TENNIS NEWS & TIDBITS

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 27th February 2014

TENNIS NEWS & TIDBITS

epa04102721 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic during their quarter final match for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 27 February 2014. EPA/ALI HAIDER |

Novak Djokovic on whether Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are his friends or competitors: “Somewhere in between. We are competing, if you want to call us rivals. It’s tough to be close friends with somebody you’re competing against. We all have our teams, we all have our people traveling with us. But I think that we have a very pleasant and very fair relationship off the court and on the court. We have tons of respect for each other, that we always show and that sends a good message about our sport.” . . . Jo-Wilfried Tsonga still thinks he can win a major. The 28 year old reached the Roland Garros semis last year, and upset Roger Federer there, but took a fourth-round defeat to Federer at the 2014 Australian Open “Today I’m still looking forward and I’m still looking to try to win some majors and stuff like this. But that’s it. In the world now, there are maybe five or six guys who have won grand slams since the past ten years, so it’s not a lot,” he said. So I will keep fighting and I will stay confident, and this is the key. . . The recently retired James Blake says that he won’t launch a comeback: “I’m 34, and I can’t hang unless I’m training full speed ahead, 50 weeks out of the year. I wanted to always take a little time off … and now I’m starting to think — should I do finance; should I do stuff in tennis; commentary; do some more of these exhibitions. I don’t really know, but I’m excited to see what else will fill that void that’s left without competing on the tour.” . . . Andy Murray wants to get married, but the day may have to wait. He’s been with the same woman, Kim Sears (the daughter of veteran tour coach Nigel) for around seven years. “I’ve thought about having a family life, a happy life, with a family. I plan to get married because it’s very important for me, for my future, when I no longer have the opportunity to play tennis and stop traveling so much.” Currently playing at the tournament in Acapulco, Murray says he avoids alcohol and had never had tequila, but “perhaps I might try it when the tournament is over.” . . . Tennis Channel announced it has extended its contract with commentator Mary Carillo for three years. . . Britain’s Laura Robson, troubled all year with wrist issues, has pulled out of the upcoming BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The 20 year-old has only completed one full match this year, at the Australian Open, and used her Facebook page to report: “I’m happy to report that I continue to progress with my wrist. But I’m still not ready to compete at the highest levels so I won’t be playing in Indian Wells.”

The Bryan brothers will face down doubles critic John McEnroe at next week’s World Tennis Day exhibition in New York, with the top team in the sport keen to make an impression of the former great who has recently questioned the usefulness of the specialty.

Mac launched an attack, saying the game had little use in the modern game and was a waste of time and money. The Bryans, of course, disagree:

“Obviously we saw his comments and it’s not fun to read that stuff,” said Mike Bryan. “It doesn’t help doubles to have John McEnroe say that kind of stuff but we’ve spoken about it. He’s got a lot of respect for us and we have a lot of respect for him and we’re not going to go out there and try to kill him or anything.

“It will be a fun match and we’re looking to go out there and lose we want to go out there and show some good tennis and take care of business. It’s an exhibition and we’re going to entertain the fans.”

The Californian twin added that there are no hard feelings with McEnroe regarding his controversial opinion. “John McEnroe is still playing some great tennis. He plays career events all around the world, he still plays the senior tour, the Grand Slams, and we’ve had a chance to watch him play. Even though he’s 55, he’s still John McEnroe.

“”He’s competitive and he’s still in great shape. He probably still thinks he can play with us so we want to show him some of our skills, too. I’m sure there will be some smiles and laughs, but hopefully the tennis will be top quality, too.”

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, BNP Paribas Open, Bob Bryan, Bryan Brothers, Indian Wells, James Blake, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, John Mcenroe, Kim Sears, Laura Robson, Mike Bryan, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis Channel, Wta