Tuesday, October 6, 2009
WORLD NEWS
Australian Open Begins 2010 Trend to Higher Prize Monies
Regardless of the world’s economic downturn and the several issues with sponsors, next January’s Australian Open will set a the trend for its’ three far wealthier Grand Slam cousins by increasing prize money for 2010
When the men’s and women’s champions hoist their trophies on high at Melbourne Park they might also notice a 4.1% increase on the checks that were presented to Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams this year.
Equal prize money has been a fact at the year’s opening major since 2001 when the two singles champions each collected $Aus450,000. Nine years on next January’s winner will collect pocket $Aus1.86 million (£1.16m or $US1.76m) for winning the season's opening major.
The overall prize fund for the fortnight long event which features night finals for both the men’s and women’s singles will be $Aus24,094,000 but Tournament Director Craig Tiley is confident the winners will earn their money. "In this time of economic uncertainty, the Australian Open holds strong as an important international brand in the world of sport and business," he said.
"Research has shown the event annually brings more than A$240 million into the domestic economy, and this year we enjoyed record-breaking attendance, viewing audiences, media coverage and internet hits."
Tiley was enthused by the events of the US Open last month and continued: “So much has changed on the international tennis landscape. I think the respective title races will be more open than they have been in years.
"[Juan Martin] Del Potro's win in New York has blown the men's event wide open and [Kim] Clijsters' effort, combined with [Justine] Henin's comeback, has had a similar effect on the women's."
There will be a number of changes at Melbourne Park next year including an enlargement of the entertainment area, a 30 minute earlier starting time for night sessions, and a tennis film festival.
A celebration of the 40th anniversary of Margaret Court's grand slam will take center stage while there are plans for Pat Rafter and Goran Ivanisevic to play a re-run of the classic 2001 Wimbledon final.
Next year’s inductees into The Australian Tennis Hall of Fame will be the doubles team of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.
***
Tennis Emirates Starts Tennis Season
Tennis Emirates, the national governing body of all tennis in the United Arab Emirates, officially launched the 2009/10 tennis season which also marks the first day of a new tennis strategy of the association to revamp participation and activities all around the country. Included in the launch was the unveiling of its new logo and the introduction of various initiatives including membership program, national ranking and grassroots initiatives.
Dr. Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of Tennis Emirates, (pictured in the center of photo) explained the key strategic elements for the months to come: "First and foremost, we need to know who is doing what in tennis in the UAE therefore from today onwards we are requesting all players, coaches, officials and all private and government institutions providing services to the tennis community to join the membership program. Application forms will be available on our website www.uae-tennis.com for download or direct processing and payment through credit cards.
“Secondly, Tennis Emirates is committed to roll out several grassroot tennis initiatives which will include the creation of national training centers for juniors in the different Emirates, linking school tennis programs to afternoon programs in established local clubs, and encourage new players to try our sport and join programs such as the ITF endorsed "Play&Stay". Some of these programs will then be carried out through our affiliated institutions and academies.
“The new competition schedule is based on five (5) circuits for juniors and adults: the 8, 9, and 10 "School Circuit", the 12 & 14 "Development Circuit", the 16 & 18 "Junior Circuit", the "Open Men's and Women's Circuit" and a "Veterans Circuit" for ladies over 30 and men over 40 & 50.”
Slah Bramly, Technical Director of Tennis Emirates, (pictured on the left) explained that "all circuits aim to encourage players to participate in singles and doubles, as this will automatically support the basic Team Tennis formats of the ITF, the Davis Cup and Fed Cup events, which consists of combined singles and doubles competitions."
All open tournaments sanctioned by Tennis Emirates will count automatically towards the UAE National Tennis Ranking. Its results in singles and doubles will count towards a combined national ranking with the top 8 ranked players qualifying for the season ending Masters. All junior events will award points for the national ranking and trophies for the winners while all adult categories will offer minimum prize money and ranking points. "Our aim is to organize at least 40 national competitions this season along with the international ITF junior events and veterans tournaments which are traditionally organized by the federation," said Bramly. "Hopefully by the end of the first season we have a national tennis ranking with more than 1,000 ranked players and competitions taking place in all Emirates."
The administration of membership program, national tennis ranking and the competition schedule will be managed by Eric Gottschalk, (pictured on the right) long time supporter of Tennis Emirates and now CEO of MEDIAPRO Middle East, our strategic marketing partner, which is also in charge of setting up a national sponsorship program to open new revenue streams for the association desperately needed to support the grassroot programs and the development of talent in the country.
“Our first activity will be the hosting the 8th Dubai ITF Junior Tennis Championship, this time hosted at the Aviation Club from October 19-24. More than 44 countries have already registered for the competition, which is part of the world junior tennis tour organized by the ITF. The Dubai event has always attracted the best international 18 and under junior players and has already received 95 boys and 44 girls entries for this grade IV event," said Bramly.
***
Spanish Men Want to Skip Madrid’s Altitude
Madrid is out of run for hosting Davis Cup final against Czechs this December, but not only for this year.
“I don’t think that Madrid will ever host Davis Cup”, said Miguel Diaz, head of Madrid Tennis with overwhelming resignation. “We want to have final, but political interests impeded. Madrid lost bid to host 2016 Olympic Games few days ago and has not been able to enter another fight.”
All Madrid problems with Davis Cup are connected with height. With 650 meters above sea, ball flies faster and none of Spanish clay courts kings likes this advantage to fast servers.
That is the reason Rafael Nadal blasted this year Madrid Open after loss to Roger Federer, that was the reason for all Spanish players to hum when Madrid was chosen for last year semifinal against US.
“We solved all economical problems; we offered a million Euros asked by Federation and 200,000 extra, but Davis Cup Captain Albert Costa told me yesterday that preference of all players is to play on sea level,” added the president of Madrid Tennis. “Only Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez agreed with Madrid proposal, but that was not the collective feeling.”
This, thinks Diaz, means that Spanish capital will not see Davis Cup soon.
“Madrid will not ask for other matches except final, and we will never be able to solve sea level problem. I don’t understand this, since our players are every day more and more successful on fast surfaces. Whenever again we play Karlovic, Roddick or Del Potro, issue of sea level will rise.”
The city for Davis Cup final will be chosen on Saturday. There are four candidates – Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga and Tenerife.
***
Australia and Russia Are Victorious in Junior Team Tennis
Australia won the Junior Davis Cup, with Russia taking the honors in the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas held recently in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The event began with 16 boys teams and 16 girls teams from 28 nations around the world, who had all come through tough qualifying rounds for the chance to compete. Teams were split into round robin groups of four, with the winners of each group progressing to the semifinals and then the final.
Junior Davis Cup top seeds, France, were eliminated when Great Britain claimed a deciding doubles victory in the semifinals after the countries had shared the two singles matches, while Australia enjoyed a clean sweep against Czech Republic. The final was decided by a 6-1 7-5 win in the doubles after the singles had been split.
In the Junior Fed Cup, Russia eased past Japan in the semifinals, while Germany struggled to overcome Slovakia, only clinching victory in the third set of the doubles. Russia then took both singles in the final, in contrasting fashion. The first match ended 8-6 in the third, while the second saw a 6-0 6-0 whitewash.
***
Murray is a Top World Player, but Not a British Hero
Andy Murray may have recently climbed to two in the world and put himself on the line in an ultimately fruitless Davis Cup tie against Poland, playing when it would have been wiser to rest a wrist injury.
But he still has problems being adopted as a real British hero, as ‘Grinning’ Greg Rusedski and ‘Gentleman’ Tim Henman were. He isn’t quite as grumpy as he used to be, but he undeniably lacks charisma. It hasn’t helped that Henman, never a friend of the media, has been known to warn Murray of the ‘Rottweilers’ of Fleet Street. It didn’t help when Murray, a Scot, joked that he would support anyone against England. That simply provided welcome cannon fodder for the tabloids.
"No wonder he has put the barriers up," Henman told The Scotsman newspaper. "The press want more of your personality, and when you give it to them, they shoot themselves in the foot. The press can be a distraction, and I didn't want any distractions. I was smart enough to know that there was a right answer and there was an honest answer, and I was probably guilty, if that's the right word, of giving the right answer sometimes. That was my defense mechanism. That was me trying to deflect attention. Then you are called a boring twat, but it was never a popularity contest for me."
Henman always avoided paying any attention to the media while he was engaged in trying to be the first Brit since Fred Perry to win Wimbledon, but as a commentator for the BBC there since he retired he has felt the full force of what is written and said during the two weeks.
"It's mad, just an absolute circus," he said. "It emphasizes to me what a good job I did of concentrating on the important things. When I was the center of attention, I never read the newspapers, I wouldn't listen to the commentators, but when you are working for the BBC there is no avoiding it. Some of the stuff you read in the papers is rubbish, just off the charts. It's mind-boggling."
***
We Hear---
--that Australia has chosen Adelaide as the venue for its Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II First Round tie against Spain. The tie will be played on February 6-7, 2010 on hardcourt.
--that Andy Murray has undergone further examinations from his wrist specialist and has delayed a decision on whether to travel to Shanghai for next week's Masters 1000 Series event for another 24 hours. His management company 19 Entertainment maintain the world no.3's chances are currently 50-50.
--that Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai, ranked 226, is the lowest ranked player ever to defeat a world No.1 after her victory over Dinara Safina at the China Open. The previous record was held by Julie Coin of France, who was ranked 188 when she beat Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 US Open.
***
THIS WEEK
MEN
Beijing
Tokyo
WOMEN
Beijing
***
NEXT WEEK
MEN
Shanghai
WOMEN
Linz
Osaka
***
Bob Larson’s Stock Report
Friday Stock Prices
Stock
Last
Change
Adidas
25.63
-.13
Amer Sports
4.36
-.24
Head
0.49
+.03
K-Swiss
8.30
+.04
Nike
62.02
-.48
Bob Larson Tennis Stock Index $100.80
* The index is based on the total value of one share of each stock we report daily.
***
Results
For complete ATP and WTA results, please see our web site at www.tennisnews.com
Bob Larson - Publisher
Cort Larson - Editor
Bob Larson's Daily Tennis is published
Monday through Friday except Holidays
Monday and Thursday in November and December.
Delivery via e-mail to all countries
Subscription rates are; $97USD a year,
$57USD for Six months, $37USD for Three months.
Bob Larson Tennis
P.O. Box 24256
Edina, MN 55424 USA
952-920-8947 (voice) or 952-920-8940 (fax)
E-mail address bob@tennisnews.com
Visit our website at: www.tennisnews.com
(c) Copyright 2009. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis
Subscribe