Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 9)

• Martin Verkerk, the 2003 French Open finalist and a two-time singles winner on the ATP Tour, has announced his retirement from the sport. The 30-year-old Dutchman, who played for 12 years and won roughly $1.5 million, said to the media on Tuesday, “It had been my plan to play more matches. It’s a pity it didn’t work out.”
  
  
• According to a SportsBusiness Journal report by Don Muret, The United States Tennis Association is considering adding a retractable roof to the 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York. The estimated cost of adding the roof would be around $100 million. Although the USTA has yet to figure out where the $100 million in funding would come from, Danny Zausner, managing director of the USTA, said an option could be to make Arthur Ashe Stadium a multi-purpose sports facility and have a professional sports team play their home games at the venue.
  
  
• James Blake will play along side American Meghann Shaughnessy at the Hopman Cup in January after Serena Williams recently withdrew due to a hamstring problem.
  
  
• Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka have been named the “Team of the Year” in Switzerland after winning the gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  
  
• According to reports by the Associated Press, Andre Agassi’s former agent has filed a lawsuit against Agassi’s wife, Steffi Graf, saying that he has not yet been paid $50,000 in fees that he was to earn. Agassi commented on the situation saying, “Several weeks ago, my agent, manager and lawyer, Perry Rogers, and I decided to sever our business relationship. At that time, I had every hope that we could do so amicably and in the interest of maintaining our long-term friendship. As a result, I am both saddened and disappointed to learn that Perry has filed a lawsuit, and sadder still that he has sued my wife, Stefanie. I remain hopeful that we will be able to resolve our business issues with minimal damage to our families and mutual friends.”
  
  
• After an up and down year in 2008 for Latvian Ernests Gulbis, his 2009 season has already begun with a hiccup. Gulbis just received notice that he is signed up for two events the same week before the Australian Open, the Auckland tournament and the famous Kooyong exhibition.
  
  
• Australian players Peter Luczak, Robert Smeets, Joe Sirianni and Carsten Ball all received direct entry into the upcoming Australian Open men’s wild card play-off. The winner of the play-off earns a main draw wild card into the Australian Open field of 128.