05084 T4T 11 UK.indd

T E N N I S
M A S T E R S
C U P
S P E C I A L
Communication and External Relations Department
November 2005
Qi Zhong Stadium in Shanghai
Red alert
The future of tennis is looking very Chinese, as the
world’s most populous state mounts challenges in all
the major sports. Its rise to power in tennis will be
particularly rapid and can count on 100 million players
1
Tennis Masters Cup
China is back as host
of the ATP’s grand
end-of-season tennis
event. In the run-up
to the 2008 Olympics
in Beijing, China is
invading all sports
– starting with tennis.
The first thing to remember is that in China everything moves in the fast lane. In
the time it takes projects to be passed
round from one desk to another in Europe, they’ve already put up skyscrapers,
hotels and factories in China. The same
thing happened with tennis. Ten years
ago there were fifty or so tennis courts
in Beijing, now there are a thousand and
there are over 20,000 throughout China,
meaning a growth rate of between 2,000
and 2,500 a year. These courts are being
built by ten specialist companies. But the
process is far from complete. Clay courts
are still very rare and to practise for Roland Garros you have to go to the only
part of country that has them. The same
goes for indoor courts, which are still in-
I
The Chinese
Revolution
t took Bernardo Bertolucci and nine
Oscars before anyone, apart from historians, knew that Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, was arrested on the
world’s most exclusive tennis court,
inside the Forbidden City, thus providing the first tennis image of a country
that banned the sport for years. Having
been imported by the British, the game
was a symbol of the most classic strain
of capitalism and as such was anathema
to the Communist Party, which promptly
outlawed it. This was around 80 years
ago, so the progress that’s been made
to date in China is all the more impres-
Post
scriptum
2
sive, thanks largely to a few enlightened
politicians (tennis fans) in the ‘70s, when
Western sports started to attract even
the Chinese.
It’s no coincidence that one of the top
officials in today’s China Tennis Association, Wan Bo Ao, keeps about his person
a book with a dedication to his father
and an historic photo - of a game of tennis with George Bush Senior. “Tennis
has mushroomed since then and is now
in the process of becoming one of the
country’s best known sports”. How has
such a radical transformation been possible in such a short period of time?
sufficient in number, especially in places
like the capital, where the temperature
drops to -20° C in winter.
Meanwhile, the market has grown out
of recognition. All manufacturers make
their racquets in China and the first totally “made in China” brand has just been
launched in Europe, in Italy to be precise.
It’s called Bentos, short for Best in Badminton, which was the major sport for
years and is now yielding ground to its
more famous relative. It was the same
with ping-pong, a national relic that’s
now suffering competition from the big
racquet. Because that’s the reservoir of
1 million players of whom around 400 considered pros; annual growth is put
at 30% 2,500 courts are built every year by ten specialist firms 300 million TV
viewers saw Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun win the doubles at the Athens Olympics
in 2004 100,000 dollars go to each of the top five Chinese tennis players
Rafael Nadal receive
the trophy afeter winning
the ATP event in Beijing
people that the China Tennis Association
has targeted – around 100 million potential tennis players, who would turn China
into the world’s biggest market for the
sport. The symptoms are already evident, so it’s just a question of time.
An example of the boundless opportunities the Chinese enjoy was a match
played on 22nd August 2004 at the Athens Olympics. To everyone’s surprise,
including the experts, one of the pairs in
the final match in the women’s doubles
was Chinese (Tian Tian Sun and Ting
Li). They won the gold medal in fact, and
that match is still a record in terms of ratings, with over 300 million TV spectators
watching it on the Chinese TV channel
CCYV. Obviously not all experts (many
wondered why the players were allowed
another service if they fluffed the first
one) but it means that once they’ve been
educated in our sport, China will become
a world power, as has already happened
in many other sports.
Moya, Ferrero and
Nadal take a tour of
the Forbidden City
22 dollars is the average cost of producing a good carbon tennis racquet 2 and half dollars is how
much you could pay for a good synthetic string racquet in a shop in Guangzhou (Canton) 25 dollars is
the average cost of a 1-hour private lesson in a good Beijing tennis club 10,000 the estimated number
of players throughout China before 1989; ten years ago there were only 50 or so courts in Beijing
3
Tennis Masters Cup
The design of the National Tennis
Center that will host the tennis event at
the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008
Champion
wanted
Although China has the organization
to host major events, its players are
still way down the Indesit ATP Entry
Ranking. There’s not one player in the
world’s top 300, but various tennis
centres in China have young talents who are developing very quickly.
In the meantime, the no. 1 Chinese
player in the world rankings is Peng
Sun, in 306th place.
Player
Peng Sun
306
Yu Wang Jr.
370
Xin-Yuan Yu
496
Ben-Qianq Zhu
559
Yi-Ning Wang
754
* Indesit ATP Entry Ranking
Post
scriptum
4
Ranking*
TV will play a major role here, as it can
ensure, in China as elsewhere, the success of any event, including the promotion of a “new” sport. This point was
made by another top official of the China
Tennis Association, Zhang Xiaoning. “For
the Beijing tournament we had 150 hours
of broadcasting in the various parts of
the country, thus transforming the event
into the world’s most important after the
Grand Slam tournaments”. And there’s
no lack of financial backing for the sport
– if tennis weren’t a multi-million dollar
business it wouldn’t even be taken into
consideration here. So attracting sponsors is no problem, also because China
is a market all the big multinationals are
focusing on. So the tournament can secure the world’s top players. Last year
Marat Safin won it, this year Rafael Nadal.
And now Shanghai is set to welcome the
planet’s top eight players in its fantastic
new tennis centre. On an organizational
level, China already seems to be on a par
with more important (and traditional) European and American tournaments.
The Chinese market is of such strategic importance that the international
federation has created a special office,
that of “China specialist”, so that it can
be adequately represented in dealings
with Chinese counterparts. The current
“expert” is Frank Couraud, a Frenchman who works out of the Federation’s
London office, which has for some years
now managed relations between the ITF
and the China Tennis Association. “Our
work is mainly technical, even though we
obviously can’t export the same teaching
methods we use in Europe. It all has to
be adapted to the culture, the mindset,
of the Chinese”. This explains why the
famous American coach Doug McCurdy
was invited to Beijing to start training
Chinese coaches. “They’ve made great
progress,” says Couraud, “but there’s
still a long way to go. I remember the
first course for coaches in 1999, in Tjanjin. Their level was very low but the will
to learn was enormous”. The real problem is the language barrier, in a country
where English is as common as Croat is
in Los Angeles. How can you improve
your game if you can’t even read a tennis manual in English? And how can you
talk with other coaches (you can’t be ex-
4.45 million dollars is the prize money in the Shanghai Tennis Masters Cup
2 consecutive wins, so far, for Roger Federer in the Tennis Masters Cup;
he’ll be going for a 3rd in Shanghai. He was also the first player to arrive
in Shanghai. Research says he’s the best known tennis player in China
pected to speak Mandarin!). This is why
we’re trying to get retired players to work
for the China Tennis Association. The
best example here is Xiao Ping, former
Chinese no. 1 and Asian champion who’s
played round the world; he’s agreed to
co-operate with the ITF. Couraud is convinced that “he and McCurdy will enable
Chinese coaches to make a huge leap
forward in quality”.
This process will be vitally important for
Chinese tennis, which is desperate for a
champion to provide further impetus to
a movement that resembles Europe in
the ‘70s but is promising to grow at three
times the speed. Today China is competitive in women’s tennis, having players who have been successful in tournaments on the professional circuit. We
won’t have to wait long to see a Chinese
girl in the world’s Top 20. Men’s tennis
will prove more complicated though, because it’s more competitive and growing
an excellent player from scratch is by no
means simple. China’s best tennis player
is Peng Sun, currently at 317 in the world
rankings. The situation also reflects the
China Tennis Association’s previous policy of favouring the women’s game. Now
the declared objective is the Beijing Ol-
ympics in 2008. No one believes a male
player can be brought up to medal standard in such a short space of time, whereas there will certainly be women players
going for gold, at least in the doubles.
This shows that funding in the past was
one sided. When Sun Jinfang joined the
management of the Chinese Federation,
he immediately understood that they
weren’t going to get anywhere without investing a certain amount of dollars. They
decided to spend 10 million yuan (around
a million euro) on sending the country’s
top talents to Saddlebrok, Florida, home
to one of America’s most important tenMarat Safin with the
trophy of the ATP event
in Beijing last year
Boris Becker
at the first edition of the
Ispo in Shanghai
nis schools, founded by ‘60s Australian
tennis guru Harry Hopman. As Samy, the
editor of Tennis Magazine (“which still
doesn’t sell much, only a few hundred
thousand copies” !!!), explained to us,
“each of the top five women players at
national level receive a $100,000 a year
grant, a substantial amount that enables
them to play a whole season at a high
level. And the men? They find it more difficult to get such backing because none
of them has so far looked capable of winning at certain levels”.
And to reach those levels, a lot of hard
work is being done by the young players
3 Tennis Masters Cups will be staged in Shanghai (2005-2007) 4 ATP titles were won in China by
Michael Chang (3 in Beijing, 1 in Shanghai); overall, he won 12 in Asia 20 Chinese players are in the
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking, though none in the top 300 36th is China’s position in the world Davis Cup
ranking 2 ATP tournaments are held in China – Beijing and the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai
5
Tennis Masters Cup
at the tennis centre in Beijing, headed by
one of China’s best coaches, Fu Zhong.
“The most promising is a young girl, Liu
Wang Ting; she’s only 14 and plays a
fine game. There are few boys too who
just starting to approach professional
play but there’s a long way to go still”. A
couple of kids flew to Barcelona to gain
experience in Europe’s top tennis school,
run by Emilio Sanchez, who recalls how,
“when one of my best players, Svetlana
Kuznetsova, played against a practically
unknown Chinese girl, she rang me afterwards, saying, “Don’t ask me her name,
but she plays a hell of game’. So we’d
better get used to the idea. Tennis will
soon be invaded by the Orient”.
Which is already the case on an or-
ganizational level. The Tennis Masters
Cup will be staged in Shanghai till 2007,
there’s the ATP tournament in Beijing and
there are now other major events in the
world circuit taking place in the region.
The Bangkok tournament, for example,
is a consolidated prestige event (the
last two won by Roger Federer) and the
same week saw the inauguration of the
first world circuit tournament in Vietnam,
in Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). It’s
only a matter of time, and of finding the
right place, before Asia has its first ATP
Masters Series tournament.
Where the Chinese have already created
a sort of monopoly is tennis racquets,
which are nearly all made in China. It’s
impossible to say just how many rac-
Ferrero, Moya
and Nalbandian at
the Great Wall
Post
scriptum
6
quets are sold in China because of the
numerous distribution channels, but all
the brands are trying to secure a slice
of the enormous market. The prospects
are very rosy, as long as you can find the
right distributor, for the social fabric is not
easy to penetrate. Production has already
been relocated in China, especially in the
south, in Guang Dong province, near
Guangzhou (former Canton). In spite of
the technology boom, making racquets
still requires several manual operations
and the competitiveness of Chinese labour means Europe is out of the running.
The cost of a racquet, the finished product, is around 20 dollars, though prices
continue to rise, mainly because of the
war in Iraq and Boeing. Carbon is also
used to produce arms and aeroplanes
and the war has boosted demand on the
part of the major aircraft manufacturers,
to the detriment of smaller industries
such as tennis racquet production.
In spite of this, great bargains are to be
had in China. Quality products go at ridiculously low prices. In Canton we came
across a medium quality string selling at
two dollars, with a tube of balls thrown in
for another half euro, while a local brand
carbon racquet would be no more than
50 dollars. No to mention imitations; Nike
or Adidas shirts with a Chinese label are
sold for just a few euro, which is why
many see China as the new Eldorado.
The world of sport is undoubtedly looking at emerging countries. Take Formula
1 racing – new Grand Prix events have
been created in Qatar, Bahrain, Turkey
and China too obviously. The Nba tapped
into a gold mine when it discovered Yao
Ming and turned him into a world star,
and all the other sports are aiming to do
the same.
The luxury market is booming in China
too. Beijing clubs that cost $1,000 to
join and $25 dollars an hour on court
are packed. Newcomers to the sport no
longer go for the old Chinese Aeroplane
but want the top brands, the frames that
Federer and Nadal use, even though
Prince continues to be a favourite because it was the career-long racquet of
Michael Chang, who opened up Asia for
tennis, in spite of being born and bred in
the States. He became an icon for the
Chinese. “He showed that an Asian only
1 metre 75 could win major tournaments
and become a celebrity,” says Zhang Xiaoning, “he did more in ten years of playing than anyone else in the last century”.
$100 plus is the cost of a ticket for the final of the Beijing ATP tournament
8 is the lucky number for the Chinese. The Beijing Olympics will open
on the 8th of the eighth month of 2008, at eight minutes past eight, am
3 years. The Tennis Masters Cup will be held in Shanghai until 2007
The jewel of the Tennis Masters Cup
The Tennis Masters Cup will be staged in the brand new Qi Zhong Tennis Centre in Shanghai, which will be completed by the
end of 2006 and become the biggest tennis centre in Asia. Finished in August 2005, the centre court combines international
design and some major feats of engineering. It was designed by the Japanese architect Mitsuru Senda (together with his
Environment Design Institute), who says, “the sliding roof consists of eight petals, each of which turns on a central fulcrum
at the same time. We studied many other tennis stadiums, especially the famous ones, and Roland Garros in particular. The
roof closes in eight minutes”. The Centre is in the Minhang District, in the south west part of the city. There will be a total of
40 courts, including the centre court, three smaller indoor stadiums, 14 covered courts and 22 outdoor courts. The Tennis
Centre will be part of the Qi Zhong Forest Sports City Complex, which will also have golf courses and numerous houses,
covering a total of 20 square kilometres. The Tennis Centre alone covers 338,836 square metres and can also be adapted
to host basketball, volleyball, ping-pong and gymnastics. The central stadium can seat 15,000 (including 3,000 in the 26 VIP
boxes) and has private changing rooms for each of the players in the Tennis Masters Cup. The 1,800 m2 Media Centre has
240 workstations for journalists.
Chinese TV started broadcasting tennis
in 1989, the year Chang won at Roland
Garros. “It was the year the Berlin Wall
fell, and of Tienanmen Square. From then
on nothing was to be same in China,” recalls Samy, editor of Tennis Magazine,
“even sport was revolutionized, led by
tennis. That’s the year I started playing
tennis, when the tennis racquet definitively ceased to be an emblem of capi-
talism and Chang became our national
hero – though it would have been difficult
to find a tennis court in Beijing in those
days”.
There’s still an enormous amount of
progress to be made though. The ITF’s
Frank Couraud is convinced that “China
is only half way there. Maybe less”. But
it’s undoubtedly gaining momentum and
no one betting on China reaching the
top of the world circuits in the coming
seasons would be called unwise. All the
technical, organizational, economic and
human conditions required for a country
with a population of a billion and a half
to come up with a world class player are
in place.
It’s simply a matter of time. And time
passes faster in China than anywhere
else.
1 player. Lley ton Hewit t, has won the past edition of the Tennis Masters
Cup held in Shanghai in 20 02 30 in percentage the grow th of the
number of tennis players in China 150... the capacit y of the Qi Zhong
Stadium that will host the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai this year
7
TENNIS MASTERS CUP
SHANGHAI
Rafael
Nadal
This a sort of
World Championship
between the world’s
eight best players.
Roger Fed petition
is very fierce,
starting with the new
phenomenon,
Rafael Nadal
Masterof
Masters
R
oger Federer was almost
beginning to tire us. Every
tournament he took part in
was robbed of suspense, so
outright was his superiority.
What can seriously threaten
the Phenomenon? Playing on clay, against
Nadal at his best? Or is some external force
necessary? Now, at the Masters, Federer
will probably find himself up against Nadal
but certainly not on clay (it’ll be hardcourt)
and that “external factor” could be the pain
in some foot ligaments that kept him off
the circuit for nearly two months. The last
we saw of him on court was in Bangkok at
Post
scriptum
8
Wilson has signed up a new official stringer for the next US Open. The
engagement will involve around 3,000 stringings over the two week tournament
Two particularly fine tennis sites have been opened: a high quality magazinevideo (www.intenn.com) and a technical analysis forum (www.theplayer.net)
SHANGHAI
Andre
Agassi
David
Ferrer
the end of September, where he won for the
second year in a row, without losing a single
set. The last set he lost was on 11th September, to Andre Agassi in the final of the US
Open. Last year too he missed out on the
last two ATP Masters Series due to injury
and then won the Tennis Masters against
players with more titles to their names. This
time Federer’s injury looks more serious
and he only started training again ten or so
days before the start of the Shanghai event.
This is fuelling his adversaries’ hopes that
he won’t be in top form, which usually turns
the event into a battle for second place.
Hoping in an adversary’s misfortune in order to
beat him is pretty symptomatic of the current
situation, but Federer has got us (and above
all his opponents) into this way of thinking.
Not that the others seem lacking in motivation, and especially not Rafael Nadal, the
new idol of the fans who’s had an amazing season. A lot was expected of him but
nobody could have imagined he’d win
a Slam tournament (Roland Garros) and
four ATP Masters Series, making 11 ATP
tournaments. Only Federer has done better (two Slam) but let’s not forget that in
the final of the ATP Masters Series in Miami Nadal got to within two points of wining the match against the world’s no. 1.
All the bookmakers will obviously be giving
12 players have made over a million dollars in prize money alone in 2005; in addition to the Top 10, there
are also Thomas Johansson and Max Mirnyi, who earned a lot in the doubles tournaments The new Roger
Federer calendar (2006) is now on sale. It has photos of him down through his career to when he was
a kid. It costs 20 euro and the proceeds will go to his charity. For information: www.rogerfederer.com
9
SHANGHAI
Federer and Nadal as the main favourites,
making it rather difficult to work out the
odds for third place. With Hewitt, Roddick
and Safin out of the running, who can stop
Roger? Will it be up to “old” Andre Agassi?
It would seem impossible for him, at 35, to
stop the Federer Express, but in the final of
the US Open he at least slowed him down.
The bookmakers look at the Las Vegas Kid
with esteem and affection but not even they
really believe he can do it. Which is not a
comforting sign. Further, back problems
have prevented him from playing since that
11th September, though the rest will undoubtedly have done him good. Agassi’s problem
would be a five-set final with Federer. It’s
generally the Swiss player’s technique that
impresses people but many (too many) underestimate his extraordinary athletic condition. What’s more, he expends half the energy
other players use and this ups his chances
of winning when a match is drawn out. The
only person who can go the distance with
him is Nadal, so we’re back to square one.
The list has no other serious risks for a Federer playing at his best. Of the outsiders,
maybe the most interesting is Ivan Ljubicic, the “hot” player at present, finalist in
the last two ATP Masters Series and very
dangerous for everyone on fast surfaces.
The trouble is that to qualify for the Tennis
Masters Cup he had to put excessive strain
on himself, playing (and winning) nearly
every week. In the final of the ATP Masters
Ivan
Ljubicic
Hall of Fame
Year
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
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1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Venue
Tokyo
Paris
Barcelona
Boston
Melbourne
Stockholm
Houston
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Hanover
Hanover
Hanover
Hanover
Lisbon
Sydney
Shanghai
Houston
Houston
Winner
Stan Smith
Ilie Nastase
Illie Nastase
Ilie Nastase
Guillermo Vilas
Ilie Nastase
Manuel Orantes
Jimmy Connors
John McEnroe
Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
John McEnroe
John McEnroe
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Boris Becker
Stefan Edberg
Andre Agassi
Pete Sampras
Boris Becker
Michaerl Stich
Pete Sampras
Boris Becker
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Alex Corretja
Pete Sampras
Gustavo Kuerten
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Series in Paris against Tomas Berdych he
looked tired, though ten days rest should
be enough for him to recharge. And let’s not
forget that at the beginning of the season
he lost three finals to Federer but on two
occasions he took him to the last point.
That leaves us with four others, Guillermo
Coria, Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian and Gaston Gaudio, the last two
replacing Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick. On paper they ought to be the least
competitive. Coria doesn’t like playing on
fast surfaces, Davydenko is tired after an
extraordinary but fatiguing season and Gaudio didn’t impress in Houston last year. The
only one who might have a better chance is
David Nalbandian, a good all-rounder who
adapts to all surfaces and on a good day
can be a nasty surprise for top players as
well. Anyway, just getting past the first round
would be a great result for any of these four.
Post
scriptum
10
Finalist
Rod Laver
Stan Smith
Stan Smith
Tom Okker
Ilie Nastase
Bjorn Borg
Wojitek Fibak
Bjorn Borg
Arthur Ashe
Vitas Gerulaitis
Ivan Lendl
Vitas Gerulaitis
John McEnroe
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Mats Wilander
Ivan Lendl
Boris Becker
Stefan Edberg
Jim Courier
Jim Courier
Pete Sampras
Boris Becker
Michael Chang
Boris Becker
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Carlos Moya
Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Sebastien Grosjean
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Andre Agassi
Lleyton Hewitt
Scores
n.a.
n.a.
6-3 6-2 3-6 2-6 6-3
6-3 7-54-6 6-3
7-6 6-2 3-6 3-6 6-4
6-2 6-2 6-1
5-7 6-2 0-6 7-6 6-1
6-4 1-6 6-4
6-7 6-3 7-5
6-2 6-2
6-4 6-2 6-2
6-7 2-6 7-6 6-2 6-4
6-4 6-4 6-2
6-3 6-4 6-4
7-5 6-0 6-4
6-2 7-6 6-3
6-4 6-4 6-4
6-2 6-2 6-3
5-7 7-6 3-6 6-2 7-6
4-6 7-6 6-3 6-1
5-7 7-6 7-5 6-2
3-6 7-6 6-3 6-4
6-4 6-3 7-5
7-6 2-6 7-6 6-2
4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4
7-6 6-0 7-6
3-6 7-6 7-6 6-7 6-4
6-3 6-2 6-2
3-6 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-5
6-1 7-5 6-4
6-4 6-4 6-4
6-3 6-3 6-4
7-5 7-5 2-6 2-6 6-4
6-3 6-0 6-4
6-3 6-2
And that closes the line up. Some are
off form and/or returning from injury, so
other last minute withdrawals are not entirely improbable. Behind the Elite Eight
we have David Nalbandian. For him,
just getting to come on court at the Qi
Zhong Tennis Center would be a gift.
Post scriptum: a knee injury makes all talk of
Marat Safin futile at this stage. Unfortunately his knee pain is proving slow to go away,
in spite of treatment at Isokinetic in Bologna.
A great shame. As a player capable of frightening Federer, the Russian is first to come to
mind, off clay courts anyway. He beat Federer in the semi-final of the Australian Open
and lost to him, by a hairsbreadth, in last
year’s Tennis Masters Cup. Who’s knows
how things would have gone this year. Let’s
hope Marat can come out of the box fighting
fit, for it is he who many of the experts see
as the real anti-Federer, rather than Nadal.
Mercedes has extended its ATP sponsoring agreement for another
three years. The original contract was entered in 1996 The Hawk-Eye
system for line calls will make its debut at the Tennis Masters Cup in the
Delta Tour of Champions at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in December
The
Masters
1245 2
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
He’d be the favourite even if he came on
court with crutches. He hasn’t played an
official match for nearly two months and
only started training again a few days ago.
But he’s the world no. 1 and holder of this
title. And he’s certain to win the Indesit ATP
Race this year too.
5
953 3
Federer’s main rival. He won a Slam in
Paris and four ATP Masters Series. He
missed Paris because of a knee problem
but should be OK for Shanghai. On clay
he’d be the favourite, but here the odds
are on Federer.
418 6
Ivan Ljubicic
He’s the other big surprise of 2005, with
Ljubicic. To be honest, his second half season
wasn’t up to his first but reaching the Tennis
Masters Cup is still an exceptional result.
The risk is not finding enough motivation, as
well as not being in tip-top form. His target is
getting through the first round.
This is the “hot” player at end of the season.
A finalist in the last two ATP Masters Series,
a lot will depend on his physical form and
he’s inevitably tired. But if he can summon
up strength, he’ll be the tournament’s most
dangerous “loose cannon”. Even a first
round win would a great result for him.
438
Andre Agassi
Guillermo Coria
His current physical condition is a big
secret. He hasn’t been seen on the circuit
since the US Open and he’s had continual
back trouble. But he’s had a long time to
rest and if his physique allows, he can hold
his own against anyone, including Federer
(more or less).
Off clay he’s not competitive, not even on
hardcourt but he’s in good physical form,
which could be his big asset, seeing the
shape many of the others are in. An old hand
in this tournament, he’ll also have the benefit
of experience. He may well get through the
first round, but it won’t be easy.
416 7
Nikolay Davydenko
370 8
344
Gaston Gaudio
David Nalbandian
Not always a consistent performer and
not at his most competitive off clay, he’ll
be hoping someone withdraws, so he can
chalk up two Tennis Masters in a row. He
didn’t get past the first round last year.
He hasn’t had a big win but has played a
very consistent season. He’s reached the
end of the year pretty fresh but wasted a
couple of good opportunities in the last
few ATP Masters Series.
Tie-breaks lost
Aces
Aces per match
Double faults
Double faults per
match
Points won on first
serve
Points won on
second serve
Service games won
Break points saved
Points won returning
first serve
Return games won
Prize money
(dollars)
77
3
25
10
576
7.3
139
1.8
63%
77&
60%
90%
66%
35%
52%
45%
31%
5,317,018
Rafael Nadal (Spa)
79
10
16
9
219
2.5
131
1.5
69%
71%
57%
84%
64%
37%
57%
46%
38% 3,874,751
Andre Agassi (USA)
38
11
13
6
303
6.3
124
2.6
60%
75%
54%
85%
71%
32%
52%
43%
28% 1,584,596
Guillelmo Coria (Arg)
55
24
12
14
258
3.5
319
4.4
63%
39%
49%
77%
60%
36%
56%
46%
37%
Nikolay Davydenko (Rus)
53
29
12
9
249
3.2
179
2.3
67%
67%
53%
78%
60%
36%
54%
45%
34% 1,178,299
Ivan Ljubicic (Cro)
55
21
26
17
875
12.5
150
2.1
62%
76%
55%
88%
72%
27%
46%
38%
19%
Gaston Gaudio (Arg)
53
19
11
10
202
2.8
198
2.8
62%
68%
52%
77%
64%
35%
56%
43%
35% 1,028,024
David Nalbandian (arg)
40
18
13
11
184
3.4
148
2.7
61%
68%
53%
76%
57%
34%
56%
45%
33%
Break points won
Tie-breaks won
Roger Federer (Swi)
First serve
Player
Matches lost
The table below is a summary of the key performance statistics for 2005 recorded by
the participants in the Tennis Masters Cup.
Matches won
Matchfacts!
455 4
Points won returning
first serve
1
The world’s best eight players have now qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup, though some will turn up
in poor shape after a punishingly long season. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Lleyton
Hewitt all missed the last ATP Masters Series in Paris, while Marat Safin, no. 10 in the Indesit ATP Race
and winner of the Australian Open (thus qualifying him for the Tennis Masters Cup), Andy Roddick and
Lleyton Hewitt have already pulled out and won’t play again till 2006. Outlined below are the prospects
for each of the eight contestants.
1,195,726
1,281,474
873,486
A n d y R o d d i c k w i l l f i n d i t h a r d to r e a c h t h e 1,0 0 0 a c e m a r k t h i s ye a r. H e’s
8 8 s h o r t a n d h e c a n’ t i m p r ove a s h e w i l l n o t p l ay t h e Te n n i s M a s te r s C u p
For further information, please contact Chiara Pascarella (Indesit Company, [email protected], tel. +39 (0)732 662432)
or Valentina Broglia (Indesit Company, [email protected], tel. +39 (0)2 30702551)
11
Memorabilia
“
“
Match Point
The career of ambitious young tennis coach Chris Wilton seems
unstoppable, partly due to two beautiful and powerful women who
will end up fighting over him. Such is plot of the latest Woody Allen
masterpiece, a thriller starring Scarlett Johansson and Matthew Goode
12