Monday, October 26, 2009

WORLD NEWS

An Apology to Roberto Forzoni

On 18 September we published an article about the sports psychologist, Mr. Roberto Forzoni.
We incorrectly stated that Britain’s tennis players had decided to dispense with his services because they no longer believed in him. We were wrong.
In fact, Britain’s tennis players have not stopped working with Mr. Forzoni at all. They continue to have faith in him and his abilities as a sports psychologist working at the highest level of the game. Britain’s tennis players continue to aspire to work with him and they are grateful for his professionalism, skill and ongoing support. There was no basis for the allegations that we mistakenly published and which were also wrongly posted on www.mltennis.com
We apologise sincerely and unreservedly to Mr. Forzoni for the hurt that we caused him personally and professional by our false publication.
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ITF to Launch Fed Cup Player Award

The ITF has announced that the inaugural Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award will be presented at the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Italy and USA. The Final is being held in Reggio Calabria on 7-8 November.
The Heart Award aims to recognize a player who has represented her country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to the team during the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.
Along with the honor of this prestigious Award, the winner will receive a unique Heart bracelet and a check for $2,500 to donate to her chosen charity. The winner will be decided by an online public vote, taking place from October 26 until November 4 on the Official Fed Cup by BNP Paribas website: www.fedcup.com and www.fedcup.com/es.
There are four nominees for the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award, all selected for their exploits in this year’s competition: Alexa Glatch (USA), Melanie Oudin (USA), Flavia Pennetta (ITA) and Francesca Schiavone (ITA).
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ITF to Hold Coaches Conference This Week

The 16th ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas starts in Valencia, Spain this Friday, October 30. The conference, which is organized every two years by the ITF, is being hosted by the Real Federacion Espanola de Tenis (Spanish Tennis Federation) as part of its centenary celebrations and will take place at the Luis Puig Velodrome.
BNP Paribas’s involvement with the conference as presenting partner expands the relationship between the ITF and BNP Paribas. This is the first time the conference has had a presenting partner and heralds a new era for what is the ITF’s flagship event in the field of coaches education. The theme of the five-day conference is Developing Competencies for Elite Players and Coaches and the program consists of lecture room and on-court presentations, as well as some shorter sessions, involving five presentations taking place simultaneously.
Confirmed keynote speakers include Spanish Davis Cup captain Albert Costa and former world No. 2 Alex Corretja. They are joined by Bruce Elliott, world-renowned biomechanist; Mark Kovacs, Senior Manager of Sport Science for the USTA; Yassine Yousfi of Olympic Solidarity, and Carl Maes, former coach of Kim Clijsters.
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Murray to Change His Preparation for Australian Open

Andy Murray’s plans for a different build up to next January’s Australian Open in order to give him a greater chance of success at Melbourne Park means he will team up with Britain’s 15 year-old starlet Laura Robson to play the Hopman Cup.
World no.4 Murray has spurned the cash rich Arabian opening to the year to play the International Tennis Federation affiliated event that begins in Perth on Saturday January 2 and runs thru January 9.  Early this year he won both the exhibition Capitala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi which netted him $250,000 and the ATP World Tour’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha which paid another $183,000.
But by the time Murray started his Aussie Open campaign he was jaded after a hard December training in Miami and the combination of crossing 16 time zones and playing too much competitive tennis against the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick left the young Scot tired and jaded.
When he fell to Fernando Verdasco in the Australian Open’s fourth round he was suffering the onset of a virus infection that troubled him for several months.
Hopman Cup tournament director Paul McNamee said: “It's the first time Andy's prepared in Australia so that's a big statement. He's never done well at the Australian Open and he indicated through his management he wanted to do something different this year.”
Murray went into this January’s Australian Open as the pre-tournament favorite with the bookmakers but has still not survived beyond the round of 16.
McNamee has been in conversation with Murray's management company 19 Entertainment and said: "They noticed Novak Djokovic [in 2008] and Marat Safin [in 2005] used the Perth route to win the Australian Open so they are giving it a shot."
Other teams confirmed for the tournament include: the United States who will pair 18-year-old star Melanie Oudin with John Isner, Russia with Elena Dementieva and Igor Andreev; and Spain with Tommy Robredo and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Hosts Australian will have the particularly strong looking duo of Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.
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To Venus Williams, Life is Much More Than Just Being a Top Tennis Player

Venus Williams goes into the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar as not only the defending champion but also the senior citizen of the field at the age of 29. But though she may be conceding ten years to the youngest of her rivals, the former world no.1 maintains she is a long way from done with the sport.
Since losing the Wimbledon final to her sister Serena in July, Venus has played seven tournaments and gone no further than the semi final. She has been troubled by knee problems and in her last two events in Tokyo and Beijing saw her defeated both times by the Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Her last two Wimbledon titles in 2007 and again a year later, were her only major singles successes in 16 attempts but she was insistent: “"I love what I do, so that's a complete up for me. I get to work outside. My thing is I get to make a living looking good. It's my job to stay fit. It doesn't get better than that."
Billie Jean King has nominated Venus as the current day leader of the players and she admits to enjoying playing a part in the running of the game. Recently she even joined Sony Ericsson WTA Tour chief executive Stacey Allaster in meeting with the mobile phone company whose $88 million sponsorship deal is soon up for re-negotiation.
But Venus maintains playing is her main interest and an entry into the main political area is not on her list of ambitions. "I'm always determined, you got to have that determination that on every single day, even at practice, to be prepared," she said.
"It's a lifestyle. I'm at the point in my career where I've been very successful at every tournament just about, almost on every surface. For me it's about obviously playing great tennis, adding to my repertoire, continuing to get better, to enjoy the challenge of it all obviously while being on.
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Sanchez to Debut in Doha This Week

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez will make her WTA Championships debut this week in Doha in doubles, but she is determined not to stop there. Her ambition is to make singles debut in next year.
“My aim is to reach top ten in 2010”, says actual #31. “Every one has his limit, but when you improve all the time, then that is the reason to believe in yourself that you haven’t reached your maximum yet.”
And improving has been very successful for Maria Jose (27). She finished 2007 as # 173, last year she was # 86 and now she is on verge of breaking top 30. Though no one expected it from her 12 months ago, Martinez will finish this season as the Spanish player with the best results. She won two titles and qualified for both season ending tournaments – in doubles in Doha and in singles in Bali.
Tournament of Champions is the brand new event in Bali. “It is very interesting, there will be four groups of three players and winners will go to semifinal. It would be very good to end season with win over there”, Martinez Sanchez hopes to finish 2009 with even more success.
But even if she doesn’t end Bali voyage with trophy, she will enjoy there. “I will stay a week more to have holiday. I will spend second week with my family at home and then I will start preparations for new season.”
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After a Tough Year, Jankovic Happy to be in the Championships

It hasn’t been the best of years for Jelena Jankovic, but she just managed to squeeze into the last available spot for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Considering what she went through during 2009, from her struggles at the beginning of the season after adding too much muscle bulk, to family misfortunes, she is thrilled that she still managed to qualify for Doha.
“Even though I had a tough year, so many things that have happened off the court that affected my tennis, I'm still in the top eight and I made the Championships,” she said. “I'm still strong. No matter what is happening, I'm just always trying to do my best and be positive out there. I had so many things that have happened off the court. My mother was sick. When I was competing at the US Open, my grandmother died. Then you realize there are more important things in life than tennis, and tennis is just a game. You realize that you don't need to take it so seriously. You don't go down on yourself when you lose, you don't get so disappointed like I used to before. I'm a little bit more gentle on myself. You know, I just try to enjoy it as much as I can.”

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How Can Safina Improve?

What does Dinara Safina need to do to improve? A new forehand? Adjustment to her serve? A change to the way she hits her backhand? No. An attitude change would help, she says.
“Of course, I know this. Some things I'm like this, I'm too open. It's very bad, I know,” she said. “Many people don't even have to say how I feel, I can show them. This thing I have to learn. I think I am improve compared to how I was before. Before, before stepping on the court, I could say already if I have a bad day or good day. Now, of course, even I have a bad day, I still try to be much more positive and get the best out of it.  So I still learning and I still have to improve. This is going to be the most important thing for me to improve. This is, of course, something that I have to change myself. Only I can control it, nobody else. Everybody says this. But this is my decision to change it or not. I guess I have to change it.”

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Too Many Coaches for Wozniacki?

Too many coaches can spoil the broth. Many players over the years have suffered from too many well-intentioned people offering advice. With her connection to adidas and their team of advisors, Caroline Wozniacki could be in danger of suffering from information overload, especially with her father as her real coach.
“Actually, I'm working with my dad. Yeah, he's always there,” she said. “And then Sven (Groeneveld) and Gil (Reyes) and Killer (Darren Cahill), they're there sometimes. They come for some tournaments. They help me out. They come with some inputs from the outside. They talk with my dad, what they think I can improve. Yeah, it goes that way. So there's not too many people giving me information. They talk together, and then my dad is the one that gives me the information the last.  So there's only one person communicating with me. Of course, Sven and everybody is on court with me. If they have some small things they think I can improve, they tell me. If it's bigger things, they go through my dad.”

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It Isn’t Always Easy for a Top 10 Player

Jelena Jankovic is one of several players to question the rules introduced for the 2009 season that, although proving a shorter season, insisted the best 10 players compete at the top tournaments, while restricting them from playing lesser events if they want to.
“We have a longer off-season which is good for our recovery and to have enough time to train again and prepare for the next season,” she said. “But the only thing for me personally is that, you know, we have less tournaments and all of that. But for example, if you didn't play well in one tournament, and you lost early, you're not allowed to play the next (International Series) one. You feel like you're just training. You want to compete. That is for me something that, if you're doing well, you don't need to play the next one. But in case you didn't do well, we don't have players in the top 10 that have a chance to play the next event and get some matches in.
“As well, was a little bit hard at the end of the year, like now, we were competing for the Masters.  My only chance was in Moscow, which some of the other players, a couple other players who had a chance to make it to the Masters, they could play Linz, Osaka. They had many other opportunities to get a few points where I had only one. So it also sometimes can be a disadvantage for a top-10 players like me who hasn't done so well during the year.”

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We Hear---
--that Brian Earley, Don Johnson, Whitney Snyder and Peggy Michel were inducted into the United States Tennis Association Middle States Hall of Fame.
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THIS WEEK
MEN
Lyon
St. Petersburg
Vienna
WOMEN
Doha
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NEXT WEEK
MEN
Basel
Valencia
WOMEN
Bali
Fed Cup Finals USA at Italy
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