Weekend Tennis Roundup

The Associated Press makes it sound very sweet:

On the clay courts where he once practiced as a youth with big dreams, Fabio Fognini won the biggest title of his erratic career by beating Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 Sunday in the Monte Carlo Masters final.

The local lad from nearby San Remo, a 40-minute drive away along the Mediterranean coast and over the Italian border, made a breakthrough at the highest level so far at the age of 31. Lajovic lost the first final of his career at age 28.

Although it was Fognini's ninth career title, it was his first at Masters level and will help him push closer to the top 10 when he climbs six places up to 12th in the rankings.

''I was born in San Remo, and I was practicing here when I was young. I know really well this tennis club,'' Fognini said. ''My friends and family are happy now, because I have my name on this tournament that it's something that when I was really young I was dreaming about.''

But to the rest of us, it was more of a WTF?

For Djokovic fans, it became painfully obvious that Novak 2017 was really back. While I agree that he is more focused on the majors than anything else now, you can't lose to people you shouldn't have for three months in a row and then expect to win a tournament you were lucky to have won once.

For Nadal fans it was galling that he would end up losing a tournament he always wins -- especially after his top rival got "upset." For non-Nadal fans it was more of a sign that he did pretty well in his first tournament back in ages -- and happened to draw someone who has been a strange nemesis for him. I sill see Rafa as the odds-on favorite at Roland Garros and will only get better from this loss.

The men keep their bizarre record of 22 different tournament winners in 23 events.

Meanwhile, the women were embroiled in high-stakes Fed Cup action.

Sports Illustrated reports that Caroline Garcia held her nerve on serve in the decisive doubles match as France reached the Fed Cup final with a nail-biting 3-2 win Sunday against a Simona Halep-inspired Romania.

Teaming up with Kristina Mladenovic for the first time in two years in the Fed Cup, Garcia sealed victory on her first match point as the French pair rallied to beat Halep and Monica Niculescu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on clay at the Kindarena in Rouen, northwest France.

France has won the Fed Cup twice while Romania, which beat defending champion Czech Republic in the last eight, was looking to reach its first final.

Instead, the French will play Australia, which beat Belarus and will host the Nov. 9-10 final.

Samantha Stosur bounced back from a singles drubbing and perhaps exorcised a few demons with a composed performance in front of her home Brisbane crowd in the deciding doubles to send Australia into the Fed Cup final.

The Aussies battled past Belarus to win their semifinal 3-2 in a five-match tie that went down to the third set of the final doubles fixture at Pat Rafter Arena.

Thanks to the win by Stosur and Ash Barty, Australia has a chance to win its first Fed Cup title since 1974 (its eighth overall) when it meets France in November, marking the first time green and gold will feature in the final since Australia's 1993 loss to Spain.

World number nine Barty was perfect all weekend, winning both her singles matches against Sabalenka and Azarenka in straight sets before lining up in the doubles, and she needed to be.

The knock on Sam, of course, has always been that she struggles in front of Australian crowds, as she has been unable to get out of the first round of the Australian Open in her last four outings and never made it past the fourth round, despite a career-high ranking of four.

The hometown wobbles appeared to have returned in her singles rubbers -- first a three-set loss to world number 10 Aryna Sabalenka, then a 6-1, 6-1 demolition at the hands of former world number one Victoria Azarenka on Sunday.

She had just half an hour to compose herself after that drubbing before being back on court with Barty and, alongside Australia's top-ranked player, Stosur made amends in a big way, with her experience, skill and composure on display in the 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win.

But beside the drama on court, there was plenty off thanks to Ben Rothenberg and Brett Haber, when the Tennis Channel cut away from the deciding match in the Romania-France Fed Cup tie.

Ben Rothenberg merely pointed out what everyone watching -- including Chris Evert -- was thinking. ...

 

To which a thin-skinned Brett Haber delivered this juvenile response ... 

Which prompted this zinger of a comeback from Ben. Meow!

In the World Group Playoff tie, Sloane Stephens and Sofie Kenin sealed the U.S. spot with a win over Switzerland down in San Antonio! (Madison Keys is still a disaster.) 

Around the net ...

Chrissie cheered on her pint-sized CrossFit hero ...

And last but not least, Dominic Thiem (like everyone else) was upset by Dusan Lajovic in Monte Carlo. But it seems he's put that behind him, moving on to bigger and better things in Barcelona!

Like spending time with Marton Fucsovics ... and members of FC Barcelona ...

I wonder if Gerard Pique -- aka Mr. Shakira -- hugged and consoled Dom about his loss ...

Luis Suarez puts the meat in this ATP sandwich ...

(With wire services)

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Not a whole lot to say about Monte Carlo. Rafael Nadal was his dominating self, winning the title for the 11th time. I ended up seeing the final versus Kei Nishikori and it was definitely one of those matches that was a lot closer than the score indicated ... until it wasn't. The resurgent Japanese looked awfully good in that first set before fading away after not being able to clinch it. I fully expect Nadal to sweep the clay season and pick up his 11th French Open, too.

Novak Djokovic fared a bit better than his previous events this year. Although he couldn't hold it together to defeat Dominic Thiem even after having won the first set, he was able to beat a red-hot Borna Coric and countryman Dusan Lajovic. (Imagine if you'd told me a couple years ago that Nole's beating Borna was seen as a big deal!) 

Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov, two players who might be expected to capitalize on the sudden opening at the top of the game, did each reach the semis. Yet you never really had the feeling either posed a real threat to win it. Just when I think they're underachievers, I remind myself that it's not their fault they came along in the era of Nadal (clay), Federer (grass) and Djokovic (hard), so there's probably not a lot of hope until all three are done at the same time. Still, Sasha and Grigor have each used the opening to reach career-high rankings, even if I feel they should have asterisks next to them. As much as I like to bitch about Simona Halep being on top of the game ,keep in mind that Zverev has reached just one round of 16 in a major in his entire career. (His current No. 3 ranking includes losing in the first round in Paris, the second round in New York and third in Melbourne!)

And speaking of people who can't seem to get over the hump. Milos Raonic looked like he was on the road back to the Top 10 -- until he pulled out of Monte Carlo with a yet another injury. (This time it's his right knee.) Sucks because he looked strong in Indian Wells and Miami. 

On the women's side, unseeded Zheng Saisai came from a set down to clinch the 125K Zhengzhou Open title Sunday. Saisai recovered to beat compatriot and No. 4 seed Wang Yafan 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in China.

Also caught some Fed Cup action. Call me a "casual American," but I was thrilled when CoCo Vandeweghe lost to Dominic Thiem's beard, Kristina Mladenovic, but then the U.S. won anyway. Madison Keys was a sight for sore eyes substituting for the big-cocked blond(e), beating Pauline Parmentier 7-6(4), 6-4 to put us in the second straight Fed Cup final. (I know Alize Cornet is a pain the country's ass, but does anyone know why Caroline Garcia wasn't there to help out instead of leaving the 32-year-old journeywoman to fight for her country's life?) 

Will be curious to see how we fare against the Czech Republic, who beat Germany to advance to their sixth final in eight years. Petra Kvitova defeated Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2 in under an hour to clinch the tie, with what proved to be a 4-1 win over Germany on Sunday. After Kvitova won the deciding rubber to make it 3-1, Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Strycova also won the doubles match that they were leading 7-5 when Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld retired after 37 minutes. 

So nice to see Kathy Rinaldi lead the Americans on another successful Fed cup run. Rinaldi replaced Tracy Austin in my heart for a while after her Cinderella run at the 1981 French Open. (We were both born in 1967, so she was my first actual contemporary on the tour.) 

I got myself a Prince Woodie and found a tennis shirt that matched her blue/red "rugby" style Ellesse top and went to town. (Mine was made by Jockey, which I found at Ross Dress for Less!) I compromised on navy shorts, although that skirt was the best.

 She never really became the next Tracy -- let alone the new Chris Evert, as she was billed -- but she she did get a few endorsements (remember her Lee jeans ads?!) and won three WTA titles, hitting No. 7 on the computer after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon. As it would happen, her second career title was in Mahwah, where she outlasted a 16-year-old "West" German named Steffi Graf ... who became my next true love! 

This is their 1986 semifinal clash at Amelia Island.

4-21-18 the day I was lucky enough to marry the girl of my dreams!! Thank you to everyone for making this an unbelievably special day for us both.

A post shared by Steve Johnson (@steviej345) on Apr 22, 2018 at 7:00pm PDT

Oh, and Stevie Johnson made good on his heterosexual threat ...

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands overpowered Germany's Julia Goerges to cap a long, chilly Sunday at the Volvo Car Open with a 6-2, 6-1 victory for her fifth career WTA title and third of the past 11 months. Bertens made it to the final by outlasting American Madison Keys as the WTA's first clay-court event of the season had to double up on play after rain Saturday washed out most of the semifinals. Bertens was nearly ousted by Keys, saving a match point in the third set before prevailing in tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5). Preparing for Goerges several hours later, Bertens thought, "OK, you could already have lost this morning, so just give everything and try to go for it," she said. "And yeah, now I'm here with the trophy." Perhaps the most important one of the 26-year-old's career.

Borna Coric has piled up a 14-6 record in 2018 with three quarterfinals (Doha, Dubai and Miami) and one semifinal (Indian Wells), lifting him to a career-high of No. 28 in the world. "I think the momentum is up, definitely," Coric said in Indian Wells after pushing Roger Federer to three sets. "Hopefully I can stay healthy, and I can continue to play like that. You know, how I'm going to play in Miami or Monte-Carlo, I don't know, but I'm going to give my best, for sure. I'm going to try to do the same things, shall try to focus on myself and just see what's gonna happen."

Join the more-than-100,000 people following him on Instagram HERE.

Check out the men in all white for the Houston players' party HERE.

See players celebrate Casey Dellacqua -- whom Margaret Court attacked for being gay -- as she retires to spend more time with her partner and children HERE.

I didn't see a single second of Davis Cup play while I was in Arizona. But I see France beat Italy and Spain beat Germany to set up a semifinal tie ...

-- and Croatia beat Kazakhstan and the USA routed Belgium to advance to the other semifinal.



Coach Jim Courier admires Jack Sock's best ass-et ...

And finally, here are the team line-ups for the U.S.A. vs. France and Germany vs. Czech Republic semifinals of the Fed Cup, to be played April 21-22. Both Venus and Serena Williams opted not to represent the U.S.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Lots of action around the world with Fed Cup and ATP tournaments on two continents. But the biggest story for me might have been Mirza Basic beating Marius Copil 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 6-4 in Sofia to capture his first ATP title. It was a match of two first-time finalists.

And while I was happy for the 26-year-old Bosnian, who beat a returning Stan Wawrinka in the semis and now enters the Top 100 for the first time ...

 

it was the Romania's body that kept me glued to the TV set. (Might be time to amend my hottest asses list!)

More HERE.

Lucas Pouille got a little lucky to win his fifth ATP World Tour title, beating three-time champion Richard Gasquet in Montpellier.

The gluteusly endowed Frenchman was getting blown off the court by beefy countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga when the Ali lookalike got injured. Then the "luck" continued by facing someone who has never won a title in his 16-year career greater than a 250. (Gasquet defeated top-seed David Goffin in his semi, however.)

Pouille will next play in Rotterdam, where Roger Federer will shoot to regain the No. 1 ranking.

Meanwhile down South American way, Roberto Carballes Baena celebrated his maiden moment on Sunday at the Ecuador Open, clinching his first ATP World Tour title in dramatic fashion. The Spaniard won his third straight three-set clash to lift the trophy, battling to victory as a qualifier. He then defeated countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for the Quito crown.

And speaking of which: Diego Schwartzman's Instagram continues to thrill -- this time with a Dominic Thiem stalker pic in Buenos Aries, where some of the men are playing this week. 

And then there was this. Two professional athletes stepped on the court in the second quarter of Saturday evening’s Brooklyn Nets game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The thing is, they weren’t basketball players. Ryan Harrison and Evgeny Donskoy, who are competing at this week’s inaugural New York Open, made many cheering fans happy by throwing and hitting tennis balls into the crowd during the tournament’s players’ party, which was held at the game. 

“It was really cool to get out there and have a little bit of cross-sport promotional stuff,” said Harrison, who won the event last year when it was held in Memphis. “Most of us who play tennis play other sports and it’s really cool to be able to see a great venue like this.” The only way this could have been better is if cutie Noah Rubin had joined the action.

And in Fed Cup play: Germany -- without Kerber, Goerges, Petkovic, Lisicki, Siegemund and Witthoeft -- defeated Belarus (without Azarenka) in Minsk to get back to the semifinals. 

Czech Republic is into the semifinals for the 10th straight year, thanks to some outstanding play by Petra Kvitova.

France -- without the help of Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet -- defeated Belgium to advance to the semis. A resurgent Kristina Mladenovic was the star, beating both Kirsten Flipkens and Elise Mertens in straight sets then teaming with Hesse to win the doubles.

And the U.S. dismissed the Netherlands, despite the shaky return of Serena Williams. In the GOAT's first competition since she gave birth five months ago, she and sister Venus lost 6-2, 6-3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs. But as rusty as she looked, Damian and I were still having PTSD flashbacks watching that serve. (I don't think it will be long before she's back in form.) 

Hello, Daddy!

And while I don't normally mention ATP Challenger events, hard to ignore Vasek Pospisil winning again, this time beating Nicola Kuhn of Spain in Budapest. (Kuhn and Felix Auger Aliassime won the doubles crown.)

Vasek Pospisil‏Verified account @VasekPospisil Feb 11

Another great week here in Budapest. Second title with the team 🏆🏆. Good start to the year 💪🏼 @rschuettler @dirkhordorff