Wednesday, September 30, 2009
BUSINESS NEWS
Economic Situation Forces Major Sponsor to Pull Out of Warm-Up to Australian Open
One of the major Australian Open warm-up exhibition events has been struck a major blow after the main sponsor of the Women’s Champions Challenge in Hong Kong, the JB Group, walked away as a result of the current economic turndown.
The withdrawal of the company, which has interests in mining, property, diamond and other jewelry, oil and gas, consulting and food and beverage, has left a gaping $700,000 hole, which organizers are hoping will be filled by the Hong Kong government from a new so-called Mega Events Fund, according to the South China Sea Post.
The event, which is slated to take place between January 6 and 10, 2010, this year took the form of a global groups team format, with players such as Venus Williams and Gisela Dulko representing Team America, Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze playing for Team Russia, Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie as part of Team Asia Pacific, and Jelena Jankovic and Agnes Szavay included in Team Europe. In previous years the event has also attracted high-profile players such Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.
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Lagardère Had a Stellar Month in Signing Tennis Talent
Lagardère Unlimited, the tennis division of the giant French conglomerate is about to end a stellar month for attracting top flight competitive talent under its umbrella. With Justine Henin about to resume her playing career as a Lagardère player, Tommy Haas and Paul Henri Mathieu have also signed representation deals.
Although the headquarters of Lagardère are in Paris, the tennis division is run out of Miami with former BEST (Blue Entertainment SportsTelevision) executive Ken Meyerson in charge. The current roster is highlighted by such names as world no.6 Andy Roddick, no.12 Fernando Gonzalez, former top tenner and Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu as well as French players such as Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Jeremy Chardy and Josselin Ouanna.
The signing of Strasbourg-born Mathieu, aged 27 and currently ranked 27 in the world with a career best of 12 follows the trend. He has been a member of the French Davis Cup Team since 2002 and the winner of four ATP titles. Currently he is coached by Amelie Mauresmo’s former mentor Loic Courteau.
But the snatching of Haas from IMG is a great coup. The Florida-based German, now aged 30 will be managed by an international team of experienced agents, including Ken Meyerson, to maximize his revenues.
Arnaud Lagardère commented, “I met Tommy several years ago. I recently spent some time with him this summer, and we are thrilled to be representing such a wonderful athlete and contributor to the sport of tennis.”
Meyerson amplified the sentiments saying: ‘’I have been a huge fan of Tommy’s for a long long time. With my own personal history in terms of management representing Michael Stich, we are extremely comfortable in Germany, and with our sports assets in that market, feel that we can deliver.’’
Haas, who currently resides in the IMG stronghold of Bradenton, Florida, concluded: “I have been impressed with what Lagardère Unlimited has done with some of the other clients they represent, and I am eager to get started as although I live in the States, I am from Germany and feel that their strong presence in my home country was definitely a major part of my decision to be represented by them.”
The player spent the first half of 2009 recovering from a right-shoulder injury he suffered at the end of 2008 and started the season at Roland-Garros where he advanced to the Round of 16 and led Roger Federer by two sets before falling in a five-set thriller. He then moved onto grass and won the Gerry Webber Open in Halle, Germany, where he defeated current ATP World Tour #3 Singles Player Novak Djokovic in the final, and continued on at the Wimbledon Championships defeating world #15 singles player Marin Cilic 10-8 in the fifth set tiebreak in the Round of 32 and third seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual Champion Roger Federer in his debut semi-final appearance.
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Fila Becomes Sponsor of WTA Tour Championships
Fila has won the contract to provide official clothing and footwear for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships to be staged in Doha, Qatar from October 27 to November 1.
As official shoe and apparel partner Fila has created a bespoke range concentrating on the event’s color scheme of purple and green for the six day calendar closer that this year boasts a prize fund of $4.55 million. The designs are based on vintage pieces from the Fila archive and will be worn by court officials, ball crew and tournament staff.
Fila is the official footwear licensee of the Wimbledon Championships and is a major sponsor of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Campbells Hall of Fame Championships in Newport.
Rajiv Batra, Group CEO of Fila said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Sony Ericsson Championships. Fila continues to invest heavily tennis and we are very proud to be associated with one of the highlights of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.”
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Krumm Plans to Continue Playing After Her Korean Success
Kimiko Date Krumm, who defeated opponents such as Daniela Hantuchova and Anabel Medina Garrigues on her way to winning the Korea Open last weekend, has admitted that she has been shocked at the success of her comeback to tennis after an absence of 13 years. She announced her retirement in September 1996 while still ranked eight in the world, unhappy at the new player commitment rules that had been introduced.
"I didn't know how far I could go. Then I started to get a hunger for winning again so I put my housewife duties on hold as tennis was my biggest priority," said the former Wimbledon and US Open semifinalist who on Sunday became the second-oldest player ever to win a WTA Tour title. The next day she turned 39. "When I came back, at first I just wanted to have fun, and I also wanted to give a boost to Japanese players."
"My husband understands. He said 'Why don't you continue to play tennis? You're already fit. You have nothing to lose. You already had a career. And even if you lost first round every time, nobody cares. You don't care. So just enjoy playing tennis’. "He'd never seen me before when I played, and he wanted to see me when I'm playing a serious match. So he pushed me very hard. Until that time, I never thought about coming back."
She found it hard going, losing in the first round of eight WTA events before she turned things around in spectacular fashion in Seoul. Despite her eight first round defeats she did qualify for the Australian Open and Los Angeles and she did reasonably well in some Challenger events, but she did admit to wondering if the task was going to be too challenging.
"I knew it would be tough, but perhaps not quite this tough." she said. "Playing well and winning are totally different things. I did struggle with the thought I'd reached my limit, but it's not like I was losing matches 6-0, 6-0.
I don't know where I get the energy. Recovery is so important at my age. Young players don't need to worry so much but I have to make sure I eat, drink and sleep correctly."
Encouraged by her hard-earned success, Date Krumm intends to keep going for another two or three years.
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Srichaphan Appeared on Court and He Liked It
He came up short, losing in the first round of doubles at the Thailand Open. But at least Paradorn Srichaphan was back on court for the first time since he retired in an opening round match in Miami two and a half years ago.
"I would have loved to have come back in singles, but I knew physically I was not ready. I've only been able to train with the racket for the past two weeks," he said after teaming with fellow-Thai Danai Udomchoke and losing 2-6 6-1 10-6 to Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Peya.
"I need to train for more days from now on, but I don't want to do a lot of traveling. I have a wife now and tennis is not everything. At the end of the year I should know a lot more about my future, but I hope to play from January, maybe in Chennai, India."
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Ivanovic is Looking to 2010
With a bad finish of this season, there is nothing better for Ana Ivanovic but to look forward to the next. She found inspiration in big matches that await both Serbian national teams in 2010.
"It's so exciting for Belgrade: we have two huge home matches: Russia in the Fed Cup and the USA in the Davis Cup. I didn't think it was possible for tennis to become any more popular in Serbia than it already is, but these two ties are really going to capture the imagination, I'm sure. We've got a lot to look forward to next year!"
Ana follows events in Davis Cup, and she was delighted when she heard that US will play her compatriots and friends. "It's a very exciting draw. America is obviously one of the strongest nations in tennis, and so it's going to be tough for us, but with a full arena and a full-strength team, I think we can do it."
Unfortunately, there is no excitement in Ana’s recent play. With a loss in opening round in Tokyo, she is winless in her last three matches. She is scheduled to play only in next week China Open in Beijing and then she will decide if she is going to ask for some wild cards or start the longest holiday in her life of being a top tennis professional.
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We Hear---
--that Andy Murray, still suffering from tendonitis of the left wrist, has informed the organizers of next week’s Rakuten Japan Tennis Championships in Tokyo that he will be unable to play. The world no.3’s participation in the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 the following week remains uncertain.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Bangkok
WOMEN
Tokyo
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Beijing
Tokyo
WOMEN
Beijing
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