100 интересные моменты в теннисе 2011 года
Автор Ravi Ubha описал самые интересные моменты мужского и женского тенниса в 2011 году.
Конечно это его мнение. Но кажется его память поможет нам вспомнить если не 100 лучших, то 100 интересных моментов.
Внизу можете прочитать первую часть: моменты 100 - 81
100 memories
By Ravi Ubha, ESPN.com
100. Pospisil to the rescue
Think of Canadian tennis now and the first name that comes to mind is Milos Raonic.
But it was another big-serving youngster, Vasek Pospisil, who led the Canucks to the Davis Cup world group for the first time since 2004 when he won all three of his matches in Israel in September′s playoffs.
"Vasek beat the state of Israel," Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau said.
Up next for Pospisil and Raonic is France.
99. Adios, Adam
Adam Helfant, who announced he was leaving the ATP in June, is a nice guy. But what did he really do as head of the men′s tour in his two-year term?
Shorten the season next year and thereafter? That was likely down to the player council finally demanding change. And it was inevitable since the women already cut their campaign, putting more pressure on the men.
Prize money increased, you say? It has increased gradually over the years, so nothing new there.
98. Ivo′s tweets
There are some amusing tennis tweeters out there, and Ivo Karlovic is one of the best.
The Croatian′s sense of humor is as ample as his 6-foot-10 frame -- just ask his followers.
"Good thing about jet lag is that you have excuse to sleep whenever, wherever." "Got 6 beer pack delivered 2 my room @ 10 am. Compliments of Vienna tennis tournament. Have a feeling its gonna be a week 2 remember. Or forget." Just a couple of examples.
97. Pav′s Grand Slam emergence
We′ve been waiting for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and the Russian finally came through at the French Open. For good measure, Pavlyuchenkova made it two at the U.S. Open.
She competes hard and not many hit the ball as crisp, but now Pavlyuchenkova needs to become more consistent and work on her fitness (still).
Seeing her win a Grand Slam title in the next two years wouldn′t come as a surprise.
96. Fernando′s sour grapes
His game going south at one point, Fernando Verdasco took his frustration out on his peers.
Verdasco turned sour after losing to Raonic for the second time in four days, at San Jose and Memphis, respectively.
"I hope to play soon against him in a clay court to show him what it is to play tennis and play rallies and run, and not only serve," Verdasco said.
He got his wish, prevailing in Estoril and Rome. But expect Raonic to leapfrog the Spaniard in the rankings in 2012.
95. Lisicki sees the light
Sabine Lisicki has, sadly, seen too many health issues in her young career. But a bout of food poisoning contracted during the Asian swing, she said, was more serious than any of her past problems.
"The doctors panicked when I got to the hospital," she told Bild. "I was extremely dehydrated, almost unconscious. As the doctors spoke to me, they were quite far away for me, at the end of the tunnel."
94. Unexpected r o a d b l o c k of Sam Querrey
Making his way back from elbow surgery in the summer, Sam Querrey had something else to deal with: an umbilical cord infection. Another operation ensued.
"It was kind of hurting one day, and then it started to get kind of inflamed and red," he said. "It hurt to the point where I couldn′t sleep, and it hurt to walk. It was kind of a strange thing."
The Californian managed to get his ranking back inside the top 100 by season′s end.
93. French Open stays put
The grounds of the French Open are easily the smallest of any of the Grand Slams. Organizers knew they had to get bigger.
Thankfully, though, expansion will take place at the current site in southwest Paris rather than see the tournament move to, among other options, Versailles or near Disneyland Paris (which is actually about 20 miles from Paris).
The decision came in February.
"There is more space outside the city, I understand, but come on," Roger Federer said.
92. Vika′s tank job
Playing meaningless matches at year-end championships can be difficult, yes, but Victoria Azarenka should take lessons from Federer -- he′s handled those situations with aplomb.
Azarenka was in semi-tank mode against Marion Bartoli in Istanbul in her final round-robin encounter, especially in the third set, and received boos when leaving the court.
One tweeter remarked, "Bartoli′s practice shots between points seem hilarious with the current effort level coming from Azarenka."
Indeed.
91. Muster re-retires
Thomas Muster′s goal when he returned to the circuit last year wasn′t to win a Grand Slam title. The Austrian wanted to be part of the tour again and eventually say goodbye properly.
The 44-year-old, who went 2-25 in his comeback (both wins came in Challengers), bid an emotional adieu in Vienna in October.
"To play on that level and to challenge myself, I got a lot of respect from the guys out there," said Muster, the former No. 1.
90. Quiet, please, Alize
Cellphones ring in the stands quite often. But a player′s phone going off is rare.
Alize Cornet was suitably embarrassed when her phone -- inside her tennis bag -- rang as Caroline Wozniacki prepared to serve at match point in Bastad, Sweden, in July.
Wozniacki saw the funny side, breaking into a huge smile, before Cornet switched off the phone and threw her hands up in apology.
Wozniacki was broken but still won in straight sets.
89. Marathon wins for Tamira
Tamira Paszek battles hard. She proved it again in the summer.
At Wimbledon, she overcame fellow warrior Francesca Schiavone in 3 hours, 41 minutes. In her next tournament in Washington, D.C., the back-in-form Austrian outlasted Canadian Stephanie Dubois in 3:42. She had enough left in the tank to go three hours the next day against Shahar Peer. "I was always a fighter from the very beginning of my career," Paszek said. "That′s an aspect that has benefited me a lot."
88. Find me a toilet -- quickly
Feeling sick in a match against Agnieszka Radwanska in Carlsbad, Calif., in August, quirky German Andrea Petkovic did the unusual: She sprinted off court midgame (at 0-4, 0-40 in the second set), found a toilet and let it all out.
"Is it more embarrassing running off the court like a maniac or throwing up on court and being on ′SportsCenter′ for the next 25 years?" Petkovic said. "Yeah, running off the court is better, so that′s what I did." Radwanska won in three sets.
87. Pennetta guts it out
Chinese No. 2 Peng Shuai had her best season on tour, finishing inside the top 20.
But it could have been even better. She wasted two match points against Radwanska in the fourth round of the Australian Open and failed to take advantage of an ailing Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Pennetta felt nauseated in a second-set tiebreaker yet managed to save four consecutive set points to win in straight sets on a scorching day in New York.
"My body just needed to breathe, and I started to have the sensation of throwing up," Pennetta said. "With nothing inside, nothing came out."
86. Tommy Haas returns
Tommy Haas loves tennis and competing. It′s why the 33-year-old keeps coming back from his injuries. Haas returned to the tour at the French Open after more than a year out following hip surgery and went 7-12, not surprisingly saving his best stuff for the U.S. Open.
"I know that one day this tour life that I′ve always wanted to do is gonna be over, so I′m just gonna try and enjoy it as much as I can and keep playing if my body allows me to," the former world No. 2 said in New York.
85. Safin runs for office
Charm goes a long way in politics, so recently retired Grand Slam champion Marat Safin has a long career ahead of him in government.
Safin put himself forward as a candidate in the Russian State Duma (parliament) this month -- and won. "I am an intelligent guy, and I have a lot to bring and a lot of ideas about things and what to do," he said. "I am very committed to it."
The humor remains: "I could be the best-looking guy in the Duma, but that′s only because all the other guys are over 60," he added.
84. Who knew there were two Carlsbads?
Bojana Jovanovski needs a new travel agent.
Attempting to make her way to Carlsbad, Calif., for that hard-court tournament, she ended up taking a flight to Carlsbad, N.M., instead.
When she arrived at the airport, her pickup from tournament staff wasn′t there. "They said they were at the airport and looking for me," Jovanovski said. "I said I was the only person here." Jovanovski reached California the next day, but with only a half hour to prepare for her tussle against Roberta Vinci, she lost.
83. Crazy Dani′s lifetime ban
How many players outside the top 100 would fans pay to watch? Not many. But if Daniel Koellerer ended up on a court, he′d have no shortage of interested onlookers. The Austrian became famous for clashing with opponents, chair umpires and feigning injury.
Alas, tennis probably has seen the last of Koellerer, because he was suspended for life in May for attempting to fix matches. He has, however, appealed the ruling.
82. End of the Indo-Pak Express
It was good and uplifting while it lasted. But the so-called Indo-Pak Express of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi is no longer.
Bopanna said at the World Tour Finals in London last month that he′d be teaming with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012 in an effort to win a medal for India at the Olympics.
"I don′t know why people are making such a big deal out of Mahesh and me deciding to play the full season next year," Bopanna told India′s Mail Today. "I had told Aisam well in advance I was going to team up with an Indian, as I believe if one is preparing for the Olympics, it has to be the best preparation."
81. Developing Donald
The stats reveal how much progress Donald Young made in 2011. After ending 2010 with a ranking of 127th, he′s now inside the top 40. His breakthrough transpired a lot later than people had expected -- but at least it came.
Young first made noise by upsetting Andy Murray in Indian Wells. He later reached his first final in Bangkok, the fourth round at the U.S. Open (losing to Murray both times) and semifinals in Washington.
