Sunday, December 28, 2008

Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 29)

  • Former World No. 2 Tommy Haas and 2008 Roland Garros semifinalist Gael Monfils have received wild card entries into the Doha, Qatar tournament.

  • Britain’s Times Online reports that World No. 4 Andy Murray could be promised $100 million (Euro) by management companies that are vying to sign him.

  • Bob and Mike Bryan have pulled out of the doubles event at the ATP tournament in Chennai, India, which is scheduled to start on January 5th.

  • The ATP event held in Portschach, Austria will be moved to another location next year. Officials will announce the new site sometime in January.

  • Well-respected tennis coach Peter Lundgren, a former coach to Roger Federer, Marat Safin and Marcos Baghdatis, will begin working at a tennis academy in Paris starting in January.

  • 25-year-old Prakash Amritraj, a US citizen based out of California, could be barred from representing India in Davis Cup play due to a newly released government order that says only Indian citizens can play on national teams that represent the country. This would keep Amritraj from playing Davis Cup in 2009, as well future Olympic and Asian Games competitions.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 21)

  • Reports from “The Australian” website indicate that former Top 10 player Mark Philippoussis has called a press conference to be held on Monday, December 22nd at Melbourne Park that will possibly be to announce his retirement from professional tennis. A few days ago, the former US Open runner-up pulled out of an upcoming exhibition event in Adelaide, saying he is not in good enough playing shape.

  • John Isner defeated Jesse Levine, 6-3, 7-5, at the USTA play-off tournament in Boca Raton on Saturday to win a wild card into the main draw of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

  • Canada’s Globe and Mail website reported that current World No. 1 doubles player Daniel Nestor and wife Natasha welcomed their first child, a daughter named Tiana.

  • Jamie Murray, brother of World No. 4 Andy Murray, announced that he plans to partner in 2009 with Serbian Dusan Vemic. Although Murray and Vemic will be regular partners throughout the season, Murray has already committed to play the Australian Open doubles tournament with former partner Eric Butorac, a former Division III tennis standout at Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota.

  • Due to recently revised visa regulations because of the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistani tennis player Aisam–Ul-Haq Qureshi will not be able to play the Chennai Open in India that starts on January 5th. The new rules require Pakistan nationals to wait one month before being able to go to India, which means his visa will not be granted to him in enough time.

  • 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa has been named the new Davis Cup captain for Spain.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 18)

  • Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was honored on Wednesday as the International Tennis Federation’s World Champion for 2008. Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia were named the ITF World Doubles Champions after finishing the 2008 season as the top ranked doubles team.

  • The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena in Birmingham, Ala., will host the 2009 first-round Davis Cup tie between the United States and Switzerland on March 6-8. Roger Federer has already announced that he will play in the first-round tie.

  • French star Sebastian Grosjean will be sidelined for four to six months due to shoulder surgery that he have on December 22nd. He hopes to return by the start of Wimbledon.

  • On Friday December 19th at the USTA Training Center in Boca Raton, Donald Young, Wayne Odesnik, Jesse Levine and John Isner will take part in the Australian Open wild card play-off tournament. The winner of the three day tournament will receive a main draw wild card into the Australian Open in Melbourne.

  • Marcos Baghdatis announced that he will take part in the ATP International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach on February 21-March 1. Tommy Haas and Mardy Fish are also scheduled to play in the South Florida tournament.

  • American Mardy Fish recently donated $30,000 to the Pelican Island Elementary School in Florida to help 110 students receive free guitar, dance and drama lessons.

  • On May 17th, Wimbledon will host an exhibition match to test out the new Centre Court retractable roof, so officials can “test the new roof and air conditioning system.” The Daily Mail newspaper reported that former Great Britain tennis star Tim Henman might take part in the match. Pete Sampras has declined the offer to play in this match.

  • Former World No. 1 and two-time grand slam champion, Lleyton Hewitt and wife Bec welcomed their son Cruz into the world on December 11th. Hewitt and his actress wife already have a three-year-old daughter named, Mia.

  • In shocking Davis Cup news, 59-year-old Modesto Vazquez has been named Argentina’s new team captain.

  • Rafael Nadal finished third for the L’Equipe’s annual ‘Champion of Champions’ honor. Roger Federer had won the award the previous three years.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 11)

  • Croatian standout Ivan Ljubicic and wife Aida had their first child on Wednesday, naming their new son, Leonardo.

  • Former World No. 2 Tommy Haas announced that he has resumed practicing on-court and hopes to compete in the Australian Open in mid-January. The 30-year-old German, who trains in Florida, has not played a competitive ATP match since losing to Gilles Muller in the second round of the 2008 US Open.

  • Regarding the Gillette Fusion Champions commercial featuring Roger Federer, golfer Tiger Woods and soccer star Thierry Henry, a British advertising industry magazine gave the commercial the honor of “worst ad of the year” in Campaign Magazine’s Top Turkeys of 2008 list.

  • Former French player Nicolas Escude has been named the new captain of the French Fed Cup team.

  • L’Equipe reports that rising French star Gael Monfils has cut ties with controversial acupuncturist Phillippe Manicom. The report said that the falling out between Monfils and Manicom was most likely due to a personality conflict between Monfils’ new coach Roger Rasheed.

  • United States top-ranked doubles duo Bob and Mike Bryan are hosting a party in Las Vegas set for December 14th at Lavo, with doors opening at 11pm. It’s all apart of their Camp Bryan II weekend.

  • Spanish Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco will replace double-booked Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the upcoming Kooyong exhibition event. American James Blake also scheduled two events during that week and will be replaced by Carlos Moya, a former Australian Open finalist.

  • Google’s annual Zeitgeist report, which are figures based on the most searched phrases on Google indicate the following:
    1. Rafael Nadal was the most searched athlete in Spain, while Roger Federer was No. 8 in Nadal’s home country.
    2. In Switzerland, Roger Federer was the second most searched person behind USA President-Elect Barack Obama.
    3. Tennis came in as the fourth most searched Olympic sport this year in the United States.
    4. In the Czech Republic, tennis was the seventh most searched sport.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

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.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe” (December 5)

  • Roger Federer ($35 million) was listed as No. 5 on the recently released Forbes’ Top 30 under 30 list. He also made the annual Switzerland’s richest people list for the very first time. It listed his wealth between $83-$167 million.

  • Tournament organizers of the Brisbane event said that French tennis star Gael Monfils missed the deadline to enter their event and all the wild cards have already been given out.

  • Spanish Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco was photographed walking to a tennis court in Mallorca with girlfriend Ana Ivanovic, a Top-10 ranked player on the WTA Tour.

  • Starting on February 1, 2009, Adidas will be re-launching tennis racquets throughout the tennis community. The Barricade, Response and Feather racquets will share similar characteristics to Adidas’ trademark three-stripe logo. The three-stripes will be located on the side of the frame. The Barricade will cost $185, while the Response can be purchased for $145, while the Feather runs at $165.

  • Current World No. 1 doubles player Nenad Zimonjic and wife Mina became parents of twins on Thursday. The couple named their son, Leon and daughter, Luna.

  • TennisWeek.com reports that Hall of Famer Rod Laver will be honored at the Australia Week 2009 Black Tie Gala presented by Penfolds in Hollywood on Sunday, January 18, 2009, at the Renaissance Hotel.

  • Speaking to reporters ahead of the Royal Albert Hall seniors tournament, legendary player Pete Sampras discussed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, saying:
    Roger Federer – “I think Roger's going to break [my] record over the next couple of years...There's a lot left in him. I think he's gotten to a stage where it's about the majors. We text each other quite a bit. He tells me how he's doing and asks what I'm up to. We had a week together in Asia and we clicked. Our personalities are similar. He's pretty sarcastic and pretty dry.”
    Rafael Nadal – “Rafa's got as good a chance to win double digits as anyone...He could win some more French [Opens], he could win a couple more Wimbledon’s. He could have 10-12 majors when he's done, if not more. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Nadal next year. It takes so much work for him to keep it going, to stay healthy, to stay on top. That's one thing Roger has over him. I think it takes a lot less energy for Roger to stay on top than it does Rafa."

  • Five of the Top 20 players are entered in the ATP Sydney International that will be played in early January. World No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be seeded No. 1. World No. 7 Gilles Simon, No. 11 David Nalbandian, Igor Andreev, Tomas Berdych and Tommy Robredo are other notable ATP players entered in the field.

  • Roger Federer has announced his 2009 tournament schedule. He will start his season off on January 5th in Doha, followed by the Australian Open, Dubai, Davis Cup, Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid, French Open, Halle, Wimbledon, Montreal, Cincinnati, US Open, Tokyo, Shanghai, Basel, Paris Indoors and the London World Tour Finals.

  • Starting on Friday December 12th at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, Andy Roddick will join John Isner and WTA Tour stars Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in a tennis charity event known as the “Rock-n-Racquets.” The event, which will also be played in the same format in Columbia, South Carolina and Knoxville, Tennessee, has Roddick facing Isner in a singles match before teaming up with Williams to face Isner and Wozniacki in a doubles match.