Thursday, February 19, 2008
Bob Larson's
TENNIS CELEBS
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NEWS
Tennis World is Up in Arms Over Dubai’s Refusal to Allow Shahar Peer Entry
The question of whether the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has the courage of its convictions or is instead just prepared to cower down to satisfy the whims of wealthy sponsors and star players alike has again been brought into focus by the lamentable decision of the United Arab Emirates to refuse Israel's Shahar Peer an entry visa and so deny her the right to compete in this week's Barclay's Dubai Tennis Championships.
Opinion seems constant that once the WTA heard of the decision they should have withdrawn the services of all players for the $2 million tournament. Instead chief executive Larry Scott, perhaps mindful that the neighboring Arabic state of Qatar has made a vast financial investment into women's tennis by agreeing to stage the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour year ending Championships for three years, issued a lame statement through his Head of Communications Andrew Walker.
Scott maintained: "We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) denying Shahar Peer a Visa that would permit her to enter the country to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Ms. Peer has earned the right to play in the tournament and it is regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right.
"Following various consultations, the Tour has decided to allow the tournament to continue to be played this week, pending further review by the Tour's Board of Directors. Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally, and the Tour is reviewing appropriate remedies for Ms. Peer and also will review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour believes very strongly, and has a clear rule and policy, that no host country should deny a player the right to compete at a tournament for which she has qualified by ranking."
The posturing seems similar to the WTA's ineffectuality at ending the stand off between the Williams sisters and the BNP Paribas Open set to be played in Indian Wells next month, regardless of disciplinary guidelines laid down in the new Road Map planning. But sisters are obligated to play if fit, or risk a suspension.
Scott has been repeatedly questioned on the subject without giving a definitive answer. But what seems certain is that eight years on from the racial abuse the Williams maintain they suffered from the crowd, neither sister will be attendance and what seems highly unlikely is that any disciplinary measures will be exerted.
Peer, who was born on the West Bank and commenced mandatory Israeli Army military training in November 2005, was allowed to play in Qatar last year. She had received assurances from tour officials and the sponsors of event that a visa would be forthcoming.
Her brother Shlomi Peer said: "Shahar is very disappointed both personally and professionally. Last year she received a visa from Qatar to play in the Doha tournament, the first Israeli to do so, and she thought the same would happen in Dubai."
Israel and the U.A.E. have no diplomatic relations and Israelis are normally denied entry there unless they hold citizenship in other countries. In 2003, Israeli Finance Ministry officials were given special permission to attend International Monetary Fund meetings in Dubai under Israeli passports. "We're taking this very seriously," said Israel Tennis Association chief executive Moshe Haviv "Politics shouldn't mix with sport. Even though this is a personal tournament for Peer we decided it would be right to send a letter of complaint to the WTA."
Last month, Peer was the focus of protests in New Zealand over Israel's recent three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants. She was provided extra security at the ASB Classic tournament in Auckland.
As expected there was an outcry from some leading women's players. "It's not acceptable," said Amelie Mauresmo. "I think sport should be above issues like that to do with religion and wars and whatever. I'm surprised."
Venus Williams added: "All the players support Shahar. We are all athletes and we stand for tennis. The players have to be unified."
Russia's Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, expressed sympathy for Peer. "I feel very sorry for her. She's a very good girl and very sensitive. I played her in Auckland and there was some kind of demonstration during the match," said the Russian. "Shahar really cares about what's going on between Israel and Palestine and it's just a very tough situation."
Ana Ivanovic added: "It's very unfortunate, I feel very sorry for her. Shahar is a friend of mine and I feel sorry she's not here. It's always a pity to mix politics and sport."
Dinara Safina, commented: "It's pretty disappointing she's not playing here. She's a great player and a great athlete. I hope she will have many more chances."
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Statement from Shahar Peer
February 17, 2009
In response to the tremendous outpouring of support and empathy over the UAE decision to deny me a visa that would allow me to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my friends and fans around the world, and my fellow players. While this is a very difficult moment for me personally and professionally, and the fact that the visa denial was issued at the last moment, I firmly believe that my fellow competitors should not be harmed the way I was - they were in or on their way to Dubai and denying them the right to play in this year’s tournament at the last moment would not make the wrong right. In fact, it troubles me greatly that my doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld from Germany will not be able to compete as we had planned. Going forward, I am confident that the Tour will take appropriate actions to ensure that this injustice is not allowed to occur in the future, and that the Tour will make sure I will not be further harmed in the short and long term. There should be no place for politics or discrimination in professional tennis or indeed any sport.
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Andy Murray is Being Urged to Return Some Endorsement Monies
The somber economic climate in Britain has sparked calls for Andy Murray and other top athletes sponsored by the ailing Royal Bank of Scotland to hand back millions in contract monies.
British media report that the RBS, which has been bailed out by the government and is heading for a loss of up to $40 billion, should not be throwing money around on "global ambassadors" like Murray, former racing great Jackie Stewart and golfer Jack Nicklaus.
The sponsorship amount is estimated at around $300 million; the bank is now partly nationalized - i.e. owned by British taxpayers.
One MP has even suggested that the sporting stars would curry favor with the public my handing back their millions. The RBS is facing the loss of up to 20,000 jobs and is on track for the biggest annual loss ever recorded by a UK company.
Murray wears a RBS patch on his tennis shirts for an undisclosed fee.
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Venus Williams Cautions Not to Lose Sight of the Big Picture
Long ago Billie Jean King, the tennis woman who more than any other loves to battle for a cause, nominated Venus Williams as the present day standard bearer for righteousness in a sport that sometimes gets things horribly wrong.
Venus talked and wrote eloquently on the matter of equal prize money. Coming from the Los Angeles ghetto of Compton, she is well versed with the struggles that face athletes from less privileged backgrounds. In BJK parlance Venus simply gets it.
However it seems she is no rebel – at least not in the ongoing situation of the United Arab Emirates government denying Shahar Peer and quite possibly her Israeli compatriot Andy Ram a visa to contest the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Arguments are raging on the morality of the decision, opinions are widespread. However Venus' voice was one of sensibility and pragmatism when she declared there was not even a likelihood of a boycott amongst the women's players in protest at the UAE decision.
"I have to look at the bigger picture," maintained Venus who sits on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Players' Council and has already talked the situation through with chief executive Larry Scott who remains in America. "The big picture is that Shahar Peer didn't get a chance to play, but making an immediate decision we also have to look at sponsors, fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament."
As the looks of concern that come from sponsors Barclays and tournament owners Dubai Duty Free become ever graver by the hour, Venus offered reason for optimism. ""There are so many other people involved. Sponsors are important to us," said the elder Williams "We wouldn't be here without sponsors and we can't let them down. Whatever we do, we need to do as a team - players, sponsors, tour and whoever - and not all break off in one direction. We are team players."
Venus has also entered into the ongoing debate about the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) new system that has been ridiculed by the likes of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. "Things can be pretty tough for us as players as we do not know what time our next match will be played," she said. "I think there are some things in the new system that need to be looked at from both sides."
In the next two years anti-doping tests on both the ATP World Tour and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour are set to increase by 150%. Add to this increased testing at Grand Slams, Fed and Davis Cup and on the lower ITF circuits, and there is a feeling amongst the players of an invasion of privacy.
"As a professional player I am too engrossed in taking it one match at a time at tournaments so there isn't any time really to divert from your job in hand," added Venus.
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Patrick McEnroe Marks First Anniversary as Head of USTA High Performance
By Charles Bricker
So THIS is Patrick McEnroe's guilty pleasure. A first-ever weekend -- since the twins were born in November -- away from the three children with wife Melissa Errico, the absolutely stunning and talented singer/Broadway actress.
Last Friday, P-Mac hopped a plane to South Florida from his home in New York to spend a few days at the USTA training center in Boca Raton and connect with Melissa, who had a concert just down the road in Miami.
But before he left, he not only reviewed his first year as the head of the USTA's High Performance program, but weighed in on a number of issues, including the somewhat surprising termination last October of Rodney Harmon as director of men's coaching.
"There is no doubt that making changes is not easy," said McEnroe. "What I felt was lacking was a philosophy. I don't consider myself a coach-coach. I know about working with players, but I'm not a hands-on coach 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We needed a philosophy, and I didn't think we had one."
So he hired 53-year-old Spaniard Jose Higueras, who had previously worked with four No. 1 players (Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Carlos Moya) to the more all-encompassing job of director of coaching.
"I've been blown away by the job Jose's done so far," said Mac. "Here's a guy who's done it all in coaching and who was obviously a great player (French Open semifinal, once ranked No. 6). His philosophy is typical of the Spanish system -- movement, preparation, seeing the ball, moving into position and hitting. He's not so much about technique, but about putting the ball in the right spot."
It couldn't have been easy to fire Harmon, who had held the job since 2002 and who was respected enough that last year the USTA named him coach of the U.S. Olympic team. Aside from being Davis Cup captain, which doesn't really involve firing anyone from a paid job, McEnroe was in new territory here. He'd never fired anyone, and it had to be doubly difficult to fire a black coach -- especially while working for the USTA, which has for years been way over the top in political correctness.
But for anyone to suggest that this firing was racially motivated is ludicrous. This is Patrick McEnroe, who is working with a number of promising black juniors and who is one of James Blake's most loyal fans. Certainly Andy Roddick is locked in to play the Swiss in the first round of Davis Cup in March, but for some there are real questions whether it's Blake or Mardy Fish at No. 2. "I'm leaning toward James, who has won a lot of big matches for us," said Mac. And that doesn't change because Fish beat Blake, again, at San Jose last week.
So Harmon is out and Higueras, whose residence is Palm Springs, Calif., is in, splitting time between Boca and Carson, Calif., near L.A., where the USTA has a second training center. One year into McEnroe's tenure, it's not reasonable to assess the job he's done purely by the rankings. Let's see where things are a year from now.
His main charge as general manager of High Performance is to identify and develop junior players, but the program is also intimately involved with assisting younger pros like Donald Young, John Isner and Sam Querrey. There are prospects out there who are closing in on age 18 -- brothers Ryan and Christian Harrison, Chase Buchanan, Rhyne Williams, Alex Domijan, Madison Brengle, Coco Vandeweghe, Asia Muhammad and Melanie Oudin, a former ITF junior No. 1 who is now playing strictly pro ball.
But no one in that group looks, at this point, like a sure top-10. It's a big part of McEnroe's job to get at least one of those teenagers into the upper reaches of pro tennis, and, eventually, he's going to be judged largely on how far those prospects go.
Behind that group are three particularly intriguing 13-year-olds -- Victoria Duval, Madison Keys and Sachia Vickery. There's very strong top-10 potential in them, but it's much too early to get overly excited.
When players check into the development centers in Boca and Carson, they'll fit into one three "scenarios:"
1. "You're with us full-time," says McEnroe. "We'll give you a coach, but not your own full-time coach.
2. "You're in a situation as a player where you have your own personal coach, like Coco Vandeweghe, who works with Adam Peterson (former Lindsay Davenport coach). You'll go through our program and we'll help financially."
3. "You're not in our program." That sounded like fish or cut bait.
"This is a work in progress," said McEnroe. "I'm in charge and the first thing I did was listen and get out and see what was going on. I'm not an expert, but what I think I have a good handle on is information -- what works and what doesn't work. And then I come up with a game plan."
There's a lot on McEnroe's plate -- High Performance, a lot of New York-to-Florida-to-California travel, Davis Cup, a 10-year marriage and three daughters, aged 2 and two months. "It's a challenge," he understated. "But my wife has been amazing and she knows I'm passionate about this."
He had a chance to thank her once again last weekend, without being interrupted by a diaper change.
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Rusedski Ends His Plan to Play the Tour and Davis Cup
Greg Rusedski's projected comeback at the age of 35 has ended before it even started. The ice cold reaction of both Tournament Directors and British Davis Cup captain of John Lloyd has convinced the Canadian-born left hander to stay in retirement.
Rusedski offered his services to Lloyd for the upcoming Euro/African Zone Group One tie against the Ukraine but was told he was not required. Then he drew a blank with requests for wild cards into the Rotterdam and Marseille tournaments.
It's not happening ever again, I'm done," said Rusedski. "Sometimes it's better to let things go and so you can quote me on this. I'm not coming back ever again. I'm happy to be officially retired and I can't wait for this thing to be over."
A good showing in December's BlackRock Masters senior event in London convinced Rusedski that he still possessed the ability to play on the main ATP Tour and regain his place in the British Davis Cup team from which he retired nearly two years ago.
“I thought I could benefit the team, so I took the plunge and called John. He could have given me the opportunity – but he decided to go with the youngsters. I have to respect that. We will see what happens in this tie. I'm not going to be part of it now, which is fine, but one of these young guys needs to step up."
Rusedski was willing to participate in next week's play-offs to decide who will support Murray in the tie. "John knew I would test myself in any way he liked," said the London-based ex-player who will now content himself with being an Ambassador for the Lawn Tennis Association, Britain's Junior Davis Cup captain and assorted television work. "I would have played [low-ranked] Challenger events, or Futures, to prove myself ready. I would've gone in any direction I needed to. But I respect the fact that these young players are working every day and I would've been a short-term solution.
"I'm realistic. I'm not anywhere near the top 20. And [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer and Murray are obviously in another league. I can't play with those guys any more. I'm not delusional. But I can still compete with top 100 guys."
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Jelena Jankovic needs time to get going, she says, but then watch out
"I am a player who needs to play a lot of matches to get a rhythm," she said at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. "I feel like I become like a machine when I play a lot. I don’t need to think. Everything comes automatically when I am playing a lot. I’m just getting that kind of rhythm and know I have a lot of confidence. Like in Australia, I didn’t have any matches before so it was very hard for me to read the ball, I didn’t see it very well I was late on every shot. My whole concept of the game was lost. I was struggling out there. Now I am getting back. I am getting better and better but I still have a lot of improvement to work on."
The Serbian lost in the first round in Brisbane and, as world number one, got no further than the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, where she lost to Dinara Safina.
“For some reason I had a tough time moving there. I felt very slow in Australia. If I am not moving well and getting behind the ball It is very tough for me to compete. I have been working on my footwork, on my movement and on my reactions in general. I felt in slow motion. It was a complete disaster for me. It is a very uncomfortable feeling when you feel like that. That is something I have to get better and I was already doing much better in Paris. I guess when you don’t compete for a while your hand-eye coordination and reactions suffer.
"You can play a lot of sparring matches. You train for hours and hours. But practice and a real match is a completely different story. The atmosphere, the tension, the pressure of playing big points. Everything is different. That’s why I need to play and play to get into that rhythm again. I feel that I am on the right track. I am very much better than I was in Australia so that’s a positive thing."
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Ivanovic Likes the Dubai Accommodations
Ana Ivanovic is one of the players staying this week at the so-called ‘seven-star’ Burj Al Arab hotel while they compete in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Like most who have stayed there in the luxurious two-level suites, she has found it difficult to emerge into the real world outside.
"It’s very nice. It’s the first time I’m staying there and it’s amazing," said the Serb. "It’s the best hotel in the world and just very spacious and quite loud with the colors and decorations. It’s tough to leave the room. I spent all morning there looking at the decorations."
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Dementieva Prefers Indoor Events
Elena Dementieva had admitted that it is tough to go from outdoors (most of the time!) at the Australian Open to indoors in Paris to outdoors again in Dubai. But she wouldn’t give up the opportunity of playing in Paris, where she reached the final last week, under any circumstances.
"I personally like to play indoors but we don’t have many tournaments anymore," she said at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. "There is only three tournaments, which is Paris, Stuttgart and Moscow (strangely, she forgets Luxembourg, which she won in 2008, and Linz). I think if we could move Paris close to Moscow at the end of the year that would be a good idea, but I don’t know how difficult it is to make such big changes.
"I like indoors because I am Russian and most of the time we practice indoors in Moscow, so for me it’s just a very comfortable feeling to play indoors. That’s how I was growing up and practicing when I was little."
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Pairings Set for “BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup”
The pairings for the two semifinal matches of the inaugural “BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup” have been set for the March 2 event at Madison Square Garden.
The 2008 year-end No. 1, Jelena Jankovic is the top seed and will play Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams. The other semifinal features 2008 US Open and 2009 Australian Open Champion Serena Williams against French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic, who ended 2008 at No. 5.
The semifinals will be one set followed by the finals for a best of three sets match. The winner will receive $600,000, the finalist receives $300,000 and the semifinalists will receive $150,000 each.
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TENNIS SHORTS
Ivanovic is Confident Choosing Kardon Was a Good Decision
Ana Ivanovic is confident that a change of coach can help her regain her place at the top of the game.
Now, after previously having to share coach Sven Groeneveld with other adidas players, the 21-year old Serbian recently engaged the experienced Craig Kardon.
"We are getting to know each other but having spent a couple of practices it has been going really well," said Ivanovic of Kardon, who previously worked with Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati. "We have firm views of how my game should develop and in which direction my game is going to go. I feel very confident it’s going to be good."
***
Rising Tennis Standout Groth signs with Lacoste
Rising tennis standout Jarmila Groth has signed an exclusive endorsement agreement with Lacoste to wear Lacoste apparel, footwear and accessories.
A hard-hitting 21-year-old from Melbourne, Groth is one of Australia’s most promising prospects in women’s tennis. As a member of the Australian Institute of Sports Program, she enjoyed a very successful 2008 campaign, compiling an impressive 51-21 match record in tournament play, including five titles at the ITF level. In November, the former world class junior broke into the WTA Tour Top 100 after her triumph at the USD 100.000 Taipei Open and is currently ranked 90th in the world.
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Dushevina Struggles with Pattaya Weather
Russia’s Vera Dushevina has written a blog this week for Eurosport, and reveals what it has been like to play at the PTT Pattaya Open for the first time.
"Conditions here are, er, unusual to say the least! It's my first time at the event - and first time in Thailand too," she wrote. "I'd been warned by some of the other players to expect it to be very hot and steamy here, but I just brushed aside what they said. I mean, how bad could it be? I'll tell you how bad - the players run around the court absolutely soaked to the skin in T-shirts, skirts, caps and trainers, while sitting in the stands are the spectators wearing swimming trunks, bikinis and flip-flops."
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WTA SCHEDULED TO PLAY
Upcoming schedules as of February 16, 2009
1. Serena Williams - Miami
2. Dinara Safina - Indian Wells, Miami
3. Jelena Jankovic - Indian Wells, Miami
4. Elena Dementieva - Indian Wells, Miami
5. Vera Zvonareva - Indian Wells, Miami
6. Venus Williams - Acapulco, Miami
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Indian Wells, Miami
8. Ana Ivanovic - Indian Wells, Miami
9. Nadia Petrova - Indian Wells, Miami
10. Agnieszka Radwanska - Monterrey, Indian Wells, Miami
11. Alize Cornet - Indian Wells, Miami
12. Caroline Wozniacki - Indian Wells, Miami
13. Marion Bartoli - Monterrey, Indian Wells, Miami
14. Victoria Azarenka - Indian Wells, Miami
15. Flavia Pennetta - Acapulco, Monterrey, Indian Wells, Miami
16. Maria Sharapova - Indian Wells, Miami
17. Patty Schnyder - Indian Wells, Miami
18. Dominika Cibulkova - Indian Wells, Miami
19. Amelie Mauresmo - Indian Wells, Miami
20. Zheng Jie - Monterrey, Indian Wells, Miami
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COVERS
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A Reminder to Our Readers
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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 (February 16)
1 Nadal, Rafael
$1,570,335
2 Federer, Roger
724,800
3 Murray, Andy
606,937
4 Roddick, Andy
368,473
5 Verdasco, Fernando
311,490
6 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried
276,857
7 Stepanek, Radek
226,433
8 Cilic, Marin
225,429
9 Del Potro, Juan Martin
215,386
10 Robredo, Tommy
210,755
WOMEN (February 16)
1
Williams, Serena
$1,579,197
2
Safina, Dinara
739,303
3
Dementieva, Elena
443,008
4
Zvonareva, Vera
298,413
5
Williams, Venus
175,822
6
Mauresmo, Amelie
152,227
7
Bartoli, Marion
148,642
8
Kuznetsova, Svetlana
145,009
9
Sugiyama, Ai
144,942
10
Suarez Navarro, Carla
134,534
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HE SAID... SHE SAID...
"We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) denying Shahar Peer a Visa that would permit her to enter the country to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Ms. Peer has earned the right to play in the tournament and it is regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right." - Larry Scott
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
February
Hana Mandlikova
19
1962
Paul Haarhuis
19
1966
Ellis Ferreira
19
1970
Nathalie Dechy
21
1979
Tom Okker
22
1944
Gigi Fernandez
22
1964
Michael Chang
22
1972
Lleyton Hewitt
24
1981
Na Li
26
1982
Ivo Karlovic
28
1979
Jelena Jankovic
28
1985
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Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
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