First Lady Michelle Obama and USTA team up to make difference for kids
First Lady Michelle Obama and the USTA have teamed up to create the “Let’s Move!” campaign to encourage young people across the United States to get active, play tennis and lead healthy lifestyles. Components of the campaign include a new public service announcement with tennis legends Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf that ran on Monday night during the BNP Paribas Showdown, as well as the construction of thousands of tennis courts throughout the country and commitment to 20,000 children to participate in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award. “It’s important for kids to get the hour of active play they need every day, and there are so many fun things that each of us can do to be healthier,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “Thanks to programs like the USTA’s 10 and Under Tennis initiative, it’s easier than ever for kids to get active and have fun. And that’s a big part of what we’re doing with ‘Let’s Move!’, America’s campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.” The USTA plans to create both a 60-second and a 30-second version of this PSA. Initial plans call for the PSA to be used in tennis programming on CBS Sports, ESPN and Tennis Channel. The PSA will go into more rotation during the summer months leading up to the US Open in New York, which takes place from August 29 through September 11. “Tennis is the sport of opportunity. With our new 10 and Under initiative, tennis is also the newest ‘pick-up sport’ where kids can play in schools, in parks, at clubs, and even at home,” said Jon Vegosen, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. “Our new collaboration with the First Lady and ‘Let’s Move!’ will help us reach more families to teach them that tennis is easier to learn and access than ever before.”
BNP Paribas Open owner buys $42.9 million golf course estate at discount
Oracle Co-Founder and CEO Larry Ellison, the sixth-richest man in the world and owner of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, just purchased a 249-acre estate called the Porcupine Creek in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for a reported $42.9 million that once belonged to Edra Blixseth, which is about 20 minutes away from the tennis tournament site. The original asking price for the property was $75 million, according to the Desert Sun. Ellison’s new property features an 18,430-square-foot Mediterranean-style main house with hand-painted ceiling murals, an amphitheater and a resort style pool. It also has eight two-bedroom guest houses, a gym, spa, an outdoor party grotto and an 18-hole golf course.
Nadal to open evening session at Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday, March 26
World No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Rafael Nadal will play his opening round match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday, March 26 at 8:00pm, which is Session 10. Nadal’s potential opponent will not be determined until the draw is made on Monday, March 21 at Noon. Tickets to the Sony Ericsson Open are still available and can be purchased by phone at (305) 442-3367 or via internet at www.sonyericssonopen.com. The Sony Ericsson Open will be played from March 21-April 3 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park.
ESPN2 joining Tennis Channel and CBS to cover Sony Ericsson Open
The Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, which is considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world outside of the four Grand Slam events, has announced that ESPN2 will join Tennis Channel and CBS this month to cover an event record 77-hours of domestic coverage of this year’s tournament. Television coverage of the tournament will begin on March 26 on Tennis Channel and will move to ESPN2 beginning March 30. Both the men’s and women’s final will be shown live on CBS. In 2010, more than 2,400 hours of Sony Ericsson Open action was shown worldwide to more than 153 million viewers.
Wild Cards announced for BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells
On Monday, Tournament Director Steve Simon announced that rising stars Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Ryan Harrison, Bernard Tomic, as well as American veteran James Blake were awarded main draw wild cards into the BNP Paribas Open, to be held from March 7-20 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif. Ryan Sweeting, Steve Johnson and Greg Ouellette accepted qualifying draw wild cards. Coco Vandeweghe, Christina McHale, Vania King, Jill Craybas, Sloane Stephens, Lauren Davis and Sania Mirza were awarded main draw wild cards into the women’s draw, while Sabine Lisicki, Madison Keys, Madison Brengle, Monica Puig, and Maria Sanchez were given qualifying draw wild cards. There are two more qualifying draw wildcards to be distributed and will be given to the men’s and women’s winner of the BNP Paribas Open Pre-Qualifier, which began on Tuesday in Indian Wells and runs through March 6. Between the men and women, the Pre-Qualifier had a record 145 entries.
Stolle receives commemorative ring from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Delray Beach
Australian tennis legend Fred Stolle, who won 2 Grand Slam singles titles and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, was presented a commemorative ring from the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Friday at the ATP World Tour Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. The newly developed one-of-a-kind rings will presented to Hall of Famers over the next several years at tennis tournaments around the world to mark their achievement of Hall of Fame induction. Stolle was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Christopher E. Clouser, Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, presented the ring to Stolle. Also participating in the ring ceremony was Peggy Woolard, a member of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors and Executive Committee, and Delray Beach ITC Tournament Director Mark Baron, who co-founded the tournament with Stolle in 1993. “As a Hall of Famer, Fred is among an elite group of athletes. His contributions to tennis have a permanent place in the history and heritage of tennis and we are pleased to be able to recognize this achievement with this special ring, which only the best tennis players and contributors in the world will have the honor of wearing,” said Christopher E. Clouser, Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum.
World Team Tennis announces staff promotions
World Team Tennis recently announced the promotions of Kerry Schneider to Director of Marketing and Sponsorship Services, and Isaac Leamer to Director of Advanced Media and Internet Technology. Schneider, of New Castle, Del., joined WTT in January 2004 after holding positions with both the New York Power of the WUSA and Pam Shriver’s Charity Tennis Event, where she was ticketing manager in addition to handling event promotions. Schneider graduated from Loyola College with a BBA in Marketing in 2000. Leamer, who lives in New York City, joined WTT in 2009 after working in philanthropy at Public Interest Projects where he supported the day to day operations of several funds and was responsible for establishing and maintaining the web presence. Prior to that, Leamer was a Teach for America corps member where he taught students from the New Orleans 9th Ward. He is a 2004 graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Foreign Affairs with a Middle Eastern concentration and a B.S. in psychology.
Levy officially retires from ATP World Tour
Israeli Harel Levy has officially retired from the ATP World Tour at the age of 32. The Ramat Hasharon native, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 30 in June 2001 and won more than $1.4 million in tournament prize money, suffered a hip injury early in his career and never managed to recover. A regular Davis Cup player for Israel, Levy reached the second round at all for Grand Slam events in singles and was a singles finalist at the Masters 1000 Canada event in Toronto in 2001, losing to Marat Safin. Levy, a winner of one ATP doubles title, earned singles victories during his career over Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Andy Roddick, Sebastien Grosjean, Nicolas Kiefer and Wayne Ferreira. “I had the honor to be ranked among the top players in the world and experienced amazing things that were only cut abruptly by my injury,” said Levy. “I battled my injury hoping for some more success and got it with the Davis Cup team in recent years. Tennis has given me so much, but now it is time for me to dedicate myself to my family.”
Italian Tennis Federation offers Capra spot on Fed Cup team
Up and coming American teenager, Beatrice Capra, was recruited by the Italian Tennis Federation to play on Italy’s Fed Cup team, according to Zootennis. Capra, who is currently playing pro circuit events and will soon play collegiate tennis at Duke, turned down the offer. “After I won the Italian Open (juniors), they got in contact with me, and they want me to represent Italy,” said Capra. “After the US Open, they had some meetings with my parents, and they offered for me to play on the Italian Fed Cup team, against the U.S. But I said no, I don’t think I could do that. But they’re really interested in me and they’ve helped me out a lot, and whenever I go over there, there’s always someone there to hit with. They’re really helpful, but I don’t think I’ll be switching federations.” Capra, who is currently ranked No. 233 in the WTA Rankings, has been offered a wild card into the main draw at the Italian Open.
ATP and WTA launch official live scoring application for Android phones
The ATP and WTA recently announced the launch of the “ATP/WTA LIVE” – an Android mobile application that allows users to follow scores as they happen on their mobile phones from all the ATP and WTA tournaments around the globe. The new and official live scoring mobile application is available for free on the Android market and allows fans to follow the progress of their favorite professional tennis players competing around the globe across 115 events in 43 countries throughout the season. The application is available in 20 different languages and features live scores, live match statistics, completed matches, draws, order of play, rankings, player bios and head-to-head records.
Gasquet not available to play in France’s Davis Cup tie due to shoulder injury
Frenchman Richard Gasquet will be sidelined for France’s upcoming Davis Cup tie against Austria in Vienna due to recent shoulder problems. Gasquet joins Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who both earlier announced that they will not participate in the tie due to injury. Gilles Simon, Michael Llodra, Jeremy Chardy, and Julien Benneteau will make up the French team. Austria will be led by Jurgen Melzer and Stefan Koubek, who is coming out of retirement to play. The match will be played on a clay court in an airport hangar.
Dubai location added to Peter Burwash International
Peter Burwash International (PBI), the most well known tennis management company in the world, has announced that Dubai will be a new location for the organization. The Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, a property with two tennis courts, is a beautiful beachside resort located in the western crescent of the iconic Palm Jumeirah, with breathtaking views of the Arabian Sea. There are 402 rooms, 38 additional villas situated on the beach and around a lagoon pool, 10 restaurants, a night club, boutiques, lush gardens, infinity pool with two Jacuzzis and an ultramodern fitness center. “Dubai has become one of the most important tennis destinations in the world,” said Peter Burwash, President of PBI. “We are very appreciative of being given the opportunity to continue to grow and develop the sport in that region of the world.” PBI will begin directing the tennis program in February after which the season will be from October 1 to May 15 each year.
Hasselhoff to be featured on Celebrity Tennis on Tennis Channel on March 6
Actor and singer David Hasselhoff will be featured in the upcoming episode of the original series, Celebrity Tennis, on Tennis Channel on March 6 at 7pm ET. The episode will re-air multiple times the following week. In each episode of Celebrity Tennis, former ATP World Tour player and actor Vince Van Patten gives the viewer an inside look of a celebrity who has a burning desire for the game of tennis. Hasselhoff tells Van Patten that he started playing tennis with his dad as a small child and has remained an avid fan and player throughout his life, although he describes his on-court style as that of a “Swatter… like Dr. Seuss on the court.” While Hasselhoff can be found courtside at numerous Grand Slam tournaments, he suggests that the sport could afford to be more entertaining for its viewers. If ever named commissioner of tennis for a day, he would pattern the events after WWE wrestling by making the games shorter and allowing the fans in the stands to be more vocal. Previous celebrities to be featured on Celebrity Tennis include Dr. Phil McGraw, Christie Brinkley, Gus Hanson and Brandy.
Sign up for a 1-year USTA Adult Membership and get a FREE 2011 US Open long sleeve t-shirt
For a limited time, you can sign up for a 1-year USTA Adult Membership and receive a free 2011 US Open long sleeve t-shirt. By signing up before March 15, 2011, you will also enjoy annual subscriptions to top tennis publications, the opportunity to participate in USTA tennis leagues, discounts on travel, tennis gear, hotel reservations, entertainment and dining, and special benefits and discounts on tennis instruction.