Novak Djokovic slipped on the well-worn Centre Court at Wimbledon a lot in his last two rounds on his way to the title. Here, he may be down but his eyes are still on the ball during the final against Roger Federer.
There had to be apprehension when Milos Raonic entered Court 3 for his second-round match against Jack Sock at Wimbledon this year. It was the first time he had returned to Court 3 since that fateful second round in 2011 against Gilles Muller when he slipped and fell, seriously injuring his right hip. That eventually led to surgery and three months of rehab before he got back into competition shape.
The Vasek Pospisil – Jack Sock doubles triumph at Wimbledon was one of the ‘feel good’ stories of 2014. Here Pospisil chases back after a leaping Sock is unable to reach a lob.
This shot is from middle Sunday at Wimbledon, with the grounds empty except for players, officials, media and assorted hangers-on. Here, near Court 19, defending champion Andy Murray walks back alone from the Aorangi practice courts on his way to the locker room.
Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal strikes a slightly different pose with the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Indian Wells rivals Monte Carlo as the most scenic tournament site in tennis…and has tons more space.
Court 2 has long been one of the signature courts at Roland Garros – it’s where Genie Bouchard played her third-round match against Johanna Larsson in 2014.
It may have been the best women’s match of the year. It took three hours and two minutes for Maria Sharapova to defeat Simona Halep 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the final at Roland Garros. It had been a hot, sunny day, which helped provide beautiful lighting for the handshake at the net.
The Pospisil brothers are the heart and soul of the Canadian Davis Cup team – Vasek playing singles and doubles on the court while Petr (left) and Tom (right) provide the serious oomph in the Canadian cheering section.
This shot was taken after Peter Polansky beat Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-4, 7-6(10) in the first round of 2014 Australian Open qualifying. Here, Basic is walking back immediately afterward, talking to someone while Polansky follows behind with Canadian Davis Cup captain Martina Laurendeau. Basic appears remarkably good-natured after the loss.
Who remembers that these two played doubles together in Indian Wells, winning a round before going out in the second?
There’s nothing like a win to bring a smile to a player’s face – here’s an oceanside Serena Williams with the trophy after her victory at the Sony Open in Miami.
This shot of Milos Raonic and his father Dusan was taken at the Aorangi practice courts at Wimbledon. The funny thing is Raonic gave the photographer a hard time about taking the picture but it still turned out really well.
This one captures that last moment before a player emerges onto the Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros. Here it’s Genie Bouchard before her semifinal against Maria Sharapova.
Milos Raonic played Rafael Nadal tough – 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 – in the quarters of the Sony Open in Miami. Our ace photographer Mauricio Paiz took this photo where it appears like Milos has Rafa’s head on his racquet platter.
Daniel Nestor has a habit of walking out alone after changeovers in his doubles matches. In the picture here, from the ATP World Tour Finals in London, his solo walk is more poignant because he’s playing the last event of his long but on-again-off-again partnership with Nenad Zimonjic. Their opponents on this day – Frenchmen Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau – are still seated in their courtside chairs.
This is a view from the east side of Court 7, which is in the first row of courts in front of the All England Club.
On the way back to Los Angeles airport from Indian Wells, there was a brief pit-stop at Laguna Beach to take a picture of this idyllic half-court basketball court by the Pacific Ocean.
His arms and legs sometimes seem to be going every which way, but Novak Djokovic was the best player in tennis in 2014 and his pliable limbs helped.
Genie Bouchard was surprised when veteran French player Virginie Razzano offered a “bisou” (a two-cheeked kiss) after their second-round match at the Australian Open…but she recovered just in time.
It was a frustrating first-round Davis Cup loss for Canada, without its two best players – Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil – in Tokyo in February, but a good time was had by all as can be seen in this last day photo of players and boosters in the Ariake Colosseum.
The days can get routine on the practice courts so players engage in activities to break the monotony. Here, at the Jean Bouin club near Roland Garros, Daniel Nestor works on his shooting touch with a tennis ball.
It was just an instant, but even the saintly Roger Federer can look fierce on court as he does in this picture from the final against Novak Djokovic in Indian Wells last March.
His hard-fought – 7-5 in the fifth – third-round win over Gilles Simon in Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros was one of Milos Raonic’s finest performances of 2014. Here he and Simon are poised – about to make their entrances into the stadium.
One of the best-liked and most respected tennis writers, American Matt Cronin, had a rough year, which included brain surgery in March. But he has responded well, making a strong comeback to the tour at the US Open and then continuing his usual hard-nosed reporting of the sport in the fall.
NOTE: A Special Thanks to Mauricio Paiz for his great pictures. They tell stories in a way that words simply cannot.
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QUIZ ANSWERS AND WINNER
1. What name was Rafael Nadal known by when he first came on the men’s tour?
a. Rafael Sebastian Nadal
b. Rafael Nadal Manacor
c. Rafael Roland Nadal
d. Rafael Nadal Parera
2. What year did players stop sitting down at the changeover after the first game of the first set?
a. 2000
b. 2002
c. 2003
d. 1999
3. Which of the following well-known actors was NOT in the Royal Box for this year’s Djokovic – Federer Wimbledon final?
a. Bradley Cooper
b. Samuel Jackson
c. Benedict Cumberbatch
d. Chris Hemsworth
4. Who are the only two men’s players to win Grand Slam titles in their teens, 20s and 30s?
a. Boris Becker and Andre Agassi
b. Jimmy Connors and Rod Laver
c. Pete Sampras and Ken Rosewall
d. Ivan Lendl and Roy Emerson
5. Who are these two retired WTA players photographed at Wimbledon last June?
a. Sonya Jeyaseelan and Manuela Maleeva
b. Sonya Jeyseelan and Katerina Maleeva
c. Sonya Jeyaseelan and Magdalena Maleeva
d. Sonya Jeyaseelan and Sabine Haas
6. What is the longest tiebreak in the history of ATP and Grand Slam tennis?
a. 18-16
b. 20-18
c. 22-20
d. 23-21
It has happened six times:
(20-18) Andy Roddick d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (18), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-3, 1r, 2007 Australian Open
(20-18) Jose Acasuso d. Bjorn Phau 7-5 7-6 (18), 1r, Rogers Cup, Toronto, 2006
(20-18) Roger Federer d. Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (18), sf, 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Houston
(20-18) Goran Ivanisevic d. Greg Rusedski, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (18), sf, Queens Club, 1997
(20-18) Goran Ivanisevic d. Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (18), 1r, 1993 US Open
(20-18) Bjorn Borg d. Premjit Lall 6-3, 6-4, 9-8 (18), 1r, 1973 Wimbledon
7. What is the longest tiebreak in the history of WTA and Grand Slam tennis?
a. 15-13
b. 18-16
c. 21-19
d. 27-25
It has happened once:
(21-19) Emmanuelle Gagliardi d. Tara Snyder, 6-7(19), 6-1, 6-1, 2r Madrid, 1999
8. Which member of Vasek Pospisil’s support group is NOT in this picture?
a. brother Tom
b. parents Milos and Mila
c. coach Fredéric Fontang
d. Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau
9. Has any player (or players) with the given name Roger, other than Mr. Federer, won Wimbledon in the Open Era (since 1968) of tennis?
a. none
b. one (The 1972 Champion was Stanley Roger Smith)
c. two
d. none, but one named Reginald
10. How is it determined who will sit in which courtside player’s chair for a match?
a. first on, first choice, except for seeded players
b. first onto the court selects where he or she sits
c. it is pre-determined for main stadium matches
d. first on chooses, but host country players have preference
11. What is Maria Sharapova pointing at?
a. a desert cottontail rabbit loose on the Indian Wells stadium roof
b. Grigor Dimitrov
c. her stash of Sugarpova
d. none of the above
12. Two terms that are identical in ice hockey and tennis relate to…?
a. positioning to receive serve and goaltending
b. the side a stroke or shot is struck on (Forehand and Backhand)
c. a double-barreled expression describing shots hit with power and accuracy
d. quick forward movement with acceleration
13. Who is this player?
a. Maria Kirilenko
b. Victoria Azarenka
c. Kaia Kanepi
d. Genie Bouchard
14. Who has the highest career singles ranking?
a. Jarkko Nieminen
b. Ivo Karlovic
c. Philipp Kohlschreiber
d. Feliciano Lopez
15. In square inches, what is the head size of Roger Federer’s Wilson racquet?
a. 95 sq. in.
b. 97 sq. in.
c. 98 sq. in.
d. 99 sq. in.
16. What is Milos Raonic doing here?
a. adjusting after a shot ricocheted off the net dislodging the centre strap
b. hitting a ball into the crowd after a match
c. hitting volleys with his opponent while the centre strap is fixed
d. whacking a ball in anger into the net for second time after missing a shot
17. What former Top 5 player was disqualified for showing up late for a Wimbledon junior boys semifinal in 1999?
a. David Nalbandian
b. Marat Safin
c. Gaston Gaudio
d. Rainer Schuettler
18. Which of these Top 200 players does NOT have a twin sister?
a. Christina McHale
b. Melanie Oudin
c. Karolina Pliskova
d. Genie Bouchard
19. Since the introduction of the ATP computer rankings in 1973, how many fathers and sons have both made it to the Top 50?
a. one
b. two
c. three (Dent, Stolle, Roger-Vasselin)
d. four
20. Who is the man on the right with no hat in Centre Court during this year’s Wimbledon?
a. model Garrett Neff
b. actor Jim Parsons
c. Canadian player Brayden Schnur
d. SNL actor Beck Bennett
21. If a player whiffs on a serve, is it a fault? If a player misses with his or her swing on the serve but the ball hits the racquet, is it a fault?
a. in both cases it is not
b. in both cases it is a fault
c. in first case it is a fault, second it is not
d. in first case it is not a fault, in the second it is
22. Which of these players has earned the LEAST amount of career official prize money?
a. Ana Ivanovic
b. Jelena Jankovic
c. Svetlana Kuznetsova
d. Agnieszka Radwanska
23. Who are these two players pictured at the Australian Open in the 20th century?
a. Grant Connell and Sébastien Lareau
b. Sébastien LeBlanc and Sébastien Lareau
c. Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau
d. Daniel Nestor and Grant Connell
24. Rafael Nadal and friends taking a break on Wimbledon’s Aorangi practice courts – what’s the nationality of the player on the court behind him?
a. Argentine
b. British
c. Spanish
d. French (Adrian Mannarino)
25. Who is the last player to use a wood racquet (with cosmetics to look like a composite) in a Grand Slam final?
a. Kevin Curren at 1984 Australian Open
b. Mikael Pernfors at 1986 Roland Garros
c. Henri Leconte at 1988 Roland Garros
d. Miloslav Mecir at the 1989 Australian Open
QUIZ WINNER: There were two winning entries – Canada’s Tennis News and Irving Ho – both getting 22 out of 25 correct. These guys are good.
The tiebreaker was to identify the persons in these two pictures, but both got the correct answers. The first being the face in between Andy Murray and fan he’s posing with (former Tennis Canada president/now LTA chief executive Michael Downey) and the second being coach Sébastien Grosjean and player Richard Gasquet.
So, a coin toss was held and Canada’s Tennis News picked heads. The coin, a Canadian toonie, came up ‘polar bear,’ meaning that tails won. So Irving Ho gets the prize.
Congrats to both.
Any comments on the quiz submit to: ttsuperquiz13@gmail.com.
