Monday, November 10, 2008
BUSINESS NEWS
Editor's Note: We have begun our Monday, Thursday publication schedule for November and December. This week and next, we will be publishing some Special Tour Championships Editions that will cover the players and events surrounding the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha and the ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai. Our Classifieds and College News will continue to stay on the Monday Thursday schedule.
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International Economy and More is a Concern in Doha
Behind all the up-front camaraderie and mutual back slapping displayed between sponsors and tennis administrators at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in Doha lies the stark reality that 2009 will be crucial in the continued relationship worth $88 million between the cell phone brand leaders and women's tennis.
Despite the self-congratulatory rhetoric of Larry Scott at the year-ending press conference at the Khalifa International Complex, he knows there are still reservations in the Sony Ericsson hierarchy about a renewal of the record breaking deal.
Scott termed the first of three years in Qatar a great success despite the fact most sessions were played with a backdrop of far too many empty seats, two of the leading personality players failed to last the round-robin course and worldwide interest was only lukewarm.
Aldo Ligouri, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Communications and Public Relations for Sony Ericsson, acted as point person for the sponsors and made it clear that no decisions have yet been made about the deal being renewed. However he did admit that the worldwide economic downturn of late has been particularly painful at Sony Ericsson and the company had adopted a leaner is best strategy in its' worldwide operations.
Speaking alongside Scott at the year-end conference Ligouri did however stress: "We feel very strongly that the 2008 Sony Ericsson Championships here in Doha have been very successful for Sony Ericsson.
"I can confirm that we are fully committed to tennis and we really look forward to continuing the work with the WTA and we're planning some very exciting things with the 2009."
Meanwhile there is still plenty of fine-tuning taking place with the WTA Tour roadmap and Scott has agreed has agreed to reinstate byes in certain events in 2009 after several top players have voiced their fears about top events being scheduled too close together.
"Their concerns related to two issues, primarily," said Scott. "One, a concern that there wasn't enough break between some of our big tournaments, which were back-to-back, primarily players playing in Rome right up against Madrid next year.
"Rome is a 56-draw tournament followed by Madrid which is a 64-draw tournament (beginning) on Saturday.
"Similarly in the fall, Tokyo is a 56-draw tournament followed by Beijing, which is a 64-draw tournament. Those tournaments overlapped very closely. Players were concerned it was too many matches in too few days."
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For Davis Cup Action, Argentina Replaces Cana with Acasuso
Argentina will go with its strengths in the grudge Davis Cup final with Spain as captain Alberto Mancini picked Jose Acasuso instead of the slumping Guillermo Canas.
The November 21-23 date is looming large for the hosts on indoor hardcourt at Mar del Plata.
Acasuso is the lone addition to a side which won a semi-final over Russia in September in Moscow. Argentina is expected to field David Nalbandian, Juan Martin del Potro and Agustin Calleri along with No. 48 Acasuso, whose three ATP titles have all come on clay.
Nalbandian, who finished the season on 11th in the world, has ruled out any appearance as an alternate in Shanghai at the Masters Cup starting at the weekend, preferring to remain fresh for the Davis showdown.
Del Potro, aged 20, is playing in China and will then cross the Pacific to prepare for the date with Spain the next weekend.
Argentina is unbeaten at home for a decade in the team competition, but has never lifted the trophy after losing two finals. Spain is hoping that world No. 1 Rafael Nadal can pull up fit after the Spaniard missed Shanghai with right knee tendinitis.
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Murray is Offended About Not Being Consulted
Andy Murray is clearly the most powerful voice in British tennis so when he stresses his concern about not being consulted over major policy issues in the Lawn Tennis Association, people are forced to take notice.
The latest controversy revolves around the decision to remove respected veteran Paul Hutchins from his current post of Head of Men's Tennis. Murray is close friend of Hutchins' doubles playing son Ross and has regards the former British Davis Cup captain with respect.
Initially the announcement over the Hutchins situation suggested it was a mutual decision between the LTA and the 63 year-old but it transpires that was not the case.
Choosing his words carefully Murray said: "I'm sorry to see him leave." However privately, the Scot is furious with chief executive Roger Draper who, when firing David Felgate as Performance Director more than two years ago, first consulted the then most influential playing voice Tim Henman to gauge whether there was any reservations about the decision.
However Murray has privately admitted to friends that Hutchins was "the only person at the LTA who ever came and asked me if I had opinions on anything".
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Ivanovic Honored by WTA
World No. 4 Ana Ivanovic from Serbia has claimed the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ACES Award for the first time in her career by virtue of an impressive final run of off court promotional activities at the end of the season-long ACES Race. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ACES Award is given to the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote the sport of women’s tennis to fans, media, in the community and beyond.
"I'm very happy to win this fun competition,” said Ivanovic. “Being a professional tennis player is about a lot more than just hitting tennis balls and winning matches. The off-court side of things is also very important, and it's essential that we as athletes do what we can to promote the sport. There have been a lot of enjoyable ACES activities this year. I always enjoy meeting fans, sponsors and other guests when I'm at tournaments.
The ACES award was first introduced in 1995, in memory of former Tour CEO Jerry Diamond. Since then eight players have won the award including Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Amanda Coetzer, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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Seles Ready to Officially Retire
By Charles Bricker
For years Monica Seles resisted submitting to the sort of public farewell that was put on for Pete Sampras at the 2003 U.S. Open, but she now sounds as if she's ready for it.
"For a long time I just wanted to make sure I was really retiring. So maybe now . . .maybe I'm ready for it. But that's up to the USTA," she said Saturday night in an interview before appearing as one of the honored guests at a dinner party in Sarasota, Fla. celebrating Nick Bollettieri's 30 years in coaching.
For years, those close to her have urged her to make herself available for a public farewell, but she has declined.
It was on a warm night in New York that Sampras, appearing with his wife and holding his son in his arms, was honored before the start of the night session on the Arthur Ashe stadium court. Few had seen Sampras as choked up as he was that evening.
Like Seles, it was not Sampras' nature to seek an official "farewell ceremony." He had to be coaxed away from home in Los Angeles and he was glad he attended. Now, it could be Seles' turn, if the USTA chooses to put on a similar night for the nine-time major winner who, though she was not born in the United States, became a citizen and goes down as one of the greatest of American tennis champions.
"Now that I know I'm definitely retired, it would be a lot easier to do something like that," said Seles, 35. "Before, I had those doubts."
Seles had won back to back U.S. Open titles in 1991-92 before being stabbed by a deranged fan in Hamburg, Germany, in the spring of 1993. She came back to tennis two years later, but won only one more major (1996 Australian Open). Her final match was a first round loss at the 2003 French Open.
Once very reclusive, she has broken out of her shell by appearing on Dancing With the Stars TV show, doing radio and TV shows, and writing for Self magazine.
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Federer Using Painkillers to Get Him Through Shanghai
Roger Federer is counting on painkillers and light pre-match training to get him ready to open his Masters Cup title defense against Gilles Simon.
The Swiss revealed that he is still taking medication for back pain which forced him from the Paris Masters more than a week ago. And he's currently not sure of the exact state of his fitness.
"I haven't been pushing it to the very limits because I want to give my back the maximum time of recuperation," he said. "We will see on Monday what's going to happen.
"So far I've been serving without pain, I've been playing without pain. That's definitely a very good sign," said the Swiss chasing his third title in Shanghai and fifth overall at a wrap-up event.
Already, the tournament has been hit by one big-name pullout, with injured Rafael Nadal failing to make the trip. In the first edition at the Qi Zhong stadium three years ago, Chinese officials were not impressed when Nadal, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin all withdrew.
"This problem I have with my back needs as much time as possible. Hopefully I'm just going to get ready for Monday and then things are going to be fine. I've been able to practice without pain. I'm just being cautious as normal," said Federer.
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What do the Stars Who Play in the Evening do During the Day?
When you’re a top player you often find yourself playing late in the evening, because that’s when the crowds are in. But that leaves a long day to fill, trying to keep fresh and alert for the match. So how does Jelena Jankovic deal with it?
"I sleep a lot. I sleep a lot. All I do is sleep. I eat, I sleep, and I play a little bit of tennis just to feel the ball. It's so hard to train and in a proper way (in Doha), because the wind is all over the place, especially playing in the outside courts. The balls are going all over the place. It's very hard to get your rhythm, to work on certain shots, because you just cannot get your timing and you cannot form this kind of automatism. Or how do you call it? To hit many balls like a machine. What can I do? I try my best."
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Zvonareva Can’t Decide if Round Robin is Better
Vera Zvonareva, who two weeks ago was still struggling to reach the Championships in Doha but then went undefeated to reach the semis, was asked if she preferred the current round-robin system with eight players, or the former system of 16 players with a conventional knock-out system.
"I don't know. I need time to think about it," she responded. ""But for me it was interesting to see 16 players to play, you know. I think it's fun, especially right now when women's tennis is at such a high level. You know, sometimes you feel like there are quite a few more players that - especially the race is so close. It's like you think there are quite a few players deserve to be, you know, here as well.
"But also, well, eight players, to see eight players compete against each other in the round robins, it's very interesting as well. I think you see different matchups, different games. It makes the Championships very interesting as well. So I don't know which one is better, which one is more fun. It is just different."
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We Hear—
--that Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario married Jose Santacana recently.
--that Miller Publishing Company was notified by the USTA that the frequency of USTA Magazine was to be reduced from six to four times a year so Miller closed it’s Connecticut office and fired all the employees. USTA Magazine will now be produced by the Tennis Magazine staff in New York.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Tour Championships in Shanghai
WOMEN
Nothing
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Davis Cup Finals in Argentina
WOMEN
Nothing
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Bob Larson’s Stock Report
Friday’s Stock Prices
Stock
Last
Change
Adidas
17.50
+.98
Amer Sports
4.05
-.05
Head
2.10
0.00
K-Swiss
13.28
-.04
Nike
49.41
-1.23
Bob Larson Tennis Stock Index $86.34
* The index is based on the total value of one share of each stock we report daily.
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