Royal again with Great Britain in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas this weekend against Australians, Andy Murray gave the victory to his team, qualified them for the final of the competition and offered some money to refugees in the same time. Enough to occupy the top spot in our ranking this week, before the hero of the other Davis Cup semi-finals, the Belgian David Goffin, and a very elegant Federer in his Swiss suit.
1- Andy Murray (NE).
As in the quarterfinals against France, Andy Murray brought the three points of qualification to Britain this weekend against Australia. At home in Glasgow, the Scot sent his kingdom to its first final of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas since 1978!
Royal from start to finish, Andy Murray mastered this semi-final of Davis Cup, sportingly but also humanely with a very kind initiative: 50 books donated to UNICEF for each ace succeeded and 15 000 pounds raised for refugees.
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Otherwise, Murray took advantage of his visit to Glasgow to take up the Celtic FC players’ challenge: try to beat them at the "crossbar challenge". The goal, as the name suggests it, is to hit the crossbar with the ball.
The tennis player is definitely better with the little yellow ball, but his kick isn't bad though!
2- David Goffin (NE).
In the other semi-final of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, it was Belgium who qualified at home after dominating Argentina at the end of suspense (3-2). A victory owed to the current best Belgian player, David Goffin, who won his two singles of the weekend against Federico Delbonis and Diego Schwartzman.
It was then Steve Darcis, unlucky so far in singles and doubles, who offered the team the third decisive point on Sunday against Delbonis. A Darcis thoroughly supported by his compatriot Goffin...
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…. And all the Belgium team that will therefore defy Andy Murray's Britain in the final.
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Quite the challenge.
3- Roger Federer (/).
Serious and hardworking, King Federer allowed Switzerland to remain in he World Group. Switzerland, a team of guys who like nice gear.
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"RF" logically won his two singles against much more modest than him in three straight sets each time. And if he had to give in in doubles with Marco Chiudinelli...
... It was enough thanks to the first point of the weekend brought by Stan Wawrinka on Friday. Result: it's Switzerland that, without trembling, saved its place within the elite at the expense of the Netherlands... Also in the news for Federer in recent days, we found out that he had decided to support a new young talent, as he has done in the past with Del Potro and Dimitrov, through its structure Team 8. The lucky guy is called Tommy Paul, the great hope of American tennis...
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4- Yanina Wickmayer (NE).
What a comeback! At the Tokyo Open, Yanina Wickmayer dominated Magda Linette after a contested final (4/6 6/3 6/3) to win the fourth title of her career, the first in more than five years.
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After a very promising start on the tour, marked especially by a semi-final at the US Open 2009, the Belgian had been in distress over the past few seasons. 86th in the last WTA ranking, this return sounds like a hell of a relief for the former world number 12. This success has also been praised by her compatriot Kim Clijsters, always attentive to tennis news.
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5- Rafael Nadal (+6).
Nadal washed the disappointment of his early elimination at the US Open by enabling Spain to remain in the second division of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. The modest team from Denmark couldn't do anything against the Majorcan and the big reconstituted Spanish team, also consisting of Ferrer and Verdasco. Final result: 5-0. Clean.
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Earlier, Nadal cleared his head by doing a bit of tourism...
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And by watching on TV the beautiful semi-final of his compatriots in the basketball Euro against France.
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6- Lleyton Hewitt (NE).
Lleyton Hewitt failed one of the last challenges of his wonderful career: the Australian team of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas was unable to bring down Britain, blame it on an unstoppable Murray. But the Glasgow public still could enjoy some of the famous "C’mon!!" of the Warrior, including one that followed this beautiful shot.
And too bad if it wasn’t enough (victory of the Murrays brothers against the pair Hewitt/Groth in 5 sets), it was still good. We’re already missing Hewitt…
7- Serena Williams (-2).
She wanted to win the US Open once again to go even deeper into the legend of women's tennis, but Serena Williams could only pose with the winner of the men's table. Which isn't bad already.
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And to clear her head and move on from that disappointment, the American stayed busy outside the courts this week by presenting her second collection during the Fashion Week.
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An event which was attended by Drake, once again by the side of the tennis player, to the point that local press thinks that there’s a romance going on between the two.
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We love to see Serena casual and smiling!
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8- Flavia Pennetta (-7).
The surprise winner of the US Open is still on her little cloud since her New York feat, and did the traditional photo-shoot with the trophy at the top of the Empire State Building.
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A photo-shoot which was attended - and participated! - by her boyfriend Fabio Fognini. It is rumoured that the couple have decided to get married.
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Before diving into the end of the season and retirement in a few weeks, Flavia Pennetta decided to go on holiday a few days with her family.
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A well deserved break.
9- Novak Djokovic (-7).
The other winner of the US Open, Novak Djokovic, has received numerous congratulatory messages after his epic final won against Federer and Flushing Meadows' public. Gustavo Kuerten's message must have given him a special pleasure.
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After all these emotions, the Serb also took a few days off and took advantage of this free time to explore a little more the joys of fatherhood. They are just so cute together
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The Djoker is now guaranteed to end the season as World Number One. Again
Catch me if you can!
10- Yannick Noah (NE).
In France, however, it's not as funny, since Arnaud Clement, the Captain of France Davis Cup by BNP Paribas team, has been side-lined. The French tennis federation chose to name Yannick Noah instead, which thus returns to a position he knows well. Twice in 1991 and 1996, he helped les Bleus to win the trophy. If we have a choice, we must say that we prefer to see him in the world of tennis than in music...
11- Kimiko Date-Krumm (NE).
Incredible Kimiko Date-Krumm: at almost 45– on the 28th of September - the Japanese continues to play almost like a young girl. At home in Tokyo, the former world number four (20 years ago!), invited by the organizers, dominated her compatriot Misaki Doi in the first round to finally lose in the second against Ajla Tomljanovic. But still.
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12- Maria Sharapova (NE).
After having to withdraw for the US Open, the Russian decided to travel and indulge in a frenzy of promotional campaigns with some of her many sponsors.
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The occasion also, as always, to take some pictures for her fans.
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The greatest businesswoman in the history of tennis...
13- Roberta Vinci (-9).
Far from the magnetic charisma of Sharapova, Roberta Vinci is still a celebrity of Italian tennis. Especially since she reached this surprising 100% Italian final at the US Open. Vinci may have lost to her compatriot Pennetta but she won a new fame, which allowed her to go on many TV shows and meet great people there, including Alessandro Del Piero.
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Incidentally, it's crazy how much the former Juventus star looks more and more like Bruce Springsteen, isn't it?
14. Tomas Berdych (NE).
Speaking of doppelganger, Berdych's mum looks a lot like Lady Diana.
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This cute 30-year-old picture was posted by the player himself on Twitter to celebrate a new decade. Happy Birthday Tom!
15- Lucie Safarova (NE).
We end this ranking by wishing a speedy recovery to Lucie Safarova, who's been away from the courts because of a bacterial infection. The Czech even had to be hospitalized at her home in Brno, although no one knows how long it will take her to recover yet. For now, her participation in the final of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas in Prague in less than two months is still on the cards.
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Out:
Wawrinka, Mladenovic, Gasquet, Azarenka, Anderson, Cilic, Blake, Bacsinszky, Herbert
