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TSONGA BLASTS UMPIRE
French tennis player Jo Wilfried Tsonga has dropped a potential bombshell by claiming that the chair umpire in his Quarter Final match against Rafael Nadal was biased towards the Spaniard and this was evident in some of the calls that were made by him throughout the duration of the match. Nadal, who is fighting to win his first ever title at the Miami Masters defeated the Frenchman by a score of 5-2, 5-7, 6-4 and when he heard the comments made by Tsonga, he was quick to dismiss them as rubbish.
Tsonga made his complaints heard throughout the match and afterwards as well saying that whenever any border line call went against him, the chair umpire for the match Damian Steiner was extremely reluctant to overrule them. According to Jo Wilfried Tsonga, it was extremely unfair on the part of the umpire, adding further that whenever it was close for Rafael, he would never call it as ‘out’. Moreover, he also stated that if Nadal did not like him anymore, he would not be chair umpire so many times in so many Semi Final and Final matches, in a way, pointing his finger at the former world number one.
He further added that he lost his concentration once he started to keep an eye out for the border line calls in the case he needed to challenge them, thereby costing him the match. Many players have, since the introduction of hawk eye, stated that it makes the umpires more reluctant to overrule the line calls by the linesmen but no one has accused an umpire of such a crime, so to speak.
However, Nadal vehemently denied the claims of Jo Wilfried Tsonga, saying that his frustration at not being able to perform well got the better of him and it was just its effects.
TSONGA FALLS TO DEL POTRO
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s hopes of clashing with Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Dubai open came to an end when he went down to Juan Martin Del Potro on Thursday.
With the win, Del Potro beat Tsonga for the second time in five days. Del Potro beat Tsongo 7-6, 6-2. The win also earned Del Potro his first win in a match against a top five player in the world in nine attempts. Del Potro’s win was pretty much sealed after Tsonga’s bad start in the crucial tie-break.
In the match Tsonga appeared less energetic than Del Potro and was 15-40 down in his first service game. He never really recovered – he was within two points of losing the set at deuce on his first serve in his 10th game.
In the tie-break Del Potro was helped by Tsonga’s double fault on his first service point and after that there was no looking back for Del Potro.
VENUS TO PLAY AT FAMILY CIRCLE
The Family Circle Cup, scheduled to take place between the 31st of March and the 1st of April just got a superstar boost in the form of former world number one Venus Williams who confirmed her participation in the event to be held on Daniel Island.
Samantha Stosur, the current world number five will defend her crown at the event and Russian beauty Vera Zvonareva will also be playing in the tournament but the addition of home favorite Venus to the event adds a much required star charisma to the event.
This will be the first time that Venus will play at the hard courts of Tennis Centre where she last played and won the title way back in 2004. Venus is hoping to get her form and fitness level up after returning to professional tennis in the Fed Cup tie against Belarus, having already missed the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. Venus Williams is extremely excited about returning to the event after such a long gap and she couldn’t hide her happiness in the press meet where she said that she was extremely pleased to be back.
What makes Venus’s participation in the tournament all the more appealing is the fact the Original 9 will be felicitated and recognized for their contribution to the world of women’s tennis. Speaking about the recognition for the original 9, Venus said that it was a great gesture on part of the WTA because without these people, women’s professional tennis would not have scaled the heights it has over the years.
Not only was the American pleased at being able to play at the event, the hosts are also excited to have Venus Williams on board, which means that more and more people will line up to see the event.