Federer Beats Haase to Secure Swiss Davis Cup Win
Sharapova reaches Miami Masters final
Santana says Nadal will be sporting great
Federer downs Davydenko to claim Qatar title
The 16-times grand slam champion proved too much for his Russian opponent, claiming a break of serve in each set to complete victory under the floodlights at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in central Doha.
Federer has improved throughout his five matches this week in Qatar, where he did not drop a set, and sealed victory in 79 minutes when Davydenko netted an attempted backhand pass to huge cheers from a capacity crowd.
It was a 67th career title for the 29-year-old, who hardly broke a sweat on another warm evening in the tiny Gulf emirate and celebrated victory with a brief smile amongst little celebration.
The Swiss served impeccably throughout, dropping just nine points on his serve as he demonstrated his solid form ahead of defending his title at the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on Jan. 17.
“I’m very happy to kick-off the season today this way I think I played an amazing match. It will give me a lot of confidence for the remainder of the season,” said Federer, who will head to Australia for a week of practice.
Davydenko, who brushed aside world number one Rafa Nadal in the previous round, struggled on the back foot during the first set as Federer moved him around the court at will with precision depth groundstrokes.
The Russian, ranked 22 in the world after slipping from a career high third, battled hard throughout, saving six break points in the first set and charging down every ball but was always under pressure on his own serve.
“He played very well for sure, today was tough, he gave me no chance on the return,” Davydenko told reporters.
“I don’t want to say I played badly today, I played okay but Federer didn’t give me a chance to realize my game. I don’t know if he can hold at this level for the whole year.”
The second set was on serve until the ninth game when Federer broke Davydenko to love before serving out with ease to claim his third Qatar Open title and collect the trophy, an elaborate golden eagle sat on a perch with a picture of the Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the base. (Reuters/Jamal Saidi)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Youzhny pulls out of Paris Masters
Murray Crushes Federer to Take Shanghai and 2nd Title of the Year
Bali Women’s Tourney Trims Roster to Eight
Nadal advances to Japan Open 2nd round
Asia’s Grand Slam Renaissance Put on Hold, Again
Nadal overcomes Murray to reach Wimbledon final
Nadal overcomes knee, deficit, umpire flap to win
Serena Williams into Wimbledon 4th round
The top-seeded American had at least two aces in each of her eight service games and overpowered the 46th-ranked Slovak 6-0, 7-5 in the day's first match on Centre Court.
Williams won 37 of 43 service points and held at love five times. She won 19 of her first 20 service points, with Cibulkova putting only four returns in play in that stretch.
The first set lasted just 18 minutes, with Williams winning 25 of 31 points, serving six aces and hitting 12 winners. She finished the match with 37 winners.
Cibulkova, a semifinalist at the French Open last year, finally got on the scoreboard when she held serve for 1-1 in the second set. From then on, she kept the match competitive by holding serve, although she couldn't cope with Williams' serves.
In the men’s competition, Sweden's Robin Soderling advanced to the fourth round after a straight-sets victory over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.
Sixth-seeded Soderling, a two-time French Open finalist, beat the 24th-ranked Bellucci 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in just under two hours.
After breezing through the first two sets, the Swede faced a stiffer challenge from the left-handed Brazilian in the third, when he saved three break points in the penultimate game of the match.
Soderling, who has reached the round of 16 for the second consecutive year at Wimbledon, is one of only three men yet to drop a set this tournament.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Serena Snags Sister’s Crown
She wasn’t facing just anyone, of course. She was playing her older sister Venus. And when the latest all-Williams final finished, when Serena wrapped up a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory on Saturday for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th major title overall, she jogged to the net with her arm extended for a handshake. Venus pulled her close for a warm embrace, instead.
“I didn’t think about Venus at all today. I just saw her as an opponent,” said Serena, who also beat her sister in the 2002 and 2003 finals at the All England Club.
“At one point, after the first set, I looked on the side of the court at the stats, and it was like ‘Williams,’ ‘Williams.’ I couldn’t figure out which was which,” she added.
That was because she was facing the only woman who can equal her power and court coverage on grass courts. Monday’s rankings will say Serena is No. 2, and Venus No. 3 — behind No. 1 Dinara Safina, a 6-1, 6-0 loser to Venus in the semifinals — but it is clear who the best woman in the world is at the moment.
Serena has won three of the past four Grand Slam titles and even poked a little fun at Safina, who is 0-3 in major finals.
“If you hold three Grand Slam titles, maybe you should be No. 1, but not on the WTA Tour,” Serena said. Then, alluding sarcastically to two less-than-major events won by Safina, Serena said: “I see myself as No. 2. That’s where I am. Dinara did a great job to get to No. 1. She won Rome and Madrid,” then laughed.
Serena leads Venus in Grand Slam titles (11-7), in head-to-head matches (11-10), and in all-Williams major finals (6-2).
It was the 14th Grand Slam final for each Williams; no other active woman participated in more than four. Serena is 11-3 in such matches; Venus fell to 7-7, with all but one defeat coming against her sister.
Asked if it’s easier or harder losing to a sibling, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus said: “There’s no ‘easy’ to losing, especially when it’s so close to the crown.”
She was the two-time defending champion and had won 20 matches in a row at Wimbledon, the last 17 in straight sets. But Venus — at 29, she’s 15 months older than Serena — appeared a step slow, perhaps bothered by the left knee that’s been bandaged since the second round.
About 3 1/2 hours after their match ended, Serena and Venus returned to Center Court and capped their domination of the tournament by winning a second consecutive Wimbledon doubles championship. Slapping palms between points, the sisters beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (4), 6-4 to collect their ninth women’s doubles Grand Slam title, fourth at Wimbledon.
“Nothing like winning a title with your sister,” Serena said.
Associated Press
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
Federer faces Swiss pal Wawrinka at French Open
Now, for the first time, Federer will be Wawrinka's Grand Slam opponent. They'll meet Sunday in the fourth round of the French Open.
"He's really a good friend," Wawrinka said. "We know each other so well, so it's never easy to play him, especially here in French Open. But then when you go on court, you try to do your job."
Wawrinka has reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the first time. With one more victory, he would earn his first berth in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
A win would also end Federer's record streak of reaching the semifinals in 23 consecutive major tournaments.
"All streaks come to an end," Wawrinka said. "Sooner or later in his career, he will lose before the semifinals. But writing history, that is not my main objective."
Seeded 20th, Wawrinka earned a chance to play Federer by beating Fabio Fognini on Friday, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Federer beat qualifier Julian Reister 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.
Also advancing were Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Venus and Serena Williams. Most of tennis' top players were in action because of a schedule backlog caused by rain earlier in the week.
Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was beaten by fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The No. 6-seeded Kuznetsova, who saved four match points in the second round, will fall out of the top 10 for the first time in four years.
"You cannot play all the time great,' Kuznetsova said. "It's up ands downs. I have not been playing well this clay-court season and this season, but it happens, you know. I'll be back. I have the game. It's fine. It's just matters of time."
Federer has yet to drop a set, but then so has Wawrinka, who considers clay his best surface. Federe is 4-1 in the friendly rivalry and easily won their most recent meeting in Madrid two weeks ago, but Wawrinka won at the Monte Carlo Masters on clay last year.
They'll face each other on a Grand Slam stage for the first time. They first met for a practice session when Wawrinka was 16 and Federer was alreay in the top 10.
"We played for two hours," Wawrinka said. "It was very tough. I was very nervous to begin with, but I had a lot of fun."
Federer has since built an unrivaled resume, with a record 16 major titles and - thanks to last year's victory at the French Open - a career Grand Slam. He has lso provided informal counsel to Wawrinka, Switzerland's second-best player.
"I'm not his coach, but at the beginning it's like giving tips and advice," Federer said. "I saw him growing. It's always very interesting to see how he can continue and make progress. He's no longer asking for tips, which is agood sign."
They've been doubles partners for the Swiss Davis Cup and Olympic teams, and they won together at Beijing in 2008.
"It's probably the best memory of my life," Wawrinka said. "Tennis is such an individual sport that you can hardly ever share something with somebody. And being able to she this victory with Roger on the courts was beautiful. Because of him, I have a gold medal in my house, so I'm very happy for that."
Wawrinka will be the toughest test so far in this year's French Open for Federer, whose first three opponents were ranked 71st, 70th and 165th.
"I haven't played top guys yet, but dangerous players who are skillful on this surface," Federer said. "With my own form, I'm very happy."
Wawrinka knows what he's up against.
"The greatest player ever," he said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Sharapova makes early exit, Dementieva advances
While Sharapova made a premature exit, her fourth-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva enjoyed a smooth passage by easing past Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4 6-2 in their third-round match.
Zheng, a surprise semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, broke Sharapova three times in the final set before clinching victory in a little under three hours with a searing forehand winner that clipped the baseline.
The 26-year-old Chinese, seeded 18th, punched her right fist in delight after booking a place in the fourth round against Australian wildcard Alicia Molik, a 6-0 6-2 winner over
British qualifier Elena Baltacha.
"It was a tough match," a smiling Zheng told reporters. "It was good fighting in the final set. I was 2-3 down and I come back to 6-3. It`s not easy and I`m so tired.
"She played so hard... but I tried to serve to her body more, because she has long arms. If I serve too wide, it`s easy (for her) to hit winner. My serve always go to her body."
Zheng broke the former world number one three times to win the opening set but the 2006 champion followed suit in a protracted second set that lasted one hour eight minutes to level the match.
Early service breaks were traded in the third before Sharapova appeared to take control when she again broke the Chinese, forcing a baseline error by her opponent with a powerful forehand to lead 3-1.
Medical treatment
After taking a medical timeout for treatment on her right elbow, Sharapova was then broken in her next two service games and Zheng, a feisty counter-puncher, took advantage by holding her own serve to close out the match.
Sharapova, who had clinched her 21st WTA title in Memphis last month, piled up 62 unforced errors in the third-round encounter compared to 40 by Zheng.
"I`d have periods of good games, and then the problem is trying to keep them all together and not be so up-and-down," the 22-year-old Russian said. "It was just very inconsistent.
"She`s like a ball machine. She hits a lot of balls back, hits them hard and deep. I should have done a much better job on her serve because that is definitely one of her weaker parts of the game."
Asked how much her problem elbow affected her in the final set, Sharapova replied: "Not in my game, but on my serve it was really blocked extending it.
"I just felt like I couldn`t really extend it all the way. It was a little stuck. I`m sure I`ll have a check-up on it."
Earlier, fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland swept aside 31st-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-0 and 11th seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli crushed American Jill Craybas 6-2 6-0. (Uu.SYS/A008/S026)
Source: Indian Wells, California (ANTARA News/Reuters) - Former champion and 10th seed Maria Sharapova of Russia was knocked out of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Sunday, losing an error-strewn marathon to China`s Zheng Jie 6-3 2-6 6-3.
While Sharapova made a premature exit, her fourth-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva enjoyed a smooth passage by easing past Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4 6-2 in their third-round match.
Zheng, a surprise semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, broke Sharapova three times in the final set before clinching victory in a little under three hours with a searing forehand winner that clipped the baseline.
The 26-year-old Chinese, seeded 18th, punched her right fist in delight after booking a place in the fourth round against Australian wildcard Alicia Molik, a 6-0 6-2 winner over
British qualifier Elena Baltacha.
"It was a tough match," a smiling Zheng told reporters. "It was good fighting in the final set. I was 2-3 down and I come back to 6-3. It`s not easy and I`m so tired.
"She played so hard... but I tried to serve to her body more, because she has long arms. If I serve too wide, it`s easy (for her) to hit winner. My serve always go to her body."
Zheng broke the former world number one three times to win the opening set but the 2006 champion followed suit in a protracted second set that lasted one hour eight minutes to level the match.
Early service breaks were traded in the third before Sharapova appeared to take control when she again broke the Chinese, forcing a baseline error by her opponent with a powerful forehand to lead 3-1.
Medical treatment
After taking a medical timeout for treatment on her right elbow, Sharapova was then broken in her next two service games and Zheng, a feisty counter-puncher, took advantage by holding her own serve to close out the match.
Sharapova, who had clinched her 21st WTA title in Memphis last month, piled up 62 unforced errors in the third-round encounter compared to 40 by Zheng.
"I`d have periods of good games, and then the problem is trying to keep them all together and not be so up-and-down," the 22-year-old Russian said. "It was just very inconsistent.
"She`s like a ball machine. She hits a lot of balls back, hits them hard and deep. I should have done a much better job on her serve because that is definitely one of her weaker parts of the game."
Asked how much her problem elbow affected her in the final set, Sharapova replied: "Not in my game, but on my serve it was really blocked extending it.
"I just felt like I couldn`t really extend it all the way. It was a little stuck. I`m sure I`ll have a check-up on it."
Earlier, fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland swept aside 31st-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-0 and 11th seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli crushed American Jill Craybas 6-2 6-0. (Uu.SYS/A008/S026)
Source: http://www.antara.co.id
Venus, Sharapova sign on for Thailand
The tennis superstars will spend New Year's Eve in Hua Hin before their match on January 2, which will be followed by a mixed doubles clash alongside local heroes Paradorn Srichaphan and Danai Udomchoke.
"I am delighted to be able to spend my New Year in Hua Hin, Thailand," said Sharapova, who is battling to find her best form again after arthroscopic surgery a year ago to repair her right shoulder.
"I am sure it will be an exciting time and I am looking forward to competing in the Centennial Invitation."
Williams, who lost to sister Serena in the final of the season-ending WTA Championships this month, is also excited.
"I have very fond memories of my previous visits to Thailand and am really looking forward to returning for the Centennial Invitation match in Hua Hin," she said.
After their match, both players move to Hong Kong for the Tennis Classic team event, which features players representing Europe, Russia, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific.
They then head to Australia for the opening Grand Slam of the season.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com
Kandath Takes Out No. 4 Seed Huang in First Round Action; U.S. Girls Have Banner Labor Day
Flushing Meadows, NY--
It's a rare junior match that features no service breaks and winner after winner, but in today's first round contest between No. 4 seed Liang-Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei and Matt Kandath of the U.S., that's what the crowd gathered around court 10 witnessed. Kandath, who avoided qualifying by reaching the doubles final of the ITF Grade 1 in Canada last week, took a 7-6(4), 7-6(4) decision over the world's fourth ranked junior.
Neither player seemed to suffer any nerves even the tense moments, or if they did, they expressed it by hitting harder and closer to the lines. There were forced errors, but very few of the unforced variety and even more winners, at least in the half dozen games that I saw.
"I knew I was serving great, and that really helped my confidence," said Kandath, who had nine aces in the match to Huang's two. "It was a little frustrating not to be able to break him at all. I think we each had a few break points, but not too many, so I had to grind out all the way to the tiebreak."
Kandath admitted that he had probably never played better, and to do so against a top player in front of several hundred fans, most of them cheering for him, was especially gratifying.
"Usually I get a decent size crowd, just because I'm from New York and I know a lot of the Eastern section kids," said the 17-year-old from Albany. "But as the match went on, people started seeing it was really close, and it did help to have that big of a crowd supporting you and cheering you on, getting you through the tough points."
Huang was serving from behind throughout the second set, and at 4-5 30-40, Kandath earned his first match point. Huang saved it, painting the sideline with his forehand, and played aggressively in the next two points to even the match at 5-5. With both players blasting groundstrokes--Kandath with both hands on forehand and backhand--that landed within inches of the baseline or sideline, errors seemed inevitable, but they rarely came. After both held serve, the tiebreaker began with Kandath taking a 4-1 lead, and his returns, which landed within inches of the baseline that Huang hugged, helped Kandath take a 6-2 lead. Four match points are a great luxury, but a net cord that dropped wide and another near miss brought it to 6-4 brought some tension. It didn't last long however, as in a final scintillating rally typifying the match, Kandath forced a forehand error to secure the win.
Earlier in the day, which was again pleasantly cool and slightly overcast, Alex Domijan squeezed past Indian qualifier Sudanwa Sitaram 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Domijan was down 3-1 in the final set, but got the break back when Sitaram missed a volley serving at 4-3, 30-40. Domijan wasn't serving well and Sitaram kept up with him on the ground, until the last game. Sitaram was serving to get into a tiebreaker and with that pressure the errors began to mount. At 15-40, he saved one match point, but Domijan pounded a forehand that Sitaram couldn't handle, and the 6-foot-7 Floridian had set up a much-anticipated meeting with No. 3 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia.
"I didn't serve well from halfway through the second set to the end," Domijan said. "He was chipping a lot of my returns and I wasn't really making him pay for that enough, so I got broken a lot."
Kandath and Domijan were joined in the second round by wild card Raymond Sarmiento, who defeated Cheng Peng Hsieh of Chinese Taipei 7-5, 6-3, giving the U.S. seven first round boys winners with two others, Evan King and Dennis Novikov, playing first round matches on Tuesday.
If there's a competition between the U.S. boys and U.S. girls however, it's no contest, as the girls won six of seven matches on Monday, after winning four of seven on Sunday. Ester Goldfeld and Mallory Burdette will play their first round matches on Tuesday. Christina McHale, the No. 8 seed, withdrew with a thigh injury, and her place was taken in the draw by lucky loser Annika Beck of Germany, whose match was postponed until Tuesday.
Wild card Gail Brodsky got off to a slow start, trailing 5-2 in the opening set before winning six games in a row against Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg, and the 2008 girls 18s champion came through with a 7-5, 7-5 win. No. 16 Beatrice Capra defeated qualifier Anna Marenko of Russia 6-3, 6-2, and wild card Grace Min beat qualifier Ting-Fei Juan of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-2. Qualifer Courtney Dolehide won her first junior Grand Slam match, taking out Cristina Dinu of Romania 6-0, 4-6, 6-4, and No. 7 seed Lauren Embree eliminated qualifier Paula Kania of Poland 7-5, 6-2. The final singles match of the day saw Nicole Gibbs defeat Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-1.
"I came out and got up 3-1, 40-15 and then had a rough patch through there," said Gibbs who found herself at 4-4 in the opening set. "She changed up her game and I was trying to hit the ball out of my strike zone. I was trying to take the ball early but it just took me a little time to get my timing, and I played really well after that."
After yet another ferocious comeback from Melanie Oudin earlier in the day, I asked Gibbs, who is a year and half younger than Oudin, how her achievement was seen by other U.S. junior girls.
"It's inspirational, watching her win today, watching the kind of emotion her family was showing after the match," Gibbs said. "It's hard not to feel really proud of your country and of Melanie. She's doing amazingly, and I think that means really good things for me as a 5-foot 5-inch tennis player," Gibbs said with a laugh. "You know there are still people who are doing some damage in the main draw at my height, so that's good to see."
Junior doubles action also began on Monday, and the top seeded girls doubles team of Kristina Mladenovic and Silvia Njiric of Croatia were defeated 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 by Jana Cepelova and Chantal Skamlova of Slovakia. For complete draws and results, as well as the order of play, see usopen.org.
Source: http://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com
Nadal's Year and Future Riding on U.S. Open
Things changed drastically however one sunny afternoon in Madrid, when Federer looking more like his usual self drilled Nadal in the final 6-4, 6-3. The round before, Nadal in spectacular fashion barely managed to get through Djokovic in what will end up being one of the better 2009 non-slam matches of the year.
With that loss, Nadal walked into the French Open with reduced momentum, an apparent knee issue, and some personal family related issues. Of course, those personal issues didn't surface all of a sudden, but that is none of our business, and we'll leave it at that.
At Nadal's legendary backyard (Rolland Garros), people refused to believe that the master of clay could lose. Why? Because he hadn't lost at the French Open. He was virtually unbeatable going into the 2009 French Open, that is, until some Swedish rebel played the match of his life and dismantled the Spaniard in legendary fashion. It was the upset of all upsets at the French, and while we didn't witness "Roger-like tears" from Nadal, it had to of hurt...Badly.
Nadal then went into an injury time-out and only just returned to the competitive scene via the Montreal Masters. He went on to lose to Del Potro in the quarters, and then his #2 ranking to Andy Murray. No coincedence that he lost to a future top #3 player, and then his ranking to quite possibly the next #1 player in the world.
It has indeed been a difficult year for Nadal, however here he has an opportunity to fight like hell in a city where fighting like hell earns you respect and honor. New York will get behind the underdog and Rafa can use this to his advantage to slide through the first week and deep into the second. He is however not the #1 seed, or even the #2 seed here, he's #3. How the draw plays out for him will be revealed very shortly, and he may need some ol' "luck of the draw" on his side.
Anything shy of the semi-finals in my mind though is going to be tough for Rafa. He MUST play up to his seed in order to walk away here with anything positive. Yes, I know he is just returning from a significant injury, but this isn't Roger Federer. Nadal has a significantly smaller window of opportunity to haul majors because he plays like no other man out there, with sheer reckless abandon. His body won't survive into his 30's, he has maybe 3-4 years (if lucky) before either a) The body says good-night; or b) Del Potro, Murray and the rest of the upstarts take over tennis for good.
I also believe anything other than Rafa or Roger winning the U.S. Open will be an added hurdle for Rafael to overcome. Federer wins (no matter what happens to Nadal), and he has to feel some comfort that the universe that he knows still holds somewhat true. Throw in Murray, Tsonga, Del Potro, Roddick, or anyone else, and things change. The universe changes (again). More guys, with more confidence. Deeper draws, tighter rankings, and ultimately improved competition for Nadal to deal with.
The 2009 edition of the U.S. Open could truly be a legendary tournament with so many men legitimately having a shot here. The field is so deep these days, with so many story lines, so many characters.
It's getting close folks, if you are less than ten hours away from New York, you had better start planning the road trip now!
Cheers,
MarkOskar
Source: http://thetennisauthority.blogspot.com
China’s top players leave state-run system
BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie is relishing her new freedom after being allowed to leave China’s rigid state-run sporting system and keep more of her earnings, local media said on Wednesday.
“Finally I can have my own schedule. I can control my time now,” the world number 25 told the China Daily.
The paper said Zheng can keep as much as 92 percent of her prize money, after formerly having to part with up to 65 percent, and could for the first time miss winter training camp to enjoy a holiday with parents.
Zheng, who in July became China’s first player to make the last four at Wimbledon, left the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) this month to become a free agent on the international tour along with compatriots Li Na, Peng Shuai and doubles partner Yan Zi.
With most athletes in China still required to join government-sponsored city and provincial teams to be eligible to join the national team and compete in international tournaments, the CTA’s release of its top players marks a watershed for professional Chinese sport.
The move followed several years of conflict between authorities keen to nurture their best talent and players frustrated at strict training regimes and smaller pay packets.
Zheng and her free agent compatriots can still be called up for national duty, according to CTA deputy director Gao Shenyang, and are welcome back in the state fold at any time.
“The players can ask for help any time they want,” the paper quoted Gao as saying. “If they don’t like the new format after trying it for a while, they are free to revert to the old system.”
The players will be giving up a group of 17 coaches, eight doctors, and a team of sports nutritionists, physicians, psychologists and trainers ready to give free consultations at any time, the paper said.
Zheng said she would not be far from the embrace of the state, however: “It is not appropriate to say ‘flying away’, because I never actually left the national team,” she said. (Reporting by Liu Zhen, editing by Alan Baldwin)
Source:
http://sports.yahoo.com
Ex-French Open champ Costa is Spain's new captain
BARCELONA, Spain -- Former French Open champion Albert Costa was named Spain's Davis Cup captain on Thursday, a month after the team beat Argentina for the 2008 title.
Costa was a member of Spain's first Davis Cup winning team in 2000. He also won 12 ATP singles titles during his playing career, including the 2002 French Open. He is currently coaching Feliciano Lopez.
"I accomplished a lot of my dreams as a player, winning at Roland Garros and now I've managed another one, becoming captain of our Davis Cup team," said Costa, who agreed to lead Spain for one year.
Costa's debut will be a first-round World Group match against Serbia at Benidorm from March 6 to March 8.
"We're very ambitious. We want to keep working really hard and we want to win the Davis Cup again," Costa said.
Sanchez Vicario, who led Spain for three full seasons after taking charge in October 2005, had publicly pushed for the Spanish tennis federation to pick Costa.
Sanchez Vicario announced his retirement after Spain's unlikely victory -- it came with top-ranked Rafael Nadal unavailable due to injury -- against the heavily favored Argentines.
"He did an incredible job and he's kind of left me in a bad spot. It'll be nearly impossible to better what he did," Costa said.
Costa had an 11-8 career record as a player in 13 Davis Cup series.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Source:
http://sports.espn.go.com