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Tag: Nadal

Mats Wilander on Why Medvedev Lost to Nadal Twice in a Month

Posted on by Chirag

Former tennis star and current legend, Mats Wilander has given his opinion as to why Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev two straight times within the span of 30 days. The current World no. 1, Medvedev and current World no. 4, Rafael Nadal met twice on a major stage, first in the Australian Open finals, which saw Nadal pull a rabbit out of his hat as he bounced back from an almost impossible 2 set deficit to win the thrilling five setter and his 21st Grand Slam.

The second time the Russian and the Spaniard met was over in Mexico in the semi finals of the Acapulco Open. The two are scheduled to be at the Indian Wells as well which starts on the 8th of March in California. 

“I think that you can be No.

1 in different ways. I feel like Daniil Medvedev deserves to be there, but to really go out and be looked upon as the best player in the world every day, he most probably needs to win a couple more Grand Slams while he is No.

1 in the world,” Wilander told Eurosport. “But that’s how the ranking works. That’s how the computer works and if you play a lot of tournaments and you’re consistent, you deserve to be there,” he added.

“But it must never be confused with being the best player in the world today and being the best player consistently over the last 12 months. There’s a huge difference between the two.” The Swede went on to claim that the Russian “has some distance to go” before he can be compared to the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic when they were No.

1. “[Daniil Medvedev lost] to Rafael Nadal in Acapulco in very humid conditions – the tennis balls are not flying through the air as quickly as they do in Australia and when they do hit the court, they stop skidding through the court because the surface was very slow,” Wilander said.

“So in Acapulco, I can easily explain why Medvedev lost because of the conditions.”

Alexander Zverev Apologises After ‘Unacceptable’ Behaviour in Mexico

Posted on by Chirag

Alexander Zverev, the defending Acapulco champion, has been all over the headlines the past couple of days following his interesting week in Mexico. 

After setting the record for the match that ended most late in the day at 4:56 am in his first round, he headlined newspapers after his temper tantrum in Mexico during a tie break in his first round doubles match. Now the German has come out to apologise for this shameful incident and make peace with the tennis world.

“I have privately apologised to the chair umpire because my outburst towards him was wrong and unacceptable.”

As you know I leave everything out on the court,” he wrote.

“Yesterday I left too much. I am going to take the coming days to reflect on my actions and how I can ensure that it will not happen again.”

With stars like Andy Murray, who’s playing in the Dubai Open currently and was taken out of the singles race by Jannik Sinner earlier this week, also commenting on this incident, Zverev has been in deep trouble and under the risk of a heavy fine by ATP. 

Meanwhile stars like Medvedev and Nadal have been cruising past their opponents and are in the quarterfinals in their separate brackets. 

With this disqualification from Acapulco, Zverev missed out on a chance to face either of them and also close the gap to World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.

Andy Murray Condemns ‘Dangerous’ Zverev Outburst

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Overin Acapulco, amidst the insane amount of tennis being played this week, controversy ensued as defending champion Alexander Zverev was ousted by the tennis organisers after his furious outburst against the umpire.

The German was playing a doubles match with his Brazilian partner Melo and even managed to secure the second set before losing in the tie break. During the tie break is when the controversy started. The umpire made a call and Zverev disagreed. With the tie break at 8-6, the ball was called in, however Zverev saw it bounce outside the line and chaos ensued.

The German, in an offensive and graphic language, ranted about the decision, screaming loudly. “Look where the ball bounced. It’s 8-6 in the tie-break, look where the ball bounced. For f*** sake, it’s your line. It’s f****** your line. You f****** idiot.” Zverev continued his rant, ““You f*****g destroyed the whole f*****g match. The whole f*****g match.”

Zverev was supposed to face the lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk in the singles second round but Peter was given the walkover after Zverev was eliminated entirely from the tournament.

Playing for the first time in five years at the Dubai open, tennis legend Andy Murray condemned the incident and said, ““It was not good. It was dangerous, reckless,” the former world No 1 said after his loss to Sinner.

“I understand athletes across lots of sports can get very frustrated. Certainly me, I’ve not always acted in the way I’d want on the court. I’m certainly not claiming to be an angel. I’m not perfect myself.”

Meanwhile for the other players, Nadal easily passed by opponent Kozlov in straight sets (6-0, 6-3) as he secured the quarter finals spot against Tommy Paul and continued his winning streak of 12 matches since the start of his season in Australia.

Nadal Cruises Past Kudla as Champion Zverev Kicked Out of Acapulco

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Acapulco has seen a lot of tennis the past couple of days with the likes of Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Nadal and Zverev all in action.

The now 21 time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal cruised past his first round opponent Denis Kudla with a score of 6-3, 6-2. The Spaniard showed off his insane banana forehands to his Mexican fans as he made it to round 2.

Meanwhile, Zverev, the defending champion, created history in Acapulco in his first round when he ended and won his match at 4:56 am in the morning. He and Brooksby played  a match that became the match to end most late in the day in Mexican tennis history.

With the defending champion in good spirits, it came as a shock when he was kicked out of the tournament after an incident last night.  The incident took place after Zverev’s double match, in which he partnered Brazilian tennis player Marcelo Melo against the British-Finn pair of Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

Following the conclusion of the match, which saw Zverev and his partner lose 6-2 4-6 (10-6), the World no 3 went and smashed his racquet repeatedly on the umpire’s chair, despite official Alessandro Germani seated on it.

“Due to unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of his doubles match on Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev has been withdrawn from the tournament in Acapulco,” the ATP said in a statement.

Zverev was upset with the official over a line call, which took place earlier in the match. He also hurled expletives at Germani.  

Zverev’s second round singles opponent Gojowczyk was also given a walkover following this incident.

Djokovic Returns to On Court Action With A Thrilling Win

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The World No. 1 made a comeback last night in Dubai as he played his first official match of 2022. 

The Serbian took on Italy’s Loreonzo Musetti in a thriller under the burning heat as he defeated him 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets. Novak looked to have not lost a single step as he slid his way across the court for outstanding returns.

Recently Nadal and Novak himself have compared Djokovic’s style to that of the current World No. 2 breathing down Novak’s neck and Australian Open finalist, Daniil Medvedev. Is a 2022 dream match on the cards this year with the likes of Djokovic, Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Nadal all in a tournament at the French Open possibly?

“A pleasant experience,” he said.

After thanking the crowd following his first match of 2022, Djokovic added: “I couldn’t pick a better place to kick start the season – it was the best possible experience tonight.

“All in all, it’s a straight-set win so of course I have to be satisfied, especially after not playing for two and a half, almost three months.”

“It’s always in the heat of battle, the atmosphere where you need to get that energy out. Sometimes you are frustrated with yourself, your game, the things that are happening.”

He later said he had received a “very friendly” welcome back to competition by the “majority” of players.

He added: “I’m very thankful for that because having the kind of an understanding at least, I would say, if not support from my peers and my colleagues, is very important to me because they are the people that I get to see sometimes more than my family.

“I care greatly about the relationships that we have.”

Draws Announced for Acapulco and Dubai Duty Free

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As the two ATP tournaments commence today, the draws were fully announced last night online. Stars like Medvedev and Nadal, Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev all in the Acapulco Open in Mexico.

While over in Dubai, the Duty Free Tournament will play host to players like the returning World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rublev, Murray and Cilic. 

This will be Novak’s first tennis tournament in almost 3 months as he missed this year’s first grand slam, the Australian Open after a controversial legal battle over his Anti Vax lifestyle. 

Meanwhile one of his greatest rivals, Rafael Nadal, who returned to tennis in late December after 4 months tending to injuries has been doing great. He did lose in the first round of a friendly tournament in Abu Dhabi on his return but managed to win an ATP title before winning his 21st career grand slam and becoming the first person to reach that incredible milestone. 

Nadal, drawn in the same side as Medvedev will face Riley Opelka in the first round and prediction wise might go toe to toe again with Australian Open 2022 finalist Daniil Medvedev in the semi finals.

While Djokovic has been drawn to face the Italian Musetti as he looks to bounce back to winning ways with an ATP title after a long time in Dubai. He will most probably face Rublev in the finals in Dubai within the next week and a half.

Djokovic Arrives in Dubai As Nadal Lands in Acapulco

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The World No. 1 has been on a tennis hiatus since last year’s ATP finals post which he flew to Australia only to be controversially deported back to Serbia amidst an Anti-Vax row.  

The Serb has now been confirmed for the Dubai Duty Free tournament starting next week and arrived in Dubai yesterday. He now will start warming up today ahead of his first round match.

Meanwhile his Spanish counterpart and one of his biggest rivals Rafael Nadal arrived in Mexico.  Nadal, who won this year’s Australian Open to become the only male player with 21 grand slams in the open era leaving behind Djokovic and Federer by 1 insanely amazing comeback in Melbourne.

The two are expected to finally be in the same tournament after nearly a year and might even clash against each other after almost 2 years as both want to make it to the Indian Wells in California. 

“I’m proud to be on this stage,” Djokovic said after his wife Jelena gave a presentation about the foundation’s work with children. The serb seems excited to be back on the court and able to play tennis without any legal issues over his anti-vax opinions. 

“It feels great, it feels great to be here,” said the Serb. “I always loved Dubai, I loved coming here. I had plenty of tennis success [in Dubai] and I’m excited to go out on the tennis court next Monday.

“I miss tennis, honestly, after everything that has happened in the previous couple of months. And of course, the purpose of the visit to the Expo is obviously promoting our foundation’s work. I’m just glad that we managed to combine the schedule and it allowed me to be here with everyone.”

Rafael Nadal Talks About Recovery and Comebacks

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The only 21 time grand slam winner in tennis history came back to his hometown in Mallorca to a huge crowd and celebrations as everyone welcomed back a hero. Now Nadal is taking a break from tennis until early March as the Indian Wells come up.

“It’s important to have real inner humility, not false humility, to accept that things don’t always go well, and tolerate bad times better,” he said. “One of the keys to me continuing to play tennis today is that I tolerated success and failure equally.”

The Spaniard claimed he always looked forward to gaining “a broader knowledge” when it came to his own health. He also said developing healthy habits directly affects the daily aspects of one’s life. “I always say and believe that everything can be improved, and days like today help us do it, not because in the end, you have a broader knowledge of the things we need,” the Spaniard said.

“Above all, to be able to enjoy life… But without health it becomes impossible. This is the reality.”

Meanwhile, one of his biggest competitors and close personal friend Roger Federer sits in Switzerland recovering from various knee surgeries and injuries from his long legendary career. With Djokovic not willing to take the vaccine in order to play at any tennis tournament around the world, it seems likely that Nadal might have to find competition within the ‘next gen’ of Tennis. 

Daniil Medvedev to F1?

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The Russian tennis star and recent finalist of the Australian Open withdrew from a couple of tournaments this month to take a short break to recover from the brutal and intense finals match against the now 21 time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal.

The former US Open Champion joined a couple of stars from the Formula 1 world in a Karting event this week. The Russian was joined by former Red Bull driver Daniil Kyvat and former Red Bull and current Williams driver Alex Albon.

Daniil Medvedev probably wouldn’t shift sports considering how great he is doing in the Tennis world but he is close to fellow Russian Daniil Kyvat who has had a good career in Formula 1 and other motor racing.

Medvedev now will play in a couple of South American tournaments before heading off to the Indian Wells where he will be again playing with the likes of Nadal, Djokovic, Tsitsipas and more.

As Rafael Nadal practices back at his home courts in Manacor, Mallorca Daniil Medvedev is enjoying a week’s time at least as he recuperates from almost winning his first Australian Open title.

Medvedev said on twitter, joking about this karting event, “They broke the news early! 

@redbullracing….🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ Who goes @Max33Verstappen or @SChecoPerez?? 🤣👍 (in all seriousness. Respect for all these guys. Was tough today)”

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

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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.