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Bob Larson's Tennis Celebs: January 29th Issue

by mltennis 29. January 2009 09:58

Thursday, January 29, 2008

Bob Larson's
TENNIS CELEBS

IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE...

News
Tennis Shorts
WTA Scheduled To Play
Covers
Sightings
Appearing Soon
Money Mountain
He Said... She Said
Happy Birthday

NEWS

Jankovic is Watching to See Who Will Take Her Place at #1

Jelena Jankovic will watch as three pretenders struggle in the closing days of the Australian Open to try and seize her world No. 1 ranking. But any newcomer will need to win the title at the weekend to pull off the replacement feat.
Once Jankovic went out in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli, the chase opened up, with Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams all in with a chance.
Jankovic is not sweating the drama, instead looking long-term at the start of another long season. "I'm not really thinking about that (ranking). It doesn't matter because it's just the beginning of the year, and there are many more tournaments to play.
"Maybe the ranking will change, but it's not important what you do now, it's the whole year ahead of us. There are a lot of tournaments, a lot of battles out there.
"At least for me, the most important thing is how you finish, not how you begin."
***
Hewitt is Considering a Move to USA

Lleyton Hewitt may be pondering a move to a US base in order to cut down his travel time as he struggles to save his tennis career.
Hewitt, 27, wife Bec Cartwright and the couple's two children could be set for a shift of continent within months, according to Melbourne's Herald Sun.
Hewitt could combine house-hunting with his February ATP schedule which should take him to San Jose, Memphis, Indian Wells and Houston.
It's looking like a strategy to dispel any notion that the former number one might soon retire after his ranking dropped out of the Top 100 following a first-round Australian Open exit.
"We're trying to cut down on the amount of travel Lleyton has," manager David Drysdale told the newspaper. "With Lleyton coming back from a hip injury and committed to a full schedule, it makes sense if he can spend less time traveling.
"He's such a family-orientated person and that's why he's always come back to Australia in between tournaments. If he had an overseas base, he could come home for a couple of days between tournaments to spend time with his family."
Hewitt has always refused to leave Australia, returning first to Adelaide and later to Sydney at every opportunity. He also has skipped the autumn European indoor ATP season for years and has made limited appearances on clay in the spring in the Northern hemisphere.
***

Turnbull Inducted into Australian Hall of Fame

Former world No.3 Wendy Turnbull was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame Monday when a bronze statue was unveiled by Tennis Australia President, Geoff Pollard. It will later be installed in Garden Square at Melbourne Park alongside other greats of Australian tennis.
Turnbull’s consistency on the tour was exceptional, achieving a top 10 year-end world ranking for eight consecutive years (1977–1984) with a 478-250 career record.
In doubles she paired with Kerrie Reid to win the 1978 Wimbledon crown, with Betty Stove to win the 1979 US and French titles, and with Rosemary Casals to win the 1982 US Open and accumulating 55 doubles titles (653-225) earning more than $2.7 million in career prize money before retiring in 1989.
Her record in Fed Cup for 12 years from 1977 was an impressive 46-16 (17-8 singles, 29-8 doubles), and she was captain or coach of the team from 1985 to 1993.

***

The Australians Have Embraced Dokic
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - All right, the lyrics weren’t exactly "Melancholy Baby," but on Friday a Rod Laver Arena crowd was raising its voice in song to Jelena Dokic:
"We love you, Dokic, we do,
"We love you, Dokic, we do,
"We love you, Dokic, really we do.."
Following her 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 conquest of Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, her Melbourne audience had reason to love Dokic even more. She played special tennis that was of a sort that could make her an Australian Open champion if she can maintain such a standard.
But for the woman who has borne so much, including an abusive father, depression, weight problems and the collapse of what once was a career of the highest promise, there is a new matter for her to address. In its Saturday editions, the Herald Sun in Melbourne on its front page published a story tying Dokic to a deceased known drug trafficker.
He was Anthony Giannarelli, who died of cancer late last year. Giannarelli pleaded guilty in Victoria County Court in 2007 to importing 34,310 pseudoephedrine tablets from Malaysia. The tablets had an estimated street value of $171,500, according to the Melbourne newspaper. But a judge, aware that Giannarelli was terminally ill, imposed a three-year suspended sentence and a $55,000 fine.
Giannarelli is understood to have served as a patron of Dokic, providing an apartment for her and her Croatian boy friend in a Melbourne high-rise and supplying her with a dietician. Giannarelli's uncle, Max Novelli, told the Herald Sun that Dokic had an agreement with Giannarelli to repay him $60,000 once she was beginning to prosper on the tennis tour.
Having progressed to the fourth round, Dokic is assured of winning at least $88,000.
"Johnny did a hell of a lot for her and there's no reason for her to do the wrong thing," Novelli said. "We were going to wait until she was finished in the Open to see what her intentions are. But it's not about the money. The point is, she's got to do the right thing."
Dokic is represented by the International Management Group. An IMG executive, David Malina, said he was unaware of the player's association with Giannarelli. Dokic had no immediate comment.
The possibility of Dokic winning here is quite real to anyone who witnessed her triumph over the promising Wozniacki. Further, Dokic's draw became a most favorable one when No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic was dismissed by Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. Kleybanova, Dokic's fourth-round rival, is a big woman who does not move well. Get past her and Dokic, competing here as a wild card, would be in the quarterfinals in a half of the draw that is not exactly bristling with talent. Jelena Jankovic is the ranking figure in this section.
Australia has not had a woman in the final of these championships since 1980, when Wendy Turnbull was a finalist. Hana Mandlikova defeated Turnbull 6-0, 7-5.
***

Dokic Says No Possibility to Re-Unite with Her Dad

Jelena Dokic won't consider re-uniting with eccentric father Damir despite the outside chance that the pushy parent might fly to Melbourne as his estranged daughter progresses at the Australian Open.
Serb-born Australian Dokic has knocked back a plea from her tennis bad dad, who apologized during a newspaper interview from Belgrade for almost wrecking her life and her tennis back in 2001 when the family upped stakes from Oz..
Reports of any reconciliation have left Dokic cold. "I haven't had any contact (with him)," said the former No. 4. "I've said always my whole story with him is finished. It would have to be an unbelievable miracle for him to change. I don't see that happening.
"I have my tennis and I have my life. I want to do it that way. Knowing him, I just don't see any possibilities. We are really different and really disagree on pretty much everything."

***

Verdasco Grateful for adidas Assistance

Australian Open semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco has been explaining how he got to travel to Las Vegas and work with Andre Agassi’s former fitness guru Gil Reyes.
"I need to say thanks because I didn't say before to adidas. Is because of my brand, no, that I had this chance to be with Gil in Las Vegas. You know, there is a development program for the players of adidas, you know, with Gil Reyes.
They help us so much. Some players, they don't like maybe or they don't want to do it. But me, because I don't have coach, you know, I decide to go there. Also because Agassi was my idol when I was young, I decide that it was, for sure, a good experience, that I will learn so much. So I took that decision. Right now I'm feeling much better than before. They help me so much. They treat me unbelievable there. You know, I can't wait to go again there to start practicing again."
Verdasco also revealed what advice Agassi gave him when they got together there. "It was about a lot of things. It was about the tournaments, how I should organize my year of tournaments. You know, I was asking him, ‘This tournament, you think I need to play, I don't need to play, I need to practice these weeks, this week no’.
“He was just giving me advices about, you know, what he thinks about all this, about what tournaments I need to play or which weeks I need to practice and be ready for the big tournaments. Also, after, about tactics, no, and about my game, how he thinks that I should play more and take more advantage of my game. You know, we was speaking for two hours, so we spoke a lot. But he really help me so much. I'm so happy to had that conversation with him."
***
Connors to Broadcast US Open for Tennis Channel

Friends of Jimmy Connors maintain the former world no.1 and five times US Open champion had been both bored and acutely aware that he finally missed tennis after his coaching relationship with Andy Roddick came to a close ten months ago. Now he will back at Flushing Meadows this August in a working capacity.
Tennis Channel will take over from USA Network as the daily cable broadcaster of the US Open and 56 year-old Connors will be in the Arthur Ashe Stadium booth as the team's joint lead analyst with Martina Navratilova. Acting as anchor between them will be Bill Macatee who has been a US Open fixture for nearly two decades.
"I'm very happy to join Tennis Channel's on-air team during its first US Open coverage, and to work with Bill Macatee, Martina Navratilova and the rest of the team," said Connors who made a broadcasting comeback with Britain's BBC at Wimbledon in 2005 but left after a couple of years on financial grounds – the widely held belief was he found what John McEnroe was earning and when not given parity, he decided to withdraw his services.
After opening its coverage of the year's fourth Grand Slam on Monday, September 1 the Tennis Channel plans more than 60 hours of live coverage. Each evening the network will also screen the official hour-long US Open highlights show at 11 p.m. ET.
Beyond the booth, Connors will also have a presence on the network’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, and assist with promotional efforts for the inaugural US Open coverage.
***

Some of Australia’s Greats are Concerned with Lack of Aussie Stars

To a team of legendary Australian tennis legends including John Newcombe, Tony Roche and Patrick Rafter, the decline of the sport's status in their home country has gone too far.
Lleyton Hewitt is the only Australian male currently in the world's top 100 and all home grown contestants were out of the men's singles by the end of the second round. Admittedly the exploits of Jelena Dokic allowed the home nation some excitement following her return to the fold, but things overall are at a low ebb.
Earlier this month at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Roche made a vow to speak on the disappointing state of Australian tennis, and many of the former players have grown a little disenchanted about the lack of involvement as things have eroded.
So the board members of Tennis Australia along with Chief Executive Steve Wood and Craig Tiley, who doubles as Director of Tennis as Tournament Director of the Australian Open, met up with the illustrious group that also include Jason Stoltenberg, Peter McNamara to focus on what might be done to improve things.
The likes of Paul McNamee, a former employee of Tennis Australia and Pat Cash, a long term critic of the body, opted not to attend. "A handful of us got together with a few of the Tennis Australia board members," confirmed Stoltenberg. "It's in their hands now as to what they do with it from here."
Overall the mood of the meeting is that many of the younger players need mentoring by proven winners from the past. This week it was announced that McNamara would begin a trial period as coach to Australia's second string singles player Chris Guccione whose inability to crack the big time is painted as indicative of the nation's plight.
McNamara, now based in Germany, maintains that he benefited from such mentoring at the beginning of his career. "I can remember Newk (John Newcombe) taking me away to play the French, Italian, German Open qualifying," McNamara said. "I didn't win a match, but Newk took me away. It was the greatest experience of my life and I learned something."
***

Laver Decrees Australia Needs More Outstanding Juniors

Rocket Rod Laver fears that Australian teenaged up-and-comer Bernard Tomic may have to go it alone in the professional ranks with no quality young rivals to spur his progress at home.
Laver, last men to win the Grand Slam four decades ago, said the he still hopes for the best for the youngster as Australia struggles to return as a force in the game
"We're all hoping players like Tomic can come through and get some experience and still start carrying the flag," said the man whose name adorns the showcase stadium at Melbourne Park.
"You need more than one junior coming along. You need a whole group of players at all various ages. Champions breed champions, that's the best way of saying it. That's the way it was and we've lost that.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a good group of juniors coming along."
Laver, who lives in southern California, said that he believes Tomic has what it takes to help the Australia, which now has no men's player in the Top 100.
"I saw him a couple of years ago and he was just 13 or 14, he looked like he had a lot of good talent. We're all hoping players like Tomic can come through and get some experience and still start carrying the flag.
"But you need more than one junior coming along. You need a whole group of players at all various ages. Champions breed champions, that's the best way of saying it. That's the way it was and we've lost that."
***

Roddick Questions Part of On-Court Trainer Attention

There is a school of thought out there that players should not receive attention for cramping, as that suggests a lack of proper conditioning and perhaps inadequate training and preparation. Andy Roddick watched as Novak Djokovic was treated, and he believes these rules need to be changed.
"Let me preface this so no one twists it," he said. "Everything Novak did today was well within his rights and the rules. It's simply about my opinion of a rule. I don't think you should be able to - if you want to get something on a switchover for cramping, I think that would be okay. Actually, one of the trainers came and talked to me afterwards, and he said his idea, but you have to get it put through a council, is if you're going to take that for cramping, an extended break, make it a rule that you have to do it before your own serve. I thought that was a pretty well-thought-out idea.
"But as for physical condition, it's very easy to say, you know, it's one injury, but you can get rubbed for a cramp - I looked over and I was confused, because I thought it was one injury per timeout, and I saw a calf, a neck, and an arm. But I guess cramping is one condition. There’s obviously some wiggle room, a little bit of gray area there.
Hopefully we'll be able to do something about it. I think the one that you have to take it before your own serve, and if you don't want to do that then you concede the game until it is your serve, I think that's a good idea."
***

Philippoussis’ Unusual Training Methods Seem to be Working for Him

The unorthodox nightclub training regimen of Mark Philippoussis may be working as the former major finalist progresses in the Legends event at the Australian Open.
The 32-year-old, always a night owl even in his prime playing days, prefers busting a move with a variety of lithe young lovelies to the more conventional early nights and hard training.
To that end, the man about town as been noted at a number of nightspots during the fortnight, yet still finds time to make it to the court.
Philippoussis, whose career faded away due to repeated knee injuries, won an opening doubles match with Frenchman Henri Leconte the day after leaving a Melbourne dance spot into the wee hours with a new girlfriend, a noted local stylist and hairdresser.
A former girlfriend of 11 months with whom the serial Lothario split just weeks ago is said by the Melbourne tabloid press to be devastated and losing weight in the wake of the breakup.

***

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TENNIS SHORTS

USTA Names Fed Cup Team to Host Argentina

The USTA and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced that Bethanie Mattek, the third-highest ranked American woman in the world, will make her Fed Cup debut alongside Liezel Huber, the world’s No. 1 doubles player, Jill Craybas, and fellow first-time Fed Cupper Melanie Oudin when they face Argentina in the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinal February 7-8 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.
Huber, 32, became a U.S. citizen on July 25, 2007, with the hopes of playing for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic Games. She finished the 2007 season tied for No. 1 in the world doubles rankings and hasn’t surrendered the top spot since.
Mattek, 23, will make her inaugural appearance on the U.S. Fed Cup team. She had the best season of her career in 2008, rising over 70 spots in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, her best showing in a major, before losing to Serena Williams.
Craybas, 34, will be making her first appearance for the U.S. since the 2006 World Group semifinal tie against Belgium, which the U.S. lost. She made her Fed Cup debut in 2004 against Austria on red clay and owns a 2-4 career Fed Cup record, with a 1-3 record in singles.
Oudin, 17, will also be making her U.S. Fed Cup team competitive debut against Argentina, as she was named a future Fed Cupper for the 2007 World Group semifinal versus Russia in Stowe, Vt. Oudin officially turned pro after the 2008 US Open Junior Championships, where she reached the semifinals as the No. 2 seed.
***

Federer’s Plans for 2009

What are Roger Federer’s aims this year? Nothing much. Just to win all the majors and get back to No. 1.
"More maybe kind of the thing starting the year well at Australian Open, winning maybe potentially your first French, getting Wimbledon back after the epic I had with Rafa there, and then winning my sixth at the US Open," he said after reaching the Australian Open final.
"That's kind of what's in my mind. And then with good play at the ATP events, at the Masters Series, which I didn't play great last year in, I hope to pick up few of those to get my No. 1 ranking back. That's my mindset going into a new season
***

Roddick is Gaining Wisdom

Andy Roddick is working on improving his game with new coach Larry Stefanki. But getting better when you’re a teenage upstart is very different to doing it in your mid-20’s.
"I think at 18 and 19 it just kind of happens," said Roddick. "It's like a natural kind of progression. You grow into your body. At 25, 26 you got to try to get creative any way you can and analyze, and be a little bit more self-aware about what you can try to do. I think at 25, 26, for a lot of people, it's tough to kind of get the motivation and kind of keep going and keep at it.
But, you know, as long as I decide to play this game, I'm going to do what I can to try to improve out there. There's no reason for me not to."

***

Dellacqua is Offended by TV Commentator’s Remarks

Casey Dellacqua has lashed back at former Lleyton Hewitt coach Roger Rasheed, who said that she could do with the loss of a few extra pounds.
Rasheed, now coach of Gael Monfils and a television commentator, added that the Australian No. 2 was not maximizing her fitness.
While the solid Dellacqua can't be called svelte, her camp insists that at an official 150 lbs on a short frame, she is not overweight.
"If I'm a girl and I've broken into the world of tennis and I've made $500,000 for the year, wouldn't I just try and get into the most perfect nick I could to actually excel?" Rasheed said during a radio interview.
Dellacqua returned serve, calling the remarks "ill-informed" and "self-serving".
"He has no idea about my training program, my fitness level or my injury history," she told the Herald-Sun. "I find it both amazing and totally self-serving that he now chooses to share his ill-informed analysis with the Australian public."
Added 57th-ranked Dellacqua, who lost in the first round: "I've never met Roger Rasheed. He does not know me or my tennis. He does not know my training techniques, my background or my personality."

***

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WTA SCHEDULED TO PLAY

Upcoming schedules as of January 19, 2009
1. Jelena Jankovic - Dubai
2. Serena Williams - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
3. Dinara Safina - Dubai
4. Elena Dementieva - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
5. Ana Ivanovic - Dubai
6. Venus Williams - Dubai, Acapulco
7. Vera Zvonareva - Pattaya City, Dubai
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Dubai
9. Maria Sharapova - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
10. Agnieszka Radwanska - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
11. Nadia Petrova - Pattaya City, Dubai
12. Caroline Wozniacki - Pattaya City, Memphis
13. Flavia Pennetta - Bogota, Acapulco
14. Victoria Azarenka - Pattaya City, Memphis
15. Patty Schnyder - Paris [Indoors]
16. Alize Cornet - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
17. Marion Bartoli - Dubai
18. Anna Chakvetadze - Dubai
19. Dominika Cibulkova - Pattaya City, Dubai
20. Katarina Srebotnik - Paris [Indoors], Dubai

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COVERS

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A Reminder to Our Readers

We wish to remind our readers that our all-day tennis newswire is available to all tennis fans.
Just go to www.tennisnews.com anytime throughout the day for the latest tennis news. We surf the internet all day and post links to stories in newspapers and electronic media around the world. “We surf the net so you don’t have to."

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SIGHTINGS

Send your player sightings to: cort@tennisnews.com

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APPEARING SOON

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MONEY MOUNTAIN

2009 Prize Money Earnings

MEN (January 19)

1 Murray, Andy

$185,470

2 Roddick, Andy

96,250

3 Stepanek, Radek

82,800

4 Nalbandian, David

80,275

5 Del Potro, Juan Martin

78,000

6 Cilic, Marin

73,000

7 Nadal, Rafael

57,150

8T Federer, Roger

50,900

8T Monfils, Gael

50,900

10 Nieminen, Jarkko

50,550

WOMEN (January 19)

1

Dementieva, Elena

$136,325

2

Safina, Dinara

52,500

3

Kvitova, Petra

38,725

4

Azarenka, Victoria

37,628

5

Sugiyama, Ai

32,650

6

Williams, Serena

28,100

7

Bartoli, Marion

23,300

8

Benesova, Iveta

22,705

9

Peng, Shuai

22,350

10

Wozniacki, Caroline

21,265

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HE SAID... SHE SAID...

"I have my tennis and I have my life. I want to do it that way. Knowing him, I just don't see any possibilities. We are really different and really disagree on pretty much everything." Jelena Dokic commenting on reuniting with her father.

**********

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

February

Lucie Safarova
4
1987

Charlie Pasarell
12
1944

Juan Carlos Ferrero
12
1980

Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere
14
1967

John McEnroe
16
1959

Cara Black
17
1979

**********

Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Bob Larson's Tennis Celebs is published weekly.
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Bob Larson Tennis
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Daily Tennis News: January 29th

by mltennis 29. January 2009 05:54

Thursday, January 29, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

ITF Announces Fed Cup Teams World Group February 7-8

WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND

RUSSIA v CHINA, P.R.
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, RUS (hard – indoors)
Russia
Elena Dementieva
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Anna Chakvetadze
Alisa Kleybanova
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

China, P.R.
Jie Zheng
Zi Yan
Shuai Zhang
Tian-Tian Sun
Captain: Qi Zhang

FRANCE v ITALY
Venue: Palais Des Sports, Orleans, FRA (hard – indoors)
France
Alize Cornet
Amelie Mauresmo
Nathalie Dechy
Severine Bremond
Captain: Nicolas Escude

Italy
Francesca Schiavone
Flavia Pennetta
Sara Errani
Roberta Vinci
Captain: Corrado Barazzutti

USA v ARGENTINA
Venue: Surprise Racketball & Tennis Complex, Surprise, AZ, USA (hard – outdoors)
USA
Bethanie Mattek
Jill Craybas
Melanie Oudin
Liezel Huber
Captain: Mary-Joe Fernandez

Argentina
Gisela Dulko
Betina Jozami
Soledad Esperon
Aranza Salut
Captain: Ricardo Rivera

CZECH REPUBLIC v SPAIN
Venue: Brno Exhibition Centre, Brno, CZE (carpet – indoors)
Czech Republic
Iveta Benesova
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Safarova
Kveta Peschke
Captain: Petr Pala

Spain
Carla Suarez Navarro
Nuria Llagostera Vives
Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez
Lourdes Dominguez-Lino
Captain: Miguel Margets Lobato

WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND
SLOVAK REPUBLIC v BELGIUM
Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, SVK (hard – indoors)

Slovak Republic
Dominika Cibulkova
Daniela Hantuchova
Magdalena Rybarikova
Lenka Wienerova
Captain: Matej Liptak

Belgium
Yanina Wickmayer
Kirsten Flipkens
Tamaryn Hendler
Sofie Oyen
Captain: Sabine Appelmans

SWITZERLAND v GERMANY
Venue: Saalsporthalle, Zurich, SUI (hard – indoors)
Switzerland
Patty Schnyder
Timea Bacsinszky
Stefanie Voegele
Nicole Riner
Captain: Severin Luthi

Germany
Sabine Lisicki
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Kristina Barrois
Tatjana Malek
Captain: Barbara Rittner

SERBIA v JAPAN
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, SRB (hard – indoors)
Serbia
Jelena Jankovic
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Jovanovic
Bojana Jovanovski
Captain: Dejan Vranes

Japan
Ai Sugiyama
Ayumi Morita
Aiko Nakamura
Rika Fujiwara
Captain: Minoru Ueda

UKRAINE v ISRAEL
Venue: Palace of Sports “Lokomotiv”, Kharkiv, UKR (hard – indoors)
Ukraine
Alona Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
Mariya Koryttseva
Olga Savchuk
Captain: Volodymyr Bogdanov

Israel
Shahar Peer
Tzipora Obziler
Julia Glushko
Chen Astrogo
Captain: Lior Mor

***
WTA Tour Announces Changes to 2009 Calendar

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced the upgrade of the Warsaw Open to Premier event status and the addition of new International level tournaments in Bad Gastein, Austria and Marbella, Spain to the 2009 Tour Calendar.
The Warsaw Open, which will feature $600,000 in prize money, will move into the week of May 18 prior to Roland Garros, previously occupied by the German Open in Berlin. The Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein will take place the week of July 20 (formerly occupied by the Warsaw Open) and the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella will take place the week of April 6.
The 2009 Tour calendar features 55 tournaments (inclusive of the four Grand Slams, which are not operated by the Tour) across 31 countries.
The international breadth of tournaments includes 26 events in Europe, 15 events in the Americas and 14 events in the Asia-Pacific region.
Seventeen combined events include Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing, Sydney, Moscow, Eastbourne, New Haven, Brisbane, s’Hertogenbosch, Estoril, Memphis and Acapulco, along with the four Grand Slams. Seven back-to-back men/women events include Dubai, Tokyo, Rome, Cincinnati, Canada, Auckland and Bastad. 2009 will also see new tournaments in Madrid, Brisbane, Monterrey, Ponte Vedra Beach, Bastad, Warsaw, Osaka, Bad Gastein and Marbella.
***
USTA Names Fed Cup Team to Host Argentina

The USTA and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced that Bethanie Mattek, the third-highest ranked American woman in the world, will make her Fed Cup debut alongside Liezel Huber, the world’s No. 1 doubles player, Jill Craybas, and fellow first-time Fed Cupper Melanie Oudin when they face Argentina in the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinal February 7-8 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.
Huber, 32, became a U.S. citizen on July 25, 2007, with the hopes of playing for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic Games. She finished the 2007 season tied for No. 1 in the world doubles rankings and hasn’t surrendered the top spot since.
Mattek, 23, will make her inaugural appearance on the U.S. Fed Cup team. She had the best season of her career in 2008, rising over 70 spots in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, her best showing in a major, before losing to Serena Williams.
Craybas, 34, will be making her first appearance for the U.S. since the 2006 World Group semifinal tie against Belgium, which the U.S. lost. She made her Fed Cup debut in 2004 against Austria on red clay and owns a 2-4 career Fed Cup record, with a 1-3 record in singles.
Oudin, 17, will also be making her U.S. Fed Cup team competitive debut against Argentina, as she was named a future Fed Cupper for the 2007 World Group semifinal versus Russia in Stowe, Vt. Oudin officially turned pro after the 2008 US Open Junior Championships, where she reached the semifinals as the No. 2 seed.
***
Even When Free, It Isn’t Always Popular

A welcome addition to the Australian Open a few years ago was the Garden Area, where many hundreds of fans without tickets to Rod Laver Arena could lounge around in chairs or on the grass and watch the action on a giant screen - like Henman Hill at Wimbledon.
When Jelena Dokic played Dinara Safina a few nights ago the space was packed with people. But then it wasn’t 43 degrees C. (109 F.). When outside matches suspended and the roof closed over Rod Laver Arena, there were no takers for sitting out in the heat for the semi-final matchup between Safina and Vera Zvonareva.
***
Some of Australia’s Greats are Concerned with Lack of Aussie Stars

To a team of legendary Australian tennis legends including John Newcombe, Tony Roche and Patrick Rafter, the decline of the sport's status in their home country has gone too far.
Lleyton Hewitt is the only Australian male currently in the world's top 100 and all home grown contestants were out of the men's singles by the end of the second round. Admittedly the exploits of Jelena Dokic allowed the home nation some excitement following her return to the fold, but things overall are at a low ebb.
Earlier this month at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Roche made a vow to speak on the disappointing state of Australian tennis, and many of the former players have grown a little disenchanted about the lack of involvement as things have eroded.
So the board members of Tennis Australia along with Chief Executive Steve Wood and Craig Tiley, who doubles as Director of Tennis as Tournament Director of the Australian Open, met up with the illustrious group that also include Jason Stoltenberg, Peter McNamara to focus on what might be done to improve things.
The likes of Paul McNamee, a former employee of Tennis Australia and Pat Cash, a long term critic of the body, opted not to attend. "A handful of us got together with a few of the Tennis Australia board members," confirmed Stoltenberg. "It's in their hands now as to what they do with it from here."
Overall the mood of the meeting is that many of the younger players need mentoring by proven winners from the past. This week it was announced that McNamara would begin a trial period as coach to Australia's second string singles player Chris Guccione whose inability to crack the big time is painted as indicative of the nation's plight.
McNamara, now based in Germany, maintains that he benefited from such mentoring at the beginning of his career. "I can remember Newk (John Newcombe) taking me away to play the French, Italian, German Open qualifying," McNamara said. "I didn't win a match, but Newk took me away. It was the greatest experience of my life and I learned something."
***
Nadal Resents New Anti-Doping Rules

Rafael Nadal is prepared to join a court case being considered by nearly 70 elite athletes over what are considered obtrusive new rules laid down from January 1 to try and catch dope cheats.
Spain's world No. 1 is fuming about the system, which requires sportsmen to indicate to world doping bosses where they can be found for one hour a day, every day of the year, in or out of season.
"It's a lack of respect for privacy," said Nadal. "It's a disgrace, particularly knowing what our sport is like."
The new code from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has a number of Big Brother aspects which do not sit well. Three violations - not being at the specified location if drug testers come calling - in 18 months can lead to sanctions, including possible suspension.
Already flirting with danger is doubles ace Mike Bryan, who has two strikes against him, and says that one more misdemeanor is "a little scary."
The angry Nadal says he does not feel that the constant monitoring is necessary. "Even my mother or my uncle do not know where I am sometimes, so having to send a message or to be scared all day in case there is a last-minute change seems to me to be a complete exaggeration."
In a work-round solution, he submits his hotel room as a fixed location from 7 a.m., possibly the only time he can be assured of being anywhere.
Nadal once had a visit from the doping police at home in Mallorca, the officials arriving in early morning after the Spaniard had returned from a late-night out with friends.
"It is an intolerable hunt. We have proved that we are a clean sport. You can count (doping) cases with one hand," said Nadal, vice-president of the ATP Players Council headed by Roger Federer.
***
Laver Decrees Australia Needs More Outstanding Juniors

Rocket Rod Laver fears that Australian teenaged up-and-comer Bernard Tomic may have to go it alone in the professional ranks with no quality young rivals to spur his progress at home.
Laver, last men to win the Grand Slam four decades ago, said the he still hopes for the best for the youngster as Australia struggles to return as a force in the game
"We're all hoping players like Tomic can come through and get some experience and still start carrying the flag," said the man whose name adorns the showcase stadium at Melbourne Park.
"You need more than one junior coming along. You need a whole group of players at all various ages. Champions breed champions, that's the best way of saying it. That's the way it was and we've lost that.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a good group of juniors coming along."
Laver, who lives in southern California, said that he believes Tomic has what it takes to help the Australia, which now has no men's player in the Top 100.
"I saw him a couple of years ago and he was just 13 or 14, he looked like he had a lot of good talent. We're all hoping players like Tomic can come through and get some experience and still start carrying the flag.
"But you need more than one junior coming along. You need a whole group of players at all various ages. Champions breed champions, that's the best way of saying it. That's the way it was and we've lost that."
***
Rafter to Play Senior Tour Event

Former world no,1 and back to back US Open champion Patrick Rafter is the latest big name to be recruited for the Outback Champions Series tennis circuit. The Australian will play at the Del Mar Development Champions Cup to be held March 18-22 at the Palmilla Tennis Club in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Rafter, 36, is best known for being one of the game's great athletes and one of the last true serve and volley exponents became the first Australian man to win the US Open since John Newcombe in 1973. A 2006 inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Rafter also reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001, losing to Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic, respectively. Ranked No. 1 in the world for one week in 1999, Rafter was a stalwart on Australia's Davis Cup team from 1994 to 2001, helping his nation to the title in 1999, although not playing the final. He won 11 career singles titles and 10 career doubles titles before ending his ATP career in 2001.

***
Federer’s Plans for 2009

What are Roger Federer’s aims this year? Nothing much. Just to win all the majors and get back to No. 1.
"More maybe kind of the thing starting the year well at Australian Open, winning maybe potentially your first French, getting Wimbledon back after the epic I had with Rafa there, and then winning my sixth at the US Open," he said after reaching the Australian Open final.
"That's kind of what's in my mind. And then with good play at the ATP events, at the Masters Series, which I didn't play great last year in, I hope to pick up few of those to get my No. 1 ranking back. That's my mindset going into a new season
***
Roddick is Gaining Wisdom

Andy Roddick is working on improving his game with new coach Larry Stefanki. But getting better when you’re a teenage upstart is very different to doing it in your mid-20’s.
"I think at 18 and 19 it just kind of happens," said Roddick. "It's like a natural kind of progression. You grow into your body. At 25, 26 you got to try to get creative any way you can and analyze, and be a little bit more self-aware about what you can try to do. I think at 25, 26, for a lot of people, it's tough to kind of get the motivation and kind of keep going and keep at it.
But, you know, as long as I decide to play this game, I'm going to do what I can to try to improve out there. There's no reason for me not to."

***
Verdasco Grateful for adidas Assistance

Australian Open semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco has been explaining how he got to travel to Las Vegas and work with Andre Agassi’s former fitness guru Gil Reyes.
"I need to say thanks because I didn't say before to adidas. Is because of my brand, no, that I had this chance to be with Gil in Las Vegas. You know, there is a development program for the players of adidas, you know, with Gil Reyes.
They help us so much. Some players, they don't like maybe or they don't want to do it. But me, because I don't have coach, you know, I decide to go there. Also because Agassi was my idol when I was young, I decide that it was, for sure, a good experience, that I will learn so much. So I took that decision. Right now I'm feeling much better than before. They help me so much. They treat me unbelievable there. You know, I can't wait to go again there to start practicing again."
Verdasco also revealed what advice Agassi gave him when they got together there. "It was about a lot of things. It was about the tournaments, how I should organize my year of tournaments. You know, I was asking him, ‘This tournament, you think I need to play, I don't need to play, I need to practice these weeks, this week no’.
“He was just giving me advices about, you know, what he thinks about all this, about what tournaments I need to play or which weeks I need to practice and be ready for the big tournaments. Also, after, about tactics, no, and about my game, how he thinks that I should play more and take more advantage of my game. You know, we was speaking for two hours, so we spoke a lot. But he really help me so much. I'm so happy to had that conversation with him."
***
Connors to Broadcast US Open for Tennis Channel

Friends of Jimmy Connors maintain the former world no.1 and five times US Open champion had been both bored and acutely aware that he finally missed tennis after his coaching relationship with Andy Roddick came to a close ten months ago. Now he will back at Flushing Meadows this August in a working capacity.
Tennis Channel will take over from USA Network as the daily cable broadcaster of the US Open and 56 year-old Connors will be in the Arthur Ashe Stadium booth as the team's joint lead analyst with Martina Navratilova. Acting as anchor between them will be Bill Macatee who has been a US Open fixture for nearly two decades.
"I'm very happy to join Tennis Channel's on-air team during its first US Open coverage, and to work with Bill Macatee, Martina Navratilova and the rest of the team," said Connors who made a broadcasting comeback with Britain's BBC at Wimbledon in 2005 but left after a couple of years on financial grounds – the widely held belief was he found what John McEnroe was earning and when not given parity, he decided to withdraw his services.
After opening its coverage of the year's fourth Grand Slam on Monday, September 1 the Tennis Channel plans more than 60 hours of live coverage. Each evening the network will also screen the official hour-long US Open highlights show at 11 p.m. ET.
Beyond the booth, Connors will also have a presence on the network’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, and assist with promotional efforts for the inaugural US Open coverage.
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - In his quarterfinal match against Gilles Simon, Rafael Nadal got his biggest cheer when he took off his shirt during a changeover. . . Just call her "Nok." In Thailand, where Noppawan Lertcheewakarn is from, it means "bird." She said her father began calling her "Nok" because she was born in the morning. Lertcheewakarn is a name the tennis community likely is going to have to deal with. A 17-year-old who hits her ground strokes with both hands, she is the ranking seed in the junior girls phase of the other Australian Open. . .
Jelena Dokic is gone from the tournament, but her name is not gone from Melbourne's newspapers. In a "letters to the editor" section, the Herald Sun published a letter proclaiming, "The indomitable spirit of Jelena Dokic has been extraordinary and a true inspiration to all Australians.". . . For Dokic's quarterfinal test against Dinara Safina, the television audience peaked at 3.2 million viewers and averaged 2.31 million. . .
Weird question of the week: somebody asked Serena Williams if she is mentally strong because she is fascinated by punk rock music. . . Adjoining Rod Laver Arena is Hisense Arena, also a large, modern arena. The tournament's practice has been not to utilize Hisense during the second week in the thinking that when crowds are small, it is better to hold matches in smaller venues. But with the heat here, Hisense is being made a match site. . .
On her blouse, a woman in the crowd had scribbled, "Trade Roddick for Rafter.". . . Another message that was visible in the crowd: "Thanks for the roof." The heat on Thursday seemed more severe than it had been the previous day. The wind is from the north, and as one native said, "There’s 2,000 miles of desert out there."
***

Matches Friday
Mens Semifinals
Rafael Nadal v Fernando Velasco

Matches Saturday
Womens Finals
Serena Williams v Dinara Safina

***

We Hear---
--- that when Penn closes the doors of its ball-making factory in Phoenix in March, it will ship all the machines to the factory in China where all ball-making of HEAD and Penn balls will be consolidated.
***
THIS WEEK
MEN
Australian Open
WOMEN
Australian Open
***
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MEN
Johannesburg
Vina del Mar
Zagreb
WOMEN
Fed Cup First Round
***
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Daily Tennis News: January 28th

by mltennis 28. January 2009 04:07

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

The Heat is Subject Number One in Melbourne

With temperatures at Melbourne Park set to soar above 100 degrees (40+C.) for much of the week, and with both Novak Djokovic and Marion Bartoli wilting under the heat on Tuesday, there has inevitably been talk of just how hot is too hot. There is a heat rule at the Australian Open, but it’s complicated.
They use a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature reading to determine what should be done. The WBGT is a composite temperature using the effect of temperature, humidity and solar radiation. If it reaches 26 then ice vests are made available and if it exceeds 28 play can be suspended. When the air temperature exceeds 35 C. (95 F.) and the WBGT is equal or above 28, play will continue until the end of the set and the roof is then closed. Play on outside courts is suspended.
But Australia’s Todd Woodbridge, who has been playing with Mark Woodforde in the Legends event, believes the players should put up and shut up.
"I sympathize with the public, but the players have to be conditioned to the heat. Andy Murray knew what to expect and spent a month in Florida preparing and acclimatizing," he wrote in Melbourne’s Herald Sun. "Closing the roof turns the game on its head. I feel for the players on these hot days, but to win the Australian Open you must adapt to the conditions. You must be fit enough to withstand the summer and have the physical conditioning to rebound. Watching Novak Djokovic struggle against Andy Roddick in the heat, I felt he was unprepared."
Semi-finalist Elena Dementieva, who had to beat Carla Suarez Navarro in the heat, believes the roof should be closed when it is so hot.
"I think if you have a roof, why not use it? I think you can work so hard trying to get ready for the weather condition, but when you have to face 40 or 41, there is no way you can get used to it. The best way is to play as quick as possible and just get away from the court. I mean, there is no way to adjust with the heat here."
Rod Laver, the only player ever to have won a Grand Slam twice, has done it all including dealing with the heat that is such a factor in Melbourne this week. He believes the best way to handle the conditions is to keep the points short - not exactly rocket science, but who is doing it?
"I just worry about Djokovic," he said. "You think, ‘Well, don't stay back at the baseline and fight this out. Try and find another way of winning’. I think that's what maybe we did when we go back 30, 40 years. We played in the United States out in Las Vegas, and it's desert climate. Not quite as hot as this though.
"You've got to pick your way through it and gear yourself accordingly.... you get into long rallies, and that's not a good idea when you got this much heat. You just got to try and maneuver yourself around to shorten the points, not just keep the ball in play. Unless you think you're a lot fitter than the other person. If you're a little fitter and you can stand the heat, maybe you want to make the dropshots and smashes and just make it uncomfortable for your opponent. That's also a tactic that goes into the heat of the match."
The Australian Open heat policy was called into effect at 1.45pm Wednesday.
As a result:
All matches on the outside courts were suspended at the end of the current set.
The roof on RLA was closed at the end of the first set and play has just resumed in the match between Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Hisense Arena will be available for play with a closed roof. Two matches scheduled for Margaret Court Arena have been re-scheduled there with a not before 2.45pm start.
Discussions got hotter and hotter as the temperatures continued to soar at the Australian Open and Melbourne's heat wave weather took a further hold of the year's first Grand Slam event.
Despite the fact the roof of Rod Laver Arena was drawn shut midway through the Women's Singles Quarter Final, much to the dismay of Svetlana Kuznetsova, who allowed victory to slip from her grasp against Serena Williams, Tournament Director Craig Tiley was insistent: "I think it's important to note we're an outdoor championship and we take that very seriously."
Temperatures rose to 43 degrees Celsius in mid afternoon, causing the hard to comprehend Extreme Heat Policy that was introduced for the first time in 2003 and amended several times since, to be brought into effect.
The basis of whatever decisions are made on the workings of a Wet Bulb Globe measure which takes into account both temperature and humidity. "We don't make the decisions based on a forecast; we make the decisions based on what is actually happening," added Tiley.
A day earlier defending men's champion Novak Djokovic was forced to retire against Andy Roddick with heat exhaustion and on the outside courts matches were delayed because of the weather.
Nevertheless Kuznetsova insisted she had been dealt an unfair hand as she allowed a set and 5-3 advantage to disappear against Williams who had clearly been in some physical distress before the roof of Rod Laver Arena was closed.
"I am very angry," complained Kuznetsova. "It was a definitely a big change and I was very comfortable playing outside and it's two different games. One you play inside and the other you play outside. I'm definitely angry. Why should I not be? The match was going my way. Closing the roof middle of the match, I don't get it.
"I still tried to do my best and I had my chances. I was 5‑3 up and I couldn't do it. Still definitely the chances with the roof open would be more."
***
The Roof is a Factor at Australian Open
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - First, they closed the roof on Serena Williams. Next, it seemed as if the Australian Open would be completely shutting down for her.
In Rod Laver Arena, Svetlana Kuznetsova had only to hold serve and Serena would have been history in an event she has captured three times. Serena had this thought. "I was thinking that if I lose, I go back to Florida, and how comfortable that would be," she would say, only she was not being serious. Serena does not surrender. In searing heat, she broke and went on to a 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 victory that prevented Russia from occupying all four places in the women's semifinals.
"It was really an out-of-body experience, like I was watching somebody playing in a blue dress," Serena said of competing in heat measured in the match’s beginning at 104 degrees. At a time in the first set when the match was 5-5, the tournament invoked its "extreme heat rule," which requires that a set being contested in the arena be completed with the retractable roof open, then that the roof be closed.
Tournament officials have no voice concerning when to close the roof. They heed the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. The WBGT is a composite temperature based on the effect of temperature, humidity and solar radiation on humans. But after her defeat, Kuznetsova clearly was not delighted that the roof had been closed after it was not closed in Tuesday’s heat.
"It’s two different games, one you play inside and one you play outside," said the Russian woman, who made the point that Serena’s serve is more difficult to handle indoors than outdoors. When she was advised that she had appeared angry when she left the court, she asked, "Why should I not be? I didn’t get it. I’m just a player; it’s out of my hands. But closing the roof. I don’t get it."
Kuznetsova declined to say if she felt she would have won had the roof remained open. "If, if," she said. "The match is over. She won."
With the roof closed, Kuznetsova had her chances. After taking the first set, she was up 5-3 in the second and served for the match at 5-4. There, though, she was broken at 15 when she pushed a volley wide. From that point, Serena took over. After erring 18 times in the opening set, she had just three unforced failures in the final set.
"I just kept telling myself, ‘It’s not that hot,’ " said Serena. Her triumph moved her into a semifinal test against Elena Dementieva, a 6-2, 6-3 victor in the quarterfinals over Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Dementieva swept 16 of the first 18 points in breaking into a 4-0 advantage and cruised on against a rival who had 10 break points and failed to convert any of them.
Serena is 4-3 against Dementieva. The other women’s semifinal matches Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina, with Safina holding a 5-4 lead in that series.
Had Kuznetsova been able to join her Russian countrywomen, one nation would have had all four women’s semifinalists for the first time in a Grand Slam since the U.S. placed Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Kathy Rinaldi and Zina Garrison in the 1985 semis at Wimbledon.
"I couldn't make it," said a rueful Kuznetsova. "It's my fault."
In the men's quarters, it came out Spain 2, France 0, with Fernando Verdasco and Rafael Nadal registering the victories for Spain. Verdasco, who has been serving up a storm, did so again in stopping Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal put the muscle on Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5. Simon lost although he delivered 42 winners to Nadal's 29. But Simon also had 41 errors to the Spanish star's 29.
Nadal has not lost a set this week. The competent Simon gained a set point in the second set, but Nadal's response was to sweep the next seven points and 11 of the next 12. In the semifinals, Nadal draws Verdasco, against whom he has gone 6-0. The other men's semifinal pits Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, with Federer holding a 15-2 advantage in the series.
Tsonga was a runner-up here last year to Novak Djokovic. Now they're both gone. The women who contested the 2008 final also are not present. Defending champion Maria Sharapova did not enter and Ana Ivanovic was an early casualty.
***
Closing the Roof Made a Difference

Serena Williams was losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Then they closed the roof, and she won. She certainly found it more comfortable not having to deal with the heat.
"It was really an out-of-body experience," she said. "Like I felt I was watching someone play in a blue dress, and it wasn't me, because it was so hot out there. And I kept trying to tell myself that it's not hot, you know. I was just gonna try to go for a third set with the roof open. But with the roof closed, it was definitely helpful. I felt that it cooled down pretty fast once the roof was closed. Really fast."
During the break while they closed the roof between the first and second sets, Serena had her racquets re-strung.
"It was so hot that my racquets lost all tension. I had to string 'em way tighter than normal for my ball to stay in the court because they were pretty much hitting the people in the crowd. Definitely I was mortified at some of the shots I hit. My balls were just flying fine."
If she had lost the match, Williams had a way in mind to punish herself.
"Well, I was thinking, ‘Okay, if you lose, you're going to fly coach all the way back to Florida’, how uncomfortable that would be. That motivated me to do a little better. I do (fly coach). I mean, gosh, prices have soared nowadays. I told you, I'm really economic. I wouldn't necessarily want to go back 16 hours. I wouldn't allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit like the last row, the tightest row. That way I wouldn't do it again."
***
Laver Hopes that Hewitt Can Come Back

Rod Laver worries that Lleyton Hewitt's hip surgery may have robbed the former No. 1 of some of his famed speed around the court.
"He's lost a step or two mostly because he's had the hip injury," said the last man to win the Grand Slam. "There's also the fact that you've had a career, won a Wimbledon and the US Open.
"Now all of a sudden everyone is saying, 'Hey, you're still a young man, you're gonna win an Australian' or whatever it might be. There's a lot of pressure on Lleyton to do that. That's something he's got to get over. He's got to get repaired, get some strength in it and then go again."
Laver, visiting the Australian Open, regrets that Hewitt has not been able to truly inspire the generation behind him, with the 27-year-old now fighting to save his own career with a ranking which fell out of the Top 100 with a first-round defeat.
But even after his surgery, Laver feels Hewitt can resurrect his game. "You need practice to get yourself into a groove to get more weight on his shots. When he does that, I think he could do it. But it's up to whether his hip and the rest of his body can take the beating to get up the top again."
***
Philippoussis’ Unusual Training Methods Seem to be Working for Him

The unorthodox nightclub training regimen of Mark Philippoussis may be working as the former major finalist progresses in the Legends event at the Australian Open.
The 32-year-old, always a night owl even in his prime playing days, prefers busting a move with a variety of lithe young lovelies to the more conventional early nights and hard training.
To that end, the man about town as been noted at a number of nightspots during the fortnight, yet still finds time to make it to the court.
Philippoussis, whose career faded away due to repeated knee injuries, won an opening doubles match with Frenchman Henri Leconte the day after leaving a Melbourne dance spot into the wee hours with a new girlfriend, a noted local stylist and hairdresser.
A former girlfriend of 11 months with whom the serial Lothario split just weeks ago is said by the Melbourne tabloid press to be devastated and losing weight in the wake of the breakup.

***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - Rod Laver made himself available for a news conference and remarked on a variety of matters. Jelena Dokic's performance here: "To come back from the depression of not being able to compete was quite uncanny. She just plays well under pressure. That's the one thing that not many players have." On Roger Federer's impact on tennis: "All the shotmaking. He's probably got some of the best mechanics in the game. He can play at the net, he can play at the baseline, he's got movement, he's quick. It seems like he's improved his serve this year." On Andy Roddick: "It seems like he's back and keen on playing better tennis and putting the effort in to make it happen." On how it feels to take a seat in an arena named after him: "It’s a wonderful honor. Yes, I had a good, long career. To have my name on top of the stadium here is sort of the final part of my whole career.". . .
Wendy Turnbull, the last Australian woman to make an open singles final, has been received into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame. Turnbull made three Grand Slam singles finals, losing the Australian Open to Hana Mandlikova in 1980 and the U.S. and French Opens to Chris Evert in 1977 and 1979, respectively. . . Officials of Wimbledon, the French Open, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open are holding their Grand Slam meetings during this event. Here to sit in on them is Lucy Garvin, new chairman of the board of the U.S. Tennis Association...Serena Williams said she had her rackets stung especially tight to keep her shots from flying in the heat. . .
Two junior players had to be treated after experiencing discomfort from the heat...Steps in the tournament's heat policy, as detailed by tournament director Craig Tilley. Phase one _ Bring out ice bags for players. Phase two _ Follow a practice instituted by the WTA Tour, which calls for giving women a 10-minute break after the second set. Phase three _ Invoke an "extreme heat policy." . . . Dominika Cibulkova is an attractive player from Slovakia whose attachments to her mixed doubles partners are said not to end when they leave the court. She has played with Sergiy Stakhovsky, Gael Monfils and now Jurgen Melzer. . . Thursday's schedule is an attractive one, with the women's semifinals in the afternoon and an Andy Roddick-Roger Federer match at night.
***
Matches Thursday
Mens Semifinals
Andy Roddick v Roger Federer
Womens Semifinals
Serena Williams v Elena Dementieva
Vera Zvonareva v Dinara Safina

***

We Hear---
--- that Jimmy Connors will do some broadcasting for Tennis Channel.
***
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Daily Tennis News: January 27th

by mltennis 27. January 2009 07:27

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

Plans Announced to Revamp Site of Australian Open

Tennis Australia and the Victorian State government have spent long enough listening to rumors that the Australian Open is about to be tugged from their grasp. A major revamp for Melbourne Park has been announced at a cost some speculate to be in the region of $Aus500 million (more than $US300 million) that should guarantee the year's initial Grand Slam event stays where it is until 2036 at the earliest.
The decision to call in the construction workers came after confirmation that Sydney would like to take the Australian Open to New South Wales while the likes of Shanghai, Dubai and Madrid have also stressed an interest in securing one of the sport's four major events.
Last year the Australian Open attracted 605,000 fans who pumped $Aus 164 million ($US 108 million) into the Victorian state economy. Around the world 240 million television viewers tuned in to watch the event.
"Australia owns January as far as the world is concerned in terms of sport and that's how we are going to continue," said Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard who maintained there was no better home for Grand Slam tennis major finals than the 15,000 seat Rod Laver Arena that has also been used for the World Swimming Championships, music concerts, World Wrestling and Motorbike Super Cross.
Melbourne, or as it was formally named Flinders Park, has not undergone any real structural change since the secondary Hisense Arena was completed in 2000. The site has been the home to the Australian Open for the past 21 years but plans for a redevelopment are now public with numerous changes including a modernized Rod Laver Arena and a retractable roof for Margaret Court Arena meaning the venue would have three weather-proof arenas.
Some of the work would not even be started for six years but eventually there would also be a covered, piazza-style town square for fans in the centre of the sight, a brand new state-of-the-art headquarters for Tennis Australia, more practice courts and better facilities for players and the international media that travels from all around the world to cover the event.
Victoria premier John Brumby has promised $Aus 5 million ($US 3.3 million) and promised the event can be continued each year with minimum disruption. But he has designated a capital works program as well as detailed design and cost estimates for the project's first stage, which are projected to be finished within seven years. Some works are not expected to begin for more than six years.
"You are looking at the total cost here over many years of hundreds of millions of dollars," said Brumby. "If we did nothing, you'd say the event post-2016 would be a question mark. But we are not going to do nothing."
***
Roddick Questions Part of On-Court Trainer Attention

There is a school of thought out there that players should not receive attention for cramping, as that suggests a lack of proper conditioning and perhaps inadequate training and preparation. Andy Roddick watched as Novak Djokovic was treated, and he believes these rules need to be changed.
"Let me preface this so no one twists it," he said. "Everything Novak did today was well within his rights and the rules. It's simply about my opinion of a rule. I don't think you should be able to - if you want to get something on a switchover for cramping, I think that would be okay. Actually, one of the trainers came and talked to me afterwards, and he said his idea, but you have to get it put through a council, is if you're going to take that for cramping, an extended break, make it a rule that you have to do it before your own serve. I thought that was a pretty well-thought-out idea.
"But as for physical condition, it's very easy to say, you know, it's one injury, but you can get rubbed for a cramp - I looked over and I was confused, because I thought it was one injury per timeout, and I saw a calf, a neck, and an arm. But I guess cramping is one condition. There’s obviously some wiggle room, a little bit of gray area there.
Hopefully we'll be able to do something about it. I think the one that you have to take it before your own serve, and if you don't want to do that then you concede the game until it is your serve, I think that's a good idea."
***
Players are Wary of Late, Late Night Matches and Consequences

It happens at the Australian Open, and the US Open, and at many other tournaments too. Matches finish at one, two, even three in the morning. Last year a match finished at 4.34am. Both Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick have found it difficult to come back from that and play a good match.
"It's hard," said Roddick. "To be fair, it's very hard. And I've had to do it at the US Open probably more than anybody. You finish the match at 2:00 or 3:00, but if you want to take care of your body - some people - I'm not good at sleeping until 1:00 in the afternoon. That night of sleep is suspect, at best. It's maybe three, four hours, and it limits what you can do the next day in practice. So it is very hard."
"The women have been scheduled as the first evening match throughout the Australian Open, with organizers seemingly in a time warp and expecting their matches to be over in an hour. But with the greater depth in the game that just doesn’t happen anymore.
"My only suggestion would be - and hopefully this will be well received - if everything is equal all across the way, I feel like maybe the men should get the first match every once in a while during the first week of a Slam. If all things are equal, then I feel like the scheduling should be the same."
Djokovic was unable to practice the day following his last match, hoping to conserve enough energy for facing Roddick. It didn’t work.
"Well, look, I did finish very late, about 2:00, 2:30, 3:00 a.m. two nights ago. Went to sleep around 5:00, 5:30. Didn't really have time to recover. There were really difficult circumstances. I wasn't able to practice. I went to the bed at 6:00 a.m. I had to sleep. I did some things off the court, but not on the court. I wanted to save the energy and try to be fit for the match.
"Conditions were extreme today. It did affect more on me than him, as you could see. But, you know, that was the situation. I just have to cope with it. It was unfortunate for me. I did request to play night match, but didn't came up good for me. I think doesn't really benefit for a lot of people to play that late. But on the other hand, if you end up the match at 3:00 a.m., it's basically logical thinking that you should play the same match, second after 7:30. But it didn't happen.
"You got to think about people, about the public, about everybody. That's what it's all about. You can't think only about the players, which is normal. But sometimes you got hear what the players have to say."
***
Jankovic is Watching to See Who Will Take Her Place at #1

Jelena Jankovic will watch as three pretenders struggle in the closing days of the Australian Open to try and seize her world No. 1 ranking. But any newcomer will need to win the title at the weekend to pull off the replacement feat.
Once Jankovic went out in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli, the chase opened up, with Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams all in with a chance.
Jankovic is not sweating the drama, instead looking long-term at the start of another long season. "I'm not really thinking about that (ranking). It doesn't matter because it's just the beginning of the year, and there are many more tournaments to play.
"Maybe the ranking will change, but it's not important what you do now, it's the whole year ahead of us. There are a lot of tournaments, a lot of battles out there.
"At least for me, the most important thing is how you finish, not how you begin."
***
Hewitt is Considering a Move to USA

Lleyton Hewitt may be pondering a move to a US base in order to cut down his travel time as he struggles to save his tennis career.
Hewitt, 27, wife Bec Cartwright and the couple's two children could be set for a shift of continent within months, according to Melbourne's Herald Sun.
Hewitt could combine house-hunting with his February ATP schedule which should take him to San Jose, Memphis, Indian Wells and Houston.
It's looking like a strategy to dispel any notion that the former number one might soon retire after his ranking dropped out of the Top 100 following a first-round Australian Open exit.
"We're trying to cut down on the amount of travel Lleyton has," manager David Drysdale told the newspaper. "With Lleyton coming back from a hip injury and committed to a full schedule, it makes sense if he can spend less time traveling.
"He's such a family-orientated person and that's why he's always come back to Australia in between tournaments. If he had an overseas base, he could come home for a couple of days between tournaments to spend time with his family."
Hewitt has always refused to leave Australia, returning first to Adelaide and later to Sydney at every opportunity. He also has skipped the autumn European indoor ATP season for years and has made limited appearances on clay in the spring in the Northern hemisphere.
***
Verdasco Reveals What Produced his Current Success

Two things have lead to Fernando Verdasco’s run to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time. One was his experience of the Davis Cup final in December. The other was his decision to seek out Andre Agassi’s fitness trainer Gil Reyes in Las Vegas.
"I think that that Davis Cup final made me much stronger mentally," he said after beating fourth seed Andy Murray. "And this pre-season, I was working really hard. So today, I was really believing in myself that I can win the match anyway, that I'm going to five sets.
And Reyes?
"What can I say? I am so happy to be working with him. I learned so much from him. And also, you know, the 24th of December, everybody was leaving Las Vegas because it was Christmas time. And Agassi came to say hi to me, and I was speaking with him. I don't want to say what he told me, because that's secret. But really helped me so much. I was speaking with him two hours before he left for the mountains. He was leaving with Steffi to enjoy Christmas. You know, he was going to ski. I love ski. I was there in the gym working hard, so I was a little bit jealous. But I was just thinking to be ready for the season and start good the year. You know, right now I'm so happy that I took that decision to go to Las Vegas and practice with Gil.
***
Roddick is Pleased with New Coach Stefanki

Andy Roddick has signed new coach Larry Stefanki up for three years, and so far Roddick is happy with the deal. One thing Stefanki has done is make Roddick shed some weight.
"Yeah, getting in better shape was his impetus," said Roddick. "He kind of put me up to it. I think we have similar minds. We both like going to work and have a lot of same interests. We're kind of on par as far as our energy levels. We don't like sitting around being bored. So you can only judge it on what we've done so far. It's been really good so far."

***
Looking Back at the Australian Open

Dinara Safina
Marat Safin is known for his angst. And sister Dinara Safina isn’t far behind. She knew she had to keep her cool facing Jelena Dokic and a potentially hostile crowd.
"Most of the time it's me against myself playing. You know, I play against me, my shadow, myself, everything against me. If one day I will play only against opponent, this will be the perfect day," she said. "I push myself and I try as best as I can this day, you know. Before I would just not be able to, let's say maybe to even handle the whole crowd is against me. Then I would go against them and then - because once you go against the crowd they kill you. Not in a bad way. Then you just start - you will feel smaller and smaller, because every time they start to cheer more and more for her. (So) I was just trying to stay mentally tough and doing the things that I can do this day."
Novak Djokovic
Djokovic arrived later than usual in Australia, lost his opening match in Brisbane and then his title at the Australian Open. So did he make an error of judgment?
"You learn from your mistakes," he said. "Obviously I might have changed a little bit this year. I stayed at home for New Year's Eve after a long time. But I think I had a good preparation. Not really long, but a good one. We tried to improvise as much as we can. Changing the racquet had an impact as well on the general situation. I was getting used to it. Here I found my good rhythm with the new racquet."
Jelena Dokic
Dokic has been on an enormous high these past 10 days. Now she’s out of the Australian Open it is time for both reflection and getting herself up for tournaments that won’t have thousands of people cheering her on. She’s ready for disappointments.
"Yeah, I think a lot of things still haven't sunk in. You know, there is a possibility for me to continue doing well from here on. You know, I can also lose some matches. It's normal. It's been a real high this week playing in front of a home crowd, so I have to see how it will go from now on. I think Fed Cup is also another very good possibility for me just to see, again, where I'll be in a week's time and how well I will handle the matches.
"I have really fought well this week. Yeah, I mean, I have no regrets. I just would like to keep it going. I really would like to keep it going. I really think I have a chance at it. I think I've shown that I can play with some of the best girls in the world, top 20 and top 10. (But) you cannot play every tournament well. There's some tournaments also that sometimes you don't like playing and some surfaces don't suit you."
Jelena Jankovic
What’s a girl to do when she not only loses early at the Australian Open but knows she’s likely to lose her number ranking as well.
Go to the beauty shop, that’s what. It’s the therapy that Jelena Jankovic went for after bowing out to Marion Bartoli. One of the most popular sponsor stands at Melbourne Park is the Garnier salon, and that’s where JJ went to have some highlights added to her hair. She’s been a frequent visitor there, enjoying facials, waxing and even an eyelash tint. Apparently the tinting is popular with the players because mascara would run while they are on court.
Jie Zheng
It wasn’t the way that Jie wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year, falling early in her fourth round match against Svetlana Kuznetsova and injuring her hand. "This is my first time in the fourth round in Australian Open. It's so bad I'm injured," she said. "I just played two games. Before I want try for play, but I can't use the left hand, cannot play the backhand. My problem (is) to hit too hard. Just very sore pain and cannot use the power."
It’s also a holiday in Australia, as the locals celebrate Australia Day. Which, surprisingly, has meant no hospital examination of the injury. "Today is holiday for hospital, so I coming for tomorrow morning for go to the hospital for check, an x-ray," she said.
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ The future of women's tennis in Great Britain was on an outside court at Melbourne Park. She is Laura Robson, who at 14 won the junior girls competition at Wimbledon. Now 15, Robson is playing in the Australian Open's junior phase, winning and attracting sizeable contingents of media members, largely British, to her post-match news conferences. She is sponsored by both Prince and Adidas and managed by Octagon. Her 15th birthday was on Jan. 21. One of her coaches, she said, had Marat Safin sign a birthday card for her, but she has not received it. "I'll be very excited if I get that," she said. . . Mark Philippoussis, who has been among Paris Hilton's squires, is being said to have a new pal: Chantelle Theos, a stunning Melbourne hairdresser...James Blake is moving his apparel contract from Nike to Fila in the thinking that being with Fila will give him an opportunity to have a line of his own...With nothing of any great interest on the outside courts, attendance on Tuesday was just 16,551. . . Serena Williams on Jelena Dokic: "She looks like the player she was back when whenever it was.". . . Serena is not thinking of making tennis her life's work. "I can't hit the ball in the box for the rest of my life," she said, adding, "I'm really, really good at tennis, and maybe I'm not so good at design.". . . No need to despair for the beaten quarterfinalists. They're due $182,250. . . Channel 7 here is understood to have contacted Damir Dokic, Jelena's father, in Belgrade and invited him to come to Melbourne, all expenses paid. He declined, saying he did not want to become a distraction for his daughter. Should Damir Dokic show up here, tournament officials have said he would be permitted on the grounds but would not be permitted to contact Jelena. . . Before the start of the Australian Open, bookmaking interests in Great Britain put the odds on Andy Roddick winning the tournament at 50-1. He's in the semifinals. . . For her match against Dokic, Dinara Safina in Great Britain was minus-$2.75 (Wager $2.75 to win $1). . . Said somebody of Marcos Baghdatis, whose matches here have a way of going on endlessly: "They should stick a 7-11 sign on him and be done with it, because he is open 24 hours."
You don't beat Roger Federer unless, that is, your name is Rafael Nadal. You don't alter his court assignments, either. "It's the nature of the animal," a man with insights into the Australian Open's scheduling practices was saying here on Tuesday evening. As a three-time champion here and 13 times a major champion, Federer is entitled to play his matches in Rod Laver Arena at the hour of his choosing. Think of it as the right of kings. There he was late on Tuesday evening, opposing Juan Martin Del Potro. And there was defending champion Novak Djokovic, out of the tournament.
Federer was occupying a time slot that Djokovic, worn and weary following a Sunday night test against Marcos Baghdatis that dragged on until the wee hours, had requested of tournament officials as a means of avoiding the afternoon heat. Sorry, no, Djokovic was told. "I don't blame them," Djokovic said. "You have to think about the public, about everybody." But putting Djokovic in what is being described as the most searing heat in Victoria in decades was akin to sealing his departure. A combination of the heat and a sharp, quicker Andy Roddick was more than Djokovic could bear and Roddick moved on into the semifinals 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1, ret.
As Djokovic related, his problems began with his match against Baghdatis. He arrived back in his room at 2:30 a.m. At 6 a.m., he went to bed. Awakening on Monday, he was too sore to practice. At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, he had to be back on court in all that heat.
"Obviously, it wasn’t enough time," said the Serb, who developed arm, neck and calf problems before surrendering for the seventh time during his career. When he abandoned a match against Nadal at Wimbledon in 2007, Djokovic's feet were bleeding as the result of severe blisters. His other retirements have been occasioned by dizziness or feeling ill.
Roddick deserved to advance in circumstances more flattering to him. Trimmer and moving better after following a regimen prescribed for him by Larry Stefanki, his new coach, the American permitted Djokovic to gain only one break point, delivered 16 aces and was cited for only 14 errors to Djokovic's 39.
"I was pretty happy with everything," said Roddick. In particular, Roddick is pleased by how much quicker he has become since Stefanki recommended that he lose weight.
"I've noticed that on the first ball, I'm a step quicker, and when I get going, I'm able to move a little better," Roddick said. "You can be in great shape, but if you're not hitting the ball well, it doesn't matter.". . .
With Djokovic's departure, the tournament does not have either of its defending singles champions, Maria Sharapova having chosen not to compete. . . Next for Roddick: Federer, a Roddick nemesis. Roddick does not accept that the Swiss star is in decline. "Two finals, a semifinal and he won a Slam (the U.S. Open), and people are saying he is off form," said Roddick. "I don't see it at all.". . . Her heart may have been strong, but playing a fifth consecutive three-set match was more than "Little Miss Braveheart," as one Melbourne publication has termed Jelena Dokic, could bear. Dinara Safina ended Dokic's remarkable run 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a 2-hour and 19-minute quarterfinal struggle that was suspenseful but otherwise unexceptional. Safina prevailed though she converted only 6 of 19 break points and was plagued by double faults, including four in the game in which Dokic took the second set. Safina hit 23 winners, Dokic 29, but Dokic had 54 errors to the winner's 36.
The best women's player here by far on Tuesday was Vera Zvonareva, who fell behind Marion Bartoli 1-3, then ran off 11 consecutive games. "She played unbelievably well," judged Bartoli. "She hardly missed one ball, and she was reading my game. She was coming with a better shot than my shot every time. She was just better. That's it.". . .
Four Russian women could be the semifinalists. For that to happen, Elena Dementieva would have to get past Carla Suarez Navarro on Wednesday and Svetlana Kuznetsova would have to upset Serena Williams. Serena is 4-1 against Kuznetsova.
***
Matches Wednesday
Mens Quarterfinals
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Fernando Verdasco
Rafael Nadal v Gilles Simon
Womens Quarterfinals
Serena Williams v Svetlana Kuznetsova
Elena Dementieva v Carla Suarez Navarro

***

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--- that the USTA and Todd Martin have reached an agreement with Martin assisting in the Player Development area on a limited time basis.
***
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Daily Tennis News: January 26th

by mltennis 27. January 2009 04:08

Monday, January 26, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

USTA Invests in World TeamTennis

The USTA announced that it will become a 25% owner of Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League.
One of the main goals in the new partnership is to provide an expanded marketing platform for the USTA’s Jr. Team Tennis Program through the Advanta World TeamTennis Pro League teams and players. The Jr. Team Tennis program is a recreational tennis league for children ages 6–18, and features the USTA’s QuickStart format for children under the age of 10. Jr. Team Tennis was established in 1991 to provide youth with all of the health and social benefits of tennis in a co-ed, fun and competitive team environment. USTA Jr. Team Tennis allows for participants to compete with and against individuals of similar skill and age levels and has more than 80,000 participants taking part across the United States, in all 17 USTA Sections.
The Advanta WTT Pro League is a professional co-ed sports league featuring top tour players from more than a dozen countries. The League showcases three generations of tennis standouts, including legends, current tour players and up-and-coming tennis pros, competing on teams throughout the U.S. each summer.
In each of the franchise markets, Advanta WTT Pro League teams and USTA sections will work together on youth initiatives to broaden the reach of QuickStart and Jr. Team Tennis programs. These recreational efforts are becoming integrated with the WTT professional franchises to encourage more young children to take up tennis as a team sport. Jr. Team Tennis leagues are expected to contest some of their playoff and championship matches on the same multi-colored courts used by the WTT pro teams and will also have the opportunity to interact with many of the top players who compete in the Pro League.
***
Stosur Splitting With Taylor

A year after it began, it’s over. Samantha Stosur is splitting with her coach, David Taylor.
"I work for Tennis Australia and they gave me to her for a year," said Taylor, who earlier worked with Ana Ivanovic and Alicia Molik. "This is my last week and then I’ll work with juniors. It’s been good."
Stosur will now team up with Renee Muller, a New Zealander who lives in Stosur’s US base of Tampa.

***
Rusedski Wanting to Play Davis Cup is a Major Surprise

To the amazement of nearly everyone involved in British tennis and many others further afield, Greg Rusedski intends to launch a comeback on the ATP after 22 months of retirement and his 36^th birthday fast approaching.
The major question that should be asked of the Canadian-born left-hander is why? Admittedly he proved himself more than competitive in senior tennis when he reached the final of the BlackRock Masters at London's Royal Albert Hall in December but competing against opponents quite possibly half his age is another matter altogether.
Even the rebuff of British Davis Cup John Lloyd, who turned down Rusedski's invitation to include him in the team to take on Ukraine in March's Euro African Zone Group One tie in Glasgow, has not dented the former world no.4's determination.
Lloyd admitted his surprise at receiving a series of telephone calls from Rusedski, offering his services to the team that will be spearheaded by Andy Murray and contain at least one rookie player ranked outside the world's top 200 and possibly Scotland's Jamie Baker, who is still on the road to recovery after suffering a life threatening blood disorder ten months ago.
Five previously untried British hopefuls (Josh Goodall, James Ward, Dan Evans, Alex Slabinsky, Colin Fleming and Baker will contest a play-off to win a place in the team but still Lloyd insisted: "The only way I could ever contemplate picking Greg again was if he had some extraordinary results on the main ATP Tour.
"It was very difficult to tell him no because I and other former British Cup captains like my brother David owe him a lot in many ways for some of the heroic performances over the years. Nobody should forget he played with so much courage to beat the Ukrainian's top player in Odessa two and half years ago. So I thought about it long and hard but in the end had to tell him not this time. I could tell from the tone of his voice he was extremely disappointed to say the least but even then he still maintained he was going to play some tournaments."
However most of the prestigious events that would appeal to Rusedski are not expected to afford him the luxury of a wild card entry so he will be forced to begin his comeback amidst the lowly ranked contingent of men's professional tennis on the Challenger, Futures and satellite circuit.
The left hander has already contacted the International Tennis Federation before contacting Lloyd for a return to the British team that he represented in 20 ties over a 13 year span, winning 30 of his 43 Davis Cup rubbers. He insisted Lloyd's decision was a huge disappointment but he remains undeterred and maintained: "To at least have a shot there, to play a few events, would have been nice. So I'm going to go into the [ATP] events and see what happens and take it from there. I've asked for some wild cards into some events, so I'm going to be like everybody else and see what happens."
***
Turnbull Inducted into Australian Hall of Fame

Former world No.3 Wendy Turnbull was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame Monday when a bronze statue was unveiled by Tennis Australia President, Geoff Pollard. It will later be installed in Garden Square at Melbourne Park alongside other greats of Australian tennis.
Turnbull’s consistency on the tour was exceptional, achieving a top 10 year-end world ranking for eight consecutive years (1977–1984) with a 478-250 career record.
In doubles she paired with Kerrie Reid to win the 1978 Wimbledon crown, with Betty Stove to win the 1979 US and French titles, and with Rosemary Casals to win the 1982 US Open and accumulating 55 doubles titles (653-225) earning more than $2.7 million in career prize money before retiring in 1989.
Her record in Fed Cup for 12 years from 1977 was an impressive 46-16 (17-8 singles, 29-8 doubles), and she was captain or coach of the team from 1985 to 1993.

***
The Australians Have Embraced Dokic
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - All right, the lyrics weren’t exactly "Melancholy Baby," but on Friday a Rod Laver Arena crowd was raising its voice in song to Jelena Dokic:
"We love you, Dokic, we do,
"We love you, Dokic, we do,
"We love you, Dokic, really we do.."
Following her 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 conquest of Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, her Melbourne audience had reason to love Dokic even more. She played special tennis that was of a sort that could make her an Australian Open champion if she can maintain such a standard.
But for the woman who has borne so much, including an abusive father, depression, weight problems and the collapse of what once was a career of the highest promise, there is a new matter for her to address. In its Saturday editions, the Herald Sun in Melbourne on its front page published a story tying Dokic to a deceased known drug trafficker.
He was Anthony Giannarelli, who died of cancer late last year. Giannarelli pleaded guilty in Victoria County Court in 2007 to importing 34,310 pseudoephedrine tablets from Malaysia. The tablets had an estimated street value of $171,500, according to the Melbourne newspaper. But a judge, aware that Giannarelli was terminally ill, imposed a three-year suspended sentence and a $55,000 fine.
Giannarelli is understood to have served as a patron of Dokic, providing an apartment for her and her Croatian boy friend in a Melbourne high-rise and supplying her with a dietician. Giannarelli's uncle, Max Novelli, told the Herald Sun that Dokic had an agreement with Giannarelli to repay him $60,000 once she was beginning to prosper on the tennis tour.
Having progressed to the fourth round, Dokic is assured of winning at least $88,000.
"Johnny did a hell of a lot for her and there's no reason for her to do the wrong thing," Novelli said. "We were going to wait until she was finished in the Open to see what her intentions are. But it's not about the money. The point is, she's got to do the right thing."
Dokic is represented by the International Management Group. An IMG executive, David Malina, said he was unaware of the player's association with Giannarelli. Dokic had no immediate comment.
The possibility of Dokic winning here is quite real to anyone who witnessed her triumph over the promising Wozniacki. Further, Dokic's draw became a most favorable one when No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic was dismissed by Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. Kleybanova, Dokic's fourth-round rival, is a big woman who does not move well. Get past her and Dokic, competing here as a wild card, would be in the quarterfinals in a half of the draw that is not exactly bristling with talent. Jelena Jankovic is the ranking figure in this section.
Australia has not had a woman in the final of these championships since 1980, when Wendy Turnbull was a finalist. Hana Mandlikova defeated Turnbull 6-0, 7-5.
***
Father Dokic Ready to Coach Daughter Jelena

Damir Dokic says he is prepared to coach estranged daughter Jelena if she wishes and apologized through an Australian newspaper for derailing her career in 2001.
With Dokic carrying the hopes of the nation at the Australian Open, the timing of the long-distance public offer could not perhaps have been worse.
Dokic, 50, who now owns a vineyard in his native Serbia, told Brisbane's Sunday Mail that he is sorry for ruining Jelena's career in 2001 by forcing the family back to Serbia after charging that the Open draw was rigged against his then-teenaged prodigy.
"It is my biggest, biggest mistake. In 2001, Australian Open, the draw for Jelena is very bad. They do nothing for her.
"I get very angry, very angry and I change play, stop play for Australia and change (to Serbia). But now I think it is my biggest mistake, my big mistake," he told the paper.
Dokic has not spoken to her father in years. During his worst period as her coach in 2000-2001, Damir was ejected from Wimbledon (drunkenness) and the US Open (food flinging) and banned from all WTA events.
The senior Dokic admitted that his daughter could now best resurrect her tennis career in Australia. "If she stay and play for Australia, better for her."
The resurgent Dokic, carving out a life with her Croatian boyfriend of more than five years and once again carrying the hopes of the nation at the Open, was chosen for Australia's Fed Cup side to play in an Asian nations group tie.
***
Dokic Says No Possibility to Re-Unite with Her Dad

Jelena Dokic won't consider re-uniting with eccentric father Damir despite the outside chance that the pushy parent might fly to Melbourne as his estranged daughter progresses at the Australian Open.
Serb-born Australian Dokic has knocked back a plea from her tennis bad dad, who apologized during a newspaper interview from Belgrade for almost wrecking her life and her tennis back in 2001 when the family upped stakes from Oz..
Reports of any reconciliation have left Dokic cold. "I haven't had any contact (with him)," said the former No. 4. "I've said always my whole story with him is finished. It would have to be an unbelievable miracle for him to change. I don't see that happening.
"I have my tennis and I have my life. I want to do it that way. Knowing him, I just don't see any possibilities. We are really different and really disagree on pretty much everything."

***
Health and Physical Condition Becomes a Major Factor at Melbourne
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - Tennis seems so innocuous. No double-team blocks, no flying elbows around the boards, no going high and tight on a hitter who has dug in too strongly.
As it has become an ever faster, more physical game, however, tennis is exacting a toll. Three players, two women and a man, were unable to complete their assignments on day eight of the Australian Open, with one of the withdrawals contributing to Serena Williams' continued presence at Melbourne Park.
Serena moved into the quarterfinals when an ill Victoria Azarenka had to retire in the second set from a match Azarenka, a tall 19-year-old from Belarus, had dominated in the first set. Serena advanced 3-6, 4-2, ret.
The other players who could not go the distance were Zheng Jie of China and Gael Monfils of France, , both felled by wrist problems. From Jie's injury, Svetlana Kuznetsova profited, winning 4-1, ret. and positioning herself to next challenge Serena.
With Monfils' injury, Gilles Simon of France advanced 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, ret. Azarenka played a first set against Serena as if she was among the healthiest young women in Victoria, scoring two service breaks and taking it 6-3. Azarenka, however, later would say that she was nauseous when she awakened at 6 a.m. She blamed a virus.
When she arrived at Melbourne Park, Azarenka said she consulted a physician. She then took the court and played a whirlwind set against Serena, scoring two service breaks and showing off what can be adjudged as one of the most stylish backhands in women's tennis.
But in the second set, the woman from Minsk began feeling faint and was forced to retire.
***
Serena Williams Plans to be a TV Hound in Melbourne

Serena Williams characterizes herself as "terrible" for Hollywood balance sheets due to her new-found interest in downloading films and music.
While the multi-millionaire world No. 2 did not specify the exact source of her entertainment, she said that with the Australian Open starting, she will be keeping to herself off court.
"I love to watch TV, I've gotten into iTunes," she confessed. "I'm terrible for the whole music industry and movie industry because I download movies and music and TV shows.
"I'm obsessed with Desperate Housewives, so I'm waiting for Monday so I can download the next episode.
"That's kind of what I do, I just watch TV on my computer. I'm just going to stay in my room."
Williams flamed out in the semi-finals at Sydney, her only preparation event for the Grand Slam. despite losing the second set 6-1 to eventual champion Elena Dementieva, the American said she "gave away" the match to the 10-0 Russian with two titles in her pocket already this season.
I'm actually pretty happy about my preparation," insisted Williams.
"I got some really good matches under me in Sydney and still with plenty of time to rest and get ready for this event."
***
Late Night Matches are Becoming Routine for Baghdatis

Marcos Baghdatis was again rubbing the sleep from his eyes after his second late-night finish this week at the Australian Open. The smiling Cypriot who played the 2006 final against Roger Federer, was beaten well into the early hours of the new week in the fourth-round by Novak Djokovic.
Baghdatis and Djokovic were delayed for hours as Jelena Dokic needed three long sets to win her match played previously on the Rod Laver showcourt. But it seems to Baghdatis that he has been singled out for late sessions, due in part to the noisy, enthusiastic Greek fans who attend all of his contests.
"It's a bit of a pain in the arse for me," he said. "The last two years I'm here I'm finishing matches after midnight and after one o'clock.
"But I have nothing to do about it. It's just the way it is. I've got to accept it and find a way to get through it and that's where the challenge starts."
A year ago, Baghdatis was again the victim of the clock, playing until 4:34 a.m., in a loss to Lleyton Hewitt, a third-round match which began around midnight.
In the intervening 12 months, things apparently have not changed. Baghdatis played a night contest against American Mardy Fish in the third round before taking on Djokovic in their long four-setter.
No. 97 Baghdatis admits that he's finding it tough to get his sleeping patterns sorted.
"My eyes be open at seven or eight o'clock like always with all the adrenaline and all the pressure. So I don't think I get a lot of sleep. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying it's tough for the players. It happens that it's me second time in a row."
***
Bricker’s Notes
By Charles Bricker

James Blake’s straight-set loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga added to his career Grand Slam frustration. Despite consistent status as either a top-10 or top-20 player and 10 career titles, he’s not been past the quarters of any of his 28 Grand Slam events. . .Scary numbers: In his last two matches, Rafael Nadal has 53 winners and only 19 unforced errors. . . Strange question of the day at the Aussie Open: A reporter asked Victoria Azarenka, who retired leading Serena Williams in the second set if she thought the rules should be changed, allowing more than three-minute injury time outs, if a player is as seriously sick as she was. Said Azarenka, delivering the obvious answer: "No. I mean, somebody could just fake it.”. . .
There will be a couple fresh players on court when Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova meet in the next round – their sixth match against each other with Williams leading 4-1. Both won on retirements. Kuznetsova played only five points when Zheng Zie quit with a hand injury. The last time Williams and Kuznetsova played Williams won a tense three-set semifinal at Key Biscayne last year. . . Andy Roddick’s new emphasis on service returning appears to be paying off at this Open. He’s getting a lot of break point opportunities and he’s converting them – 21 out of 41 after four matches. That’s about 50 percent, and that’s a very favorable figure.
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - Caps bearing the flags of about 90 countries are on sale on the tournament grounds. Though Americans hardly have been prominent here, a man behind the counter, who said he is from Atlanta, said sales of U.S. caps have been stronger this year than in the past couple of years. Caps celebrating Australia are most popular, the man said, and there has been a run on Serbia caps. . . In another booth on the grounds, the Wilson sporting goods people are imprinting the arms and whatever else a person would offer up with temporary tattoos. They announce, of course, "Wilson.". . . .Cans of the event's used balls are available in the tournament's main shop. Price: $15. . . Serena Williams was on Court 3 when a streaker appeared there. "At first, I saw him jump the fence and then I saw he didn't have any underwear on," said Serena. "Then I thought, 'I hope he doesn't come near me.' It was weird. Everyone was laughing, and I thought, 'I have to stay focused.' "
The suggestion has been made that on its evening program, the tournament should lead off with a men's match and follow it with a women's match. As it is, the women go first and their get-togethers have been lengthy struggles that have caused the programs to conclude at a late hour. On Friday, a match involving Marcos Baghdatis, a favorite here, did not conclude until 2 a.m. . . Her career is experiencing a lull, but Amelie Mauresmo, 29, is not considering retirement. "Quite disappointing," she said of her straight-sets loss to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, "but the level of play is coming back. It's slowly getting better.". . . Fernando Verdasco has been in Los Angeles, working out with Gil Reyes, Andre Agassi's fitness guru. . . Eat-your-heart-out dept.: the tournament offers massages to media members. Every evening, there also is a happy hour in the media workroom, beer and wine are served. . . Saturday's afternoon attendance: 45,068, a record for the event's first Saturday.
His defeat by Roger Federer did not cause Marat Safin to enter into a life of solemn contemplation. After it, the Russian was sighted at a club in Melbourne's Southbank area with "a mystery glamour girl," according to one published report. Safin, 28, is saying he does not intend to compete in singles again at the Australian Open. . . Even 16-year-olds around here have organized cheering sections. Bernard Tomic's admirers are known as "the Atomic Kittens." Tomic's presence in a mixed doubles match was enough to fill one of the show courts, where he and partner Monika Wejnert got smoked by the Canadian amalgam of Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor. . . In Rafael Nadal's cheering section is one guy who dresses like a matador, making the group resemble the cast from "Carmen."
Seven times Andy Roddick has beaten Xavier Malisse, as he did here in the second round. On five of the times when he has bested Malisse, Roddick has gone on to win the tournaments. . . Tennis balls are not rocketing off Melbourne Park's courts. "They don’t feel quick," judged Roddick. To the American, most tournament courts are being styled in a way that works against big hitters. "It’s more and more about legs and running instead of shot making and hitting the ball through the court," said Andy. . . Roddick planned to spend Sunday night watching a late match between Novak Djokovic and Marcos Baghdatis. He gets the winner. . . Afternoon attendance on Sunday: 34,379. . . No player has experienced a more wrenching defeat than Alize Cornet when she lost to Dinara Safina. In the final set, Cornet held two match points when she was serving at 5-4. On the first, she aimed a forehand down the line that was called out. On the call, Cornet issued an instant-replay challenge. "I said if I didn’t try on this one, I would never try," said the French player. But the replay established that Cornet’s shot had been out. After Cornet wasted her second match point by netting a forehand, Safina came on to secure her 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory. In her news conference, Safina referred to Cornet as "that girl" and said her rival did not deserve to win because she was not playing forcefully and delivering winners.
On Australia's calendar, Monday was "Australia Day," meant to honor the nation’s history. At Melbourne Park, another form of history was in the making. Had Andy Murray won on day eight at the Australian Open, the top eight men’s seeds would have progressed through to the quarterfinals for the first time in a major since open tennis became a reality in 1968. . . How the quarterfinals are shaped: Nadal vs. Gilles Simon; Verdasco vs. Tsonga Wednesday; Roddick vs. Novak Djokovic; Del Potro vs. Roger Federer Tuesday.
***
Matches Tuesday
Mens Quarterfinals
Roger Federer v Juan Martin del Potro
Novak Djokovic v Andy Roddick
Womens Quarterfinals
Marion Bartoli v Vera Zvonareva
Dinara Safina v Jelena Dokic

***

We Hear---
--- that Australian Open 2009 continues to break crowd attendance records. The Day Six (Saturday 24 January) crowd of 66,018 was the highest daily attendance in the history of all Grand Slams.
***
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Daily Tennis News: January 23rd

by mltennis 27. January 2009 04:05

Friday, January 23, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

What Happened to Venus in Melbourne?
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ Australians have a phrase for it when one ceases to function. One then is "carking it," which Venus Williams was doing when she either removed herself or was removed from the Australian Open.
Which was it? Was the senior of the Williams sisters simply gagging when she permitted Carla Suarez Navarro, a wisp of a woman from Spain, to advance through the tournament's second round 2-6, 6-3, 7-5? Or should Suarez Navarro be celebrated for exposing her opponent's frailties?
"Some of both" arguably would be the proper answer. There is no question that Venus became excessively tight after assuming a 5-2 advantage in the third set.
"But Venus did not gag," argued a former executive of the ATP Tour who asked that he not be identified. "Have you watched the Williams sisters? That's the way they play. In a three-set match, they will make an average 40 errors. That's 10 games. If you play the Williams sisters and you keep hitting the ball in the court, you're going to win the match. They're like John Daly. One day he's in the fairway, the next day he's in the parking lot."
Venus was cited for 37 errors against an opponent who does not stroke with pace but kept pushing her topspinned shots at her rival's forehand, which can be vulnerable. It was when the Spanish player faced a 15-40 deficit while serving at 4-5 in the final set. At that point, the American misfired on three consecutive forehand service returns, the last of which landed outside the doubles alley.
Venus seemed at a loss to explain what had befallen her. "We haven't quite figured out exactly, you know, what areas went wrong," she said. "But I definitely have to credit her. She played well. She took her opportunities and really showed a lot of character."
Suarez Navarro is playing in the main draw here for the first time after failing in qualifying the last two years. She has however, demonstrated that she has Grand Slam quality. At the 2008 French Open, she outplayed No. 22 seed Amelie Mauresmo and No. 26 seed Flavia Pennetta in gaining the quarterfinals, in which she failed against No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic.
Next here for Suarez Navarro: a match against a Spanish countrywoman, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
Though she was only a No. 6 seed, Venus had been the tournament favorite in some gaming quarters. Her defeat would seem to create an opportunity in the draw for the winner of a match on Saturday between Elena Dementieva of Russia and Samantha Stosur of Australia.
***
Roddick is Counting on Coach Stefanki to Bring Results

Andy Roddick is the employer, but coach Larry Stefanki is the boss. That’s the way Roddick wants it.
"I said ‘Listen, I'm hiring you to be the boss. Whatever you tell me to do I'm going to do. I don't have a problem with that’, and I haven't had a problem with that. I think he was a little bit surprised that I said, ‘It's your show. Just let me know what I need to do’. I trust his resume, what he's been able to accomplish as a coach. If I was going to give someone the confidence to be my coach, I wasn't going to second-guess that once we get in there.
"Larry is a worker, too. He likes getting out there. He says it's that much easier if you do it a thousand times in practice. His favorite trick is doing two-on-ones and he'll say, ‘Two more’, and eight balls later you're still going. It's frustrating, but at the same time, you know what the end goal is."
After failing to maintain his good start to the 2008 season, Andy Roddick is hoping that his better preparation for this year will pay dividends.
"I feel like a big reason I got hurt last year is I didn't have a lot of preparation in the off-season. Went from Davis Cup kind of straight in. I played well, but then come May my body and shoulder wore down a little bit. Whatever happens this year, I didn't want it to be for lack of preparation or for lack of anything, any work left on the table during the off-season. I just had a six-week period where you could focus on what you need to do on a daily basis, and you had all sorts of - the meals were controlled and everything was controlled. So, you know, that's a rarity that we get as top players in this game. I really tried to take advantage of it and kind of enjoyed it."
***
Williams is Happy for New Fed Cup Captain Fernandez, But. . .

Serena Williams is happy with the appointment of Mary Joe Fernandez as Fed Cup Captain. She just doesn’t have plans on playing for her anytime soon.
"Well, you know, first of all, it was good for her to be able to get that opportunity. She's obviously done a lot. Growing up I watched her so many times coming back from behind and winning, you know, doing so well in her career. I had an opportunity to play with her once actually in Fed Cup, I believe back in '99. So that was a great opportunity, as well.
“I think she would offer a lot of good advice for me and things that I can probably do to help my game. And, you know, I would love to play in the future.
"(But) this year with the new schedule, the new commitments, I don't think it's the best time for me. But I can't wait to have that opportunity. I know it's going to be impossible for me to play after Australia. Like I said, because of the new schedule this year, being something new with the WTA, it's just kind of, you know, sort of getting my feet wet to get used to it before I can extend myself in the other positions."
***
Tennis, A Game for Ladies and Gentlemen
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE - Tennis is a game for ladies and gentlemen, frolicking about in the sunshine and always on their best behavior.
Yeah, and anybody who would think that is not familiar with the Australian Open, at which expressions of nationalistic fervor can lead to incidents such as one that occurred on the tournament's day five.
"A skirmish," Amer Delic termed it. In a news conference at the tournament site, inspector Chris Duthie of the Victoria Police described it as a "chair throwing competition" between groups of Bosnians and Serbs that began in a garden outside Rod Laver Arena after Novak Djokovic, a Serb, had completed a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Delic, a native of Bosnia who has become an American citizen.
Duthie said the disturbance was dealt with swiftly, with 30 persons ejected from Melbourne Park and two persons charged with riotous behavior. According to Duthie, one woman suffered a minor injury.
"Ethnic rivalry" was at the source of the disturbance, Duthie said. Two years ago, there was a major disturbance at this event, but it involved Serbs and Croats.
Delic said he was unaware that there had been a problem with crowd behavior following his match until he encountered James Blake in a hallway of the tennis complex and Blake told him. "As I said a couple of days ago, there is no place for that here," Delic said. "That was a fair match. Everything was fair."
Djokovic, the defending champion, said he strives to disregard matters involving crowd conduct in order that his focus on tennis not be swayed. "It’s really uncontrollable from our side," he said concerning how players view incidents such as this one. As I said, it’s not on me."
Though he could not get past Djokovic, Delic, a former Illinois University player, had what was suggested to him as a magical week here. Beaten in the final round of qualifying, he got into the main draw and went away with $51,000 as a third-round loser.
"I don’t know if I would call it magical, but it’s pretty fun," said Delic.
***
Dellacqua is Offended by TV Commentator’s Remarks

Casey Dellacqua has lashed back at former Lleyton Hewitt coach Roger Rasheed, who said that she could do with the loss of a few extra pounds.
Rasheed, now coach of Gael Monfils and a television commentator, added that the Australian No. 2 was not maximizing her fitness.
While the solid Dellacqua can't be called svelte, her camp insists that at an official 150 lbs on a short frame, she is not overweight.
"If I'm a girl and I've broken into the world of tennis and I've made $500,000 for the year, wouldn't I just try and get into the most perfect nick I could to actually excel?" Rasheed said during a radio interview.
Dellacqua returned serve, calling the remarks "ill-informed" and "self-serving".
"He has no idea about my training program, my fitness level or my injury history," she told the Herald-Sun. "I find it both amazing and totally self-serving that he now chooses to share his ill-informed analysis with the Australian public."
Added 57th-ranked Dellacqua, who lost in the first round: "I've never met Roger Rasheed. He does not know me or my tennis. He does not know my training techniques, my background or my personality."
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ Often seen at tennis tournaments: young men spelling out the names of their favorites on their bare chests. James Blake has a group championing him here, but it could use a couple of additional members. One guy is displaying "BL," another "A" and a third guy "KE.". . . The tournament honored Fabrice Santoro following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Andy Roddick. The guileful Frenchman was making his 17th and final appearance at the Australian Open. . . A streaker did what streakers do at Court 3. He was apprehended by Victoria Police.
On the tennis courts, meantime, Alisa Kleybanova, a, shall we say, husky 19-year-old from Moscow, removed Ana Ivanovic, the current French Open champion, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2. Kleybanova might have won more easily than she did. After taking the first set, she was up 3-0 in the second with two breaks, then up 4-3 with a break, and she served for the match at 5-4. All these advantages escaped her, but in the third set she was able to complete her conquest of the tournament's No. 6 seed. . . Next for Kleybanova: Jelena Dokic, who thrilled Australia by producing, and very adroitly, at that, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph over the promising Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
On the men's side, Roger Federer continued his mastery of Marat Safin, whom Federer now has beaten 10 times in 12 engagements, by winning 6-3, 6-2, 7-6, and American Andy Roddick moved ahead by dismissing veteran Fabrice Santoro of France 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

***

We Hear---
--- that former USTA CEO of Professional Tennis Arlen Kantarian is about to be named ceo of the Miami Dolphins professional football team.
***
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Bob Larson's Tennis Celebs: January 22nd Issue

by mltennis 22. January 2009 04:43

Thursday, January 22, 2008

Bob Larson's
TENNIS CELEBS

IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE...

News
Tennis Shorts
WTA Scheduled To Play
Covers
Sightings
Appearing Soon
Money Mountain
He Said... She Said
Happy Birthday

NEWS

Williams Was Aware of Events in Washington, D. C.
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ Not to in any way get frivolous about it, but American history stands at match point. Serena Williams can value the moment.
"This is amazing," said the junior of the Williams sisters. "To have Martin Luther King's birthday and Barack Obama's inauguration come so close together. . . "
Serena did not complete that thought, but while her faith as a Jehovah’s Witness precludes her dwelling on political matters, she clearly is touched by what is occurring in Washington, D.C.
"I definitely think myself and Venus have opened a lot of doors," said the junior member of Team Williams.
Meantime, there is a tennis tournament to win. Serena said she did not plan to remain awake until the wee hours to view a telecast of Obama's inauguration. Her focus is on capturing the Australian Open for a fourth time, and, playing well within herself in searing heat, she moved in that direction with an opening 6-3, 6-2 conquest of Meng Yuan of China.
Serena also had eliminated Yuan here last year, then 6-3, 6-1. This year's Serena, it should be noted, is unlike last year's and unlike how she has presented herself in recent years. Serena is svelte. Honestly. Had she not been, she almost certainly would have labored in the heat that descended on the tournament's second day.
"Maybe were I fat, I would be able to absorb all that heat," said Serena, who wasn’t being serious. This is a player who knows how to get through an event’s beginning rounds. Serena husbands her energies.
"Managing the early rounds is pretty important," she said. Following this practice, she triumphed at Melbourne Park in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
"One year I was not able to come here," Serena said, "and a couple years I went completely crazy, making errors and acting up. Playing like a loser, I suppose." Serena describes herself as a lover of patterns. For her to have won here every other year is one. She is mindful of it, but just now another matter is more on her mind. It involves history.
***

Nadal Admits You Cannot Remember Everything

Rafael Nadal is writing a blog and answering questions from his fans in Melbourne’s Herald-Sun, and in response to one question he gave an insight into just how chaotic a player’s life can be off-court.
He was asked if he had ever left anything behind in a hotel. "I left not at the hotel but in the car going to the airport the trophy of the Acapulco tournament I won. I am still trying to get a copy," he revealed. "You can also imagine that we were really late and in a hurry and since I normally travel with a lot of luggage we just didn't get it from the car."

***

Jankovic Won’t Argue; Just Enjoy Tennis

Jelena Jankovic won't be drawn into sniping on the eve of the Australian Open about who is "worthy" of holding the No. 1 ranking. For now, it's the Serb in command, with or without a major title in hand.
"I'm just a girl who enjoys her tennis. I go to the court with a smile on my face, and that's what matters," said the Melbourne top seed. "I don't really think and stress about ranking, Grand Slams, so many other things.
"It's not worth it. I just go out there and try to play my best tennis and hope for the best.
Jankovic has been under attack from the Williams camp, with Serena considering herself the best in the game despite her second-ranked standing.
That's fine by Jankovic, who can't find a harsh word about any of her rivals. "I'm the number one in the world, and I believe I'm the best one," said Jankovic. "Serena can feel the same.
"I'm only 23 years old, my time will come. One of my goals is to win a Grand Slam. But my main goal is just to keep improving and getting better and better as a player.
"I hope that I will do it."
Jankovic will be going into the major cold after just one match since the start of the year. She was unable to continue at the Hong Kong exhibition, cutting her losses due to illness and flying to Melbourne.
***

Federer Makes Brief Appearance at Player Party

Roger Federer didn't spend time socializing, but did his duty by putting in a lightning-fast appearance at the weekend Australian Open player party.
The Swiss ducked in for a quarter of an hour or so, managing to squeeze in a few pro forma interviews, pose for a happy snap or two and make a discreet exit through a back door.
The party held at a Mexican restaurant inside the sprawling Crown casino complex where Federer and other top players habitually stay for the fortnight, attracted a selection of the field, including women's top seed Jelena Jankovic.
But Federer, seeded second and aiming for a fourth Melbourne title, was concentrating all of his energies on his first-round challenge from Italian Andreas Seppi.
***

Roddick has a New Coach and is Raring to Go
By Jerry Magee

The forgotten American, which is just fine with Andy Roddick. You remember him, right? He is the big-boned native Nebraskan who could knock holes in buildings with his serve when he came into professional tennis. After he captured the U.S. Open in 2003, Roddick appeared positioned, at the least, to represent Roger Federer's leading challenger in the Roddick men's game.
Problem: that was six years ago and Roddick's promise has not been fulfilled. If anything, he has been regressing. His 2008 season was one in which his ranking dropped off from No. 6 to No. 8. He had losses to players such as Viktor Troicki, Marin Cilic, Philipp Kohlschreiber. Robin Soderling and Janko Tipsarevic, all ranked below him.
Perhaps the best measure of Roddick's current status is that Rod Laver Arena was fully occupied on Monday when Roddick showed up for the Australian Open's first match there _ all, that is, except for the seats set aside for the media. They were largely empty. Few tennis scholars, it seems, expect much from Roddick.
A change in thinking concerning him might be in order. Trimmer after being encouraged to lose weight by veteran Larry Stefanki and moving well, Roddick had only 10 errors while sprinting through his opening test with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 conquest of Bjorn Rehnquist of Sweden.
Roddick's advance came on a sweltering afternoon when 42,423, a record assembly for the first Monday here, saw play go form fully.
Roddick was not extended. "You're pretty much playing every point on his serve," he said of his rival. "He's going to put the ball into the court. You've got to go and execute."
A better test of Roddick is to come in the second round, when he is to engage Xavier Malisse of Belgium. But off how Roddick began, his presence in Melbourne must be respected.
Not that Roddick is making such a claim. Federer, Rafael Nadal, defending champion Novak Djokovic and the hot guy of the moment, Andy Murray, are the commanding figures in the men's field, properly so, according to Roddick.
"Not until I earn my spot back," Roddick said when he was asked if his name should be mentioned with those other four.
In addition to inviting Roddick to lose weight _ he said he has dropped about 15 pounds _ Stefanki has been attempting to make the American more mindful of his balance and seeking to have him narrow his forehand stance. Roddick lost a good deal of pace from his forehand last season because of a stance that was too wide, in Stefanki's thinking.
Roddick began preparing for this season within days of last season's concluding event in Shanghai. "I feel this tournament always has rewarded the players who are best prepared," he said. The man, clearly, is motivated.
"One of the things I'm most proud of is being in the top 10 for seven or eight years," he said. "Not too many do that."
***

Ljubicic Resigns his ATP Board of Directors Post

No sooner had a new era of the ATP begun with the appointment of Adam Helfant as chairman and chief executive than the highly respected Ivan Ljubicic resigned as a member of the board of directors, so creating a need for yet another election of its' members.
The official line from 29 year-old Ljubicic for standing down after just four months on the board was to concentrate on both his flagging playing career – his ranking has dropped from 19th position 12 months ago to a current no.55 - and his Monte Carlo based family after becoming a father for the first time two months ago.
But he was also thought to have become disillusioned following the adverse reaction of his peers at last Saturday's Players Meeting in Melbourne to the new amendments to the ranking system which seems to favor the higher ranked performers.
Ljubicic, who replaced Dutchman Jacco Eltingh last August, was one of three player representatives on the board alongside Justin Gimelstob and David Egdes.
"I have a family and I still want to play a lot of tennis," said the Bosnian born player who previously served as the president of the ATP Player Council for two years. "This position was my no. 3 priority and I don't feel like the guys deserved this. I would love to come back when my career slows down a bit."
Ljubicic became the first active player to serve on the board since Paul Annacone six years ago and was believed to be paid a salary of $150,000 a year for fulfilling his duties. A new electioneering race is now bound to break out and candidates for the vacancy designated for a European are believed to include Georgio DePalermo (a former ATP player manager), Benito Perez Barbadillo (PR to both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and another former ATP employee) and Sergio Palmieri (the veteran Italian IMG agent who now acts as tournament director for the Masters 1000 Series event in Rome, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
Helfant admitted he was disappointed when Ljubicic broke the news to him after winning a first round match in the Australian Open over Russia's Igor Kunitsyn. However the new ATP chief said: "Ivan has given huge amounts of time and effort in the last year to his role as a player board representative and we fully understand and support his reasons for standing down."
***

Pavel Calls it a Career in Melbourne

After fighting a painful back injury for the last eight years, Andrei Pavel, the veteran Romanian has announced his retirement from the men's tour after nearly two decades on the road.
Playing in his 41st and final Grand Slam appearance he managed to last just 45 minutes in his first round Australian Open match against Andy Murray before finally submitting to his injury and deciding to quit.
The player who was once nominated by John McEnroe as playing the best first round US Open match he had ever seen when Pavel stretched a soon-to-retire Andre Agassi over four sets and three and a half hours in 2006, said: ". I don't want to try it again. I don't want to damage my health just for playing another tournament. I guess I've played in enough tournaments."
Like Agassi, the problem that eventually caused the end of a career was a moved vertebrae in his spine that was pinching the nerve. Pavel was told by a doctor last February that he should forget any more top flight tennis but a second opinion in October opened the way for a last opportunity. "I tried," said Pavel, who rose to 13th place in the world rankings in 2004, reached the quarter finals of the French Open in 2004 and won a Masters Series title in Montreal three years earlier by beating Patrick Rafter in the final. He gathered two other titles in Tokyo and St. Poelten and amassed $5,016,045 in prize money. "I didn't want to regret myself that I didn't even give it a go."
Pavel, who had not played a tournament since last February and only got into the 128-strong Australian Open draw on a special exemption, revealed he had been suffering for the entirety of the second half of his career. But he said: "I don't want to have surgery on my back. What for? I'm 35 years old in few days. If I have a surgery, I going to be 36. What am I, [Lance] Armstrong? No, I'm not.
Newly appointed as Romania's Davis Cup captain in succession to Adrian Marcu, Pavel has an important date coming up in early March with the World Group home tie against Russia in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu.
***

Federer Feels Good About his Life

Roger Federer says that his stress levels have dropped along with his current ranking as he sits on second behind Rafael Nadal. And the Swiss says that despite the fall he's feeling good about life.
"It's nice time to be number one having everybody talking about you. But I'm getting older, I'm enjoying myself more," he said after reaching the second round of the Australian Open.
"I still love the traveling. I love competing out on center court, those are good feelings. But maybe today, after a tough year, sometimes you can show more because you've been through a tough time.
"I show maybe a bit more emotions, a bit more happiness, which maybe people didn't see before."
Federer says he's confident as he aims for a fourth Melbourne title in six editions. "Maybe I'm a bit more relaxed, when you're number one you put your head down, you try to win as many tournaments as possible."
"Maybe sometimes you forget to enjoy it as much as you can because everything happens so quickly.
***

WTA Tour Announces Ballot for 2008 Player of the Year Awards

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has announced its ballot for the 2008 Player Awards which will be presented at Key Biscayne
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Jelena Jankovic: Titles – 4 (Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart, Moscow)
Serena Williams: Titles – 4 singles (US Open, Miami, Charleston, Bangalore)
Venus Williams: Titles – 3 singles (Sony Ericsson Championships, Wimbledon, Zurich)
Ana Ivanovic: Titles – 3 (Roland Garros, Indian Wells, Linz)
Elena Dementieva: Titles – 3 (Olympics, Dubai, Luxembourg)
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR:
Black/Huber: Titles – 10 (Antwerp, Dubai, Berlin, Birmingham, Eastbourne, Stanford, Montreal, US Open, Zurich and the Sony Ericsson Championships)
S.Williams/V.Williams: Titles – 2 (Wimbledon and Olympics Gold)
Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual: Titles – 4 (Roland Garros, Beijing, Hobart, Portoroz)
Srebotnik/Sugiyama: Titles – 3 (Miami, Charleston, Linz)
Peschke/Stubbs: Titles – 1 (Qatar Total Open-Doha)
A.Bondarenko/K.Bondarenko: Titles – 2 (Australian Open, Paris [Indoors])
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Vera Zvonareva: Rank improvement – No.23 to No.7
Zheng Jie: Rank improvement – No.163 to No.25
Anna-Lena Groenefeld: Rank improvement – No.205 to No.77
Tamarine Tanasugarn: Rank improvement – No.124 to No.35
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Dinara Safina: Rank improvement – No.15 to No.3
Elena Dementieva: Rank improvement – No.11 to No. 4
Vera Zvonareva: Rank improvement – No.23 to No.7
Agnieszka Radwanska: Rank improvement – No.26 to No.10
Flavia Pennetta: Rank improvement – No.40 to No.13
Dominika Cibulkova: Rank improvement – No.52 to No.19
Aleksandra Wozniak: Rank improvement – No.130 to No.34
MOST IMPRESSIVE NEWCOMER:
Caroline Wozniacki: Rank improvement – No.64 to No.12
Alize Cornet: Rank improvement – No.57 to No.16
Alisa Kleybanova: Rank improvement – No.150 to No.33
Petra Kvitova: Rank improvement – No.157 to No.44
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: Rank improvement – No.281 to No.45
***

Blake Was Very Interested in The Inauguration of US President Obama

He may have been massively interested, but James Blake didn't lose his rest with the inauguration of Barack Obama being staged in the middle of the night in Australia.
Blake, seeded ninth at the Australian Open, arranged for the big day's events to be recorded at home for him in Florida for later viewing at his leisure.
"It's a very significant inauguration, a very significant presidency to have the first African American in power," said the former Harvard student. "I really think there's no one better qualified for the job than Barack Obama right now.
"But it will be on Tivo for me when I get home. With this job, I need to be very singularly focused on the next round."
Blake said that he had done his bit in politics with donations to the Obama cause during the election. But his tennis schedule made it tough to attend any events in person.
"I tried to make it to one of the events in Tampa, but I was out of town and couldn't make it back. I helped out with a couple of fund raisers in New York, as well."
***

Seles Leads Gimeno, Dell and Johnson into Hall of Fame

Joining Monica Seles into the International Tennis Hall of Fame is one of Spain’s most prominent tennis players of the 1960s, Andres Gimeno, who has been elected in the Master Player category. In addition, elected in the Contributor category are Donald L. Dell, an industry pioneer and leader in sports marketing, professional sports management and sports television and founder of ProServ; and the late Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson, founder and director of the American Tennis Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who worked tirelessly for decades assisting in the development of young African-American tennis players while helping to break the barriers of racial segregation.
The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 Induction Ceremony is slated for Saturday, July 11 in Newport, Rhode Island, during the final weekend of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (July 6-12), an ATP World Tour event. The International Tennis Hall of Fame, inclusive of the Class of 2009, now honors 211 champions of tennis representing 18 different countries.
One of the all-time great champions of tennis, “Rocket” Rod Laver, will be in Newport for the Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend, July 10-12. The International Tennis Hall of Fame will honor Laver, naming him a Hall of Fame Life Trustee and will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Laver’s second career Grand Slam triumph. Laver, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981, is the only player in the history of tennis to capture two career Grand Slams –1962 and 1969.
Monica Seles, now 35, held the World No. 1 ranking for 178 weeks (non-consecutive) and captured nine majors singles titles - four Australian (1991-1993, 1996), three at Roland Garros (1990-1992) and two US Opens (1991-1992). Her win-loss record at the majors was a staggering 43-4 at the Australian, 54-8 at Roland Garros, 30-9 at Wimbledon and 53-10 at the US Open. In a career spanning 15 years, she captured 53 singles titles and six doubles titles and collected well over $14 million in prize money. She won three consecutive year-end WTA Championships (1990-1992) and finished as the world’s No. 1 ranked player in both 1991 and 1992.

***

Why is Bollettieri Not a Hall of Famer?
By Charles Bricker

Monica Seles will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame the week after Wimbledon at Newport, R.I., but at least one well-known personality from the world of sports wants to know why famed coach Nick Bollettieri has been omitted, once again, from the list of nominees.
"How in the world is Nick not selected? I find it absolutely mind-boggling that Nick is not a member," says longtime college basketball analyst Dick Vitale.
Vitale, who lives in Sarasota, Fl., and who is a personal friend of Bollettieri's, says that Seles owes a great deal of her success to Bollettieri's coaching.
"His motivational skills and inspiration not only produced a world-class champion in Monica, but also Hall of Fame talents such as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Boris Becker and many, many others.
"I have watched with admiration the brilliant teaching skills of Mr. Bollettieri and have witnessed the numerous other students who went on to be recipients of major scholarships at prestigious universities throughout the nation. Specifically, I witnessed first-hand how he assisted my daughters, Terri and Sherri, in becoming scholarship players for the University of Notre Dame.
"The current class selected, including Monica, should be commended. But it is absolutely unthinkable that Nick Bollettieri has not been selected. He is the biggest ambassador for the sport and has made numerous contributions, such as the following:
* "Developing Hall of Fame superstars Seles, Agassi, Courier and Maria Sharapova.
* "Developed hundreds of student-athletes who have represented schools such as Stanford, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and Duke.
* "Conducted world-wide clinics, teaching every aspect of tennis.
* "Promoted tennis worldwide through radio, television and internet commentary."

***

**********

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TENNIS SHORTS

Bryans Win Their 50th Championship
By Charles Bricker

It was a doubly great start for the Bryan twins, who not only won their 50th title, at Sydney, but got through the Medibank Open without Bob's tricky shoulder acting up.
The victory puts the twins within seven titles of tying John McEnroe/Peter Fleming and Bob Hewitt/Frew McMillan for second place on the all-time doubles title list. Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge have 61 titles.
There was some concern about Bob Bryan's shoulder, which has been undergoing therapy a couple months, but neither he nor brother Mike was ever in serious trouble during the tournament, in which they faced 17 break points and gave up only one break.
The twins also have a friendly competition with Roger Federer for titles. Federer has 57.
***

USA Davis Cup Tie With Switzerland Sold Out

The USTA announced Friday a sell-out for the 2009 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie between the United States and Switzerland at the 16,000 seat Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena in Birmingham, Ala., March 6-8.
“We look at this sell-out as a testament to the health of tennis in the United States,” said Jim Curley, Managing Director, Tournament Operations, USTA. “Tennis fans in Alabama and throughout the region have embraced this event, and the stage has been set in Birmingham for one of the most exciting Davis Cup ties ever held in the U.S.”
***

Federer Expects to Play Another 10 Years

Roger Federer figures he has almost a decade left in tennis if his health and form hold up. The 27-year-old who is far from finished setting records in the sport would like to play on through the 2012 London Olympics - and beyond.
"The London Olympics is very intriguing for me, and then after that I would like to play another four years hopefully," he said at the start of the Australian Open.
"I want to do well not only this year but many more years to come," added the 13-time major winner. "I don't feel like this year is my last chance to either win the French Open or pick up a few Slams more easily.
"They never come around easily. Let's not forget who I had to beat in all my Slam finals to get them, who I had to beat on the way.
"I’m expecting more of this in the future: they will be tough to win. But I know I've got the game to do it, so we'll see what happens.”

***

**********

WTA SCHEDULED TO PLAY

Upcoming schedules as of January 19, 2009
1. Jelena Jankovic - Dubai
2. Serena Williams - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
3. Dinara Safina - Dubai
4. Elena Dementieva - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
5. Ana Ivanovic - Dubai
6. Venus Williams - Dubai, Acapulco
7. Vera Zvonareva - Pattaya City, Dubai
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Dubai
9. Maria Sharapova - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
10. Agnieszka Radwanska - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
11. Nadia Petrova - Pattaya City, Dubai
12. Caroline Wozniacki - Pattaya City, Memphis
13. Flavia Pennetta - Bogota, Acapulco
14. Victoria Azarenka - Pattaya City, Memphis
15. Patty Schnyder - Paris [Indoors]
16. Alize Cornet - Paris [Indoors], Dubai
17. Marion Bartoli - Dubai
18. Anna Chakvetadze - Dubai
19. Dominika Cibulkova - Pattaya City, Dubai
20. Katarina Srebotnik - Paris [Indoors], Dubai

*********

COVERS

**********

A Reminder to Our Readers

We wish to remind our readers that our all-day tennis newswire is available to all tennis fans.
Just go to www.tennisnews.com anytime throughout the day for the latest tennis news. We surf the internet all day and post links to stories in newspapers and electronic media around the world. “We surf the net so you don’t have to."

**********

SIGHTINGS

Send your player sightings to: cort@tennisnews.com

**********

APPEARING SOON

**********

MONEY MOUNTAIN

2009 Prize Money Earnings

MEN (January 19)

1 Murray, Andy

$185,470

2 Roddick, Andy

96,250

3 Stepanek, Radek

82,800

4 Nalbandian, David

80,275

5 Del Potro, Juan Martin

78,000

6 Cilic, Marin

73,000

7 Nadal, Rafael

57,150

8T Federer, Roger

50,900

8T Monfils, Gael

50,900

10 Nieminen, Jarkko

50,550

WOMEN (January 19)

1

Dementieva, Elena

$136,325

2

Safina, Dinara

52,500

3

Kvitova, Petra

38,725

4

Azarenka, Victoria

37,628

5

Sugiyama, Ai

32,650

6

Williams, Serena

28,100

7

Bartoli, Marion

23,300

8

Benesova, Iveta

22,705

9

Peng, Shuai

22,350

10

Wozniacki, Caroline

21,265

**********

HE SAID... SHE SAID...

"This is amazing," said the junior of the Williams sisters. "To have Martin Luther King's birthday and Barack Obama's inauguration come so close together. . . " Serena (Williams) did not complete that thought, but while her faith as a Jehovah’s Witness precludes her dwelling on political matters, she clearly is touched by what is occurring in Washington, D.C.

**********

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

January

Justin Gimelstob
26
1977

Brian Gottfried
27
1952

Marat Safin
27
1980

Alicia Molik
27
1981

**********

Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Bob Larson's Tennis Celebs is published weekly.
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Daily Tennis News: January 22nd

by mltennis 22. January 2009 04:41

Thursday, January 22, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

Federer Being Proposed to Replace Ljubicic on ATP Board of Directors

The mark of a conscientious politician is to nominate a successor and Ivan Ljubicic did just that as he tendered his resignation as a member of the ATP's Board of Directors; putting the name of Roger Federer forward to play a dominant role on and off the court.
Federer's involvement in the politics of the game has increased dramatically over the last few years since he took the platform at Monte Carlo to protest proposals to axe both that tournament and Hamburg from the Masters Series list.
Common belief also has it that Federer, who became president of the ATP player council in June, had no regard for Etienne de Villiers and was more than pleased to the see the ATP's former Chairman and Chief Executive not seek a renewal of his contract at the end of last year. The former world no.1 certainly supported the appointment of de Villiers' successor Adam Helfant after getting to know the new man during his time with Nike.
"I would love Roger to do it but I don't know whether he'd like to spend so much time in politics," said Ljubicic who cited the arrival of his new son and a desire to reclaim a top 20 ranking as his reasons for vacating the post he took up last August.
Officially the ATP has claimed the process for finding Ljubicic's replacement would be announced 'in due course' but Helfant is keen to strike on some kind of continuity as he sets about establishing his term of office. The board has weathered many changes in recent months with Perry Rogers and Iggy Jovanovic losing their positions, Justin Gimelstob being elected and then immediately having to make apologies for his unwise observations about Anna Kournikova.
Having such a prominent player as Federer on the board would be a departure; before Ljubicic the previous current player to serve was Paul Annacone. Support for the idea is growing.
Robbie Ginepri said: "He's great for the game, he's done so much, everyone looks up to him."
And Craig Tiley, tournament director of the Australian Open agreed saying: "I believe that he is the statesman of our sport and to have him involved in the sport is fantastic."
***
ATP’s Helfant is Planning to Meet Everyone

Adam Helfant will amass the air miles in his initial weeks at the ATP's new Chairman and Chief Executive.
The former Nike Vice President of Global Sports Marketing is currently in Melbourne and will return briefly to his Connecticut home at the weekend. Early next week he is off to London to meet with the ATP's executive staff such as Chief Marketing Officer Phil Anderton and the chief executive of ATP Properties Richard Davies.
Helfant's next port of call will be the ATP offices in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida where he will meet up with Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Director Phillip 'Flip' Galloway, who recently returned to live in the US after a spell in London, and the association's General Counsel Mark Young, a rival to Helfant on the final short list for the top job.
Thereafter the policy will be to take in as many high profile tournaments as possible, beginning with the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. "It's going to be a time for a lot of travelling," said Helfant whose wife and two children recently moved to New England from Portland, Oregon.
"I will be based in London while my family stay in Connecticut because it would not be fair or right to move them again so soon. But I don't want to just be in the office and I think it's important to get out on the tour and meet as many people as is possible ."
***
Why is Bollettieri Not a Hall of Famer?
By Charles Bricker

Monica Seles will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame the week after Wimbledon at Newport, R.I., but at least one well-known personality from the world of sports wants to know why famed coach Nick Bollettieri has been omitted, once again, from the list of nominees.
"How in the world is Nick not selected? I find it absolutely mind-boggling that Nick is not a member," says longtime college basketball analyst Dick Vitale.
Vitale, who lives in Sarasota, Fl., and who is a personal friend of Bollettieri's, says that Seles owes a great deal of her success to Bollettieri's coaching.
"His motivational skills and inspiration not only produced a world-class champion in Monica, but also Hall of Fame talents such as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Boris Becker and many, many others.
"I have watched with admiration the brilliant teaching skills of Mr. Bollettieri and have witnessed the numerous other students who went on to be recipients of major scholarships at prestigious universities throughout the nation. Specifically, I witnessed first-hand how he assisted my daughters, Terri and Sherri, in becoming scholarship players for the University of Notre Dame.
"The current class selected, including Monica, should be commended. But it is absolutely unthinkable that Nick Bollettieri has not been selected. He is the biggest ambassador for the sport and has made numerous contributions, such as the following:
* "Developing Hall of Fame superstars Seles, Agassi, Courier and Maria Sharapova.
* "Developed hundreds of student-athletes who have represented schools such as Stanford, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and Duke.
* "Conducted world-wide clinics, teaching every aspect of tennis.
* "Promoted tennis worldwide through radio, television and internet commentary."
***
Australian Open in January, Thanks to Bjorn Borg
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ From its founding year in 1905 through 1985, the Australian Open was offered in December. That it should have a January date arguably was the doing of one man, Bjorn Borg.
Borg has to be pretty much a myth in Australia. He played down here just once, in 1974. He almost certainly would have returned had he been able to run the table of a year's Grand Slams in Australia, but while Borg in 1978, 1979 and 1980 completed a Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, he could not continue it at the U.S. Open.
They play tennis at Flushing Meadows under the lights. Borg never was comfortable in the dark. In particular, he was not one who relished opposing Jimmy Connors at night. Borg 10 times competed in U.S. Opens and never won, although he four times was a finalist.
When Borg failed in New York, Australia in December would be struck from his schedule. At length, according to Rino Tommasi, a longtime tennis correspondent from Rome - this is the 142nd Grand Slam event Tommasi has chronicled _ Australian tennis authorities awakened to the realization that the place was not being served by being fourth in the year's Grand Slam rotation.. In 1986, the Australian Open was not presented, but in1987 it began being conducted in January as the first of a season's Slams.
By being in absentia, Borg in effect had altered the tennis calendar.
***
Stolle To Coach at Australia’s National Academy

Former US Open doubles champion Sandon Stolle will join Wally Masur as a national coach at Tennis Australia’s National Academy in Sydney.
Stolle a former Optus Australian Davis Cup and top-50 player who reached No.2 in the world in doubles during more than a decade on the tour, has been coaching for three years -most recently with the Australian Institute of Sport Pro Tour Program and prior to that with the Chinese Tennis Federation.
“We get a lot of players who are good at 14 or 15 but don’t go to the next level, they can’t seem to make the transition,” he explained. He believes the right structure is now in place to get them through.
“We have a good understanding of the direction we want to go as a tennis nation and are driven to put that into place and continue on that pathway. Everyone’s pretty fired up.”
The Sydney-based National Academy program is a joint initiative of Tennis Australia and Tennis New South Wales.
***
Pavel Will be Remembered by Many After Retirement
By Charles Bricker

Andrei Pavel was little more than a 34-year-old blip on tennis' big screen when he declared his retirement this week after 13 years as an ATP pro.
But he'll be remembered by fellow pros as one of the fine sportsmen in the game and certainly as a devoted father. Although he won three titles and once reached No. 13 in the world (in 2004), his greatest public moment came on June 6 and 7 of 2002, when, after being rained off court in third set of his French Open quarterfinal against Alex Corretja, Pavel got word that his wife was probably going to give birth to their second child that night.
Immediately, he got into a car being driven by a good friend and drove eight hours non-stop, through rain, to try to reach Dissen, Germany, in time to see his child born. He didn't get there in time, but you have to give him an A+ for effort.
After an hour or so with his wife and child, however, he had to get back to Paris to finish the Corretja match on June 7. At 7 a.m., he was seen gulping coffee in the players lounge, washed out from 16 hours of driving and an almost complete lack of sleep.
We was back on court at 1 p.m., playing only 17 points before going down to the No. 20 Alex Corretja in straight sets. But he was a happy father and, along with a win over No. 3 Tommy Haas in the round of 16, he had a lifetime of memories from that French Open.
He'll turn 35 on Jan. 27.
***
Williams is Aware of the International Economy Situation

Serena Williams has gone on her version of an economy drive, buying a pair of items for $300 at a Melbourne boutique during a day off at the Australian Open.
Serena, who managed the loan of a massive jeweled necklace worth hundreds of thousands last week in Sydney, did perhaps tip her hand that the world economic crisis has struck Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, by purchasing from the half-price rack.
She and mother Oracene Price even mingled with the people in the small boutique, not even insisting that it be closed off while they made the rounds.
Williams says she's been slowing down her fabled spending. "I have been keeping my shopping at a minimal with this economy thing. I've had to make major cutbacks, me and my (fashion) company."
But Williams isn't all about the economizing. "You have to live your life. I love giving, so I love philanthropy. I just have been trying to do a lot with that more lately."
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

MELBOURNE _ Strangest question of the week: Somebody asked one of the players how he pronounces his name. His name is Lu. The question, to be fair to the questioner, likely concerned Lu's first name, Yen-Hsun. "Just call me 'Randy,' " he told reporters, "because you cannot pronounce my first name.". . . They were an item, but Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco are understood to have gone kaput. If Verdasco is heart broken, it hasn't been apparent on the courts. The handsome Spaniard has been blitzing his opponents, most recently Arnaud Clement of France 6-1, 6-1, 6-2..
Before a photographer can venture onto the catwalk over Rod Laver Arena, he must purchase catwalk insurance. The fee is $175. In applying for permission to go up there, a photographer must detail what sort of shoes he intends to wear. Still want to go up there?. . . Price of a packet of M&Ms at the tournament site: $7.80. . . Where are the dogs and cats? In his time here, a visitor from Southern California has seen one dog and no cats. . . At last count, four America men were still alive in the singles. Three are Andy Roddick, James Blake and Mardy Fish. Naming the fourth is tricky. He is Amer Delic, a native of Tuzla in Bosnia who became an American citizen after coming to the U.S. to play college tennis. . . People-will-watch-anything dept.: on the tennis compound is a shed in which a number of racket stringers go about stringing dozens of rackets. People have been standing outside the shed's windows and watching the stringing.
Opposing Roger Federer, Marat Safin's next assignment, is akin to climbing the highest mountain. Safin has tried that. With seven other climbers, the Russian made an assault on Cho Oyu, an 8,201-meter obstacle on the Nepal-Tibet border that in the world's sixth highest mountain. Safin did not get to the top, being required to excuse himself in order that he could represent Russia in a Davis Cup match. "It's not a walk in the park," Safin warned. "It's a tough one. You need to be prepared mentally and physically.". . . Sam, what am. Am a favorite around here, that is. Samantha Stosur of Australia has a rooting section made up of folks who show up wearing T-shirts bearing the plea, "Smash 'Em Sam." A winner of two major women's doubles titles and two major mixed doubles prizes, Sam is directing more of her energies to singles. She can play, as she demonstrated in her 6-3, 6-4 conquest of Sabine Lisicki, a capable young German. Next for Stosur is a match against No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva. Stosur should be right there in that one; her serve is strong and reliable, which cannot always be said of Dementieva's.

***

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--- that London's Ace Group, still smarting from their imminent loss of Andy Murray's business, has filled the gap in their books by signing up world no. 8 Gilles Simon.
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Daily Tennis News: January 21st

by mltennis 22. January 2009 04:02

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

Ljubicic Resigns his ATP Board of Directors Post

No sooner had a new era of the ATP begun with the appointment of Adam Helfant as chairman and chief executive than the highly respected Ivan Ljubicic resigned as a member of the board of directors, so creating a need for yet another election of its' members.
The official line from 29 year-old Ljubicic for standing down after just four months on the board was to concentrate on both his flagging playing career – his ranking has dropped from 19th position 12 months ago to a current no.55 - and his Monte Carlo based family after becoming a father for the first time two months ago.
But he was also thought to have become disillusioned following the adverse reaction of his peers at last Saturday's Players Meeting in Melbourne to the new amendments to the ranking system which seems to favor the higher ranked performers.
Ljubicic, who replaced Dutchman Jacco Eltingh last August, was one of three player representatives on the board alongside Justin Gimelstob and David Egdes.
"I have a family and I still want to play a lot of tennis," said the Bosnian born player who previously served as the president of the ATP Player Council for two years. "This position was my no. 3 priority and I don't feel like the guys deserved this. I would love to come back when my career slows down a bit."
Ljubicic became the first active player to serve on the board since Paul Annacone six years ago and was believed to be paid a salary of $150,000 a year for fulfilling his duties. A new electioneering race is now bound to break out and candidates for the vacancy designated for a European are believed to include Georgio DePalermo (a former ATP player manager), Benito Perez Barbadillo (PR to both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and another former ATP employee) and Sergio Palmieri (the veteran Italian IMG agent who now acts as tournament director for the Masters 1000 Series event in Rome, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
Helfant admitted he was disappointed when Ljubicic broke the news to him after winning a first round match in the Australian Open over Russia's Igor Kunitsyn. However the new ATP chief said: "Ivan has given huge amounts of time and effort in the last year to his role as a player board representative and we fully understand and support his reasons for standing down."
***
WTA Tour Announces Ballot for 2008 Player of the Year Awards

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has announced its ballot for the 2008 Player Awards which will be presented at Key Biscayne
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Jelena Jankovic: Titles – 4 (Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart, Moscow)
Serena Williams: Titles – 4 singles (US Open, Miami, Charleston, Bangalore)
Venus Williams: Titles – 3 singles (Sony Ericsson Championships, Wimbledon, Zurich)
Ana Ivanovic: Titles – 3 (Roland Garros, Indian Wells, Linz)
Elena Dementieva: Titles – 3 (Olympics, Dubai, Luxembourg)
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE YEAR:
Black/Huber: Titles – 10 (Antwerp, Dubai, Berlin, Birmingham, Eastbourne, Stanford, Montreal, US Open, Zurich and the Sony Ericsson Championships)
S.Williams/V.Williams: Titles – 2 (Wimbledon and Olympics Gold)
Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual: Titles – 4 (Roland Garros, Beijing, Hobart, Portoroz)
Srebotnik/Sugiyama: Titles – 3 (Miami, Charleston, Linz)
Peschke/Stubbs: Titles – 1 (Qatar Total Open-Doha)
A.Bondarenko/K.Bondarenko: Titles – 2 (Australian Open, Paris [Indoors])
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Vera Zvonareva: Rank improvement – No.23 to No.7
Zheng Jie: Rank improvement – No.163 to No.25
Anna-Lena Groenefeld: Rank improvement – No.205 to No.77
Tamarine Tanasugarn: Rank improvement – No.124 to No.35
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Dinara Safina: Rank improvement – No.15 to No.3
Elena Dementieva: Rank improvement – No.11 to No. 4
Vera Zvonareva: Rank improvement – No.23 to No.7
Agnieszka Radwanska: Rank improvement – No.26 to No.10
Flavia Pennetta: Rank improvement – No.40 to No.13
Dominika Cibulkova: Rank improvement – No.52 to No.19
Aleksandra Wozniak: Rank improvement – No.130 to No.34
MOST IMPRESSIVE NEWCOMER:
Caroline Wozniacki: Rank improvement – No.64 to No.12
Alize Cornet: Rank improvement – No.57 to No.16
Alisa Kleybanova: Rank improvement – No.150 to No.33
Petra Kvitova: Rank improvement – No.157 to No.44
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: Rank improvement – No.281 to No.45
***
Bosnian Fans Disrupt Taylor Dent During Match

Taylor Dent is attempting to resurrect a career plagued by injury, but ran into trouble at the Australian Open when fans of his Bosnian opponent sparked anger from his Aussie-born father Phil.
Taylor also complained about their behavior, appealing to the umpire five times, but no action was taken.
"They were allowed to heckle and taunt," said Phil Dent. "I’ve played a lot of Grand Slam tennis and I can tell you their behavior wouldn’t be allowed anywhere in the world. It was out of control. They were interrupting serves, they were chanting during line calls and even in the middle of a point. There is a point where it becomes unacceptable."
There have been crowd problems before at the Australian Open, with Croatian and Serbian fans clashing two years ago, and tournament director Craig Tiley warned there would be zero tolerance this year.
However, tournament referee Wayne McKewen said the Bosnian’s behavior did not contravene regulations in this instance.
***
Interest in Betting is Dropping at Australian Open

The slumping British economy may have even made a dent in the betting interest for home hero Andy Murray, with fewer bets than expected for the Scot's adventure at the Australian Open.
Ladbrokes of London was forced to lengthen the odds on the world No. 4, with the chances of Scotland's best claiming his first major title going from 9/4 to a more modest 3/1.
Roger Federer remains the main favorite, with the Swiss quoted at 5/2 odds in Britain. "We expected to be fighting off Murray supporters at the door after all the experts said he was red hot," said a spokesman. "But the man in the street has not followed.
But Murray-mania is not totally dead as the 21-year-old reached the second round. He stands 5/6 on to win a major this year, with 66/1 that he will somehow sweep all four.
Rafael Nadal is quoted at 4/1 to lift the trophy, ahead of Novak Djokovic (8/1) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (20/1).
***
Novak Says Murray is Not Ready for the Top Position

While Andy Murray has been talked up as a possible winner of the Australian Open, even as a favorite after beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal already this year, Novak Djokovic says the Scot isn’t in the picture.
"The thing is that you cannot put somebody, I mean, all the respect to Andy, I like him as a person and as a player. He's done a lot in the last couple months, and he's a very talented player and we can expect him to win some Grand Slams in the future. But you cannot put him as the favorites next to Roger and Rafa and myself here at Australian Open."
***
Dokic Uses Clay Court-Playing to Win Match and Australian Fans

Jelena Dokic really doesn’t like the clay. So that is why she spent as much time on the surface as she could last year, playing Challengers and grinding it out as she tried to find her game again.
"Clay is not my favorite surface, so I wanted to play on clay and really build my game a little," she said. "That surface doesn't suit me. You have to play long matches and points. I think that went in my favor. It was just comfortable. It felt like the most natural thing to do. It was in Europe, and that's where I was training at the time. I think that really helped me. You have some wins and you have some losses, but you really have to grind it out. It's tough no matter what people think. The ITF circuit is - you know, we're all trying to win out there."
Not only did Dokic sell out Rod Laver Arena, the Garden was packed as those without center court tickets watched on the big screen as she saw off Anna Chakvetadze to reach the third round of the Australian Open, and at the end she received a standing ovation. It was a huge turnaround from the strained relationship she has had with the Australian public in the past, especially after she turned her back on the country and returned to Serbia. But that decision, not surprisingly, was made by her father Damir, rather than her.
"I came back I think two or three years ago to Australia, and obviously the crowd, I didn't expect them to be on my side and to understand what happened seven years ago," she said.
"You know, each year it's gotten better and better. But, you know, I will regret the decision that I made. I can say that I made it under the influence of my dad, but I will regret leaving for the rest of my life. It will always be the mistake that I made.
"But, you know, it's really amazing. The crowd has just gotten better and better every year in Brisbane already. But I think tonight was an amazing experience. It's been the best that I've ever had. I don't expect everybody to understand, of course. But, look, I'm trying my best. I’m fighting and playing for this country. You know, I'm proud to play for this country again. I think by the reaction tonight people have really - things have swung my way, and I'm really happy about that. I was really glad to make the decision three years ago to come back."
***
Blake Was Very Interested in The Inauguration of US President Obama

He may have been massively interested, but James Blake didn't lose his rest with the inauguration of Barack Obama being staged in the middle of the night in Australia.
Blake, seeded ninth at the Australian Open, arranged for the big day's events to be recorded at home for him in Florida for later viewing at his leisure.
"It's a very significant inauguration, a very significant presidency to have the first African American in power," said the former Harvard student. "I really think there's no one better qualified for the job than Barack Obama right now.
"But it will be on Tivo for me when I get home. With this job, I need to be very singularly focused on the next round."
Blake said that he had done his bit in politics with donations to the Obama cause during the election. But his tennis schedule made it tough to attend any events in person.
"I tried to make it to one of the events in Tampa, but I was out of town and couldn't make it back. I helped out with a couple of fund raisers in New York, as well."
***
Players on the Tour are Not Big Sightseers

Tennis players travel the world, flitting from Melbourne to Paris to London to New York, and all places in between. Want to see the Harbor Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Statue of Liberty? They are there to be explored between matches. So what has Dinara Safina been to see recently?
"Nothing, nothing," she admitted. "Well, I think honestly I'm the laziest person. Just sightseeing? No. I'm so lazy to walk somewhere. I don’t know. I guess when you practice, you work hard, to walk somewhere, like if I need to buy something I will walk. But just to go to walk to the museum, no chance. I rather sit in the room. I can easily be 24 hours in the room without moving step from anywhere and just changing the channels on TV. That's how I am.
"When the people ask me, How was Melbourne? It was great. Tennis club and hotel was great. Sometimes it's really sad that I can just not say how it is. I would (could) not say, I went there and I saw this. But I guess maybe I'm still young thinking about this.
Once you will get older, just by the age maybe. At the moment I'm maybe not interested in these things. Maybe older I will get, I'll be more interested in doing these kinds of things. If I’m in Miami I'll go to the South Beach just to Apple store. Because I know it's there, and I will move there to buy a laptop. Or maybe for the dinner I will go. But just to go there and walk around, not me."
***
Magee’s Notes
By Jerry Magee

Quickie quiz: What trait do Jimmy Connors and Rafael Nadal share? Answer: They’re right-handers in every phase of their lives except tennis, which they play left-handed. Carlos Moya, it can be noted, is a left-hander who plays right-handed. . . An item: Nicole Vaidisova and Roger Stepanek. Vaidisova is 19, Stepanek 30. Stepanek once was engaged to Martina Hingis. Her romantic life aside, Vaidisova is finding tennis a trial after once being considered one of the most promising of players. After the 2007 season, she held the No. 12 ranking on the WTA Tour, but her ranking fell off to No. 41 at the close of 2008. In her opening match here, the native of the Czech Republic who resides in Germany was not even competitive. Severine Bremond of France took her out 6-2, 6-1.
You knew it all the time, but we’re just finding out: that Amber Liu and Michael Chang were married in October. Liu, from La Mesa, Calif., captured multiple NCAA Division I championships when she was attending Stanford. She makes occasional appearances on the tour. Her husband is understood to have been coaching her. . . A guy to watch: Marin Cilic of Croatia. He’s only 20. Said Neven Berticevic, a longtime tennis writer from Croatia: "I give him a big chance to be top 10 very soon, maybe even better. He has no weaknesses in his game; he’s almost perfect.". . . On the grounds: Dean Brittenham, a Colorado resident who conducts classes meant to make athletes better athletes. Brittenham’s students have included the San Diego Padres’ Adrian Gonzalez and tennis player Abigail Spears.
Harvey Rubin of West Hollywood, Calif., is a motion picture cameraman and tennis instructor who was attending the French Open in 1997 when a woman he met said she was serving as a patron of a player from Brazil and invited Rubin to watch him. He turned out to be Gustavo Kuerten. Then ranked No. 66, he won the tournament. . . As a representative of the Washington Post and the San Diego Union-Tribune, the late Barry Lorge was a tennis enthusiast. In the press room here is a niece of his, Abigail Lorge, 32. Her files appear on tennis.com. . . The telecast of Barack Obama’s inauguration began in Melbourne at 3 o’clock in the morning. Australians had a keen interest in it. . . After the tournament’s opening round, the Williams sisters were the only Americans remaining in the women’s singles draw. Had she not experienced cramping in her beginning test, Christina McHale, a 16-year-old amateur from Englewood Cliffs, N.J. might have been the third. McHale got into the main draw by winning a qualifying event at Boca Raton, Fla., that included a number of promising Americans, including U.S. Open junior champion CoCo Vandeweghe. Here, matched against Jessica Moore of Australia, the New Jersey girl was strongly placed until she was seized by cramps during the third set. "I was running for a ball and all of a sudden I felt a major twinge," McHale said. "I couldn’t even walk." She struggled on, but her rival was able to escape 1-6, 6-3, 9-7. Losing under the conditions she did was so disappointing to McHale that she wept when she recounted what had befallen here. McHale is to be seen again next week in the Australian Open’s junior phase.

***

We Hear---
--- that Nicole Vaidisova's dismal 6-2,6-1 defeat at the Australian Open against Severine Bremond, the 19 year-old Czech's fourth opening round exit in five tournaments since last fall's US Open, seems to have signaled the end of her coaching relationship with Britain's David Felgate. In the last year Vaidisova's standing has plummeted from 12th seed at last year's Australian Open to a current 52nd position which is guaranteed to worsen after she failed to defend fourth round points.
***
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