Sports Then and Now

Roger Federer is looking to add to his career earnings and to post his 19th Grand Slam title during Wimbledon 2017.

It’s no secret that tennis players earn a considerable amount during their careers. Wimbledon 2017 has just begun and the total prize money this year has risen to a staggering £31.6 million. Although players compete for the championship title, and the single’s prize fund of £2.2 million, every player that competes receives money- even if they don’t win. Some players have reached the $100 million mark in their career earnings.

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian player has been listed as the highest earning tennis player for the past few years. His total career earnings from prizes come in at $109,320,581 to date. His income is owed to his extremely successful career, which has seen him win a total of 775 matches. His worth could be set to increase if he is successful at this year’s Wimbledon championships, where he will compete against some of the world’s best players. Djokovic is sponsored by leading companies such as Adidas, Uniqlo and Head.

Rodger Federer

Federer has been sponsored by luxury brands such as Nike, Rolex and Mercedes-Benz for several years. The 35 year old, who plays tennis for Switzerland, has only recently been overtaken by Djokovic as the highest earner. His career prize money totals $104,002,250 and he has won a huge 1,099 matches since he began playing professionally in 1998. In 2016, he was the oldest player to make a Grand Slam final although he hasn’t shown any indication that he plans to retire soon. Read the rest of this entry →

After winning the U.S. Open in 2012, Andy Murray is hoping for a repeat this year.

Following his dominating performance in winning his first Wimbledon title, it will be interesting to see if U.S. Open bets make Andy Murray the prohibitive favorite to successfully defend his title at the final tennis major of the year.

It is hard to believe that just a year ago Murray was still searching for his first major championship and clearly was a step behind the “big three” of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Now, following a victory over Federer to win the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal and then wins over Djokovic in the finals of both the 2012 U.S. Open and 2013 Wimbledon, Murray is making a case for himself as the best player in the game.

Of course, being the hunted instead of the hunter is a very different role. The question entering the 2013 U.S. Open is whether Murray can adjust to his new role as one of the tournament favorites. Read the rest of this entry →

Andy Murray finally raised a grand slam trophy with a five set win over Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open.

The signs were, if not in the stars then in the skies over London and New York.

On one side of the Atlantic, summer gave way to autumn as a nation waved its thanks and its farewells to the Olympic athletes who had filled and thrilled the six weeks of Great Britain’s summer. These were the brave and the bold who had made 2012 not just a royal jubilee year but a people’s jubilee year, and no-one would rain on their parade. Come the evening of 10 September, though, there was an autumn chill in the air, signalling the inevitable transition to a new season.

On the other side of The Pond, evening had yet to come, autumn had yet to arrive. New York’s weather had provided its usual spectacle—tornados, rain-storms, oppressive heat, debilitating humidity—and it had ensured that the biggest tennis tournament in the world, the last Grand Slam of 2012, would once again end later than planned. But this time, it could not have been planned better. This time, the sun was shining on one remaining Briton who had begun his journey back with those Olympic heroes at the end of July.

The first event of London 2012 started on the day after the opening ceremony at the sport’s most iconic venue, Wimbledon.

This had been the scene of heartbreak for Andy Murray so many times in his single-minded, muscle-burning pursuit of the Holy Grail. In 2008, he was a quarterfinalist and went on to reach his first Grand Slam final two months later in New York. The next year, he reached the semis on London’s green lawns—now it was just a matter of time.

But two more Grand Slam finals came and went, and two more semi-final losses at Wimbledon. Blocking his way at every turn was a phalanx of tennis royalty—Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal—so despite reaching the last four in five out of six of the Majors leading into Wimbledon 2012, the prize seemed always just out of reach. Read the rest of this entry →

The tennis power rankings as created by Feng Rong were developed to objectively measure a tennis player’s current form. This is accomplished by weighting the outcomes so that the four most recent results count the most.

This ranking assesses the power in the men’s game as players get ready to do battle on the stately grounds of Wimbledon—this after leaving the normally dusty environment of Stade Roland Garros.

In 2012, however, dust was replaced by puddles as the rains fell profusely in Paris during week two of the Grand Slam tournament, postponing the men’s final until Monday.

Wimbledon, with its new retractable Centre Court roof, will be spared a troubled final in 2012 because the roof can be closed and lighting employed.

Who will win this year’s Wimbledon crown? No one knows, of course.

Will it be one of the top ten in our Power Listing? Only time will tell.

We survey the men’s top ten in our power ranking and speculate on their potential for winning the Wimbledon championship as well as looking at some other potential winners.

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The 2012 French Open gets underway on May 27, 2012

The clay-court season has offered few surprises so far for the men on tour.

Rafael Nadal has re-established his iron foothold on the red clay, offering his opponents a healthy dose of lethal backspin and Majorcan aggression. There is something about breathing red dust that instills Nadal with an air of invincibility few can overcome.

For the ladies, Queen Victoria Azarenka has bowed to few, trying to cement her grasp on the No. 1 ranking.

Losing only to Marion Bartoli at Indian Wells, Azarenka demonstrated no nervous tics or signs of relenting her perch at the top of the women’s game. That is, until she was buried under a siege of Russian ground strokes thrown at her by world No. 2  Marian Sharapova at Stuttgart.

Sharapova pulled the proverbial rug out from under Azarenka in Germany during the finals on Sunday, winning 6-1, 6-4.

The women’s top four players—Azarenka, Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska appear to have established some sort of stability for the ladies, although certainly not on a par with the men’s top four—Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and  Andy Murray.

In a few weeks, both the men and the women will roll into Roland Garros for the second Grand Slam of the season.

Those at the top will continue to be favored to win, but there may be some surprises on the terre battue in Paris.

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Roger Federer won his first championship at Indian Wells in 2004.

No doubt the anti-Federer-contingent cannot be happy with the recent results of the tennis star who will not die or fade away—even after turning 30.

Just when they think the Swiss fountain of youth has congealed into lumpy cheese fondue, Federer revives his game and comes back free-flowing as he did during his dominating best.

Such was the case recently in Dubai. The hard, fast courts in the United Arab Emirates desert suited Federer just fine as he rebounded from predicted obscurity to reclaim his fifth title in Dubai 7-5, 6-4—much to the shock and dismay of Andy Murray and the Scot’s camp.

Murray had pulled his own coup d’etat by upsetting the No. 1 seed and reigning world champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Murray, however, was not able to arrest the development of the Federer forehand on the hard courts of Dubai, losing in straight sets in the final.

No other man has won five tennis titles in Dubai. The courts there suit Federer’s game—which may explain why Nadal has been absent from the Dubai desert since 2008.

Once the world No. 2 figured out that he had to ration his playing time, Dubai was sacrificed because the hard courts, especially the faster hard courts, took too much out of Nadal’s vulnerable knees.

Just as well for Federer’s fans. Playing Nadal often becomes a non-productive exercise for the 16-grand slam champion.  Before each major, Federer’s backers sink to their knees praying to play Djokovic or Murray before Nadal. Much of it has to do with the “confidence level” Federer spoke of after his recent victories over top ten opponents.

After winning 33 of his last 35 matches, Federer will enter the contest at Indian Wells with renewed confidence and vigor. Since losing his semifinal battle with Novak Djokovic at the US Open, the world No. 3 has captured titles at the World Tour Finals in London, overcoming Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

Prior to Dubai, Federer claimed the title in Rotterdam over Juan Martin del Potro. Now the Swiss has captured this outdoor title in Dubai defeating world No. 4 Andy Murray.

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