tournaments Archives

Golf December 26, 2022 By mariam

Phil Mickelson falls outside golf’s top 200 for the first time in three decades

Golf By mariam December 26, 2022

Aged 52, it would have been normal for Phil Mickelson to slowly slip down golf’s rankings, but the American’s fall has been truly spectacular.

That’s because he won the 2021 PGA Championship, so was clearly still one of the best in the world just last year.

However, despite that recent victory, Mickelson has now fallen down the rankings and sits in 213th position right now.

This is the first time since the end of July 1992 that he has been outside of golf’s top 200.

Not since 1993 had he even been outside the top 100 until he fell out of again in March of 2021, but his 2021 PGA Championship victory then shot him back up to 35. Now, not long after that success, he has plummeted.

What caused Phil Mickelson’s fall down the rankings?

The main reason for his fall is the fact that he took a hiatus from golf earlier this year, after the backlash to some of his comments about Saudi Arabia during the LIV Golf saga.

He has only played the US Open and the British Open as scoring tournaments since then, but didn’t make the cut in either.

Tennis December 18, 2022 By mariam

Novak Djokovic wrote another tennis page: the new record

Tennis By mariam December 18, 2022

In the last decade the Serbian champion Novak Djokovic has achieved exceptional results and is cataloged by many as the strongest athlete in this historical period. Nole has achieved a continuity of results on all surfaces and has approached phenomena such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the run-up to the Grand Slam.

The Big Three have been competing for the GOAT title for years. Millions of enthusiasts and insiders engage in a debate on social media about the best and are increasingly comfortable believing in the deeds of the Balkan phenomenon.

Nole experienced a very difficult 2022, conditioned by non-tennis situations. The former number one in the world paid dearly for the choice not to get the vaccine for Covid and several tournaments have excluded him. What happened in Australia at the beginning of the year is beyond belief.

Djokovic was first invited to Australia and then excluded, treated almost like a criminal, and finally forced to say goodbye to the possibility of defending his title. An identical situation occurred at the end of the year at the US Open with Nole, who, due to the vaccination situation, missed all the tournaments in US.

Novak Djokovic wrote another tennis page: the new record
Novak Djokovic has played few tournaments in this 2022, conditioned precisely by the extra tennis choices. Despite everything, however, Djokovic achieved excellent results, he won a Grand Slam like Wimbledon (which, however, did not give him ATP points) and finished the ranking in the Top 10, closing 2022 with the victory of the ATP Finals in Turin.

The Serbian’s numbers are extraordinary, especially given the forced absence that forced him to miss several months in the Tour. Djokovic was still the tennis player who achieved the most victories over Top 10 athletes in 2022, even better than the current world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

Impeccable data that underline the great level of play of the Serbian phenomenon, Djokovic did better here than Alcaraz and Nadal despite several fewer tournaments. In the ranking, one of the surprises is undoubtedly the Danish tennis player Holger Rune, a very young man who has achieved the same victories as Alcaraz, behind Nadal and Tsitsipas.

Here is the complete ranking: Wins against Top Ten tennis players in 2022
Novak Djokovic 11
Carlos Alcaraz 9
Holger rune 9
Rafael Nadal 8
Stefanos Tsitsipas 8

Tennis December 17, 2022 By mariam

“It’s not about how many times you get knocked down” – Leylah Fernandez after winning the 2022 Tennis Canada Women’s Player of the Year award

Tennis By mariam December 17, 2022

Leylah Fernandez was announced the winner of the 2022 Tennis Canada Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year in the women’s category on Thursday.

The 20-year-old finished her 2022 campaign with a 21-15 win-loss record in singles while also defending her title at Monterrey. Her best Grand Slam result came at Roland Garros, where she was a quarterfinalist.
After claiming both awards, the former US Open runner-up expressed her joy on social media, where she also pointed out that 2022 has been a challenging year for her.

“Proud to be Canadian. Thank you again for all your support. This year has had its challenges but it’s not about how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get back up,” she stated on Instagram stories.
Michael Downey, President and CEO of Tennis Canada, congratulated all the recipients of the various Tennis Canada Excellence Awards — which also included Felix Auger-Aliassime in the men’s singles category.

“We would like to offer our congratulations to all of this year’s recipients of the Tennis Canada Excellence Awards. 2022 saw our athletes and organization reach new heights both on and off the court.

Of course, having led Team Canada to its first-ever Davis Cup title and with four ATP singles titles to his name, Félix is a well-deserving recipient in the men’s category,” Downey said.
Downey believes Leylah Fernandez is “one of the top talents” on the women’s tour.

“On the women’s side, Leylah has continued to showcase her skills and prove that she is one of the top talents on the WTA Tour,” he added.

A brief look at Leylah Fernandez’s 2022 campaign

Leylah Fernandez endured a poor start to her year, winning just one match in two tournaments during the Australian hardcourt tour. She reached the second round of the Adelaide International but fell at the first hurdle at the Australian Open, losing in straight sets to Maddison Inglis.

The 20-year-old bounced back in style in her next event, winning the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey. Her good form continued at Indian Wells, where she made the fourth round, but the Canadian failed to sustain her form in Miami, where she lost her opening match to Karolina Muchova.

Fernandez won two of her four matches in Rome and Madrid and went several steps further at Roland Garros, where she made the quarterfinals. She beat Belinda Bencic and Amanda Anisimova on her way to the last eight in Paris.

However, the youngster’s season took a turn for the worse during her quarter-final clash against Martina Trevisan in Paris, where the former hurt herself during the opening set. It was later discovered that the Canadian suffered a grade three stress fracture to her right foot, due to which she missed the entire grass season.

Fernandez returned to action at the National Bank Open, where she fell in the second round. She struggled for form during this period, suffering early defeats at the Western and Southern Open and the US Open.

Following opening-round defeats in San Diego and Guadalajara, she made the last eight at the WTA 125 event in Tampico, Mexico. Fernandez finished the 2022 season with a win and a loss at the Billie Jean KIng Cup Finals.

Tennis December 5, 2022 By mariam

Rafael Nadal: ‘We have taken the sport to…

Tennis By mariam December 5, 2022

Rafael Nadal has just finished his tour of South America, where he has defeated Casper Ruud in four of the five exhibitions played. The year 2022 gave the Spanish star two Slams, the Australian Open and Roland Garros, but no Masters 1000.

The former world number 1 thus reached 22 Majors, extending his lead over Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the all-time ranking. The Serb then closed the gap by winning Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive time, the seventh in history.
Rafa also played some great tennis on the grass at Church Road, but an abdominal strain forced him to withdraw on the eve of the semi-final against Nick Kyrgios. That injury also affected his preparation for the US Open, where he failed to reach the round of 16 (beaten in four sets by host Frances Tiafoe).

The end of the season was quite disappointing for the Spaniard, who left prematurely both in Paris-Bercy and in the ATP Finals in Turin. In a lengthy interview with ‘We Love Tennis Magazine’, Jack Draper revealed that he is a big fan of Rafael Nadal: “Being a lefty myself, I’ve always loved watching Rafa Nadal’s matches.
I watched closely the way Rafa used his serve and his forehand to get the best of his opponents.” Draper added: “Being British, I have to admit I also grew up admiring and supporting Andy Murray. Seeing a British player compete at the highest level and win important titles has inspired me to work hard to achieve my goals.”

Carlos Moyá recently analyzed Rafa’s season: “As long as his body lasts, he will continue to train hard and challenge himself. 2022 was an extraordinary year, although it got worse after Wimbledon. He had to deal with two serious injuries and was unable to perform at his best in the last tournaments of the season.

He hasn’t had any luck.”

Rafael Nadal on the GOAT debate
From Mexico where he ended his tour of friendly matches on the American continent with a victory over Casper Ruud, Rafael Nadal gave his opinion on the famous debate of the GOAT, in which he is often opposed to his great rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

“For me, personally, it’s something that doesn’t keep me awake because I think the three of us have surpassed anything we could have ever imagined achieving. With our results, we have taken the sport to a higher level and the debate over the identity of the champion is more a question of the media,” said the man with 22 Grand Slam titles in remarks reported by Eurosport Spain.

Tennis November 27, 2022 By mariam

Novak Djokovic dethrones Swiatek in 2022 prize money ranking

Tennis By mariam November 27, 2022

Novak Djokovic is officially the tennis player with the highest earnings from prize money. Before the ATP Finals, Iga Swiatek held the top position. Djokovic managed to overcome Swiatek’s total prize money by less than $100,000.

Yet, this is a remarkable feat from the Serbian because he played far fewer tournaments.

Djokovic had half of Swiatek’s prize money in September
Iga Swiatek, according to a top made in September by Eurosport, was the player with the most prize money earned in the first 9 months of 2022.

If we look at the ranking below, we can see that the US Open winner won almost as much as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic combined.

Also, it’s worth remarking that Swiatek is the only woman in the top 5.
This is not a surprise given the unpredictability that dominates the WTA tour. To get to the over 9 million dollars won in 2022, Iga Swiatek:

Made it to the semifinals of Adelaide International;
Reached the semifinals of the Australian Open;
Stopped in the 2nd round of Dubai Tennis Championships;
Won in Doha (Qatar);
Grabbed titles at Indian Wells and Miami;
Won the Stuttgart Open;
Triumphed in Rome;
Raised the French Open trophy above her head;
Stopped in the third round of Wimbledon;
Lost in the quarterfinals of the Poland Open;
Reached the third round of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati;
Won the US Open.
After winning the US Open, world number one Iga Swiatek joked that she was delighted her $2.6 million prize money was delivered to her in the form of a cheque rather than cash.
Swiatek defeated Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-2 7-6 in the US Open women’s singles final (5). As a result, Swiatek is now a three-time Grand Slam champion and approximately $3 million richer. “I’m really glad that it’s not in cash,” Swiatek could have been heard saying.

In October, after ending Ostrava as a runner-up, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek donated all of her Ostrava prize money to a mental health organization.

Golf November 13, 2022 By mariam

Tiger Woods is blasted by Pat Perez for questioning the incentive to join LIV Golf as he calls out PGA Tour loyalist for ‘post-college $40m deal’ and ‘flying on the Nike jet’

Golf By mariam November 13, 2022

LIV Golf’s Pat Perez has taken a swipe at Tiger Woods after he questioned the incentive for fellow professionals to defect from the PGA Tour.

The 15-time Major winner turned down the megabucks of the Saudi-backed series, rejecting a $700-$800million deal as he challenged the motives behind players switching from the traditional circuit.

The breakaway league has dominated headlines for the lucrative contracts involved and the guarantee of money for players no matter where they finish in competitions.

He said in July: ‘I don’t understand it. What these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?
You are just getting paid a lot of money up front and playing a few events and playing 54 holes.

‘They are playing blaring music. I can understand 54 holes for the Senior Tour. The guys are older and a little more banged up. When you are young, 72-hole tests are part of it. We used to have 36-hole play-offs for majors.
‘I just don’t see how this is positive in the long term. It would be sad to see some of these young kids never get a chance to walk these hallowed grounds and play in these majors.’

Perez, who was part of Dustin Johnson’s all-American team to win LIV Golf’s season-ending team championship at Trump National in Miami last month, has hit back at compatriot Woods.

‘That’s the stupidest s*** I have ever heard of in my life,’ Perez told the Son of a Butch podcast.

‘That’s one of the stupidest things I think he has said. The incentive is the fact that last place is 120,000, first place is four million. You cannot win four million on the PGA Tour.
‘Now, next year you might; they finally got the perks. But last time I checked, he signed a $40million deal right out of college, was flying on the Nike jet. He found incentive. He could have shut it down right then.

‘He had a lot of guarantees. You know what, and he was the hottest thing. He’s made so much money off the course, he found incentive to go.

‘But again, he only played how many tournaments. He didn’t go — I never saw him at John Deere, never saw him supporting all these events. He played in the majors, he played in the WGCs and that was it. He played Torrey. Never played Riv [Riviera].
‘But he’s worth every dime. In fact, like I said, he’s two billion short of where he should be, I think.’
Perez signed a four-year deal to join LIV Golf prior to its Portland event at the end of June.

‘I have no ill feelings toward the PGA Tour or any of the players. I’m a LIV guy 100 percent,’ he said.

‘I’m going to play for them. But I don’t feel any need to go after the PGA Tour. They gave me a wonderful opportunity for 21 years.

‘I’ve got nothing against them, no hard feelings toward anybody. I earned everything I got out there, don’t get me wrong.’

Perez is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, earning more than $28m throughout his career.

Woods is set to return to golf at next month’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas after last appearing at The Open in the summer.

Tennis November 8, 2022 By mariam

Jimmy Connors: “Rafael Nadal’s fatherhood will bring changes”

Tennis By mariam November 8, 2022

2022 was a truly extraordinary year for Spanish champion Rafael Nadal. The 22-times Slam winner has won two Grand Slam titles, the Australian Open and Roland Garros, becoming the first male tennis player in history to reach 22 Grand Slam titles.

This and not only because Rafa also had great news from his private life, with the birth of his first child, and of Maria Francisca Perello, on 8 October 2022. Now the Mallorcan tennis player, after a disappointing test in Paris Bercy, is at I work to end the season in the best possible way, perhaps trying to win those Atp Finals that are missing from his immense bulletin board.

During his podcast, former American tennis player Jimmy Connors talked about Rafael Nadal and his fatherhood, who, according to him, will help him for the rest of his career.

Jimmy Connors on Rafael Nadal’s fatherhood
The former US tennis player continued talking about Rafa’s future and said: “He is a bit older and we can say that this year things have been really good for him.

In addition, Rafa has always played less at the end of the year and can enjoy his son quietly and get through the next two months, then he can prepare for tournaments in Australia or whatever his next event is.” Connors explained how paternity can affect Nadal’s career and, in an optimistic way, said: “It’s new, but I don’t want to interpret it in a negative way also because I believe that Rafa can manage it.

In any case, he will have to make some changes if he wants to continue training and playing. He is a worker and in the coming months we will understand the situation better. For me it was different, I was 26 when I became a father, it was different.

It took me two years to find the right balance between fatherhood and my role as a tennis player. Rafa is much older and has a great career behind him.”

Tennis November 4, 2022 By mariam

Novak Djokovic goes for his sixth title at Paris-Bercy

Tennis By mariam November 4, 2022

Although the tennis season is winding to a close, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic are showing no signs of slowing down.

The Canadian and the Serb have combined to win the last three tournaments. Djokovic, who holds the record for Masters 1000 titles with 37, is two wins away from adding another one.
The Serb cruised past Lorenzo Musetti 6-0, 6-3 on Friday
Djokovic, a five-time winner at the Paris Masters, has won 28 of his last 29 matches. It took him just 24 minutes to take the first set against Musetti without dropping a game.

The Italian isn’t just anyone either. He’s 23rd in the rankings and won titles in Hamburg and Naples earlier this season. Although Musetti won three points in the second set, it wasn’t enough to avoid a one-sided defeat.

Despite being 35, Djokovic has entered the final part of the season looking fresh after missing six tournaments due to his refusal to get the coronavirus vaccine: the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal and Cincinnati, as well as the Australian Open and US Open.

The Serbian is so full of energy that he is competing in the tournament and taking part in training sessions outside the stadium. He’ll face the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tommy Paul in the semi-finals.

Tennis October 27, 2022 By mariam

Rafael Nadal hits practice court at Paris Masters

Tennis By mariam October 27, 2022

The 22-time Major champion Rafael Nadal hit the practice court in Paris ahead of the season’s last Masters 1000 event. Nadal arrived in Paris on Wednesday and embraced a practice session on Thursday, working on his game and hoping to seek the missing title next week.

Rafa has not played singles matches following the fourth-round US Open loss to Frances Tiafoe, dealing with an abdominal injury since Wimbledon. Nadal went home to Mallorca after New York, welcomed his first child and hit the practice court ahead of Paris in Turin.

World no. 2 skipped the second part of 2021 after a foot injury and made a stunning comeback in 2022. The 36-year-old is ranked 2nd on the ATP ranking list behind his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, winning two Major titles and passing his greatest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal will return to action next week in Paris.

Still, the Spaniard had to skip some of his favorite tournaments during the clay swing, losing steam and not playing well in Madrid and Rome. Nadal left all the obstacles behind at Roland Garros, playing under foot injections and defeating seven rivals to lift the 14th Parisian trophy.

Rafa was the Wimbledon semi-finalist but could not fight against Nick Kyrgios. The Spaniard revealed a seven-millimeter tear in his abdomen and left the tournament following an epic quarter-final victory over Taylor Fritz in five sets.

Nadal skipped the Canada Masters and suffered an early loss in Cincinnati. Rafa could not play at his best in New York without form or matches, still feeling the pain and making an early exit to Frances Tiafoe despite giving his best.

Nadal played alongside Roger Federer at the Laver Cup and went home the following day, still competing far from his best. The Spaniard used the previous weeks to work on his game and get into good shape ahead of Paris and Turin, never winning these tournaments and wishing to change that in the upcoming weeks.

Nadal is 22-6 in Paris since 2007, reaching the title match on his debut and suffering a heavy loss to David Nalbandian. Rafa reached four more semi-finals without making an extra step, including his previous two campaigns in 2019 and 2020.

Nadal is battling with Carlos Alcaraz for the year-end no. 1 honor, needing good results at both events to stand a chance against his young compatriot.

Tennis October 22, 2022 By mariam

‘Novak Djokovic played brilliantly especially in…’, says top coach

Tennis By mariam October 22, 2022

Novak Djokovic arrived at the 2007 Monte Carlo Masters 1000 as number 7 in the world after a great career in Indian Wells and Miami. Novak started the tournament with a 6-1 3-6 6-1 win over former Roland Garros winner Gaston Gaudio in one hour and 42 minutes on Center Court.

Djokovic couldn’t find the first serve, and was broken four times. Novak erased that deficit with a remarkable performance on the return, taking 55% of the points in games from Gaudio and breaking the Argentine seven times from 15 chances.

The Serb got a break in the second game and increased the advantage with another that put him ahead 4-0. Gaudio managed a break in game five before being broken again a few minutes later to put Djokovic ahead 5-1. The Serb held game seven to close out the first set in style.

At the beginning of the second set, the rivals exchanged breaks, and Gastón got another one in the sixth game to go up 4-2. The Argentine avoided four break points in game seven to stay ahead and saved another at 5-3 to clinch the set and force the decider.

Losing ground in those moments, Novak faced a break point early in the final set. However, he got going and took a 5-0 lead after a dominant performance on serve and return. Djokovic held on in game seven to take home the win and advance to the third round.

“It’s been a tough match, playing on clay for the first time this season. I have to stay focused and find the right balance on clay; I hope it comes with more matches. It was essential to get a win early in the decider, taking the momentum out of my opponent.

Gaudio prefers to play on the slower surface, and I knew he had to maintain contact early in the third set.”

Djokovic won 21 Grand Slam titles
Still under a three-year ban following his incredible expulsion from Australia last January, Novak Djokovic still does not know if he will be able to participate in the 2023 edition of the Australian Open and if this ban will be lifted by the current government, which is no longer the same as at the time of “Djokogate”.

Interviewed by Croatian Sportske Novosti, Goran Ivanisevic, after having cast doubt on Djokovic’s participation in the Masters 1000 in Paris, also spoke about the two titles gleaned by his player in Tel Aviv and Astana.

“He played brilliantly, especially in Astana. It’s as if he hadn’t taken a break at all when he hadn’t taken part in any tournaments since Wimbledon”, launched the Croatian coach before speaking about the thorny case of the Australian Open. “Novak has not changed his mind about vaccines and his health, it is now up to Australians to decide.”