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2008 World Team Cup
The 2008 ARAG World Team Cup was a tennis tournament play on outdoor clay courts. It was the 30th edition of the World Team Cup, and was part of the 250 series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Rochusclub in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 18 May through 24 May 2008. Argentina were the defending champions but they failed to advance beyond the group stage. Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ... defeated Russia in the final, by two rubbers to one for their fourth title. It was also their first title since 1995. Blue group Standings Germany vs. Spain Russia vs. Italy Germany vs. Italy Spain vs. Russia Russia vs. Germany Spain vs. Italy Red group Standings United States vs. Czech Republic Argentina vs. Sweden United States vs. Argenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Team Cup
The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tournament was held in 1976 and 1977. From 1978 through 2012 the tournament was held annually in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was generally considered to be second most prestigious men's team competition in tennis after the Davis Cup. Every year, the eight nations whose top two male players have achieved the highest combined placings in the men's world rankings at the end of the previous year were invited to compete for the cup. The competition was played on clay courts in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event was generally regarded as the sports highlight of the social scene in the Düsseldorf area. It attracted around 75,000 visitors every year and was televised to over 160 countries. From 1978 to 1981 the tournament was held under the name "Ambre Solai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the first time on 13 August 2007, and reached a career peak of World No. 8 in January 2008, and again in October 2010.Youzhny reached the quarterfinals of all grand slams; going beyond the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2006 and 2010. The closest he came to a grand slam final was at the 2006 US Open semifinals when he took the first set from World No. 9 Andy Roddick, after upsetting World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. At the other semifinal he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion, Nadal. Youzhny reached the finals of twenty-one ATP tour-level titles, winning ten of them. His first title win came at the Mercedes Cup held in Stuttgart, Germany, when he defeated Guillermo Cañas f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-doping ban, Chela went on to reach the quarterfinals of the 2004 and 2011 French Open, and the 2007 US Open, attaining a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in August 2004. Chela is currently the coach of Argentinian tennis player Diego Schwartzman. Career 2000-2001: Failed drugs test and doping suspension In April 2001, Chela was found to have failed a routine drugs test (in August 2000) - testing positive for the banned steroid methyltestosterone - and was given a three-month ban, as well as being made to forfeit all prize money and ranking points accumulated over the previous eight months since testing positive. 2004 In February, he reached the quarterfinals in Salvador, defeating Flavio Saretta and David Ferrer, before fal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include reaching two consecutive finals at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, and an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the 2010 Paris Masters. He was the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Söderling played his last professional match at only age 26 after contracting a lingering bout of mononucleosis. Tennis career Söderling began playing tennis at the age of five. He made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr. Söderling came to prominence at the 2009 French Open, where he became the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the tournament, and the only one to achieve it until Nov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977), often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired tennis player from Argentina. He was born in Buenos Aires and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. Cañas won the 2002 Canada Masters – Singles, Canada Masters in 2002, and reached the quarterfinal stage of the French Open in 2002, 2005 and 2007. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8, achieved in June 2005. After being suspended in August 2005, Cañas returned to the circuit in September 2006 at ATP Challenger Series, ATP Challenger level. Career Early years Cañas started playing at age 7. He turned professional in 1995, and began playing on the juniors circuit, enjoying some successes; these included a runner-up appearance at Surbiton, United Kingdom, and a win in the doubles event at the Italian Junior Championships, partnering Martín García (tennis), Martín García. From 1995–1999, Cañas played mainly ATP Challenger Tour, Challenger Series tour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavel Vízner
Pavel Vízner (born 15 July 1970) is a retired professional male tennis player from the Czech Republic. Vízner has reached the French Open final twice, having had turned professional in 1990 and achieved a career high doubles ranking of World No. 5 in November 2007. Career While Vízner had played tournaments in 1988 and 1989 before professionalism in 1990, he won his first title in Prague in 1993 on the Challenger circuit, defeating Swedes Tomas Nydahl and Mikael Tillström in the final, partnered by David Rikl, also a player with a higher doubles ranking and ultimately more success. He won another minor title in Guayaquil, Ecuador later in 1995. Pavel broke through in 1996, winning a total of five titles; three of them being major titles. His first major title that he won was at Sankt Pölten, with Sláva Doseděl where they defeated David Adams and Menno Oosting in the final. His next title he won with Paul Kilderry over Anders Järryd and number 7 doubles player Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivo Minář
Ivo Minář (born 21 May 1984) is a former professional male tennis player from the Czech Republic. On July 20, 2009, Minář reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 62. His brother Jan Minář, Jan is also a professional player, who has been ranked in the top 200 in the world. Minář was a member of the winning Czech Republic team in the 2012 Davis Cup. Minář also worked as coach of Czech tennis player Kristýna Plíšková. Career Minář won the European junior championships in Klosters when he was 16, defeating fellow Czech Tomáš Berdych. Professional career In his career, he has not won an Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles title, but has reached one singles final – in 2005 in Medibank International Sydney, Sydney, where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia. Later that year, he qualified for the tournament in Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai and pushed World No. 1 Roger Federer to final set tie-break in the first round, losing 7–6(5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne Odesnik
Wayne Odesnik (born November 21, 1985) is a South African-born American retired professional left-handed tennis player, with a two-handed backhand. His highest singles ranking was No. 77 in 2009. Among his biggest upsets were a 2007 win over Ivan Ljubičić, and a 2009 win against Igor Kunitsyn. Odesnik won his first Futures title in 2003, and won a combined 14 singles titles in Challenger and Future ITF Men's Circuit events. He resides in Weston, Florida, in the United States. In March 2010, Odesnik pleaded guilty to importing human growth hormone into Australia, and was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation, later reduced to one year on account of his "substantial assistance" with the Federation's anti-doping program. In March 2015 he was handed a 15-year ban after a second doping violation. Early and personal life Odesnik and his family emigrated from South Africa to the United States when he was age 3, and he became an American citizen. His father, Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. In the final, he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Berdych's biggest career title was the Paris Masters in 2005 as an unseeded player, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final.Berdych has reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slams. Alongside his Wimbledon performance in the same year, he reached the semifinals of the 2010 French Open, defeating fourth seed Andy Murray in straight sets in the fourth round, and dropping no sets until his loss in the semifinals to Robin Söderling. At the 2012 US Open he defeated No. 1 Roger Federer, again at the quarterfinal stage, before losing to eventual champion Murray. During the 2014 Australian Open he lost to ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Blake (tennis)
James Riley "The Baker" Blake (born December 28, 1979) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. During his career, Blake amassed 24 singles finals appearances (winning 10 of them), while his career-high singles ranking was world No. 4. His career highlights included reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (upsetting world No. 1 Roger Federer en route), the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open and 2005 and 2006 US Open, as well as two titles at the Hopman Cup (2003, 2004) and being the American men's singles No. 1. Blake was a key performer for the victorious United States 2007 Davis Cup team, going 2–0 in the championship tie vs. Russia at second singles. In 2005, Blake was presented with the Comeback Player of the Year award for his remarkable return to the tour. Later, in 2008, Blake was awarded another honor by the ATP, where he was named the Arth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolas Kiefer
Nicolas Kiefer (; born 5 July 1977) is a German former professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of the 2006 Australian Open and won a silver medal in men's doubles with partner Rainer Schüttler at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kiefer's career-high singles ranking was world No. 4, achieved in January 2000. Tennis career 1995–2005 Kiefer was taken notice of as an outstanding junior. He won the Junior Australian Open, the US Open, and was a finalist and semifinalist at Wimbledon and the French Open finishing as the No. 2 junior behind Mariano Zabaleta when he was 18 in 1995. On 10 January 2000, he reached his second quarterfinal at the Australian Open and afterwards was ranked world No. 4, his highest position. Kiefer was known to have some tennis superstitions. He was sometimes seen tapping his racquet on the corners of the court after a point,"Strange Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players" by Christopher Clarey, 21 June 2008 in ''The New York Times''. and, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 20, achieved in October 2006. Tursunov jokes about his lack of ability and success on clay courts. He was sponsored by Fila (company), Fila and Wilson Sporting Goods, Wilson. He helped the Russia Davis Cup team, Russian Davis Cup team win the 2006 Davis Cup and reach the finals of the 2007 Davis Cup. Tennis career Tursunov began playing tennis in Moscow at the age of five when his father made him play a few hours a day. He came to the United States to train with Vitaly Gorin. I practiced a few hours a day. My dad realized fairly early that I had a lot of potential. A lot of people criticize him for basically choosing that career for me. He understood that I didn’t have many options to make money and since he re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
