The Spanish Davis Cup team posed with Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after recapturing the title this past weekend.
Spanish camaraderie won in the end. Plus, there are details of Ferrer’s bathroom break right after he lost the first-two sets to Radek Stepanek (NYT)
Tignor takes a harsh look at the Davis Cup final participants. He is really hard on Tomas Berdych and kind of hard on Radek Stepanek. It is a little too severe considering the fact that, on paper, the Czechs should have never made it that far, but they did. Other teams allowed the Czechs to get past them when they should have won. Spain just did what it was supposed to do (Tennis.com)
Freep this poll! Ronaldo vs. Nadal (TMZ)
Viktor Troicki beats Novak Djokovic in a Serbian exhibition 7-6. Djokovic does some impressions and talks tennis (Blic)
Andy Murray commits audio terrorism against the world. You have been now warned (The Pop Cop)
Guga will be honored by Brazil's President Lula. I will now be holding my own parade to honor the honors (ATP)
Pat Rafter wins AEGON Masters title (BL's Tennis News)
Roddick rehabs knee after injury (TSN)
The Austrian Open is dropped from the ATP calendar, and the ATP transferred the rights to Nice, France (TSN)
Roger Federer finishes the year No. 1 in singles, and the Bryan brothers finish no. 1 in doubles (ESPN)
(Image: Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)
Brazil had its first singles champion after Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten hit the scene in the 90s and early 00s. Guga eventually went on to win 3 grand slams and 17 ATP titles to the delight of his fans and countrymen. His career was cut short by an unfortunate hip injury, and his retirement left a huge hole in Brazilian tennis that is quite unfortunate when you think about it.
This week Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Marcos Daniel made fairytale runs in Gstaad by both advancing into the semifinals. The reality with most fairytale runs is that they are usually never fully realized. Bellucci had a similar run at the Brazilian Open earlier this year, but Tommy Robredo denied him from his first title.
Today, the world no. 119, this time, took his fairy tale run to the end by winning his first title of his career. The 21 year old beat Andreas Beck 6-4 7-6(2) after 100 minutes of play. He is the first Brazilian to win an ATP title in 7 years since Guga won the Brazilian Open in 2002. Let’s hope the Brazilian up-and-comer can become another Brazilian force on the tour.
(Images: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)
Qualifier Thomaz Bellucci will meet Andreas Beck in the final of the Swiss Open. Bellucci upset the third-seed Igor Andreev 6-4 7-5. This will be his second ATP final appearance of this year. His victory caps a strong Brazilian presence at the tournament this week, as he and Marcos Daniel made it to the semifinals. Bellucci’s compatriot did not fair as well, as Andreas Beck of Germany downed Daniel 7-6(3) 6-3 to book the last spot in the Swiss final.
Beck represents a new hopeful for German tennis after Michael Stich and Boris Becker retired and Tommy Haas and Nicolas Kiefer are now veterans on the tour. The 23 year old is starting to transition out of the challenger circuit to the professional circuit. This year, he is beginning to play well in ATP tournaments. Beck started to make an impression on tour when he wrecked havoc, as a qualifier, in Monaco this spring by taking out Nicolas Kiefer, Gilles Simon and Juan Monaco.
Now, Beck and Bellucci will play for their first ATP title of their careers. Should Bellucci win the title tomorrow, he will be the first Brazilian to win an ATP title since the great Gustavo Kuerten won the Brazil Open in 2002.
Both players have never met in ATP competition. Bellucci did beat the German their only meeting in a Challengers event in Tunisia last year, but I am sure a lot has changed since then. Beck is starting to ratchet up his game, so tomorrow’s final should be a good one. It is nice to see some new blood in the ATP.
(Images: AP)
In honor of the Brazilian Open . . . Gustavo Kuerten is one of my favorite tennis players of all time. The three-time French Open champion had injuries that plagued his career and eventually underwent two hip surgeries. Unable to really recover from these injuries, he retired last year at Roland Garros. Now in retirement, Guga is apparently going to college:
Kuerten, a former top-ranked player who retired from the circuit last year, found out on Monday that he had won admission to attend a theater college in his hometown of Florianopolis in southern Brazil.
The Brazilian is scheduled to begin classes on Feb. 16, spokeswoman Clarissa Machado Santos said.
Kuerten is one of Brazil's biggest sporting idols, and when he took the admission test last year security was needed to prevent fans from bothering him.
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