Tennis Alternative

Meknes Challenger 2012 Final Adrian Ungur vs Evgeny Donskoy

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:38:43 +0100

Evgeny Donskoy (photo) played the best match of his I've ever seen and beat Jan Hajek 6-4 6-4. Adrian Ungur also played well and defeated Joao Sousa 6-4 6-2.

Wolfsburg Challenger 2012 second round

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:08:35 +0100

Some surprising quarterfinalists in Wolfsburg: it happens every year. Who would have thought Evgeny Korolev after shaky quallies can find shape and get two solid wins? Who could put Peter Torebko (photo) and Peter Gojowczyk in there?

Jan Hajek strong in Meknes Challenger 2012

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:39:42 +0100

Czech Jan Hajek lives up so far to his role of tournament favourite and plays very well in all his matches. Today he sent Andreas Haider Maurer to retirement.

Moscow 25K Womens Challenger 2012 Round 1

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:15:45 +0100

The headline makers in round one in Moscow were undoubtedly a pair of young qualifiers who eliminated seeds. Yuliya Kalabina defeated number one seed Ekaterina Ivanova 6-1 6-2 while Lina Stanciute continued her poor form with a terrible loss to world number 816 Lidziya Marozava.

Monterrey WTA Event 2012 Round 1

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:32:16 +0100

One of the big four fell at the first hurdle in Monterrey thanks to Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain. Another couple of seeds dropped out of the draw in rather predictable fashion, but the top three roll on to round 2.

Meknes Challenger 2012 first round

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:34:46 +0100

All our favourites are through: Adrian Ungur, Jan Hajek, Evgeny Donskoy and title defending Jaroslav Pospisil. Though, this is where things may get a bit complicated.

Wolfsburg Challenger 2012 first round

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:14:03 +0100

Top seeded Thomas Schoorel (photo) advanced to the second round without losing a set but so did his opponent Ilija Bozoljac. They both had good serving stats and predicting a winner is similar to closing your eyes and throwing a knife.

Moscow 25K Womens Challenger 2012 Preview

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:29:11 +0100

There are only European players present in the draw for the Moscow challenger and the vast majority are from Eastern Europe. It is a brand new event held on indoor courts and although it isn't the greatest field ever formed for a 25K, the organisers will take heart from the fact that that they have managed to attract players of the standard of Ekaterina Ivanova who is ranked number 152 in the world.

Marias Corner Tennis romances why they never work out

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:49:10 +0100

Love means nothing in tennis. A sentence that you can read in two ways. In the past there were a lot of tennis couples, but honestly, how many of them ended up in successful marriage? Apart from Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf (and Roger and Mirka Federer, if we can count them because of how soon Mirka ended her career), how many can you name? Let�s take a look at the most famous love fails of the tennis world.

Wolfsburg Tennis Challenger 2012 tournament preview

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:38:55 +0100

Big serving guys and super quick surface: welcome to Wolfsburg! Title defending Ruben Bemelmans will lose points, because he didn't subscribe here and lost in the ATP quallies instead. Thomas Schoorel is the top seed but there are stronger favourites than him.

Meknes Tennis Challenger 2012 tournament preview

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:42:30 +0100

Welcome to the challenger clay swing with European players! Who are the favourites? Of course Adrian Ungur is high on the list!

Bjorn Phau wins Bergamo Challenger 2012 report photos

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:24:59 +0100

German Bjorn Phau beat Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-4 6-4 to pick up his second challenger title this year. Read the report and view beautiful photos from the week!

Monterrey WTA Event 2012 Preview

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:04:53 +0100

Monterrey is one of the rare WTA events where the top four seeds are the clear favourites to win. Two Italians at either side of the draw, Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani who have been at the top of their game in the last year or so could well meet in the final, but there are a number of others in the draw, especially Romanian duo Alexandra Dulgheru and Sorana Cirstea, who can challenge them.

Lara Arruabarrena Vecino wins Bogota 2012 and Michelle Larcher De Brito wins Surprise 2012

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:46:42 +0100

Big breakthrough week for one nineteen year old, while another continues making the important steps on a road to recovery. These two girls will be expected to win a lot of titles going forwardand to continue moving their way up the rankings.

Roger Federer Milos Raonic Nicolas Almagro are the winners

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:42:17 +0100

Big names escaped with the titles and no upsets happened. Of how people were convinced about the winners proves the fact Nicolas Almagro (photo) at 4-4 in the final set was rated as low as 1.04. But did really anyone expect Roger Federer to prepare asado off Juan Martin del Potro?

Surprise Womens Challenger 2012 Final Preview Claire Feuerstein versus Michelle Larcher De Brito

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:12:50 +0100

Two seeded players made it to the Surprise final this year, and it is two players who have been playing well recently. Michelle Larcher De Brito who appeared on tour at such a young age and felt the pressure of the hype has been playing decent tennis this year and is beginning to make her way up the rankings again while Claire Feuerstein ended 2011 in style and has had a solid start to this year.

Bogota WTA Event 2012 Final Preview Lara ArruabarrenaVecino versus Alexandra Panova

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:36:15 +0100

Some people might run down the standard of player who started out in the Bogota main draw, but the achievement of Alexandra Panova and Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino to make the final should not be ignored. Both of these girls have been playing at a high standard over the last year or so and deserve their opportunity to win this tournament.

San Jose ATP 2012 Final Milos Raonic vs Denis Istomin

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:54:10 +0100

Defending champion Milos Raonic from Canada will face Denis Istomin (photo) from Uzbekistan. Raonic is a big favourite here but Istomin has had a great week and it shouldn't be one sided.

Bergamo Challenger 2012 Final Bjorn Phau vs Alexander Kudryavtsev SF report

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:48:59 +0100

Alexander Kudryavtsev - the man from St. Petersburg, who doesn�t need any frills like a towel in his corner and also plays in a very fast way without selecting the �right ball� for the next serve. Here in Bergamo, Kudryastsev is in a good shape, as he plays very aggressively from the baseline and hits a lot of winners.

Sao Paulo ATP 2012 Final Nicolas Almagro vs Filippo Volandri

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:43:52 +0100

Defending champion Nicolas Almagro and Italian stylish man Filippo Volandri (photo) will fight for the title in Sao Paulo. I don't think Volandri, when he was downgraded to losing in challenger first rounds, expected he'd bounce back to an ATP level final.

Rotterdam ATP 2012 Final Roger Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:49:22 +0100

Rematch for US Open 2009 final? Roger Federer has a chance to remove the humiliation effect after his Davis Cup stunt and Juan Martin del Potro fights for his first title since Estoril 2011.

San Jose ATP 2012 Andy Roddick eliminated

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:13:32 +0100

Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan beat American hero Andy Roddick in the quarterfinal. Second seeded Roddick was a set and a break down to Denis Kudla a round before. Temporary career question mark for sure.

Sao Paulo ATP 2012 Nicolas Almagro into the semis

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:13:36 +0100

Top seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro (photo) beat Carlos Berlocq 6-3 6-2 and will face his compatriot Albert Ramos in the semifinal in Sao Paulo. For Ramos it's the best result in his career.

Bergamo Tennis Challenger 2012 Friday report

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:01:39 +0100

Bjorn Phau (photo) complained about the line calls but got the job done in three sets and now will meet his compatriot Benjamin Becker. Jurgen Zopp retired with a shoulder injury.

Roger Federer into Rotterdam ATP 2012 semifinal

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:47:50 +0100

Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Nikolay Davydenko and Juan Martin del Potro are the semifinalists at the tennis tournament in Rotterdam. All the names are well known to tennis fans (hmm, especially the first one) but what is Davydenko doing there? Wasn't he playing like on the edge of retirement? Well, he fought back from a break down against Richard Gasquet!

Meknes Challenger 2012 Qualifying Draw

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:30:42 +0100

Gerard Granollers Pujol (the brother who has both surnames yet) is the top seed in the quallies, Bastian Knittel is the second seeded and Marcin Gawron (photo) holds number 3.

Wolfsburg Challenger 2012 Qualifying Draw

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:56:31 +0100

Evgeny Korolev comes back to tennis after 4 months of break. First round loss in the Heilbronn CH quallies was not encouraging, Davis Cup loss to Nicolas Almagro was forgiven, but a match against an average futures player Juho Paukku should be a good chance to get things going.

Bogota WTA 2012 Event Round 2

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:33:40 +0100

There are no seeds left in the draw in Bogota after just two rounds. It was clear from the outset that this tournament was fairly open, but no-one would have predicted this. Another early loss for top seed Marina Erakovic will certainly give her fans some cause for concern.

Bergamo Challenger 2012 R2 Uladzimir Ignatik upsets the top seed

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:19:22 +0100

As we suspected, Belarussian Uladzimir Ignatik (photo) beat top seeded Go Soeda from Japan 6-1 7-5 in the second round of the tennis event in Bergamo. Warmed up with the Davis Cup win over Moldova Ignatik finally gets a result he could be proud of this season. Bjorn Phau will be a whole different story.

Milos Raonic on his way to defend the title at San Jose ATP 2012

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:02:19 +0100

Canadian Milos Raonic (photo) calmed everyone down claiming MRI showed his injured knee reason was a misplaced fluid and not a tear, and he beat Tobias Kamke 6-2 7-6(6) in the second round match. Kamke was 5-1 up in the tie-break.

Surprise Womens Challenger 2012 Round 1

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:20:50 +0100

The "shock" of the first round was Grace Min defeating Shaui Zhang. It is certainly no surprise to see Min keep up the promising form that she has shown recently, but Zhang was considered to be one of the favourites for the title and this win is Min's best of the year. Next round she has Amra Sadikovic and will need to hit the same heights to win it.

Arnaud Clement into Bergamo Challenger 2012 QF

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:58:40 +0100

French veteran Arnaud Clement had problems against Harri Heliovaara and Martin Fischer but he advanced to the quarterfinal in Bergamo, which is... his best result this season. He meets Konstantin Kravchuk from Russia.

Bogota WTA Event 2012 Round 1

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:27:30 +0100

Regrettably rain has ensured that not all first round matches have finished in Bogota, but with the matches already played, there has been great drama, not to mention a shock victory for Karin Knapp over pre-tournament favourite Alexandra Dulgheru. At least, we think Knapp won...

Javier Marti opens strong in Sao Paulo ATP 2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:00:32 +0100

20-year-old Spaniard Javier Marti (photo) received another ATP wild card through his agency and again proved he deserves the credit (unlike many who've been hyped before him). He beat routined Portuguese Frederico Gil 6-2 6-4 and will now face his compatriot Fernando Verdasco.

Surprise Womens 25K 2012 Preview

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:15:09 +0100

The favourites for the Surprise challenger might well be the top four seeds, but where better to have a surprise winner than here. Last year Monica Puig, ranked 656 won the tournament, but finding the unexpected winner in this draw is a difficult task.

Upsets in the first round of Rotterdam ATP 2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:41:04 +0100

If we're in Rotterdam... yes, tennis alternative players come to voice. Lukasz Kubot defeated Alexander Dolgopolov despite being one set down, and Feliciano Lopez is now 1-7 in his career starts in this tournament. Paul Henri Mathieu who comes back after over one year break tamed the Spaniard.

Czech Republic vs Italy Davis Cup report and photos 2012

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:10:09 +0100

This year the tie was played on Novacrylic Ultracushion instead of Taraflex which was banned by the ITF. Not exactly good news for Czechs as if you ever get to play on hard here, it�s on Taraflex. But the Czech Team requested a faster and harder surface anyways to get an advantage, because the Italians prefer slower surfaces.

Bogota WTA Event 2012 Preview

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:00:09 +0100

The WTA hits the clay courts for the first time this year in Bogota, Colombia. It might not be the biggest of all the WTA events, but for TA, that is not an issue. There are some comfortably familiar challenger tour names in the draw and in actual fact, there is an argument to be made that this draw belongs more at the challenger level than anywhere else. Similar names to those that were present in Cali last week, but given how exciting that tournament was, Bogota promises to be a lot of fun.

Alexandra Dulgheru wins Cali 2012 and Olga Govortsova wins Midland 2012

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:15:20 +0100

There were two very close finals full of drama to end this week. Both went three sets, we had rain delays and problems getting over the finish line and eventually the winners of the two featured challengers were Alexandra Dulgheru and Olga Govortsova.

Marias Corner hottest junior players

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:04:23 +0100

GET THEM NOW OR NEVER! If you want to become a second Serena Williams or Petra Kvitova, you must read the list of the best catches between tennis boys and girls!

Igor Sijsling wins Quimper Tennis Challenger 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:53:13 +0100

Dutch player Igor Sijsling won his fourth challenger in his career, and beat Malek Jaziri (TUN) 6-3 6-4 in Quimper. He tends to win tournaments where no sign of his shape indicates it.

Bergamo Tennis Challenger 2012 tournament preview

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:39:53 +0100

Bergamo got a decreased money prize and it affected the entry list. We'll have an interesting object such as Go Soeda (JPN) in Europe as the top seed. Despite the undoubtful progress the Japanese has made with his results in 2012, he still needs to prove the doubters on the old continent, because so far it's a truly poor record.

Cali Womens Challenger 2012 Final Preview Mandy Minella versus Alexandra Dulgheru

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:54:10 +0100

Mandy Minella has finally made it to the top 100 after a lot of hard work. This week she has undoubtedly been the stand-out player as she has got all the way to the final without dropping a set, defeating the top seed, Marina Erakovic, en route. Awaiting her now is the number two seed, Alexandra Dulgheru.

Midland Womens Challenger 2012 Final Preview Olga Govortsova versus Magdalena Rybarikova

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:24:30 +0100

Lucie Hradecka will miss the Midland final for the first time since 2008 and that means that it will be a new winner for the tournament. Contesting the final are Olga Govortsova and Magdalena Rybarikova.

Marinko Matosevic wins Caloundra Tennis Challenger 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:23:44 +0100

It was the most one-sided match in the history of clashes between these two. Marinko Matosevic (AUS, 2) beat Greg Jones (AUS, 4) 6-0 6-2 and extended h2h lead to 4-1.

Jesse Levine wins Dallas Tennis Challenger 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:35:06 +0100

Good level of the match, and the prediction had to come true: Jesse Levine from United States beat second seeded Belgian Steve Darcis 6-4 6-4. We had more drama in the doubles final: Dominic Inglot and Chris Eaton (GBR) beat Jack Sock / Nicholas Monroe (USA) 6-7(6) 6-4 19-17!

Quimper Challenger Final 2012 Malek Jaziri vs Igor Sijsling

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:06:23 +0100

Igor Sijsling (photo) from Holland and Malek Jaziri from Tunisia impressed the most this week in Quimper and reached the final. Dutchman's serving is really impressive. He's probably a slight favourite in the final, but it's a small difference I think.

Caloundra Challenger Final 2012 Marinko Matosevic vs Greg Jones

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:48:20 +0100

Australian final in the tennis tournament in Caloundra: second seeded Marinko Matosevic faces fourth seeded Greg Jones who eliminated the main favourite Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE, 1).

Dallas Challenger Final 2012 Steve Darcis vs Jesse Levine

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:08:02 +0100

Second seeded Belgian Steve Darcis (photo) versus the hero of our latest article Jesse Levine from USA - these are the finalists of the Dallas Challenger.

Jesse Levine player profile

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:54:21 +0100

A couple of weeks ago Jesse Levine announced his comeback march toward a top 100. Born on 15th July 1987 American so far was the highest ranked at #94 in 2008. In the past he was 14th junior in the world, practised with Roger Federer, and his hype in the States nearly reached what now Ryan Harrison or Jack Sock are getting.