Five Tennis Updates near the end of 2010
Ever since Rafael Nadal clinched his career Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows with his 2010 US Open victory, the general consensus on tennis seems to be that the season is effectively over, with not much to look out for now.
This may not be wrong, but the fact remains that there are still newsworthy stories to be told at the end of this year as the hard court circuit carries on in Asia and Europe before coming to a close at the Tour Championship Finals – Doha for women, where
Kim Clijsters has emerged as the victor, and London for the ATP players.
Here are a few updates which fans that might be skipping on the end of year events may have missed:
1) Roger Federer and his Prowess: This 29 year old tennis pro seems to be at the apex of his career, crossing milestone after milestone. Every match and tournament he competes at is, in the bigger picture, an
attempt to make history in one way or another. He’s at a point where the only thing he can do is break records.
Although, Roger Federer was completely outplayed in the Shanghai Rolex Masters by Andy Murray (another player to watch out for), Federer picked himself back up and participated in the Stockholm Open. He won that tournament and achieved two records in the
bargain: his opening match with Taylor Dent marked his 900th ATP match, while his victory against Stanislas Wawrinka at the final chalks up his total career ATP titles to 64, bringing him to a tie with the tennis legend, Pete Sampras.
Although, the chances of him catching up to Jimmy Connors or Ivan Lendl are next to impossible, with 109 and 94 titles respectively, McEnroe’s record of 77 does not seem like such a long shot.
2) Caroline Wozniacki, end of year World Number 1: The Women Tennis Association’s season has ended and with it there comes a new year-end Number 1, 20 year old Caroline Wozniacki. As Serena Williams dropped
out of the season’s events after Wimbledon, the Dane all but completed formalities by besting her opponents in two round robin matches. She was a finalist at the event, beaten by Kim Clijsters.
While the achievement is certainly not something to scoff at, with the WTA rankings being what they are, Woz should hope she doesn’t go down the same road as Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina, who constantly failed to perform at the Majors.
3) Sharapova’s engagement and elder Murray’s marriage: In the romance section of WTA tour, Maria Sharapova’s boyfriend basketball player Sasha Vujacic popped the question, and the couple have reported that they
are engaged and happy, although no date has been decided for the wedding yet.
Also, Andy Murray’s elder brother, Wimbledon champion Jamie Murray tied the knot with long-time girlfriend Alejandra Gutierrez in a Scottish traditional wedding, with Murray as the best man.
4) Leander Paes to appear in Bollywood flick: India’s Olympic medallist, who won a bronze medal in singles and 12 Grand Slam titles in doubles, Leander Paes, has been working hard on a different project this
time. The Indian pro will appear on the silver screen in Ashok Kohli’s Rajhdani Express, where he will play a role next to actress Ameesha Patel.
5) Another Williams Twitter Controversy: Last but not the least, Oracene Williams, the mother of Serena and Venus, managed a tweet which several fans showed outrage at. Taking a shot at the USA and Italy final
of the Federation Cup, which her daughters dropped out of, Oracene says, “I’m having fun. The SUN in my life is bright. Thing [sic] about attending the boring Fed Cup in San Diego.” Not the first time Oracene has instigated controversy; fans did not
take kindly to her belittling the premier event simply because her daughters weren’t participating.
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