ABC Tennis: return

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Monday, September 3, 2012

Nadal unsure of return date

Updated August 28, 2012 15:36:13

Rafa Nadal does not know when he will return to action but insists his current ailment is a new one and not a repeat of previous knee injuries.

The 11-time major winner must recover from a nagging knee problem known as Hoffa's syndrome before returning to competition and was a doubt for next month's Davis Cup semi-final against the United States.

Spain's world number three has not played since suffering a shock second-round Wimbledon defeat by lowly-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol in June. He missed the Olympic Games and on Wednesday he withdrew from the US Open.

"The important thing is to recover well and come back when my knee is a hundred percent perfect," Nadal told said in his hometown of Manacor in Mallorca.

"We'll see if I will be ready for Gijon, for the Davis Cup. My goal, my dream is to be there if the captain has confidence in me, but it always depends on the captain and the knee."

Due to his aggressive style of play, Nadal has suffered a string of physical problems during his career, including a foot injury in 2005 and more recently with his knees.

He pulled out of the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup with tendinitis, and a year later the same complaint led to him missing the chance to defend his title at Wimbledon.

A knee injury also forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open in 2010.

The current injury forced him to pull out of a semi-final clash with Andy Murray at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in March and is not linked to previous injuries, according to the Spaniard.

"The injury is not the same (as before)," he said.

"It is an injury that started around February before Indian Wells. I played these months with some problems, like in Miami, but normally I had the control of the pain, of the injury.

"But after (winning the French Open at) Roland Garros the injury got worse and it was impossible to continue competing and, of course, the important thing today is to recover as fast as possible after not arriving in perfect condition at Wimbledon."

Spanish tennis federation (RFET) doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro said Nadal was suffering from a problem known as Hoffa's syndrome which is a swelling round the tendon just below the kneecap in his left leg.

"It is uncomfortable and painful, but it is not serious," Cotorro was quoted as saying on the Marca website.

"He is recovering well. Next week they will do tests and if the result is positive we will continue with the same treatment."

Nadal added: "I am practising hard on the recovery with the physio in the gym, to not lose my fitness, I am a few days outside of the tennis court to try and recover faster."

Davis Cup holders Spain beat Austria 4-1 in April, without Nadal, to set up a semi with the US on Sept. 14-16.

Reuters

Tags: sport, tennis, spain

First posted August 18, 2012 09:26:00

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Djokovic crashes out, vows no return to blue clay

Updated May 12, 2012 09:26:13

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic has crashed out of the Madrid Masters, vowing never to return to play on the tournament's controversial blue clay.

Meanwhile, Samantha Stosur lost out to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in a tough encounter in the women's draw.

Hradecka stunned the fifth-seeded Stosur to win 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6) as she rained down 19 aces to book a semi-final berth with Serena Williams.

Djokovic lost 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to Serbian compatriot Janko Tipsarevic, his quarter-final defeat coming a day after an equally frustrated world number two Rafael Nadal had lost to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

"I want to forget this week as soon as possible and move on to the real clay courts," said the top seed Djokovic, who beat Nadal a year ago for the trophy.

"They can do what they like, I won't be here next year if this clay stays."

Nadal also insisted that he, too, would not play the Madrid tournament if the blue clay remains in place in 2013.

In other women's results, Serena Williams thumped Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3, while top seed Victoria Azarenka saw off China's Li Na with a battling 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win to also reach the semi-finals.

The Belarusian world number one will now play Agnieszka Radwanska, the Polish fourth seed, who saw off American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-4.

On the men's side, third seed and 2009 winner Roger Federer became the only elite survivor after another effortless performance in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of fifth seed David Ferrer.

The Swiss star will next play Tipsarevic, whom he has beaten four times.

"I missed some opportunities late in the match, and he hung in there," Federer said.

"The surface is quick and anything can happen. I'm happy to win but I've got a tough semi-final coming. It's unusual to have only one of the top four guys here, but I'll take it."

Federer stands 26-3 on the season, playing for the first time after a six-week break.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion could move to second in the world behind Djokovic should he win the title on Sunday.

Earlier tournament supremo Ion Tiriac had been forced to apologise for the anger felt by the players towards the blue surface.

"The court is slippery and I apologise," the former Davis Cup player said.

"We wanted to make sure that we had no player injuries, no ankle problems. As a result, the court experts rolled the base with too much pressure. When the blue sand was put on top it was unable to meld with the base, creating the slippage."

But Tiriac said that after striking a maintenance deal with the city of Madrid, the blue courts will remain in place year-round at the Caja Magica and will eventually be as comfortable to play on as traditional red clay.

Djokovic saved three match points in the penultimate game against Tipsarevic on Friday - the first two with aces - as he held on for 3-5.

But Tipsarevic came through for the upset on his fourth chance a game later as Djokovic lifted a backhand out.

"Janko played a great match. It was one of his best events. I hope he can go all the way. I missed chances in the opening games on return," Djokovic added.

"Any time I had a chance, he delivered his best shot. You cannot predict the court here, anything is possible."

Tomas Berdych brought Verdasco crashing back to earth as the sixth seed produced a 6-1, 6-2 quarter-final win over the Madrid-born 15th seed.

The Czech will next play Argentine 10th seed Juan Martin del Potro, who put out Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4, just a week after winning the title in Estoril.

ABC/AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, spain

First posted May 12, 2012 08:13:17

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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Williams makes winning return in Brisbane

Updated January 02, 2012 20:24:30

Serena Williams says she has fallen out of love with tennis despite recording an impressive comeback win over Chanelle Scheepers in the first round of the Brisbane International.

Playing her first match since losing the US Open final to Samantha Stosur in September, Williams showed why she is the most feared player in the draw as she outgunned Scheepers 6-2, 6-3.

Williams, who missed the last four months of 2011, struggled at times with her first serve but still had too much firepower for the South African, sending down seven aces in the 68-minute victory.

The 30-year-old revealed later she was cutting her schedule back in 2012 as she prepares for life after tennis.

"I just want to be able to do other things that I'm doing and expand on that. I think that helps keep my motivation up," Williams said.

Williams, who has won 13 major singles titles, admits she took the latter part of 2011 off because she was tired and says she did not love the sport any more, if she ever had.

"I don't love tennis today but I'm here," she said.

"I can't live without it - there's a difference between not loving something and not being able to live without it.

"It's not that I've fallen out of love with it. I've actually never liked sports and I never understood how I became an athlete.

"I don't like working out, I don't like anything physical. If it involves sitting down or shopping, I'm excellent at it."

Meanwhile, second seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany overcame a second set collapse to defeat Israeli Shahar Peer 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 6-3.

Petkovic, the Brisbane International runner-up in 2011, had problems with her serve throughout the first two sets but recovered in the third to outlast Peer in just over two hours.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Austrian Tamira Paszek.

Ivanovic raced through the first set then recovered from a slight wobble in the second to wrap up the match in 79 minutes.

"I really felt I played well and applied a lot of things that I have worked on," the 24-year-old Serb said.

"Still, there is room for improvement but it is the first match (of the year) and I'm very, very happy to be through."

Ivanovic next plays Belgium's Kim Clijsters in a mouth watering second round clash.

The two last met in Miami last year, a match Ivanovic lost despite holding five match points in the third set.

Russia's eighth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova progressed when Slovenia's Polona Hercog withdrew with Pavlyuchenkova leading 6-1, 4-1.

In other matches, Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva thrashed Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-0, 6-0, Czech Republic's Barbora Zahlavova Strycova saw off Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and American qualifier Vania King upset Hungary's Melinda Czink 6-3, 6-4.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, brisbane-4000

First posted January 02, 2012 16:23:52

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