Wimbledon 2011 Qualifying Day 2 Order of Play Tuesday June 14th

Wimbledon 2011 Qualifying Day 2 Order of Play Tuesday June 14th

Court 1

Zuzana Kucova(SVK) vs. Julia Cohen(USA)
Erika Sema(JPN) vs. Ana Vrljic(CRO)
Alexandra Panova(RUS) vs. Lindsay Lee-Waters(USA)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Flavio Cipolla(ITA)[9] vs. Daniel Munoz-De La Nava(ESP)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
David Goffin(BEL) vs. Uladzimir Ignatik(BLR)

Court 2

Noppawan Lertcheewakarn(THA) vs. Kumiko Iijima(JPN)
Sacha Jones(NZL) vs. Olga Savchuk(UKR)
Irina Falconi(USA)[4] vs. Anna-Lena Groenefeld(GER)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Frank Dancevic(CAN) vs. Danai Udomchoke(THA)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Ivan Navarro(ESP) vs. Igor Sijsling(NED)

Court 3

Elitsa Kostova(BUL) vs. Kai-Chen Chang(TPE)[19]
Alexandra Cadantu(ROU) vs. Mona Barthel(GER)
Elena Bogdan(ROU) vs. Jing-Jing Lu(CHN)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Gregoire Burquier(FRA) vs. Marco Crugnola(ITA)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Lukasz Kubot(POL)[2] vs. Kristijan Mesaros(CRO)

Court 4

Carla Suarez Navarro(ESP)[8] vs. Stefanie Voegele(SUI)
Michaëlla Krajicek(NED) vs. Valeria Savinykh(RUS)[24]
Tamarine Tanasugarn(THA)[5] vs. Cagla Buyukakcay(TUR)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Greg Jones(AUS) vs. Conor Niland(IRL)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Augustin Gensse(FRA) vs. Charles-Antoine Brezac(FRA)

Court 5

Ekaterina Ivanova(RUS) vs. Xinyun Han(CHN)
Renata Voracova(CZE)[11] vs. Alexa Glatch(USA)
Ajla Tomljanovic(CRO) vs. Regina Kulikova(RUS)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Nikola Mektic(CRO) vs. Andrey Kuznetsov(RUS)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Robert Farah(COL) vs. Bernard Tomic(AUS)

Court 6

Madison Brengle(USA) vs. Misaki Doi(JPN)[17]
Sally Peers(AUS) vs. Caroline Garcia(FRA)
Mariya Koryttseva(UKR) vs. Laura Siegemund(GER)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Marc Gicquel(FRA)[12] vs. Bastian Knittel(GER)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Jean-Rene Lisnard(MON) vs. Rogerio Dutra Da Silva(BRA)[21]

Court 7

Eva Birnerova(CZE)[9] vs. Anne Kremer(LUX)
Magda Linette(POL) vs. Galina Voskoboeva(KAZ)
Eirini Georgatou(GRE) vs. Stephanie Foretz Gacon(FRA)[14]
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Vasek Pospisil(CAN) vs. Edouard Roger-Vasselin(FRA)[29]
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Thomas Schoorel(NED)[4] vs. Chris Guccione(AUS)

Court 8

Laura Thorpe(FRA) vs. Kristyna Pliskova(CZE)
Nathalie Piquion(FRA) vs. Mandy Minella(LUX)[22]
Edina Gallovits-Hall(ROU)[6] vs. Florencia Molinero(ARG)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Simone Bolelli(ITA)[13] vs. Simon Stadler(GER)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Guillaume Rufin(FRA) vs. Marinko Matosevic(AUS)[30]

Court 9

Arina Rodionova(RUS) vs. Sesil Karatantcheva(KAZ)
Ioana Raluca Olaru(ROU) vs. Nina Bratchikova(RUS)
Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino(ESP) vs. Beatriz Garcia Vidagany(ESP)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Ivo Minar(CZE)[15] vs. Guillermo Olaso(ESP)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Ricardo Hocevar(BRA) vs. Jurgen Zopp(EST)

Court 11

Lenka Jurikova(SVK) vs. Kurumi Nara(JPN)[18]
Kathrin Woerle(GER) vs. Maria Irigoyen(ARG)
Vitalia Diatchenko(RUS) vs. Julia Glushko(ISR)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Ruben Bemelmans(BEL) vs. Yuichi Sugita(JPN)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Jamie Baker(GBR) vs. Andreas Beck(GER)[25]

Court 13

Nuria Llagostera Vives(ESP)[1] vs. Tatjana Malek(GER)
Yuliya Beygelzimer(UKR) vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa(ESP)[20]
Arantxa Rus(NED)[3] vs. Olivia Sanchez(FRA)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Kenny De Schepper(FRA) vs. Matthew Ebden(AUS)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Steve Darcis(BEL)[6] vs. Marco Chiudinelli(SUI)

Court 14

Melanie South(GBR) vs. Liana Ungur(ROU)
Casey Dellacqua(AUS) vs. Heidi El Tabakh(CAN)
Samantha Murray(GBR) vs. Camila Giorgi(ITA)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Roberto Bautista-Agut(ESP) vs. Liam Broady(GBR)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Jerzy Janowicz(POL) vs. Oliver Golding(GBR)

Court 15

Yung-Jan Chan(TPE)[2] vs. Marina Erakovic(NZL)
Anna Fitzpatrick(GBR) vs. Stephanie Dubois(CAN)[23]
Tara Moore(GBR) vs. Yvonne Meusburger(AUT)[16]
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe(GER) vs. Alexander Kudryavtsev(RUS)[28]
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Frederik Nielsen(DEN) vs. Karol Beck(SVK)[17]

Court 16

Masa Zec-Peskiric(SLO) vs. Sophie Ferguson(AUS)
Sloane Stephens(USA)[12] vs. Jade Windley(GBR)
Francesca Stephenson(GBR) vs. Lesia Tsurenko(UKR)[15]
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Ryan Harrison(USA)[14] vs. Laurent Rochette(FRA)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Amer Delic(BIH) vs. Rik De Voest(RSA)[32]

Court B

Iryna Bremond(FRA)[10] vs. Anna Floris(ITA)
Aleksandra Wozniak(CAN) vs. Urszula Radwanska(POL)[21]
Maria Elena Camerin(ITA)[7] vs. Aleksandra Krunic(SRB)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Go Soeda(JPN)[16] vs. Marton Fucsovics(HUN)
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Grega Zemlja(SLO) vs. Julio Silva(BRA)

Court C

Estrella Cabeza Candela(ESP) vs. Corinna Dentoni(ITA)
Kristina Kucova(SVK) vs. Junri Namigata(JPN)[13]
Lenka Wienerova(SVK) vs. Tetiana Luzhanska(UKR)
Not Before:14:00
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Fritz Wolmarans(RSA) vs. Lukas Lacko(SVK)[20]
Gentlemen's Qualifying Singles - 2nd Round
Alex Kuznetsov(USA) vs. Martin Fischer(AUT)[27]

Watch Wimbledon 2011 Free Online Video Streaming on ESPN3.com

Watch Wimbledon 2011 Free Online Video Streaming on ESPN3.com

ESPN3.com will have free live streaming of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships for all tennis fans in the US.

Check out the schedule....

*All times Eastern

Monday, Jun. 20
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 17
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #1)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 1: Centre Court

Tuesday, Jun. 21
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 17
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #2)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Centre Court

Wednesday, Jun. 22
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 17
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #3)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 3: Centre Court

Thursday, Jun. 23
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 17
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #4)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 4: Centre Court

Friday, Jun. 24
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 17
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #5)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 5: Centre Court

Saturday, Jun. 25
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Early Round Coverage Day #6)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 6: Centre Court

Monday, Jun. 27
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 14
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 18
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 3
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 12
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 2
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Round of 16)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Centre Court
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 1
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Court 1
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 8: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Round of 16)

Tuesday, Jun. 28
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Day 2: Court 16
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Ladies’ Quarterfinals)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Ladies’ Quarterfinals: Centre Court
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Ladies’ Quarterfinals: Court 1
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Ladies’ Quarterfinals: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Ladies’ Quarterfinals: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Ladies’ Quarterfinals: Court 1
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Ladies’ Quarterfinals)

Wednesday, Jun. 29
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Court 1
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Centre Court
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Court 1
10:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Court 1
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships – Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals: Centre Court
01:00 PM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals)

Thursday, Jun. 30
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Ladies’ Semifinal Match)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships

Friday, Jul. 01
07:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Gentlemen’s Semifinals)
08:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships

Saturday, Jul. 02
09:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Ladies’ Final)

Sunday, Jul. 03
09:00 AM 2011 Wimbledon, The Championships (Gentlemen’s Final)

2011 WIMBLEDON TV SCHEDULE

The 2011 Wimbledon Championships will be broadcast in the Unites States starting on Monday, June 20. Participating networks include ESPN2, Tennis Channel, and NBC. Stay tuned for updates and changes, along with live streaming. TV listings may change so please check your local listings.

*All times Eastern

Mon, June 20
7am – 5pm: Wimbledon Early Rounds Day 1 – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Tues, June 21
7am – 5pm: Wimbledon Early Rounds Day 2 – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Wednes, June 22
7am – 5pm: Wimbledon Early Rounds Day 3 – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Thurs, June 23
7am – 5pm: Wimbledon Early Rounds Day 4 – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Fri, June 24
7am – 5pm: Wimbledon Early Rounds Day 5 – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Sat, June 25
7am – 1pm: Early Rounds Day 6 – ESPN2 - LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Sun, June 26
*NBC WIMBLEDON BROADCAST TBD
5pm – 8pm: Week One Highlights – ESPN2 – Taped
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
11:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Mon, June 27
7am – 10am: Round of 16 – ESPN2 – LIVE
1pm – 6pm: Round of 16 – ESPN2 – LIVE
12:00am Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Tues, June 28
7am – 10am: Ladies’ Quarterfinals – ESPN2 – LIVE
1pm – 5pm: Ladies’ Quarterfinals – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
12:00am Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Wed, June 29
7pm – 10am: Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals – ESPN2 – LIVE
1pm – 5pm: Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals – ESPN2 – LIVE
7:00pm Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel
12:00am Wimbledon Primetime – The Tennis Channel

Thur, June 30
7am – Noon: Ladies’ Semifinal #1 + #2- ESPN2 – LIVE
8pm – 10pm: Ladies’ Semifinals Highlights – EPSN2

Fri, July 1
7am – Noon: Gentlemen’s Semifinal #1 + #2 – ESPN2 – LIVE
8pm – 11pm: Gentlemen’s Semifinals Highlights

Sat, July 2
*WOMEN’S FINAL NBC BROADCAST TBD
2pm – 3pm: SportsCenter at Wimbledon – ESPN2

Sun, July 3
*MEN’S FINAL NBC BROADCAST TBD
2pm – 3pm: SportsCenter at Wimbledon – ESPN2

Mon, July 4
7am – 9am: Ladies’ Final – ESPN3D – ReAir
9am – Noon: Gentlemen’s Final – ESPN3D – ReAir
Noon – 3pm: Gentlemen’s Semifinal #1 – ESPN3D – ReAir
3pm – 6pm: Gentlemen’s Semifinal #2 – ESPN3D – ReAir
6pm – 8pm: Ladies’ Final – ESPN3D – ReAir
8pm – 11pm: Gentlemen’s Final – ESPN3D – ReAir

Wimbledon 2011 Women’s Schedule of Play

Wimbledon 2011 Women’s Schedule of Play

The 2011 Wimbledon Championships are held in the London suburb of Wimbledon in the United Kingdom at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC). Wimbledon is also known as “The Championships” and is the 8th of the “BIG 14″ tournaments for the women’s professional tennis tour each year.

In this post we will cover how the WTA ranking points and prize money are allocated, and what the schedule of play is for the Ladies Singles Draw. The third Grand Slam tournament of each year begins on Monday 13 June for the women’s event with the qualifying draw and the Ladies Singles Final will be played on Saturday 2 July. The 1st round matches of the main draw begin on Monday 20 June.

The total financial commitment is 14,600,000 pounds sterling (£) with the total prize money for the Women’s Singles event being £5,230,000. The winner of the Ladies Singles Final at Wimbledon takes home £1.1 million, which is an increase of £100,000 from last year. To watch the tennis in Singapore just add 7 hours to the times listed below, as all times listed below are local times in London.

Pictured above is the 2010 Wimbledon Ladies singles champion Serena Williams just prior to making contact with the ball during her service motion in the 2010 Wimbledon semi final. The 1.75m Serena has made the Wimbledon Final 6 times in the past 9 years winning 4 titles: 2002-2003 & 2009-2010 and was runner-up in 2004 to Maria Sharapova and in 2008 to Venus Williams.

The 29-year-old American who turns 30 on September 26 this year has been out injured for almost a full 12 months. The former World No.1 and 13-time Grand Slam singles champion is playing her first tournament since the 2010 Wimbledon final at the AEGON International at Eastbourne in Great Britain on grass beginning tomorrow: 13 June. The shorter points and greater value for aggressive shots that you are afforded on grass will suit Serena’s comeback and very short preparation for her title defence.

At Wimbledon the women’s WTA ranking points and prize money is awarded like this:

1. The winner earns 2,000 points + £1,100,000;
2. The runner-up earns 1,400 points + £550,000;
3. The two semi finalists earn 900 points + £275,000;
4. The four quarter finalists earn 500 points + £137,500;
5. The 8 players who lose in the round of 16 earn 280 points + £68,750;
6. The 16 players who lose in the 3rd round earn 160 points + £34,375;
7. The 32 players who lose in the 2nd round earn 100 points + £20,125;
8. The *players who lose in the 1st round earn 5 points + £11,500.

The players who lose in the 1st round of the qualifying event earn £1,750 and 2 WTA ranking points. The players who lose in the 2nd round of qualifying earn £3,000 and 40 points. The players who lose in the 3rd round of qualifying earn £7,000 and 50 points.

*The players who qualify for the main draw and then lose the 1st round earn 60 points, whereas players, who start in the 1st round and lose their first match only earn 5 points. Wild Card entrants who lose 1st round also receive 5 points.

From the 2nd round onwards any qualifiers earn the points allocated by round PLUS their 60 points for qualifying. Therefore a qualifier who wins the 1st round of the main draw and then gets knocked out in the 2nd round earns 100 points for making the 2nd round plus 60 points for qualifying. Which means 160 points would be added to their ranking total.

The matches each day are played in a day session starting at 12noon on courts 2 to 19 for the first 8 days of play. Centre Court and Court No.1 commence every day of the tournament at 1pm except for both the Ladies and Gentlemen’s singles final, which begin at 2pm. There are no night sessions.

Please note that the tournament management can alter the schedule from day to day, in which case we will update you of any changes in later posts.

The schedule of play for the Ladies Singles event at Wimbledon is:

* Monday 13 June: Qualifying 1st round;
* Tuesday 14 June: Qualifying 1st round;
* Wednesday 15 June: Qualifying 2nd round;
* Thursday 16 June: Qualifying 3rd round;

* Monday 20 June: Main Draw 1st round;
* Tuesday 21 June: Main Draw 1st round;
* Wednesday 22 June: 2nd round;
* Thursday 23 June: 2nd round;
* Friday 24 June: 3rd round;
* Saturday 25 June: 3rd round;
* Sunday 26 June: No play is scheduled at all;
* Monday 27 June: 4th round (round of 16);
* Tuesday 28 June: Ladies Quarter Finals;
* Wednesday 29 June: No Ladies matches today;
* Thursday 30 June: Ladies Semi Finals from 2pm;
* Friday 1 July: No Ladies matches today; and
* Saturday 2 July: Ladies Singles Final at 2pm.

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw: Qualifying

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw: Qualifying

The 2011 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s qualifying singles event begins 0n Monday 13 June at 11am local time in London. The qualifying event is scheduled to be completed on Thursday 16 June. The qualifying draw will be revealed tomorrow and the full draw will be listed below as it occurs.

The qualifying matches are best-of-3 sets and NOT best-of-5 sets like the main draw singles matches. The first two sets are tie break sets and the final set is an advantage set. In an advantage set, if the set score is tied at 6 games all the players continue to play until one player gains a 2 game advantage.

The exception to the above is the third and final round of qualifying because at Wimbledon, unlike any of the other 3 Grand Slam singles tournaments, the final round of qualifying is best-of-5 sets. All of the other Slams play best-of-3 sets in all 3 rounds of qualifying. At Wimbledon 2010 John Isner and Nicolas Mahut set a record score in the final advantage set, when Isner won by 70 games to 68!

At Wimbledon there are 16 spots in the main draw of the Gentlemen’s singles event allocated for qualifiers. The qualifiers have the opportunity to really improve their ranking because the Grand Slam tournaments offer the most ranking points. A qualifier earns 25 points more than a direct acceptance into the main singles draw does if they both lose in the 1st round.

Players who lose in the 3rd round of qualifying receive more ranking points than a direct acceptance who loses his 1st round match. The direct acceptance is awarded 10 ATP ranking points for losing in the 1st round of the main draw versus 14 points for the 3rd round loser in qualifying.

There are 128 spots in the qualifying draw of which 8 were wild cards (WC) and 120 direct acceptances. There are 32 seeds in the qualifying which means that the highest 32 ranked players at the cut-off date are seeded to meet each other in the “Qualifying Round”.

The Qualifying Round is the round that decides which players qualify for the main draw, because the winner of that round qualifies. A seeded player occupies one of every four spots in the draw. The seeds do not receive a BYE in the 1st round of the qualifying event.

All players must win 3 matches in a row in order to qualify. The qualifying draws are different to main draws because these events do not play off until there is one undefeated player. Therefore, the No.1 seed and the No.2 seed are not separated at the opposite ends of the draw. All 32 seeds are just listed down the draw and the 32 seeds will be bolded in the draw below.

The players win through to the 2nd round of qualifying but are then defeated, earn 3,000 pounds (£) and 16 ATP ranking points. Players who win through to the 3rd round of qualifying but are then defeated, earn £7,000 and 24 ATP ranking points. Both 2nd round and 3rd round losers in the qualifying receive more ranking points than a player who is directly accepted into the main draw and then loses his 1st round match.

Players who qualify for the main draw will earn a minimum of £11,250 and 35 ATP ranking points if they are defeated in the 1st round of the main draw. That means they received 3.5 times the amount that a direct acceptance receives when he loses his 1st round match. Do you think that is a fair way to allocate points?

The seeds do not receive a BYE in the 1st round of the qualifying event. All players must win 3 matches in a row in order to qualify. The qualifying draws are different to main draws because these events do not play off until there is one undefeated player. Therefore, the No.1 seed and the No.2 seed are not separated at the opposite ends of the draw.

The Top 16 seeds in the main draw of qualifying have ALL been separated from each other as they are seeded to be the players who do qualify. The whole 32 seeds are just listed down the draw. The 32 seeds are bolded in the draw below.

Pictured above is Andy Murray as he prepares to play this forehand drive during the 2011 Queens Club tournament. The 24-year-old Murray achieved his best results at Wimbledon by making the semi finals for the past two years running. He had progressed one round further each year that he played Wimbledon except in 2010, so perhaps he will takes two steps further in 2011 and win THE CHAMPIONSHIPS!

The 1.9m Murray made the quarter finals in 2008. In 2007 he made the Round of 16 after reaching the 3rd round at his first Wimbledon in 2006. You would expect pretty much EVERY tennis fan in the United Kingdom would be hoping that he can improve again this year on his Grand Slam record at Wimbledon and overall. Murray has been a runner-up in three Grand Slam singles final to date.

The draw for the 2010 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s qualifying singles event is:

1. Lukas ROSOL (1) versus David GOFFIN
2. Facundo BAGNIS v Uladzimir IGNATIK
3. Fernando ROMBOLI v Ivan NAVARRO
4. Igor SIJSLING v (26) MartinKLIZAN
5. LukaszKUBOT (2) v Nikola CIRIC
6. Juan Sebastian CABAL v Kristijan MESAROS
7. Rajeev RAM v Augustin GENSSE
8. Charles-Antoine BREZAC v (24) Bobby REYNOLDS
9. Rui MACHADO (3) v Robert FARAH
10. Bernard TOMIC v Sebastian RIESCHICK
11. Jene-Rene LISNARD v Victor ESTRELLA
12. Franco SKUGOR v (21) Rogerio DUTRA DA SILVA
13. Thomas SCHOOREL (4) v Peter POLANSKY
14. Marek SEMJAN v Chris GUCCIONE
15. Ivo KLEC v Guillaume RUFIN
16. Alexander FLOCK v (30) Marinko MATOSEVIC
17. Tatsuma ITO (5) v Ricardo HOCEVAR
18. Jurgen ZOPP v Giovanni LAPENTTI
19. Geroge MORGAN (WC) v (WC) Jamie BAKER
20. Sergei BUBKA v (25) Andreas BECK
21. Steve DARCIS (6) v Ilija BOZOLJAC
22. Andrej MARTIN v Marco CHIUDINELLI
23. Peter LUCZAK v Frederik NIELSEN
24. Daniel SMETHURST (WC) v (17) Karol BECK
25. Dustin BROWN (7) v Grega ZEMLJA
26. Victor CRIVOI v Julio SILVA
27. Adrian UNGUR v Amer DELIC
28. Federico DEL BONIS v (32) Rik DE VOEST
29. Marsel ILHAN (8) v Jerzy JANOWICZ
30. Oliver GOLDING (WC) v (WC) Joshua MILTON
31. Gianluca NASO v Alex KUZNETSOV
32. Pavol CERVENAK v (27) Martin FISCHER

The bottom half of the draw is:

1. Flavio CIPOLLA (9) v James LEMKE
2. Benedikt DORSCH, Benedikt v Daniel MUNOZ-DE LA NAVA
3. Roberto BAUTISTA-AGUT v Dusan LOJDA
4. Liam BROADY (WC) v (31) Alessio DI MAURO
5. Stephane ROBERT (10) v Frank DANCEVIC
6. Carsten BALL v Danai UDOMCHOKE
7. Andres MOLTENI v Gregoire BURQUIER
8. Marco CRUGNOLA v (18) Izak VAN DER MERWE
9. Paolo LORENZI (11) v Greg JONES
10. Josselin OUANNA v Conor NILAND
11. Nikola MEKTIC v Dominik MEFFERT
12. Andrey KUZNETSOV v (22) Stephane BOHLI
13. Marc GICQUEL (12) v Zack FLEISHMAN
14. Bastian KNITTEL v (WC) Alex BOGDANOVIC
15. Vasek POSPISIL v Jorge AGUILAR
16. Antonio VEIC v (29) Edouard ROGER-VASSELIN
17. Simone BOLELLI (13) v Amir WEINTRAUB
18. Vincent MILLOT v Simon STADLER
19. Kenny DE SCHEPPER v Adam KELLNER
20. Matthew EBDEN v (23) Simon GREUL
21. Ryan HARRISON (14) v (WC) Alexander WARD
22. Joao SOUSA v Laurent ROCHETTE
23. Cedrik-Marcel STEBE v Matteo VIOLA
24. Bjorn PHAU v (28) Alexander KUDRYAVTSEV
25. Ivo MINAR (15) v Leonardo MAYER
26. Guillermo OLASO v Olivier PATIENCE
27. Jesse WITTEN v Ruben BEMELMANS
28. Yuichi SUGITA v (19) Daniel BRANDS
29. Go SOEDA (16) v Lester COOK
30. Marton FUCSOVICS (WC) v Jonathan EYSSERIC
31. John MILLMAN v Fritz WOLMARANS
32. Guillermo ALCAIDE v (20) Lukas LACKO

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw: Seeding

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw: Seeding

At Wimbledon the seeding for the Gentlemen’s singles draw is NOT based solely on the ATP rankings. This year the ATP rankings as at June 13 will be used to calculate the seeding for the 2011 Wimbledon men’s event.

At each of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments there are 32 seeds. In 2002 the ATP and Wimbledon made an agreement to enable the Wimbledon seeding committee to alter the usual seeding procedure to permit a grass court seeding system to reflect each individual player’s grass court achievements.

The agreement aimed to ensure that this special exception for a grass court seeding was objective and transparent for all concerned. This system still allocates the seedings from highest to lowest (i.e. No.1 to No.32), according to who has the highest total number of points. The system used to determine the Wimbledon grass court seeding is:

* Step 1: Count the ATP ranking points of each player as at 13 June 2011;
* Step 2: Add all of the points that a player has earned in any grass court events in the past 12 months on top of that; and
* Step 3: Add another %75 of a player’s BEST grass court result in the 12 months BEFORE that to make a new total number of points.

To illustrate how this system works OCA will have to use what happened for the seeding for the 2010 Wimbledon event. This is because to complete Step 1 we have to wait until this coming Monday for the rankings to be released. For Step 2 and Step 3 the results of all of the grass court tournaments over the next two weeks need to be known. This can only be done upon completion of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, the AEGON Championships in London, Great Britain, the UNICEF Open at s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands and the AEGON International at Eastbourne in Great Britain.

The 2010 Wimbledon example turned the World No.1 at that time, Rafael Nadal into the No.2 seed using this special Wimbledon system. Nadal had 8,745 ATP ranking points on 14 June 2010, which you add 45 points for his quarter final result at the 2010 Queens Club tournament in London.

Nadal did not play any other grass court tournament in the preceding 12 months. So for step 1 and step 2 above, we add 8,745 and 45 (=8,790). Then for step 3 above, we add 1,500 points because that is 75% of 2,000, which was Nadal’s singles best grass court result in the 12 months before that (Nadal won Wimbledon in 2008). Therefore, Nadal’s total number of points for his grass court seeding is 8,790 + 1,500 = 10,290.

Roger Federer became the No.1 seed for Wimbledon 2010 using this system because his points total was higher than anyone else. Federer had 8,525 ATP ranking points on 14 June 2010, to which you add 150 points for his runner-up result at the 2010 Halle, Germany event and 2,000 points for winning the 2009 Wimbledon title. Federer’s best result the year before that was 1,400 for being the runner-up at the 2008 Wimbledon event. 75% of 1,400 points is 1,050, therefore, we add 8,525 + 150 + 2,000 + 1,050 to make Federer’s total number of points for his grass court seeding – 11,725 compared to Nadal’s 10,290.

Do you think Wimbledon making it’s own seeding is a good thing or disrespectful to the other 3 Grand Slam tournaments and to the players who work hard for the previous 12 months to earn their ranking and subsequent seeding benefits?

Pictured above is the 24-year-old Andy Murray setting the ball in place during his service action in the “Trophy Position” before propelling himself at the ball against Rafael Nadal during the semi finals at Roland Garros 2011. The 1.9m Murray has made the semi finals for the past 2 years in a row at Wimbledon and after his best result to date at Roland Garros this year is poised to go one step further and make his first Wimbledon final on home soil.

Murray was runner-up at the 2008 US Open and for the past two years running at the Australian Open. The Scot achieved his career high ranking to date of No.2 on 11 August 2009 and is the current World No.4.

Murray has defeated Nadal 4 times thus far and twice at Grand Slam singles events. Murray has a winning record against Roger Federer 8-6 and beaten Novak Djokovic 3 times so far. He has beaten the world’s best before can he perform better than the Grand Slam champions at Wimbledon this year?

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Singles Draw

The 2011 Wimbledon men’s main draw singles matches will begin on Monday 20 June at 12 noon local time in London, Great Britain. There are 128 main draw spots divided up between 16 Qualifiers (Q), 8 Wild Cards (WC) and 104 Direct Acceptances.

Wimbledon was first held in 1877 and is the only Grand Slam that is still played on grass. In the past up to 3 of the 4 Grand Slams were played in grass. The 104 direct acceptances are decided according to who the Top 104 ranked players in the world that are fit and able to compete at Wimbledon this year on 9 May 2011.

Pictured above is 2011 Roland Garros runner-up Roger Federer after setting the ball in place and as he is propelling himself to make contact with the ball during his famous service action. This year the 29-year-old Federer will be aiming to equal the Open-era record of 7 Wimbledon singles titles won by the great Pete Sampras.

The 1.85m Federer from Switzerland won Wimbledon for five years in a row from 2003 to 2007 and he won again in 2009. In 2008 Rafael Nadal upset Federer in the epic final by 9 games to 7 in the fifth and final set. The former World No.1 first achieved the No.1 spot on February 2 in 2004 and is hellbent on regaining it. Can Federer regain the No.1 ranking?

The Seeds: At Wimbledon the seedings have been based on the ATP computer rankings since 1975. The seeded players do not receive a BYE in the 1st round of a Grand Slam event. To win the title a player must win 7 best of 5 set matches in a row. Being seeded means that you the earliest round in the event that you can meet another seeded player is 3rd round in which only 32 players remain.

In a 128-player sized draw there are 32 seeded players. This means that all of the 32 seeds are separated in the draw so that play 2 rounds against lower ranked opponents who are unseeded, before they can meet another seed in the 3rd round.

The Wild Cards: As the wild cards are awarded at the discretion of the All England Lawn Tennis Club Committee they will be listed here straight away-> Three British players James WARD, Daniel EVANS and Daniel COX have been awarded wild cards thus far. Arnaud CLEMENT of France and Alejandro FALLA of Columbia received a wild card each, which leaves three more wild cards that are yet to be announced.

The Qualifiers: The 128-player qualifying tournament begins on Monday 13 June and runs through to Thursday 16 June. The qualifying event at Wimbledon is unlike any other Grand Slam because it is NOT held at the same venue. The qualifying is held at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton. As soon as each player qualifies for the main draw OCA will add their names right here-> …

Click this link-> Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Schedule of Play to see the FULL details about: prize money and ATP ranking points earned per round plus more details about the qualifying event.

The seeding for Wimbledon is done differently to all other tournaments but is still “BASED” on the latest ATP rankings before the draw is made. These rankings will be released on Monday 13 June and the “special” Wimbledon seeding will be officially announced on Thursday 16 June. IF it was done purely according to ranking, currently (as at June 6), the seeds would be:

* Seeds 1-8: 1-Rafael Nadal, 2-Novak Djokovic, 3-Roger Federer, 4-Andy Murray, 5-Robin Soderling, 6-David Ferrer, 7-Tomas Berdych, 8-Gael Monfils
* Seeds 9-16: 9-Mardy Fish, 1o-Andy Roddick, 11-Jurgen Melzer, 12-Viktor Troicki, 13-Richard Gasquet, 14-Stanislas Wawrinka, 15-Nicolas Almagro, 16-Gilles Simon
* Seeds 17-24: 17-Mikhail Youzhny, 18-Florian Mayer, 19-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 20-Juan Ignacio Chela, 21-Alexandr Dolgopolov, 22-Juan Martin del Potro, 23-Fernando Verdasco, 24-David Nalbandian
* Seeds 25-32: 25-Michael Llodra, 26-Sam Querrey, 27-Marin Cilic, 28-Milos Raonic, 29-Nikolay Davydenko, 30-Thomaz Bellucci, 31-Janko Tipsarevic and 32-Marcos Baghdatis

If any of the seeded players withdraw from Wimbledon prior to the event OCA will update the seeded players list above straight away. If any seed withdraws then World No.33 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will move into the seedings, the next player in line to be promoted to a seed is No.34 Tommy Robredo followed by No.35 Fabio Fognini.

OCA will be adding the names into the 3rd round match ups for seeds and the full singles draw as it occurs on Friday 17 June right below this. The men’s draw will follow the women’s draw. OCA will add the names of the 16 qualifiers into the full draw below once they are known. At 5pm London time on Thursday 16 June these qualifiers will be allocated a spot in the 1st round.

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Schedule of Play

Wimbledon 2011 Men’s Schedule of Play

The 2011 Wimbledon Championships are held in the London suburb of Wimbledon in the United Kingdom at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC). Wimbledon is also known as “The Championships” and is the 9th of the “BIG 14″ tournaments for the men’s professional tennis tour each year.

In this post we will cover how the ATP Tour ranking points and prize money are allocated, and what the schedule of play is for the Gentlemen’s Singles Draw. The third Grand Slam tournament of each year begins on Monday 13 June for the men’s event with the qualifying draw and the Gentlemen’s Singles Final will be played on Sunday 3 July. The 1st round matches of the main draw begin on Monday 20 June.

The total financial commitment is 14,600,000 pounds sterling (£) with the total prize money for the Men’s Singles event being £ 5,230,000. The winner of the Gentlemen’s Singles Final at Wimbledon wins £ 1.1 million, which is an increase of £ 100,000 from last year. To watch the tennis in Singapore just add 7 hours to the times listed below, as all times listed below are local times in London.

Pictured above is World No.1 Rafael Nadal setting the ball in place during his service action as he assumes the “Trophy Position” before propelling himself at the ball. The 24-year-old Nadal is aiming to collect more trophies in 2011 to add to his Grand Slam singles collection of 9 now that he has won a career Grand Slam.

The Spaniard won the epic final in 2008 and is the defending champion at Wimbledon after missing with injury in 2009. Therefore, the 1.88m left-hander is going for his 3rd straight Wimbledon title in 2011. Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych in 2010 singles final 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 2 hours and 13 minutes to claim the Roland Garros/Wimbledon double for the second time.

At Wimbledon the men’s ATP ranking points and prize money is awarded like this:

1. The winner earns 2,000 points + £1,100,000;
2. The runner-up earns 1,200 points + £550,000;
3. The two semi finalists earn 720 points + £275,000;
4. The four quarter finalists earn 360 points + £137,500;
5. The 8 players who lose in the round of 16 earn 180 points + £68,750;
6. The 16 players who lose in the 3rd round earn 90 points + £34,375;
7. The 32 players who lose in the 2nd round earn 45 points + £20,125;
8. The *players who lose in the 1st round earn 10 points + £11,500.

The players who lose in the 1st round of the qualifying event earn £1,750 but DO NOT receive any ranking points. The players who lose in the 2nd round of qualifying earn £3,500 and 8 points. The players who lose in the 3rd round of qualifying earn £7,000 and 14 points.

*The players who qualify for the main draw and then lose the 1st round earn 35 points, whereas players, who start in the 1st round and lose their 1st match, only earn 10 points. Wild Card entrants who lose in the 1st round DO NOT receive any ranking points.

The matches each day are played in a day session starting at 12noon on courts 2 to 19 for the first 8 days of play. Centre Court and Court No.1 commence everyday of the tournament at 1pm except for both the Ladies and Gentlemen’s Singles Finals, which begin at 2pm. There are no night sessions.

Please note that the tournament management can alter the schedule from day to day, in which case we will update them here straight away.

The schedule of play for the Gentlemen’s Singles event at Wimbledon is:

* Monday 13 June: Qualifying 1st round;
* Tuesday 14 June: Qualifying 1st round;
* Wednesday 15 June: Qualifying 2nd round;
* Thursday 16 June: Qualifying 3rd round;

* Monday 20 June: Main Draw 1st round at 12noon;
* Tuesday 21 June: Main Draw 1st round at 12 noon;
* Wednesday 22 June: 2nd round at 12 noon;
* Thursday 23 June: 2nd round at 12 noon;
* Friday 24 June: 3rd round at 12 noon;
* Saturday 25 June: 3rd round at 12 noon;
* Sunday 26 June: No play is scheduled at all;
* Monday 27 June: 4th round (round of 16) at 12 noon;
* Tuesday 28 June: No men’s matches today;
* Wednesday 29 June: Men’s Quarter Finals at 12 noon;
* Thursday 30 June: No men’s matches today;
* Friday 1 July: Men’s Semi Finals from 2pm;
* Saturday 2 July: No men’s matches today; and
* Sunday 3 July: Men’s Singles Final at 2pm.

Watch Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis Live Streaming Video Online

Watch Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis Live Streaming Video Online

In about a month’s time, the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year takes place at the famous Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France. The Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis starts from May 17 to June 5, 2011.

Last year, world number one Rafael Nadal claimed his fifth career French Open Men’s Singles title and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone clinched the Roland Garros Women’s Singles trophy. It is expected that the Roland Garros 2011 French Open tournament will have extensive video coverage which will be broadcast online and on television worldwide.

Watch Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis Live Streaming Video Online

Taiwan tennis exhibition 2011: Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer; Maria Sharapova vs Vera Zvonareva

Taiwan tennis exhibition 2011: Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer; Maria Sharapova vs Vera Zvonareva

The International Management Group (IMG) and Taiwanese organizers announced that a series of tennis exhibition matches will take place in Taiwan later this year in a bid to boost local interest in the game.

World number one Rafael Nadal of Spain will face compatriot David Ferrer on October 1. A week prior to this highly anticipated match, a women’s tennis exhibition match between former world number one Maria Sharapova and world number three Vera Zvonareva will be staged.

The matches will take place at National Taiwan Sport University. Earlier this year, a couple of exhibition matches featuring multiple Grand Slam winners Andre Agassi and Marat Safin took place in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

French Open 2011 Roland Garros Tennis Prize Money

French Open 2011 Roland Garros Tennis Prize Money

There was a significant increase in prize money at the 2010 edition of the French Open tennis tournament.

The breakdown of the Roland Garros 2010 prize money can be accessed HERE.

It is expected that the French Open 2011 Roland Garros Tennis Prize Money will be higher than €16,807,400 and the announcement will be made in a few weeks time.

Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis Schedule

Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis Schedule

The second Grand Slam event of the 2011 tennis season, the French Open, takes place in Paris from May 17 to June 5. The Roland Garros 2011 French Open Tennis schedule will be released soon and will be posted in the site once available.

The Roland Garros Tennis tournament last year was an exciting event with world number one Rafael Nadal finishing his blemish-free claycourt season with his fifth French Open title. In the women’s singles event, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone made history for her country by winning her first career Grand Slam singles title. All eyes are on these players this claycourt season as they are certainly the frontrunners for the 2011 edition of Roland Garros.

Watch Barcelona Open 2011 Tennis Live Streaming Video Online

Watch Barcelona Open 2011 Tennis Live Streaming Video Online

The Barcelona Open 2011 will celebrate its 59th edition from April 18 to 24, 2011. The ATP World Tour 500 claycourt tournament will be staged at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, the oldest Spanish tennis club. Being one of the most important tennis events in Spain, top players from Spain such as world number one Rafael Nadal, number six David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and others are scheduled to take part in this claycourt tournament.

The € 1,995,000 event was well-contested last year with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco clinching the men’s singles title and Daniel Nestor – Nenad Zimonjic winning the doubles event. Tournament top seed Rafael Nadal was the winner of Barcelona Open from 2005 to 2009 and is raring to reclaim the title this year.

Come back soon for link to watch it online!

Monte Carlo Masters 2011: Six-time champ Nadal believes this event should be mandatory

Monte Carlo Masters 2011: Six-time champ Nadal believes this event should be mandatory

Rafael Nadal believes that the Monte Carlo Masters, an ATP 1000 event, should be a mandatory tournament in the men’s ATP World Tour calendar.

The Monte Carlo Masters is one of the nine ATP World Tour 1000 events on tour but it wasn’t tagged as mandatory. One of the oldest tennis events, the Monte Carlo Masters was supposed to have been downgraded to a lower status with leser prize money and ranking points. However, this plan did not materialize after top-ranked players such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal opposed to the move.

“Even though the tournament lost the status of mandatory, it’s something that in the future must change another time and become mandatory,” Nadal was quoted as saying.

The six-time Monte Carlo Masters champion starts his claycourt season today against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

“It is impossible to downgrade a tournament like Monte Carlo. There is the history of this tournament, the tradition, the place, the city. Everything is too important to downgrade a tournament like this.”

Nadal to play Bemelmans in Davis Cup singles

Nadal to play Bemelmans in Davis Cup singles

Rafael Nadal will play Ruben Bemelmans on Friday’s opening day of the Davis Cup World Group match between Spain and Belgium.

Sixth-ranked David Ferrer will play the opening match for Spain against Xavier Malisse on Friday on the hard court of the 6,500-capacity Spiroudome in southern Charleroi. The 51st-ranked Malisse is the only Belgian player ranked in the top 100, while Spain has three in the top 10, including No. 9 Fernando Verdasco.

Bemelmans is ranked 144th in the world and lost in straight sets to Nadal last year in Bangkok. Nadal is playing his first top-level match since injuring his thigh at the Australian Open.

Doubles are set for Saturday and reverse singles for Sunday. In 2003, Spain beat Belgium 5-0.

Davis Cup: Troicki to open Serbia’s title defense

Davis Cup: Troicki to open Serbia’s title defense

Viktor Troicki will start Serbia’s Davis Cup title defense by taking on India’s Rohan Bopanna in the opening singles of their first-round series Friday.

The draw Thursday also pitted Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic against India’s No. 1 Somdev Devvarman.

Troicki was the hero of Serbia’s 3-2 Davis Cup victory against France in last year’s final, winning the decisive rubber against Michael Llodra.

“I know what I can do against Bopanna and expect to win,” the 18th-ranked Troicki said. “I don’t expect hiccups in the series.”

Tipsarevic was more cautions, saying India should not be underestimated.

“India is a good team that beat Brazil in the playoffs,” Tipsarevic said. “Devvarman likes the hard surface.”

Doubles are scheduled for Saturday, while reverse singles are on Sunday.

Serbia’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic decided to skip the first-round series because of fatigue after winning the Australian Open and Dubai titles in recent weeks.

India also had a setback, with experienced doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi withdrawing with injuries.

Melzer to open against Chardy in Davis Cup

Melzer to open against Chardy in Davis Cup

Jurgen Melzer is hoping to put pressure on France by winning Friday’s opening singles match against Jeremy Chardy in their Davis Cup first-round series.

Stefan Koubek will play Gilles Simon in the second singles match after the draw made on Thursday.

The 10th-ranked Melzer said that “it should stand 1-0 for us (after my match) so I can take some pressure off for Stefan and add some pressure for Simon.”

Melzer will team up with Oliver Marach for Saturday’s doubles against Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau, though captains can change that lineup as late as one hour before the match.

Austria has not been past the first round since 1995. Nine-time champion France lost last year’s final to Serbia.

Davis Cup: Cilic to open against Mayer

Davis Cup: Cilic to open against Mayer

Marin Cilic will face Germany’s Florian Mayer in the opening singles Friday in their first-round Davis Cup series.

The draw Thursday also pitted Croatia Open champion Ivan Dodig against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Cilic is recovering from a cold but said he is ready to face Mayer, who defeated him last year at Wimbledon and again in the Zagreb Open quarterfinals this year.

“I did lose to Mayer twice so far, but during our last encounter in Zagreb I have noticed some weak spots and I think we will find the right tactics,” Cilic said.

Mayer also said that “this match will be different.”

“Marin did not play his best tennis a month ago, he will have much more motivation this time,” Mayer said.

Doubles are scheduled for Saturday, while reverse singles are on Sunday.

The 2005 Davis Cup winner Croatia and three-time champion Germany meet for a fourth time in the World Group first round. In their three previous meetings, the home team has always won.

Germany leads the series 2-1.

Croatia’s coach Goran Prpic predicted that this time “details will decide.”

Davis Cup: Hajek to open against Golubev

Davis Cup: Hajek to open against Golubev

Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic will face Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in the opening singles match of their Davis Cup first-round series.

Hajek replaced Radek Stepanek, who was ruled out due to illness.

Thursday’s draw also put Tomas Berdych against Mikhail Kukushkin in the second singles on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena.

“I’m 100 percent fit,” said the seventh-ranked Berdych, who retired against Novak Djokovic due to a leg injury last week in Dubai.

Berdych has never played the 63rd-ranked Kukushkin.

“I just want to focus on my tennis and my performance,” Berdych said.

In Saturday’s doubles, Czech pair Lukas Dlouhy and Jiri Vesely are set to take on Yuriy Schukin and Evgeny Korolev.

The 17-year-old Vesely made the Davis Cup squad for the first time, after winning the boy’s singles championship and the boy’s doubles at the Australian Open.

Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

The winner of the series will face either Argentina or Romania the quarterfinals.

The Czechs reached the semifinals last year and the final in 2009. Kazakhstan is in the World Group for the first time.

Davis Cup: Soderling opens against Andreev

Davis Cup: Soderling opens against Andreev

Robin Soderling of Sweden will play Russia’s Igor Andreev in the opening singles match of their first-round Davis Cup series on Friday.

Soderling has won three titles this year and is the highest ranked player in the matchup.

“He’s a good player,” Soderling said of Andreev. “We’ve played a few times before and have had some tough matches.”

Thursday’s draw also pitted Joachim Johansson against Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second singles match.

Russia is without its two best players, 11th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko. Youzhny announced his Davis Cup retirement last month, while Davydenko asked not to be selected for the series.

Sweden’s Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt will face Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn in the doubles on Saturday. Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

Sweden has a 4-1 record against Russia in the Davis Cup but lost the last matchup in 2002.

Soderling comes into the series on the back of 2011 tournament wins in Marseille, Rotterdam and Brisbane.

However, the Swedes lack depth in the squad. Both Russian players will expect to beat Johansson, ranked No. 749. The hard-serving 28-year-old Swede rose to No. 9 in the world in 2005 before a recurring shoulder injury almost ended his career.

“I feel I’m in very good shape and have a good chance in both my matches,” Johansson said.