Thursday, February 26, 2009
BUSINESS NEWS
Swedish-Israeli Tie to be Played to Empty Stands
The stands will remain void of spectators for the Davis Cup World Group tie next week between Sweden and Israel in Malmo, Sweden. A city body ruled that no spectators would be allowed in due to over-riding anger over Israel's January bombing campaign of Gaza which killed a reported 1,300 people.
The capital, Stockholm, had offered to host the controversial weekend tie, but logistics ultimately prevented a late change of venue. Protestors in Malmo are still trying to stop the tie from going ahead at all at the 4,000-seat Baltic hall.
With half of the Swedish team out injured including Robin Soderling and Thomas Johansson, Israel has a decent chance of a victory in the empty hall.
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USA Becomes the Favorite in USA-Switzerland Davis Cup Tie
The US has moved into a favorite's role for next weekend's Davis Cup in Alabama, according to Captain Patrick McEnroe, due to the absence of Roger Federer from the Swiss team.
"You want a chance to play against the best, and our guys have always answered the call and really love playing at home," said the disappointed skipper. "I think that would have been an advantage for them against Federer.
"I think we were all looking forward to the challenge of playing against Roger. I think both Andy (Roddick) and James (Blake) were certainly looking forward to the chance to play him."
Mac will go with his old reliables of Roddick, Blake and the Bryan brothers, the same combination he's used in 11 of the past dozen ties. The US record of 10 consecutive Davis Cup ties with the same roster came to an end during last year's semifinal against Spain.
McEnroe added that his side now looks to be a "solid favorite."
"The goal is to try to get back into the later rounds and win the Cup again. We certainly have the capability of doing that. That's the bigger-term goal. We certainly like the fact that we feel we've got a better chance to advance."
The Swiss will field Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Stephane Bohli, and Yves Allegro.
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Dokic Enhancing Her Bid For Improving by Training at Bollettieri Academy
A month after recapturing the tennis hearts of Australia, Jelena Dokic has stepped up her bid to return to the world’s top 20 by working out at the IMG Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The former World No. 4, who has suffered from depression, a succession of domestic traumas in her family and an alarming loss in physical condition that saw an alarming gain in weight, began the Australian Open ranked 187th in the world but her passage to the quarter finals saw her rise to 80th spot.
"To come after a three‑year layoff and to be in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam straight-aways really gives you a lot confidence," Dokic said. "When I get my match fitness back to my 100 percent and physically and still mentally to improve and get stronger, I think — we see there's a lot of seeds falling. Maybe I can have a chance to do even better at a Grand Slam."
So after making a return for Australia in the Fed Cup and qualifying in Memphis before losing in the first round to top seed Caroline Wozniacki, she headed for the strict physical regime of Bradenton. And she was welcomed with open arms by the man that has produced numerous champions from within the Academy’s boundaries.
"It is absolutely wonderful to see Jelena Dokic back out on the court playing well, because she is an asset to the women’s game," Bollettieri said. "Don’t be surprised to see Jelena moving up the rankings even higher throughout the rest of 2009."
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This Was a Long, Long Match
The record books of tennis, Davis Cup or otherwise, will not require a rewrite. Many respected archivists will even refuse to recognize the match as it was not played in any official capacity. But Chris Eaton’s ultra-marathon five sets victory over James Ward in the Lawn Tennis Association’s play-offs for a place in next week’s Euro African Zone Group One meeting against the Ukraine is worthy of note for many years to come.
Just a day after potential opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky poured scorn on the concept of the play-offs at the LTA’s Roehampton headquarters, 390th ranked Eaton won what would have been the longest match in Davis Cup history had it been played in a proper tie when he took six hours 45 minutes to beat Ward 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 2-6, 21-19.
Lloyd came up with the idea of play-offs in collaboration with coach Paul Annacone, primarily to see which of six potential rookies possessed the required stamina and mental drive to win five-set encounters. Eaton clearly has both in abundance. The match started in mid-morning and did not end until the evening but still Eaton reported said: “I was physically OK during the match.
“It was surreal, and I had to get my head together and focus, but I was more interested in winning the match than beating a record."
The match lasted 12 minutes longer than Fabrice Santoro’s six hours and 33 minutes defeat of countryman Arnaud Clement at the 2004 French Open, which is accepted as the longest match in the sport’s history.
Yet for all his efforts 21 year-old Eaton who made his debut at Wimbledon last year by winning through qualifying and then scoring a straight sets first round victory against Serbia’s Boris Pashanski, is still not guaranteed a place in John Lloyd’s line-up for the tie in Glasgow.
Eaton now has to face the higher ranked Josh Goodall in the final play-off with both men boasting a 2-0 record from this week’s exertion. The only difference is that Eaton, who normally competes on the third tier Futures circuit, has spent 10 hours 20 minutes registering his victories.
Lloyd is delighted by the effort he has seen. As Eaton went off for an hour's massage, an ice bath and a debrief with the LTA's resident sports psychologist, the British captain said: “I didn't think the matches would be this close, I didn't think the quality would be as high but also I didn't want the guys to kill themselves. It just goes to show what it means.”
British no.1 Andy Murray was full of praise for both the effort and concept of the play-offs. Speaking from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships where the world no.4 is second seed he said: “This is the reason why the play offs is a great idea.
“A lot of people were saying you should pick the best player and who you think can deal with the situation.
But this way you get to see which guys are fitter in the five set matches that they are not used to playing. It was a good example of two guys that really, really want to play for their country.”
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FSN and Tennis Channel To Televise 61 Hours Of Indian Wells Tennis
The Indian Wells’ BNP Paribas Open, the most attended tennis tournament outside of the Grand Slams, will have 61 hours of coverage domestically, it was announced.
The tournament, to be held March 9-22 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, will be televised for more than 39 hours on Fox Sports Net’s (FSN) 19 owned-and-operated regional networks that reach more than 70 million homes across the United States.
In addition, Tennis Channel has been added as a partner of the tournament, and it will televise 22 hours of action during the BNP Paribas Open. The announcing team at the tournament will feature former Justin Gimelstob, Lindsay Davenport, in addition to veteran tennis commentator Sam Gore.
Coverage of the BNP Paribas Open on Tennis Channel will begin live on Saturday, March 14 at 11:00 AM PDT and continue through Sunday, March 15. FSN’S coverage will begin at 11:00 AM PDT on Monday, March 16 and will continue throughout the duration of the tournament. The women’s and men’s singles finals will be live on Sunday, March 22 at Noon and 2:00 PM PDT.
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Santoro Got a Special Send-Off at Dubai
Gilles Simon ended the distinguished Dubai career of Fabrice Santoro on Thursday, defeating the 36-year old man they call ‘The Magician’ 7-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Santoro was presented with a model of a traditional Arabian Dhow after the match.
"I’m just sad because he’s going to stop at the end of the year," said Simon. "His last tournament (Paris Masters), maybe I’m going to watch every match he’s going to play because you never know what one you’re going to lose. But I think it’s nice for him to play the last match (in Dubai) on the center court and to receive a prize at the end.
"He did a great job for all the tennis players. He’s someone who is going to be missed by the public. He was a good tennis player. He’s still a good person, and I think we need people like him on the tour.
"I’ve learned from him, because when I arrived on the tour I played first the Challengers and it was a year his ranking dropped down so we played the same tournaments, and he was nice with all the young players. He never was jealous or something like that. He was just happy to see a new face on the tour, to see young guys playing good tennis and he wanted us to be very good."
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Kris Dent, ATP Director of Corporate Communications, To Leave ATP
Kris Dent, ATP Director of Corporate Communications, will be leaving the organization on February 27 to take up the position of Director of Communications for the English Football Association’s 2018 World Cup bid team.
Graeme Agars will be acting as the ATP’s spokesperson until a replacement is named.
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We Hear---
--- that people are worrying that ATP retirement funds plus some executive’s and player’s monies were invested with Stanford and are likely lost.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Acapulco
Delray Beach
Dubai
WOMEN
Acapulco
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Davis Cup
WOMEN
Monterrey
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