bringing you the best in tennis fashion, lifestyle, and business -- both on and off the court.
The ITF has announced that the ITF Beach Tennis World Championships will be hosted in Italy by the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT). The event will take place in the Bagno Delfino, located on the Adriatic resort of Cervia in Ravenna, July 31 – August 4, 2013.
This fifth edition Championship will have both men’s and women’s doubles draws, and was first hosted by the Italians in the Foro Italico (Rome) from 2009 until 2011. The Italians, who are cited as the inventors of beach tennis, have dominated the game so far, with Marco Garavini and Paolo Tazzari winning the 2012 men’s title and Simona Briganti and Laura Olivieri defended the women’s title.
President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “We are delighted to see the continued growth of the Beach Tennis Tour,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “The ITF Beach Tennis World Championships remain a focal point of the beach tennis calendar, and it is fitting that this year’s event is staged in such an active region for the sport.” Over 40 countries are currently represented in the ITF Beach Tennis Rankings.
This past week of college tennis produced a number of notable results, including a rare home loss by the Stanford women, as the Cardinal were shocked 4-3 by St. Mary’s over the weekend, dropping Stanford out of the Top 10. The Florida Gators also had an interesting two days, losing 4-0 at Duke on Sunday before defeating top-ranked North Carolina 4-2 on Monday. For the men, the Virginia Cavaliers fought off the competition at the 2013 ITA DI National Men’s Team Indoor Championship to hold steady at No. 1, claiming the title with a 4-2 triumph over No. 2 USC.
Follow the Leader: For the men, following Virginia are USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Duke, Kentucky, Pepperdine, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss. One the women’s side, North Carolina is followed by UCLA, Duke, Florida, Georgia, USC, Cal, Alabama, Northwestern, and Texas A&M.
Conference Count: Men’s Top 25: SEC – 9; Pac-12 – 4; ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten – 3; Big East, Conference USA, and WCC – 1. Six different conferences placed at least one team in the Top 10. Women’s Top 25: ACC – 7; SEC – 5; Big Ten and Pac-12 – 4; Big 12 – 3; Big East and Ivy League – 1. Four SEC teams landed in the Top 10, while the Pac-12 had three squads among the Top 10 and the ACC had two.
Double-Dip: A total of 13 schools have both their men’s and women’s programs ranked inside the Top 25. Duke, Georgia, UCLA, and USC find both their men’s and women’s team inside the Top 10 this week. The 13 schools are listed in the graphic above.
Top 25 Caliber: One men’s and one women’s team cracked the Top 25 this week. On the men’s side, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are ranked No. 24 after checking in at No. 29 two weeks ago. Notre Dame has played a rigorous schedule to this point, facing seven ranked opponents on the year already. The Fighting Irish are playing very well in head coach Bobby Bayliss’ final year, recently defeating No. 50 Michigan State 6-1 and No. 23 Michigan 4-3 while also dropping a tight 4-3 contest to No. 6 Kentucky. It is the first time back in the Top 25 for Notre Dame since March 29, 2011. On the women’s side, the Florida State Seminoles slipped into the Top 25 this week at No. 25. Florida State has put together a solid season so far, compiling a 6-1 record with the only blemish coming at No. 19 Baylor 4-1. The Seminoles own victories over No. 35 Rice 4-2, No. 47 South Florida 6-1, and No. 58 Georgia State 5-2. Florida State has not been ranked this high since Feb. 22, 2012, when the Seminoles were No. 22.
Top 75 Newcomers: In all, six teams have leaped into the Top 75 in the latest rankings after being unranked previously, including four men’s and two women’s squads. Nebraska checks in at No. 59 this week on the strength of recent wins against No. 34 VCU, No. 60 Georgia State, and then No. 74 ETSU. The No. 72 Oregon Ducks are undefeated on the season at 8-0, collecting victories over No. 52 Arkansas and No. 69 New Mexico last weekend, while Yale upset No. 68 Brown en route to posting a 2-1 record at the ECAC Team Indoor Championship to earn its ranking of No. 74. Finally, No. 75 Wisconsin beat previous No. 75 UC Irvine 5-2 to secure its place in the national rankings this week. For the women, No. 63 Kentucky rebounded from a pair of losses against ranked foes to upset No. 60 Indiana at home and No. 61 Ohio State on the road, both by the score of 4-3. Previously unranked NC State moved to 4-0 on the season with a 6-1 defeat of No. 72 College of Charleston, moving the Wolfpack into the rankings at No. 73.
ABN AMRO: Juan Martin del Potro was last man standing at the ABN AMRO WTT, the stacked ATP 500-series event in Rotterdam led by tournament director Richard Krajicek which saw Roger Federer ousted by finalist Julien Benneteau and had semifinal runs by Gilles Simon and Grigor Dimitrov. Delpo earned his 14th career title by downing Benneteau 7-6(2), 6-3.
Vika wins two: The plot thickens in the battle at the top of the women’s game between Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams. At this past week’s Qatar Total Open, contested in Doha, Serena regained the No. 1 ranking but Azarenka notched her second career win over Williams (in 13 tries) and defended her Doha title. The scoreline: 7-6(6) 2-6, 6-3. Azarenka is taking the week off to heal a foot injury, while Serena is playing in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Serena praised Victoria for her work in the final:
“I always respect Victoria. I think she’s a really good player. Obviously she’s so consistent and she plays well. She’s such a solid player. It’s nice to always play someone and go home and you’re like, ‘Okay, I didn’t do great, but let me work harder.’ I think that she inspires a lot of people to work harder, and definitely me.”
Bon voyage: The final edition of the 125-year-old SAP Open, held in San Jose, Calif., featured a three-peat for top seed, and two-time defending champ Milos Raonic. He defeated fourth seed Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3. Raonic won all three titles without dropping a set.
Raonic, from Canada, wore a New Balance tee with a black-and-green print. ”Today, I’m more of a complete player,” he said after winning the title. “I was able to put pressure on [Haas] in most of his service games. I was able to hold quite handily, which I’ve shown I can do in the past. I was able to create pressure every game. It wasn’t just one game. I was getting to a lot of deuce games.”
Chippin’ off the old block: The story of Rafael Nadal has finally come full circle. After disappearing from the circuit for about eight months after losing to Lukas Rosol in the early rounds of Wimbledon 2012, the Spaniard took home the Brasil Open (Sao Paolo) title last week. The 6-2, 6-3 victory over David Nalbandian was Nadal’s first since beating Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2012 French Open.
It’s all about the titles: “It’s very nice and important because at the end of your career what’s left are the titles,” Rafa reflected after his win, “and depending on certain moments there are some titles that you appreciate very much. This one I appreciate it the most because of all the struggles I went through during the week, with some problems with my knee some days.”
(Photo Credit: Rotterdam photo via ABN AMRO WTT Facebook; Nadal photo via Brasil Open; San Jose photo via SAP Open website; Vika/Serena photo via Qatar Tennis Federation)
TSF updates the “hottest tennis players” list to include some new faces. Do you agree with our Top 4?
Hit us up