Tuesday, September 29, 2009
BUSINESS NEWS
The International Tennis Federation Announced the Official Calendar for 2010
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
World Group First Round: March 5-7
World Group Quarterfinals: July 9-11.
World Group Semifinals: September 17-19.
World Group Final: December 3-5.
Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
World Group First Round: February 6-7.
World Group Semifinals: April 24-25.
World Group Final: November 6-7.
Hyundai Hopman Cup
Perth, Australia: January 2-8
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open: January 18-31.
Roland Garros: May 23–June 6.
Wimbledon: June 21– July 4.
US Open: August 30– September 12.
ITF Seniors World Team Championships.
San Luis Potosi, Mexico: March 29 –April 3
ITF Seniors World Individual Championships.
San Luis Potosi, Mexico: April 4-11.
ITF Super-Seniors World Team Championships.
Antalya, Turkey: May 3-9
ITF Super-Seniors World Team Championships:
Antalya, Turkey: October 11-16
ITF Super-Seniors World Individual Champs:
Antalya, Turkey: October 17-24
ITF World Champions Dinner.
Paris, France: June 1.
World Junior Tennis Final (14 and under)
Prostejov, Czech Republic: August 2-7.
Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas finals (16 and under)
San Luis Potosi, Mexico: September 28-October 3.
ITF Annual General Meeting.
Washington, DC, USA: August 23-25.
NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters:
Amsterdam, Netherlands: November 17-21 (tbc)
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Tennis Gives Final Salute to Jack Kramer
International Tennis Hall of Famer Jack Kramer was remembered on Saturday during a memorial service in Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus.
Several hundred spectators filled the stadium seats, just as they had throughout Kramer’s career as a tennis player and later as a promoter of the sport.
Kramer passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 12 after a battle with cancer. The 88-year-old is survived by five children and eight grandchildren. His wife, Gloria, passed away in 2008.
“It was a fabulous and glorious end, but he got a bad call late in the fifth set,” Kramer’s son Bob said at the outset of the ceremony. “He didn’t argue it. “
Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times and ESPN’s Pam Shriver, an International Tennis Hall of Famer, served as the hosts of the ceremony. Dwyre recounted speaking with Hall of Fame tennis writer Bud Collins upon hearing of Kramer’s death. “He’s the most important man in the history of tennis,” Collins told Dwyre.
Hundreds of letters and emails have been received since Jack’s passing. A few were read during the memorial, including those from David Budge (son of Don), Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Frank Sedgman and Stan Smith.
Each presenter took time recounting their personal experiences with Jack as well as his influence on their life and the game of tennis. “The best promoter the game of tennis ever has had, and ever will have,” said Barry MacKay, himself a promoter and former player.
USTA Southern California Section President Bill Kellogg also credited Kramer’s impact on the sport. “Jack was all about celebrating life, and he was truly a champion of the game,” Kellogg said.
US Open Tournament Director Jim Curley called Kramer a pioneer. “Every one of us who makes our living in professional tennis owes a debt of gratitude to Jack,” Curley said.
Eddie Merrins, the long-time PGA teaching pro at Bel Air Country Club, compared Kramer to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden for their contributions to the sport. “We in golf like to claim Jack Kramer just like you in tennis do,” Merrins said.
Tracy Austin, also an International Tennis Hall of Famer, remembered being a kid at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills, Calif., which she called her home away from home. “He was a risk taker, but a smart risk taker,” Austin said. “Jack was always moving forward.”
International Hall of Famer Donald Dell, also a former player and tennis promoter, spoke about Kramer’s role in the creation of the modern professional game. But like many of the presenters, he also paid tribute to Jack’s personal life as well. “Of all Jack’s achievements, he and Gloria, were proudest of these five sons,” Dell said. “It’s quite a family.”
Charlie Pasarell, another promoter and former player, concluded the presentations. He spoke about idolizing Kramer. “In the world of tennis, Jack Kramer was a giant. Nothing less,” Pasarell said. “More importantly, Jack was a good man, a champion in life.”
The Kramer sons closed the ceremony. “He was a champion not because he came in No. 1,” the eldest son David said. “His life was a gift to us, and we accept in all gratitude.”
***
Querrey Suffers Freak Accident
California’s Sam Querrey, ranked 25th in the world after reaching four ATP World Tour finals, is unlikely to play again this year after seriously lacerating his right forearm in a freak accident before playing in the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok.
Querrey reportedly sat on a glass table in the locker room at the Impact Arena that subsequently collapsed under his 200 lbs. weight. As the glass shattered, a shard slashed the 21 year-old’s arm and he underwent surgery to close the wound.
John Tobias, president of the tennis division for Blue Entertainment Sports Television (BEST), who represents Querrey, said:" Sam was just bending over to tie his shoes and the table shattered. A piece of glass slashed his right forearm. He'll most likely be shut down for the rest of the season but this is an injury that will heal. He was lucky."
Querrey, champion in Los Angeles and finalist in Newport, Indianapolis and New Haven before making a disappointing third round exit at the US Open, was seeded third in his first tournament since losing to Robin Soderling in New York. On his Twitter feed he simply said: "Worst day ever."
The player from Thousand Oaks’ place in the draw has been filled by lucky loser Donald Young while Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci and Marcos Daniel take over from Querrey and John Isner in the doubles.
***
China’s Top Woman Signs With IMG
Li Na, the highest ranked Chinese player in tennis history, has signed a deal to be represented by IMG and will share the same agent as Maria Sharapova.
Max Eisenbud, IMG Senior Vice President, will fill the managerial role and said: "We are very pleased to have Li Na as an IMG client. She has been one of the most successful players in China's history and in 2009 became Asia and China's No.1 player with a world ranking of No. 16. She has been largely hailed as being instrumental in advancing the sport within China."
Curiously Li beat Sharapova on the Russian’s favored surface of grass at Birmingham in England this June. Aged 27, she established many firsts for Chinese players such as breaking into the world’s top 20 and reaching a major quarter final. In her home land she gained greatest fame for ousting both Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Earlier this month she reached the quarter finals of the US Open, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters, but doing enough to take her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour world ranking back up to a career high 16th position.
“Li Na is a very talented athlete with tremendous potential and we are thrilled she has chosen IMG to represent her," said Fernando Soler, Head of Global IMG Tennis. "Her signing further demonstrates IMG’s commitment in China and our belief that Asia is maybe one of the dramatic growth areas for the next generation of tennis superstars who will be able to compete for the world’s biggest championships."
***
Great Britain’s Newest Star—Heather Watson
By Charles Bricker
Just as Andy Murray is a Scot first and a Brit second, so does Heather Watson call herself a Sarnian before she acknowledges her Britishness.
Sarnian?
Yes, Sarnia. The Roman name for Guernsey, the largest and, since Watson’s triumph at the U.S. Open juniors, the best known of the Channel Islands even among those who never knew there were any islands in the English Channel.
The 17-year-old with the nimble feet and surprisingly powerful game was probably headed for a U.S. university for a year or two before her life took a hairpin turn with the Open’s junior title. She has since turned pro and will be shortly bundling off for the southwest of England for a $50,000 Challenger tournament in Barnstaple, Devonshire.
She’s excited, even now, two weeks after she became the first Sarnian – oops, make that British – girl to win the U.S. Open juniors and giving the heavily criticized Lawn Tennis Association of Great Britain some of the cheeriest news it’s had in quite awhile.
“It’s really sunk in now,” Watson said after putting in another full Monday at the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Fl., where she’s on court or in the weight room from 7 a.m. to 12 before spending the afternoon in a classroom.
“I’ve had so many congratulations.” And if she were to go home to her little island retreat, which is closer to France than England, she’d probably be feted by a parade down the Esplanade in her hometown of St. Peter Port.
It’s probably going to be some time before that happens, however, because Guernsey, with its crazy road system, signature brown cows and incredibly beautiful cliff walks, is now going to see Watson only a few weeks a year. Tennis is a full time job now.
Of all the unlikely places to produce a tennis champion – even a junior one – Guernsey is right up there with the Canary Islands and Mozambique. The island is 25 square miles, which would be five-by-five if it was box shaped.
It’s better known as the last residence of Victor Hugo and for the pill boxes and gun emplacements of the occupying German army during World War II than for its athletes. In fact, Watson at 17 probably now is the best known athlete from the island . . . ever.
She didn’t start playing serious tennis until she was 9 – relatively late for juniors – tagging along after her parents to the only significant sports club on the island and getting to hit for a few minutes with mum and dad.
But by age 12 she had advanced so quickly that her parents began looking for training academies. She was accepted at Bollettieri’s and she remembers being overwhelmed by the sheer size and the level of competition when she got there five years ago.
“The win at the Open has definitely given me a lot of confidence,” she said. “I really believe in myself now. It gives me the confidence to know I can beat top players.”
Well, she hasn’t beat any really top players yet. But her split-set loss to No. 133 Valerie Tetrault at a $50,000 Challenge in Canada last week says she can compete. She got six ranking points at that tournament by winning a couple of qualifying matches, and that goes a long way on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
She moved from No. 736 to 678. “I set goals for myself every six months,” she explained. “And one of my goals for six months from now is to be top 500.” That would seem a modest objective, but give her credit for starting conservatively.
Tennis is a hard sell in Britain, which for the first time since anyone can remember has three women players in the top 100. The LTA is expecting 15-year-old Laura Robson (currently No. 460) to be top 20. And now they’ve got an eye on Watson.
Charles Bricker can be reached at bricker@tennisnews.com
***
US Open Had Very Successful Numbers
Figures are in on the 2009 US Open, and they present a positive picture as the event was experienced by more fans on-site, on television and online than ever before. Event attendance hit an all-time high, website traffic far surpassed last year’s records, and total television viewership was up, with more hours of the US Open broadcast than ever before.
Attendance:
• A new all-time attendance record of 721,059 fans topped last year’s record of 720,227.
• The first week of the tournament set five separate attendance records including top attended Opening Day session, top Opening Day combined sessions (day and night), top single session record, top combined (day and night) record and a record first-week attendance of 423,427.
• The US Open remains the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world.
USOpen.org:
• Unique visitors, from more than 200 countries, exceeded 13.5 million (the exact figure was 13,568,975), a 47% increase over last year’s previous record.
• Total visits to USOpen.org, the official website of the US Open, topped 63 million, far surpassing last year’s record of 39 million visits.
• Total page views increased from 222 million in 2008 to more than 392 million in 2009 (an increase of 76%).
• On-Demand Video, which includes match highlights, press conferences and feature programming, was accessed more than 5.6 million times, a 58% increase over last year.
Live Match Streaming on USOpen.org:
• There were nearly 14 million (13,891,115) activated streams on USOpen.org.
• More than 2.5 million hours of live streaming were viewed (2,531,236 hours).
• 157 matches were streamed live.
• The interactive media console to access live streaming was launched 3.8 million times over the course of the tournament.
• The average length of stay on the media console was two hours and forty-five minutes.
Television:
• With three domestic broadcasters (CBS, ESPN2, Tennis Channel), total television hours of the US Open were the most in history.
• Total viewership of CBS’ US Open broadcasts was 55.8 million, a 24% increase over 2008. 14.6 million viewers watched all or part of the men’s final.
• ESPN2’s first-ever coverage of the US Open was up 20% vs. 2008 US Open coverage on USA Network. ESPN2 posted its two most-watched tennis telecasts in its history on Wednesday, September 9, and Thursday, September 10.
• US Open coverage on Tennis Channel on Saturday, September 5, broke all previous ratings records for the network, and the network ranked within the Top 10 on all ad supported cable, including the No. 4 rank during the 8 pm to 9pm hour.
***
USPTA Installs New Officers and Board of Directors
The United States Professional Tennis Association has installed its new national board of directors that will serve the association until September 2011. Officers include a new president, vice presidents and secretary-treasurer. The new board took office during the USPTA World Conference on Tennis, Sept. 21-26, at the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club and Spa on Marco Island, Fla.
The new USPTA board of directors includes:
President Tom Daglis, director of tennis and fitness operations at the Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, Md.
First Vice President Randy Mattingley, director of tennis at The Clubs of Kingwood in Kingwood, Texas
Vice President Jack Groppel, Ph.D., vice chairman and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla.
Vice President Mark Fairchilds, director of tennis at Modesto Fitness and Racket Club in Modesto, Calif.
New board member and Vice President Jim Loehr, Ed.D., chairman, CEO and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla.
New board member and Vice President Bunny Bruning, tennis director of Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa and teaching professional at 7 Flags Fitness & Racquet Club in Clive, Iowa
New board member and Secretary-Treasurer Chuck Gill, director of tennis at the Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Immediate Past President Harry Gilbert, director of tennis at Ginn Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla.
***
We Hear---
--that John Isner and Melanie Oudin have been named the US team in January’s Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.
***
THIS WEEK
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MEN
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Tokyo
WOMEN
Beijing
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