Australian Open 2019: Player Quotes

Caroline Wozniacki
“I’m sad on behalf of Andy because Andy is so fun for me to watch. I think he’s entertaining. He’s such a great athlete. He stood up for us, too. I really appreciate what he’s done for women’s tennis.”

Victoria Azarenka
“My son definitely inspires me. I still have my own dreams, to fulfil my potential. I have a lot of motivation to continue.”

Alexander “Sasha” Zverev
Someone asked Sascha Zverev if he was considering playing mixed doubles at Grand Slams… “That’s the best question I’ve gotten as a first question ever. In Olympics, I probably will, with Angie hopefully. But, no, not in tournaments.”

Rafael Nadal on coming up on the junior tour with Murray “We shared competitions, under-13, under-14. As a kid he was a little bit of a bad boy!’
“At the end of the day you appreciate a lot your rivals because we shared a lot of important moments in our life. We shared courts in the most important stadiums in the world competing for the most important things, that’s impossible to forget.”

Roger Federer on Andy Murray

“I was disappointed and sad, a little bit shocked, to know now that we’re going to lose him at some point. But we’re going to lose everybody at some point. It’s just now that it’s definite.”

What did Naomi Osaka get up to in the offseason? “I had a notebook, so every night before bed I would write jokes so I can present them to you guys.”

Journalist: can you give us one? “That was a joke, I’m sorry.”

 

 

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Another match fixing scandal. Can tennis fix this problem?

15 people were arrested in yet another tennis match fixing scandal.   One of those arrested is Spanish tennis player Marc Fornell-Mestres, who was suspended by theTennis Integrity Unit last month.  His highest ranking was 1007th in singles.  Of the 83 people implicated, 28 were players in the ITF Futures and Challenger tours.

You can read the full article here. Link

This not making anyone in the tennis establishment look good.  Most of these activities are taking place in the Futures and Challenger tours  that don’t have the attention of most tennis fans. We are lucky that the upper echelon of the sport, the ATP tour remains mostly clean.  So far.

Most players in the Futures and Challengers tours have little chance of playing at the ATP level.  The prize money is very low for these players.  Match fixing clearly offers a financial incentive for these players. There is not an easy way to fix this mess. Increasing prize alone is not going to fix this.  Tennis has quite a problem on its hands.

 

Continue ReadingAnother match fixing scandal. Can tennis fix this problem?