‘Golden-Masters’ and Bartoli’s ‘Good-Bye’
View(s):‘Grand-Slam achievement is the feat of winning the four Tennis majors, Australian open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in one calendar year. Association of Tennis Professionals [ATP] has another elite annual series – the ‘World Masters 1000’ consisting of nine tournaments. Winning all nine during ones competitive career is called the ‘Golden Masters’. No man has achieved this yet.
‘Golden-Masters’ for Novak Djokovic?
One player has won eight of them and he is competing now in the one he is yet to win. It is the ‘Cincinnati Western and Southern Open’ in the USA. The player is none other than current world’s number one Novak Djokovic. Winning this title will give him the ‘Golden Masters’ making history. Up to now ‘Golden Masters’ has proved to be a ‘mission impossible’. The nine tournaments are; Indiana Wells, Miami Open, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Montreal, Shanghai, Paris and Cincinnati. Only Djokovic has come close to the title.
Marion Bartoli’s announced her retirement last week
Odds not in his favour
Cincinnati is a hard court tournament with nearly four million Dollars in prize money, attracting the best. Between 2011 and 2012 Djokovic beat Nadal 11 times, but in the last 6 confrontations it is Nadal who leads 5 to 1. Djokovic has also beaten Andy Murray 7 times; again in the last two meetings it was Murray who won the US Open 2012 and Wimbledon 2013 finals. Juan Del Porto has taken Djokovic to 5 sets. The draw has all the ‘old top guns’ and the emerging new names. Being the tail end of the season with US Open, two weeks away, things are in top gear and old guards seem a little tired. For the new comers it is the ideal ‘hunting party’. Still I feel the ‘Golden Masters’ for Novak Djokovic is a strong possibility this year.
Marion Bartoli’s ‘good-bye’
Most dramatic event of Cincinnati up to now was the retirement announcement of Marion Bartoli after her loss to Simona Halep of Romania in the second round. After the match, Bartoli in tears said “I feel it’s time for me to walk away. I made my dream [Wimbledon] a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can’t cope with everything.” Bartoli won 7 career singles titles and in the last 8 years she stayed in the top 20 of the world ranking. Her work ethics were often praised. She is looking forward to the next chapter of her life. “Obviously I’m excited to live my future,” she said.
Women in Cincinnati
On the women’s side of Cincinnati, all the Americans went out except for Serena Williams before the pre-quarter finals. Martina Hingis has made a comeback in Doubles with Daniela Hantuchova. They lost to Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani of Italy. Li Na of China is defending her title at Cincinnati. The past winners are Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Jankovic, and Maria Sharapova. Women’s purse this year is two and a half Million dollars. Here too new comers are knocking on the door. Cincinnati joined the women’s event with men’s since 2011. Many critics say joining the event has enhanced the glamour and interest very much for spectators and media.
Cincinnati History
The tournament began in 1899 just 25 years after Tennis was first played in North America. It is the oldest ‘professional’ Tennis Tournament in the USA. Cincinnati could be considered the only small city in the nine land mark cities of the world in ‘ATP Masters 1000’ series. Cincinnati’s contribution and influence to USA tennis is undisputed. Outside US Open stadium in New York, Cincinnati is the only venue with four permanent stadium courts. The recognition has given them the prominent slot just before the American Grand Slam the ‘US Open’. If Djokovic gets his ‘Golden Masters’ here, it will be a fitting recognition for Cincinnati.
Hard courts Tennis of US.
USA could be considered the original home of the hard court. This is where it began. This year’s Cincinnati tournament has advanced to pre-quarters. All who could challenge Djokovic are still there including Roger Federer showing his incredible autumn form. It is said ‘Golf is a game of precision and Tennis is reaction’. This is most true on hard courts. Tennis in the first two rounds of the 64 draw in Cincinnati was dominated by big serves and winners. Long Rallies were few and far in between. Some players did go to net. Hard is a uniform surface which does not reduce speed nor give irregular bounce. This being so, it favours ground strokes more than the net game.
Sri Lanka; Junior nationals is on in Colombo to be followed by the Open Nationals. Sunday Times is covering the event well.–
George Paldano, former international player; Accredited Coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR; National, Davis Cup and Federation Cup Coach –
georgepaldano@yahoo.com
Follow @timesonlinelk
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