Professional Tennis Tournaments have been postponed globally until April. This follows after the “Association of Tennis Professional” confirmed through a press conference that a six-week postponement would follow. This is because of the increasing health concerns regarding the coronavirus, with the safety of attendees and participants being a significant priority. That’s why both the ATP Challenger Tour & Regular Tour have been cancelled until April 27th. This extends to the Women’s Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation, who both confirmed that postponements would last until April 20th.

The ATP Chairman noted that this decision wasn’t taken lightly and that it’s a substantial loss for our supporters. However, multiple governing associations and professional players agree that this decision is best to ensure the safety of the overall tennis community. These safety precautions extend to the general public as well, with this global pandemic being unprecedented in the modern era. It should be mentioned that staff were willing to walk off the job if cancellations weren’t implemented, forcing the hand of the ATP regardless.

Statements from representatives with the ATP expressed that the global nature of Tennis requires international travel, which has been postponed by multiple nations under newly formed restrictions. Were having to continually monitor the situation daily to determine when the ATP Tour, WTA Championship and ITF Tournament can resume. This task has proven to be challenging for multiple sporting associations, including MLS and the Premier League.

The Cancelled Venues

Following the confirmation to cancel professional matchup’s or tournaments, multiple venues have confirmed their closure. This includes the events slated for Charleston, Miami, Bogota and Guadalajara. Middle Eastern tournaments under the ATP Challenger Tour in Kazakhstan was cancelled on March 14th. This extended to additional matchups under this league in South Africa. When it applies to the World Tennis Tour, events were cancelled at the Indian Wells and Monte Carlo.

It’s suspected that all these notable cancellations will cause significant issues for tournament owners, who will lose hundreds of millions in respective contract agreements. There are also substantial concerns that ATP and WTA Players will begin losing access to their monthly funds, with these competitors earning money from their professional careers. Neither governing association has provided details on potential reimbursement. 

Novak Djokovic is back in the news after winning the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. This followed after he defeated Gael Monfils during the semifinals, indicating that the former champ had returned to his previous greatness. It was once again proven after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas during the finals with 6-3 and 6-4 sets. This marks Novak’s second title this season.

When it applies to his battle with Gael Monfils, it was an unexpected victory that saw bookies shocked with the results. Novak Djokovic was anticipated to lose the semifinals but ended up experiencing tripe-match winning points. The 1st match was at 3-6, then 2nd at 7-6 and the 3rd at 6-1. Sporting analysts mentioned how he competed flawlessly and showed similar form during the finals, enabling Novak Djokovic to acquire a 79th ATP Title. This allows Novak to stand at the number one tennis player in the world.

Djokovic stated publicly: “Yesterday I was one shot away from losing the match, and it could’ve easily happened that I wasn’t here fighting for the trophy today. But this is a sport, and things can turn around very quickly, and I’m thankful for this opportunity. I appreciate this moment. It’s a big win for me.”

The Finals

When it applies to the finals, Stefanos was the leading contender during the beginning of this series. Novak fought off the formidable display of talent shown by Stefanos, eventually breaking through his defence after what seemed like countless serves. This changed when Novak performed a crosscourt background, enabling him to acquire a lead at 5-3.

The second match in the finals became more complicated with Stefanos coming back against Novak’s lead, showing strike after strike without any break. Within an hour it forced Djokovic to backdown until the 3rd match, where he’d be victorious with a two-over three-match win. This means that after eight games, the almighty Stefanos Tsitsipas will have lost his winning streak. Taking this victory means that Novak Djokovic has taken Dubai five times, with the last time being 2013. He’s three shy from defeating the record holder of Roger Federer.

The Australian Bushfires has prompted for numerous sporting events to be cancelled or relocated. The most recent is the Canberra Tennis Tournament, which was confirmed this week to be moving to Bendigo. This comes after plums of smoke have begun terrorizing the Canberra Region, which would inevitably affect the breathing conditions for wildfires. This announcement comes after more than 100+ bushfires have scorched through ten million acres, destroying more than one thousand homes in the process. These bushfires have also taken the lives of 500 million animals.

The Canberra Tennis Tournament received a saving grace by acquiring relocation. Recently, a matchup for cricket in Sydney saw the event abandoned because of similar issues. It was for this significant event that the authorities behind the Canberra Tennis International began relocation efforts, eventually reaching a deal with the region of Bendigo. This announcement came less than 24 hours before these matchups were slated to start. Kim Kachel, the Chief Executive for the Canberra Tennis International, noted that their main priority is the health and safety of everyone involved. This included the volunteers, stakeholders, players, guests and staff.

Kim expressed that after she received a significant debriefing from the local fire authorities and weather reports, it has concurred that the conditions were unfavourable. That playtime wouldn’t most likely start if they remained in Canberra. Immediately all tennis players were relocated to Dingo via air support, avoiding the numerous shut down roads and ferries across Australia. This tournament being cancelled would’ve meant one less event for the ATP Men’s Challenger Tour and ITF Women’s Futures Tour. It should be noted that this is a low ranked competition which sees the legends of tomorrow compete for championship titles.

Cricket Postponed

Though officials terminated one matchup for cricket, most of the matchups slated for Australia Vs New Zealand occurred without any disruption. Plums of smoke weren’t surrounding the capital city on Friday, with bushfires remaining outside the region. However, alterations in the wind patterns caused by the smoke to move towards Sydney. The result was the third matchup between New Zealand and Australia having to be postponed for six hours. Afterwards, players were mainly unaffected with clouds and smoke passing over the region. It was the day after that the next match was terminated, with temperatures reaching 104 Degrees. It’s unknown if any other upcoming events are planned during these horrendous conditions in Australia.

For readers with a busy lifestyle and those requiring processed information on the latest stories in Tennis, you’ve come to the right place. This week saw no shortage of information, with two stories making headlines worldwide. The first revolved around the Australian Open and how its cash prize increased to $49 million. Melbourne officials provided details on the upcoming 2020 Australian Open, which raised 14% in funds from ticket sales and advertising. Organizers noted that $71 million was earned, with the Australian Open officials earning $22 million. Subsequently, this marks the biggest prize pool in tennis history.

The stars behind this sport haven’t always supported this incredible payday, with Novak Djokovic often distancing himself. Novak has requested fans through various media representatives that they began revolting against the way Grand Slam revenues are disbursed amongst the stars. He believes these funds could be put towards better use, with some others following his mentality. However, most of the athletes in Tennis have taken the opposite road and requested increased prize pools.

The Director for the Australian Open mentioned how they’re continually improving the payment conditions for international tennis players, with Craig pointing out that payments increased by 3x their previous valuations in 2007. It should be noted that the $49 million prize pool doesn’t go to a singular individual and that it is spread out amongst numerous competitors. This includes Doubles and Singles in the Women’s or Men’s competition. Anybody in the league wanting to compete for the prize pool must register before January 20th and be within the top one hundred.

The Betting Problems

Reports which were released last year from the International Review Panel are slated to address the numerous integrity issues related to online betting amongst the athletes. Last year various Tennis Stars broke the law by influencing future wagers, often allowing themselves to be defeated for increased funds. That’s why the association has begun expanding the payment revenue, which was recommended by the IRP. Corruption should be lowered in the International Tennis Federation, which also plans to implement their various measures to reduce illegal betting.

Readers considering betting on the upcoming event cannot have any affiliation with the 100 top players in the league. Official partnered sites like Bet365 and Paddy Power will report accounts found of having inside knowledge. This is one of the federations methods towards limiting corruption in International Tennis.

The Tennis Community was shocked when it was revealed that Max Hamou, a professional tennis player for Germany, was found guilty in an international betting scandal. Hamou is the only German player mentioned in this list, which extends to 135 athletes worldwide. This gambling crime has prompted investigations from the European Union and the United States, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation taking the lead. They are working with countries like Spain, France, and Belgium to bring these individuals to justice. The FBI confirmed that three ATP Title Holders are connected to this global criminal offence, which will most likely see them stripped of their titles.

Additional details have been provided regarding this illegal gambling offence, with the Belgium Vice Prosecutor noting that this act was committed through the Armenian Betting Mafia Network. Eric Bisschop pointed out that this gambling mafia has moved across several countries in the European Union and has manipulated hundreds of games. It’s anticipated that millions of Euros have been earned through these manipulation efforts, with this mafia organization being strictly structured. It’s known that some maintain the accounts and others that provide security over accumulated funds. Prosecutors across the Union anticipate this mafia to grow to 14 countries by 2020.

The Rise of Gambling Scandals

Gambling scandals have been on the rise since 2015. Expects have seen an increase of 52% over the last four years, with the scandalous industry earning billions worldwide. Throughout 2018, it’s estimated that illegal bets came in around 1.6 Trillion Euros worldwide. Global governments don’t have access to these funds, with criminal syndicates and mafia groups controlling the black market. However, investigation units are working continuously to bring these individuals to justice and return markets to a legalized status. It’s known that the Tennis Integrity Unit has banned twenty players, men and women included, because of this gambling scam. Most of the names haven’t been revealed, with sports analysts expecting the Federal Bureau of Investigations to release the full list in the new year.

This has been a great week in the life of Nick Kyrgios. He had to describe it as one of his favourite weeks. The 24year-old Kyrgios won Daniil Medvedev with straight sets of 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) while delivering a very entertaining final game.

Nick Kyrgios

The Australian born Kyrgios has been playing in eight ATP finals and secured his sixth title win this week. He is currently the highest-rated Australian tennis player on the ATP ranks. During his career, his professionalism as the player has been a couple of times in question though. Only last month during Wimbledon, Kyrgios was hitting the spotlight for being seen in a pub the night before playing Rafael Nadal. It often seemed in the past like he was giving up on matches.

This might have changed now, and we can only hope that when Kyrgios stated that he decided to make a change, which this time around it will last. He also expressed his appreciation for the fact that even during a time when he didn’t have faith in himself anymore, there were still those who had faith in him and kept on supporting him.

Always Keeping the Crowds Intrigued

Kyrgios has a very naughty side when on the court, and that makes his games very entertaining to the crowds. During this week of play they were often asked on suggestions where to serve, handing out fist pumps or quietly singing along with songs, Kyrgios has fun on the court, and he has a way of keeping the crowd captivated. What this week showed us again is that when Kyrgios focus on the game and set out to win, he can be unbeatable. He has in the past been able to beat players much stronger than his competitors during this week in the US, but will he now finally stop faffing around and focus on his game and his impeccable talent?

Complex History of Wins and Losses

Over the years, he has shown us that when he wants to win, he can be undefeated, but his emotions are always seeming to get the better part of him. Kyrgios struggle to play a motivated game when he is competing against lower-ranked players, leaving him often losing against them. When he is motivated, he defeats much stronger opponents like during the Mexican Open earlier this year. After going through a terrible run during the Delray Beach Open in February, he arrived at the Mexican Open with renewed focus. He managed to defeat Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, John Isner and Alexander Zverev and ended up winning the title. It is clear that when he is happy in life, he is a winner, but too often his emotions are having an unfortunate effect on his performance, and that is what is robbing him of becoming the best he can be on the court.