Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/333851
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 JUNE 2014 54 Sport TENNIS BASKETBALL POOL The simmering crisis in US men's tennis Who is the best men's tennis player from the United States? Many shrug their shoulders. The times of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are long gone and the immediate future doesn't look too bright either WHEN you think about US men's tennis of yesterday, names like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi immediately spring to mind. Pete Sampras was near to tears when he defeated Pat Rafter in four sets to win the Wimbledon men's final for the seventh time on July 9, 2000. It was the 29-year-old 's last tri- umph at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and no tennis player from the United States has won the men's singles crown there since. Fourteen years is a long time to wait for success, and it looks as though the wait will go on for the once-proud tennis nation. When the latest edition of the world 's most prestigious Grand Slam tournament gets under way on Monday, there is no US player in sight to succeed 'Pistol Pete'. In the age of stars like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer, the best the US can offer is John Is- ner, seeded ninth and the only US player among the 32 seeds. "It's a different league," former world number one Sampras, now 42, told the German magazine Tennis. "We Americans have been overtaken by the rest of the world." At 32, Serena Williams is still difficult to beat, but for years her male counterparts have played no more than a spectator roll in the decisive phases of the world 's ma- jor tournaments. The golden eras of stars like Sampras, Agassi, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe long passed. "The others are better," said Sampras. "I think the Americans are miles behind and I don't know what we can do about it." During his career, Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, seven of them on the grass courts of Wim- bledon. Isner is the best US player at the moment, ranked 11th in the world. His best result to date was a quarter-final spot in the US Open three years ago. He is the only US tennis player in the top 60. He's followed by Steve Johnson and Donald Young, ranked 68th and 69th. The last American to win a Grand Slam title was Andy Rod- dick, who took the US Open crown in 2003. "We reminisce in the memo- ries of great times in the past and hope that we' ll one day find a new champion," McEnroe told tennis- net.com. At last year's Wimbledon no US man made it to the third round, the first time this happened for more than a century. The old stars have been trying to figure out how things could come to such a state. Sampras blamed complacency on the part of today's generation of players, saying they are "too soft" and too easily content with what they achieve. Courier, another former world number one who currently man- ages the US Davis Cup team, says: "There are a lot of talented play- ers who fail to make the most of their talent." The magazine The Atlantic said the Grand Slam drought is bound to end at some stage. Courier hopes the Davis Cup, the world 's most important team tennis event, could prove a start- ing point. US player Pete Sampras lifts the Gentlemen's Singles trophy after winning his final match at the Wimbledon 2000 tennis tournament against Australian Patrick Rafter (in background L) on Sunday, 09 July 2000. Sampras won in 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. Photo by EPA/YURI KADOBNOV AFTER intensive discussions, the Malta Basketball Association managed to attract to our country both European basketball leagues below the age of 16, Division C (men and women), which will be held between 30th June and 5th July 2014 at the basketball pavilion Ta' Qali. These leagues are organized by the International Federation of the European Basketball (FIBA Europe) and for the year 2014, will be kept in Malta. Malta will par- ticipate in both the men's tourna- ment, as well as women's league. The Malta Basketball Asso- ciation is very optimistic that the Maltese national teams can bring positive results. That is why in recent days, it launched the slo- gan for both teams with the same purpose: "TWO TEAMS, ONE DREAM." The public is encouraged to at- tend the games at Ta 'Qali and give its support to the two Maltese teams. The girl's team will be at the helm of coach Sandro Farrugia will be composed of the following players: Sophie Abela, Danielle Agius, Nicole Agius, Raisa Calleja, Kirsty Caruana, Lara Caruana Montaldo, Kristy Galea, Emma Magrin, Kim- berly Pirotta, Marie Elise Pollacco, Laura Vella, Noelene Vella The men's team will be once again under the guidance of the Italian coach Gabriele Alesse who chose these players: Paul Attard, Bartolo Benoit, Isaac Bonett, Kurt Camilleri, Kurt Cassar, Alec Felice Pace, Matthew Gouder, Thomas Grech, Francesco Mifsud Bonnici, Luca Stefanovic, Julian Wait, Reuben Xuereb Both teams have been prepar- ing for this competition for the last months and the training was more freqient in the last days with sessions in the morning and in the evening. The MBA is convinced that both sets of players will do their best to give more success to the Association who is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. U16 European Championships Men & Women Division C Malta 2014 Fixtures 30 June 16:30 Women Malta - Gibraltar 30 June 18:45 Men Andora - Malta 1 July 18:15 Women Wales - Malta 2 July 16:00 Men Malta - Wales 4 July 16:00 Women Malta - Andorra 4 July 18:15 Men San Marino - Malta 5 July 16:00 Men Malta - Gibraltar 5 July 18:15 Women Scotland - Malta Malta Eight Ball Federation finals THE season of the Malta Eight Ball Federation has come to an end with two spectacular finals. The finals were shown on Live Stream of the Karlsbrau Cup and the Super Cup. Selmun Bar A won their respective game 11-3 against their club mates Selmun Bar B to win the Super Cup. 147 Snooker Hall claimed their vic- tory for the Karlsbrau Cup against Jesmond Sporing Club 11-10. Ivan Rizzo played the decisive frame against Simon Zammit to make his team win this prestigious Cup . Both teams showed a high level in this Black Ball Pool Game during this season. All games was shown Live Stream in our spectacular Are- na. The MEBF would like to thank all the referees that took part in this season and also to those who helped us make for the first time in Malta the Live Streaming in the Black Ball Pool Games.