Thursday, July 2, 2009

BUSINESS NEWS

British LTA Does Not Have an Official Tennis Ball Supplier

Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association may be one of the wealthiest bodies in world tennis and in one aspect that is probably just as well. More than a year after the tender process closed, the Roehampton based LTA still does not have an official equipment supplier among its group of commercial partners.
Roger Draper, the LTA's chief executive, said last year that his organization had been pouring £250,000 a year into Mike Ashley's Dunlop Slazenger balls alone. In April 2008 an auction of sealed bids was invited from the leading tennis brands Prince, Head, Wilson and Dunlop Slazenger in an effort to reduce that fee.
A year ago a source at one of Dunlop Slazenger's competitors said that Ashley must have put "some serious money on the table". The subsequent economic down turn has heavily effected Ashley’s business and he has been preoccupied trying to sell his controlling interest in foundering soccer giant Newcastle United who lost their Premier League status a couple of months ago.
Now it emerges that no such deal was struck and that the LTA is still paying a six-figure sum for the balls it uses.
Although it has reduced the annual fee from £250,000 by consolidating the number of tournaments at which it uses the balls, the LTA has lost much goodwill with Dunlop Slazenger's rivals. Head and Prince had been informed they were the last two companies involved in the tender but that was later withdrawn in favor of the deal being returned to Ashley's firm.
The LTA's commercial director, Bruce Phillips, said yesterday that the official supplier talks had been subordinated to the £25 million headline deal with AEGON and that a new tender would be issued.
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Sampras Pondering Whether to Go to Wimbledon’s Men’s Finals

Pete Sampras thought the times of stressful decisions during the first week of July were a thing of the past. Seven Wimbledon titles were sufficient to make him think he had more than paid his dues to this particular week of the calendar. But he is now struggling to make his mind on whether it is right and proper to fly to London this weekend and watch Roger Federer attempt to take away his title as the Greatest Ever Grand Slam Champion.
Of course Tommy Haas may yet spare Federer not just the cost of the air ticket but a lot of soul searching. At the end of last year Sampras insisted it was a given that he should watch Federer be in place to break his record of 14 major titles at Wimbledon then he would end his self enforced exile from the place he reveres above all others in tennis.
Sampras has not been back to the All England Club since losing to George Bastl on an outside court in 2002.  He turned down the opportunity of making a private visit last December when contesting the BlackRock Masters at London’s Royal Albert Hall, declaring the right and proper time to make his return would be to witness Federer overtaking the record.
The closer to the event, the greater Sampras’ indecision.   “I’ve been going back and forth [about the idea],” he declared after Federer moved through to the last four with an impressive straight sets win over Ivo Karlovic.
“Having two kids on a 12-hour flight to London isn’t my idea of a fun activity. It’s a long trip, but it’s a great moment in sport. Roger’s a friend and it would be great to be there.”
Sampras and Federer have bonded in recent years. They have practiced together at the  American’s Beverly Hills home and more recently played a series of exhibition matches across Asia in late 2007 before facing each other again at New York’s Madison Square Garden early in 2008.
He continued: “Wimbledon is an event I grew up watching at six am in the morning. Watching [Bjorn] Borg against John McEnroe in those days had a huge effect on me as a kid and playing it, winning there seven times, I have a lot of great memories. Tennis during these two weeks, there is nothing that competes with Wimbledon. I miss that Centre Court, I miss playing great tennis. At the same time, life goes on. I’m here in LA helping look after a couple of kids.”
One major factor in Sampras reaching a decision could be the fact Rod Laver is the All England Club chairman Tim Phillips’ special guest this weekend. Borg will also be in attendance and if Federer is lauded as the greatest of all time it would be only right proper that the three players revered as his greatest rivals to the title should also be on hand.
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Safina is Depending on an International Staff for Performance

Dinara Safina is totally in the hands of tennis experts from the former Yugoslavia. Croat Zeljko Krajan is a tennis coach, and the ladies No 1 never forgets to say that she owes him her resurrection and a leap to the top.
Another Croat, Dejan Vojinovic, a hundred meters national record holder, was in charge of the Russian’s conditioning, but they split recently, and Igor Saric, former pro from Zagreb, took his place. Saric was 218 on ATP rankings in 1995 and is kind of expert in Far East relaxing techniques against pressure, which is quite necessary for Safina who is known to crumble under stress in Grand Slam finals. Saric will be with her only at Wimbledon.
The last member of tennis staff is Marko Bukic, a physio from Serbia who worked for Djokovic family at Serbia open ATP tournament in Belgrade.

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Djokovic Says Serbia’s Stars Will Bounce Back

After great results in last year, Serbian star trio, Novak Djokovic, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, failed to shine on Grand Slams in 2009. Three opportunities are missed, but Djokovic is certain that this is only temporary.
“Everybody goes though crisis. I can speak only for myself that I've been going through some tough period at the start of the year again. And then I had a Miami final and then whole clay court season was really successful, and I was happy with the way I was playing. And the start of this grass court season was all right, as well.”
Djokovic disagrees that he should consider change of a coach. No, I don’t even think about it. My game is there, I work very hard, especially on net game, but my problem is still in head. On practice everything is OK, but in decisive moments in matches I am too defensive.”
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Haas Finally Has a Good Wimbledon Experience

Tommy Haas has finally come good at Wimbledon. He’s had chances before, but for one reason or another it just hasn’t happened for him before.
"Whatever happens happens for a reason, I believe. A lot of things have happened," he said after reaching the semifinals. "The year I would have been maybe seeded here 3, when I was three in the world, I would have been seeded high, you know, my parents had a really bad motorcycle accident so I skipped that year. Then when I had a pretty good decent draw where I felt I could get far in the draw, I stepped on a ball in a warm-up. I lost three tiebreaks, 6-6-6 against Wayne Arthurs in the third round on year. Lost 9-7 in the fifth one time to Marc Rosset in the third round.
"Whatever. I don't remember most of it anyway. That's all in the past. Like I said, I always felt like, you know, on the grass maybe something is still there for me left. It started in Halle. That for me was huge anyway. No matter what was going to happen here, I felt like, ‘Hey, I'm just going to go, play, and see if I can continue on playing the way I did in Halle’. Winning a title there on home turf was huge."
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Andy Murray is famous

Proof are letters from The Queen and original James Bond actor Sean Connery. Then there’s people either in the player’s box, such as Miss Scotland, Nieve Jennings, who is a bit of a tennis player herself and was coached by Andy’s mother for a while. And the royal box, where actress Kate Winslet was a keen observer as Murray reached the semifinals in impressive fashion.
Then there was a handwritten note from singer Cliff Richard, perhaps most famous outside of Britain for the sing-along he led on a particularly rainy Wimbledon day. Murray takes it all in his stride.
"Well, she came to watch at Queen's," he said of Jennings. "Yeah, I mean, any time any of my friends or people - one of my best friends from school came to watch me the other night against Troicki, it's nice. So regardless of whether it's a Miss Scotland, which I know is the angle you'll be going for, I'm happy that one of my school friends came to watch.
"I didn't know who was in the crowd or who was watching except the guys that came with me. But, yeah, I think it's good for tennis any time you get, you know, big stars or celebrities coming to watch. It makes it, I guess, cooler for kids and stuff, which is important in this country."
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Why Haas Has Not Given up on his Tennis

He’s respected by all the other players, but Tommy Haas has endured so many injury setbacks that many might have considered giving up. He didn’t, and here’s why.
"You can look at it many ways. You know, I'm sure there's been a little bit of an unlucky side in many ways, but also a lot of lucky sides in my career. So, you know, to be where I am and what I have achieved, to be living and playing the sport that I love for this long, you know, I can't complain. Because these are the moments, you know. I mean, playing Djokovic, you know, one of the best players in the world, on Court 1 at Wimbledon, you know, these are the moments. Even playing at the US Open, playing the big stages, this is why you go and do rehab or you train hard, you know, you push yourself even more to try to get to these occasions and follow your dreams as a kid.
"We all know, I think, that at some point, you know, tennis players have a short career. You know, some shorter than others. 33, 34, 35, you might be done. Then you have a whole life left. You want to be able to look back and say, ‘Hey, I played the sport that I love as long as I could and I've tried my best’. You look back at what you have accomplished and you want to be proud of yourself. So that's why."
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Argentina Getting Ready for Davis Cup Tie with Czech Republic

Argentina will start preparations for Davis Cup quarterfinals against Czech Republic in Paris. Last year’s finalists arrived in French capital where they will spend few days before moving on east.
“Our main concern is a surface,” explained  Captain Tito Vasquez. The carpet will be laid for South Americans, but not of the kind they will like. It is fast synthetic material. 
“It is good to get ready for surface before coming to Czech Republic. The next few days will be important to find out who is playing well. We are aware how important game is in front of us. The pressure is on them, we shall go with hope of winning.”
Vasquez brought Juan Monaco, Jose Acasuso and Leonardo Mayer to Paris with him, but Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentine No 1 will come a day later.
The plan is to practice in Paris in similar circumstances by Sunday and then to catch a flight to Ostrava and to step up from Monday.
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Brian Dillman Named General Manager of Volkl and Boris Becker Divisions of Klip America

Klip America, the worldwide licensee for Volkl and Boris Becker tennis equipment, bags and accessories announced the appointment of Brian Dillman to the newly-created position of general manager of Klip America, effective July 1, 2009. Dillman will establish a Mid West office and be based in Chicago, Illinois.
As general manager, Dillman will manage the continued growth and global distribution expansion of the Volkl and Boris Becker brands. Specifically, he will lead the sales and marketing efforts for overseas markets including Europe and the Middle East and regions within the United States including the East Coast and Texas.
Dillman told Daily Tennis News that he “just couldn’t stay away from tennis; I missed it too much.” He has more than 17 years of executive level experience in the global sporting goods and consumer products industries. Plus, he has proven expertise in finance, R&D, branding, and sales and marketing at some of the most well-known tennis and golf brands in the world, including Wilson.
Prior to joining Klip America, Dillman served as an executive for a private equity firm specializing in long-term investments in the consumer products industry and spent several years with Power Plate International, a fitness company.
Prior to that, he spent 14 years at Wilson Sporting Goods and its parent company, AMER Sports, holding executive director, vice president and general manager positions in the United States and in Europe. At Wilson, Dillman increased tennis racquet share to achieve #1 status in the market and brought the tennis ball share to #2 in the market. Other achievements include a successful entry into the badminton market in China and signing Roger Federer to a lifetime playing contract. 
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Roddick is Eager to Play His Semifinal Match With Murray

Andy Roddick is really looking forward to his semifinal against Andy Murray, even though almost everyone in the stadium will be cheering for his opponent.
"I'm looking forward to it obviously," he said. "We might be able to count the people for me on this hand, but I think it will certainly be something to remember. I think the crowd's gonna be electric. I think it's gonna be a great atmosphere, and one that I can certainly appreciate, even if it's not for me.
I'm just gonna pretend when they say, ‘C'mon, Andy’, that they mean me."

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Adidas

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0.00

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+.78

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52.42

+.64

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