Wednesday, September 9, 2009
BUSINESS NEWS
Davis Cup Nominations Announced
The ITF has announced the team nominations for the 2009 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Semifinals to be played on September 18-20.
WORLD GROUP SEMIFINALS
CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC
Venue: Sportska Dvorana “Zatika”, Porec (clay - indoors)
Croatia
Marin Cilic
Ivo Karlovic
Roko Karanusic
Lovro Zovko
Captain: Goran Prpic
Czech Republic
Radek Stepanek
Tomas Berdych
Jan Hernych
Lukas Dlouhy
Captain: Jaroslav Navratil
SPAIN v ISRAEL
Venue: Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort, Torre Pacheco , Murcia (clay - outdoors)
Spain
Rafael Nadal
Tommy Robredo
David Ferrer
Feliciano Lopez
Captain: Albert Costa
Israel
Dudi Sela
Harel Levy
Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram
Captain: Eyal Ran
WORLD GROUP PLAY-OFFS
CHILE v AUSTRIA
Venue: Medialuna Monumental of Rancagua , Rancagua (clay – outdoors)
Chile
Paul Capdeville
Nicolas Massu
Jorge Aguilar
Guillermo Hormazabal
Captain: Hans Gildemeister
Austria
Jurgen Melzer
Stefan Koubek
Alexander Peya
Julian Knowle
Captain: Gilbert Schaller
BELGIUM v UKRAINE
Venue: Spiroudome de Charleroi, Charleroi (clay – indoors)
Belgium
Christophe Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Steve Darcis
Xavier Malisse
Captain: Reginald Willems
Ukraine
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Ivan Sergeyev
Sergei Bubka
Illya Marchenko
Captain: Orest Tereshchuk
BRAZIL v ECUADOR
Venue: Ginasio Gigantinho, Porto Alegre (clay – indoors)
Brazil
Marcos Daniel
Thomaz Bellucci
Marcelo Melo
Andre Sa
Captain: Francisco Costa
Ecuador
Nicolas Lapentti
Giovanni Lapentti
Carlos Avellan
Julio-Cesar Campozano
Captain: Raul Viver
NETHERLANDS v FRANCE
Venue: MECC Maastricht , Maastricht (clay – indoors)
Netherlands
Thiemo de Bakker
Jesse Huta Galung
Raemon Sluiter
Igor Sijsling
Captain: Jan Siemerink
France
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Gilles Simon
Gael Monfils
Michael Llodra
Captain: Guy Forget
SOUTH AFRICA v INDIA
Venue: Ellis Park Indoor Arena, Johannesburg (hard – indoors)
South Africa
Rik De Voest
Izak Van Der Merwe
Wesley Moodie
Jeff Coetzee
Captain: John-Laffnie De Jager
India
Somdev Devvarman
Rohan Bopanna
Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes
Captain: Shiv-Prakash Misra
SERBIA v UZBEKISTAN
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade (hard – indoors)
Serbia
Viktor Troicki
Janko Tipsarevic
Ilija Bozoljac
Nenad Zimonjic
Captain: Bogdan Obradovic
Uzbekistan
Denis Istomin
Farrukh Dustov
Murad Inoyatov
Vaja Uzakov
Captain: Petr Lebed
SWEDEN v ROMANIA
Venue: Idrottens Hus, Helsingborg (hard – indoors)
Sweden
Robin Soderling
Andreas Vinciguerra
Simon Aspelin
Robert Lindstedt
Captain: Mats Wilander
Romania
Victor Hanescu
Victor Crivoi
Horia Tecau
Playing Captain: Andrei Pavel
ITALY v SWITZERLAND
Venue: Centro Sportivo " Valletta Cambiaso", Genova (clay – outdoors)
Italy
Andreas Seppi
Simone Bolelli
Fabio Fognini
Potito Starace
Captain: Corrado Barazzutti
Switzerland
Roger Federer
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stephane Bohli
Marco Chiudinelli
Captain: Severin Luthi
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ATP Chief Planning a Skills Exhibition to Promote Tennis
The ATP World Tour is still without a title sponsor to replace Mercedes Benz who decided to end their deal at the end of last year. The calendar is still a major issue and it remains irrefutable that too much top flight men’s tennis is played around the world. Firm vigilance is still needed by the Tennis Integrity Unit to ensure gambling and match fixing is kept at bay.
However Adam Helfant, chief executive for nine largely anonymous months since succeeding Etienne de Villiers at the beginning of the year, has made his first pronouncement. The former Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who got to know some of the sport’s leading names including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova during his time as a Nike executive believes a prime aim is to boost the sport’s popularity.
So he plans to follow examples set by Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association and organize a two day extravaganza of players running, jumping, chasing and racing though not exactly taking part in routine games of tennis.
Helfant is probably looking to a Californian location before the Masters 1000 series swings into action at Indian Wells to stage the event which would also include skills competition, pro-am celebrity doubles matches and an awards show.
“We’re looking at it as a way to extend our reach, to reach more casual sports fans and tennis fans,” said Helfant. “It seems to work in other sports. We’ll see if it works here. Our players think it will work.”
Helfant is not blind to the more serious, and some would say, pressing issues of men’s tennis. He maintains there are positive moves in place to finally replace Mercedes as the title sponsor and some form of announcement could be made in early 2010.
He also is studying the succession of tournaments that runs more or less non stop for 48 weeks of each year. "There always will be issues with the calendar," he conceded. "We will work to refine it. But I think the system is actually working. Our top guys are showing up on the biggest stages and performing. It's a nice problem. We have a great demand for our product."
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Schwartz Inducted Into 2009 Tennis Industry Hall of Fame
Alan Schwartz of Highland Park, Ill., was honored recently as the sole 2009 inductee of the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place at the annual Tennis Industry Association (TIA) Tennis Forum held at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.
Schwartz joins Howard Head and Dennis Van der Meer as the only members of the TIA’s Tennis Industry Hall of Fame.
Schwartz was cited for his efforts to bring the tennis industry and the USTA together to make a vital force for tennis. Few people in the history of the tennis business have had the influence and prolific presence that Schwartz has had in his more than 40 years in this industry.
An outstanding player in his youth, nationally ranked as a junior, Schwartz captained the Yale University tennis team. After earning an engineering degree from Yale and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School, he worked as an entrepreneur in industrial real estate.
Before he was 40, in 1969 he built Mid-Town Tennis Club in Chicago, where he introduced several tennis court innovations. He also co-created the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP), the sport’s standard for rating players. Since that time, Mid-Town has become the anchor club for Schwartz’s 45-club Tennis Corporation of American (TCA).
Now chairman of TCA Holdings, Schwartz has served as an officer and director of the Chicago District Tennis Association and Chicago Tennis Patrons for 20 years. His most visible achievement, however, has been his volunteer service with the USTA.
He may have been the first industry representative to join the USTA Board of Directors. During that first year, Schwartz created the organization’s mission statement: “To promote and develop the growth of tennis.”
Schwartz served as USTA vice president for two consecutive terms before becoming first vice president and, from 2003 to 2004, the USTA’s chairman of the board and president. During his presidency, he played a key role in making the US Open Series a reality, hired the first master planner for the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, enhanced the financial stability of the USTA and strengthened its relationships with organizations industry-wide.
He continues to serve as a member of the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), on various ITF committees and with the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Club Industry Hall of Fame and Chicago District Hall of Fame and past president of the National Indoor Tennis Association (now known as IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association).
Over the years, Schwartz has won many age group singles and doubles titles, but probably the most rewarding to him was having won the Chicago area Father-Son tournament twice; once as a son and once as a father.
***
Ashe to be Inducted into US Open Court of Champions
The USTA announced that Arthur Ashe, one of tennis’ greatest ambassadors, has been named the 2009 inductee into the US Open Court of Champions, a US Open and USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center attraction honoring the greatest singles champions in the history of the 128 years of the U.S. Championships/US Open. Ashe will be inducted during a ceremony on Thursday evening, September 10, and President Bill Clinton will participate in a tribute to this tennis icon and humanitarian, to be broadcast live on ESPN2.
The US Open Court of Champions salutes the tournament’s all-time greatest champions with an individual permanent monument that serves as a lasting tribute. Ashe will join prior inductees Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Jimmy Connors, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Althea Gibson, Steffi Graf, Billie Jean King, Jack Kramer, Rod Laver, Ivan Lendl, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Bill Tilden and Helen Wills. A panel of international print and broadcast journalists selected the 2009 inductee from the roster of U.S. champions based on their performances at the tournament and their impact on the growth of the event.
Ashe was the US Open singles champion in 1968, and reached the final again in 1972. In his career, he captured 33 singles titles and 18 doubles titles, including three major championships. Prior to that, he won the NCAA singles title (for UCLA in 1965), and he represented the United States in the Davis Cup every year from 1965 to 1970, helping his country to the title from 1968 to 1970. Ashe also worked extensively off the court to end poverty and racism worldwide. In 1969, Ashe founded the USTA National Junior Tennis League, now the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. Ashe envisioned NJTL as a way of developing the character of young people through tennis and education. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, NJTL has grown to more than 550 chapters nationwide, serving more than 220,000 youths each year. It has become one of USTA's largest community- based offerings.
The US Open Court of Champions, a 9,000-square foot outdoor pavilion bounded by the South Entry Gate and the Arthur Ashe Commemorative Garden and Sculpture, celebrates the event’s greatest champions with an individual permanent monument to serve as a lasting tribute. The attraction also features a complete listing of all U.S. singles champions since the competition began in 1881.
***
Verdasco is Passed Over for Davis Cup Squad
Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard who turned out to be a national hero in playing the winning role in last year’s Davis Cup final against Argentina while Rafael Nadal was missing through injury, has not been selected for the upcoming semi final against Israel because he will undergo a minor foot operation immediately after the US Open.
But a bigger mystery in the Spanish camp is why there is no place in the team for Juan Carlos Ferrero who made a successful return to the line-up by beating Germany’s Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the decisive fifth rubber in July’s quarter final in Marbella.
Instead Spanish captain Albert Costa has chosen Daviud Ferrer and Tommy Robredo in his four man team alongside Nadal and Feliciano Lopez who plays most of his Davis Cup tennis in the doubles.
Four months ago Juan Carlos Ferrero was #115, his lowest rank since last millennium. It looked like the career of former #1 and Roland Garros winner (both achievement date to 2003) was nearing the end, but 29 years old Spaniard thought otherwise.
With ATP rankings jump to #25 and forth round showing in US Open, his tennis seem to be on rise again. Encouraged by exploits in recent months Ferrero was convinced that he has earned return to national squad, but there awaited a cold shower.
“I am very disappointed that I am not chosen for Davis Cup semifinal against Israel”, said Ferrero.
There is still weak opportunity that Ferrero may return to national team after playing only one event in last four years. He was part of winning team in first two Spanish conquests of Davis Cup, 2000 in Barcelona and 2004 in Seville.
“Costa called me to explain what is going on and told me to be ready if he gives me a last minute call. He told me that if any of chosen players fail to be ready, I will be given a chance.”
It is obvious that no one is 100 percent sure that Nadal will be healthy enough to play, but Ferrero is not sure if he will be available.
“I would like to take holiday, but I am not sure what to do now, because of his words to be ready. I don’t want to take other player’s place. Rafa deserves to be in team, Ferrer too, Lopez and Robredo also. But, I think that I deserve to be equal with them too. Costa told me that because of absence of Fernando Verdasco, Robredo is very important for doubles with Lopez.”
***
Tennis Greats and Celebrities to Attend the 2009 Legends Ball to Benefit Hall of Fame
On the eve of the US Open Women’s Final, tennis’ legendary players, VIPs and celebrity fans will gather to honor the sport’s contributors and history at the 29th annual “Legends Ball,” an event which benefits the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, on Friday, September 11, beginning at 6:30 pm at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
The star-studded guest list includes; tennis legends Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Guillermo Vilas, Donald Dell and Tracy Austin; and celebrity tennis fans such as Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Miss USA Kristen Dalton and Real Housewives of New York City cast members Jill Zarin, Ramona Singer and their husbands. Roberts will emcee the star-studded event.
The special night of celebration, held annually since 1980, honors a bevy of tennis luminaries and the Hall of Fame Induction Class of 2009 – Donald L. Dell, Andres Gimeno, the late Dr. Robert Johnson and nine-time major champion Monica Seles.
Guests will not only rub elbows with tennis royalty, but they will also have the opportunity to participate in live and silent auctions featuring dozens of unique items and experiences. Some items up for bid: autographed racquets from Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova; VIP ticket packages to three of the 2010 majors; and hit sessions with Hall of Famers Monica Seles and Jim Courier. The auctions will also feature golf, baseball, hockey, basketball and football memorabilia and tickets, as well as exotic vacation packages. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum.
The mission of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, based in Newport, RI, is to preserve the history of tennis, inspire and encourage junior tennis development, enshrine tennis heroes and heroines and provide a landmark for tennis enthusiasts worldwide.
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We Hear---
--that Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will play a match at The Venetian Macao-Resort in Macao on October 25, 2009.
--that first week US Open attendance set a record of 423,427 – a figure greater than the total attendance of any US Open prior to 1991. The all-time daily gate record (day and night sessions combined) was set on Friday, August 29, with a total of 61,554.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
US Open
WOMEN
US Open
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Davis Cup Semifinals
WOMEN
Guangzhou
Quebec City
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