Jonas Björkman

Ouais ils sont allé jusqu'en finale ! Beau parcours pour JB & Ul' ...

& bonne nouvelle : 1er tour - Bastad -

Bjorkman 63 61 Granollers

Prochain adversaire : Robredo -

Björkman rajoute une ligne à son palmarès : il a remporté le titre en double à Bastad avec Robin Soderling.



Swedes Bjorkman/Soderling Capture Bastad Title

Jonas Bjorkman, partnering Robin Soderling, captured his seventh doubles title at the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad on his final appearance at the event on Sunday, defeating unseeded duo Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-2.

Despite losing serve twice, the Swedish rookie pairing Bjorkman/Soderling were able to capitalize on six of 13 break point chances they had to secure the victory in 1 hr., 3 min. They have faced stiff opposition en route to the title, defeating No. 3 seeds Granollers/Starace in the first round and second seeds Aspelin/Johansson in the semifinals.

Gstaad Final Reports

The 36-year-old Bjorkman, who recently announced his intention to retire from professional tennis, won the title previously in 1994-95 (w/Apell), 2002 (w/Woodbridge), 2004 (w/Bhupathi), 2005 (w/J. Johansson) and 2006 (w/T. Johansson) and now has a remarkable 33-3 record at Bastad.

"The standing ovation after the match was fantastic," said Bjorkman. "I had to swallow hard a few times. I'm usually a very emotional person and I was very moved. I even forgot to do my signature Brussels step."

The former Stanford ATP Doubles World No. 1 (July 9, 2001) last week finished as runner-up at The Championships, Wimbledon with Kevin Ullyett (l. to Nestor/Zimonjic). His other season highlights include semifinal exits at Las Vegas, Masters Series Monte-Carlo and Masters Series Rome, all with Ullyett. The Monte-Carlo resident, who has now won 52 team titles in his 17 year career, improves to 20-11 for the season.

It is the first ATP doubles title for 23-year-old Soderling, who was contesting his maiden final. The World No. 270, whose season highlight had been a semifinal appearance at Halle (w/ Ljubicic), improves to 12-3.

"Jonas is incredible to play with," said Soderling. "Out on the court I want to win a doubles match as much as I want to win a singles match. I'm very happy to have won this title with Jonas in his last time playing in Bastad."

World No. 94 Brunstrom and No. 122 Rojer, who won the Cordoba title on the ATP Challenger Circuit in February, were contesting their first ATP doubles final.

Bjorkman/Soderling now split €15,000 in prize money and earn 175 South African Airways ATP Ranking points, while Brunstrom/Rojer take away €9,000 to share in prize money and receive 120 points.

http://www.atptennis.com

JB a réussi à se qualifier pour le grand tableau de la Roger's Cup !!
Il a éliminé T Johansson 63 64, belle perf !!

JB affrontera Clément pour son 1er tour, lui aussi sorti des qualifs.
4 à 1 pour Clément contre JB, ça sera compliqué ... Il faut remonter à ... 1998 pour trouver une victoire de JB sur "la Clé", mais bon, rien à perdre du tout, que Jonas se fasse plaisir pour un de ses derniers tournois !!

Bjorkman Retires After 17-Year Career

Jonas Bjorkman retired from professional tennis after the popular Swede and his Zimbabwean partner Kevin Ullyett failed to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup semifinals on Friday. The pair lost to Polish duo Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-2, 1-6, 10-6 in their final Gold Group match.

"We were hoping to maybe get through [to the semifinals]," said Bjorkman. "I still think it's great to end my career in the biggest event of the year. But you can't get everything. I've been mentally prepared for this because I'm mentally very ready to retire.

"I've been very fortunate to be able to play for so long. It started as my hobby, and I've been able to do it for 17 years, which is great. I'm really looking forward for the next step in life."

The Swede ends his career with a 414-362 win-loss record for singles and a 709-306 record in doubles. All up, he played 1,791 matches in his career and earned more than $14.5 million.

Bjorkman enjoyed a glittering career in both singles and doubles. On November 3, 1997 he reached a career high of No. 4 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, that same year winning three ATP titles, including the Stockholm title (d. Siemerink) in front of his home crowd, which he cites as one of his greatest memories.

Bjorkman’s career has spanned 17 years and some of his finest moments have come in recent years. At the age of 34, the right-hander reached the 2006 Wimbledon semifinals, where he fell to World No. 1 Roger Federer, who went on to claim his fourth title at the All England Club.

"I think definitely the locker room will be something that [I] will miss because it's very unique," explained the Monte-Carlo resident. "You're all in a way enemies and everyone wants to win, but you can still sit next to each other preparing for a game. I think everyone treats each other with great respect. It's also a lot of fun to be around everyone. To listen to all the trash talk in the locker rooms will be something that I will miss."

In doubles Bjorkman has enjoyed huge success, highlighted by reaching the No. 1 spot in the Stanford ATP Doubles Rankings on July 9, 2001 and capturing nine Grand Slam doubles titles, including three successive titles at Wimbledon (2002-04 w/Woodbridge).

As Sweden's longest serving Davis Cup representative, Bjorkman had the honor of winning the coveted title three times in 1994 against Russia, in 1997 against the USA and in 1998, defeating Italy in the final.

"I think Davis Cup weeks are probably one of the best weeks during the year," said Bjorkman. "The whole camaraderie is something that I definitely will miss. But hopefully I'll come as a spectator to watch and maybe be part of it a little bit.

"I would probably say winning the Davis Cup was something that was huge to be part of. [I was] very proud to be representing my country.

"To win the Stockholm Open, to win at home, is always something that you dream about. You know, winning Wimbledon, the doubles titles with Todd Woodbridge. It's the most prestigious tournament you can play, to be part of. To win that is something that I will remember well."

Trouvé sur ce lien: http://www.masters-cup.com/1/news/2008/bjorkman_retires.asp

Hommage pour le jeune retraité