Monday, March 30, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

Davis Cup Player Security Becoming Major Concern for Australia

Indian tennis authorities have launched an astonishing attack on Tennis Australia after, because of security concerns, a request was made to the ITF to move their upcoming Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 1 match due to be played in Chennai May 8-10.
"Our basic question is whether Australia would like to be part of Asia-Oceania or should they make a request to be playing in some other group," All India Tennis Association secretary general Anil Khanna snapped. "We feel the Australian request is unwanted, uncalled for. Their perception differs from that of other countries. There is a general apprehension among Australians to go abroad. We're a wonderful country as hosts, and we'll provide foolproof security and we want the Australian tennis players to come and play in India."
While pointing out that the Chennai Open was held in January without incident, Khanna failed to address the fact that because of similar security worries the Twenty20 cricket series was hurriedly moved to South Africa, a massive logistical exercise that was not taken lightly. Or that because of slack security 166 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Mumbai late last year.
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Spain is Becoming Tennis-Crazy

Spain is becoming the boom country of world tennis. Rafa Nadal is the undeniable man of the moment, the nation holds the Davis Cup, the upcoming Mutua Madrileña Open at Madrid’s pristine new Caja Magica is one of the most eagerly awaited events on the calendar and next week a brand new women’s event, the Andalucia Tennis Experience is added to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in Marbella.
So it is no wonder that every major city in the country is vying to stage a Davis Cup tie and consequently the Real Federacion Espanola de Tenis is stalling on naming the venue for the quarter final meeting with Germany. Unquestionably the surface will be clay but as yet no decision has been made on whether Albert Costa’s line-up will look to further their title defence in Marbella, Zaragoza or Port of Santa Maria.
Earlier this month Jose Luis Escanuela was elected as the new head of the Spanish tennis federation, replacing Pedro Munoz who memorably clashed with players over the choice of Madrid for last September's semi final against the United States.
Escanuela is clearly mindful of avoiding such confrontation and has taken part in numerous conversations with Costa over potential venues. Marbella and Zaragoza planning to stage the matches in bullfighting rings which seems to appeal to the players after the first round win over Serbia which after some structural delays caused by the weather was completed in a similar setting in Benidorm.
The Real Federacion Espanola de Tenis has been informed by the International Tennis Federation that they must announce their choice of venue by the deadline of April 6.
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Britain’s LTA Makes Executive Change

The exit door of the Lawn Tennis Association’s headquarters at Roehampton never remains closed for too long and the latest departure will be the Director of Finance, Kevan Taylor.
He is the third man to vacate the job in the three year tenure of chief executive Roger Draper but as is usual for LTA departures, Taylor has made no comment on the reasons for his career change. A spokesman for the LTA would only say that he resigned.
Taylor was appointed in March 2007 and previously held similar positions in the governance of Rugby Union and Football. He was also Finance Director at Granada plc (now known as ITV), with responsibility for the financial management largest commercial television production business in the United Kingdom.
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Serbian Open Loses Tournament Director

Just weeks before the inaugural Serbian Open takes place in Belgrade the $450,000 event is facing a crisis after tournament director Niki Pilic resigned as tournament director. The situation arose after the father of Novak Djokovic, Srdjan, perhaps let his enthusiasm about the family-owned tournament get the better of him and he gave an unauthorized press conference that incensed Pilic.
"A couple of weeks ago he (Srdjan) held a press conference in Belgrade without previously consulting with me and spoke of things he has no place or capacity to talk about," Pilic fumed. "After that I got into touch with the ATP and asked them to relieve me of my duty as tournament director. Of course, this will not influence my cooperation with Novak Djokovic, with whom I still have a great relationship. He actually called me afterwards and apologized to me, saying he hadn’t known anything about it."
Pilic has long had close ties with the Djokovic family, after Novak attended his academy in Munich for two years from the age of 12. Pilic also has an advisory role to the Serbian Davis Cup team.
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What’s Happened to Jankovic?

Former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic is falling fast from her once-strong position in the game after absorbing a second opening-round loss at a major event this month.
The sad Serb was bounced at the Miami Masters by Argentine Gisela Dulko after leading in the first set following up on her early loss a fortnight ago at Indian Wells.
The crisis has the No. 3 pondering what went wrong after putting in hard fitness work on the off-season.
"Normally winning comes for you as a habit, which happened last year and the year before where I won so many matches," she explained. "All I knew how to do was win matches, even if I'm down a set at 5-love.
"I still had that belief and confidence I'm going to win, I'm going to stay in the match, and at the end of the day I'm going to come out as a winner."
Now, Jankovic is searching to re-create the past. "I need to find that habit again, find a habit of winning matches even when I'm playing poorly, whatever, tired, not tired, don't feel the shots, whatever it is.
"I need to find a way to win, and that's what I'm looking for. This has been very disappointing, and it's very difficult sometimes, but that's the way it goes."
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Srichaphan to Develop Junior Tennis at Home

He can no longer compete on the ATP Tour because of a serious wrist injury that has kept him out of competition since the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. So now Paradorn Srichaphan is using his personality status to sell his talents to Thai tennis enthusiasts.
The 29-year old former top-tenner recently gave a presentation entitled ‘Let’s Play Tennis with Paradorn’, designed to encourage 5-15 year olds to sign up for a series of tennis lessons in the Thai capital of Bangkok. For a fee of around $850 they will receive 30 one-hour sessions held three days a week.

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Federer Can’t Get Wimbledon Out of his Mind

As Roger Federer fights his way back towards No. 1, the Swiss is again driven by the vision of Wimbledon success which has sustained him for his entire career. "It's the ultimate goal for me every year, to win a Wimbledon," said the five-time holder whose magical run was ended in a fifth set played in near-darkness last summer by Rafael Nadal.
As usual, Player Council president Federer is not pleased with the ATP schedule, which leaves a scant two weeks between the end of the clay French Open and the start of grass hostilities at the All England club.
"There is not a proper preparation for Wimbledon, because we have the French Open right before.  So it's just go on grass and see what happens. Hopefully, you feel good the Sunday before the tournament starts.  That's how you take Wimbledon on."
Federer is hoping that he can regain his title run at the venue he loves the most. And he still occasionally ponder what might have been on that July evening against Nadal.
"It was an incredible match last year.  I still look back at it and think that was one of the greatest matches I was ever part of. I enjoyed the battle we had.
"Of course, I'm still a bit heartbroken, how it ended in the darkness.  But still, it was a fantastic match, and I'm looking forward to coming back."
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Success has not Changed Nadal

He may be No.1 in the world by a massive margin, but Rafael Nadal is still the same modest, level-headed individual he was in the earliest days of his ascent to the summit of the game. He credits that to being brought up the right way.
"I am just a usual Spanish boy who has been raised with great family values," he told the London Times. "I don't think it's about managing to keep my feet on the ground. What I have to do is not make mistakes because life throws plenty of curves at you and today I may be here as the No 1, but in five years, ten years, I'm going to be leading a normal, ordinary life.
“If right now I don't keep in mind that everything that is happening to me is momentary - that it is going to be over - then in the future the bump is going to be pretty huge. If you elevate yourself too much, you have much farther to fall. All I want is to be happy, for everyone to be happy, especially my family and close friends, but everyone."

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Murray has Home Comforts in Miami

Andy Murray will have an advantage over Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open as he moves closer to taking over the Serb’s No. 3 ranking. He has the luxury of sleeping in his own bed.
"It's nice," said Murray. "It's the first year that I will be able to stay in my apartment. I've spent a lot of time here in the last year and a half or so, training, taking a couple of holidays here as well. I know Miami relatively well. Obviously it's nice to get to stay in your own bed at the tournament. That doesn't happen too much throughout the year."

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USTA Serves Appoints Jamshid Ehsani to its Board of directors

USTA Serves – The Foundation for Academics, Character, Excellence., the philanthropic and charitable entity of the USTA, announced the appointment of Jamshid Ehsani, of Greenwich, Conn., to its board of directors.
Ehsani has served in senior leadership positions in a number of multinational corporations including, the World Bank, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and UBS and Swiss Re Financial Services. Mr. Ehsani, along with his wife Mahshid, is involved in a number of charitable organizations in New York and Connecticut, including Time for Lyme; Asia Society (Chairman Circle Member); and the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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We Hear---
--that Justine Henin will be moving her tennis academy in an almost-farmland area near Orlando, Florida to a more business-developed location. One with a lot more courts.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Miami
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Miami
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NEXT WEEK
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Casablanca
Houston
WOMEN
Marbella
Ponte Vedra
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