Novak Djokovic, 2015-09-14 - ATP World Tour, Djokovic Clinches Year-End No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking For Fourth Time

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/djokovic-clinches-2015-year-end-no-1

Djokovic Clinches Year-End No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking For Fourth Time

Novak Djokovic celebrates finishing 2015 year-end ATP World Tour No. 1

Novak Djokovic has clinched the year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking for a fourth time after he captured the US Open title — which represents his 10th Grand Slam championship — on Sunday. In another stellar season, the Serbian has captured seven titles, including three Grand Slams and four ATP World Tour Masters 1000s, from 11 tour-level finals.

The 28-year-old Djokovic previously finished at the top in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and is the sixth player to finish year-end No. 1 on four or more occasions, following in the footsteps of Pete Sampras (6), Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer (5), Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe (4). This is the 12th straight season that the year-end World No. 1 ranking has been held by Djokovic (2011-12, ’14-15), Federer (2004-07, ’09) or Nadal (2008, ‘10, ‘13).

"It's a fantastic feeling to know I will end the year at No. 1 again," said Djokovic. "This is what we fight for since January 1st. We still have a few tournaments left though and I look forward to competing in Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and London."

Chris Kermode, the ATP Executive Chairman and President, said, "Congratulations to Novak on yet another incredible achievement. To secure the year-end ATP World Tour No.1 ranking this early in the season just goes to show what an amazing year he has had. His remarkable level of consistency throughout the season and on the biggest stages has been quite simply awe-inspiring. He’s in his prime, unquestionably at the pinnacle of the game, and fully deserving of this latest accolade – a true credit to our sport."

Djokovic, who began his third stint at World No. 1 on 7 July 2014, has been No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for 164 weeks and will move past McEnroe’s mark of 170 weeks at the top on 2 November 2015. Only Federer (302), Sampras (286), Lendl (270), Connors (268) and McEnroe have spent more weeks at No. 1 since 1973.

In 2015, Djokovic has become only the third player in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same season, after Rod Laver (1969) and Federer (2006-07, '09). He won the Australian Open (d. Murray), Wimbledon and US Open (d. Federer both times), but narrowly failed in becoming the eighth player in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam after a runner-up finish at Roland Garros (l. to Wawrinka) in June.

Overall, he has a 21-4 record against Top 10 opponents this year and has won seven titles, including ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Federer), Miami Open presented by Itau (d. Murray), Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Berdych) and Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Federer). He also finished runner-up at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Federer), Rogers Cup in Montreal (l. to Murray) and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (l. to Federer). He currently has a 63-5 match record in 2015.

Later this year, Djokovic will attempt to secure a fourth consecutive Barclays ATP World Tour Finals title (and fifth crown overall, following his first win in 2008) at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. Djokovic will be making his ninth straight appearance at the prestigious indoor event, where he will be officially presented the year-end ATP World Tour No. 1 Trophy in an on-court ceremony.

Djokovic first ascended to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 4 July 2011, following his maiden Wimbledon triumph, and held the top spot for 53 weeks. He reclaimed No. 1 from Federer on 5 November 2012, before relinquishing it to Nadal on 7 October 2013. Djokovic once again returned to No. 1 on 7 July last year, when he went on to become only the fourth player — after Lendl, Federer and Nadal (twice) — to hold, lose and regain the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

ATP World Tour Year-End No. 1

2015 Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2014 Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2013 Rafael Nadal (ESP)

2012 Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2011 Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2010 Rafael Nadal (ESP)

2009 Roger Federer (SUI)

2008 Rafael Nadal (ESP)

2007 Roger Federer (SUI)

2006 Roger Federer (SUI)

2005 Roger Federer (SUI)

2004 Roger Federer (SUI)

2003 Andy Roddick (USA)

2002 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

2001 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

2000 Gustavo Kuerten (BRA)

1999 Andre Agassi (USA)

1998 Pete Sampras (USA)

1997 Pete Sampras (USA)

1996 Pete Sampras (USA)

1995 Pete Sampras (USA)

1994 Pete Sampras (USA)

1993 Pete Sampras (USA)

1992 Jim Courier (USA)

1991 Stefan Edberg (SWE)

1990 Stefan Edberg (SWE)

1989 Ivan Lendl (CZE)

1988 Mats Wilander (SWE)

1987 Ivan Lendl (CZE)

1986 Ivan Lendl (CZE)

1985 Ivan Lendl (CZE)

1984 John McEnroe (USA)

1983 John McEnroe (USA)

1982 John McEnroe (USA)

1981 John McEnroe (USA)

1980 Bjorn Borg (SWE)

1979 Bjorn Borg (SWE)

1978 Jimmy Connors (USA)

1977 Jimmy Connors (USA)

1976 Jimmy Connors (USA)

1975 Jimmy Connors (USA)

1974 Jimmy Connors (USA)

1973 Ilie Nastase (ROU)

Andre Agassi, the king of the court retires. 2006-09-03

Here it goes the news about the best player of the world retirement.
It was sad to see the end of Agassi on court. A great sportsman.
Well, here it goes the news below about their last game.

Updated: Sep. 4, 2006, 11:19 PM ET

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=2571758

Agassi gave until his body gave out
By Greg Garber
ESPN.com

NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi is only 36 years old, but these final days he has shuffled around like a senior citizen, limping into restaurants, hobbling through the hallways underneath Arthur Ashe Stadium. Four injections in five days did little to quiet the shrieking pain in his back.

He was unseeded here and his one-time No. 1 world ranking has slipped to No. 39. And yet, when he stepped onto center court for his first two matches, the eight-time Grand Slam champion came alive. Elevated by a full house of passionate believers, his aching body seemed to, fleetingly, live in the past.

Andre Agassi
Al Bello/Getty Images
After two dramatic wins, Agassi was physically unable to stay with his younger opponent in the third round.


On Sunday, Agassi -- his face frozen into a perpetual grimace -- walked into Arthur Ashe for a third time to play a 25-year-old qualifier named Benjamin Becker. His heart, his soul and the U.S. Open crowd were desperately willing, but this time he couldn't rise above his horrible physical reality.

Moving poorly and with great effort, Agassi lost the last match of his glorious career, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5. His career trademark was taking the ball early, on the rise, but on this day he was too often too late. Despite his inability to reach many shots at the edges of the court, he managed to stay in the match all the way to the end.

It would have been sad if it hadn't been so curiously uplifting. Perhaps courage is a word better applied to exploits in the theater of war or in the face of natural disaster, but it might best describe Agassi's final performance.

With Becker serving for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, the stadium of 24,000 spectators was stone silent. After Becker won the first three points of the ultimate game, the crowd stood and cheered. They didn't sit down. After Becker's 133-mph ace whizzed past Agassi, he walked slowly to the net, congratulated Becker and sat in his changeover chair, beaten but not defeated.

Amid a sustained standing ovation, Agassi, tears beginning, walked to the middle of the court and issued his signature four-corners, bow-and-kisses routine. Then he returned to his seat and, finally, he began to sob. The applause continued -- Becker never stopped -- and Agassi walked out for a second salute. He sat back down and buried his face in a towel and, still, the love flowed.

"I was sitting there realizing that I was saying goodbye to everybody out there," he said later, "and they were saying goodbye to me. Nothing I've ever experienced before. Overwhelmed -- [I] was overwhelmed with how they embraced me at the end."

For more than five minutes, the crowd tried to give back to Agassi, after he had given them so much -- maybe too much -- of himself. It was this tender and symbiotic relationship that Agassi addressed when he finally stood to speak.

After two halting attempts to find his vocal chords, he began in voice choked with emotion, "The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. And over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty. You have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I've found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed, sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I've found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you."

"Over the last 21 years, I have found you and I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life. Thank you."

In 111 words, Agassi had succinctly captured his deep bond with the tennis fans of New York. The address underlined his decision to end it here. His circumstances were in no way as dire as Lou Gehrig's when he faced a deadly disease upon retirement in 1939, but his emotion and sentiment were the same. Clearly, Agassi considers himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

Less than an hour later, he was more composed in a standing-room-only, post-match interview session. He tried to explain why it was so important for him to play out this last match. His answers were laced with tiny gasps as he was, presumably, visited by spasms of pain.

"This is sort of the last window to a whole series of windows throughout my career," Agassi said. "I feel like the color of the last one can affect how you see the rest of them. I didn't want to be tainted with a lack of desire or preparation."

"I'd rather just be inside the lines."

From the beginning, Agassi was not himself.

"I was still tight," Agassi explained. "But then the pain came quickly. I knew I was in trouble at that point."

He had difficulty bending low for shots, particularly on the backhand side. Still, he found himself serving to force a tiebreaker in the first set. At 30-all, moving in toward the service line he was in position to hit what would have been an easy winner in his prime. This time, the backhand glanced wide. On set point for Becker, Agassi couldn't get over the top on a second serve and, at a modest speed of 84 mph, it sailed long.

Andre Agassi
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
It was hard to tell whether Agassi was racked with more physical or emotional pain after the match.


Agassi's plaintive wail as he struck the ball foretold its path.

Becker, a player so obscure he was escorted out of Arthur Ashe when he tried to watch Agassi's spectacular second-round match with Marcos Baghdatis, was admirably poised in so difficult a situation. The former NCAA champion for Baylor via Germany, failed to show any nerves whatsoever until the second-set tiebreaker.

His first two serves were double faults and it was a hole from which he never emerged. A forehand into the net by Becker sent the crowd into hysterics.

Amazingly, twice Agassi was two points from drawing even at 5-all in the third set, but Becker's bigger serve (27 aces) and forehand prevailed. Agassi was broken at 5-all in the fourth set and Becker served out the match.

The bottom-line numbers do Agassi little justice. He has won more than $30 million in official prize money and his final record of 870-274 gives him an extraordinary 1,144 matches. Only Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas played more.

After Agassi had spun slowly around one more time to wave to the crowd, he walked into the tunnel and through the corridor toward the locker room. When he opened the door, the players were waiting for him. They were on their feet, and prompted by Ryan Sweeting, they, too, were applauding.

"The greatest applause that any person will ever receive in their life is that which comes from their peers," Agassi said. "It's not like we're a company who's working together to accomplish something. We're people that succeed, in some cases, at the demise of the other."

"To have them applaud is the ultimate compliment."

At the end of his eloquent 40-minute interview, Agassi asked, "Are you guys going to really miss me or are you just acting like that?"

The answer was another standing ovation -- a rare tribute from a typically cynical media contingent.

Agassi said he is looking forward to spending more time with family, friends and working with his foundation. "[Tennis] always comes with a cost. You're not doing something. You need to be resting. You need to be training. You need to be going somewhere. Everything you do has come with a sacrifice, it's come with a price tag, whether it's physical or mental."

"You always had to be somewhere and be thinking about being somewhere else. I look forward to being wherever I am."

Agassi, through all the pain, was typically introspective and insightful. No athlete has ever explained himself better.

"I don't think it was sadness," he said, reflecting. "It was a beautiful feeling, combined with a real excitement for the future."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

ANDRE AGASSI RETIREMENT PERSPECTIVE
Age: 36
Titles: 60
Last Title: Los Angeles (2005)
Grand Slams: 8
Career W-L: matches)

• DeSimone: Agassi was the best sound byte
• Career photo gallery
• Garber: Agassi gave until his body gave out
• Agassi's career ends with four-set loss to Becker
• Lorge: Evolution and appreciation of Agassi
• Faulkner: Who is Benjamin Becker?
• Garber: Decision to play on the right one

• DeSimone: Respect and urgency
• Agassi knocks off Baghdatis in second round
• DeSimone: Night of stars capped with win
• Agassi beats Pavel, Baghdatis up next
• Looking for long goodbye
• Big names cede spotlight
• Andre draws Andrei (Pavel) in first round
• DeSimone on the Fab Five
• By the numbers
• Player comments

Federer Masters Melbourne Again - 2006-01-29

Federer Masters Melbourne Again
Sunday, 29 January, 2006
by Bren O'Brien

Swiss No.1 seed Roger Federer has claimed the men's title at Australian Open 2006 after a brilliant comeback against unseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to win 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2.

Federer claimed the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for the second time in three years, but was forced to come from a set and a break down against Baghdatis who has captured the public's imagination in the past two weeks with his affable manner off the court and never-say-die attitude on it.

It was not the assured performance that has become expected of the Federer in the past two years, but the No.1 seed got better as the game wore on, using his full array of strokes to thwart the determined Cypriot, who had already knocked out No.2 seed Andy Roddick, the No.4 seed David Nalbandian and the No.7 seed Ivan Ljubicic on his way to the final.

Federer's Grand Slam record now stands at two Australian Opens, two US Opens and three Wimbledons, with the French Open the only major title to elude him. At 24, he remains on track to match Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Sampras had also won seven of his titles at the same age.

Both men dominated on serve early in the first set with only one point conceded by the server in each of the first four games. However, Baghdatis was able to pressure Federer on his serve in the fifth game. Uncharacteristically, the Swiss conceded three consecutive points with unforced errors and gifted the Cypriot a service break.

But Baghdatis also appeared in a charitable mood, handing back his break after a double fault. Keen to make up for his lost opportunity, the world No.54 continued to pressure Federer's serve, forcing the Swiss to bang down consecutive aces to win his next service game.

The Cypriot was finally rewarded for his persistence in the 11th game of the set. Federer led 30-0 but a series of unforced errors, including one on break point, gave Baghdatis the edge. Some powerful serves then set up two set points and when Federer netted his return, Baghdatis had taken stunning one-set lead.

Baghdatis took the momentum from the first set into the first game of the second set, breaking Federer, who conceded the game with his 19th unforced error for the match. The Swiss was staring down the barrel of a two-break deficit after an all-too casual shot from the net into an open court went wide in the third game.

It seemed to act as a wake-up call for Federer, and faced with the possibility of having to win the match in five sets, he saved two break points to keep himself in the set. He then pressured Baghdatis into conceding his next service game to get back on level terms.

Federer appeared to be under the greatest pressure on his serve, but when the break did come, it was against Baghdatis. Up 40-0 in the 12th game, the set looked destined for a tie-break, but Federer reeled off five consecutive points, including a set point which was over-ruled by the chair umpire, to level the match at a set apiece

Buoyed by his second-set heroics, Federer began the third set in fine touch, winning his own service game to love before breaking Baghdatis. Having romped to a 3-0 lead, Federer broke him once more, then held onto his serve in a tense fifth game. The world No.1 was starting to hit his straps and in just 24 minutes, took the third set thanks to a mis-hit backhand that landed on the line.

When Baghdatis cramped up during his first service game in the fourth, eventually conceding it to love, the writing was on the wall for the Cypriot. Federer had made it 11 games on end by the end of the third game, eventually conceded a game to Baghdatis but not before creating yet another break point.

A lesser opponent would have wilted under Federer's relentless pressure, but despite his body telling him to stop, Baghdatis fought on, ensuring the Swiss would have to battle for his seventh Grand Slam title. He held a break-back point in the seventh game, but couldn't capitalise. In the next game, Federer created two match points, he only needed one as Baghdatis hit a shot into the base of the net.

Current Match on Rod Laver Arena

Match Facts
• Federer had 11 aces to Baghdatis' 6
• Each player had 48 unforced errors
• There were 11 breaks of serve, eight to Federer, three to Baghdatis
• Federer won 142 to 116

Justine Distraught by Retirement - 2006-01-28

Wow. I never thought The womens final was like this. Please just read the story taken of the Australian Open Site.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2006-01-28/200601281138433392736.html

(I will add some photos later).

Justine Distraught by Retirement
by Amanda Buivids
Saturday, 28 January, 2006

It all happened rather suddenly, really.

Two points into her service game and then there was a tentative, long march to the chair umpire and … it was over. Just there and then.

The final of the women's singles at Australian Open 2006 was a set and two-and-a-half games old when Justine Henin-Hardenne, renowned for her fighting qualities, told umpire Alison Lang she could no longer continue.

She retired while trailing 4-6 0-2.

Her stunning capitulation took everyone by surprise, most of all Amelie Mauresmo, who after shaking hands with Henin-Hardenne and expressing her condolences, walked back to her chair realising the title was hers.

As Mauresmo saluted the warm and sympathetic Rod Laver Arena crowd, and wiped tears of joy from her smiling, joyous face, Henin-Hardenne sat, slumped in her court-side chair, head buried in a towel trying to come to terms with the enormity of her decision and its repercussions.

The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup was not the only thing at stake at that very moment, there was also her pride.

Such was her overwhelming sense of grief, it was the newly-anointed champion who had to stand up, walk the six metres and sit next to Henin-Hardenne, who was speechless and reduced to merely peeping through the peak of her cap and a sweaty towel.

It was the pure sense of disappointment that shuddered through her small, but muscular frame.

"It's one of the biggest (disappointments) because I don't know what is harder; to lose even when you're playing well and just you lose, or just when you have to retire like that," a distraught Henin-Hardenne said after the match.

"I think it's very disappointing because I was playing so well, and I had a lot of good chances to win here. When you lose that like this, it's pretty hard."

The No.8 seed said she had been feeling sick in the stomach for a couple of days. She said she had a problem shoulder and was prescribed anti-inflammatory tablets for the injury.

She admitted, though, that she had doubled her intake of the tablets to cope with the injury, which may have inadvertently caused her tummy troubles.

"It's been a few days I wasn't feeling well. My stomach was very upset. And then last night, I didn't sleep a lot because it got worse and worse," she explained. "Two weeks now, I had to take anti-inflammatories for my shoulder, and that killed me a little bit."

"But I had to for my shoulder. Now I got on my stomach, and then I had no legs today. I couldn't move. When the stomach is so upset and so inflamed, you know, you just don't have any energy."

"And I felt it when I woke up, but I tried. I knew at the beginning of the match I couldn't win it. I really tried to stay in the match, but there was no chance for me. If I would have keep playing and continue, maybe I would injure something else, so that was the best decision, even if it was very, very hard for me."

From the stands, the only minor indication that something was up with the petite Belgian, was the scoreline.

We had not seen her as overwhelmed in a final before. She was out-played and out-muscled in the opening set, suffering two breaks of serve to drop it in 33 minutes.

Henin-Hardenne called for the trainer during the second game of the second set after she managed to level at deuce on Mauresmo's serve.

The tyros had just completed a 33-shot rally - the best display of shot-making in the 52-minute contest - but obviously inflicted diabolical distress on the right-hander, who lost the following two points and the game.

After a three-minute injury time-out, the two combatants resumed with the calm Frenchwoman winning the two points, and Henin-Hardenne then walked towards the net to tell her opponent and the umpire that she was beaten and broken.

"I was dead, yeah … just after that point I was feeling like short of breath and no legs, no power, nothing," she said, referring to her request for medical assistance at the change-of- ends.

"I say, I am going to ask the doctor what we can do. But there's nothing we can do at that point when you're feeling like that. So I think that was really the best decision for myself."

World No.3 Mauresmo played magnificently. She controlled the contest from the start when she won her service to 15, and then immediately broke Henin-Hardenne before doing so again in the fourth game.

Her looping forehands and well-positioned serve troubled Henin-Hardenne, despite her physical frailties.

For the vanquished Henin-Hardenne, the match as well as the post-final media conference reduced her to tears.

The stress, the questioning, the criticisms had become overwhelming and too much of a burden to bare.

However, what was tougher for her was the tough decision to take her position on Centre Court when she knew that she was not 100 per cent healthy.

"Well, it's always my decision, you know, my choice. I know what was the problem, and I decided to walk on court because I'm professional, I want to try," she said. "When you see it's not working, it's the only way to go out."

"I mean, you know, it's hard when you're on the court and so much in pain. I think it's very easy to say that here in press conference. But when you're on the court and you suffer a lot and you feel like you don't have anything to give, it's pretty hard to stay on the court. I have no regrets about the decision I took."

Extending her professionalism, she congratulated Mauresmo, the 26-year-old who has finally broken through for her first Grand Slam crown in 32 attempts.

"It's great for her. She was waiting for that for such a long time, and it's finally coming out, very strange way, Kim (Clijsters) and me," Henin-Hardenne said. "But I'm sure it will give her a lot of confidence. She worked very hard so she deserved that."