Introducing Marko Djokovic, the one with the letter 'L'.
Marko Djokovic, the younger brother of World No. 3 Novak, will make his ATP debut in Bangkok this week after receiving a wild card into the main draw of the Thailand Open.
The 17-year-old right-hander has been drawn to meet fifth-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen in the first round, while this season’s Australian Open champion Novak will compete against Julien Benneteau of France or a qualifier after receiving a first round bye.
The brothers have obtained a wild card into the doubles draw and will meet Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.
Marko, currently No. 1734 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, has made three appearances on the ITF Futures circuit this year.
In July, he received a wild card into the qualifying competition of the Studena Croatia Open Umag but lost in the first round to World No. 310 Italian Francesco Piccari in three sets.
(Via ATP website)
Argentina has finally got what it wanted – a home Davis Cup final over the weekend of 21-23 November.
And it can also celebrate a new Davis Cup hero, the rising star Juan Martin del Potro.
Argentina has twice been in the final, but in both 1981 and 2006 it involved away trips to unfavourable surfaces in the northern hemisphere.
But following Juan-Martín del Potro’s 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over Russia's Igor Andreev in a live fifth rubber here in Buenos Aires, Argentina will host Spain in November’s final in what is likely to be the first outdoor final in seven years.
In Madrid, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal turned in a virtuoso performance to defeat American Andy Roddick 64 60 64 to secure Spain’s place in the Davis Cup by final.
It wasn’t that Roddick, ranked No. 8 in the world, played badly; it was just that, on this occasion, he was outclassed by Nadal, who played almost faultless tennis.
Today I play an almost perfect match and it is very, very exciting,” said Nadal after the win. “Today I played very well. I shocked myself with some of the winners I played, was near perfect tennis.”
It will be another few days before the venue is confirmed, but it is likely to be in Buenos Aires, and the front-runner is the 14,000-seater Parque Roca that has hosted all Argentina’s home ties since the start of 2006.
The only logistical issue is that the home nation will probably want to choose a moderately quick hard court to face Nadal and co – having waited so long for a first home final, Argentina will not want to welcome the world’s greatest claycourter on his favourite surface.
For complete results and other World Group playoffs results, go to the Davis Cup official website.
(Via Davis Cup official website)
Dinara Safina will move up to No. 3 in the world rankings after dominating Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 Sunday to win the Pan Pacific Open.
The victory gave the fourth-seeded Safina her fourth WTA singles title this season, tying her with No. 1 Serena Williams for the most this year.“I’ve played the best tennis this week I’ve ever played,” Safina said.
“It’s always nice to move up in the rankings and hopefully I can keep improving.”
Safina broke with a cross-court forehand from the baseline to go up 3-2 in the second set, and then broke for the third time in the final game, winning the match when the fifth-seeded Kuznetsova sent a forehand volley wide.
Safina has also won this year in Los Angeles, Montreal and Berlin.
She said pressuring Kuznetsova was the key on Sunday.
“I knew I had to keep the pressure on her from the start,” said Safina, who had seven aces.
“She is a good player and can put pressure on you so it was important for me to take my chances early.”
It was the 10th meeting between the two Russians, with Safina having won six of them.Kuznetsova, a former U.S. Open champion, was bidding for her first title in 2008.“It’s disappointing but I’ll try to be honest and positive,” Kuznetsova said.
“I came here after the clay court Fed Cup and really didn’t expect to get to the final so this isn’t a bad result for me.”
Kuznetsova said Safina can become the world’s top player.
“She has a chance to reach No. 1,” Kuznetsova said.
“She works hard and has a lot of energy. She has a bigger stroke than Jelena (Jankovic), and Serena (Williams) doesn’t play in that many tournaments these days.”
The doubles final, which followed after the singles final, pitted No.2-seeded duo Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur against unseeded team Petrova and Vania King.
And it was the underdog pairing of King and Petrova that prevailed, beating the two-time Grand Slam-winning team of Raymond and Stosur in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.
King and Petrova won their first title as a team; it was King's fifth individual Tour doubles title and Petrova's 14th.
(Images by Yahoo! Sports, Sony Ericsson WTA website)
Introducing Marko Djokovic, the one with the letter 'L'.
