STARS
Kristina Mladenovic beat Valeria Savinykh 7-5 5-7 6-1 to win the Ankara Cup in Ankara, Turkey
SAYING
“I am honored to have this opportunity to lead the ATP, an organization that I am proud to have been a part of since the beginning of my professional playing career. The ATP World Tour and men’s tennis are stronger than ever and it is my intention to continue to lead the organization on this successful path, working hand in hand with our players and tournaments. I am very excited about the opportunities ahead.” – Brad Drewett, after being named executive chairman and president of the ATP.
“Brad is a very experienced executive and has been an effective leader within the ATP for many years. He understands the global nature of the business as well as the complexities of dealing with all of the Tour’s stakeholders. I am confident that Brad’s work ethic and leadership will help contribute to the continued success of the ATP World Tour.” – Roger Federer, president of the ATP Player Council.
“I am thrilled to be back on the ATP Champions Tour after more than a decade and being able to compete in Zurich against some great champions is an exciting prospect. I’m feeling good and ready to compete again and am looking forward to being back on the ATP Champions Tour.” – Jimmy Connors, who will return to the senior tour at the age of 59.
“After seven years partnering with the WTA, we have decided not to renew the partnership. We feel that after seven years our brand has evolved and our business as well.” – Graciela Pineda, Sony Ericsson spokeswoman.
“They have been a great partner and we will miss them.” – The WTA Tour, in a statement, concerning the Sony Ericsson decision.
STEPPING UP
A former player is the new executive chairman and president of the ATP. Brad Drewett will take over the reigns of the men’s tennis organization on January 1. He will be based in the ATP’s London office. The ATP Board of Directors voted unanimously to give the 53-year-old Australian a three-year contract. Drewett won the Australian Open junior boys in both 1975 and 1977 before playing on the tour for 12 years, reaching as high as 34th in the world in singles. He currently serves as CEO of the ATP International Group, where he has overseen operations in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific regions since 1999. Prior to that, Drewett was elected to the Player Council and was an ATP Player Board Representative from 1993 until 1999. He also has served as tournament director of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and formerly the Tennis Masters Cup since 2001. Drewett succeeds Adam S. Helfant, who had headed the men’s tennis organization since 2009.
SPONSORSHIP ENDS
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB will end its sponsorship of the women’s tour when the agreement ends next year. When Sony Ericsson signed a six-year, USD $88 million contract in 2005, it was the largest sponsorship in tennis history and in women’s professional sports. The company dropped the naming rights last year when it signed a two-year extension until December 31, 2012. In a statement emailed to Bloomberg News, the WTA said the Sony Ericsson sponsorship “has over the past seven years taken women’s tennis to new heights of popularity and success, and broadened the audience for the sport across the globe.”
Over the past 18 months, the WTA has signed several major new sponsors in Europe and Asia-Pacific, including BNP Paribas and its Turkish partner TEB as co-sponsors of the WTA’s year-end Championships.
SAY IT LOUD
The WTA has announced a four-year deal with PERFORM, a digital sports specialist that will manage the WTA’s Premier tournament media rights from 2013 through 2016. The deal covers the 22 Premier WTA events, including the season-ending finale. Under the agreement, PERFORM has acquired all media rights to the Premier tournaments and will oversee the overall development and media of the events outside the United States and Canada. The digital sports media company already provides the WTA with a range of web, live streaming and mobile services. It plans to double the current live match production levels and improve the availability of ancillary content packages across all media with a weekly magazine program, e-Player coverage and hourly news output in at least seven languages.
SENIOR SENIOR
Jimmy Connors is back. Ending a 13-year absence, Connors will return to the ATP Champions Tour when he competes in the BNP Paribas Zurich Open in March. The 59-year-old left-hander will join a round-robin group that includes Henri Leconte. Others entered in the eight-player, March 20-24 tournament include defending champion Mark Philippoussis, Tim Henman and Marat Safin. The event also will feature the world’s top juniors, who will play their own round-robin tournament. The youngsters and the legends will join to play doubles.
STAYING HOME
Still recovering from the immune system disease Sjogren’s syndrome, Venus Williams has withdrawn from January’s ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. The 31-year-old Williams has not played a WTA match since pulling out of the US Open with the illness. She has played several exhibition matches recently, but organizers of the New Zealand tournament said the American is not yet ready to return to competitive tennis. Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, played in only four tournaments in 2011 because of injuries.
Venus Williams is still expected to play the Australian Open later in January. Craig Tiley, tournament director of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, told newspapers that he had been in contact with Williams’ agent. “I wanted to touch base, but there’s no change for her. She’s coming,” Tiley was quoted as saying.
SHARAPOVA OUT
Not fully recovered from an injury to her left ankle, Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International. Sharapova was hurt in September during the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In a statement sent to tournament officials, Sharapova said the injury should not affect her playing the Australian Open, which she won in 2008. The injury forced her to withdraw from the China Open and she was hobbled while losing two matches at the year-ending WTA Championships.
SINGLED OUT
Novak Djokovic, who won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2011, has been named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. The 24-year-old Serb won his first 41 matches of the year and replaced Spain’s Rafael Nadal as the ATP’s number one player in the world. Djokovic’s 10 titles in 2011 included the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. He beat out Barcelona and Argentina soccer star Lionel Messi and German Formula 1 race car world champion Sebastian Vettel for the award. It is the sixth time in 11 years that a tennis player has won the award, which is decided by a panel of sports editors from national and regional newspapers and magazines. Other tennis players to receive the award include Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Goran Ivanisevic.
SHE’S THE TOPS
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been named Czech athlete of the year in a poll of sports journalists. The 21-year-old Kvitova won five other singles titles in 2011, including the season-ending WTA Tour Championships. Rising from 34th in the world to number two, Kvitova was named the WTA’s Player of the Year.
SLUSH FUND
The singles winners at next year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA, will each pocket USD $1 million. The tournament becomes the first combined ATP World Tour and WTA event to award the two singles champions a million dollars each. Prize money has been increased for all rounds of the tournament, with the singles runner-up earning USD $500,000 and the two losing semifinalists receiving USD $250,000. “The BNP Paribas Open has been raising the bar for the sport over the course of the past four decades, and today’s $1 million winners’ prize money announcement represents yet another historic milestone,” said Stacey Allaster, chairman and CEO of the WTA. “The BNP Paribas Open is one of the cornerstone events in professional tennis exactly because of this attention to players and willingness to innovate and push the boundaries of success.” The 2012 tournament will be played in March.
STRAIGHT IN
Jeremy Chardy and Aravane Rezai have been given wild cards into the Australian Open under a reciprocal agreement between the French Tennis Federation and Tennis Australia. The French federation selected Rezai, who has been ranked as high as 15th in the world, and Chardy, who reached a career-high ranking of 31 in 2009. The Australian Open begins Jan. 16 at Melbourne Park.
SIMPLY MARVELOUS
The women’s singles trophy at the Brisbane International has been named for former Australian star Evonne Goolagong Cawley. “I have won a few trophies in my time, but I have never had a major event name their trophy after me,” said Goolagong Cawley, who won seven Grand Slam tournament singles titles. Cameron Pearson, Brisbane International tournament director, said the trophy was named for Goolagong Cawley because she had “contributed so much to the game during her career and continues to do so with her National Development Camp and work with indigenous youth.” The Brisbane International begins January 1 with US Open champion Samantha Stosur and runner-up Serena Williams in the field. Andy Murray heads the men’s singles field.
SUSPENDED
Lucas Renard of Sweden has been suspended for six months and fined USD $5,000 after admitting he committed an offense under Article D of the 2011 Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Four of the six months period of ineligibility will be suspended if the 19-year-old Renard commits no future violation, that he exhibits continuous good conduct and that he attends anti-corruption education training. Because of the sanction, Renard is not eligible to participate in any tournament or competition organized or authorized by the governing bodies of professional tennis. No other details of the case were made public.
SEND MONEY BACK
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) wants Alex Bogomolov Jr. to pay back some of the money it spent on him. Ranked 34th in the world, Bogomolov Jr. will play Davis Cup in 2011 for his native Russia. After his family moved to the United States, the USTA gave Bogomolov Jr. financial and coaching help. The Russians actively recruited the 28-year-old and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) agreed he could play Davis Cup for Russia. “He has received quite a bit of support, it’s an ITF decision and at the USTA we are exploring our options. I’ll leave it at that,” said Patrick McEnroe, who is in charge of player development for the USTA. “I have no issue with Alex personally. From the USTA standpoint, he was born in Russia, he has family there, he should repay the USTA. He’s actually signed something saying that and we’ll see what happens.”
SPORTS CABLE RULING
Tennis Channel has won its dispute with Comcast. Tennis Channel filed a complaint against the cable operator last year, accusing it of discriminating against the network in violation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules. Tennis Channel argued that Comcast gave preferential treatment to two similar sports cable networks it owned – Versus and Golf Channel – by placing them on more broadly distributed tiers. In its ruling, the FCC fined Comcast USD $375,000 and ordered it to treat Tennis Channel the same as Versus and Golf Channel.
SEASON GETS UNDERWAY
The 2012 tennis season gets underway at Perth, Australia, this coming Saturday when China and France battle in the Hyundai Hopman Cup. The format sees two round-robin pools of four being contested before the winners meet in the final. French Open champion Li Na leads China against Marion Bartoli and France. Bartoli’s teammate is Richard Gasquet, who is ranked 19th in the world. Li’s teammate is Wu Di, who is ranked more than 400 places lower than his French counterpart. Others competing in the exhibition include world number one Caroline Wozniacki, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Lleyton Hewitt.
SUCCESSFUL SISTERS
Chinese twins Lu Jia-Jing and Lu Jia Xiang continued their winning ways by capturing a USD $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Pune, India. In the final, the Lu sisters beat sisters Varatchaya and Varunga Wongteanchai of Thailand 6-1 6-3. It was the third straight tournament title for the Chinese twins. They also won two USD $10,000 ITF events in Pune and Solapur, India.
SELLING SHARES
Spanish star Rafael Nadal and his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal have sold their 10 percent share in Real Mallorca to German businessman Utz Claassen. A Real Madrid fan that lives on the island in the Mediterranean, Nadal had joined a consortium that invested in 2010 in the Real Mallorca soccer team. Claassen purchase now gives him a 20 percent stake in the team.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Ankara: Nina Bratchikova and Darija Jurak beat Janette Husarova and Katalin Marosi 6-4 6-2
SURFING
Tyumen:
Doha:
Chennai:
www.aircelchennaiopen.org/2012/
Brisbane:
www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/
Auckland:
Perth:
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
WOMEN
$50,000 Siberia Cup, Tyumen, Russia, hard
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$1,024,000 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Doha, Qatar, hard
$422,000 Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia, hard
$398,250 Aircel Chennai Open, Chennai, India, hard
WOMEN
$655,000 Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia, hard
$220,000 ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand, hard
EXHIBITION
Hyundai Hopman Cup, Perth, Australia, hard