasn’t like I was, like, a million miles away from winning the match,” Murray said. “Obviously the end was a bit of a struggle.”
Querrey is the lowest-ranked player to ever beat two-time Wimbledon champion Murray in his 12 appearances at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
For Murray, this was the fourth five-set match he’s lost in a row. Querrey is headed in the opposite direction: Merely 4-10 in fifth sets for his career until last week, he has won each of his last three matches by going the distance: against 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round, Kevin Anderson in the fourth, and now Murray.
Querrey always has had an intimidating serve, but he’s never managed to put together his overall game for enough matches to play on the final weekend at a major.
Indeed, until last year’s win over Djokovic, he might have been best known for some of his unusual off-court episodes. In Thailand for a 2009 tournament, he cut two muscles in his right arm when he sat on a glass table that shattered. Two years ago, he appeared on the reality TV show “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” There’s a popular video clip on social media of Querrey — sunglasses and hat on, shirt unbuttoned — dancing with friends wearing horse-head masks.
Now Querrey’s on-court accomplishment Wednesday will make headlines. Win two more matches, and he’ll be the Wimbledon champion.
Novak Djokovic battled from a set down to clinch his 100th tour-level title by beating Polish sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(2) at the Geneva Open on Saturday.
The Serbian, who turned 38 on Thursday, becomes just the third man in the Open Era to win 100 ATP titles after American Jimmy Connors and Swiss Roger Federer.
“I had to work for it, that’s for sure. Hubi was probably closer to victory (in) the entire match than I was,” Djokovic said.
“I had some chances in the first set to break his serve, then had a bad game which ended up with the double fault on set point.
“I was just trying to hang in there, I don’t know how I broke his serve… but this is what happens at the highest level. Very few points decide the winner.
“Incredible match, 7-6 in the third with a full stadium, beautiful atmosphere. I’m just grateful to clinch the 100th here.”
Djokovic’s last title came when he won gold at the Paris Olympics last year.
The latest triumph comes at the perfect time as the record 24-times Grand Slam champion bids for a fourth crown at the French Open, which starts on Sunday.
Djokovic banged down six aces and 34 winners in the contest, which lasted a little over three hours and five minutes, making it the longest clash of this year’s tournament.
Hurkacz had squandered a 4-2 lead in the decider as Djokovic clawed his way back to clinch victory in the tiebreak with an ace and stretched his career win-loss record over the 28-year-old Pole to 8-0.
With the triumph, Djokovic is the first man to win a tour-level title in 20 consecutive seasons, with his first title coming at 2006 Amersfoort. He is also the oldest champion in Geneva Open history.
Djokovic, currently ranked world number six, will face unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round at Roland Garros.
Reuters
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Novak Djokovic marked his 38th birthday in style on Thursday, defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Geneva Open semi-finals and continue his pursuit of a 100th career title.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion avenged last month’s Madrid Open loss to the Italian and will next face Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who rallied to defeat Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.
“It’s great to be in the semi-finals again. Hopefully this year I can go at least a step further, that’s the goal,” said Djokovic, who lost to Tomas Machac in last year’s quarter-finals.
“I think I’m playing really good tennis. A straight-sets win, but it was much closer than the score indicates.”
After taking the first set, Djokovic trailed 4-1 in the second but stormed back with five consecutive games to seal the win in one hour and 40 minutes.
The former world No. 1 admitted that smashing his racket in frustration helped him reset mentally and close out the match in straight sets.
“After the racquet breaking I kind of found my optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to be able to play my best tennis when it was most needed,” Djokovic, who was presented with a birthday cake on court, said.
Djokovic is bidding to become only the third man in history to win 100 ATP titles, after Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
-Reuters
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) has filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.
The PTPA, an independent players’ union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, said on March 18 that after years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, it had been forced to take legal action to end “monopolistic control” of the sport.
In a statement, it said that along with more than a dozen players, the PTPA had filed papers in a New York court against the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, executive director of the PTPA.
“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardises their health and safety.
“We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis, it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.”
In response, the ATP accused the PTPA of choosing “division and distraction” and having no meaningful role in the sport.
“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position,” it said in a statement.
“ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game – towards continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for players, tournaments, and fans.”
The WTA defended its record of growing women’s tennis, describing the lawsuit as “baseless”.
“Every decision taken at the WTA Board level includes the input of players via their elected Board representatives, and athletes receive substantial financial rewards and other benefits from participation in the WTA,” the organisation said.
The ITF, meanwhile, stressed its goal is to ensure the growth of tennis as a global sport.
“As a not-for-profit organisation and global guardian of the game… we reinvest 90 per cent of our income into the global development of the game, via our 213 member National Associations,” an ITF spokesperson said.
Describing the various governing bodies as a “cartel”, the PTPA, which has also begun legal action in Britain and the EU, accuses them of paying “artificially low compensation to professional tennis players” and imposing a “draconian” ranking system that forces them to compete in certain tournaments.
The lawsuit also calls the schedule unsustainable, says players are made to play in extreme heat and often in the early hours of the morning, that tennis balls chosen by the tournaments are a factor in chronic injuries and that players’ privacy rights are being abused by random drug tests.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, the PTPA said it met with more than 250 players across the tours, including the majority of the men’s and women’s top 20.
“The overwhelmingly positive player feedback was a resounding confirmation – change is needed now, and players are united in their fight for reform,” the statement added.
Serbia’s 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has been a fierce advocate for change to the organisation of tennis, insisting that the revenues generated by the sport are not fairly shared out to players.
“Women and men who are around 200 and lower ranked in the world, they are struggling a lot,” he said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview in 2023.
“They can’t afford a coach, they can’t afford travels, they skip tournaments, many of them leave tennis who are super talented and maybe capable of reaching great heights.”
The ITIA, which manages the sport’s anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, responded to the lawsuit by saying: “Any credible international sport requires robust anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, and we are proud of our role in contributing to a clean and fair sport.”
-Reuters
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