The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star is joining Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the ATP Player Council, bringing the Big Three together to reshape a board that has been roiled by conflict.
The governing body of men’s tennis announced Thursday that Federer and Nadal were elected along with doubles specialist Jurgen Melzer. They will fill spots vacated after Robin Haase, Jamie Murray and Sergiy Stakhovskyresigned from the board before Wimbledon.
Djokovic addressed his frustration with the player council in pre-tournament comments at Wimbledon. He said the ATP‘s governance structure prevented players from making “significant changes.” Stan Wawrinkahas also criticized the ATP’s leadership, saying in a published letter that it was plagued by “political chaos” and “numerous conflicts of interest.”
The power struggle on the council included its decision in March not to renew the contract of ATP CEO Chris Kermode, who has clashed with Djokovic. Board member Justin Gimelstob resigned after he was sentenced to probation in April for attacking a former friend in Los Angeles.
Former ATP executive Weller Evansfilled Gimelstob’s seat. The position of coaches’ representative on the council remains open.
Lionel Messiis kickin’ it to the top of the popularity charts…
The 31-year-old Argentine soccer star is the top-ranking Latino on ESPN’s World Fame 100 list, which identifies the most famous athletes in the world.
Messi, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner who plays for the Spanish club BarcelonaFC and the Argentina national team, comes in at No. 3 on this year’s list, behind soccer rival Cristiano Ronaldo and NBAsuperstar LeBron James. It’s the same position Messi held last year.
The World Fame 100 ranks athletes based on their Google search score, their endorsement dollars and social media followers.
Nipping at Messi’s heels… Neymar.
The 27-year-old Brazilian soccer star, who plays for the Brazil national team and French club Paris Saint-Germain, comes in at No. 4, the same position he held in 2018.
Also earning a spot in the Top 10… Rafael Nadal.
The 32-year-old Spanish tennis star comes in at No. 8, two spots behind his rival Roger Federer. Nadal held the same ranking last year.
In all, Latino athletes took up 23 spots on the list, the majority of them international soccer players like Andres Iniesta (Spain), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Alexis Sanchez (Chile) and Javier Hernandez (Mexico).
Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarezis the sole Latino boxer on the list, at No. 68, while Puerto Rican basketball player Carmelo Anthony, at No. 65, is the only Latino basketball player to make the grade.
There are no Latina athletes on this year’s list, which features tennis sensation Serena Williams as the top female athlete at No. 17.
Here’s a look at the Latinos who made the World Fame 100:
Rank, Name, Sport, Country, Search Score, Endorsements, Social Stats No. 3, Lionel Messi, Soccer, Argentina, 54, $28m, 103.1 million No. 4, Neymar, Soccer, Brazil, 55, $19m, 107.2 million No. 8, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Spain, 40, $29.3m, 15.6 million No. 27, Andres Iniesta, Soccer, Spain, 8, $2.2m, 26.7 million No. 29, James Rodriguez, Soccer, Colombia, 11, $4.8m, 40.5 million No. 36, Luis Suarez, Soccer, Uruguay, 6, $7.4m, 31.2 million No. 38, Sergio Ramos, Soccer, Spain, 13, $4m, 28.7 million No. 44, Marcelo Vieira, Soccer, Brazil, 4, $3.2m, 33.8 million No. 48, Radamel Falcao, Soccer, Brazil, 4, $4m, 16.9 million No. 52, Sergio Aguero, Soccer, Argentina, 1, $6m, 28.7 million No. 53, David De Gea, Soccer, Spain, 3, $7m, 11.8 million No. 55, Paulo Dybala, Soccer, Argentina, 4, $4.03m, 24.7 million No. 56, Dani Alves, Soccer, Brazil, 2, $8.75m, 21.5 million No. 61, Philippe Coutinho, Soccer, Brazil, 15, $3.1m, 19.3 million No. 62, David Luiz, Soccer, Brazil, 1, $1.3m, 24.9 million No. 65, Carmelo Anthony, Basketball, USA, 6, $7m, 9.1 million No. 66, Gerard Pique, Soccer, Spain, 5, $3.8m, 18.6 million No. 68, Canelo Alvarez, Boxing, Mexico, 44, $2.5m, 4 million No. 72, Alexis Sanchez, Soccer, Chile, 24, $3.8m, 9.6 million No. 79, Cesc Fabregas, Soccer, Spain, 1, $5m, 10.3 million No. 80, Gonzalo Higuain, Soccer, Argentina, 7, $6m, 6.8 million No. 81, Isco, Soccer, Spain, 2, $5m, 16.4 million No. 88, Javier Hernandez, Soccer, Mexico, 6, $9.9m, 5.1 million
Rafael Nadal has punched his ticket to the finals at the Australian Open.
The 32-year-old Spanish tennis star made quick work of 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas in Thursday’s semifinal, cruising to a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to earn his fifth trip to the finals in Melbourne.
Nadal hit 28 winners and never faced a break point until the final game in dispatching the Greek phenom in one hour, 46 minutes on a sweltering night.
“It was a great match, and it’s been a great tournament,” said Nadal, who won the Australian Open in 2009.
“I’ve played well every day. After a lot of months without playing, it’s probably this court, this crowd, that is giving me that unbelievable energy.”
Nadal pounced on Tsitipas from the jump, breaking him twice in the opener. The Spaniard served notice early that Tsitsipas, who ousted Roger Federerfrom the tournament, wasn’t going to repeat that feat.
“It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely,” Tsitsipas said. “He gives you no rhythm. He plays just a different game style than the rest of the players. He has this, I don’t know, talent that no other player has. I’ve never seen a player have this. He makes you play bad.”
Nadal awaits Friday’s other semifinal between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Lucas Pouilleto find out who his opponent will be on Sunday.
He may be new to the ATP World Tour, but Alex de Minaur is definitely getting notices…
The 19-year-old Spanish & Uruguyan-Australian tennis playerhas been named the ATP World Tour Newcomer of the Year, sharing year-end honors with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
de Minaur earned the honors after a stunning breakout season, climbing from No 208 to 31st in the rankings.
He’s all but guaranteed an Australian Open seeding after last year winning his way into the tournament through the wildcard playoff.
The baseliner’s effort to reach the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals decider is yet another milestone for de Minaur.
His progress this year has been so sustained, he has claimed a career-high ranking on 15 separate occasions.
As semifinalist and finalist in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively, in January, de Minaur became the first 19-year-old to reach successive ATP semifinals since Rafael Nadal in 2005. Nadal achieved the feat at Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
de Minaur and Ashleigh Barty are expected to fight out the Newcombe Medal later this month from John Millman and Jason Kubler.
Djokovic was voted by ATP peers as Comeback Player of the Year, overcoming elbow surgery to return to No 1.
Djokovic’s coach Marian Vajda is Coach of the Year after returning to the Serb’s camp as part of an incredible rebuild.
Nadal was chosen by his fellow players as recipient of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
Federer was voted Fans’ Favorite for the 16th successive year.
Mike Bryan and Jack Sock were voted Doubles Fans’ Favorites.
Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed Most Improved Player of the Year honors.
Oliver Marachand Mate Pavic secured the ATP world No 1 Doubles Team Award, while Spain’s Tommy Robredo earned the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award.
The 24-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player and compatriot David Ferrerwill represent Spain in the Hopman Cup mixed teams event in late December.
The eight-country tournament is scheduled from December 29 to January 5 on indoor hard courts at Perth Arena. It’s used by the players as a tuneup event for the Australian Open, which begins on January 14 in Melbourne.
Serena Williamsand Roger Federerhave also committed to play, while former Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev will represent Germany.
Frances Tiafoewill be Williams’ partner for the United States, while Belinda Bencic will again represent Switzerland with Federer to defend the title they won in January over Kerber and Zverev in the final.
Williams and Federer are scheduled to play mixed doubles against each other when the U.S. meets Switzerland on January 1.
Hopman Cup Teams:
Australia: Matthew Ebden and Ashleigh Barty
France: Lucas Pouille and Alize Cornet
Germany: Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber
Britain: Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter
Greece: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari
Spain: David Ferrer and Garbine Muguruza
Switzerland: Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic
United States: Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams
The 36-year-old Spanish professional tennis player broke Roger Federer’s record by appearing in a 66th consecutive Grand Slam singles tournament while competing at Wimbledon.
Lopez defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 during his first round match.
Back in2005, he was the first male Spanish tennis player to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club since 1972, when Manuel Orantes reached the semifinals. He repeated the feat in 2008 and 2011.
Lopez won his first Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open when he won the men’s doubles title with Marc López.
It’s another French Open victory for Rafael Nadal, and added career milestones…
With a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win on Monday against up-and-coming German player Maximilian Marterer, Nadal moved into the quarterfinals and above Jimmy Connors on the all-time list of match-winners at majors.
Connors won 233. Nadal has 234.
Just Novak Djokovic, with 244 Grand Slamwins, and Roger Federer, with 332, are ahead of him.
But in his chase for a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros, the only numbers Nadal seems to be keeping close track of are those up on the scoreboard. It had, for example, seemingly escaped him that in beating Marterer, a 22-year-old with a promising game, Nadal also notched his 900th career win on tour.
Although such numbers might not be foremost in Nadal’s mind, they are gauges to the impressive longevity and winning consistency of the Spaniard who turned 32 on Sunday.
“I don’t feel myself old. But I am 32, and I am here around since 2003, so it’s a long way, a lot of years. I started very young,” he said. “Being honest, I am enjoying the day by day on the tour and I hope to keep doing this for a while.”
Nadal’s next opponent, Diego Schwartzmanof Argentina, will be playing his first Roland Garrosquarterfinal. It will be Nadal’s 12th.
The only other player with that many in the professional era is Djokovic, who plays his 12th quarterfinal against Marco Cecchinatoof Italy.
The 31-year-old Spanish tennis star profited from a timely rain delay at a break when he was down in the final set to hold off defending champion and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 at the Italian Open in Rome.
It was a record-extending eighth Italian Open title for Nadal, who’ll head to Roland Garros as the new world No. 1.
Nadal surrendered top spot in the ATP world rankings to Roger Federer last week after Nadal’s Madrid Open quarterfinal defeat to Dominic Thiem — the only blight on an otherwise impeccable clay-court season this year.
However, Nadal will return to the summit when the latest ATP rankings are published on Monday after he overcame world No. 3 Zverev in a thrilling finale on the Foro Italico’s Campo Centrale.
Billed as a clash between the two current top-form players on clay, Sunday’s final did not disappoint. After two hotly-contested semifinals on Saturday — Nadal saw off long-time rival Novak Djokovic while Zverev smashed a racket in anger during his victory over Marin Cilic — the championship match ebbed and flowed throughout.
Despite dropping serve in the opening game, victory looked like a foregone conclusion for 10-time French Open champion Nadal as he blistered through the first set in 33 minutes to put his young opponent on the back foot.
However, Zverev produced a phenomenal set of tennis to force the decider. The German changed tactics in the second set, becoming much more aggressive on the front foot and overwhelming Nadal with an array of powerful strokes.
The 21-year-old secured a double-break to move 5-0 ahead. After Nadal prevented the bagel, he leveled the match in style with a ferocious backhand winner down the line.
Rising star Zverev’s confidence grew further as he immediately broke Nadal at the start of the third, before the match’s turning point came in agonizing fashion.
With Zverev leading 3-1 in the final set, rain intervened and caused an hour’s delay in play. It proved pivotal, allowing Nadal precious time to regain his composure and hit back immediately after the restart.
Nadal rattled off four consecutive games — including two successive breaks of serve — to move 5-3 ahead before serving out a fifth to secure his eighth Italian crown and send out a warning to his rivals ahead of the year’s second grand slam.
Juan Martin del Potro has taken down a living legend for his first ATP Masters 1000 title…
The The 29-year-old Argentine tennis player has ended World No. 1 Roger Federer‘s 17-match win streak to claim the BNP Paribas Open title at Indian Wells.
del Potro beat Federer 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-2) in a thrilling final.
Federer had been searching for a record sixth title in California, but it was del Potro who powered to his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
He’s the first player to beat Federer in 2018.
del Potro saved three match points before closing out victory in two hours 42 minutes.
del Potro has been hampered by wrist problems in recent years and has had three operations which left him struggling to use his backhand.
But he has made a strong start to 2018, winning his first ATP 500 title for five years at Acapulco earlier in March and returning to the world’s top 10.
del Potro claimed a stunning four-set win over Federer at the US Open in September last year, but Federer won their last meeting in Basel a month later.
del Potro forced the only break of the first set and made just three unforced errors to Federer’s 11 as he closed out the first set in 39 minutes.
“It’s difficult to describe with words. It’s like a dream,” Del Potro said. “After all my problems, after all my surgeries, I couldn’t believe I’m here winning a Masters 1000 and beating Roger. It’s amazing.”
Juan Martin del Potro is back in the finals at the BNP Paribas Open…
The 29-year-old Argentine tennis player defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in straight sets to advance to the finals against Roger Federer at Indian Wells on Sunday.
del Potro breezed past No. 32 Raonic 6-2, 6-3 in 66 minutes for his 10th consecutive match victory and the 400th of his injury-plagued career.
“It was surprising to see him [Raonic] serving not too hard, and I broke his serve very quick in both sets,” del Potro said. “That gave me the control of the match.”
del Potro has fought back from left wrist surgeries in 2014 and 2015 (twice) and another one on his right wrist in 2010 that nearly caused him to quit tennis. He is 16-3 this year with one title in Acapulco.
“I didn’t play him before his injuries, but his backhand was probably one of the things that was overlooked because the forehand was so hard,” Raonic said. “But the backhand, I remember when he won the U.S. Open, he could hit it crosscourt without any guys being able to have the freedom of running around or anything. He’s gotten that back quite a bit.”
del Potro previously appeared in the finals back in 2013, losing to Rafael Nadal 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.
