Thursday, October 8, 2009
WORLD NEWS
Pseudoephedrine Back On Banned Substance List for 2010
Starting in January, tennis players looking for ways to treat a cold might be in for a surprise. The World Anti-Doping Agency recently announced that pseudoephedrine, a commonly used sinus/nasal decongestant, has been put back on the banned substance list for in-competition use during the 2010 season.
The ban on this stimulant was lifted in 2003, but since 2004, has been placed on the list of substances in the World Anti-Doping Agency's Monitoring Program. According to the WADA, "Results from the Monitoring Program over the past five years have shown a sustained increase in urinary concentrations of pseudoephedrine. There is clear evidence of abuse in some sports and some regions, which show clusters of samples with high pseudoephedrine concentrations many times in excess of concentrations normally found." As a result of these findings, the WADA has reintroduced pseudoephedrine in their 2010 Prohibited List.
Tennis players who use pseudoephedrine for valid therapeutic purposes during competition will qualify for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), in which a doctor will determine if such stimulant use is necessary. Urinary concentrations of pseudoephedrine at 150 micrograms (or below) are currently deemed acceptable within the WADA's Monitoring Program.
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Murray Withdraws from Shanghai
Andy Murray has put his world no.3 ranking at risk by his decision to pull out of next week’s Masters 1000 series event in Shanghai because the 22 year-old Scot is still concerned by the tendonitis in his left wrist that has rendered him inactive since representing Britain in the Davis Cup nearly three weeks ago.
Last year the penultimate Masters series event of the calendar was held in Madrid and Murray walked away with the spoils, overcoming Roger Federer in the semi-final and then beating Gilles Simon for the title. Meanwhile Novak Djokovic, lost in his second match and therefore could make up significant points on the player that has stood above him in the rankings since May.
Murray puts far more importance on being sufficiently recovered from the pain he first experienced playing in Cincinnati to contend for the Barclays ATP World Tour Championships at London’s 02 Arena. The plan at the moment is for him to return at the beginning of November in Valencia meaning he will have gone six weeks without hitting a competitive ball.
The Scot underwent repeated fitness assessments at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Training Centre in Roehampton this week but in consultation with the wrist specialist he used when ruled out of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007, he made his apologies to the Shanghai organizers who had already been denied the services of Federer.
In a letter to the Shanghai tournament directors Michael Luevano and Leon Sun, Murray wrote: “I apologize for the inconvenience that my withdrawal may cause but I trust you understand, the situation is beyond my control and I would much rather participate in the tournament than be in the current position regarding my health.”
A statement on his website AndyMurray.com said:” website read: "Due to medical advice Andy will not be travelling to China. He has decided to give his wrist extra time to recover and is likely to return for the Valencia Open.”
Just a day earlier Andy Roddick again complained about the length of the men’s calendar and maintained it is a reason for persistent injuries. “Everyone acts surprised when that happens, but I think the fact that we play all the time and all the sudden something happens, it’s not that surprising,” said Roddick. “It would benefit tennis to not be so short-sighted and give people time to miss the sport.”
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Watson Expected to Sign with IMG
IMG seems to have predictably won the tussle to sign up Britain’s US Open junior champion Heather Watson and expect the 17 year-old to sign on the dotted line within the next few days.
Guernsey-born Watson, who has attended the IMG-owned Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida for the last five years. She is currently back in Britain contesting the $50,000 Challenger event in Barnstaple, Devon and began her campaign impressively with a 7-6, 6-2 win over the tournament’s second seed Mel South (also of Britain) who is ranked 539 places higher than 681st placed Watson.
Octagon, who manage Britain’s other promising youngster Laura Robson who won the junior Wimbledon title last year and got to the final of this year’s Australian Open girls event, and British based concerns such as Ace Group were interested in managing Watson. However the player’s father Ian said: “If it all goes to plan, she will sign with IMG when she gets back to Florida.”
“Nick Bollettieri has got a network unsurpassed, especially in America but worldwide in tennis and IMG are the biggest management agents. “They can open tournament doors for Heather because some tournaments are not easy to get in and, if you can’t get into them, you can’t win them. Lots of doors will be opened as soon as she signs with IMG and, of course, in Europe and the UK given her standing now the Lawn Tennis Association are opening those doors.”
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Ivanovic Will Play Brisbane
Ana Ivanovic, who has abandoned the remainder of the season to rest and recuperate after a run of results that produced just three wins in her five tournaments since Wimbledon, will return to the tour at the Brisbane International in the first week of January. She will join Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Gael Monfils and James Blake at the biggest of the Australian Open warm-up events.
Justine Henin may also make her comeback to the tour at Brisbane in her first event since retiring in May 2008, although Auckland in the same week is still an option. "It is Justine who will decide. It will probably be Brisbane," said Coach Carlos Rodriguez as saying, according to the Belga news agency.
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Davis Cup Final to be Valencia or Barcelona
The venue for Spain’s Davis Cup final against Czech Republic has been narrowed down to either Valencia or Barcelona, after the ITF refused bids to stage the tie in Malaga or Tenerife on the grounds that they were open-air stadiums. Malaga also failed to satisfy the requirement for a stadium with at least 12,000 seats. The Spanish Federation, which has heeded the players demands that it not be staged in Madrid because of altitude concerns, will announce its decision on Saturday.
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Djokovic Laments Playing a Countryman and a Friend
It is never easy to play a countryman or a friend and let alone both in the same person. That was experience of Novak Djokovic after his win against Viktor Troicki in the 2nd round of China Open in Beijing “We grow up together, we are from the same country, same city. He is really my best friend in the tournament. It’s not easy to play against my friends. I approached confident and I was aware of his style. I hope this variety could stay and live on in the coming matches,” explained the Serbian.
Djokovic is well known by his art of playing every point differently. Tennis is not a power sport for him, but strategic game. He plans to use this talent to attack top players next year.
“It’s important to have variety of shots to play against the opponents. My strategy was working. I was right. I know I need to change the strategy. Your approach needs to change year after year in the tournament. I’ve made changes that kept my mind off the court. In the late stage of the year, I was not happy with my performances in the Grand Slams, losing to top guys. I dropped the ranking and they played very well. I can’t give credit to that. It’s good for tennis to have a group of good players in the major events. As for my case, I have to step up more in the later events like Davis Cup in order to claim higher points for the rankings next year.”
The issue of a new racket was very strong in the beginning of the year. After three years with Wilson, Djokovic turned to Head.
“Racquet change was a big decision, but I gained the momentum. There are still some differences between the old one and the new one. But I think it’s faster to play than the last year. There are still adjustments needed to be made. I’m not saying I can’t get used to the new racquet. It’s just the matter of performance I need to cope with. So far I am happy with my consistency. I think I couldn’t have done more,” added Djokovic who will play Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the Beijing quarterfinals.
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We Hear---
--that Australia’s Casey Dellacqua, who has not played since undergoing shoulder surgery in February, is planning to return to action at a small event in Esperance, West Australia, later this month.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Beijing
Tokyo
WOMEN
Beijing
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Shanghai
WOMEN
Linz
Osaka
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