1 - Indesit Company

C E L E B R I T Y :
A N D R E
A G A S S I
Communication and External Relations Department
September 2005
Enfants
prodiges
The circuit is being
overrun by young
phenomena such as
Nadal and Gasquet,
Berdych and Monfils.
We take a look at the
new talents already
aiming at the top spot.
1
Cover story
Gael
Monfils
The most talked about
enfants prodiges are
Rafael Nadal and Richard
Gasquet. But behind them
there’s a whole army of
young talents threatening
to invade the top end
of the world rankings
him? First he demolished the ambitions of
Hewitt, Roddick and (in part) Safin, inflicting heavy defeats on them. Then, when
all seemed set for a calm reign, up pops
a young guy from Majorca who’s charming off court but lethal on it. Rafael Nadal
gave Federer a fright in the final in Miami,
which the Swiss won with a mixture of
class and good luck, and then beat him
in the semi-final in Paris, thus shattering
the No. 1’s dream of achieving his “career
Slam” this year (ie. becoming only the
sixth player in history to win all four Grand
Slam tournaments in their careers). However, Federer certainly wasn’t losing any
sleep over this, confident that he could
handle a new adversary. The problem
arose when he realized that lined up behind Nadal there were several other avid
pretenders to his world throne.
Nadal is at his heels and is followed, at
not too great a distance, by two French
lads who are promising spectacular
opposition. One is Richard Gasquet,
whom we’ve been watching ever since
the French press called him “a gift from
R
oger Federer is the person most worried by this.
No sooner did the Swiss
champion see off the likes
of Lleyton Hewitt and Andy
Roddick than he found him-
Post
scriptum
2
New
phenom
ena
self pursued by a horde of young talents
with their sights on him. “Someone new
emerges every year; first it was Nadal,
then Gasquet. You can never relax.....”
His Majesty Roger was heard to complain
(tongue in cheek). And who can blame
heaven” when he was only nine. The
other is Gael Monfils, a player stolen
from athletics. The one that gets most
fans dreaming is Gasquet. His technique
should be filmed and sent round all the
Federer beats Nadal on the web too; for the moment, clicking on their names in
Google produces 797,000 entries for the Swiss and 622,000 for the Spaniard. Way
behind Agassi though, with 1,050,000 A new postage stamp has been issued to
commemorate Arthur Ashe, the unforgettable black American champion of the 70s
Young promises
The world circuit is bristling with young champions, some already
ensconced in the upper echelons, others rapidly approaching. Here are
the Top 10 under-20s in the Indesit ATP Entry Ranking.
1
2
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 2
Born 1986. A real phenomenon
and Roger Federer’s most serious
rival for the top spot. He won at
this year’s Roland Garros and if
he improves his serve and volley
he’ll become very dangerous on
all surfaces.
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 13
Born 1986. Technically the
best of the batch, we’ll soon
be seeing him near the top
of the world rankings. Competitive on all surfaces, his
backhand is pure orgasm for
tennis freaks.
Rafael Nadal
3
4
5
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 43
Born 1986. Awesomely powerful, he’s
already being called the new Noah in
France (but only because of the colour of his skin). He has a terrifying
serve, a punishing forehand and is
physically intimidating in general. An
opponent to avoid on fast surfaces.
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 62
Born 1985. Switzerland has
found a worthy partner for Roger Federer. A hard hitter, he’s
also fast and will get even better. He plays a fine game but
now needs testing at Grand
Slam level.
Richard Gasquet
Tomas Berdych
Gael Monfils
6
7
8
9
10
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 73
Born 1985. He won a lot as a junior
but few thought he would make it
as a pro. He’s not exactly a giant
and in modern tennis it’s difficult
make much headway without
power on your side. But he’s
showing it can be done.
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 95
Born 1985. A Spanish clay court
player but of the new school, so he’s
not just competent and reliable - he
also plays to entertain and goes for
every point. If he manages to get a
psychological hold of his game, he’ll
be a very tough nut on clay.
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 122
With Tim Henman on the way
out, Great Britain is pinning its
hopes on an 18 year-old Scot
who put in an interesting performance at Wimbledon. He’s
expected to make the world Top
50 before long.
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 126
It was obvious the Chinese would
wake up sooner or later. For the
moment, their strongest hope is
from Taipei: a fast player suited
above all to cement. Technically
complete, he still needs to develop a knockout stroke.
Marcos Baghdatis
Nicolas Almagro
world’s tennis schools. His back hand
is pure text book stuff, his inventiveness
typical of only the greats in this sport.
He’s the only player, in fact, who can
compete with Federer not only in terms
of efficacy but style as well. He’s maturing slowly but when he’s gained enough
experience, he’s going to be bad news
for everyone. The other French phenomenon is quite the reverse. He’s no miracle
of technique, but lanky and stylistically
limited as he may be, he has uncommon
power. Physically he could have been
competitive in any of a dozen athletics
specialities, with legs like springs and
a very fast arm that’s already ensuring
serves at over 200 km/h. The experts are
expecting to see him in the Top 10 before long and marketing folk are predicting fabulous contracts for him, given that
non-white players are in great demand to
stimulate the market.
But this is only the leading trio. Behind
them are other young talents on the ATP
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 34
Born 1985. Huge potential:
powerful, technically complete and with room for physical
improvement, especially in his
footwork. He’s played well on clay
as well but is most dangerous on
cement and indoor surfaces.
Novak Djokovic
Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 97
The most recent entry, partly
because he’s the youngest. He
could still be playing junior tournaments but is already chalking
up wins on the professional circuit. Has a good game and plenty of room for improvement.
Andrew Murray
launch pad. First of all Tomas Berdych
(20), who beat Federer at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Last year he won his first
pro title in Palermo and it won’t be his
last. There aren’t many players around
who so often leave you standing three
metres off the ball. If he spends more
time on the athletics track to improve his
fleetness of foot, he’ll make a good candidate for the Top 10.
Further down the ranking we have the
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Having won
as a junior at Roland Garros, he was automatically compared to Federer, though
without justification at this stage. He has
a fine game, very aggressive and technically well rounded, and if he continues
to develop, Switzerland will be able to
mount a serious Davis Cup challenge.
Another couple of players to watch are
the Serbo-Montenegro Novak Djokovic
and the Scottish Andrew Murray. Both
could still be playing as juniors but are
already winning pro tournaments. Mur-
Stanislas Wawrinka
Yeu-Tzuoo Wang
ray, in particular, has produced quite a
movement in the UK, where Henman
was being measured up for Madame
Tussaud’s and a replacement figure was
needed. And one was duly provided
by... Spain, Murray’s adopted home. A
pupil of the Emilio Sanchez Academy
in Barcelona, he’s so loth to abandon
the Catalonian capital that he’s training
there with Mark Petchey, a UK federation
coach. To make sure he continues to feel
a loyal subject of the Queen, the job of
technical coach was given to Fred Perry,
who (by no mere coincidence) was the
last Brit to win at Wimbledon, in 1936.
Murray hasn’t quite made the Top 100
yet but it’s only a question of weeks.
Under pressure from such promising
young players it looks as though the Top
10 is in for a major reshuffle. Another name
being mentioned in this context is Donald
Young, a 16 year-old from Chicago who
McEnroe says will become a No. 1.
Federer & Co are in for some hard times.
Tennis players are monopolizing the glossy magazines in September: Andy Roddick
is on the cover of the famous American magazine Cargo, Marat Safin has seven
pages in GQ and Rafael Nadal fans can admire him in the September Vogue. James
Blake, on the other hand, captured the attention of the New York Time Magazine
3
Internet
Tennis on line
The web has become
an indispensable source
of information in the world
of sport as well.
You can find all you want
there – tournament info,
results, gossip, whatever.
To navigate well,
the following tips will help.
T
ennis and the Internet were
made for each other. No other
sport has a 50 week season,
with matches everyday all
over the world at every level.
So keeping track of the global circuit and ATP stars is not light work.
Fans can find all they want, however, on
the web, so here’s our guide to fishing for
info without getting caught up in the net.
1. www.atptennis.com This is the official
site of the Players’ Association, the main
portal for professional tennis, providing
results, scorecards, rankings, news, exclusive photos and tournament and player
statistics. It also features Fantasy Tennis,
where you can win some very attractive
prizes. It’s recently had a graphics restyling
to enhance legibility and clarity of content.
2. www.itftennis.com This is the international federation’s official site, with
links to the Davis Cup, junior tournaments
and various national federation sites. The
results and head-to-head archives are
excellent, especially during the Davis Cup
Post
scriptum
4
(live scores from all main courts).
3. www.tennisweek.com Straightforward and easy to use, this the site of the
American magazine of the same name.
Four or five fresh nuggets of news everyday open the home page, plus the occasional scoop. The features are excellent
and always laced with tasty tennis titbits.
4. www.si.com The Bible of American
sport no less, Sport Illustrated is indispensable during Grand Slams (Wimbledon
and the US Open in particular). Jon Wertheim’s commentaries are pure gospel.
5. www.tennis.com Tennis Magazine’s
site, this American organ is the best place
in the world to get info on tennis and related matters. Don’t miss Peter Bodo’s blog
or the technical commentaries by some of
the world’s best coaches.
6. www.livescore.com A simple click
on “tennis” on the bar at the top of the
page will give you real time results of all
ATP tournament matches being played
throughout the world, making it an indispensable tool for tracking the sport live.
7. www.eurosport.com (www.sportitalia.com for the Italian version) The site
of Europe’s most important sports channel, Eurosport concentrates on practically real-time reporting and comment
on the various tournaments. As a news
source it’s the perfect back-up to the TV
channel.
8. www.tenniswarehouse.com This is
a web-shop where you can order any tennis gear imaginable. An official partner of
the ATP, it has an interesting section on
products used by tennis champions and
comments by fans who have already tried
them out.
9. www.tenniscorner.net The best
thing here is the statistics on all the tournaments played in the Open Era (since
1968), in which you can trace all the
games by any player who’s ever been
on the ATP circuit. It has an efficient link
system for viewing major games, overall
John McEnroe won the senior title in the first edition of the LTU Champions
Trophy, beating Aaron Krickstein in the final 1-6 6-3 10-6 According
to Brad Gilbert, for years considered the best coach on the circuit,
the best young prospect around, apart from Nadal, is Tomas Berdych
rankings and tournament scorecards,
making it a very powerful research tool.
with good tennis facilities, a list of tennis
oases, with photos and prices.
10. www.tennis-x.com Wittily iconoclastic, this site gives latest news, press
conference clips and tough but also generous commentary. Its authors use nicknames for most of the players and specialize in the sort of news fans are most
avid for. Not always politically correct.
14. www.tennismasterscup.com This
is the official site of the year-end Masters
Cup, which will be played in Shanghai for
the next three years, making it a window
on the Chinese market, destined to become a dominant player in world tennis
too in coming years.
11. www.tennisreporters.com Lots
of in-depth news from expert tennis
journalists. Some pages are pay to use
but they often feature scoops and important news.
15. www.usopen.org The official site of
the most recent Slam tournament. As in
the other Slam sites (same address except for the tournament name), the live
score button is what gets most clicks.
It can also be accessed over a link from
usta.com, the American federation’s official site.
12. www.lequipe.fr This is the web version of what is considered the world’s
best sports daily. News and results but
above all pdf versions of the paper (at a
price obviously).
13.
www.tennisresortsonline.com
You need a holiday but can’t release your
grip on a tennis racquet? Here is a thorough review of the world’s finest resorts
16. www.amazon.com If you want a
book or a DVD on tennis, the world’s biggest online bookshop is the place for you.
It has everything and if you live in Europe
you can use the French site (www.amazon.fr) to save shipment charges. Fast,
simple and reliable.
17. www.ebay.com Visit this auction site
if you’re looking for a vintage racquet, or
even recent products. Just go to the sports
section and specify “tennis” and you can
bid for a vast assortment of tennis items,
sometimes going at ridiculous prices.
18. www.tenniseurope.org The European tennis federation’s site gives all the
results of the junior tournaments, news,
photos, commentary and a free subscription newsletter.
19. www.sanchez-casal.com Reputed Europe’s finest tennis academy, the
“Sanchez” (not far from Barcelona airport)
has been preferred by many champions
to famous schools across the Atlantic.
Run by Emilio Sanchez, a former singles
Top 10 and a no 1 doubles; the last champion it reared was Guillermo Coria.
20. www.insidetennis.com The site of
the eponymous magazine provides various photo features (including colour material) and in-depth commentary. The free
of charge archive is excellent.
In spring next year a new tournament will be played in Florida and one of the players invited
is Pete Sampras; it would be the first time Pistol Pete returns on court since his retirement
retirement Roddick has presented his new Babolat tennis shoes. “It’s a brand I’ve been very
fond of,” said Andy, “since they gave me one of their racquets when I was a kid and unheard of”
5
Celebrity
Andre
Agassi
Slogan “Image is everything” A Canon ad
with Agassi as testimonial
Daft things “I’ve said a lot of daft things
in my life. Including that Canon slogan...”
The past “How old do you have to get
before people forget about the mistakes in
your past?”
Nightmares “I think the worst nightmare,
mine and Sampras’s, would be to wake up
each being the other one”
Mystery “I’ve never let any other player
really know me. You can’t do that with your
rivals on court. That’s why Sampras and I
can never be real friends”
Academy “I hated being at the Bollettieri
Academy. But I did understand that the
sooner I got good, the sooner I could get
out of there. That’s why I trained hard”
Nearly retired “If I’d lost the Wimbledon
final in ’92 after already losing two Paris finals, maybe I would have retired. Everyone
needed a victory – my dad, my coach, my
fans. I too had a terrible need to show I was
a winner”
Abandoned “In 1995 I played extraordinarily in the American summer tournaments. Then I lost in the final of the US
Open to Sampras, again. I’ve never felt so
alone on a tennis court as that day”
The best “The five best players of all
time? Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras”
Wimbledon “Winning at Wimbledon was
fantastic. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can
compare with that success” 1992
Son “Since I became a father, I’ve looked
at things in a different perspective. Let’s
say that winning or losing on a tennis court
is no longer the most important thing in my
life” 2003
Steffi Graf “Being with Steffi is fantastic.
It’s always fascinating to be able to understand what passes through the mind of an
icon of world sport”
Interests “My interest in life is my personal development. Faith in God is the
most important part of my life”
Post
scriptum
6
Andre
Agassi
He’s the most famous
player in the history
of tennis and at 35
is still in the world Top 10.
A great champion and
a great plain speaker...
Pete Sampras “When I played against
Pete in Rome in 1989, I thought: My God,
this guy’s hopeless!. He couldn’t even keep
the ball on court. Well, let’s just say I was
wrong”
Family matches “When I play against
Steffi, she always wins. But only because I
can’t keep my eyes on the ball”
Slam wins “I thought that winning eight
Slam titles was a great record. It’s tough
though when your wife’s won 21...”
New shoes “At least we won’t be arguing any more about what shoes our kids
will wear” Agassi commenting on his move
from Nike to Adidas, his wife Steffi Graf’s
sponsor
Prison “In the six and a half years Agassi
was in my Academy, my main task was
keeping him out of prison” Nick Bollettieri
Clock “The best thing about tennis is you
can’t gain advantage and then wait till time’s
up. It’s always up to you to find a solution to
end the match”
Rivalry “Why have I always beaten Andre in the important matches? Because he
knows I’m better” Pete Sampras
Coffee “Andre moves faster between one
point and next than some players do during
the point. He would make a perfect testimonial for caffeine” Coach Brad Gilbert
Impossible comparisons “You can’t
compare Agassi with McEnroe or Borg.
With his talent he should never have fallen
so low in the rankings” Jimmy Connors after Agassi dropped out of the ATP Top 100
Victories and defeats “You lost a load
of matches you should have won. And I
won a lot I should have lost. I think I can
help you” Brad Gilbert offering to become
Agassi’s coach
Let’s bet... “Agassi couldn’t even beat
my mother now. He’s finished” David Lloyd,
captain of the British Davis Cup team, in
1999, when Agassi dropped out of the ATP
Top 100
Rebel “I don’t like it when people support Agassi: he looks like a rebel with that
earring, long hair and unkempt beard” Ivan
Lendl on Agassi’s youthful look
The best “Sampras and Agassi would
have destroyed any player from before their
time” Pancho Gonzalez
There are already five players who have topped a million dollars in 2005:
Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Safin and Hewitt Andy Roddick heads the aces
ranking with 758 but he’s behind Ivo Karlovic and Wayne Arthurs in terms of
aces per match Federer has won 38 of his 39 matches on hardcourt this year
Special Ranking
INDESIT ATP 2005 Race
1
Roger Federer (Swi)
1
Age 24 – Race points 1,010
64 wins/3 defeats
2
Rafael Nadal (Spa)
2
Age 19 – Race points 838
65 wins/9 defeats
3
Andy Roddick (USA)
3
4
Lleyton Hewitt (Aus)
4
Age 24 – Race points 400
30 wins/8 defeats
5
Nikolay Davydenko (Rus)
6
1
Age 23 – Race points 547
49 wins/11 defeats
Age 24 - Race points 371
43 wins/22 defeats
The outright dominator of the season, with only
one rival anywhere in sight - Rafael Nadal. He
doesn’t need many more points though to leave
the Spaniard definitively behind and close the
race in 1st place for the second year running.
6
Guillermo Coria (Arg)
Has failed to rise to the occasion in the tournaments
that count but has put in excellent performances on
average. His main aim now will be to qualify for the
Masters Cup. Which won’t be easy seeing his poor
record in late season indoor tournaments.
He dominated a couple of clay court tournaments
and immediately went on to win the Masters Series
in Montreal, his third this season. He’s still in there
behind King Federer, with maybe a chance pipping
him at the post at the end of the year.
7
Marat Safin (Rus)
5
Age 25 – Race points 346
27 wins/11 defeats
A knee injury operated in July kept him off
court for several weeks and lost him a few
places in the Race. Yet he’s still one of the
favourites in the fast tournaments and a
likely player in the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
A big win is needed urgently, having lost to
Federer, again, in the final of the Cincinnati
Masters Series. A more than respectable
season lacking only in a major victory to
keep up with the lead pair.
8
Gaston Gaudio (Arg)
He won a lot on clay but must still
prove himself Top 10 material on
cement. If he can chalk up another
couple of good results, he can still aim
at the Masters Cup.
A consistent performer but, like Roddick,
he needs a big win. He bowed out of
the semi-final of the Cincinnati Masters
Series but still has a chance of making
the world podium.
9
Andre Agassi (USA)
Just when everyone was saying Agassi was finished
because of his various ailments, he suddenly made it
to the final in the Montreal Masters Series, losing to
no less than Rafael Nadal. If he plays a good US Open,
he can still hope for his nth Masters Cup qualification.
This season’s big surprise, with
extremely high average performances
and a very good chance of getting into
the final eight for the year-end Masters
Cup in Shanghai.
10
Robby
Ginepri
8
Age 26 – Race points 343
50 wins/14 defeats
9
Age 35 - Race points 315
32 wins/10 defeats
7
Mariano Puerta (Arg)
Age 26 - Race points 294
29 wins/15 defeats
10
1
Position in INDESIT ATP 2005 Race
Age 23 - Race points 321
45 wins/17 defeats
Position in INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking
Second service
As the old tennis saying goes,
“you’re only as strong as your
second ball”. Winning over half your
points on second serves is no mean
feat. Here are the top 10 in this
rather special ranking.
Player
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Andy Roddick
Mariano Puerta
Robby Ginepri
Lleyton Hewitt
Richard Gasquet
Wayne Arrhurs
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Fernando Gonzalez
%
61
57
56
55
55
55
55
55
54
54
After reaching the final in Paris he hasn’t
had another big result, though his quarter
final in the Montreal Masters Series was
very useful. Making it to Shanghai is
beginning to look rather difficult though.
Matches
67
74
58
44
41
35
33
28
53
52
Double
faults
Pos.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
9
Here is the ranking of players
with the most double faults
per game in the Top 100 of the
Indesit ATP 2005 Race.
Player
Dmitry Tursunov (Rus)
Jean-René Lisnard (Fra)
Taylor Dent (USA)
Greg Rusdeski (Gbr)
Wayne Arthurs (Aus)
Joachim Johansson (Swe)
Ivo Karlovic (Cro)
Mariano Zabaleta (Arg)
Fernando Gonzalez (Cil)
Karol Beck (Svk)
Double faults
per game
6.8
6.4
6.1
6.0
5.1
4.6
4.3
4.2
4.1
4.1
Masters Series Ranking
With his victory in Cincinatti, Roger Federer became the first
player to win four Masters Series in a single season. The Top
Masters Series winners are as follows.
And here are the Masters Series
career totals. Roger Federer is
nearing the top of this ranking too.
Player
Born
Masters Series wins
Player
Roger Federer
2005
Indian Wells, Miami, Hamburg, Cincinnati
Rafael Nadal
2005
Monte Carlo, Rome, Montreal
Roger Federer
2004
Indian Wells, Hamburg, Toronto
Andre Agassi
2002
Miami, Rome, Madrid
Marcelo Rios
1998
Indian Wells, Miami, Rome
Andre Agassi
1995
Miami, Montreal, Cincinnati
Thomas Muster
1995
Monte Carlo, Rome, Essen (now Madrid)
Pete Sampras
1994
Indian Wells, Miami, Rome
Andre Agassi
Pete Sampras
Roger Federer
Thomas Muster
Michael Chang
Boris Becker
Jim Courier
Gustavo Kuerten
Marcelo Rios
Marat Safin
ATP Masters
Series wins
17
11
8
8
7
5
5
5
5
5
Seven of the nine Masters Series have
so far been played in 2005. Detailed
below are the points won in them by the
Top 10 in the Indesit ATP 2005 Race.
Player
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Guillermo Coria
Andre Agassi
Andy Roddick
Lleyton Hewitt
Nikolay Davydenko
Gaston Gaudio
Marat Safin
Mariano Puerta
Masters Series
points in 2005
425
371
195
186
133
116
103
103
68
51
Roger Federer has won nine titles this year, drawing equal with Rafael Nadal. They’re followed
by Gaston Gaudio with five and Andy Roddick with four The Bryan brothers and BjorkmanMirnyi are mathematically qualified for the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai Rafael Nadal
leads three of the four service return rankings; Nicolas Kiefer is on top in the break point table
7
SPECIAL US OPEN
Andy
Roddick
OneMan
Show
T
ennis was invented in
England and then dominated by the US. Till a
few seasons ago that is.
Since computers have
been splurging out world
rankings, no nation has produced
results comparable to America’s.
20 years ago there were 27 Americans in the Top 100, ten years on
there were 35. Then the collapse. In
1995 there were 12 and today only
10 and, even more worrying, only
four of them are in the Top 50 and
Post
scriptum
8
of those, alas, two (Andre Agassi and
Vince Spadea) are already over 30.
Even though there are countries
which would be overjoyed to have
these statistics, for the States they
spell crisis almost, considering the
only player they have in the Top 5
and with any chance of winning a
Slam tournament is Andy Roddick.
Agassi chalked up his 60th ATP title
in Los Angeles but he’ll need a miracle to win another Slam. Whereas
the States have always been used
to having at least a couple of top
With Agassi nearing
the end of his career,
the US is relying
on Andy Roddick
alone to win the major
titles and have a No. 1
again. While the
Donald Young
phenomenon is maturing.
Centre court at Flushing Meadows can seat 23,226 spectators. It’s the
biggest tennis stadium in the world The youngest ever US Open winner is
Pete Sampras, who was only 19 years and 28 days when he won in 1990.
The oldest winner was Ken Rosewall in 1970 (35 years, 10 months 11 days)
US OPEN
Andre
Agassi
won his 60 th
ATP title in
Los Angeles
seeds. Connors and McEnroe in the
‘70-‘80s, Sampras and Agassi up
till the end of the millennium. Now
they’re lacking supporting talent
as well. Taylor Dent is an unfulfilled
promise and there aren’t many promising young talents in the pipeline.
There was talk of Brendan Evans but
only talk and types like James Blake,
Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri have
become good players but not aces.
Roddick has the potential to win
anywhere (except on clay) but so
far he’s had the misfortune of coming up against the Federer phenomenon, who’s beaten him so often he
must be feeling quite discouraged.
The numbers say it all. Looking at
the country ranking (which sums
the rankings of the top three players in each country) the Usa is well
placed, but they’ve lost their leadership to Argentina and have Russia
and Spain at their heels. In terms of
Grand Slams, the haven’t won a title since the 2003 US Open and in
general they’ve been overtaken by
European countries. The Davis Cup
ranking tells a worse tale. The US
The Arthur
Ashe Stadium
in New York
Jimmy Connors won 98 matches at Flushing against 17 defeats. Agassi is third equal with
Sampras on 71 wins; second is Ivan Lendl on 73 Roger Federer is still unbeaten in Slam title finals,
having won all five played In the Open Era, the record number of wins is held by Jimmy Connors
and Pete Sampras with five, followed by John McEnroe with four and Ivan Lendl with three
9
US OPEN
Donald
Hall of Fame
Here are all the winners of the US
Open in the Open Era (since 1968)
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Arthur Ashe (USA)
Rod Laver (Aus)
Ken Rosewall (Aus)
Stan Smtih (USA)
Ilie Nastase (Rom)
John Newcombe (Aus)
Jimmy Connors (USA)
Manuel Orantes (Spa)
Jimmy Connors (USA)
Guillermo Vilas (Arg)
Jimmy Connors (USA)
John McEnroe (USA)
John McEnroe (USA)
John McEnroe (USA)
Jimmy Connors (USA)
Jimmy Connors (USA)
John McEnroe (USA)
Ivan Lendl (Rce)
Ivan Lendl (Rce)
Ivan Lendl (Rce)
Mats Wilander (Swe)
Boris Becker (Ger)
Pete Sampras (USA)
Stefan Edberg (Swe)
Stefan Edberg (Swe)
Pete Sampras (USA)
Andre Agassi (USA)
Pete Sampras (USA)
Pete Sampras (USA)
Patrick Rafter (Aus)
Patrick Rafter (Aus)
Andre Agassi (USA)
Marat Safin (Rus)
Lleyton Hewitt (Aus)
Pete Sampras (USA)
Andy Roddick (USA)
Roger Federer (Swi)
Donald
Young
Donald Young
The future of American tennis is already down in writing, under the name of
Donald Young, 16, from Chicago. After his move to Atlanta to develop his
game the experts are saying he’ll soon be joining the world’s elite. Black and
left-handed, he’s already been nicknamed the Tiger Woods of tennis and the
sponsors are all over him as a potential goldmine. He’s already debuted on the
professional circuit thanks to the invitations that various US tournament organizers are happy to make him. Whether this has done the enfant prodige any
good is debatable. He didn’t come close to winning any of his six encounters
and there is a risk he’ll be burned out prematurely. Which is stoutly denied by
his managers and his father Donald Senior. In the meantime, he’s turned his
back on school and is planning a grand future for himself. “I want to win all
the Grand Slam tournaments. At least twice though, so no one will think it was
luck”. He has no lack of confidence. What he needs now is results.
has always done very well in the
Davis Cup but they’re now down in 6th
place and this year were eliminated in
the first round (at home!) by Croatia.
Coming up with new champions isn’t
easy. Basketball, baseball and American football cream off the best athletic
talents and recruiting for tennis is getting increasingly complicated. A lot of
hopes are pinned on Donald Young, a
16 year old from Chicago, who the experts say is the most promising young
American for the last ten years. John
McEnroe is enthusiastic about him and
Post
scriptum
10
says he’s going to be his heir, not just
in terms of resuilts but also style and
game. Left-handed and with a strong
personality, he undoubtedly has extraordinary technical qualities but it’s
still a long way from the junior tournaments to the professional ones and
it requires very careful management.
One institution that isn’t suffering is
the most important tournament the
American federation organizes, the US
Open, which can boast of being the
most widely followed annual sporting event in the world thanks to the
over 600,000 spectators that throng
Flushing Meadows for two weeks. It’s
a flagship event for the Usta, which
has built the US Open Series around
it, a series of tournaments preceding
the US Open and offering the winner
of this special ranking a million dollar
bonus. This has obviously attracted
a lot of significant sponsoring business and above all ensured enviable
TV coverage and record audiences.
As in other sectors, the US has
launched a new model here, which
others would do well to imitate.
Coverage of the US Open will be extraordinary, as usual. In Europe it will be broadcast
live and exclusively by the pan-European satellite channel Eurosport and Eurosport
2, which will show matches from the start of the day-time session till the end of
the evening session. Commentators will include various champions from the past.
Top 10
All-time
1
The US Open is the toughest Slam, being played on the scorching New York hardcourts. The last
of the year’s Slams is often the one that dramatically upsets the world rankings. No surprise then
that the US Open All-Time list is headed by Jimbo Connors.
*based on the Indesit ATP Race table.
2,091 2
1,651 3
Jimmy Connors (USA)
Pete Sampras (USA)
He won it five times in nine years
and played in it till he was 40.
This, the best loved player in
America, used to say that New
Yorkers “always love a player
who shows guts”.
He too won it five times, the last
time in 2002 when no one was
expecting it. He won a famous
match against Corretja and
thrilled the public in a legendary
rally with Agassi which was later
used in a TV ad.
6
767 7
1,585 4
1,401 5
1,380
Ivan Lendl (Rce)
Andre Agassi (USA)
John McEnroe (USA)
With nine finals in a row, who
worries if you only win three?
Connors did a hatchet job on
him in the earlier finals (calling
him a “rabbit”), but Lendl got
his own back later.
He’s won it twice and is desperate
for a third. He’d like to retire after a
big win but this is frankly beyond
his reach. On the other hand, if
anyone’s capable of pulling off a
tennis miracle, it’s probably Andre
Agassi.
A great three in row at the end of
the ‘70s and then in his best ever
tennis, in the 1984 final. He often
destroyed the ambitions of his rival
Bjorn Borg and was greatly loved
by the crowds because he was
born and bred in New York.
766 8
702 9
666 10
621
Bjorn Borg (Swe)
Stefan Edberg (Swe)
Arthur Ashe (USA)
Guillermo Vilas (Arg)
Mats Wilander (Swe)
He gave it all he had but lost
all five of the finals he reached.
McEnroe and Connors stopped
him time after time, even when
the Swedish Bear was playing
his best.
A mere point behind the idol Borg,
Stefan The Beautiful won twice at
Flushing and always performed
consistently there. He’s also
ahead of his arch rival Boris
Becker in this ranking, which will
please him enormously.
He was the winner of the very first
US Open, in 1968, and was also
the first black player to win a men’s
singles title. A great man over and
above being a magnificent player,
the new centre court was named
after him.
He took advantage of the years
when the US Open was played
at Forest Hills, on clay. He won
it in 1977, his best year, when he
was practically unbeatable on
slow courts.
A little surprise for a player born
on clay but who adapted well
to faster surfaces. His success
in 1988, against Ivan Lendl
in five interminable sets, was
extraordinary and made him the
world No. 1.
Croat fans chant
victory over the USA
Country rankings
Davis Cup Ranking
*sum of first
three players
in the Indesit ATP
Entry Ranking
Over the years
the USA has
lost its leadership to Argentina, Spain
and Russia.
Thanks to recent successes
by Agassi and
Roddick they’ve
managed put
Spain and Russia behind them
again but Argentina is still
way ahead.
Country
Total*
Country
Points
1
Argentina
27
1
Spain
27,225
2
USA
37
2
Australia
19,000
3
Russia
37
3
Russia
17,925
4
Spain
37
4
Spain
17,375
5
Sweden
72
5
Argentina
13,825
6
Czech Rep.
77
6
USA
13,210
7
France
91
7
Croatia
9,475
8
Germany
135
8
Slovakia
8,377.5
9
Belgium
136
9
Switzerland
6,359.4
10
Croatia
137
10
Belarus
6,118.1
Things aren’t going so well
in the Davis Cup. In spite
of Andre Agassi’s return
to the team, the States
were eliminated at home
by Ljubicic and Ancic’s
Croatia and thus dropped
out of the Top 5 of the ITF
ranking.
9th September a charity auction and a party organized by the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame will be held at the Waldorf Astoria
in New York The United States have won the highest number of titles in the Open Era -18 - followed by Australia with six
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
A Marat racquet
“
“
When I was in top form, I managed in just one
s e a s o n t o . . . . . b r e a k a r o u n d 4 0 r a c q u e t s . Te n n i s i s a
s t r e s s f u l s p o r t . Yo u h a v e t o l e t o f f s t e a m s o m e t i m e s !
12
Marat Safin