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Category: Tennis News

Dominic Thiem Extends Recovery Time Until March

Posted on by Chirag

The young Austrian Tennis Star Dominic Thiem has been out of action since late last year after suffering a couple of minor injuries and a big injury in his wrists and knuckles. 

The 2020 US Open Champion hasn’t played professionally since June last year citing his injuries and recovery. Now the Austrian has extended his recovery period by another month as he has withdrawn from various tournaments in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Chile missing out on the early South American leg of the tour.

Dominic Thiem now expects to return to the Indian Wells in March as he continues to try to get back to his old form. This exercise might be tougher than it sounds considering players like Andy Murray who was so good his name was put together with Nadal, Federer and Djokovic as the Big Four. However, Scott faced so many injuries and issues he failed to get back to that Grand Slam winning level.

“Training was going well in Vienna and I am so happy that I’ve made a full recovery regarding my wrist. Unfortunately, I have suffered this minor setback in Santiago, which has forced me to temporarily stop training,” Thiem said in a statement.

“It’s never easy to come back after being away from competition for seven months. I will follow my doctor’s advice and after resting a couple of days, I will start training again next week.

I need some consistent time on-court before making my comeback.” 

Thiem will be in Miami practicing for the Indian wells, which he won in 2019 after defeating the legendary Roger Federer.

Nike Takes a Swipe at Federer In The ‘Advantage, Nadal’ Ad

Posted on by Chirag

The biggest sneaker conglomerate, Nike, released an advertisement video just hours after Rafael Nadal won his 21st record shattering and setting Grand Slam in Australia last week. The ad didn’t feature much visual content but focused on the best commentary or umpire calls throughout Rafa’s career ending with the line, “Advantage, Nadal”.

The sports company is known for making amazingly good marketing campaigns featuring some of the best stars in sports like Ronaldo, Federer, Nadal, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods and more.

The advertisement didn’t stop at the video as Nike spread a Black hoarding with the text ‘Advantage, Nadal’ all over the North American continent at places like the Times Square, Crypto.com Arena and more.

However the big story behind the scenes was the fact that Nike kept their chips intact by trusting Rafa and continuing his deal. Recently, Roger Federer left Nike as they refused to increase his deal to $10 Million exact. Federer left Nike and went out in the market shopping for sponsors. The 20 time grand slam winner didn’t take much time to announce his new deal with Uniqlo the Japanese clothing brand.

The deal was worth about $300 Million dollars with Federer also getting a 3% stake in the company worth another $300 Million. The Swiss Maestro now partially owns the Japanese giants and is also sponsored by them in terms of shoes and clothes. Meanwhile, Nike continued their partnership with Rafael Nadal and with Nadal winning the 21st slam before Federer and Djokovic, Nike seemingly have the upperhand when it comes to a collection of athletes on contracts.

Disaster for Cameroon as Egypt Advance to Finals

Posted on by Chirag

Cameroon faced Egypt last night in Olembe as the two African giants tied the score by the end of the first 90 minutes. With extra time played post that, a successful result was still to be reached. The two teams finally faced off in penalties with Mohammad Salah’s Egypt taking the match and the finals spot with a 3-1 score line.

During the match, the Egyptian coach Carlos Queiroz was sent off by the head referee after continuously protesting his side of the story in the second half. The head referee, Bakary Gassama sent off the Egyptian after he had heard enough.

The Egyptian coach, in the post match interviews had this to say, “”Again, unfortunately, they send this type of referee to a game of this level, referees with no experience, no level, wanting to put on a show… It started right in the dressing room,”

“We hadn’t started the game yet and he came to the locker room to intimidate our staff. But even against this, against all the decisions, which were always against Egypt, we were the best team in the second half and on penalties.”

 “CAF doesn’t respect Egypt, from the timings to the quality of the pitches – we had the worst pitches! We are Egypt! 

“How can this referee, after what he has done in the past, be in the African Cup of Nations? Who understands this? Nobody!”

“I want to state to all CAF authorities that Senegal have one extra day to train and therefore maybe we should play the final on Monday,” he told the media.

Roger Federer’s Recover Going Slower Than Expected

Posted on by Chirag

The legendary Roger Federer left the 2021 season abruptly with multiple minor injuries and one massive injury to deal with. The Swiss star got surgeries done on his knee in late 2021 and has been recovering since then in order to be back on the court for at least one last time before he calls it a day.

His former tour mate, friend and tennis rival Rafael Nadal after overtaking both Federer and Djokovic in the race for the most grand slams talked about Federer’s recovery and how touched he was when Federer congratulated him through social media.

“I’m gonna tell Roger Federer in private, no? I wasn’t able yet to answer but yeah it means a lot to me, no? We have an amazing relationship. We did amazing things together, for me it’s a huge honor to be part of his era,” the World No.

“Together I think we lived amazing moments of the history of our sport. And you know, receiving this message from him means a lot to me, no?” The Spaniard then extended his best wishes to Federer, who is himself battling a serious knee injury at the moment.

“I wish him well, he knows, I really hope we will be able to play again in important stages.” Towards the end of the interview, Rafael Nadal insisted that he was uncertain about whether he could win the title prior to arriving in Melbourne.

“I never thought I’m gonna have a chance again to enjoy like this… have been impossible to imagine a day like this a few years ago, so. I think I worked hard, all my team and family were next to me supporting me during these hard times.

I was not ready for a match like this, at all. Was a big surprise, the most unexpected of my tennis career. But yeah, very very special,” 

Meanwhile Federer gave an update to Credit Suisse regarding his recovery saying, “I have very interesting and important few months ahead of me. I feel like I will know a whole lot more this coming April where my body is going to be like. Up until now I wasn’t really allowed to run yet, doing the heavy workload with jumps and stop-and-go’s. So, I hope that’s all going to start, hopefully in a couple of weeks, and then we will see how the body will react to that.”

“The drive is there, I’m really motivated to do my work and what I’m allowed to do,” Federer continued. “I did it all again this morning and I’m back in the gym tomorrow.

“It’s still good times even though it’s a little bit slow because I would love to do way more, but the doctors and everybody is holding me back a little bit.”

Toni Nadal talks About Rafa’s Mindset as Medvedev Turns His Back on the Crowd

Posted on by Chirag

On Sunday in the Rod Laver Arena, Rafael Nadal shook the world with his insane comeback after being 2 sets down to the world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev. 

The match featured Nadal in a tremendous form that got the crowd chanting for him and booing Medvedev. This played a vital role in Medvedev’s head as he was continuously booed throughout the match. Medvedev post his match even talked about this saying, “From now on, I play for myself, for my family…for all Russians, because I feel a lot of support there,” he said. “I will say this: if there is a tournament in Moscow before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I will go there even if I miss Wimbledon or Roland Garros or something else.”

“The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself.”

Medvedev was also being booed during and after his second round match against crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios and made it a point to tell the crowd how disrespectful they were being. 

On the other side, Nadal said he understood the frustration but Medvedev will understand the role you have to let the crowd play in your head as he advances in his career. 

“Nowadays, people tend to surrender to frustration and complain too much. Rafa, though, being down 2 sets to zero had no bad face, nothing. He knew, all the time, how to overcome difficulty, which I think is the most outstanding thing from yesterday’s match,” said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s father.

Rafael Nadal Talks About His Best Comeback Ever

Posted on by Chirag

The now 21 time Grand Slam winner spoke yesterday about his incredible performance at the Australian Open Finals on Sunday night against the World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev. 

The Spaniard now stands atop the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who both came out to acknowledge and congratulate Rafa after he pulled off one of the best comebacks in Sports History.

“A few months ago we were joking about both being on crutches. Amazing, never underestimate a great champion.. Your incredible work ethic, fighting skill and dedication are an inspiration to me and countless others around the world. I am proud to share this era with you and honoured to play a role in pushing you to achieve more. As you have done for me for the past 18 years. I am sure you have more achievements ahead but for now, enjoy this one,” said Federer on his Instagram.

Meanwhile Djokovic said on twitter, “Congratulations to @RafaelNadal for 21st GS,” Djokovic said. “Amazing achievement. Always an impressive fighting spirit that prevailed another time.”

“Enhorabuena @Medwed33 gave it his all out there and played with the passion and determination we have come to expect from him.”

Nadal in his post match interview had this to say, “”First of all I know it’s a tough moment, Daniil, you are an amazing champion. I’ve been in this position a couple of times in this tournament, having chances to have the trophy with me, but I don’t have any doubt that you have had this trophy a couple of times in your career, because you’re amazing, so I want to congratulate you,” said the 35-year old. “It was one of the most emotional matches of my tennis career and to share a court with you is just an honour, so all the best in the future. I even don’t know what to say, guys. For me, it’s just amazing, being honest, one month and a half ago, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to be back on the tour playing tennis again. And today I’m here in front of all you with this trophy with me, and you don’t know how much I’ve fought to be here. I can’t thank you enough for all the support I’ve had since I arrived here, you are just amazing.”

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1487791222299242502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1487791222299242502%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.republicworld.com%2Fsports-news%2Ftennis-news%2Frafael-nadal-reflects-on-historic-21st-grand-slam-win-most-emotional-match-of-my-career-articleshow.html

Nadal’s Miracle in Melbourne Gets Him a record 21st Grand Slam Title

Posted on by Chirag

Last night in Melbourne, spectators witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in sports history as Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev to win his 2nd ever Australian Open and a record 21st Grand Slam.

The match started with Daniil Medvedev in full control as he took the first 2 sets at 6-2, 7-6 comparatively easily. There just seemed no way out for Nadal as he tried various ways to win a point against the Russian.

The Spaniard tried going back behind the baseline, tried coming ahead and volleying and even tried to focus on Daniil’s Forehand but just couldn’t find a way to penetrate Medvedev’s defense. However by the third set, Nadal had tried enough and started combining all of these methods to tire out Medvedev.

By the end of the set, Nadal won his first set and went on to take the fourth set with incredibly difficult points to break Medvedev’s serve. Finally, as the Melbourne crowd showed zero signs of sleepiness, they backed the Spaniard as he served for the match in the last set.

There is no doubt that Medvedev has incredible potential and could have won last night, however Nadal’s resilience and perseverance was otherworldly. The match went on for a whole 5 hours and 24 minutes with the two players very tired by the end of it.

Nadal broke a number of records with this win as he climbed up to number 5 in the rankings, got to 90 career wins, became the fourth male player to win all four grand slams at least twice and also became the first ever player in history to win a record 21 grand slams with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at 20 grand slams each. Nadal truly is the GOAT right now. 

Rafael Nadal Reveals He Considered Leaving Tennis Behind

Posted on by Chirag

The former 20 time grand slam winner has had a long career with everything he’s done for tennis. He has also been part of the infamous ‘Big Three’ who have revolutionised tennis. With so many things achieved its just a matter of time before these three call it a day and retire. However for Nadal that day was seemingly in the books already.

Nadal revealed he felt like he might have to retire post last year’s incidents and his foot injury nagging him again and again, “I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there,” said the 35-year-old. “But still working and still receiving plenty of support from my team and from my family, too, without a doubt. A lot of conversations with the team, with the family about what can happen or what’s going to happen if the things continue like this, thinking that maybe is a chance to say goodbye.”

“For a long time I wasn’t able to practise,” said Nadal. “Sometimes I went on court and I was able to practise 20 minutes, sometimes 45, sometimes zero, sometimes two hours, but it has been very, very rough in terms of imagine myself playing at the best-of-five at this moment.”

“The doubts are going to be here probably for the rest of my career, without a doubt, because I have what I have and that’s something that we cannot fix. But for me it’s amazing, and I’m super happy to be able to compete for the last three weeks at the level that I am doing.”

“Not only about tennis, that’s for sure. It’s surprising for me to be able to play at the level that I am playing, but just compete and play tennis at the high level again, facing the most important players of the world, for me, it’s something unbelievable, no?”

Medvedev explodes at Umpire During Semi Finals Clash Against Tsitsipas

Posted on by Chirag

Danii Medvedev clashed with the chair umpire during the semi finals of the Australian Open yesterday as he faced the Greek Tsitsipas on center court. 

The two battled well and had a great match that went on for 4 steps before Medvedev eventually won with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. 6-1 scoreline and booked his spot in the finals on Sunday against the 20 time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal.

However the highlight of the match was Medvedev’s rant against the umpire for allowing Tsitsipas’ father to talk to him during the match for a minute.

“His father can talk about every point. Are you stupid?” Medvedev screamed.

“His father can talk about every point. Answer my question. Can his father talk about every point?

“Oh my God, how can you be so bad in the semifinal of a Grand Slam?” Medvedev raged.

“Look at me! I’m talking to you!”

“What do you want?” Campistol responded.

“To give him coaching [violation] because his father is talking every point,” Medvedev yelled.

He then called the umpire a “small cat” at the end of the outburst.

https://twitter.com/funnyzeitgist/status/1487006675395817477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1487006675395817477%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Fsports%2Ftennis%2Fare-you-stupid-medvedev-umpire-australian-open-2022-7745976%2F

After this explosion by the Russian, members of the tennis industry commented on his behaviour saying, “Tennis really needs to come down hard on players verbally abusing umpire, I’m a Medvedev stan but they shouldn’t have to cop abuse like that. Look at how Toby Greenes penalty for his encounter with an umpire and how the AFL want more respect for their refs,” wrote Shian on Twitter.

He was even then fined $17,000 over this incident and talking to the umpire like that.

Breaking: Rafael Nadal Beats Berrettini to Reach Australian Open Finals

Posted on by Chirag

The 20 time grand slam winner put up his best against the young Italian Mateo Berrettini as the two met this morning in the Rod Laver Arena for the first Semi Finals of the Men’s singles Australian Open.

The Spaniard started in full form as he won the first 2 sets at 6-3 and 6-2. The third set although was an all italian affair as Mateo put his best foot forward and broke Nadal’s impressive service late in the third set. Berrettini took the third set 6-3.

With Berrettini getting 1 set and Rafa getting the first 2, the crowd rallied behind both players for the fourth set as they sat back down to watch an intense match of tennis between these two stars. Berrettini clearly had the advantage in the long rallies with him getting the better of Rafa multiple times throughout the match in a shocking statistic. 

The fourth set started well for both as they tied 2-2 but it was all Nadal post that as he took his service game to take the lead at 3-2 and then continued his form to break Mateo’s serve and lead by 4-2. Mateo got in a service game after another Rafa game to set up 5-3 score with Nadal in the driver’s seat.

Rafael Nadal finally took home the finals spot by winning a long rally as Mateo’s unforced errors proved to be the reason for his demise in this tournament.

Nadal now awaits the winner of Medvedev and Tsitsipas later today as he heads to the finals on Sunday making it his 6th finals in Australia.