Murray, Baltacha British No. 1s: Tennis in the Commonwealth

By Leigh Sanders

Great Britain’s Andy Murray failed to improve on past ATP World Finals performances after suffering elimination in the group stages at London’s O2 Arena.

The Scot failed to capitalise on an impressive opening victory over the US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro and after defeat to world No. 1 Roger Federer, a victory over the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was not enough and the British public had no home favourite to cheer on in the latter stages.

Murray began his second match against career Grand Slam winner Federer in style. After cruising through the first set he looked destined for another impressive victory. But Federer began showing his class and a third set collapse from Murray handed victory to the Swiss legend.

Victory over Verdasco looked like it had ensured progression but Del Potro obviously hadn’t read the script and his three set victory over Federer saw him progress as over the course of the three matches he had won one more game than the British No. 1. It was the tightest of margins and would have left the Scot heartbroken.

Del Potro then marched on to the finals but his run was abruptly halted by the Russian Nikolay Davydenko who crowned his impressive end to the season with the ATP World Championships title. It is the first time a Russian has lifted the trophy.

The doubles looked equally depressing for Commonwealth players. World No. 1 Daniel Nestor of Canada was also eliminated in the group stages with partner Nenad Zimonjic which saw the pair relinquish the title they won in 2008.

Also facing early elimination was Indian doubles legend Leander Paes as he and the Pole Lukas Dlouhy lost all three round robin matches.

Fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi fared better as he and partner Mark Knowles reached the semifinals before losing out to eventual champions the Bryan brothers – Bob and Mike – who lifted the end of season title for the third time.

*India’s top female tennis player Sania Mirza joined stars from the worlds of sport, the arts and civil society to speak at an anti-terrorism event in New Delhi, India. The event lasted an hour and was organised by the Indian home ministry. Mirza added to the program of music and readings by reciting Rabindranth Tagore’s famous poem ‘Where the Mind is Without Fear.’ The date of the event, November 29^th, was an emotional one for all involved as it marked the year to the day that the Mumbai terrorist siege ended in 2008.

*Britain’s Andy Murray will end 2009 ranked No. 4 in the world, more than 1,300 points behind world No. 3 Novak Djokovic and over 3,500 points behind world No. 1 Roger Federer. Australia’s Peter Luczak rises one this week (30/11) to 77 while Carsten Ball climbs to 135. Fellow Aussie Chris Guccione is up to 137 and Marinko Matesevic continues to climb the rankings and now lies ranked 170. India’s Somdev Devvarman drops three to 127. Kevin Anderson of South Africa climbs three to 163 and Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic is now up to 165 in the world. Peter Polansky of Canada lies at 188.

*In the doubles (30/11), Canada’s Daniel Nestor is now ranked joint No. 3 in the world with his partner Nenad Zimonjic after Bob and Mike Bryan of the USA claimed a joint top spot after their victory at the ATP World Finals in London, England. South Africa’s Jeff Coetzee failed to reach the showpiece event and as a result drops to 10. India’s Rohan Bopanna has climbed eight to 82 in the world while his compatriot Harsh Mankad climbs one to 104. Britain’s Jamie Murray is one behind in 105. British No. 2 Jamie Delgado drops one to 112. Another Canadian, Adil Shamasdin, leapt 35 places to enter the top 200 in the world at 185.

*Elena Baltacha has become the top ranked British women’s star after her recent performances in the Far East. After her quarter inal appearance in a Japanese tournament last week she now sits at a career high No. 85 in the WTA rankings published this week. “I value the British number one spot so much more this time because we’re all much better than we were,” said Baltacha. “There’s a lot more value in it now.” It makes great reading for Scotland as Baltacha and Andy Murray are British No. 1 in both men’s and women’s tennis. Also in the WTA rankings, Katie O’Brien drops one to 89 while Anne Keothavong is now ranked 99 and faces dropping out of the top 100 players in the world as she continues to recover from injury. Canada’s Stephanie Dubois drops one to 105 while her compatriot Valerie Tetreault also drops one to 136. Australia’s Olivia Rogowska jumps eight to 146 after her recent fine form and her fellow Aussies Monique Adamczak (147) and Sophie Ferguson (149) now sit behind her.

*In the doubles (30/11), Australian Casey Dellacqua, with no ranking last week, finds herself placed 64 with 1244 points from three tournaments. Her previous best was No. 9 in May of this year. Her re-entry means Canada’s Marie-Eve Pelletier drops one to 67, as do Natalie Grandin (South Africa, 78), Sarah Borwell (Great Britain, 85) and Grandin’s compatriot Sharon Fichman (98).

*There were Australian winners in both the male and female events at the Goldfields St Ives International in Kalgoorlie last week. Alicia Molik claimed her second title on her comeback after overcoming Olivia Rogowska in the final. In the men’s final, John Millman overcame another Aussie, Matthew Ebden, 6-2, 7-6(1).

*The final lineup has been announced for the 2010 Brisbane International. The field includes four Grand Slam winners and five former world Number 1s and both fields are listed below. Each player’s nation and rank appear in brackets while Commonwealth players are in bold:

Men’s:	Women’s
Andy Roddick (USA, 6)	Justine Henin (BEL, wildcard)
Radek Stepanek (CZE, 12)	Dinara Safina (RUS, 2)
Gael Monfils (FRA, 13)	Kim Clijsters (BEL, 18)
Tomas Berdych (CZE, 20)	Nadia Petrova (RUS, 20)
Sam Querrey (USA, 25)	Ana Ivanovic (SRB, 22)
Jurgan Melzer (AUT, 28)	Daniela Hantuchova (SVK, 25)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA, 32)	Alisa Kleybanova (RUS, 30)
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA, 33)	Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN, 35)
Thomaz Belluci (BRA, 36)	Melinda Czink (HUN, 38)
Andreas Beck (GER, 39)	Iveta Benesova (CZE, 39)
Marcos Baghdathis (CYP, 42)	Agnes Szavay (HUN, 40)
James Blake (USA, 44)	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS, 41)
Horatio Zeballos (ARG, 45)	Lucie Safarova (CZE, 42)
Richard Gasquet (FRA, 52)	Shuai Peng (CHN, 42)
Mardy Fish (USA, 56)	Sara Errani (ITA, 48)
Marc Gicquel (FRA, 58)	Olga Govortsova (BLR, 52)
Arnaud Clement (FRA, 62)	Timea Bacsinszky (SUI, 54)
Florent Serra (FRA, 66)	Sybille Bammer (AUT, 55)
Michael Llodra (FRA, 69)	Andrea Petkovic (GER, 56)
Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG, 76)	Jelena Dokic (AUS, 57)
Taylor Dent (USA, 77)	Tathiana Garbin (ITA, 59)
Peter Luczak (AUS, 78)	Ekaterina Makarova (RUS, 60)
Mischa Zverev (GER, 79)	Roberta Vinci (ITA, 64)
Philipp Petzschner (GER, 81)	Lucie Hradecka (CZE, 65)
Alejandro Falla (COL, 82)	Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER, 67)

*Jelena Dokic has also announced that she will be joining fellow Australian Alicia Molik at the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International. It will be her second appearance there after competing in 2008. They will be joined by the American teenage giant killer from this year’s US Open; Melanie Oudin. The 18-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, defeated four Russians; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva, former world No.1 Maria Sharapova and No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova, before finally running out of steam against the No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) in the quarterfinals.

*In Australia, the Sweeney Sports Report has found tennis to be the sport of most interest in the country once more this year. The report found that 58% of Australians were interested in the sport which saw it rank first in TV viewing, third in participation (up 1%) and equal fifth in attendance. “Four years ago we embarked on a thorough assessment of how we deliver the sport and then made some major structural changes,” said Tennis Australia Director of Tennis Craig Tiley. “We are now starting to see the results of these changes.

*Official meteorologist to the Australian Open, Bob Leighton, has predicted that the 2010 tournament will witness “an average Melbourne summer,” giving the tournament “perfect weather.” The news will delight players and fans alike who endured four days of high-40s temperatures during the second week of the 2009 event.

*Tennis Canada has announced a change to their Fed Cup Team as of February 2010. Sylvain Bruneu will take over from Rene Simpson-Collins as Team Captain.

*Tennis Canada has also announced the recipients of their 2009 Excellence Awards handed out to the calendar year’s outstanding competitors. Unsurprisingly, Daniel Nestor has picked up the Male Player of the Year award for the seventh time as well as Male Doubles Player of the Year for the eighth year running. Top ranked female star Aleksandra Wozniak netted the Female Player of the Year and Female Singles Player of the Year awards. Frank Dancevic picked up the Male Singles Player of the Year award for the sixth time and Vasek Pospisil won Most Improved Male Player of the Year after a fantastic end to the season. Marie-Eve Pelletier won Female Doubles Player of the Year while Sharon Fichman received Most Improved Female Player.

*Wheelchair tennis has collected a brace of awards at the 2009 WheelPower British Wheelchair Sports Awards at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Aylesbury. The stadium is the home of wheelchair sports and the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. Great Britain won team of the year after their victory at the Invacare World Team Cup in August. Their coach Steph Trill won coach of the year.