The great artists of the game were in fine tune this season,even while Tennis’s Rome threatened to burn with off-court scandals aplenty.
The great artists of the game were in fine tune this season,even while Tennis’s Rome threatened to burn with off-court scandals aplenty, writes Varun Zaiwalla
Off Court
Fixing for trouble
Tennis took some major publicity beatings this year, and the greatest came through the news that Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko was being investigated after a match he lost reported unusual betting patterns, leading to rumours he had thrown the game.
Other major players, including Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, have since come out to say they have been offered money to lose matches, and several reported that both betting and match fixing within the game was rampant.
Drug deals
Rather than just having to deal with drugs of the performance enhancing variety, there was also party powder on the menu this yea. Former World No.1 Martina Hingis publicly admitted to testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon this year, and promptly retired, denying she had ever taken the drug but offering no further explanation.
It served as a timely reminder that, as well as match fixing, tennis has a battle on two fronts to defend its credibility.
Toxic Tommy
In a somewhat bizarre twist to a tumultuous off-court season, Germany’s Tommy Haas in November made the accusation that he was poisoned during the Davis Cup semi final between Russia and Germany.
Russia won the event, with Haas pulling out of the last singles game, and will face USA for the crown in the final starting on November 30 th.
On Court
Grand Slams
The tennis calendar’s showpieces were the very stuff of consistency. Bookmakers would not have been offering tempting odds to anyone in January who wanted to bet on Roger Federer winning on three of the four big stages, nor on the same man losing on the French clay to Rafael Nadal.
Victories for Serena in Australia and Venus in Wimbledon kept the Williams sisters’ flame glowing strongly, while Justine Henin backed up her claim as queen bee at the French and US Opens.
Elsewhere
The biggest stories around the tour came courtesy of Federer’s losses, underlining just how dominant he is. March saw him lose twice to Guillermo Canas, while in October he lost the same number to David Nalbandian.
Also, Croat Ivo Karlovic made the headlines by hitting over a 1,000 aces.
Serbia rising
Not noted for its tennis at the start of this year, the development of Novak Djokovic in the men’s and both Jelena Jankovic and Anna Ivanovic in the women’s caught the eye.
Djokovic improved 13 places to 3 rd in the ATP rankings, while Jankovic and Ivanovic have moved from 12th and 15th respectively to 2nd and 4th in the WTA.
Flying the flag
Sania Mirza missed out on her promised breakthrough year, after injury severely restricted her entry into tournaments.
Teamed with Martin Damm of the Czech Republic, Leander Paes won two doubles titles and reached three more finals, as they finished ranked 4 th among men’s doubles teams.
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