An interview with Mathieu Montcourt at Tashkent Challenger

Giant killer Mathieu Montcourt of France has had a wonderful week so far at Tashkent Challenger recording two upsets in a row against 8th seed Go Soeda of Japan and against 2nd seed and 70th ranked Dudi Sela of Isreal.

Here's a piece of the interview with Montcourt after his win against Sela.

Q: How do you feel after today’s win?

Montcourt: I’m very proud of the way I played today, I played very well. It’s a good win for me. I told myself I had to fight hard and win today and I did it. I’m playing very well and feel nice. Also I’m liking the courts.

Q: Are you surprised with your performance?

Montcourt: Yes, I’m truly surprised, I was not expecting this results. I cam e here with a view to win a few matches. I had lost couple of matches in the last few weeks and feeling low on confidence.

Q: But you are playing relatively well this week?

Montcourt: Like I said, I have nothing to loose, I’m just trying to play fee as I can without expecting too much, that is why I’m probably playing better

Q: It’s believed that the French are essentially clay court players, but your game is much suited for the hard courts?

Montcourt: Very true, I practice at the Rolland Garros which has clay courts, so all of us practice on the clay courts, but if you see today many of the results of French players are coming on hard courts look at Tsonga, Gasquet they are winning on hard courts. Nowadays it doesn’t matter on which surface you practice, one has to learn to win on other surfaces like hard courts and grass too.

Q: How do you look at the future?

Montcourt: I have 2 more events still to go , I’m playing in Korea, I haven’t set any goals , this is the end of the season I want to end it with a high and make lot of points. I want to play well without putting pressure on myself. This way I’m preparing to play better tennis next year.

Q: Your views on the Tashkent Challenger?

Montcourt: It’s my first time in Uzbekistan, and I’m impressed with the organization of the event. I did not expect anything here, but I’m surprised at the way they are doing the event. The people are friendly and the hotel is good, so are the courts and playing conditions. I think it’s a very high and well organized event.

(Via Sunder Iyer on behalf of the media team at Tashkent Challenger)

My money's heading for a big mattress, jokes Federer

Roger Federer, the richest tennis player of all time, joked on yesterday that a "big mattress" could be his salvation from the current world financial meltdown.

The Swiss player revealed at the Madrid Masters that he keeps a close eye on the turbulence in the world money markets.

"I've followed closely to know what's going on. It seems like the markets may come back a bit now, but I think it will take a while for things to calm down."

"I'm not a big risk-taker off the court, I work so hard and travel so much that I don't want to lose money over problems that I cannot control."

Federer called the current upheaval a challenging time for everyone.

"Anyway, I have a big mattress," he joked.

Earlier this week, ATP announced that Federer has surpassed Pete Sampras to become the all-time leader in career prize money earnings in men’s tennis.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion took his career earnings to over $43.3 million at the Madrid Masters this week.

American Sampras earned $43,280,489 in a glittering career that included 14 grand slam titles.

“Obviously it’s nice to have records. I didn’t play tennis because of money, that was never my drive but I have been very successful,” said Federer.

“I’ve had an incredible run in slams lately that racks up the money and also the Masters Cup, there is a lot of money involved there."

“I guess this is also the moment when you can thank the all-time greats from back in the day when it was still amateur to have brought the game to where it is today. They have created the platform for us players today.”

Current world no. 1 Rafael Nadal is the only other active player on the top-10 career earnings list, but he has won less than half of Federer’s total.

Federer has been the season’s leading money winner for five straight seasons but could be displaced by Nadal.

Sampras and Ivan Lendl topped the list six times, but never five straight.

(Via AP and AFP, Image by Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic says he needs to work on his physical strength

Novak Djokovic believes the main obstacle standing between him and the No. 1 ranking is physical strength.

“Physical strength is something I’ve been trying to focus on lately,” the 21-year-old Serb.

“I’m aware that this has been one of my issues in that I haven’t been recovering well from long matches and long tournaments.”

He said his tall, lanky frame uses up a lot of energy when running on the court and puts him at a disadvantage against players like the muscular Nadal and the smooth Roger Federer.

“My game is based on the base line, so I’m running all over the court, stretching, with quick moves, putting a lot of pressure on the body,” he said.

With Federer, in contrast, “it’s just beautiful to watch the way he plays, the way everything goes with ease.”

Djokovic, who was eliminated from the Madrid tournament by Ivo Karlovic on Thursday, said his energy-draining style is one of the reasons he has struggled with injuries lately.

“I don’t like how I have got a reputation as a guy who asked for medical timeouts to intimidate opponents,” he said.

“It’s not me trying to provoke my opponent. It’s me trying to win.”

That issue came to the fore at this year’s U.S. Open.

He took offense when Andy Roddick joked about the series of medical issues that afflicted Djokovic earlier in the tournament.

Djokovic’s reaction did not sit well with the crowd at Flushing Meadows.

“One of the worst moments of my career was when I gave an interview after the Roddick match on the center court and 20,000 people whistled at me,” he said.

But while his physical abilities may be lacking, Djokovic said he has developed the mental strength to deal with such setbacks.

“The mental ability that I have at the moment is one of my advantages,” he said.

“What divides top players from the rest is mental calmness and an ability to cope with pressure in certain moments. That’s why you see Rafa, Roger, myself and a couple of other guys at the top."

"If you are mentally able to play the right shots at the right time, then your place is at the top. That’s the key of this game.”

Djokovic attributed some of his toughness to having grown up during trying times in Serbia.

Along with Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, he has helped make tennis one of the most popular sports in his country and is now trying to bring an ATP Tour event to Belgrade.

That could happen as early as next year, after his family bought the license to the ABM Amro Open.

“We had two wars and lots of economic problems; the image of Serbia was not good. Coming from there made it difficult for me but it made me stronger,” Djokovic said.

“It will be good to see top level tennis there after so much unrest."

(Via AP, Image by AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Tickets for Kings Cup is up for sale!

Before you head to Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur for Showdown of Champions, I suggest you to go up north during the weekend (Nov 14-16) to Penang to catch the Kings Cup.

The tickets for Kings of Tennis' Big Bang Penang are now up for sale at Axcess outlet (offline and online).

Please take not that the price is RM203 per ticket per day. So, for 3 days it's going to be totalled up to RM609. Still worth it to see the first King Cups with all no.1 players in one place, huh?!

During a press conference in New York recently. Notice the lady in the middle is Arianna Teoh, the organiser, former Miss Malaysia and wife of Alex Yoong (former F-1 race car driver).

Eight former world No. 1s, including Americans John McEnroe and Pete Sampras and Swedes Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg, are to square off against each other in a new Ryder Cup-style competition.

Team America: Roy Emerson (Captain), John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras.

Team Europe: Ilie Nastase (Captain), Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander.

Called the Kings Cup, Team America and Team Europe will battle over three days in Malaysia in a singles and doubles format.

"Let's just say I'm glad that Sampras is on my team," McEnroe, who topped the rankings for 170 weeks, said at the competition's launch in New York back in August.

"For us it's a great concept. 'Kings of Tennis' sounds awful nice to us because slowly but surely we're becoming legends in our own minds, so the fact that we're going to be going to Malaysia and treated as kings is quite exciting," he said.

"It's easy to say yes to this kind of thing. To get together with a very small group of people who you have mutual respect for because of what we were able to accomplish - there are not a lot of people who can say that," he said.

Borg, who was No. 1 for 109 weeks, will be joined by fellow Swedes Edberg, Mats Wilander and an as-yet unnamed wild card for the inaugural event, which will be held annually.

"I'm delighted to play with these guys once again and to play with John - everyone knows the matches we had in the past," Borg said.

"I believe this could be a very big thing in the future. Just to get all the No. 1s together in the same place has never happened before, so it's going to be a lot of fun.

"Stefan is playing a lot. Mats too, and the same with me. We play because we enjoy playing, but you have to be in good shape, otherwise there is no point. For us Swedes, we are looking forward to it," he said.

Chilean Marcelo Rios, the only men's No. 1 never to have won a Grand Slam, will join McEnroe, Sampras and one wild card in the Team America side.

"I think there really is a place for the team tennis format," McEnroe said.

"The team tennis format would be a very interesting format for the Olympics, for example."

In the 35 years since the inception of the world rankings, only 24 men have had the distinction of being No. 1 including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Tournament organizers said that in future years, other members of the 24-strong No. 1 gang are expected to take part.

(Excerpt from ESPN)

Updates
Click here to read about the event which is now officially cancelled.