Showing posts with label finalist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finalist. Show all posts

Monday, 9 September 2013

Tennis - FACTBOX-US Open finalist Novak Djokovic

GRAND SLAM TITLES: (Six): Australian Open: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013; Wimbledon: 2011; U.S. Open: 2011.

* Born: Belgrade, May 22, 1987

* Began playing tennis aged four.

* His father was a professional skier and wanted his son to be a skier or professional soccer player but changed his mind when Djokovic excelled at tennis from an early age.

* First full year on tour in 2005, made grand slam debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open, losing to Marat Safin in the first round. Finished as the youngest player (18 years, five months) inside the top 100.

* In 2006, he won his first ATP tour title at Amersfoort, followed that with second title indoors at Metz.

* He retired in the 2006 French Open quarter-finals against Nadal when trailing by two sets and again a year later due to blisters in the Wimbledon semi-final against the same opponent.

* In 2007, he won five titles (Adelaide, Miami, Estoril, Montreal and Vienna), made the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon and advanced to his first grand slam final at the U.S. Open, losing to Roger Federer 7-6 7-6 6-4.

* Broke the Federer-Nadal grand slam duopoly by beating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to win his maiden major title at Melbourne Park in 2008.

* Failed to defend his title in Melbourne the following year after controversially pulling out of his quarter-final against Andy Roddick citing heat exhaustion on a sweltering day.

* Lost in the quarter-final at Melbourne Park to Tsonga in 2010 when he suffered a stomach bug.

* Upset Federer in the semi-finals of the 2010 U.S. Open before losing in four sets to Nadal in the final.

* Led Serbia to their first Davis Cup title with victory over France in Belgrade in December 2010.

* Began 2011 by winning the Australian Open, beating Andy Murray in the final, to end his three-year wait for a second grand slam.

* Won his next six tournaments in Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Belgrade, Madrid and Rome. He did not lose again until June 3 when Federer ended his 41-match winning streak in 2011 in the French Open semi-finals.

* Secured the number one spot on July 4 by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Wimbledon semi-finals, then beat Nadal to clinch his first Wimbledon title, his first on grass.

* Won a record fifth Masters title in a season when he won in Toronto, one of the lead-up events for the U.S. Open.

* Saved two match points to beat Federer in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open then defeated Nadal in the final to become just the seventh man to win three grand slams in a year since tennis turned professional in 1968.

* Won his third Australian Open title in 2012, and fifth overall to continue his dominance of the men's game, when he beat Spain's Nadal in five hours and 53 minutes.

* Defeated by Nadal again in the final of the 2012 French Open 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5.

* Loses out to Roger Federer in the semi-final of Wimbledon and is then defeated by Andy Murray in the final of the U.S. Open.

* Begins 2013 by retaining his Australian Open crown with a 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-2 victory over Murray becoming the first man in the professional era to win three successive Australian Open titles.

* Loses to Nadal in the French Open semi-finals and then Murray gains revenge over the Serb with victory in the Wimbledon final.

(Compiled by Simon Evans, Editing by Gene Cherry)


View the original article here

Friday, 30 August 2013

Kempton ag student finalist for national FFA award

Tyler Loschen, of rural Kempton, is one of four finalists for one of the highest awards of the National FFA Organization — the American Star Farmer award.

A senior at the University of Illinois, he also is involved in commercial agricultural production and FFA projects in corn, soybeans, forage crops, beef, swine and crop research. He will compete in Louisville, Ky., in late October, where the national winner will be selected.

Each star finalist receives $2,000 from the National FFA Foundation and earns the opportunity to participate in an international experience tour to Costa Rica. The winner will receive an additional $2,000.

Tyler is the son of Gary and Diana Loschen, of rural Kempton. He is a student in agriculture and consumer economics at the U of I. His mother is the vocational agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at Tri-Point High School, in Cullom, where Tyler graduated in 2010.


View the original article here

Monday, 26 August 2013

Kempton ag student finalist for national FFA award

Tyler Loschen, of rural Kempton, is one of four finalists for one of the highest awards of the National FFA Organization — the American Star Farmer award.

A senior at the University of Illinois, he also is involved in commercial agricultural production and FFA projects in corn, soybeans, forage crops, beef, swine and crop research. He will compete in Louisville, Ky., in late October, where the national winner will be selected.

Each star finalist receives $2,000 from the National FFA Foundation and earns the opportunity to participate in an international experience tour to Costa Rica. The winner will receive an additional $2,000.

Tyler is the son of Gary and Diana Loschen, of rural Kempton. He is a student in agriculture and consumer economics at the U of I. His mother is the vocational agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at Tri-Point High School, in Cullom, where Tyler graduated in 2010.


View the original article here