World Tennis Magazine

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foro italico

Luxury Italian tours to offer Italian Open tennis package

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Luxury Italian Tours, the boutique luxury tour company, announced that it will offer a special travel tour of Rome in conjunction with the 2012 Italian Open tennis championships.

The tour will be offered from May 13-20 and will include tickets to the historic tennis championships where Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova will be defending their titles as well as special VIP and private cultural and culinary activities.

Packages include seven nights at luxury hotel in the historic center of Rome with the Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Piazza Navona just steps away, tickets for four sessions at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia at the Foro Italico, including the men’s and women’s quarterfinals and semifinals, and private and professionally guided tours of Ancient Rome and The Vatican including the Sistine Chapel. The packages also include a day excursion to Ostia Antica (Rome’s Pompeii), a half-day visit market visit, a cooking class and lunch, dinners at a private penthouse apartment overlooking Rome and in Trastevere, one of Rome’s oldest neighborhoods, and round-trip airport transfers and to and from the Foro Italico.

Foro Italico

“Luxury Italian Tours is excited to bring our distinct slice of la dolce vita to our guests during the Italian Open next May,” said Kimberly Minarovich, President and Founder of Luxury Italian Tours. “We are thrilled to offer unique culinary and cultural activities that have been celebrated by our guests for years and now combine it with day and evening matches at the Foro Italico to give tennis fans a full and enriching experience of Rome.”

For more information, pricing and for a detailed itinerary, email Info@luxuryitaliantours.com

Luxury Italian Tours shares one characteristic with its clients – passion. The Luxury Italian Tours team shares its experiences from all of Italy – from its beauty to its food to its rich culture. Its team members have either lived in Italy or are natives and its experiences allow for patrons to discover new, unique places without forgetting the tasting favorites. Italian Tennis Tours can satisfy virtually any request, no matter how esoteric. Simply say, “Send me on a trip to Italy that I will enjoy and learn from” and we will plan a superb itinerary and an array of wonderful activities. Italian Luxury Tours only works with small groups in order to provide exceptional service. For more information, go to www.LuxuryItalianTours.com

All guests will also receive gifts courtesy of New Chapter Press, the leading publisher of tennis books. Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is the publisher of Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer (www.RogerFedererBook.com), The Bud Collins History of Tennis by Bud Collins, The Education of a Tennis Player by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf (www.CliffRicheyBook.com), The Wimbledon Final That Never Was by Sidney Wood, Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, Tennis Made Easy by Kelly Gunterman, On This Day In Tennis History (www.TennisHistoryBook.com), A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis by Tony Serksnis, Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), The Lennon Prophecy by Joe Niezgoda (www.TheLennonProphecy.com), Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog by Susan Anson, How To Sell Your Screenplay by Carl Sautter, The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According To Hoyle by Stewart Wolpin among others.

Scandal at the Italian Open!

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The Italian Championships in Rome always seem to have a flair for the dramatic as the tournament’s history is littered with entertaining tales of controversy and drama. Jan Kodes, the International Tennis Hall of Famer, two-time French Open champion and 1973 Wimbledon champion, was the central figure in incident at the Foro Italico in 1974. The story is told in Kodes’ book JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN, a beautiful coffee-table book available for $37.96 on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Jan-Kodes-Journey-Behind-Curtain/dp/0942257685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305114136&sr=8-1. Autographed copies are available directly from New Chapter Press at NewChapterPress@gmail.com). Kodes, in his words and that of co-author Peter Kolar are excerpted below.

Jan Kodes

Undoubtedly, the “marble courts” at the Foro Italico have soaked up not only sweat but also many tales. However, Kodes’ 1974 extempore during the Italian Open topped them all. The Wimbledon champion was seeded second. In the second round, he was to play the second or third best player of Italy, Antonio Zugarelli, on Centre Court. That year the first two rounds were played best of three sets. Kodes lost the first set 6:7, and won the second 6:3. In the third set, serving at 4:5 and 30:30, he hit a winning volley that bounced squarely on the line…

I visually checked and saw that the line-judge indicated with both hands that the ball was good. At that, I turned around and walked to the baseline to serve for the next point, when I heard: “Advantage Zugarelli!” That gave him a match-point! I stopped short and walked over to the umpire asking:“Beg your pardon? That is incorrect! Advantage Kodes, eh? It bounced on the line!”

He shrugged his shoulders: “The referee claims that it was out.”

“What referee?”

In that instant a man got up in a box and walked over to us saying: “Kodes, Kodes; that was out and it is advantage Zugarelli.”

“What advantage Zugarelli; the line-judge clearly indicated it as an in shot.

“No, no, no, no! I saw it and it was out, resulting in advantage Zuragelli!”

That was the referee of the tournament, Michele Brunetti.

I walked around the net and pointed at the imprint. It was beautifully clear and right on the line; the ball was obviously good. I said: “You can order the point to be played over; you can’t just give him a point that he did not win! A match-point is in the works here. I won that point, not he.”

“I am the tournament referee!” he said.

Slowly, I started seeing blood: “Mr. Brunetti, you are confused with Davis Cup! Only there a referee is permitted to change the line-judge’s call; not in a tournament like this one! Here the referee is the Umpire.

With a frozen expression in his face he responded: “I am the referee here and I can do as I want!”

That was too much for me! I pushed him and he staggered. The crowd hummed. “Go away!” I yelled. “You have nothing to do here! This is not a Davis Cup match!” I pushed him again. The crowd roared. At that moment another chap got up from the box, Gianfranco Cameli, the tournament director, and announced: “Game, set, match, Zugarelli!”

The audience whistled and hollered, the whole place broke into crazy chaos. People wanted to see tennis; they wanted the outcome to be decided on the court. I was afraid that the ITF was going to punish me with a suspension but during press conference journalists stood up for me! They did not defend my unsportsmanlike actions and the fact that I pushed the referee twice but they accentuated the whole egregious situation.

After this unprecedented event the ATP enforced a rule that a domestic national cannot occupy the post of a referee at any tournament and they created a new position of a “Tournament Supervisor.” After many years I became a member of the Davis Cup commission. Brunetti represented Italy in the same commission! Ten years had gone by since the incident and we came face to face at one of the meetings. At first we just gaped at each other and did not converse but in time the ice was broken; we just laugh about it by now.

One day, Panatta and Bertolucci told me: “Do you know what is really paradoxical? – The fact that the guy Brunetti is, fundamentally, a terribly nice and just person. We have no idea what prompted him to come out with that ridiculous call in his capacity of a tournament referee. Most likely he confused the Davis Cup rules with the tournament rules; he is a bit of a moron. Since he worked as a Davis Cup referee for so many years he must have gotten mixed-up and applied the same rules to a tournament.”

Roger Federer’s Missing Titles

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By Bob Stockton

Roger Federer is the top seed this week in the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris – one of the biggest tournaments in tennis that the Swiss maestro HASN’T won.

Federer has played in the Bercy tournament seven times in her career and – remarkably – has never even reached the semifinals of the event. He first reached the quarterfinals in 2002 – clinching his first-ever trip to the ATP World Tour Finals – before losing to Lleyton Hewitt. He reached the quarters again in 2003, losing to Tim Henman, but then was absent from the event until 2007, losing in the round of 16 to David Nalbandian. He reached the quarterfinals again in 2008, but had to withdraw from the event with a bad back – the first and only time to date that Federer was forced to withdraw from an ATP World Tour event. In 2009, Federer lost in his opening match to Julien Benneteau of France.

The other big titles missing from the Federer mantelpiece include the following;

  • The Italian Championships in Rome: Federer has played the event 10 times, reaching the final twice in 2003 and 2006. In 2003, Federer blew a great chance to capture to prestigious title when he lost to the lower-ranked Felix Mantilla 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (8) in the final. In 2006, in one of the best matches ever played at the Foro Italico – and another great chance for Federer to lay claim to the Italian title – Federer lost by a 6-7(0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) margin. . Federer led 4-1 in the fifth set and botched two match points at 6-5 in the fifth set before losing in a five-hour-and-six-minute struggle. Wrote Rene Stauffer in his book ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com), “The match not only proved that Federer was catching up to the clay court prowess of Nadal, but also firmly cemented the rivalry between Federer-Nadal as one of the best in global sports.”

    Roger Federer
  • The Monte Carlo Open: Federer has played the tournament nine times, reaching the final in 2006, 2007, 2008, losing all three times to….you know who….Rafael Nadal. His best chance came in 2006, losing to Nadal 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (5). He lost the 2005 final 6-4, 6-4 to Nadal and the 2006 final by a 7-5, 7-5 margin to his lefty arch-rival.
  • The Olympic Games: Federer has won a gold medal in men’s doubles in 2008, pairing with Stan Wawrinka, but in singles, his best showing came in 2000 when he lost the bronze-medal match with Arnaud DiPasquale of France, after losing to Tommy Haas in the semifinals. As the top seed at the 2004 Games, Federer was upset in the second round to Tomas Berdych. In 2008 in singles, Federer lost one-round before the medal round in singles, falling to James Blake.

Davis Cup: Federer hasn’t played in a Davis Cup world group match for Switzerland since the 2004 quarterfinals against France. He and Switzerland’s best chance on his watch to win the Davis Cup came in 2003, when he and Switzerland lost a hard-fought semifinal against Australia 3-2 in Australia, Federer losing a two-sets-to-love lead against Hewitt 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-1.

RAVAGING RAFA: THE EMPEROR OF ROME AGAIN

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By Bud Collins

While Roman emperors have come and gone over the centuries, the current one – of Spanish origin – holds the old town in the palm of his left hand.  And has no intention of  letting go.

Crowned for a Roman record fifth time, Rafael I should be known as Ravaging Rafa as he comes to town, sweeps up the goodies, and nobody dares to resist.  Rafa started winning the Italian Open as a teen-ager in 2005, and boosted his match record here to 27-1 by beating countryman David Ferrer, 7-5, 6-2, on a cold, wet and windy Sunday.

How did he ever lose in Rome, this a gladiator in plaid short pants?  Blistered feet and another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, did him in two years ago.  Unwisely Rafa insisted on playing when he had no chance. Typical.

It looks as though Nadal, bursting with pride and punch, no longer worrying about his gimpy knees, could become the Eternal City’s eternal champion.  The only things that roadblocked him yesterday – momentarily – were two rain delays.  The second washed out most of the sell-out gathering of 10,400 in the new stadium at Il Foro Italico.

What would an earlier emperor named Nero think of this successor?  Can’t you hear him saying, “The Spanish kid’s just as tough and melodic as I was on a stringed instrument.  Every year he burns down the town.  I could only do it once.”

Those few citizens who waited out the weather for several hours, among them US Ambassador David Thorne, were rewarded by more of Rafa – and No. 12 Ferrer, who resisted fiercely.   Both of them love the rust-toned European clay, and they played as if their lives depended on it.  Though their battleground was slippery and uncertain – both were knockdown victims – they drove each other to the far reaches of the enclosure, and ran down balls like Labrador retrievers.  Ferrer, who had beaten a pair of top tenners along the way, Andy Murray and Jo Wilfred Tsonga, just about equaled Nadal’s shotmaking. And sometimes topped him.  It’s the kind of give-and-take tennis, double digit rallies that you see only on European soil.

Rafa lost serve only once in the entire tournament.  That was to the greatest player in the history of Latvia, Ernests (cq) Gulbis (can you name another?) in their 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 semifinal.  Watch out for lanky 21-year-old Gulbis, Nadal would tell you.   Their tussle wasn’t settled until the very last game.

Ferrer was quickly behind Fernando Verdasco – yet another Spaniard – 5-1 in their semi.  Only to win eight straight games and the decision, 7-5, 6-2.  “I was just worn out,” said the tall lefty, Verdasco, instrumental in Spain’s Davis Cups of 2008-09.  He played almost every day for three weeks, and won  Barcelona. “It was the best three weeks of my career.”

A year ago Nadal played anywhere he could set foot on a clay court, but realizes he has to pace himself, as Roger Federer is doing.  The knees soured, he lost his French title and No. 1 standing and was unable to defend his 2008 Wimbledon.

“I’ve had a lot of bad days over the last five years.  The thing is to have enough motivation to want to improve all the time.  That is the main thing for me.  No I didn’t have problems with my knees for a whole week.  Unbelievable.”

Ferrer, keeping it hot for Rafa despite the champion’s onerous spin that is so terrible to solve and do anything with.  His to-the-point thought on Nadal: “Rafa is in form, especially in difficult moments, and it is difficult to beat him.” Amen.

All dirt roads lead to Paris, and the Emperor longs for the French championship lifted from him a year ago by Robin Soderling, allowing Federer to win.  Is he as good as he was in grabbing four straight at Roland Garros?  I think so, but sometimes knees don’t please.

Will these abundant Spaniards keep it up?  Three semifinalists, and the only all-Spanish final in Italian annals.  They were blooming like the azaleas on the timeless Spanish Steps.  Tangling with the Emperor in this settlement is like being thrown down those Steps.

You can follow Bud Collins on his website www.BudCollinsTennis.com, on his Facebook Fan Page “Bud Collins and The Bud Collins History of Tennis book,” and on twitter at @BudCollins. Make sure you go out and buy a copy of his celebrated book THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com).

DAVID FERRER REACHES FINAL IN ROME

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What a day at the Foro Italico! The 1st match had more twists than a cork-screw! Ferrer didn’t show up for the 1st 6 games which no one expected. But what i did expect eventually started to unfold….unfortunately for the Galactico (person who supports Real Madrid which Verdasco does) he started to run outta gas at the most inopportune time and when that happens, David Ferrer is one of the worst players to face…especially on clay, cos he can make you run more than most! Winning 8 straight games from being down 1-5, he wrestled the match away from Nando with that stretch, to eventually prevail and make it through to his 1st Masters 1000 final!

As for the Rafa/Gulbis match you can only salute Ernests for what was a supreme effort! I gave him no shot and thought Nadal would not loose a set this season on clay. Not only did he loose a set, but Rafa almost lost the match….I think with his performance, the Latvian has given the rest of the locker room belief that Nadal is beatable on this surface.

But getting the win is what Rafa does best…he’s 26-2 in Clay court finals, his only 2 losses coming to Federer (and he was severely jaded in both those encounters in Hamburg and Madrid) those are outrageous numbers!! I just can’t see Ferrer defying the odds tomorrow given his record against his fellow countryman. Nadal will tie Agassi with 17 Masters 1000 titles with a 5th victory in the Eternal City!

RK

RAFA IS “PHENOMI-NADAL!” ROBBIE KOENIG BLOG FROM ROME

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Well a great day on Thursday at the Foro Italico! We finally had some decent matches to commentate on! Filippo Volandri threw the Italians into a religious fervor for the best part of two-and-a-half hours against Ernests Gulbis. It was a great atmosphere! It would have been good if he could have stuck around for another match. The Italians are definitely the most biased crowd at a regular event!!!

As for Rafael Nadal, he was simply “PHENOMI-NADAL“….this is my new word to describe the Mallorcan!!! The quality of tennis from him was outrageous. Victor Hanescu played his part too, in what was by far and away the best test for Rafa, on clay, so far, this spring, no question! Between them 47 winners and just 21 unforced errors, testimony to the quality of the contest.

I want to set the record straight for a comment I made after Rafa demolished Ferrero in Monte-Carlo. I said Rafa was not gonna lose a set this clay court season…Roland Garros included!!!  I want to see him challenged, but boy is he looking good! Come on back Davy, Delpo, Gonzo and Nalbi…

Bye for now!
RK

40 YEARS AGO IN ROME

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It was 40 years ago in Rome that a future member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame reached his first final of an important tournament. Jan Kodes, a Wimbledon and French Open champion and two-time U.S. Open singles finalist, made his way into the first big final of his career, before falling to Ilie Nastase. Kodes, who next to Ivan Lendl can be considered the best Czech men’s player ever, went on to win at Roland Garros shortly after his run in Rome and repeated as French champion in 1971. He won Wimbledon in 1973 and reached the U.S. singles final in 1971 and 1973.

In his book “Jan Kodes: A Journey to Glory from Behind the Iron Curtain” (pre-order the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Jan-Kodes-Journey-Behind-Curtain/dp/0942257685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272282041&sr=8-1) set to released later this spring in English, Kodes and co-author Peter Kolar discuss the 1970 Italian Open, excerpted below.

Kodes left for Rome shortly after his return from the Caribbean Circuit. He was received warmly by the officials there, still remembered for his outstanding performance against Newcombe the year before. The excellent Australian as well as other five superb players from Lamar Hunt’s group were absent from 1970 Foro Italico; due to some financial disagreements with the tournament organizers, Lamar Hunt did not allow them to enter the tourney. In spite of it, the competition was tough and it was delightful to watch Jan Kodes make his way all the way into his first grand final.

The first round went smoothly against Juan Gisbert from Spain: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. However, I had a narrow squeak with Charlie Pasarell in the second round match. He did not let me catch my breath; he must have noticed that I was having stamina problems. I tried to disguise the way I really felt but I was truly exhausted. Roman clay was slower than the American and the Italian balls (Pirelli) were heavier.

Jan Kodes
Jan Kodes

One had to exert more effort during the rallies and especially trying to put the ball away than playing with the American Wilson balls. Each and every shot seeped much energy out of me. The last point? My shot landed close to the line and Pasarell’s racket got there a split of a second too late. I won 6-4, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3. I don’t even know how I managed to get to the locker room. All of a sudden I blacked out….

That was the second time in a short span. The doctor described it as “heat exhaustion collapse.” “You’ll be fine from now on!”

And he was right. The next day the British player Mark Cox left the court with his head slouched after Kodes defeated him 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, and 6-2. Cox’ efforts to overcome the fatigued adversary ended futile. The news of Kodes’ fainting spell in the locker room had filtered out to everybody in no time at the Foro Italico. However, the Czech player did not allow any adverse sensation to follow.

In the semis I faced my age-long rival Alexander Metreveli. I took a stroll through Rome the night before. As I roamed the streets I kept mulling over: Why do I have to play Metreveli again? We know each other’s game since junior years. In my mind I kept replaying some points from his matches against Tiriac and Lewis Hoad, who was the top seed. Alex played an excellent game against him… Tomorrow I’ll battle for my first grand final. My gargantuan dream….Italian newspapers debated the odds of the situation that popped up for the first time in the history of the Italian Open. In the past semifinal matches, the contestants were primarily either American or Australian. In 1970, they were all players from behind the Iron Curtain. The other semifinal match was between the Romanian Ilie Nastase and Yugoslav Nikki Pilic. Kodes’ dream came true the next day – he advanced into the finals of one of the biggest world clay court tennis tournaments after defeating Metreveli 6-3, 8-6, and 6-4!

The three sets to love victory sounds trouble-free but it was anything but easy. It was a battle field. I was nervous at the start but once I shook off the jitterbugs I played fantastic! I faced another age-long rival in the final – Ilie Nastase from Romania. I lost 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-8 but it was an enormous fight. The Roman crowd cheered like in the times of gladiator games; unfortunately they were entertained on my behalf. I was losing 2-5 in the fourth but I still managed to inspire more drama. I tied the score 6-6 however Ilie did not allow me to take him into the fifth. Pity! Who knows what would have happened?