Friday, October 2, 2009
WORLD NEWS
Belgian Players Facing Doping Charges
US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer and her fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse have both broken the firmly laid down World Anti-Doping Agency drug testing code and could be banned from competition.
Much to the annoyance of leading players such as Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray among others, the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) clearly state that world class competitive athletes from all affiliated sports inform authorities of their whereabouts between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. each day for a three-month period.
Any transgression of the rules becomes the responsibility of the player’s home federation and both Wickmayer and Malisse have been ordered to appear in Belgium for violating the commission's whereabouts policy.
According to reports Wickmayer, the 19 year-old who shot up from 50th to 22nd place on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings because of her Flushing Meadows exploits, has failed to comply with the ruling three times in the last 18 months. She has not played competitively since the US Open, which ended nearly three weeks ago.
Malisse, primarily based in Florida for the majority of his career after attending the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, broke the rule twice and went one step further by missing a pre-arranged doping test altogether.
Although currently domiciled in Sarasota, 29 year-old Malisse who is ranked 153 in the world but stood as high as 19th spot seven years ago before a succession of injuries blighted his career, will be the first to meet with the Flemish Doping Tribunal in Brussels next Thursday, October 8 and will have the platform to explain his absences and why he ignored the rule. Wickmayer is set to appear a fortnight later on October 22, two days after her 20th birthday.
In Wickmayer’s case, repeated telephone calls reportedly went unanswered. Her spokesman Rudi Kuyl insisted the teenager did not miss a doping control but conceded she may not have fulfilled all WADA’s requirements on giving notice of her whereabouts for out of competition testing. "Yanina will indeed have to appear but it is all based on a misunderstanding," insisted Kuyl.
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Lagardere Unlimited Signs Collegiate Tennis Champion Mallory Cecil
Lagardere Unlimited announced it has entered into a new, multi-year management representation agreement with American Collegiate Tennis Champion Mallory Cecil.
Cecil, only 19-years-old and originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina, played on the Duke University Women's Varsity Tennis Team in the Spring of 2009. As a first semester Freshman, Cecil became the seventh Freshman player (and 14th overall) in history in the NCAA Division 1, and the first player ever in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), to capture the NCAA Division I Singles Championships and NCAA Division I Team Championships in the same year. Cecil also finished the 2009 season as the #1 ranked singles player in NCAA Division 1 standings, and shortly following this Cecil decided to turn professional in the summer of 2009.
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Nadal is Hoping for Madrid’s Success in Bidding for Olympic Host
Rafael Nadal is, not surprisingly, a keen supporter of Madrid’s bid to stage the 2016 Olympics, a tough call for the city when the 2012 event is already to be held in Europe. A winning candidate is to be announced today by the Olympic Organizing Committee in Copenhagen, with Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro also bidding to host the event. Rafa would like to be in Denmark to boost the bid, but unfortunately business calls.
“It is very sad for me not being able to go to Copenhagen,” he said before flying to Beijing to play in the China Open. “I have to continue with my tennis schedule which makes it impossible for me to go to Denmark. Nevertheless, I will still support Madrid’s Olympic bid spiritually and I take this opportunity to thank Madrid’s mayor and the sport’s secretary of defense for always counting on me to support this project. I know what a great job they’ve done and I know we deserve to win.”
While Rafa will be missing for Madrid, Chicago’s bid is being supported by the presence of President Barack Obama, who no doubt noticed that Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair flew to Singapore and played a vital role in winning the 2012 bid for London from under the nose of favorites Paris.
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Rios Has Spinal Surgery Again
Marcelo Rios, the only male #1 in history who never won a major, had to undergo another spine operation earlier this week. The same injury forced him into retirement in 2004 at the age of 28.
The Chilean was under such severe pain that he could not lift the slightest weight. His operation lasted four hours, and he will be able to resume playing on the veteran’s circuit at the beginning of next year. Rios also plans to join the coaching staff of Chile’s Davis Cup team when he is fully recovered.
His spine problems culminated in 2003 when he was operated three times in the US, but unfortunately the happy end was missing. His problems went on and a year later he was forced to see another surgeon. Rios never hides that he blames the doctor who had operated him six years ago for his continuing suffering. He is convinced that he was allowed too fast to return to practice.
After several years of full retirement, Rios returned to courts playing veteran tournaments in Brazil and Portugal in 2009 and an exhibition with Andy Roddick. He was #1 in 1998 when he reached the only major final in his career. He lost in Melbourne against Czech Petr Korda.
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Nadal to Resume Tour Competition
Rafael Nadal will return to action at the China Open, which begins in Beijing on Saturday.
The Spaniard has not played since losing to eventual champion Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals of the US Open, thus missing Spain’s Davis Cup win over Israel. But his abdominal strain is now healed, according to a statement on his website, which states, “Based on the medical tests done in Barcelona, Rafa Nadal will return to competition next week. After long hours of tedious exams, it was concluded that Rafa is physically fit for competition.”
Nadal, who will top a field that includes Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick, also intends to compete in Shanghai, Paris and the ATP World Tour Finals in London, before closing out his season with the Davis Cup final against Czech Republic.
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Dokic to Serve Prison Sentence
Following a retrial a Serbian court has confirmed a 15-month prison sentence for Damir Dokic, the father of women’s world no.80 Jelena who is currently playing a Challenger event in Athens, on charges that he threatened the Australian ambassador to Serbia.
The retrial was necessary because Belgrade-based Ambassador Claire Birgin did not testify in person during the original hearing in June and was represented by a lawyer. As the same circumstances existed at the retrial, Dokic’s lawyer Bosiljka Djukic immediately insisted the new ruling was illegal and launched another appeal.
Dokic, aged 50, had arrived at the court in Ruma, a town about 50 kms northwest of Belgrade, under police escort. Four months ago he was found guilty of "endangering the security" of Birgin in Belgrade and unlawful possession of weapons, including a hand grenade, which were impounded during a police search of his home.
He had been arrested in May after reportedly saying he would blow up Birgin's car by aiming a rocket launcher if she didn't stop negative articles about him from being published in Australia.
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New Directors Announced for International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum has announced the election of ten new members to the Board of Directors. The new directors were all elected at the Hall of Fame's Annual Meeting held on September 11, 2009 in New York City.
The new directors are Jeanne Moutossamy-Ashe of New York, N.Y., photographer and wife of the late Arthur Ashe; Robert L. Bunnen, Jr. of Atlanta, Ga. and Chevy Chase, Md., founder of Bunnen Financial Management LLC; Juan Carlos Cappello of New York, N.Y., chairman and managing partner of Contemporanea LLC; Carlos Fleming of Cleveland, Ohio, executive vice president at IMG; Dianne E. Hayes of Boston and Falmouth, Mass., director of global entertainment and sports marketing for Reebok International Ltd.
Kevin Kane of Memphis, Tenn., president and CEO of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau; E. Ramone Segree of New York, N.Y., vice president for institutional advancement and foundation executive director for CUNY/LaGuardia Community College; Lee Sessions of Amelia Island, Fla., a returning board member and financial sector executive; Vinayak Singh of New York, N.Y., president of International Strategy & Investment Group (ISI); and Lady Marion Weatherstone of Darien, Conn. In addition, Bill Phillips was named a Life Trustee.
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We Hear---
--that the 2009 USTA Middle States Hall of Fame induction Oct. 23, in Pittsburgh will honor Brian Earley, Don Johnson, Peggy Michel and Whitney Snyder.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Bangkok
WOMEN
Tokyo
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NEXT WEEK
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Beijing
Tokyo
WOMEN
Beijing
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