CHENNAI: Swiss world number eight Stanislas Wawrinka will look to extend the good form he showed in 2013 by when he kickstarts the new season at the ATP Chennai Open from Monday.
Wawrinka emerged from the shadows of legendary compatriot Roger Federer with a string of major semi-final appearances that lifted him into the top 10 after starting the year ranked 17th.
The 28-year-old created a sensation at the US Open in September with a quarter-final win over defending champion Andy Murray, before losing to Novak Djokovic in a five-set semi-final thriller.
Wawrinka then qualified for his maiden ATP World Tour Finals in London last month where he reached the semi-finals, before losing once again to Djokovic.
The star hopes a good performance in his sixth appearance in the $450,000-event in Chennai, which he won in 2011, will boost confidence ahead of the Australian Open in mid-January.
"I feel good to be where I am," Wawrinka said in an organisers' media release. "2013 was definitely an outstanding year for me. It showed me how close I am to the top guys and that I have my chances against them."
Wawrinka said his goal in the new year was to be as consistent as the top players like Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer. "I'm confident going into 2014," he said. "Top players are extremely tough to beat and you need to play your best tennis. However, if you work hard and keep fighting everything is possible."
Wawrinka, who enjoyed a 51-23 win record in 2013, faces a tough field in Chennai that includes world number 15 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, number 16 Fabio Fognini of Italy and the 26th-ranked Benoit Paire of France.
Also in the line-up are Canadian Vasek Pospisil, the Spanish duo of Marcel Granollers and Roberto Bautista-Agut, and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Defending champion Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia withdrew from a seventh appearance at the Chennai Open after failing to recover from a heel injury that has troubled him all through the year.
Youzhny, 31, begins his 15th season on the circuit looking for a good work-out in the season-opener where he won the 2008 title with a stunning 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Nadal in the final.
The Russian veteran, who won two titles in 2013, says he takes great pride in the fact that he and Federer are the only two players to finish in the top 50 every year since 2002. "Its not bad when you share an honour with Federer," Youzhny said.
Seedings:
1. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
2. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
3. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
4. Benoit Paire (FRA)
5. Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
6. Marcel Granollers (ESP)
7. Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
8. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
Murray hopes to follow Nadal's recovery
Murray hopes to follow Nadal's recovery
DOHA: Record-breakers Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray could begin the new year by forging another link in the chain of coincidences which have marked their careers.
The eight times French Open champion and the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years could well meet in the later stages of the Qatar Open which starts Monday. They also begin 2014 with Murray's short-term prospects mirroring Nadal's uncertain predicament here a year ago, when a long absence and persistent knee injuries cast a cloud over his future.
Now it is the Scot who has not competed on the ATP Tour for four months leaving him with doubts and fears about how well he will recover from his back problem.
The Spaniard had been sidelined for seven months when he belatedly withdrew from the 2013 Qatar Open, triggering a fusillade of inaccurate predictions that he might never fully recover.
Nadal missed the Australian Open two weeks later but responded with one of the greatest comebacks of all time, going on to regain the world number one ranking in the final week of the season.
Murray would love to make a comparable recovery, especially after having unloaded one of the biggest psychological burdens in tennis history, and taking a bold decision to have his operation only eight weeks afterwards.
The two men have enjoyed a friendship ever since they met as itinerant teenagers at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona more than a decade ago. Predictably perhaps, Nadal now believes that Murray can go on to further great achievements.
At the moment, though, the only evidence comes from Murray having survived an exhibition with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga two days ago, apparently without physical ill effects. The two-set loss was secondary. "I can't expect to feel great for long periods of matches straight away -- it was a good workout," Murray said then. "You want to play your best but you need to be realistic and patient.
"Moving is the most important thing. I just need to be able to do it for a longer period. I just felt like I hadn't played a match for a while."
It remains to be seen whether Murray will be fit enough for the Australian Open, though there seems little doubt that Nadal will be planning a major assault on the year's first Grand Slam, a title he has not won for five years.
If Nadal and Murray do meet during the coming week, the world number one may be more mindful that he has not prevailed since their meeting in the US Open semis of 2011 rather than the winning 13-5 head-to-head record he holds.
There is, however, no guarantee that either of the tournament's two biggest names will reach the later stages.
That is because the draw also included David Ferrer, the world number three from Spain, Tomas Berdych, the former Wimbledon finalist from the Czech Republic, and Richard Gasquet, who last year drew attention to himself as one of the great unfulfilled talents with a series of fluent performances which earned him the Qatar Open title.
Probable seeds:-
1, Rafael Nadal (ESP); 2, David Ferrer (ESP); 3, Andy Murray (GBR); 4, Tomas Berdych (CZE); 4, Richard Gasquet (FRA); 6, Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER); 7, Ernests Gulbis (LAT); 8, Fernando Verdasco (ESP).
Refreshed Sharapova looks forward to New Year
Refreshed Sharapova looks forward to New Year
BRISBANE: A refreshed and relaxed Maria Sharapova believes an injury-enforced break from the game has rekindled her enthusiasm for tennis.
Sharapova has not played since August when she was forced to withdraw from the US Open with a right shoulder injury. The glamorous Russian had earlier suffered a hip injury, which saw her pull out of two tournaments in July, before a shock first-round loss to Sloane Stephens in Cincinatti in early August.
But speaking in Brisbane on the eve of her first tournament of the new season, Sharapova said she was ready to return to the tour under the guidance of new coach Sven Groeneveld. "I've had a really healthy off-season, something quite unusual because in the last few years I always had a little injury here and there," she said.
"So that was nice, because I gave myself time to recover and get better. The 26-year-old said she wanted to ensure she did not return to the tour until she was completely recovered.
"I knew from the moment I withdrew from the (US) Open that I was going to give myself the right amount of time that I needed -- whether that was a week, a month, a few months, I didn't know. Nobody really knew," she said.
"I've played with an injured shoulder for a while, so it was really important for me to take that time," she added. "I started quite early, so I made it into two parts. I started slow, took a little bit of a break, and then geared up again with a little bit more intensity."
The world number four said she still had the motivation to play despite being on tour for more than 10 years. "Certainly when you're doing it for so many years of your life there are moments where you felt like you need a pick-me-up," she said. "I didn't play for a few months, and that was the reason for me to get back out there.
"I know when I'm healthy how I can play and what I'm capable of doing. I needed to get healthy. So that was the motivation on its own."
Sharapova, who has won four Grand Slams, believes new coach Groeneveld will give her an edge that she has been missing since she parted ways with Thomas Hogstedt after a second-round loss at Wimbledon.
Groeneveld has worked recently with players Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki, and also previously coached Monica Seles and Mary Pierce. "From the first time we met I really liked what he had to say," Sharapova said.
"He came in as a very experienced person. He started from the very beginning of the game, and one of the things I've always liked in a coach is when he coached against me, and he's been there for many years coaching against me. And I like when someone comes in and is honest and truthful and says it like it is."
Wozniacki out of Brisbane with sore shoulder
Wozniacki out of Brisbane with sore shoulder
BRISBANE: - Former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki has withdrawn from the Brisbane International after hurting her right shoulder in practice.
Wozniacki told a news conference Sunday she was pulling out of the season-opening event in Brisbane as a precaution and was hoping to play in Sydney next week in what will be her only tune up tournament for the Australian Open.
She says "I wanted to start of the year well. That's why I made the decision to withdraw from here, just because I didn't feel like there was a need to make it worse before going into the Open as well." The Australian Open, the first major of the season, starts Jan. 13. Wozniacki's best run at Melbourne Park was to the semifinals in 2011.
Djokovic looking forward to life with Becker
Djokovic looking forward to life with Becker
ABU DHABI: Novak Djokovic saw off David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Saturday and wasted no time looking forward to the season ahead with his new coach Boris Becker.
The world number two was just too strong for the Spanish world number three and stormed to victory in the exhibition title for the third time in a row. It was also his fifth straight title since losing the US Open final to Rafael Nadal -- and nothing looks likely to stop him going into next month's Australian Open, where he is aiming for a fourth consecutive title.
He also has his sights set on wresting back the world number one slot from Nadal. The 26-year-old Serbian hired former Wimbledon champion Becker to improve his game after a disappointing 2013 by his own high standards.
Becker has said he will spend around 20 weeks per year on the ATP Tour with Djokovic and says his young son Amadeus and wife Lilly will join him on occasion. With Becker courtside, Djokovic overcame an early deficit and said: "I have to say I'm really glad to have Boris on the team.
"It's great that it started with winning this trophy right here. Hopefully, we can win more."
Asked what he expected Becker to bring to the table, Djokovic laughed. "We'll see, ask me in half a year," he was quoted as saying by The National. "It's still too early to say where he is going to take us."
Including Davis Cup matches and two unofficial wins in Abu Dhabi, Djokovic has won 26 matches in a row since losing to Nadal in the US Open final.
Djokovic went into the final with an 11-5 record against Ferrer. Including previous wins in this competition against the Spaniard, which do not count on official statistics, he has now beaten Ferrer eight times in a row. Ferrer admitted he hadn't done enough to upset the odds. "With Nole (Djokovic), I need to do more," he said.
In the day's other match, world number one Rafael Nadal beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-3 to take third place. Having played Nadal, Djokovic and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the tournament this week, Tsonga was asked who had impressed him the most. "I would say Novak, he's impressive," replied the world number 10.
Ahead of next month's Australian Open, the rest have been warned.
