Showing posts with label Tennis Players. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis Players. Show all posts

Pete Sampras Pics

Pete Sampras Action During The Match

Pete Sampras Kiss The Lovely Trophy

Pete Sampras In Press Conferences With His Cute Smile

Pete Sampras Marriage Photos

Pete Sampras Take a Rest After Playing

Pete Sampras Looks Enthusiastic

Pete Sampras and Federer

Stefan Edberg In Action

Stefan Bengt Edberg (born 19 January 1966 in Västervik, Sweden) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player (in both singles and doubles) from Sweden. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He also won one season ending championship title the Masters Grand Prix. In addition he won four Masters Series titles and four Championship Series titles.Edberg is noted as one of the finest serve-and-volley players of his era. Edberg did not possess a powerful dominating serve like Pete Sampras or Boris Becker but still had a very effective serve. Edberg would often choose to use a less powerful serve, such as a kick or slice serve. This extra time from using a slower serve gave Edberg more time to get to the net, where he used his quick feet and athleticism to gain control of the point at the net. Edberg also had excellent volley, and could easily redirect powerfully struck balls to the open court. He also had sufficient groundstrokes, and his one-handed backhand is also one of his best shots.In September 2008, Stefan Edberg officially joined the Black Rock Tour of Champions, a tour for professional tennis players who have since retired from the ATP Tour. Edberg won his first tournament in Paris held on clay, winning matches against clay court specialists Thomas Muster in the opening round and Sergi Bruguera in the finals on Sunday, 21 September 2008.


Stefan Edberg, simply the best

Edberg first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior player. He won all four Grand Slam junior titles in 1983 to become the first-ever player to achieve the "Junior Grand Slam". Later that year as a professional, Edberg won his first career doubles title in Basel. Edberg accidentally killed Dick Wertheim with an errant serve during the 1983 US Open. In 1984, Edberg won his first top-level singles title in Milan. Edberg also won the tennis tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics when the sport was an exhibition event and partnered with fellow Swede Anders Järryd to reach the final of the US Open. Edberg also reached the French Open doubles final with Järryd in 1986 and consequently was World No. 1 in doubles in that year. U.S. fans first took notice of Edberg's professional career when he won the U.S. Indoor in Memphis in February 1985. Edberg's first two Grand Slam singles titles came at the Australian Open. In December 1985, he defeated Mats Wilander in straight sets to claim his first major title. In January 1987, he defended his title by defeating Pat Cash in five sets to win the last Australian Open held on grass courts. Edberg also won the Australian Open and US Open men's doubles titles in 1987 (partnering fellow Swede Anders Järryd). In 1988, Edberg reached the first of three consecutive finals at Wimbledon. In all three finals, he played Boris Becker in what became one of Wimbledon's greatest rivalries. Edberg won their first encounter in a four-set match spread over two days because of rain delays. A year later, Becker won in straight sets. The closest of their matches came in the 1990 final, when Edberg won in five sets after being down a break in the fifth set. In 1990, an abdominal muscle injury forced Edberg to retire from the Australian Open final while trailing Ivan Lendl 5–2 (including two breaks of serve) in the third set. Edberg nevertheless took the World No. 1 ranking from Lendl on 13 August 1990 by winning the Super 9 tournament in Cincinnati. He held it for the rest of that year and for much of 1991 and 1992. Edberg spent a total of 72 weeks as World No. 1. Edberg's final two Grand Slam singles triumphs came at the US Open, with wins over Jim Courier in the 1991 final and Pete Sampras in the 1992 final, who was just months away from being ranked No. 1 in the world. Edberg's last Grand Slam singles final appearances were at the Australian Open, where he lost in four sets to Jim Courier in both 1992 and 1993. In 1996, Edberg won his third and final Grand Slam doubles title at Australian Open with Petr Korda. The only Grand Slam singles title Edberg never won was the French Open. He reached the French Open final in 1989 but lost in five sets to 17-year old Michael Chang, who became the youngest ever male winner of a Grand Slam singles title. Edberg was most comfortable playing tennis on fast-playing surfaces. Of his six Grand Slam singles titles, four were won on grass courts at the Australian Open (1985 and 1987) and Wimbledon (1988 and 1990) and two were won on hardcourts at the US Open (1991 and 1992).

Stefan Edberg During The Match

Stefan Edberg and Trophy

Stefan Edberg Try To Communicate With Audience

Stefan Edberg Happiness Expression

Stefan Edberg and His Wife

Tim Henman

Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974) is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. Henman never reached the finals of any Grand Slam but having reached six Grand Slam semi-finals, won 15 career ATP titles (11 in singles and 4 in doubles), and been ranked number 4 in the world, Henman was one of Britain's most successful open era male tennis players. He retired after helping Great Britain defeat Croatia in a Davis Cup match played in September 2007. Nicknamed "Tiger Tim", Henman is worth £17 million and remains a celebrity among the public. Henman was privately educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and later at Reed's School, Cobham, Surrey, where he passed 10 GCSE exams, combining school with a tennis scholarship. Between the ages of 10 and 17 he was a member of the David Lloyd Slater Squad, where he trained alongside a number of other young British tennis hopefuls. Henman won many titles at various different tournaments. While at school, Henman was diagnosed with osteochondritis, a bone disease (one form of chondritis). However, he continued to play tennis. In 1992 won the National Junior titles in singles and doubles, deciding to join the professional tour in 1993. On 11 December 1999, Henman married his longtime girlfriend, TV producer Lucy Heald in Hampshire. Together they have three daughters, Rose Elizabeth "Rosie" (born Hammersmith and Fulham, London, 19 October 2002), Olivia Susan (born Hammersmith and Fulham, 15 December 2004), and Grace (born 14 September 2007). Henman supports Oxford United Football Club and is a keen golfer, playing off scratch.



Henman climbed up the rankings very quickly. In 1994, he was among the top 200 players in the world; by 1995, among the top 100; and by 1996, he had made it into the top 30 and won a medal at the Atlanta Olympics. He was the UK's highest ranked player that year, and won the Most Improved Player trophy at the ATP awards. He was subsequently elected to the ATP Tour Player Council and went on to win his first championship in January 1997. In March of that year, he underwent surgery on his elbow which kept him out of action for two months. During his early career he became the first player ever to be disqualified from the Wimbledon tournament in 1995. The young Henman thrashed a ball in a fit of pique during a doubles match, striking ball girl Caroline Hall on the head. He made a public apology after the incident. Henman came to the attention of the wider tennis world in 1996 when he came from match point down to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round at Wimbledon, going on to reach the quarter finals before losing to Todd Martin. By the time he reached the last 16 at the US Open later in the year, he was firmly established as a top player. He won his first ATP Tour title in January 1997, beating Carlos Moyá at the Sydney International event. He again reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon. In 1998 he went one better, reaching the semi-final for the first time, by which time he was ranked as one of the top 10 ATP players. Henman came close to reaching the final on a number of occasions, losing in the semi-finals in 1998, 1999, 2001 (when just two points from victory at one point) and 2002. In 2000 he reached the fourth round and in 1996, 1997, 2003 and 2004 he lost in the quarter-finals. Two of those semi-final losses were to Pete Sampras. In another, he lost to Lleyton Hewitt who was ranked number 1 in the world at the time. One of the tournaments in which he has been most successful is Queen's Club. He reached the final in 1999, where he lost to Pete Sampras, and went on to reach the final again in 2001 and 2002, where both times he lost to Lleyton Hewitt. Henman ended an eight-match losing streak against Lleyton Hewitt on 25 March 2006, with a 7–6, 6–3 victory at the Nasdaq-100 event in Miami. However, 3 months later at the 2006 Stella Artois Championships, Henman lost to Lleyton Hewitt 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 in the semi-finals. Henman's results in the latter part of his career saw him slip down the rankings to number 62, leading to his being unseeded at Wimbledon in 2006 for the first time in a number of years. At that Wimbledon championships, he lost in the second round to eventual champion Federer, 6–4, 6–0, 6–2, after a five-set victory over Robin Söderling of Sweden in the first round. After this, Henman's results saw an improvement and his world ranking increased to number 39. However, he continued to suffer from injury problems. Henman's poor luck with injury and form continued into the 2007 clay court season with first round losses to Juan Carlos Ferrero 7–5 6–2 in Monaco, Nicolás Almagro 7–5, 6–1 in Rome and a poor showing against 18 year old grand slam debutant Ernests Gulbis 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 in the French Open. Henman's clay court season ended without a single set won. His Grass court season got underway on 12 June 2007 at Queens Club, but was put to an abrupt end by Croatian wildcard entry Marin Čilić. However, he ended the day with a doubles victory with partner Lleyton Hewitt over Australian Jordan Kerr and Austrian Alexander Peya. An early loss at a grass court event in Nottingham was followed up with a poor showing at Wimbledon, with Henman losing in the second round to Feliciano López in 5 sets.




Henman announced at a press conference on 23 August 2007 that he would retire from tennis after the Davis Cup match against Croatia in September 2007. Henman defeated his rival Dmitry Tursunov (who had won five of their six previous matches) in the 1st round of the US Open 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in what many had assumed would be his final grand slam match. He did in fact compete in his final grand slam match on 31 August 2007 and was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7–6 (7–2), 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 in the second round. Henman seemed slugglish compared to his first round match and threw away serving for the first set. Henman played his final match in the Davis Cup tie against Croatia on 22 September 2007. The doubles match with Jamie Murray was played on Court 1 at Wimbledon which they won 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 7–5. The match put Great Britain in an unassailable 3–0 lead and back in the World Group, with the doubles win being added to singles wins the previous day from Henman and Andy Murray. After the match Henman told Sue Barker in an interview on BBC Television and in front of the Court 1 crowd, "It's occasions like this and fans like this that I will miss so much". At the time of his retirement Henman, had already committed to playing a Charity Exhibition at London's Royal Albert Hall during the Seniors Tennis Event The Blackrock Masters in December 2007. Henman's opponent was veteran Swede and former Wimbledon Champion Stefan Edberg, Tim won the pro-set 8–4. Henman became part of the commentary team for the BBC coverage of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and 2009 Wimbledon Championships. Henman took part in a test event for the adoption of the centre court roof in May 2009 and played mixed doubles with Kim Clijsters against husband and wife team Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.

Nicole Vaidisova

Nicole Vaidišová ( born 23 April 1989) is a Czech female tennis player who is currently retired. Vaidišová is an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist and also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Vaidišová started playing tennis when she was six years old, enrolling to train at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Bradenton, Florida. Her serve was considered her biggest weapon. On 9 August 2006, at the age of 17 years, three months, and two weeks, she became the 12th-youngest player in WTA Tour history to be ranked in the top 10. She achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 7 on 14 May 2007. Her form dipped shortly after, and at the time her retirement was announced in 2010, she was ranked at No. 177. From March 2009, she was coached by her stepfather, Ales Kodat, who replaced David Felgate. By the end of 2009, she had hired top coach Eric van Harpen. Her stepfather announced that she had retired in March 2010, citing "lack of interest in tennis" as the primary reason. Vaidišová debuted in 2003 by reaching three consecutive finals: won $10K ITF/Plzeň-CZE, her only event in 2003, without dropping a set. In 2004, her first full year as a professional, Vaidišová finished the year as a top 100 player. As a qualifier at only her third WTA Tour main draw at inaugural Vancouver, Vaidišová became the sixth-youngest singles champion in tour history at an age of 15 years, three months, and 23 days. She also became the lowest-ranked player (World No. 180) and second qualifier (of three) to win a title in 2004. Vaidišová won her second title of the year at Tashkent, defeating Virginie Razzano in the final. On 18 October, she made her top 100 debut at World No. 74, becoming the youngest player in the top 100 at the time. Later in the year, Vaidišová reached the quarterfinals at the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Vaidišová made her Grand Slam debut at the US Open, losing to defending champion and World No. 1 Justine Henin in the first round. Vaidišová finished the year with two WTA titles and a win-loss record of 31–8.


Nicole Vaidisova vs Alicia Molik 2008 AO Highlights

Vaidišová's captured her first title of 2005 (and third of her career) in Seoul, defeating top seed Jelena Janković in the final without dropping a set during the week. She followed by winning her second straight tour singles title in Tokyo, winning when Tatiana Golovin retired in the final. On 10 October, Vaidišová made her top 20 debut at World No. 18 and extended her winning streak to 15 matches, by winning her third consecutive tour singles title and fifth of her career; she defeated Nadia Petrova for the first time in the final of the Bangkok. With her three consecutive titles, Vaidišová became the first player since Lindsay Davenport in 2004 to win three titles in three weeks, and also became the sixth woman to win five Tour singles titles before her 17th birthday (after Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis). Vaidišová captured her sixth WTA title at the Tier III event in Strasbourg in May 2006. In June, she made a semifinal run at the French Open, her best Grand Slam performance to date. She defeated world No. 1 and home favorite Amélie Mauresmo in the fourth round and Venus Williams in the quarterfinal. However, she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round, despite being only two points away from victory several times. At the Wimbledon Championships, she got to the fourth round before losing to Li Na. Vaidišová's fourth round appearance meant that she has advanced to the Round of 16 or better in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Vaidišová was out for two months after Wimbledon due to glandular fever and signed up for several tournaments before withdrawing. She returned at the US Open, where she lost to Shahar Pe'er in a third round match. Moving into the indoor season, Vaidišová played the Kremlin Cup, losing there to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. The next week in Zürich, Vaidišová reached the semifinals, achieving a notable victory over World No. 3 Jelena Janković. In the semifinals, she faced world No. 1 Justine Henin and lost in three sets. She finished the year by making another semifinal in Linz.Vaidišová played three hard court tournaments in Australia to start the year. She lost to Li Na of China in the quarterfinals of the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts. She then reached the semifinals of the Medibank International , defeating Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. At the Australian Open, Vaidišová lost to defending champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.Vaidišová started 2010 by playing consecutive ITF Women's Circuit events, but suffered a first round defeat in both. She was then given a main draw wildcard to the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, defeating Laura Granville in the first round before losing to Kaia Kanepi in the second.

Vaidišová was introduced to tennis by her mother, Riana. She has two younger brothers, Oliver and Toby. Vaidišová follows the NHL, primarily supporting the Tampa Bay Lightning and enjoys reading, watching movies, yoga and bike riding. She likes pop music and is a fan of Madonna. She lists New York City as her favourite city because of its constant activity. Vaidišová speaks Czech, English, German and is studying French. She became engaged to fellow Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek, who is eleven years her senior, in late 2007. It has been reported that the relationship was the cause of Vaidišová's decline in tennis. The two married on 17 July 2010 at Prague Castle. Vaidišová was the face of Reebok and has been featured in their "I Am What I Am" and "Run Easy" campaigns. She also endorsed Citizen Watches and its Eco-Drive design. She is represented by Olivier van Lindonk of IMG. During her career she had been using Yonex racquets.An avid reader, Vaidišová is part of the "Get Caught Reading Campaign" to encourage people to read more. She has taken part in other philanthropic causes, such as becoming an ambassador for PlayPumps International, a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing clean drinking water to African children.

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King During The Match

Billie Jean King Get Gold Medals

Billie Jean King Will Smash The Ball

Billie Jean King Happiness Expression

Billie Jean King Hairstyle

Billie Jean King Love Tennis So Much

Billie Jean King Laughing

Chris Evert

Chris Evert Performance During The Match

Chris Evert Looks Beautiful

Chris Evert and Greg Norman

Chris Evert Wallpaper

Chris Evert Simple Smile

Chris Evert Got Big Medals

Chris Evert Fashion

Chris Evert Cute Dress Costume

Tracy Austin

Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962, in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short. Austin defeated 35-year-old Billie Jean King in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1979 6–4, 6–7, 6–2 before losing to Martina Navrátilová in straight sets in the semifinals. Austin then became the youngest ever US Open champion, aged 16 years and 9 months. In the final, she faced Chris Evert who was bidding to win the title for the fifth consecutive year: Austin won the match 6–4, 6–3. Earlier that year, Austin had ended Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay by beating her in three sets in a semifinal of the Italian Open. Austin lost in the semifinals of both Grand Slam tournaments she played in 1980. Evonne Goolagong Cawley, seeded fourth and the eventual champion, defeated Austin 6–3, 0–6, 6–4 at Wimbledon. As the top seed and defending champion at the US Open, Austin was expected to extend her five-match winning streak against third-ranked Evert. Austin raced to a 4–0 lead in the first set before Evert won 16 of the final 20 games to take the match 4–6, 6–1, 6–1. Evert went on to beat Hana Mandlíková in the final, thus securing for herself the year-ending World No. 1 ranking. Austin was ranked the World No. 1 singles player at times during 1980/81, partly because she captured the two sponsors' tour-ending events, defeating Navrátilová to win the Avon Championships in March and Andrea Jaeger to capture the Colgate Series Championships in January 1981. In 1980, Austin won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with her brother John.


Chris Evert vs. Tracy Austin: Famous 1980 US Open semifinal!


During the first four months of 1981, Austin played only two events because of chronic injuries. On grass, she won the tournament in Eastbourne, United Kingdom without losing a set before Pam Shriver beat her in a Wimbledon quarterfinal 7–5, 6–4. Austin then won 26 consecutive matches and four consecutive tournaments. She defeated Shriver in the final of the tournament in San Diego and, three weeks later, she beat both Navrátilová and Evert in straight sets to win the Canadian Open in Toronto. As the third-seeded player at the US Open, Austin defeated fourth-seeded Navrátilová in the final 1–6, 7–6(4), 7–6(1). Navrátilová, however, ended Austin's winning streak in the final of the U.S. Indoor Championships. In Europe during the autumn, Austin lost to Sue Barker in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Brighton, United Kingdom but recovered the following week to defeat Navrátilová in the final of the tournament in Stuttgart, West Germany. Austin was the first opponent of Steffi Graf when the German made her professional debut at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in 1982. Austin defeated the 13-year-old Graf 6–4, 6–0. At the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, Austin was seeded second but lost to sixth-seeded Shriver in the Australian Open quarterfinals 7–5, 7–6. The year-ending Toyota Series Championships featured two matches against Evert and one against Navrátilová. Evert won her round robin match with Austin 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 before Austin won their semifinal 6–1, 6–2, with Evert blaming the loss on exhaustion. Austin then won the tournament with a three-set defeat of Navrátilová. Back injuries and recurring sciatica then began to impair Austin's effectiveness and sidelined her for long stretches. King, seeded twelfth, upset third-seeded Austin in the 1982 Wimbledon quarterfinals 3–6, 6–4, 6–2. Several weeks later, however, Austin won her 30th and final top-level singles title in San Diego. Austin's last good showing at a major event was at the 1982 season-ending Toyota Series Championships where she defeated Jaeger, the World No. 3, in straight sets to reach the semifinals. However, she was unable to repeat the previous year's victory over Evert, who defeated Austin 6–0, 6–0 in less than 50 minutes. By 1983, before her 21st birthday, Austin was virtually finished as a top ten player.



Austin began her first comeback on the tour in 1988 when she played in seven doubles tournaments and 1989 when she played in one doubles and two singles tournaments. This comeback was ended by a near-fatal motor vehicle accident. She attempted a second comeback in 1993 and 1994 but was not particularly successful: in July 1994 she retired from professional tennis. (In 1994 at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California Austin, in the middle of her comeback, played Graf, who was World No. 1 at the time. This proved to be a lopsided encounter with Graf blanking Austin 6–0, 6–0.) In 1992, Austin became the youngest person to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Tracy's older sister, Pam, and her older brother, Jeff, were also professional tennis players, as were brothers Doug and John. She is the sister-in-law of fitness author Denise Austin. She is married to Scott Holt and is the mother of three sons. Since retiring as a player, Austin has worked frequently as a commentator for NBC and the USA Network. She worked for the Seven Network at the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Australian Opens and usually participates in the BBC's Wimbledon coverage. She began working for Tennis Channel in 2010 and joined their US Open team. Austin also worked for CBC Sports for their coverage of the 2009 Rogers Cup.

Marcos Baghdatis

Marcos Baghdat is (born 17 June 1985 in Limassol) is a Greek Cypriot professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships and reached a career-high ATP ranking of 8 in August 2006.

Baghdatis performed moderately throughout most of 2004. He picked up his form later in that year. At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis played for the first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He defeated Olivier Mutis in a first round match 2–6, 6–2, 6–1, 7–5. He was one of only two players who won a set from eventual champion Roger Federer (the other being Andre Agassi). Baghdatis then finished the year with two challenger tournament titles, in which he defeated many higher ranked opponents.

Baghdatis started the 2011 season by competing in the Brisbane International, losing in the quarterfinal to defending champion and second-seeded American Andy Roddick 2–6, 3–6. Baghdatis next tournament was the Medibank International Sydney, Baghdatis was the defending champion and second seed in this event, however he withdrew from the tournament, citing a groin injury. Baghdatis made it to the 3rd round in the Australian open before retiring mid-way through the 4th set against Jürgen Melzer.

Marcos Baghdatis With His Special Girl

Baghdatis's playing style is relaxed and smooth. His main strength is his powerful forehand and a natural talent for placement. He can make accurate and powerful down-the-line forehands and cross-court forehands on the run and often patiently constructs points to get in a position from where he can make outright winners with those shots. He also has one of the best backhands in the game, especially his two-handed backhand down the line. Baghdatis is noted for often playing high-risk tennis, attempting difficult shots which, depending on their execution, can pay off big or backfire. Unfortunately, these difficult shots have sometimes resulted in self-destructive losses.

Marcos Baghdatis Celebrate Expression

Two days before his third-round match against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt at the 2008 Australian Open, a video posted on YouTube almost a year earlier made headlines in the local media. The video shows the 2008 fifteenth seed at a barbecue hosted by his Greek Australian fans in Melbourne in early 2007. In it, Baghdatis is seen holding a flare chanting, among other things, anti-Turkish slogans such as "Turks out of Cyprus" twice, with the Hellas Fan Club, a group which was later at the centre of a clash with police. A representative of the local Turkish Cypriot community referred to the chant as a "racist attack" and a "straight-forward provocation of our community", and called for the player's expulsion from the tournament and Australia, though no such action was taken.

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