Videos: GR8 Friends For Japan Fundraiser With Novak Djokovic

by Craig Hickman







ATP World Tour No. 2 Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and other ATP players held a fundraising event on Wednesday, March 23rd to benefit Japan relief efforts.

First Djokovic lead a team of ATP stars in an exhibition soccer match against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers professional soccer team. After the match Djokovic and Nishikori hosted a dinner at the posh JW Marriott Marquis Miami. The $350 per plate exclusive dinner/ after-party featured a silent auction and donations were made to the American Red Cross Japan disaster relief efforts.

The event was hosted by GR8 Miami (www.GR8Miami.com).

::

I shot all these videos. Pardon the shaky hands. I had no tripod. I'll try to write a report that does the forthcoming slideshow of the event justice sometime in the next day or so. It may have to wait till I return home to Maine on Sunday though, as I'm traveling to Boston tomorrow afternoon.

A Star Is Born?

If the Japanese television station WOWOW has anything to say about it, then Kei Nishikori will be the next big thing.

Now all he has to do is win something of note.

Face Of The Day

Getty

Nishikori Kei of Japan returns the ball to Gilles Muller of Luxembourg during the first round of the SAP Open tennis tournament Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, in San Jose, California. Nishikori won the match 7-5, 6-2.

Japanese Player Makes History

I've been busy trying to get a presidential candidate a party nomination, so tennis, what little I've been able to see, has been background music this week.

I know Justine Henin, Andy Murray, Nicolas Almagro and Flavia Pennetta won titles this week. Know that Mario Ancic played his first event in months and advanced all the way to the Open 13 final where he lost to Murray. Know that the curse of the No. 1 seed at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships continued. (Savannah's got all the purty pictures right here.)

But when I saw Nishikori Kei, the 18-year-old Japanese qualifier, save four match points in his semifinal match against Sam Querrey and rally from a set down in the final to take out James Blake and win his first ATP title, I was quite impressed.

Tennis needs new champions. Can't say the gutsy teen who trains at the Bollettieri Academy is going to mature into a champion, but if he is, he's got to start somewhere. Here's some of what the kid said about his victory:

"I still can't believe it that I beat James Blake," the 18-year-old Nishikori told the crowd, which included a dozen Japanese fans chanting "Nippon! Nippon!" high up in the stands. "I've only seen him on TV. This is my best tournament ever."

With the win, the 244th-ranked Nishikori is expected to move to a No. 122 ranking. He is the youngest player to win an ATP title since Lleyton Hewitt won Adelaide as a 16-year-old in 1998.

"Last night I couldn't imagine. I tried to imagine winning the final, but I couldn't do it," said Nishikori, whose parents watched the match on an Internet feed. "I was so nervous in the first set."

Shuzo Matsuoka was the last tournament champion from Japan. He won his lone career title at the Seoul tournament in April 1992.

Source

That's a long time between drinks for fans of Japanese men's tennis. Here's hoping Nishikori can follow this up with more. He's certainly got the game.