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Dogs Picking Tennis Balls and the Match That Lasted a Whole Year

2019 is upon us, and we are raring up to serve you with a spicy dose of viral tennis news and updates with the same fervor as we did last year. Interestingly, this time around we have two interesting updates from the world of tennis. 

To start things of, we will shed some light on the circulating videos of trained dogs picking up balls in a recent tennis tournament. Gone are the days of ball boys/girls, as dogs seem to have replaced them on the tennis court. The canine counterparts are fast, raring to go and excited with the opportunity to pick up as many balls as they possibly can. 

The experiment was tried at the WTHR in London during the opening of the Champions Tennis Tournament. The excited crowd was shocked to see dogs inside the court and couldn’t contain their bewilderment at how the canines scurried across the court to retrieve all the stray balls.

There has been a lot of talk about the use of dogs in the tennis court, and this experiment was first conductedduring the doubles match between Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mansour Bahrami, Mikael Pernfors and Henri Leconte. 

The dogs that participated in the match were specifically trained for the job by Canine Partners. Canine Partners, which is a dog training agency working with dogs to help people with their disabilities.

Ball dogs might just become common in the world of tennis if the trend continues. Let’s just all hope that they don’t start running when the ball is in play. Thatfellas, would be a disaster of sorts. 

In other interesting news from the world of tennis, we got to see a first when a match was playedover two different years. One can recall the match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner that continued for three consecutive days, but even that famous battle doesn’t top the recent occasion of a match spanning two different years. 

Both Samantha Stosur and Marie Bouzkova made history of sorts, when their tennis match slotted for the 31st December 2018, extended into the year 2019. 

While Bouzkova, the Czech, prevailed in the battle, it was ultimately the fight that Stosur showed which helped stretch the match into 2019. Bouzkova handed her Australian opponent a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat. It was only when the sets got levelthat the crowd reallystarted hoping for a miracle. And, that is exactly what happened. 

Tennis Players Including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Pick Best Looking Players on Tour

Tennis players might be all competitive against each other on the court, but outside of it they are good friends, and do not shy away from giving compliments on how they look. 

This year saw a lot of competitive battles in Tennis, with many exhilarating matches between the best of today and the best of yesteryear. The competition was thrilling and kept users at the edge of their seats. 

However, all of these stars got a chance to show their humorous side outside of the court by voting for who is nicest and the best looking of the lot. Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov was in favor with all the stars in this regard, as many seem to have picked him out for the laurel. 

In a recent video shared by Tennis TV, stars from across the globe were asked about the best looking player on Tour. Earlier, when these stars were asked about the nicest ATP player, Grigor Dimitrov came out as the surprise winner. However, this time around the Bulgarian was praised by all colleagues and opponents. The funny video saw all of the tennis stars compliment Dimitrov and mention how he is the best in business when it comes to looks. 

While currently all tennis stars are on a vacation to get some well deserved rest, they were part of a video by ATP, talking about the best looking player on Tour. There were no doubts whatsoever for John Isner, Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal, all of whom mentioned that Grigor is everyone’s love. Grigor, who is currently dating the beautiful model Nicole Scherzinger, comes from Bulgaria and has attractive facial features. 

Alexander Zverev, who was the ATP winner in London, mentioned that ‘everyone loves Grigor,’ because of how cool and good looking he is.  

Tennis ace Roger Federer was also asked this same question, and he thought about it before picking Jeremy Chardy. Milos Raonic, who was the Wimbledon finalist in 2016, chose Feliciano Lopez as the best looking.

Grigor enjoyed a brilliant 2017, but lost momentum during this year. After a great 2017 that saw him reach a career high ranking of 3rd, Gregor has now gone all the way down to 19th. Grigor has prioritized a comeback now and can be seen in Monte Carlo, hitting the courts and the gym concurrently. He is expected to start the 2019 season with a tour of Brisbane soon. 

Novak Djokovic Booed by Paris Masters Crowd After Controversial Moment against Roger Federer

Roger Federer is in the twilight of his career, and no one can deny that the glory and the success that this prodigy has experienced over his career. Since there is suspicion over when he would retire, fans want to see the most of him before he actually leaves the sport.

Federer is currently sitting at 99 career titles and was very nearly about to make it to 100,but a fiery Novak Djokovic came in his way during the semi-final of the Paris Masters.

In the 47th meeting between the greats, a stubborn Djokovic didn’t budge and stood between Federer and the finals. Novak eventually did edge over him after a three hour encounter and won by 7-6(6) 5-7 7-6(3).

However, despite the Serb’s prolific winning streak of 22 matches, the event that happened in the third-set created a controversy within the match.

At 4-4 in the third set, Djokovic got an opportunity for a second break point, but he couldn’t work past a brilliant shot by Federer. Djokovic immediately pointed out that Federer had touched the ball twice with his racket and the shot shouldn’t count. When the umpire decided against his plea, Novak got visibly disappointed and flung his racket to the ground. He then paused the game to go and change his damaged racket, during which he got a loud roar of boos from the audience.

Novak is quite animated on the field and does try to cheer the crowd up, but he really should have known better while playing against the crowd’s darling, Federer. The crowd wasn’t happy with the actions and even gave Djokovic a piece of their mind when he eventually won. Instead of cheering for the Serb, the arena again erupted with loud booing once the game finished in favor of Djokovic.

Federer downplayed the controversy later and accredited Novak for his great run and the spirited performance. Djokovic has since apologized and mentioned that he flung his racket out of frustration over the missed break points.

The ITF has also cleared doubts regarding Federer’s shot to deny the break point by mentioning that it was completely legal. The ball did touch the racket twice, but it happened in one movement. Had Federer done two specific and separate movements to play the ball twice, then it would have been considered illegal.

This is the second match in a row that Djokovic has flung and damaged his racket in frustration.

YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehQctrglaA

Andy Murray Quits His Season

Andy Murray was once the top seed in the world of tennis. Well, that time appears to have long gone, considering his recent performances. In the quarter-finals of the Shehnzen Open, Fernando Verdasco beat Murray in straight sets. To call this a humbling defeat or a humiliating experience for Andy Murray is entirely up to you. However, in this regard, one thing that’s to be noted is that this episode has brought out the strength of Murray’s character.

When a top seed gets defeated in this fashion, you’d expect them to go back to the drawing and come back stronger than ever. Quitting would be the last thing on their mind, owing to how champions don’t quit. However, in case of Andy Murray, all of these talks have proved futile, considering how Murray has decided to quit this season!

Yes, you’ve read that correctly. It only took a straight set defeat for Andy Murray to drop curtains on the current season. Andy Murray was due to play in China Open in Beijing this October. However, after his humiliating defeat to Verdasco, he has decided to withdraw from the competition as well.

If you’re a fan of tennis, you’d know of Andy Murray and what he was capable of pulling off on the court. However, with this decision, Murray has reduced himself to mere mockery. If he really is all that he claims himself to be, he shouldn’t have quit. Champions, role models and icons don’t have such an attitude. If this truly is the real face of Andy Murray, it’s advisable for him to quit the sport altogether and salvage his legacy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKpEIf-xy_k

Justin Gimelstob Just Can’t Help Stating the Obvious

Justin Gimelstob

Back in the old days, people who were irrelevant never saw the limelight no matter how hard they tried. Back then, limelight only belonged to the alpha males: the best of the best. In this day and age, seemingly none of that matters, considering how just about anybody can hog the spotlight for as long as they want. Some still do it in the old fashioned way: by proving themselves. Yet some choose to pull off cheap shenanigans to get what they have craved for their entire lives.

Justin Gimelstob belongs to the latter category, obviously. The ex-tennis player and a current “analyst” on tennis affairs found it worth his while to comment on how Rafael Nadal loves playing on the clay court. Well…duh! You don’t have to be Einstein to figure that out.

For those who don’t already know, Rafael Nadal has won the Monte Carlo Masters ten times already and now is in pursuit for his eleventh win.  Bearing this in mind, even a child who knows nothing about tennis would be likely to say that Nadal is the favorite in the recently begun Monte Carlo Masters 2018.

The job of an analyst is to give people an insight into something they don’t already know. If the job of an expert is to, merely, state the obvious, then everyone can be sitting in Justin Gimelstob’s place. We all know how Justin could never step up his game during the days he spent on the tennis court. The least that he can do, now, is give the audience something worth listening to. Or at the very least he could try not stating the obvious, and pack his bags for a long retirement.

Nadal might be an alpha male during this period of the season, but merely stating it is not enough for Justin Gimelstob to justify the spotlight he has been hogging!

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cjkKwhvl3s