Tuesday, October 28, 2008
BUSINESS NEWS
USTA is Receiving Bids to Host Switzerland Davis Cup Tie
By Charles Bricker
Two Texas cities, along with Birmingham, Al., and Greenville, S.C., have submitted letters of intent to the USTA to host the first-round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland, March 6-8, that probably will feature former No. 1 and 13-time Grand Slam titleholder Roger Federer.
Cities have until Friday to submit letters of intent to compete against Birmingham, Greenville, Beaumont and San Antonio, and until Nov. 21 to submit final bids. This Friday, however, is considered by some to be a "soft" deadline. If a particularly advantageous bid comes in after Friday, it's doubtful the USTA wouldn't give it strong consideration.
Minimum bid to host this opening-round tie is $400,000 and with the potential of Andy Roddick, James Blake, Mardy Fish or Sam Querrey for the U.S. facing Federer and his probably singles teammates Stanislas Wawrinka, this could be an easy sellout, even for the 20,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio -- largest of the four indoor facilities that are currently under consideration.
The other proposed sites are the Ford Center in Beaumont (6,500 seating for concerts); the Bi-Low Arena in Greenville (15,000 for hockey); and the Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham (17,000).
***
British Davis Cup Tie to be Held in Scotland
The ongoing success story of world no.4 Andy Murray means Britain is taking the Davis Cup to Scotland for only the third time in 109 years with next March's Euro/African Zone Group One tie against the Ukraine being staged in Glasgow.
The Braehead Arena will stage the tie, March 6 thru 8, and the Lawn Tennis Association will be hoping for more success than the last time this venue was used; two years ago for the meeting with Serbia and Montenegro when the team captained by Jeremy Bates lost 3-2.
John Lloyd will now fill the captain's chair and is mindful that Murray was sick throughout the build up to the tie and only figured in the doubles. "Home Davis Cup ties are a fantastic opportunity to get behind the team and we will be looking for plenty of support when we take on Ukraine next year," said Lloyd.
"We last played them in 2006 in Odessa which was my first tie as captain. It was a tough tie and we will certainly not be underestimating them - the support of a passionate crowd in Scotland could well make all the difference.
"2008 was a disappointing year for us particularly when we had worked so hard to get back into the World Group but the focus is now on fighting to get back among the elite nations in 2010 and I can't wait to get started in March."
Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer of EventScotland, said: "We are really looking forward to welcoming Davis Cup tennis back to Scotland next year. Some 36 years had passed since Scotland last hosted the Davis Cup before we succeeded in bringing the event to Braehead in 2006, so we are delighted to have been able to attract the elite of British tennis back to Scotland within just two years.
"Next year is proving to be a year in which Scotland will host some of the biggest sporting tournaments in the world with top-class rugby, motorsport, golf and now tennis all destined to be part of an impressive calendar of sporting events across the country."
Renfrewshire Council Leader Derek Mackay said: "I am delighted that this important Davis Cup tie is coming to Renfrewshire. Braehead has proved its worth as a venue for the Davis Cup before and it's great to see top class tennis return there. We are committed to encouraging participation in sport at all levels and this high profile match will boost that goal. Attracting international events to Renfrewshire is also good for tourism and good for our economy."
***
Study Finds Line Judges Can Make Mistakes Seeing the Bouncing Ball as Out
The advent of Hawk-Eye and other computerized electronic line calling technology has spawned a fascinating new study at the University of California Davis which has discovered professional tennis players should bear in mind they are far more likely to be successful challenging 'out' calls than those deemed 'in'.
David Whitney, Assistant Professor in UC Davis' Center for the Brain and Mind set in the Central Valley of Northern California, led the study that was this week published in the Current Biology Journal.
Whitney and his research team found the human eye and brain have a tendency to see a bouncing tennis ball landing outside the court rather than inside the line. Consequently umpires and line judges are more likely to make mistakes when deciding whether a ball is out.
Futhermore the researchers maintain these findings can be exploited tactically by tennis players, who can only challenge a decision a limited number of times. The theory maintains players should dispute controversial "out" calls and ignore "in" calls, even if the player thinks the "in" call is wrong.
"The visual system faces a big challenge when trying to code the locations of objects so we can perceive them," said Whitney. "Because players are allowed to continue challenging calls as long as the challenges are correct, players should predominantly challenge those calls that are consistent with the perceptual error revealed here," the scientists said. "Players who make better use of their challenges benefit more."
Basically these findings have emerged from research into how the human visual system monitors a moving object. The eye tends to see a moving object bounce further in the direction of the object's movement. In tennis, there are two kinds of errors, primarily made when a ball is called in or out of play. The ball could bounce in the court but be called out, or bounce out and be called in, the scientists said.
If tennis referees were bias-free they would be equally likely to make each of these two errors. However, the study of line-call errors at Wimbledon found a significant bias for wrong "out" calls.
From more than 4,000 tennis points chosen at random from the past two Wimbledon tournaments, the scientists found 83 incorrect line calls. Of these, 70 fell in to the predicted pattern, indicating that the referees suffered from the human perceptual bias.
***
Last Two Doubles Teams Qualify for Doha
The two doubles pairings of Kveta Peschke (CZE) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS), followed by Katerina Srebotnik (SLO) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) are the third and fourth doubles teams to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, November 4-9, 2008. This completes the doubles line-up for the $4.45m year-end event.
***
Pennetta Skips Quebec to Honor Luzzi
Flavia Pennetta, cancelled plans to fly to Quebec and assuredly earn the right to qualify for Doha, and flew instead, to Arrezo to attend the funeral of departed friend Federico Luzzi who died Saturday of leukemia.
She said she wanted to say goodbye to him and give him one more kiss.
***
Hall of Fame to Honor USTA President Jane Brown Grimes
The International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum will pay tribute to United States Tennis Association (USTA) President Jane Brown Grimes on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at Doubles (located at 783 5th Avenue) in New York.
Network-TV tennis announcer Mary Carillo will serve as the event’s Mistress of Ceremonies. President of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Tony Trabert is the Honorary Chairman of this special tribute. Joining Carillo and Trabert will be U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe as a featured speaker. Proceeds from the event will benefit the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Annual Fund.
"The International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum is pleased to host this recognition dinner and tribute in honor of Jane Brown Grimes as she completes her outstanding term as Chair of the USTA,” said Chris Clouser, Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
***
A Frustrated Safin Considers Retiring From Tennis
It was probably more in frustration than fact, but Marat Safin has floated the possibility of retirement after his first-round loss in Paris to Juan Monaco
The 28-year-old Russian, a two-time Grand Slam champion, may actually just be pleased to have ended a another poor season, and could easily turn his remarks on their head after a few days or weeks of reflection.
"I need time to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis in a couple of months and then I will see," said the Paris Bercy champion in 2000, 2002 and 2004.
"I will make a decision and see what I want to do. If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over."
***
Murray is Playing Great Tennis and Getting Ready to Improve
The rest of men's tennis currently views Andy Murray with trepidation and Sam Querrey, his first round opponent at this week's BNP Paribas Masters, spoke for the rest of the rank-and-file players on the ATP tour when he said the Scot is right now arguably the best player in the world.
Murray arrived in Paris with back to back titles at the Madrid Masters and last week's St. Petersburg Open. He has won 30 of his past 34 matches, 12 straight since losing the US Open final to Roger Federer, and is also on the verge of taking his prize money earning through the $3million mark for the year and $5million for his career.
But the 21 year-old from Dunblane is far from satisfied and intends to begin the 2009 season in even more formidable shape. He has already worked overtime on his physical conditioning with his support team of coach Miles Maclagan, conditioning trainers Matt Little and Jez Green and physio Andy Ireland.
Once the last ball is hit in the upcoming Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Murray will take the briefest of rests before heading to his training base of Miami and begin his preparation work for another year.
"To get ready for Australia [the next grand-slam tournament, in January], I want to gain another three kilos of strength and muscle," he said. "If I can stay fit and work hard, I hope to have an even better year next year."
Both Murray's Davis Cup captain John Lloyd and his predecessor as British no.1 Tim Henman believe great things are ahead in the next 12 months. ""He is millimeters away from winning a grand slam," insisted Lloyd.”It would not surprise me if he wins one next year. I still think he's two years away from playing his best tennis - which is a scary thought.
"I think he's very much a learner. He's very astute in that he picks up things all the time and he knows what he needs to get that extra step. He's been gradually chipping away at the top three guys - and in a lot of cases beating the top three guys - but he's taking it all on board.
"Winning back to back titles is what the Nadals and the Federers do. You can look at it and think 'Jeez, what a long year' and may be they're not 100% and maybe they're not mentally as fresh as they would like, but they still grind out some titles. I wouldn't say Andy ground out St Petersburg because he won it comfortably, but the point was that he didn't take his foot off after winning Madrid and just went on again to show that there's plenty more left in there.
"He has had a quite remarkable year when you look at it. He's won the titles and made the final of the US Open, quarters at Wimbledon - it's remarkable and it's really exciting to watch it and be around it when he does this stuff."
Henman was equally enthusiastic. "Andy is easily going to win more titles than I did," said the player amassed 11 trophies from a 12 year career, a figure that Murray is already just four behind. "When I was 21, I had just broken into the 100, and look at what Andy is doing now at the same age."
It's great that he has been winning all these titles, but the next step up for Andy is to win a grand slam, and the way that he has been playing recently, I think he is going to give himself plenty of opportunities in the future. I think it's possible that Andy could win more than one grand slam title.
"Andy is physically stronger now, and he's mentally stronger too – there is a calm about him on the court that wasn't there before. There aren't the same emotional ups and downs that we used to see before. That's great to see, and I think that some credit for that should go to the team around him."
***
Bob Bryan’s Shoulder is Major Concern as Paris Begins
Bob Bryan's problem left shoulder could be a worry for Paris as well as Shanghai, with the urgent rehab the main order of the day.
The bros, with five titles in 2008 including the US Open and three Masters Series, hope to finish No. 1 for the season but are under heavy pressure from Wimbledon winners Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.
The Bryan twins recently lost sponsor Countrywide Financial, the mortgage company taken over by Bank of America in the midst of the current financial crisis.
***
We Hear—
--that the Daytona Beach, Florida, tennis center is seeking a tennis academy to set up shop at the 24-clay court facility.
--that Yoni Erlich's injury may prevent him and Andy Ram from going to Shanghai for the ATP finals and another doubles team gets into the event.
***
THIS WEEK
MEN
Paris
WOMEN
Quebec City
***
NEXT WEEK
MEN
No events scheduled
WOMEN
Doha
***
Bob Larson’s Stock Report
Monday’s Stock Prices
Stock
Last
Change
Adidas
15.90
-1.90
Amer Sports
3.55
-.60
Head
2.10
0.00
K-Swiss
12.22
+.12
Nike
46.55
-1.24
Bob Larson Tennis Stock Index $80.32
* The index is based on the total value of one share of each stock we report daily.
***
Results
For complete ATP and WTA results, please see our web site at www.tennisnews.com
Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Bob Larson's Daily Tennis is published
Monday through Friday except Holidays
Monday and Thursday in November and December.
Delivery via e-mail to all countries
Subscription rates are; $97USD a year,
$57USD for Six months, $37USD for Three months.
Bob Larson Tennis
P.O. Box 24256
Edina, MN 55424 USA
952-920-8947 (voice) or 952-920-8940 (fax)
E-mail address bob@tennisnews.com
Visit our website at: www.tennisnews.com
(c) Copyright 2008. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis
Subscribe