Tag Archives: Daniel Nestor

Carlos Moya Returns as Nominee for International Tennis Hall of Fame

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Carlos Moya is back in the running…

The 47-year-old Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player has been nominated for the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the player category.

Carlos MoyaMoya is one of six player candidates announced for the Class of 2024, along with fellow returning nominees Daniel Nestor, Cara Black, Ana Ivanovic and Flavia Pennetta.

Moya is the 1998 French Open singles champion and the runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he was part of his country’s winning Davis Cup team. He has been Rafael Nadal‘s primary coach since 2016.

Black, Ivanovic, Moya, Nestor and Pennetta all fell short of the required 75% of the vote in past balloting from the official voting group — which includes media, historians, Hall of Famers and industry experts — and bonus percentage points awarded based on a fan vote. Nominees can remain in contention for three years.

Leander Paes is the sole first-time nominee in the player category.

The ballot for 2024 also includes two contributor category candidates: Vijay Amritraj and journalist Richard Evans.

This year’s online fan voting for the player category runs from Wednesday to Oct. 9.

The Hall’s Class of 2023 members — wheelchair star Esther Vergeer and quad division pioneer Rick Draney — were enshrined in July.

Juan Carlos Ferrero Among This Year’s International Tennis Hall of Fame Nominees

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Juan Carlos Ferrero has another chance at a place in the hall…

The International Tennis Hall of Fame has announced the nominees for the Class of 2023, with the 42-year-old Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player among the half-dozen holdovers from the vote last year, the first time in history no one on the ballot was selected.

Juan Carlos FerreroFerrero makes his return to the ballot in the Player Category alongside Cara Black, Ana Ivanovic, Flavia Pennetta, Carlos Moya and Lisa Raymond.

None of those six reached the required 75% of the vote for the Class of 2022 in combined results from the official voting group — which includes media, historians, Hall of Famers and industry experts — and bonus percentage points awarded based on a fan vote. Nominees can remain in contention for three years.

Dutch wheelchair star Esther Vergeer is among three new nominees for the Class of 2023. Vergeer, nominated in the Wheelchair Tennis Category, won 44 Grand Slam titles between singles and doubles and was unbeaten for more than 10 years.

Rick Draney, who helped pioneer the Quad Division in addition to being an accomplished athlete, is also nominated in the Wheelchair Tennis Category.

Daniel Nestor, owner of eight Grand Slam doubles trophies, makes his debut in the Player Category.

Inductees will be announced next year. The Hall ceremony is scheduled for July 22 at the Rhode Island-based Hall, which has been around since 1955.

Cabal & Abigail Spears Reach Mixed Doubles Final at Australian Open

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Juan Sebastian Cabal is getting a second chance to become a Grand Slam champion…

The 30-year-old Colombian tennis player and his partner Abigail Spears defeated Elina Svitolina and Chris Guccione, 7-6, 6-2, in the semifinals to reach the Mixed Doubles championship round at this year’s Australian Open.

Juan Sebastian Cabal & Abigail Spears

It’s Cabal’s second appearance in a Grand Slam final, his first in mixed doubles. He previously played in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles final with Eduardo Schwank, losing a close match to Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi in three sets.

Cabal and Spears will play Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles final on Margaret Court Arena.

It’s only the third time a Colombian player has reached a Grand Slam final. Following Cabal’s appearance in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles final, Robert Farah appeared in the mixed doubles final at last year’s Wimbledon. He and partner Anna-Lena Grönefeld lost to Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen in straight sets.

Nadal & Marc Lopez Win the Men’s Doubles Gold in Tennis at the 2016 Rio Games

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2016 Rio Games

Rafael Nadal has taken full advantage of a golden opportunity…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star has added a second Olympic tennis gold medal to all of his Grand Slam trophies, teaming with childhood friend Marc Lopez to win the men’s doubles championship for Spain at the 2016 Rio Games.

Rafael Nadal & Marc Lopez

Nadal and Lopez came back from a break down in the third set and claimed the last three games to beat Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the final Friday.

Nadal, a 14-time champion at major tournaments, also won an Olympic title in singles at the 2008 Beijing Games after defeating Chile’s Fernando González. This is the first medal for Lopez.

The silver for Mergea and Tecau is the first tennis medal for Romania in Olympic history.

The bronze went to Steve Johnson and Jack Sock of the United States. They beat the Canadian team of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4 earlier Friday.

It was another busy day for Nadal, who won his singles quarterfinal in three sets earlier Friday.

Nadal does not play doubles often on tour, focusing on a singles career that has included stints at No. 1 in the rankings and a record nine French Open titles.

Of his nine previous doubles championships, four came with Lopez as his partner, although they hadn’t played even one match together this year until arriving in Brazil.

Lopez won his first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in June, pairing with Feliciano Lopez to beat American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in that final.

Soares Makes History After Winning Two Australian Open Doubles Titles

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Bruno Soares is seeing double…

The 33-year-old Brazilian tennis player made history at this year’s Australian Open by winning two doubles championship matches.

Bruno Soares & Elena Vesnina

On Sunday afternoon, Soares added the mixed doubles title with Elena Vesnina to the men’s doubles championship he won with Jamie Murray.

Vesnina and Soares won the final four points of the match tiebreaker to take the mixed doubles title with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 win over American Coco Vandeweghe and Horia Tecau of Romania.

A little more than 16 hours earlier — after 1 a.m. Sunday — Soares and Murray defeated Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, also at Rod Laver Arena.

Bruno Soares & Jamie Murray

A Brazilian player had never won any title at the Australian Open. Now the country has two.

Soares said he didn’t finish media commitments at Melbourne Park until 2 a.m. Sunday then had to do some Brazilian press requests from his hotel room.

“I went to bed at 5, set my alarm for 11, woke up at 8:30 … been living on coffee ever since,” Soares said. “So I had 22 coffees already.”

Vesnina interjected, laughing: “I got a [text] message from him at 4:30 [a.m.], ‘I’m ready, partner.'”

It was all worth it, Soares said.

“I knew I had another important day today. You don’t get a chance to play many Grand Slam finals,” he said. “I mean, I got two in the same day.”

Soares said the level of excitement in Brazil over his achievements was high.

“It’s the first time a Brazilian guy competes in two Grand Slam finals in the same event,” he said. “They were talking a lot about that. And winning both makes it even more special.

“It’s tough to compare or relate anything to Guga [the nickname for Gustavo Kuerten, who won three French Open singles titles]. He’s such a hero for us. He’s so above the sport and everything else. But for me it’s a massive achievement. It doesn’t get much better than that. I came here to play two events, and I won both.”

Soares said he hopes his win will give tennis a boost in his home country ahead of the Olympics in August. He visited the tennis complex in Rio in December and gave it the thumbs-up.

“You guys hear a lot of things about Brazil … not all the time that good,” he said. “We’re famous for hosting well, for welcoming. We’re a very warm country. I hope it’s going to be an amazing Games.”