By Justin Cohen
- To secure the Melbourne Park venue for the Australian Open until 2036, the state of Victoria will spend $336 million (US). One the major projects involved in upgrading the venue is adding a roof over Margaret Court Arena, which would give the tournament three retractable-roof arenas. The first stage of the redevelopment will begin in April and is expected to be completed by the start of the 2015 tournament. “The world’s best players love coming to Melbourne and our significant investment in Melbourne Park will guarantee the Australian Open remains in Melbourne until at least 2036,” said John Brumby, the Victorian State Premier.
- Over $200,000 (AU) was raised during the “Hit for Haiti” fundraiser event held on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena on the grounds at the Australian Open. Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Stosur and Bernard Tomic participated in the event. The 15,000 seat stadium was sold out, while another 5,000 fans watched on a big screen television outside the stadium. Despite not participating in the fundraiser, Maria Sharapova donated $15,000 to the victims, while last weekend’s titlists Marcos Baghdatis and John Isner donated $5,000 of their tournament winnings to charities involved in the recovery effort.
- World Team Tennis has donated hundreds of clothing items for children impacted by the earthquake in Haiti to K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations), which is a global charity that focuses on the needs of children and their families. Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova, who play for the Philadelphia Freedom and St. Louis Aces, respectively, urged fans to support relief efforts. “At this point, everything helps,” said Ilana Kloss, the WTT CEO and Commissioner. “Clothing, money, volunteers – whatever you can give will make a difference. I’m sure the tennis community will reach out in many ways, from individual players spreading the word about relief efforts to support from manufacturers and organizations. We just want to help get the word out and encourage everyone to get involved in whatever way they can.”
- Serena Williams launched an online eBay auction of her personal clothing and memorabilia on Monday in order to raise $92,000 for Haiti earthquake victims, as well as schools and charities. The auction will run for 92 days, with new items up for sale each week.
- World Team Tennis will make its debut at this year’s Australian Open during the second week of the first Grand Slam of the calendar year. A special Australia versus Internationals match will take place on Margaret Court Arena on January 27. The Australian team, who will be coached by John Fitzgerald, will consist of Patrick Rafter, Pat Cash, Nicole Bradtke and Alicia Molik. The International team will consist of Tracy Austin, Goran Ivanisevic, Todd Martin and Mary Joe Fernandez, who will also act as coach. The match will feature five sets, with one set each of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The first team to win five games will win the set. “It is good fun, interactive and high quality tennis,” said Craig Tiley, the Australian Open Tournament Director. “It is fiercely competitive and the team spirit is strong and adds another dimension to the tennis.”
- Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Regina Kulikova broke the record for the longest women’s Grand Slam match in the Open Era, with Zahlavova Strycova defeating Kulikova, 7-6(5), 6-7(10), 6-3, in four hours and 19 minutes. Zahlavova Strycova held seven match points in the second set but couldn’t close out the match.
- Fabrice Santoro has officially retired from the ATP World Tour following his straight sets loss to Marin Cilic in the first-round at the Australian Open. Despite the loss, Santoro played in his record 70th Grand Slam singles event and became the first player in the history of professional tennis to play Grand Slam events across four decades. Santoro played his first Grand Slam singles event in 1989 at the French Open.
- World No. 248 Louk Sorensen became the first Irish player to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam after defeating Yen-Hsun Lu in four sets on Tuesday. “I’ve suddenly got so many friend requests on Facebook,” said Sorensen. “I’m feeling great, it’s the biggest achievement of my career so far.” Also, Marsel Ilhan of Turkey became the first Turkish player to win a match at the Australian Open by defeating veteran Sebastien Grosjean of France in straight sets. Ilhan recorded Turkey’s first ever Grand Slam match win at last year’s US Open.
- Reuters reported that Australian Open officials are investigating an incident where Brazilian Marcos Daniel shoved a female spectator following his first-round loss when a scuffle occurred.
- The Australian Open broke its day session attendance record on Tuesday, with 45,594 fans throughout the grounds. The day session featured 54 men’s first round singles matches.
- During the opening session at the Australian Open, 11 Croatian fans were ejected from the grounds after becoming disruptive during Croatian Ivo Karlovic’s match against Radek Stepanek. One of the fans ejected was caught carrying flares.
- According to individuals involved, Hobart-based Betfair Australia is an official sponsor of this year’s Australian Open. The partnership, which is a move to ‘protect the integrity’ of competition, is the highest profile commercial deal between betting and a sport. A portion of each bet made to Betfair Australia during the tournament will go to Tennis Australia.
- John Isner and Sam Querrey say they will participate in the United States’ first round Davis Cup tie against Serbia if Captain Patrick McEnroe selects them.
- Yanina Wickmayer, a surprise semifinalist at last year’s US Open, has joined the Mouratoglou Academy.
- According to Matt Cronin of tennisreporters.net, Melanie Oudin says adidas will manufacture a line of shoes with “believe” on them by the Indian Wells tournament or French Open.
- Edoardo Artaldi, a former ATP World Tour player for eight years, has been hired as the Global Tour Manager for Volkl Tennis.