Tennis

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Tennis

      What Happened to Novak Djokovic’s Mission to Transform Pro Tennis?

      by

      The Professional Tennis Players Association had a flashy introduction last summer, but it has done little else. The players who created the sport’s original unions have some advice.Nine months ago, a group of tennis players started an organization aimed at giving them more say in how their sport operates and divides the roughly $2 billion the game generates annually. A group of former players who brought tennis into the modern era of sports commerce have been watching their work.But since Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, gathered with the others at the United States Open for a unity photograph to introduce the Professional Tennis Players Association in 2020, it has been unclear what, if anything, has been accomplished.“I don’t think they realize how much work is involved,” said Billie Jean King, one of nine players who set up the women’s tour in 1973. “It’s tedious. It’s every day. It’s meetings. We’d have meetings at 4 a.m. after we finished playing.”The new association wants to represent the top 500 singles players and the top 200 in doubles, doing everything it can to make sure those players can make a viable living. It is a significant goal. For now, only about the top 100 players do.But Djokovic has played just three tournaments since winning the Australian Open in February. Vasek Pospisil of Canada, the world’s 64th-ranked player and Djokovic’s fellow leader in the effort, is skipping the clay-court swing in Europe. He does not plan to be back on the tour until grass-court play begins in mid-June.In terms of activism, ahead of the Australian Open, Djokovic wrote a letter to tournament organizers demanding better treatment for players who were forced into a hard lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.Pospisil had a midmatch temper tantrum at the Miami Open in March, breaking into a curse-laden tirade at the chair umpire about a confrontational meeting the previous night with the chairman of the men’s tour, Andrea Gaudenzi.There is the occasional thread on Twitter complaining about the state of the game followed by the #playersvoice hashtag. About that, King and her cohorts from the game’s last major labor movement have this to say — tweeting is not organizing.There certainly has been nothing planned along the lines of the 1973 boycott of Wimbledon, when more than 80 top players, including the defending champion, Stan Smith, left in an effort to gain the right to choose which events they played.“If the players were unified and were willing to take risks and suffer losses they could control the sport,” said Donald Dell, who played elite-level tennis in the 1960s, then became an agent and helped create the original Association of Tennis Professionals in the 1970s. “But are they willing to take the risk?”Representatives for Djokovic did not respond to requests for comment. Reached late last month in Canada, where he is nursing a back injury, Pospisil said: “We’re building out the foundation. We’re hopeful by the end of summer we’ll have an exciting launch.”Vasek Pospisil serving at the Australian Open back in February.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesPospisil declined to provide specifics about his sources of funding, who was involved, or how the association intended to achieve its goals to avoid giving ammunition to the leaders of the International Tennis Federation or the men’s and women’s pro tours, who do not want to share power with yet another entity. Then he cut short the interview and declined requests for another.Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have not signed on, choosing instead to support the ATP tour, which jointly represents players and tournament owners. The women’s tour, the WTA, has a similar structure.Djokovic and Pospisil were late to approach women about joining the organization. They say they want to include women, but it’s not clear how many women have signed on to their effort.Tennis ranks just behind soccer in popularity in many countries, especially in Europe. Add up all the people who work for the tours, the Grand Slams, tournaments large and small, and the media companies affiliated with tennis, and there are thousands who are earning a decent living off the sport. But players ranked outside the top 100 struggle to break even.Djokovic and Pospisil have their work cut out for them. Tennis may be the hardest sport in the world to organize. Players come from dozens of countries and play in scores of events across the globe over an 11-month season. The players come together en masse only four times a year, at the Grand Slams. During those events, top players like Djokovic are usually too focused on trying to win to distract themselves with politics. They rent private homes and arrive with coaches, hitting partners, massage therapists, agents and managers and do not socialize much with average players.Also, there is a natural schism between the best players, who know they are the stars of the tour and believe they should be paid as such, and the journeymen, who want more money to cover the costs of sustaining their careers in hopes of a sudden rise, like the one Aslan Karatsev, 27, of Russia has pulled off. He was ranked 114th in the world in January and is now in the top 25.Cliff Drysdale, the former player and tennis commentator who was the first president of the ATP, said he needed to find one cause that every player could unite around.For King, who organized the women’s tour, the cause was equal treatment with the men. Drysdale found his unifying cause in June 1973, when Wimbledon barred Nikola Pilic of Yugoslavia from playing because his country’s tennis federation had suspended him. The federation punished Pilic for playing in a tournament where he could make money instead of representing his country in the Davis Cup. Nearly every top player left.“It was about freedom from the control of national associations,” Drysdale said. “There wasn’t a player who didn’t agree with that.”Once the leaders of tennis saw that players were willing to walk away from the game’s crown jewel, players got their freedom and, eventually, a 50 percent say in the operation of the sport.Nikola Pilic (far left), outside the High Court in London with (left to right) tennis players Cliff Drysdale, Arthur Ashe and Jack Kramer in June 1973. They were awaiting a judgement on an application by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for an injunction seeking to lift the ban placed on Pilic by the International Tennis Federation.Leonard Burt/Central Press, via Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesStill, most tournaments do not share their financial information with the players, who have no idea what share of the sport’s overall revenues they receive and struggle to formulate an argument for what they are entitled to. King owned tournaments when she was still playing, giving her a valuable education in the tennis business and the ability to negotiate as an equal.Executives acknowledge that the players’ share is not close to the roughly 50 percent that athletes in most North American team sports receive, even if the free hotels, air travel and meals the players receive are included in the calculation, but tennis players are far more independent.Pospisil says the system fails to give players their fair share, and his goals are fairly simple: a bigger role for players on major decisions and the opportunity for more lower-ranked players, both men and women, to earn a better living.Players broadly support the first goal, but the second one is more divisive and is likely to require the grind of old-school labor campaigning. Players in the top 20 fear they will have to give up money so players ranked from No. 80 through 300 can earn more. Also, plenty of male players historically have not been keen on joining forces to lift the less lucrative women’s game, fearing it might somehow cost them.“The men always feel like they will have to give something up if they join with the women,” King said. “But the tournaments with both genders are the most valuable.”Charlie Pasarell, another former player and founding member of the ATP said a new organization to represent players might even be a step backward.“They say they want more money and a bigger cut,” said Pasarell, who owned and operated a tournament in Southern California after his playing career. “Well, they are at a table right now where they can negotiate that. Let’s figure out a formula.” More

    • 100 Shares169 Views

      in Tennis

      Coco Gauff Wins Two Titles in One Day

      by

      A rare double championship made for a great day on clay. It also was a good sign for Gauff a week before the French Open.It had been a year and a half since Coco Gauff won a tennis title. On Saturday, she won two in only a few hours.Gauff, the 17-year-old from Delray Beach, Fla., secured the singles title first, defeating Wang Qiang, 6-1, 6-3, with a poised and powerful performance at the WTA Tour’s Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma, Italy.After a trophy ceremony and a short rest, Gauff returned to center court with her doubles partner, Caty McNally, and won that title, too, rebounding from a slow start to defeat Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepac, 6-3, 6-2.“Two titles in one day — not bad,” Gauff said as she thanked her father and coach, Corey, and the rest of her team. Her victories came just over a week before the start of the French Open in Paris.The education of Gauff as a tennis player continues, and she has been a star student on Europe’s red clay so far this spring. After defeating Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka earlier this month to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open in Rome, Gauff traveled north to Parma to play in a new WTA 250 event where Serena Williams, a late wild-card entry, was the main attraction.But Williams, 39, lost to Katerina Siniakova in the second round, and showed that she was still struggling to find her fitness and her form. Gauff, meanwhile, won five straight matches to collect her second WTA singles title.The first came indoors in Linz, Austria, in October 2019, when she was still 15 and won a tough three-set final against Jelena Ostapenko.“I feel like in Linz I was really nervous closing the match, and I hadn’t been in that moment before,” she said when asked to compare her emotions after each victory. “Linz was definitely more a sigh of relief, because I think I was up in that third set and lost a couple of games before I was able to close it out. Whereas here, I said I was just going to go for it and trust myself and trust my decisions, and that’s why I felt like here it felt more like it was meant to be and not relief.”Gauff will be ranked 25th on Monday, a new career high. That guarantees her a seeding for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament when the French Open begins on May 30.“I feel really good about going into the French, and I hope I can continue to build and get better,” said Gauff, who beat McNally to win the French Open girls’ championship in 2018. “I have a week and a day to get ready. I feel like I’m hitting good, moving good. My body feels good, my mentality. Emotionally I feel good, so I think it will be a good tournament for me.”Gauff did not have to deal with the WTA elite this week in Parma. She faced no players ranked in the world’s top 30, and no former major champions. Her highest-ranked opponent was No. 40 Amanda Anisimova, a powerful but erratic American whom Gauff defeated, 6-3, 6-3, in the quarterfinals before beating Siniakova in three sets and China’s Wang in a hurry.Wang, 29, had thrived in long rallies throughout the week, defeating Petra Martic and Sloane Stephens in tight matches. But she struggled from the start to control the flow of play against the fast and consistent Gauff.“She’s a very good player now, and she can be a really great player,” Wang said.That remains the consensus on Gauff. She became a star in a hurry by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam tournament, in 2019. But she has not rocketed quickly to the very top like the former prodigies Monica Seles and Martina Hingis.The pandemic has certainly been a factor. Gauff did not play a tournament for more than six months in 2020, and she then lost in the first round of the United States Open and the second round of the rescheduled French Open when she did return.Though her two-handed backhand and her court coverage remain her strengths, her serve and her forehand have been question marks. She has shored up the forehand and has been increasingly effective pouncing on short balls and hitting winners with that stroke. But double faults have been a recurring issue. Last month, she had 13 in a straight-sets loss to Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals of an event in Charleston, S.C., and 12 more in a three-set defeat to Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open.Those are big, disquieting numbers. The serving yips can be daunting to overcome, particularly in tight matches with Grand Slam titles on the line. But Gauff, with less at stake, served well through the pressure in Rome and Parma.Against Wang, she hit six double faults, but none came at critical junctures, and she did not lose a game on her serve.“That feels good,” she said. “The serve is something I’ve been working on a lot, and I can still improve on it.”Pat Cash, the former Wimbledon champion who is coaching Wang, agreed that Gauff’s serve needed work — “Sometimes she gets a bit too much spin on it,” he said — but after sitting courtside in Parma on Saturday, he said he liked her chances of playing well in Paris.“I don’t think she’s going to be that far off at the French,” Cash said. “I think Coco can get frustrated with the ball coming back time and time again. She over-hits at times, and that’s what we were hoping she would do today. We were hoping to frustrate her, but she hit God knows how many lines, baselines and sidelines, with power.“I was very impressed with her speed, and she’s a strong girl. She was a pretty skinny little thing a couple years ago, but she’s very strong on the stretch. That’s where it really counts.”Cash continued: “When she is pushed wide, instead of just floating the ball back, she can get some heat on it, and that’s crucial. A lot of the girls are not strong enough to do that. I was very impressed how Coco ran down a lot of balls and got them back with speed and depth. It’s like Rafa. He’s in trouble, and all the sudden he’s out of trouble.”For a player, any day someone draws a comparison to Nadal on clay is a good day. So is any day that you leave a tournament with two champion’s trophies after a long wait. More

    • 100 Shares129 Views

      in Tennis

      Indian Wells Tennis Tournament Will Return This Year

      by

      The BNP Paribas Open, one of the sport’s most prestigious events, is to be staged in October, about seven months later than usual. The 2020 version was canceled because of the pandemic.The BNP Paribas Open, which was the first major American sports event to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, announced its comeback on Thursday.The prestigious tennis tournament, staged annually in Indian Wells, Calif., was not held in 2020 and was postponed this year from its regular dates in March.But after extensive negotiations with professional tennis’s numerous stakeholders, the event will be held in October. The precise dates have not been determined because the men’s and women’s tours are not set to finalize their late-season calendars until June. But Tommy Haas, a former player who directs the tournament, said the BNP Paribas Open would be staged with full prize money. The figures for this year aren’t set, but the 2020 prize money was supposed to be $1.36 million for each singles champion.Many tennis events have reduced prize money during the pandemic because of the loss of ticket and sponsorship revenue. The Miami Open, which was held in March after being canceled in 2020, slashed its compensation. Singles champions earned $1.35 million in 2019 but just $300,000 in 2021. The drastic cuts prompted complaints from John Isner, the 2018 men’s winner, and other players about the transparency of the decision-making process.But Haas said the BNP Paribas Open was committed to maintaining prize money at its customary levels.“I think that’s something the players are going to be really, really happy about,” Haas said in a videoconference call on Thursday. “That’s how it should be. They’ve gone through obviously some hard times. Their schedule has been sort of upside down with travel restrictions and trying to be in one bubble after another. I’m hoping that things will be a little easier come October playing for the prize money that we think they deserve.”The BNP Paribas Open, owned by the American billionaire Larry Ellison, is particularly popular with players because of its desert location, extensive facilities and relaxed atmosphere. It has become the most significant tennis event outside the four Grand Slam tournaments and the season-ending championships for the ATP and the WTA.“As a German-American citizen, I’m going to call it my own little Oktoberfest this year, which is going to be great, especially since Munich already had to cancel,” said Haas, referring to the annual German festival that will not be staged this year.The 2020 BNP Paribas Open was canceled just ahead of the qualifying tournament in March after a coronavirus case was detected in the area and Riverside County, Calif., public health officials declared a state of emergency. Many players, including the Spanish star Rafael Nadal, were already on site. The decision came so swiftly that many players and officials found out through social media.“As soon as we canceled, we went to work the next day to see how we were going to bring this back,” said Philippe Dore, the tournament’s media and marketing director. “I think we’re on our Version 25 of budgets and different scenarios.”More than 450,000 spectators attended the event in 2019, and Haas said he hoped to have a large number of fans again in October. California has been loosening pandemic-related restrictions in certain counties and is aiming to fully reopen its economy next month. Tickets for the BNP Paribas Open are tentatively scheduled to go on sale June 21.“We’re going to follow all the guidelines,” Haas said. “Safety is obviously the highest concern. It comes first, and we want to make sure everyone is very, very comfortable.” More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Tennis

      Roger Federer Takes an Uncertain Step in His Comeback

      by

      Losing in his first match since March 11 to the 75th-ranked Pablo Andújar, Federer appeared fit but rusty. Most troubling was the fact that he admitted to lacking confidence.The last time Roger Federer played in Geneva, 80,000 fans cheered him on at work over three days, filling the Palexpo Arena to the brim as he led Team Europe to victory in the Laver Cup.That was in September 2019.On Tuesday, only 100 fans were in attendance at the cozy Tennis Club de Genève as Federer faced off against Pablo Andújar.So much is different now as the world and the tennis tour continue to grapple with the pandemic, and as Federer, 39, is coming off his latest long layoff.This was his first match since March 11 and only his second tournament since February 2020. The rust showed at times, with mis-hits and missed first serves under duress, but Federer also flicked a fabulous forehand passing shot to break serve and zipped through his service games for much of the second and third sets.Until Tuesday Andújar, a 35-year-old Spanish veteran, had never faced Federer, but with the match on the line, he was the more precise and reliable player. Andújar swept the last four games on the red clay to win, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the round of 16 at the Geneva Open.“He deserved it because he was more stable than me,” Federer said.At the start and down the stretch, Federer was too often on the defensive, too often reactive instead of proactive.“Roger looked healthy, fit, and moved fine for his first match on clay,” said Darren Cahill, the veteran coach and ESPN analyst. “He just looked very rusty against a guy who knows his way around a clay court really well.”Andújar also knows as much about comebacks as Federer does at this stage. Andújar has worked his way back from multiple elbow surgeries, just as Federer, once remarkably injury-free, has had to work his way back from three knee surgeries — the first in 2016 and two more in 2020.He came back in 2017 to win three more majors and regain the No. 1 ranking, but another renaissance is far from guaranteed.“I think this is way different from four years ago, and 35 is way different than closing in on 40,” said Paul Annacone, Federer’s former coach.Federer has endured long enough to see his most prestigious records matched or broken. During his layoff from February 2020 to March 2021, Rafael Nadal equaled him by winning a 20th Grand Slam singles title, and Novak Djokovic surpassed him by holding the No. 1 spot for a 311th week.Federer has also endured long enough to see new talent emerge in his homeland. Dominic Stricker, a Swiss 18-year-old who won the French Open junior title last year, made his ATP Tour debut on Tuesday in Geneva and upset Marin Cilic, the 2014 United States Open champion.Federer, who has trained with and mentored Stricker in Dubai, could not follow Stricker’s lead, even though Andújar is ranked 75th in the world, had not beaten a top-10 player in six years and had lost in the first round in four of his last five tournaments.Federer, ranked eighth, had Andújar on the ropes and let him escape, playing a shaky service game at 4-3 in the third and then dropping his serve again at 4-5 after saving two match points.Federer said after the match that he had lacked confidence in his ability to close out a win.Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe fourth point of the final game was telling. He hit a strong, high-kicking serve that earned a short return. The court was wide open, but Federer slapped a tight, midcourt forehand into the net, and later he missed two more whipping forehands off deep shots on the final two points.“I started really hitting through my shots for a while, but at the same time I told myself that it was going to be difficult to keep that up for two sets,” Federer said. “And that’s down to a lack of confidence. I couldn’t say to myself, ‘Yes, you’re going to close out this match.’”Even for all-time greats, confidence is essential and ephemeral. Federer looked slightly apologetic as he shook hands and exchanged post-match pleasantries with Andújar. He had not expected to be in top form this week, but he had hoped to play more than one match on home clay. Only 100 spectators were allowed on site, but a few more than that were watching in person. Some Swiss fans had managed to sneak into the woods next to the club.But this was not vintage Federer they were watching through the trees, and for all his tennis genius, it is no sure thing that a vintage Federer will reappear.What is clear is that the French Open, which begins on the red clay in Paris on May 30, is not his main goal. The big target is Wimbledon, which begins on June 28 at the All England Club, the grassy tennis temple where he has won eight titles and where he held two match points in the 2019 final before losing to Novak Djokovic.“I think Paris is going to be really challenging for him,” Annacone said. “But if the body sustains itself and maintains good health and he gets enough reps, Roger’s not going to go into the grass season not thinking he can win Wimbledon. He’ll say all the right stuff, but in his heart of hearts, he knows he can win that tournament. But the less dominant you are, the more that aura of invincibility starts to dissipate just a tad, and it only needs to dissipate a tad to make a difference. The locker room antenna is up.”It is not up just for Federer. Tuesday was a tough day on clay all around for 39-year-old tennis legends. Serena Williams, returning to action this month after not playing since February, struggled in Parma, Italy, at the same time Federer was struggling in Geneva.Williams lost, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in the second round to the 68th-ranked Katerina Siniakova, double-faulting at key moments and dropping 16 of the last 18 points.It was striking to see two of the planet’s main attractions performing in such small venues: Think Bruce Springsteen or Lady Gaga playing your local bar. But Federer and Williams, so often in sync, are serious about working their way back one more time against the odds and the ticking clock.“The expectations for both of them are so rough,” Annacone said. “As soon as there’s a loss, there are all these sweeping conclusions. They are at the peril of their own brand, so to speak. They can definitely still be great, but I’ll be interested to see if they can stay great for a whole match, a whole tournament.” More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Tennis

      Roger Federer on His New Gig: Swiss Tourism Spokesman

      by

      In his new role, the tennis champion and avowed chocolate lover, shares favorite places to hike, play tennis and eat in his home country.Roger Federer, the Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion, recently became an unpaid spokesman for Switzerland Tourism. In a Zoom call from his home in Switzerland’s Graubünden canton, he explained why travelers should visit his country when it reopens.Mr. Federer has had plenty of time to rediscover his own backyard during the pandemic, and reflect on how much his country means to him while he recovered from knee injury. (He will return to the ATP Tour in Geneva later this month.) During a 30-minute interview, he held court on his favorite hiking trails, some under-the-radar Swiss getaways and his love of Swiss chocolate, among other topics.The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.Many tennis players live in Monte Carlo for the tax benefits, but you’ve stayed in Switzerland. And now you’re promoting Swiss tourism. Why?It’s good timing for me to do this now. I feel like I’ve always represented Switzerland and I’ve done my fair share to be an ambassador for the country. But for me to do it in an official mission is a nice thing to do. I feel like I had to be a bit older to do this, At around 40 years old, I’ve been to maybe 60 countries. I live in Switzerland now and I will continue to live in Switzerland.I know tourism here very well; I know the restaurants and hotels here very well. And I know how everyone is hurting right now. It’s a good time for me to be able to step up to the plate and help the country as we’re hopefully going to open again soon.On Switzerland’s tourism website, you’ve outlined some of your favorite hiking trails. Tell us about a few of those and also where you like to cycle.I’ve been told there’s something like 65,000 kilometers of cycling trails in Switzerland. Hiking and cycling are the go-to things for everyone to do in Switzerland. Some of the most spectacular hiking trails I like are by Gstaad in the Bernese Alps. It’s not so brutally up and down, it’s more of an even slope, which is great for hiking.The same goes for Appenzell, which is a very nice place that is not so famous. It’s also where I always went hiking when I was a boy. When I was hurt in 2016, I spent a lot of time on the hiking trails in Gräubunden, where I live now. We have the Swiss National Park over there — that whole area is incredible for hiking. Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland has some amazing places, little valleys and canyons and such.One of my goals when I retire is that I’ll have time to explore our mountain bike trails. Mountain biking has become really big in Switzerland, because we want to make the mountain regions year-round destinations.Can you give us a few off-the-beaten-path recommendations?We Swiss people go to the less famous places, just like Americans would in your country. But even we Swiss like to visit the classics, like the Chapel Bridge in Lucerne, the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen, the Rhine, the Old Town of Bern. You can base yourself in one of the cities and take nice day trips into the mountains from almost anywhere. Even in Zurich or Geneva, you drive 20, 30 minutes max and you are in the countryside. That’s the beauty of Switzerland.It’s also interesting because we have four separate languages here in Switzerland, which makes very different cultures. I’m from Basel and I have a Basel accent, but if you drive a half-hour away from there, the accent changes and the people are a bit different, too. I think the trails in Ticino are not as well known and they are very beautiful.I love to walk through small villages where life is still normal. Small places where people are driving tractors and there is one baker, one church. The people in these places aren’t multitasking. They go about their days in a normal way. Someone shows up and they want to know, “Hey, what brought you here?” It’s very friendly, so you can always have a chat with people.Tell us about some of the Swiss tennis clubs where visitors can have a great meal and play some tennis.Tennis club life in Switzerland is important. This is how I grew up. There are many scenic places where you can play tennis in Switzerland. Tennis Club Geneva, where the Geneva Open tournament is played is very beautiful. Tennis Club de Genève Eaux-Vives is also really nice. The clubs in Basel where I played growing up in the Interclub competition are quite nice.There was a boom building tennis clubs when I was growing up, so every second village has its own club. We have to protect this tennis culture we have. The restaurants at the tennis clubs are very important. A lot of the clubs where I’ve played, they have really good chefs, really good service and very high quality. People spent a lot of their time at the clubs, so the food has to be good and it’s usually at a good price, too.When you come back to Switzerland from abroad, what are the Swiss dishes or treats you crave? And if that includes chocolate, are you more of a milk chocolate guy or a dark chocolate guy?I mean, chocolate, hello, you have to love chocolate if you’re Swiss. I used to be white, then I was milk, and now I even like going dark. I like it all. Then I like the Bündner Nusstorte, which is like a nut tart from the region of Graubünden. That’s beautiful. And then, of course, there’s rösti, a potato fritter dish. We have a dish called Zürcher Geschnetzeltes that’s like minced meat with a mushroom sauce, and I love to eat cordon bleu — that’s beautiful, too.Play the role of travel agent for us. Where should we go if we have a week or two in your country?Fly into Zurich or Geneva and go from there. In the summer, I think you would want to visit Lucerne and Interlaken and maybe visit the Jungfrau, Basel, Zurich, Bern, the capital — its inner city is also really beautiful. We also have some incredible museums in Switzerland. The Fondation Beyeler art museum is great. I grew up visiting the Tinguely Museum, which is very interesting.In Lucerne, there is the Swiss Museum of Transport, which is still my favorite place to take my children. It’s a wonderful place where you can see old trams, trains, planes, cars, bikes, you name it.Of course, we also have a huge festival culture in Switzerland. There’s fasnacht, a Lenten carnival in Basel, in March, and we have all these jazz and film festivals. The summer music festivals in Switzerland are incredible, actually, though I don’t think they’ll happen this year. The Montreaux Jazz Festival is maybe the most famous, but there are many smaller ones as well. There’s one in Lucerne, there’s one in the Alps as well. The atmosphere here in the summer when everyone can be outside is amazing.Dave Seminara is the author of “Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts.”Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. More

    • 238 Shares99 Views

      in Soccer

      Monte Carlo Masters: Dan Evans follows up shock win over Novak Djokovic by defeating David Goffin to reach semis

      by

      DAN EVANS backed up his Serbian shock with a Belgian battering and will now try to reach a first Masters final.The British No1 shocked the world of tennis when he humbled world No.1 Novak Djokovic on Monte Carlo clay on Thursday.
      Dan Evans is on the verge of reaching his first Masters finalCredit: Reuters
      The 30-year-old, positioned 33rd in the world rankings, followed up that career-defining display by coming from behind to knock out No11 seed David Goffin 5-7 6-3 6-4 from the quarter-finals in Monaco.
      Tomorrow he will play Greek ace Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, knowing he is two, maybe three, sets away from the pinnacle of his career.
      Before this jaunt on the South of France, Evans had never been beyond the second round of a Masters tournament and had NO prior success on clay to brag about.
      Brummie Evans said: “To come back and back it up was probably the best thing.
      “It wasn’t my best display of my game, I got dragged into his game a bit.
      “Tim Henman will probably tell everyone I should be serve-and-volleying. But it was good to come through in the end.
      “I find clay a bit easier on the body, I’m not as sore the day after. Mentally you have to go back again. I felt I was wavering a bit in the first set.
      “I did a good job in the third set to go point after point and hang in some games.”

      He added: “My serve has been pretty good this week.
      “Tsitsipas has handed it to me the last two times we have played. I might be a bit more aggressive, that’s the only way I can play if I get dragged behind again.
      “With respect to David, Tsitsipas will come in more and knock in the volleys off a bit better. I need to be the one doing that.”

      Novak Djokovic calls his loss to Dan Evans one of his worst performances in years More

    • 238 Shares129 Views

      in Boxing

      Mouthwatering British sporting summer calendar revealed as ‘Fury vs Joshua on July 24’ added to Euro 2020 and Wimbledon

      by

      A remarkable British sporting calendar is taking shape in what promises to be a summer to remember.After the coronavirus pandemic put sport on its knees 12 months ago, events such as the European Championships and Wimbledon were postponed and cancelled as fans were left with little entertainment.
      This summer promises to be a sensational festival of sport
      England will be hoping to win a first major tournament in 55 years this summerCredit: Getty
      Now, one year on from that we are set for one of the best ever summers of jam-packed British sport as spectators return to whip up a frenzy.
      It all kicks off on June 11 with the postponed Euro 2020 which is being played for the first time ever across 12 different European countries.
      But the semi-finals and final of the tournament – which ends on July 11 – are scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium, the first major international final at the ground for 25 years.
      While the Euros are going on, there is also the small matter of Wimbledon returning for the first time in two years on June 28.
      Incidentally, the final at the All England Club will be played on the same day as the conclusion of the Euros.
      From June through to September a festival of cricket will also be taking place with England taking on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a number of one-day internationals, before a five Test series with India.
      And to top it all off, the inaugural edition of The Hundred gets underway in July.
      In athletics there is the Diamond League Anniversary Games at the London Stadium, an event which takes place just five days before another huge day in Formula 1 with the British Grand Prix.
      FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

      Hamilton will look to secure a record-extending eighth British Grand Prix victory this summerCredit: AFP
      Ben Stokes will be hoping he can drive England to victory over India in their five Test seriesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      Wimbledon will make a triumphant return after being cancelled last year for the first time since WWIICredit: Reuters
      The day before the British GP there is also the small matter of the Rugby League Challenge Cup final at Wembley on July 17.
      And then perhaps the biggest one of them all could be confirmed in the coming days as Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury prepare for an undisputed heavyweight clash on July 24.
      The fight looks set to take place in the Middle East, but a 100,000 capacity crowd at Wembley Stadium has not yet been ruled out.
      Throw in a bit of golf action with The Open and Women’s British Open and you have yourself a blockbuster few months of UK sport.
      With events such as the London Marathon and Rugby League World Cup then rounding off 2021, it promises to be unquestionably one of the greatest ever years of British sport.
      You’d be a fool to miss it.
      The Anniversary Games at the London Stadium promises to be another special eventCredit: PA
      Hearn hits back at Tyson Fury’s dad John over lack of support for Anthony Joshua fight More

    • 238 Shares159 Views

      in Soccer

      Incredible British sporting summer calendar revealed with potential Fury vs Joshua on July 24 added to Euros & Wimbledon

      by

      A remarkable calendar of British sport is taking shape in what promises to be a summer to remember.After the coronavirus pandemic put sport on its knees 12 months ago, events such as the European Championships and Wimbledon were postponed and cancelled as fans were left with little entertainment.
      This summer promises to be a sensational festival of sport
      England will be hoping to win a first major tournament in 55 years this summerCredit: Getty
      Now, one year on from that we are set for one of the best ever summers of jam-packed British sport as spectators return to whip up a frenzy.
      It all kicks off on June 11 with the postponed Euro 2020 which is being played for the first time ever across 12 different European countries.
      But the semi-finals and final of the tournament – which ends on July 11 – are scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium, the first major international final at the ground for 25 years.
      While the Euros are going on, there is also the small matter of Wimbledon returning for the first time in two years on June 28.
      Incidentally, the final at the All England Club will be played on the same day as the conclusion of the Euros.
      From June through to September a festival of cricket will also be taking place with England taking on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a number of one-day internationals, before a five Test series with India.
      And to top it all off, the inaugural edition of The Hundred gets underway in July.
      In athletics there is the Diamond League Anniversary Games at the London Stadium, an event which takes place just five days before another huge day in Formula 1 with the British Grand Prix.
      FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

      Hamilton will look to secure a record-extending eighth British Grand Prix victory this summerCredit: AFP
      Ben Stokes will be hoping he can drive England to victory over India in their five Test seriesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      Wimbledon will make a triumphant return after being cancelled last year for the first time since WWIICredit: Reuters
      The day before the British GP there is also the small matter of the Rugby League Challenge Cup final at Wembley on July 17.
      And then perhaps the biggest one of them all could be confirmed in the coming days as Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury prepare for an undisputed heavyweight clash on July 24.
      The fight looks set to take place in the Middle East, but a 100,000 capacity crowd at Wembley Stadium has not yet been ruled out.
      Throw in a bit of golf action with The Open and Women’s British Open and you have yourself a blockbuster few months of UK sport.
      With events such as the London Marathon and Rugby League World Cup then rounding off 2021, it promises to be unquestionably one of the greatest ever years of British sport.
      You’d be a fool to miss it.
      The Anniversary Games at the London Stadium promises to be another special eventCredit: PA
      Hearn hits back at Tyson Fury’s dad John over lack of support for Anthony Joshua fight More