Former world no.1 Ana Ivanovic is not enjoying the best time of her career. The 22 year-old’s ranking has slipped outside the top 20; she has not won a title of any kind since the 2008 French Open and has failed to reach the quarter final stage of any of the seven ensuing Grand Slam events. After last weekend’s Fed Cup defeat of Serbia by Russia, she emotionally admitted: “I'm struggling psychologically.”
Nevertheless adidas, who have recently jettisoned such tennis talent as men’s world no.2 Novak Djokovic, Marcos Baghdatis and the game’s leading men’s doubles team the Bryan brothers from their tennis stable, have shown their faith in Ivanovic by giving her a deal for life.
Ivanovic will wear ‘three-stripe’ products for the entirety of her career and will become an ambassador for the brand upon retirement from competitive tennis. In doing so, Ivanovic is believed to have become the youngest ever athlete – male of female – to sign an agreement of this length.
“I’m very proud to wear adidas for the rest of my career,” said Ivanovic who currently relies on Sven Groeneveld, the Dutchman who leads the adidas Player Development Program, as her main coach. “Over the last few years adidas has helped me immensely by providing me with great products and unique services off the court including the adidas Player Development Program.
“Therefore, this long-term contract extension means a lot to me and was a logical decision. I feel thrilled to be a member of the adidas family and I am very much looking forward to working with adidas on many projects in the future.”
Jocelyn Robiot, adidas' VP Global Sports Marketing clearly has not qualms about the dip in the Ivanovic career over the last 20 months which has been affected by a series of injuries and health issues.
“Ana Ivanovic’s spirit on and off the court is consistent with what women’s tennis stands for and is without any doubt a great ambassador for adidas,” said Robiot. “Ana has been part of our women’s training marketing activities from day one and we are delighted to continue our successful partnership in the future.”

Today’s playing tip comes from Oscar Wegner. To learn more about Wegner, go to www.tennisteacher.com.

One of the most important strokes in tennis is the second serve.

A weakness in this shot puts the player on the defensive right from the start of the point. Most of the top pros excel in getting the second serve deep, with a high kick, preventing the other player to hit a winner or to advance on the court.

Practice your second serve spinning a good quantity of balls over a high fence, to force you to serve up.

After you accomplish a good percentage of balls clearing the fence, come back to the court and now practice from the normal service position by the baseline, but spinning the ball up, with a lot of rotation.

You'll see the ball first going up and then curving down, kicking up after the bounce. The more kick, the more difficult for your opponent to return.

Pete Sampras' second serve, even on hard courts, has been measured to spin sometimes over 5,000 RPM.

Such a rotation makes the ball feel heavier to the returning player, and also kicks within his racquet, impairing the accuracy of the return.

As a result, even at the top pro level, the other player usually returns well inside the court, rather than going close to the lines, thus keeping the advantage of the server through the beginning stages of the point.

Toss the ball a bit behind you, bend your arm so that most effort goes to the triceps, rather than your rotator cuff, and hit up past the ball.

Keep the wrist bent as if you were watching the inside of your hand, the racket strings should almost feel like a hat when it goes across above your head, moving from left to right for a right hander.

Even though you are serving towards your right, the angle on the racket will make the ball go to the left of the direction of your follow-through.

With practice, you will be able to have more and more clearance over the net and still bring the ball down in the service area, usually with good depth.

Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Steve Pratt - Editor, Variety

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With the Davis Cup’s 110 year history under its’ most serious threat from Australian entrepreneur James Hird’s much heralded plans to stage a World Cup of Tennis, International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti has finally come out and said what he truly feels.
Apart from the odd bland ITF statement, there was no real response to Hird’s blueprint during the Australian Open – Ricci Bitti clearly of the mind that it would be wrong to take any focus away from a Grand Slam tournament.
But with champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams crowned and the balls packed away at Melbourne Park, Ricci Bitti has come out and voiced his true feelings about the proposition of an every other year dollar-laden competition involving 32 nations played over 10 days and featuring shorter matches, an amended scoring system and mid-match substitutions.
First Ricci Bitti addressed the scheduling aspect and said: ''The calendar is annual. Every second year, in tennis, is a completely stupid idea, because the calendar of tennis is annual, and we know better than anybody that every four years just to play the Olympics is a headache.”
He then referred to the World Cup of Tennis as nothing more than a potential exhibition and continued: “What they are talking about is a completely different animal to Davis Cup, so we are not against it. We understand that any promoter could find that it is a good idea to have a team event. It has happened in the past, it will happen again in the future. They are two different products, two different concepts.
''And I have a lot of respect for promoters - I have been a businessman all my life. But if you miss one or two of the top players you are dead. If you do a competition concentrated in one venue, if you don't have all the top players, you are in bankruptcy, because we have experience that it is a failure when people do not have their own team to support.''
Contrary to wide spread belief amongst many knowledgeable people inside the game, Ricci Bitti is insistent the current Davis Cup formula does not need an overhaul. And he appears to have turned a blind eye to the growing list of top flight contestants who will not be turning out for the nations in upcoming rounds including Federer, Aussie Open runner up Andy Murray, Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake and the injured Rafael Nadal.
As the four Grand Slams are now effectively individual concerns, the ITF maintains vehemently the Davis Cup is the most important source of income to fund development of the sport around the world.
He said of the Davis Cup: We believe it's working. We are always listening to the players, but the model is this one because our mission is not to maximize the profit.
“My position is that we (the Davis Cup committee) are continuously, permanently thinking if it can improve, but we have some pillars that we cannot miss: annual competition, home-and-away ties, at least the majority, player nomination by the country. These are the roots of the competition.”

(c)  Copyright 2010. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis

In 1978, Nick Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the first full-time tennis boarding school to combine intense training on the court with a custom-designed academic curriculum. To learn more about you can check out: www.nickbollettieri.com.

Let’s face facts, if you can’t serve, you can’t play. That’s the bottom line. The serve can be the most difficult of shots for some people to learn. If you haven’t spent a lot of time playing baseball or some sport that involves throwing a ball with one hand, then the service motion can be a very unnatural movement. It takes practice, but it also takes the right frame of mind in order to master serving.

In the beginning: The first order of business when learning to serve is to hit the box. The goal is to gain confidence by eliminating double faults and feeling secure in the knowledge that when the big point comes that you will be able to get the serve in. Don’t worry about power or spin at this stage, but rather that you have a nice smooth and consistent motion that will not abandon you when you get nervous.

Moving it around: After you have achieved consistency, you will now want to be able to serve to specific targets in each box. Each box has three general targets: to the forehand side, to the backhand side and into the body. Begin by learning how to hit the serve to these three basic targets without getting too fancy. Again, the idea is to build confidence by keeping things simple and successful. If you can serve to these three targets in the box, you will be able to exploit an opponents weakness whether it is the forehand, backhand or movement (serving into the body will force the opponent to move quickly to get into position to hit a return).

Spins: The next step in the service evolution is to learn the different types of spin. The different types of spin are: slice, kick, and flat. The spin on a slice serve for a right handed player will move the ball to the forehand of the opponent and stay fairly low. The spin on a kick serve will force the ball to jump up (or when you get really good at it you will be able to make the ball jump to right handed opponent’s backhand). And the flat serve will stay low and pretty much in straight line. Master these different spins one at a time so you can get comfortable with one before moving to the next.

Mixing it up: Finally, a good server must learn to vary speed, spins and targets in order to keep his or her opponent guessing. Much like the pitcher in baseball, having a good fastball is important, but being able to follow it up with a solid change up or curve ball can make you devastating. Keep the opponent off balance with different combinations and variations, and you will find that you will need to use your big first serve less. This will save energy and wear and tear on your shoulder.

Conclusion: The greatest thing about the serve is that you don’t need anyone else in order to practice it. Some balls, a racket, and a court is all that is required. It’s a simple equation: the more you practice, the better you will become. So get out there on your own and work on this shot until you have mastered it and watch your game soar to another level. Just remember to keep the right frame of mind and learn one step at a time.

(c)  Copyright 2010. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis

Roger Federer has admitted for the first time to having nagging doubts that his time at the top was coming to an end and seeing the need to step up his game as a posse of young challengers looked to unseat him from his lofty throne.
A series of illness and slight injuries, several of which he kept private, took an effect. "Maybe I started to doubt my body, I started to doubt the situation," he said.
"I felt that eventually I wouldn’t be as successful as I had been, which was strange because at the end of 2007 I was practicing that I was playing my best tennis of my life. Then I got sick and I got here to Melbourne, I couldn’t practice, but I still thought I managed to play a great tournament to make it to the semis.
“But after that I had to catch up with so much, the other guys were playing tough and the margins are small at the top of the game. It was definitely interesting to go through it, because a career is not meant to be easy. You always have to go through ups and downs. And I think I was well prepared for it. That’s why even when it was tough I was still able to enjoy it and stay calm, because I always question myself, even in the best of times.”
Federer was talking a day after his fourth Australian Open victory increased his record-breaking haul of Grand Slams to 16. After winning the first major of the year, he is once again on course to become the first man since Rod Laver to complete the complete Grand Slam in one calendar year but he insists that has never been one of his ambitions in tennis.
He prefers to simply focus on maintaining his dominance and said: "I have had to work really hard. Now, my backhand is where I want it to be, my forehand is back because I think that also left me a little bit when my footwork wasn’t at my best because I knew I didn’t want to play defense and pressed too much with my forehand. I don’t do that too much any more and my confidence is back, so it’s a lot easier to play again now.”

Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Bob Larson's Daily Tennis News is published 
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Men's Singles Final Score

Women's Singles Final Score

Men's Doubles Final Score

Women's Doubles Final Score

Editor’s Note: Former touring pro Tim Wikison shares the following article he gave to students at the American Tennis Academy in Charlotte, N.C. Wilkison, who runs the academy with Bill Belser, says the goal of the American Tennis Academy is dedicated to working with players who want to become Grand Slam champions. Wilkison is also president of Wilkison Partners which manages multiple tennis facilities in the United States. He can be reached at twilknc@carolina.rr.com.

The correct mental approach is crucial in your quest to become a great player.  Anyone who has emerged as a Grand Slam champion has overcome mental hurdles to achieve that goal. The academy practice was held in a very strong wind. That is a great opportunity to polish your physical and mental skills in dealing with that type of situation. It is important to keep shuffling your feet until right as you make contact as it is likely the ball will be blown into, or away from you, at the last moment.

You need to be a little more conservative in your shots.

Aim for larger spots on the court as the wind will push your ball around and you need a bigger margin to compensate for that. Figure out the direction the wind is blowing. It can go down the court, across the court, or it can swirl around. The direction of the wind can change during a match so be aware of that. You can adjust your strategy to the direction.

If the wind is going across the court, you can use it to really get angle on your crosscourts if you hit with the direction of the wind. If you hit against the direction of the wind, it will slow your ball up and make it easier for your opponent to get to.  When the wind is at your back, you have a huge advantage in the penetration of your shots.  Be consistent from that side and let the force of the wind help you to gradually wear down your opponent.  When the wind is in your face, you need to grind it out and try to grab a couple of those games. 

Since you are at a disadvantage in the rallies, it is a good idea to make your style a mix of grinding and taking smart chances. Attacking the net or hitting drop shots at appropriate times can be good strategies. Probably the most important aspect of playing in the wind is adjusting your mental attitude and expectations.  No one has played their best game ever in a strong wind.

Prepare before the match to decide that you are ready for a challenge and you are ready to win ugly. I was pretty good at that in my playing career and actually won two pro tournaments in Sydney, Australia, which is famous for its wind coming across the court. Being a proficient wind player is crucial. High school and college tennis is played in the spring when it is windy. The first tournaments of the year are often played in the wind and a lot of tournaments in Florida are held in windy conditions. Play smart and prepare yourself to be mentally tough and the wind can become a factor that helps you win matches.

(c)  Copyright 2010. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis

Rafa Nadal will be out of competition from 4 weeks due to a small injury on his right knee. He injured himself at the end of the second set of his match against Andy Murray during the 2010 Australian Open. Nadal is already in Spain where he will remain until his injured knee has completely recovered. He will miss the ATP event in Rotterdam where last year he played the final against Andy Murray.

The medical report presented by Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro establishes the following:
"After undergoing pertinent MRI and ultrasound tests, patient Mr. Rafael Nadal shows a minimal focal tear on the back part of the Quadricipital tendonitis insertion in his right knee. As a result of such, the player will undertake treatment which will consist of rest for 2 weeks with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory treatment as well as TECAR machines. After 2 weeks and depending on the results of the different tests and controls, he will steadily resume his sporting activity with a total recovery time to resume competition in 4 weeks."

Rafa Nadal: "As I mentioned in Melbourne after my match and at the airport as I landed in Spain, I know this is not the same injury I suffered last year. I feel good and I am only thinking now of recovering well. My main goal right now is to get ready again and fit to play the upcoming events once I am able to compete.  It is a big disappointment for me not to be able to play at the ABN AMRO World Tennis in Rotterdam this year since it is one of the best tournaments on the ATP World Tour and next year I will do everything to be there. It is still one of my goals to add my name to the Ring of Champions in Ahoy. I am also sad for my fans in Holland who always treated me in a very nice way. I also said that it is not important for me the ranking issue and losing a few spots, that's normal when you are not able to compete. For me it is more important to play well again and to have the good feelings on the court that I had in Abu Dhabi, Doha and also at the Australian Open where I played at the highest level."

Tip of the Week

Today’s playing tip, Play Like the Pros, comes from Oscar Wegner. To learn more about Wegner, go to www.tennisteacher.com.

Tennis has been considered for a long time a very difficult sport to learn. One has to mind where to place the arms, the feet, watch the balance, weight transfer, how you take your racquet back, etc.

This is false, cultivated from the late 1920s on, and still very much in vogue in most of the world. The truth is that tennis is a simple game and easy to learn. Just watch the top players to see how loose, natural and fluid they play.

Of course at that high level there can be great effort both to get to a distant ball and to impart velocity to the shot. But, in terms of attention, all the player's concentration is on finding the ball well and playing it back with the racquet as if they were doing it with the hand.

Those players don't worry at all about body position, and use it instinctively solely to help their stroking, either when they are standing or on the run chasing the ball.

This can be easily learned if you simplify things from the beginning, playing while you walk forward, backwards, or to the side, without any attention to your feet, as if you were walking in your kitchen or running at the park. This teaches you immediately a total independence of the arms and hands from the rest of the body.

Unfortunately, standard tennis teaching is opposite. You learn to put a foot here, the other there, and many other complications.

Already in 1968 at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club in California, and then much more widely in 1973, as national coach for Spain, I broke away from tradition and had players focusing mainly on their sight and hands, actively promoting their hand-eye coordination above all else. For increased feel and control, I also pushed hard on ball rotation on groundstrokes and serve.

The results were admirable, and this is the basic reason for the massive Spanish success at the professional and junior levels in the last 28 years.

In 1982 I did the same work in Florianopolis, Brazil, with Carlos Alves, the director of a children's tennis academy. In this program was born and nurtured the game of Gustavo Kuerten, three-time French Open Champion and No. 1 in the world in 2000.

A recent study found similarities in other sports. It was learned that Michael Jordan, perhaps the best athlete in the world during his playing career, focuses all his attention above his waist.

Summing it up, not only in tennis, but in most sports where hand-eye coordination is a must and you run after a ball, the way to get better is to focus only on this and let the rest of the body find its own way in a natural way. This way there is no mental interference with instinct and with movements and balance you learned when you were perhaps two or three years old.

Going back to the tops pros, you can study them following the player rather than the ball, and see how natural they move and play. As if they were doing it just with the hand.

Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Steve Pratt - Editor, Variety
Bob Larson's Daily Tennis News is published 
Monday through Friday except Holidays.
Delivery via e-mail to all countries
Subscription rates are;
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Bob Larson Tennis
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952-920-8947 (voice)  or 952-920-8940 (fax)
E-mail address bob@tennisnews.com
Visit our websites:
www.dailytennis.com
www.tennisnews.com

(c)  Copyright 2010. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis