Tennis-X Notes: Tursunov Kicked Out of Tournament; Nadal Wimbledon Pick
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Russian Dmitry Tursunov was booted out of the Slazenger Open in Nottingham after walking off the court during a doubles match.
ADHEREL
Tursunov walked off trailing 6-4, 3-1 after arguing over a line call.
“After reviewing the situation, the ATP Supervisor has withdrawn Dmitry Tursunov from the singles tournament at the Slazenger Open,” the ATP released in a statement.
Tursunov’s opponents were awarded the doubles victory, and the ATP also defaulted him from his upcoming singles match against Swede Thomas Johansson who was advanced into the quarterfinals.
Tursunov did not speak to the general press following the match.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Bjorn Borg’s pick for Wimbledon, and Great Person of the Year: “[Rafael] Nadal can play on any surface. If I would pick a winner for Wimbledon in 2008 I would pick Nadal. He knows he can play on grass now and he knows he can win on it. He’s a great player and a great person.” — then again, it was Borg who said Roger Federer had a “really, really good chance” of beating Nadal in the French Open final before he won only four games…
Richard Gasquet and Tommy Haas will join the long line of men’s players skipping the Beijing Olympics…The French Open men’s title won by South Americans Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna marked the first time a South American pair won a Grand Slam title in the Open Era (since 1968). They were teaming together at an event for the first time…
Former ATP player Horst Skoff of Austria is dead at age 39 after suffering heart failure. Skoff, who battled weight problems since retiring from pro tennis, ran a tennis school…
Rafael Nadal claycourt streak notes (courtesy the ATP’s Greg “The Remorseless Eating Machine” Sharko): 41 consecutive match wins in best-of-five set matches on clay; 28 consecutive match wins at Roland Garros, tying Bjorn Borg’s mark from 1978-81 (Nadal has never lost a match); 23 sets won in a row in Paris going back to ’07 final; 10 wins in a row vs. Top 10 opponents on clay (since losing to Federer in ’07 Hamburg final)…
Through the French Open, Roger Federer is No. 3 behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the ATP Race standings, tallying 2008-only ranking points…
From SI.com tennis writer Jon Wertheim: “We could do 50 thoughts — culled from you guys — just about the quality of the [French Open] television coverage. It basically breaks down on two lines: those who get Tennis Channel and those who don’t. There were a few low points — the Nadal/Djokovic match airing on tape delay. There were far more high points — the cooperation between ESPN and Tennis Channel. And when streaming real time video improves, a lot of the issues will be resolved.” — Problem with that is the typical defeatist tennis mindset. You think the PGA or NFL or NBA would put up with their major events being tape-delayed then say ‘it will be great when streaming video is available so fans can watch our sport’? No. Major sports are on major networks, live. When you settle for less, you get less. Tennis coverage in the U.S. is getting what it deserves when we are looking to streaming internet video to save the sport…
French riser Alize Cornet on her least-favorite opponent: “Anna Chakvetadze without a doubt. She put me down before our semifinal in Rome. She said that I was a good junior even though I was No. 30 in the world at the time. I was furious. And she doesn’t even say hello. She’s not a nice person.”…
The women’s French Open final featured 50 unforced errors in two sets, while the men’s featured 42 in three sets…
ESPN2’s 51 hours of French Open coverage averaged 397,000 homes, an increase of 24% over 2007, with a 28% rise in viewers…
THANKS FOR NOTHING: Brit player James Ward, after stretching former No. 1 Marat Safin in a three-set loss on grass at Queen’s, blasted England’s Lawn Tennis Association for not providing enough support to British juniors. The 21-year-old Ward says he was forced to move to Spain to train after receiving little support from the LTA…
Daniela Hantuchova withdrawn from the Ordina Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with the same foot injury that kept her out of the French Open…
Boris Becker tells GQ magazine that grunting in women’s tennis needs to be stopped: “I’m amazed whenever I watch Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. I can’t help thinking it’s bad for their vocal chords. It can’t be healthy and it can’t go on. Grunting serves no athletic purpose and should be banned.”…
From the Sportsbusiness Journal: “The ATP World Tour could be on the hook for $76.6 million if it loses the lawsuit filed against the group by its tournament in Hamburg, Germany.”…
From Chris Clarey at IHT: “Rivals for supremacy on the tennis court, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have now become political allies off the court in an attempt to take more control over the direction of their sport. Next Saturday in London, two days before Wimbledon begins, those three are all but certain to be voted on to the Player Council of the Association of Tennis Professionals. The election of the world’s three top men’s tennis players would be a most unusual move in an era when the game’s stars are typically more preoccupied with hitting big forehands and maximizing their big earnings than addressing the broader issues facing the sport.”…
Carlos Moya is out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury…
From the Daily Mail: “Former tennis champ Tim Henman almost caused a diplomatic incident on the eve of Wimbledon today after claiming players from the Czech Republic were ‘a bit niffy.’ Henman, 33, who quit the professional game last September, said the problem was compounded by the size of the changing rooms at the All England Lawn Tennis Club which he described as ‘too small.’ His comments are unlikely to win him any favours with the nation’s stars Jan Vacek, Petr Korda and their contender for this year, Radek Stepanek. No stranger to controversy, Henman also once described women players as ‘greedy’ for wanting equal pay to men. His comments, made during an interview with the Radio Times, sparked a cutting response from the Czech Republic’s ambassador in London, Jan Winkler. His spokesman said: ‘What a surprise that Tim Henman should have had the time when he was competing in a tournament as demanding as Wimbledon to do so much research into the smell of the male body.'”
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