World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

gisela dulko

ITF champions dinner does not disappoint

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By Cynthia Lum

The ITF Champions Dinner is a wonderful opportunity to get dressed up, have a beautiful meal, with excellent wind, and catch the stars of tennis all glam-ed up. Barbara Travers of the International Tennis Federation and her staff always do a spectacular job of putting on this annual black tie event. I don’t know how the do it but each year is special and perfect.

The venue is the Pavillon d’Armenonville in the Bois de Boulogne, which is a bucolic park on the western edge of Paris. The Pavillion overlooks flowering gardens with a large fountain, and is the perfect setting for this formal dinner honoring the tennis champions of the past year.

Photographers and TV crews gather at the entrance anxiously awaiting the champions. As the official cars arrive everyone strains to see who will exit. Is it someone worthy of a photo? No, that’s no one .. just a guest, probably the head of this or that tennis federation… who I’m sure would not appreciate being dismissed as nobody. People are all decked out men in black tie or at least dark suits and women in an amazing array of attire, long, short, satin, black, fuchsia everyone has traded tennis togs for evening finery.

Gisela Dulko, and Flavia Pennetta arrive and for a minute no one one recognises them! They look fabulous.. Dulko in a black jumpsuit and Pennetta in a white pants suit. The photographers swarm, they pose, then move inside for the T.V interviews. They are getting the award for women’s doubles, having finished number one in 2010, but could also get model look-alike awards on this occasion.

The next person to arrive and cause a stir is Guy Forget and his wife, she is in a gorgeous orange silk, perfect for the occasion. Forget, the French Davis Cup captain is being awarded the ITF’s highest honor, the Philippe Chartrier Award. Which is given for outstanding service to the game.
Everyone is on pins and needles waiting for Rafael Nadal, who we know is coming, but each car that arrives fails to be the Spanish star.

I decide to check out the cocktail reception, very posh, with four bars serving anything you want, but most guests are drinking champagne. I opt for Perrier as I need to be able to focus for at least another hour.. or at least until Rafa makes his entrance. There are lots of very pretty little appetizers, but I have no idea what’s in them so I pass, I experimented once and found out I was eating foie gras .. eeeowww .. duck liver.. high on my never want to eat list.

Suddenly I see all the photogs rushing for the door, Caroline Wozniacki, the women’s number one has just come in. She lost early and went to London to watch the football championships, but has come back to Paris for the dinner. Wearing a black sparkling dress by Stella McCartney she hardly looks like the hard-hitting woman we see on court. Long wavy blond hair and professional looking make up have turned her into a glamour girl.
She poses and smiles prettily, loving the spotlight, and being the center of attention..The photographers snap like crazy. This celebrity arrivals sort of shooting is something which I’m not really good at .. especially the pushing and shoving, but I hold my own and get a couple of decent snaps.
The bell has sounded for everyone to go in to dinner. Rafa isn’t here yet and the media is stressing out .. should we continue to wait at the door or go for dinner. We opt for dinner.

I notice a lot of strobes going off toward the front of the room. Have to investigate and make sure I’m not missing anything. Ah ha! Great photo. Caroline and Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark are chatting at the first table. I hang out with a couple of other photogs until a break in their conversation, then we ask them to pose. Very nice, one of the best pix of the evening

Finally everyone sits down and just as we are about to start our first course, I see some of the photographers running to the front of the room. OH MY WORD .. Rafa is here .. we all rush not to miss the photo op. Nadal is handsome as ever, in a perfectly tailored dark suit. He’s obviously in a great mood, joking and laughing with the master of ceremony’s Andrew Castle. All the champions are ask to come up to the stage, and we get a group photo then one with Rafa and Caroline.

Alright, we have the main photo .. Rafa and Caroline, the two number one players. This is the money photo that we were all waiting for. Now we can relax and have our fist course. The evening proceeds, with awards, wonderful food and lots of photos. The Bryan Brother’s came straight from the court still in tennis gear… their match against Bopanna/Qureshi ran late, was stopped for darkness, so the number one doubles team came without having time to dress .. well, Mike did wear his tie. Nice.

Gustavo Kuerten was there with his new wife, and I got photo of the two of them that I like. It’s been 10 years since Guga won here and drew a huge heart in the clay on the court, truly one of the best tennis moments I’ve ever known. He still has the best smile ever, and it’s great to see him here.

Well, the awards and photos are finished, and now comes the desert. This is always something incredible, and it does not disappoint, beautiful and delicious with a topping of spun sugar .. how did they do that?

So that’s it..The evening comes to a close, the cars pick us up and drive us to our hotels, and we thank the ITF for another wonderful evening.

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A seeded disaster at Roland Garros 2011 – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

 

French Open

(First Week)

 

Daniela Hantuchova beat top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-3

 

Arantxa Rus beat second-seeded Kim Clijsters 3-6 7-5 6-1

 

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat third-seeded Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2

 

Stephane Robert beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 3-6 3-6 6-2 6-2 9-7

 

Gisela Dulko beat eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 6-3

 

Lukas Rosol beat eighth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (4) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-4

 

Gilles Simon beat 10th-seeded Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4 6-2

 

OTHER

 

Carlos Moya beat Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (0) 6-3 to win the Grand Champions Brazil in Sao Paulo, Brazil

 

SAYING

 

“Actually, I think I’m playing really well at this moment.” – Novak Djokovic, after winning his 43rd consecutive match.

 

Novak Djokovic in round 4 of Roland Garros 2011
Novak Djokovic

“To beat him you need to produce the perfect match and not make any mistakes. You need to play like (Rafael) Nadal, hit the ball really strong, to make him run. But only a few guys can beat him at the moment. Even Nadal struggles to organize his game when he plays against him.” – Richard Gasquet, after losing to Novak Djokovic.

 

“Twenty-eight quarterfinals in a row, that’s great. But that’s another opportunity for me to go one step further.” – Roger Federer, after reaching a record 28 consecutive Grand Slam tournament quarterfinals.

 

“Of course, I should have lost this match. I have to be honest. I didn’t think I could win the match. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t serve.” – Fabio Fognini, after battling injuries and outlasting Albert Montanes to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

 

“I don’t really want to comment on this, because, well, it’s not of my business. I’m just trying to do my thing, focusing on me. … The rest, I don’t really care.” – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, when asked about the top three seeded women being beaten before the quarterfinals.

 

“When you play less than 50 percent of your potential, it’s very tough to win the fourth round of a Grand Slam. It’s just that she played a little bit more aggressive. That’s why I was playing a little bit too passive. It’s not acceptable at this stage of the Grand Slam.” – Vera Zvonareva, after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

 

“Kim (Clijsters) had a tough loss yesterday; I had a tough loss today. That’s what happens. Since we’re numbers one and two, it means that we must be doing something right. It’s just unfortunate to lose in a Grand Slam, but that’s what happens, and we just need to move forward.” – Caroline Wozniacki, after being upset by Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.

 

“I’m happy that I gave myself the opportunity. It’s better to try than not to try. That’s kind of the attitude of a real loser. I gave it the best that I had and with my abilities that I had. So I definitely don’t regret it.” – Kim Clijsters, after losing her second-round match to Aranxta Rus.

 

“This is for sure my biggest win. She’s a real hero. I played fantastic tennis. I always liked to see her playing and to watch her matches, and it was really, really nice that I played against her.” – Aranxta Rus, after shocking second-ranked Kim Clijsters.

 

“I started cramping at the end of the second set, and this continued in the third. From 4-2 in the third set I began to feel dizzy and had problems seeing the ball clearly. At no point did I think of retiring, and I kept fighting until the end.” – Sabine Lisicki, who had match point against Vera Zvonareva before losing the second-round match and being carried off the court on a stretcher.

 

“Life will continue. A match is lost, but life continues.” – Albert Montanes, after losing to an injured Fabio Fognini.

 

“It’s never too early to think about grass for us.” – Mardy Fish, noting that his loss meant no American player – male or female – made it past the fourth round on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

 

“It’s time to close this amazing chapter of my life. This very emotional decision makes me thankful and proud of all the moments I have been able to share on and off the court with fans from all over the world and with the champions and legends from many decades.” – Patty Schnyder, in announcing her retirement from the tennis tour.

 

SEEDED DISASTER

 

For the first time in the Open era, since 1968, none of the top three seeded women made it to the second week of Roland Garros. It is only the third time that none of the top three seeded women has reached the quarterfinals at a major in the Open era. It also happened at Wimbledon in 2008 – when the top four were eliminated by the end of the fourth round – and at the Australian Open in 1997.

 

Caroline Wozniacki still won’t be able to add a Grand Slam tournament title to her number one ranking after she was soundly beaten 6-1 6-3 by Daniela Hantuchova. Seeded 28th in the year’s second major, Hantuchova hit 26 winners compared to just eight by Wozniacki. The 20-year-old Dane had a mini-revival midway through the second set before her game fell apart again. Hantuchova’s run ended in the next round when she fell to the 2009 French Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-2.

 

Second-seeded Kim Clijsters was ousted in the second round by little-known Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus. Clisters, playing only her second match since suffering a severe ankle injury, was seeking to win her third consecutive Grand Slam tournament title, having succeeded at the US Open last September and the Australian Open in January. She appeared to be having no trouble with her 20-year-old foe, leading 6-3 5-2 when Rus became finding the corners and Clijsters lost her rhythm and confidence. Rus, who staved off two match points by Clijsters, took 11 of the next 12 games to win 3-6 7-5 6-1. “I started doubting a little bit,” said Clijsters, who made 65 errors. “I think that on clay is something that for me is definitely the wrong attitude to have. My ankle feels fine, so that has absolutely nothing to do with it.”

 

It wasn’t pretty, but Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova prevailed over fellow Russian and third seed Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2 in a fourth-round battle. Zvonareva led 4-2 in the opening set before letting her opponent back into the match. In the third set neither player seemed able to win, while both appeared ready to lose as each made a series of errors. The win put the 19-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, the youngest player in the top 40, into s Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal for the first time.

 

With the top three players out of the tournament, the top woman going into the second week at Paris was fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.

 

SHARK BITE

 

Novak Djokovic is trying to become only the fourth player since the computer rankings began in 1973 to take over the world number one ranking after winning a Grand Slam tournament title. According to the ATP’s Greg Sharko, the Serb, if successful at Roland Garros, would replace Rafael Nadal atop the rankings as the two would switch positions, the Spaniard falling to number two in the world. The others to move up to number one following a Grand Slam tournament title are Mats Wilander, after winning the 1988 US Open; Boris Becker, following his 1991 Australian Open title; and Roger Federer, who took over the top spot when he won the Australian Open in 2004.

 

SCAN ON ANKLE

 

Andy Murray underwent a scan on his injured right ankle after he bested Germany’s Michael Berrer 6-2 6-3 6-2 in a third-round match. The Briton twisted his ankle at the beginning of the second set, but was able to withstand the pain to advance. “I don’t know if I will be 100 percent fit. I don’t know if I will be playing the next match. Maybe I will be,” Murray said after the win. “You never know with these things. They can go away quickly. There’s things you can do to recover faster. That’s what I’ll do. I’ve managed to play almost two sets with it. I don’t know. I’ve just got to wait and see, see what happens, and do all the right things.” Murray suffered the injury while running to get a drop shot at 2-1 in the second set. He immediately began hopping on his left foot, keeping weight off his right. At the changeover, a trainer taped Murray’s right ankle.

 

STRETCHER NEEDED

 

Germany’s Sabine Lisicki was taken off the court on a stretcher when, she later said, her body let her down. Lisicki had a match point while leading 5-2 in the third set against third-seeded Vera Zvonareva when she was overcome with dizziness and cramping. The German eventually lost the second-round match 4-6 7-5 7-5. “I’m sad that my body let me down,” Lisicki later said on her website. “Doctors recently discovered that I’m intolerant to gluten – meaning I can’t eat e.g. pasta. One of the biggest energy sources …” She added that her “body needs to adjust to the big change and needs some time.”

 

SWITCHING COURTS

 

Roland Garros fans were angry when officials switched Novak Djokovic’s match against Juan Martin del Potro to another court and forgot to tell everyone. The high-profile men’s match had been scheduled to be last on Chatrier court. When the earlier matches ran long, officials moved the Djokovic-del Potro match to Lenglen Court but apparently forgot to tell gate officials at the new location. The gate crew at first refused to let in the extra crowd, which began chanting “Let us in” as play went on inside the smaller arena. The two players split the first two sets before play was called because of darkness. The following day Djokovic captured the next two sets to win the match.

 

SETS ANOTHER MARK

 

He’s almost the forgotten man at Roland Garros, but Roger Federer continues to set Grand Slam tournament records. Federer, who is seeded third behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, beat his Swiss countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-2 7-5 to advance to his 28th consecutive Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal. Federer improved on the record he shared with Jimmy Connors, although Connors did not do it in consecutive tournaments. The last time Federer failed to reach the quarterfinals at a major was at the 2004 French Open, when he was the top-seeded player but lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round. Besides winning a record 16 major titles, Federer also holds the mark of 23 straight Grand Slam semifinal appearances, a run ended at last year’s French Open, when he was beaten in the quarterfinals.

 

STRUGGLING TO VICTORY

 

Fabio Fognini could barely walk and figured he could not win his fourth round match. He was wrong, and now is in his first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal. The Italian overcame a left thigh injury and five match points to outlast Spain’s Albert Montanes 4-6 6-4 3-6 6-3 11-9. “Of course, I should have lost this match,” admitted Fognini, who won 189 points, one more than his opponent. The match lasted 4 hours, 22 minutes, and by the end the 49th-ranked Fognini basically stood immobile on court, yet would end exchanges with a winner or when Montanes would make an unforced error. “I have to be honest. I didn’t think I could win the match,” Fognini said. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t serve.” He said his only choice was to swing away at the ball, “and if it went in, it went in.” Fognini said he originally thought he was cramping, but later felt he might have pulled a muscle. The 38th-ranked Montanes was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the fifth, and he later failed to convert match points on Fognini’s serve at 8-7 and at 9-8. Fognini broke Montanes to lead 10-9, and then served out the victory, closing it with a backhand winner as, on point after point, Montanes would hit the ball right near Fognini, rather than forcing the Italian to move around more to get to shots. “He was hitting so hard I didn’t want to take too many risks,” Montanes said.

 

SYSTEM CHANGE

 

Rafael Nadal wants the ranking system to be changed. He called on tennis authorities to make it a two-year rolling ranking system, a move he believes will preserve the health of players. Nadal said the change from a one-year rolling ranking system would not only protect players from burning out but would also ensure that athletes coming back from long injury layoffs would not lose too many ranking points. Nadal made the suggestion before Novak Djokovic beat 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine’s ranking plummeted from fifth in the world in January 2010 to 485th a year later as he was sidelined for almost a year with a wrist injury. Del Potro was seeded 25th at this year’s French Open. “(With a two-year rolling ranking system) if you stop being number five of the world, you’re not going to be number six when you come back, but maybe you’re going to be number 14, 15,” Nadal explained. “But with the way the ranking is done today, that’s not happening. If you have an injury for three months, five months, you are done.”

 

SPEAKS UP

 

Julia Cohen’s search for a title ended up just one match short. The American, who failed to qualify for the French Open, opted to play a USD $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, where she was the top seeded player. Cohen dropped her opening set to Thailand’s Nicha Lertpitaksinchai to begin the tournament. And in the quarterfinals, she escaped Poland’s Sandra Zaniewska 3-6 6-1 7-6 (8). Cohen began the title match by taking the first set 6-3. After that, it was all 22-year-old Ayu-Fani Damayanti of Indonesia who captured the event 3-6 6-2 6-3.

 

STUPID RULE

 

Amelie Mauresmo, a favorite of the fans at Roland Garros, has been retired for two years. But she wanted to have fun and play a bit of mixed doubles in her home Grand Slam tournament with compatriot Michael Llodra, who she has spent some time coaching. Last year, Mauresmo even coached Llodra to a grass-court title at Eastbourne, England. Delighted to have her back, the French Open tournament organizers gave the pair a wild card. But then the rule book was produced. It turns out all players have to be registered for three months in the program that allows players to be tested anywhere, anytime. Since Mauresmo was retired, she hadn’t been drug-tested. Consequently, that was sufficient to ban her from competing in this year’s French Open mixed doubles.

 

SO LONG

 

After a highly successful 17-year career, Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder has retired from professional tennis. Schnyder won 11 WTA singles titles and was ranked as high as seventh in the world in 2005. She was ranked in the Top 10 for a total of 94 weeks. “Patty has displayed excellence and leadership both on and off the court for many years,” said Stacey Allaster, chairman and CEO of the WTA. “She has been a great ambassador for women’s tennis and made an important contribution to the growth of the sport as a long-time member of the Players’ Council.  Patty will be truly missed by her fellow players and the fans.  We wish her the best of luck and hope that she remains close to the women’s game.” Schnyder turned professional in 1994 and won her first WTA title in 1998 at Hobart, Australia. She holds a career win-loss record of 552-361 and has reached 27 career WTA finals, winning her most prestigious title in 2002 at Zurich, Switzerland, defeating Lindsay Davenport in the final. This year’s Roland Garros marks Schnyder’s 59th career Grand Slam tournament appearance, sixth on the all-time list in the Open Era. Her best Grand Slam event result was at the 2004 Australian Open when lost to Kim Clijsters in the semifinals. Schnyder qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships three times – in 1998, 2002 and 2005. She helped Switzerland reach its only Fed Cup final in 1998 and represented her country in three Olympic Games: Atlanta, Athens and Beijing.

 

SERENA TO PLAY

 

Serena Williams is scheduled to play World TeamTennis (WTT) in July. The WTT website said Williams will play in Washington, DC, on July 7 and two days later at Sacramento, California, USA. The 13-time Grand Slam tournament champion has not played since July 2010 after undergoing foot surgery and then developing blood clots on her lung. The WTT season will be held July 4-24.

 

SPEEDY START

 

Playing in only his second ATP Champions Tour event, Carlos Moya won his first title at the Grand Champions Brasil in Sao Paulo, besting Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (0) 6-3. Enqvist failed in his bid to win the Brazilian tournament three consecutive years.

 

SEVEN INDUCTED

 

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has inducted seven new members into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame – one coach and six players, four of whom played varsity collegiate tennis at Stanford. Enshrined in the hall, located at the University of Georgia, were Simon Aspelin of Pepperdine, Marcel Freeman of UCLA and former Stanford stars Scott Davis, Jim Grabb, Gene Mayer and Jonathan Stark. Joining them was Tim Cass, who coached the University of New Mexico to five consecutive Western Athletic Conference titles between 1991 and 1998, and has since coached Texas A&M University to three Big 12 Conference Championships. Aspelin won the US Open doubles in 2007 and was a doubles silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics. Davis won the Australian Open doubles in 1991 and was ranked as high as number 11 in the world in singles in 1985. Grabb won both the French Open doubles and the US Open doubles in 1992. Mayer was the French Open doubles champion in 1978-79 and reached as high as number four in the world in singles. Stark won the French Open doubles in 1994 and the US Open mixed doubles in 1995.

 

SENIOR BATTLE

 

Mary Mentzer had to beat a living legend to win the USTA National Senior Women’s 90-over Hard Court Tennis Championships in La Jolla Beach, California, USA. Mentzer, from North Fort Myers, Florida, USA, defeated Dorothy “Dodo” Cheney of La Jolla, California, 6-1 6-4. Cheney was seeking her 391st United States Tennis Association (USTA) national title. Her 390th title came earlier in the week when she teamed with Mentzer to win the doubles crown. “My running is the key,” said the 91-year-old Mentzer. “At this age, most people can’t run, but I do, so that is the key.”

 

SALUTED

 

Andrea Petkovic is the winner of the latest Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award. The key to Germany’s Fed Cup renaissance, Petkovic won both her singles matches in Germany’s 5-0 win over the United States in the World Group playoffs in April. The win sealed Germany’s promotion back to the World Group after a one year absence. Petkovic was short-listed by the Heart Award judging panel with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, Olga Savchuk of Ukraine and Polona Hercog of Slovenia. The final decision was decided by a public vote on the Fed Cup website. Petkovic receives a check for $3,000 to be donated to her chosen charity. She joins Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, Bianca Botto of Peru, Ayumi Morita of Japan and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who were honored earlier in the year. Another player will be recognized at this year’s Final. The Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award is a joint initiative between BNP Paribas and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It aims to recognize players who have represented their country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to their team.

 

SACRIFICE REWARDED

 

Gisela Dulko wanted to be with her brother in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as his wife gave birth to twins. Her sacrifice was rewarded, however, as she upset 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 6-3 to reach the fourth round, matching her best result at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament. “I stayed awake really late,” the 26-year-old Dulko said of the night before she was to play Stosur. “It was very emotional, because I would have loved to be there, but I’m here.” After Dulko beat Stosur, she waved a towel that said in Spanish “for Myla And Teo. It was worth it. I love them.”

 

SURFING

 

Paris: www.fft.fr/rolandgarros/

Sao Paulo: www.grandchampionsbrasil.com.br

Prostejov: www.czech-open.com/

Halle: www.gerryweber-open.com/?ref=atp

Copenhagen: http://e-bokssonyericssonopen.dk/

London: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-Championships/

Birmingham: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/AEGON-British-Tennis-Series/AEGON-Classic/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

(All money in USD)

 

MEN

 

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)

$152,000 Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay

 

WOMEN

 

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

 

$946,840 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass

$895,414 AEGON Championships, London, Great Britain, grass

 

WOMEN

 

$220,000 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open, Copenhagen, Denmark, hard

$220,000 AEGON Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain, grass

 

Novak Djokovic and Vera Zvonareva Take Home the Crowns – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-3 6-3 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

David Ferrer beat Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (4) 6-7 (2) 6-2 to win the Abierto Mexicano Telcel men’s singles in Acapulco, Mexico

Vera Zvonareva beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4 to win the Qatar Ladies Open in Doh

Vera Zvonareva

a, Qatar

Juan Martin del Potro beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4 to win the Delray Beach International Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, USA

Gisela Dulko beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3 7-6 (5) to win the women’s singles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico

Mark Philippoussis beat Aaron Krickstein 6-3 6-2 to win the ATP Champions Tour portion of the Delray Beach Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, USA

SAYING

“This is a difficult, emotional day for me. However, I don’t want it to be a sad day and I would like to still be remembered for everything I did in tennis and for the glory I brought to both Split and Croatia. Everything has en end. For me it was beautiful while it lasted and that is why this is a happy day.” – Mario Ancic, announcing his retirement from tennis.

“Any time I win against Roger (Federer) it’s a great success because he’s such a great player. We all know how mentally strong of a player he is. To be able to win against Roger in straight sets as I did tonight is incredible, but I want to keep on going. I know that I have qualities to do even more, and that’s what I want.” – Novak Djokovic, after beating Federer in the final in Dubai.

“(It was) obviously (a) disappointing end as well to the match. I guess you can’t win them all. I played so well in Doha in the finals, in London in the finals, in Basel in the finals. I guess I had to mess one up. It’s a pity, but, look, Novak played great.” – Roger Federer.

“He plays tennis on his terms.” – Somdev Devvarman, on Roger Federer.

“Caroline is number one and playing very well. I was just fighting for every point and trying to go for my shots. This is definitely a special moment for me, especially after that tough match against Daniela (Hantuchova) and another great one against Jelena (Jankovic).” – Vera Zvonareva, after beating Caroline Wozniacki to win the Qatar Ladies Open.

“I’m always disappointed to lose but I played a great competitor today. Vera played a great match and a great tournament. I’m happy to be in the finals; it was another great tournament for me and I always enjoy being back in Doha. I will be back next year for sure.” – Caroline Wozniacki.

“I didn’t lose because I had the title or the prize money or the car or the points in my head. I had a big enough problem in beating del Potro.’” – Janko Tipsarevic, after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the final of the Delray Beach International.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to fight with top-10 players, but I’m working very hard and hope to do it soon. I need 20 to 25 matches before I’ll really be ready to play with them, but it’s coming soon.” – Juan Martin del Potro, after winning the Delray Beach International.

“Inconsistency has always been a problem throughout my career – you only need to look at the up-and-down graph of my ranking – but now as I see the years passing by, I really want to get out there and win the matches I should win.” – Mardy Fish.

“I really don’t have one with him. I wish we could. After all this time you would think it would be reasonable.” – Ivan Lendl, when asked if he had and rival John McEnroe were friends and had a relationship with one another.

S’MARVELOUS

For the first time since the US Open in 2009, Juan Martin del Potro has taken home a winner’s trophy. The 22-year-old Argentine, who missed most of last year with a right wrist injury, defeated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-4 6-4 to win the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. When he won the last point, del Potro thrust his arms into the air and kept kissing his right wrist. “Three months ago I was thinking I’ll be trying to play tournaments,” del Potro said. “Now I won a tournament. It’s great to win a tournament after a year. It was del Potro’s eight career title. And while it had been a long time since he last won, he had displayed his winning game before Delray Beach, reaching the semifinals at San Jose, California, and Memphis, Tennessee, the two prior weeks. Tipsarevic was attempting to win his first title in three career finals.

S’WONDERFUL

It also had been a long time between titles for Vera Zvonareva. Although ranked third in the world, Zvonareva hadn’t taken home the winner’s trophy since Pattaya City, Thailand, a year and two weeks ago. And her 11th career title came with a strong 6-4 6-4 victory over top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha. Despite playing three-set matches in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, the Russian showed not signs of fatigue against Wozniacki, who had reached the final without dropping a set. Zvonareva broke in the third game and held her serve to capture the first set, then rallied from a break down to wrap up the victory. “Coming into this tournament I wasn’t expecting to end my week like this. It’s great,” Zvonareva said.

STRICKENED

France has lost yet another player from its Davis Cup team. Richard Gasquet is the third Frenchman to withdraw from this coming weekend’s first-round Davis Cup tie with Austria, making captain Guy Forget admit that his country’s chances of winning have been reduced. Gasquet, who suffered a shoulder problem in the semifinals in Dubai this past week, joins Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the sidelines as last year’s Davis Cup runners-up begin their 2011 campaign. “We know our chances are now a lot less, we need to use that as an advantage,” said Forget, who now will field Gilles Simon, Michael Llodra, Jeremy Chardy and Julien Benneteau.

SPANISH GOLD

David Ferrer went 6-for-7 on break point opportunities to defeat Nicolas Almagro and successfully defend his Abierto Mexicano Telcel title. The defeat ended Almagro’s bid to win three of the four Golden Swing crowns in one season. Last year, the top-seeded Ferrer’s victory in Acapulco, Mexico, denied Juan Carlos Ferrero a chance to win a third title on the clay-court swing. Ferrer’s 7-6 (4) 6-7 (2) 6-2 win over Almagro was his 11th ATP tour title and snapped Almagro’s 13-match winning streak. “I didn’t think I could win here twice in a row and I realize I am having the best season start of my career this year,” Ferrer said. “I hope I can continue like that this season.” Ferrer has started the season with a match record of 14-2, including titles in Auckland and Acapulco, and a semifinal run at the Australian Open.

SPARED

An earthquake that shattered Christchurch forced the International Tennis Federation to halt a seniors tennis tournament in the New Zealand community. At least 148 people were killed in quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, but all of the participants in the tennis tournament were safe. “While we are, of course, relieved that all the players, captains and officials who were in Christchurch this week are safe, we are mindful of the loss of life and the large number of injuries,” said ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti. While the competition in Christchurch was canceled, the Seniors World Team Championships in nearby Timaru and Ashburton were completed. The ITF canceled the Seniors World Individual Championships, which had been scheduled for Christchurch.

STAYING PUT

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will stay right where it is – next door to a new 293-room hotel. There had been talk of moving the tournament from the Emirates Airline Aviation club, but tournament officials will leave the ATP 500 event where it has been staged since its start in 1993. Construction of the new hotel is a strong reason the tournament is staying put. “Just imagine having all the players under one roof and walking distance away from the tennis courts,” tournament director Colm McLoughlin said of the new Aviation hotel project. “I’m sure the current high profile of our championships will go up another few notches. We don’t know when the hotel will be opened, but for sure we will have all the players and officials staying there for next year’s championships.”

SEPARATED

Retired tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand and Canadian beauty queen Natalie Glebova are separating after three years of marriage. In a statement, the couple said they decided to split last July because work commitments had kept them apart. “Over the past few years, responsibilities and work turned our married life in a different direction. However, we still care for each other and we are still good friends,” the couple said in the statement issued by their publicists. Srichaphan, once ranked ninth in the world, and the former Miss Universe have launched beauty products, diet supplements and a Bangkok restaurant together. They said in the statement they planned to continue to do business with one another. The couple met at the Thailand Open in 2006, a year after Glebova was crowned Miss Universe, and were married in September 2007, the year Paradorn’s tennis career ended because of a wrist injury.

STOLLE “RINGED”

Fred Stolle is the latest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHoF) to be presented a commemorative ring. The Australian, whose career featured Grand Slam tournament titles and Davis Cup victories, was presented the ring in a center court ceremony at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. Stolle was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. The one-of-a-kind rings are being presented to Hall of Famers at tennis events around the world over the next several years to mark their achievement of Hall of Fame induction.

STAYING HOME

Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny is quitting Davis Cup play so he can spend more time with his family. The 28-year-old Youzhny, who is ranked 11th in the world, is Russia’s top-ranked player. He told Sport-Express he has stepped down from the international team competition to make way for younger players. Youzhny rallied from two-sets down in the decisive fifth match to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu and lift Russia over France and to its first Davis Cup title. He also was on the team that won the title against Argentina in 2006. Russia plays host to Sweden in the first round of Davis Cup World Group on March 4-6.

STAMP OF APPROVAL

Novak Djokovic is in the groove. The Serb crushed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3 to continue his mastery over the Swiss maestro and win the Dubai Tennis Championships for the third
time. Federer won three of the first four games in the match before Djokovic rocketed past him. The Serb wrapped up his 20th career title in just one hour, 11 minutes and improved his head-to-head record against Federer to 8-13. Federer has lost his last three meetings with Djokovic, including the US Open semifinals and the Australian Open title match. Federer was seeking his fifth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title at the Aviation Club.

SAYONARA

Once ranked seventh in the world but since hampered by a series of injuries, Mario Ancic of Croatia has retired from professional tennis. “The decision to end my career was extremely difficult but after consulting experts from Croatia, the US, France and Germany I realized that my body can no longer keep up with the rhythm of today’s tennis,” an emotional Ancic said at a news conference in his hometown of Split. “The last back injury was the last straw.” in making such a decision, the 26-year-old stressed at a press conference in his hometown of Split, on the central Adriatic coast. Ancic led Croatia to victory in the 2005 Davis Cup and, partnered with Ivan Ljubicic, won a bronze medal in doubles for Croatia at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2004. Ancic’s health problems started in 2007 when he was diagnosed with mononucleosis, which sidelined him for six months. He also suffered from shoulder problems and a back injury. While sidelined, Ancic returned to school and graduated from the Split University Faculty of Law.

SOMDEV IMPRESSED

Somdev Devvarman had a close-up look at Roger Federer, and came away quite impressed with one particular part of his game. India’s top player, Devvarman lost to Federer in the Dubai Tennis Championships. But after his 6-3, 6-3 defeat, all Devvarman wanted to talk about was Federer’s serve. “I mean, his serve is absolutely unbelievable,” Devvarman said. “I think his ground strokes, I mean, all of us have seen magic from that, but his serve is unbelievable. It’s so hard to read, you know. It’s not about the pace. I think I played guys that hit a little bit harder. But it’s really tough to read. He really focuses on hitting his sports right. I think once he does that, it’s tough. I think it’s very underrated, how good his serve is.”

STILL STAYING AWAY

Serena Williams still isn’t ready to return to tennis. She withdrew from the Nike Clash of Champions exhibition scheduled for March 8 in Eugene, Ore. She has not played publicly since July. Besides Williams, others scheduled to play are Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Even without the reigning Wimbledon champion, the event will be a success. All 12,000 tickets sold out within 11 minutes, minus a few singles. Although she’s not playing, Williams will be at the event. ”I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to play at the Nike Clash of the Champions as I had anticipated,” Williams said in a statement. “I’m thrilled, however, to still be able to participate in the Family Tennis Festival and in the exhibition as a referee during the mixed doubles.” Ninth-ranked Victoria Azarenka will replace Williams in the exhibition. The 21-year-old from Belarus will play Sharapova in a singles set, followed by a mixed doubles set and then a men’s singles set between the world’s top two players, Nadal and Federer. A portion of the proceeds from the Nike Clash of the Champions will benefit each of the five athletes’ charitable foundations.

STRANGE BREW

In the latest rankings, Alex Bogdanovic tumbled 86 places to 378th in the world, his lowest position in eight years. No problem. Bogdanovic was selected for Great Britain’s Davis Cup squad that will meet Tunisia in a Europe/Africa Zone Group Two tie. With Andy Murray deciding not to play, team captain Leon Smith selected James Ward, who is ranked 212th, Bogdanovic and Jamie Baker, ranked 401. Two of the three will play singles, while Jamie Murray and Colin Fleming will play doubles. Bogdanovic has received eight wild card entries into Wimbledon but has yet to win a match at the grass court Grand Slam tournament. He has lost all six of his live Davis Cup rubbers. The last time Bogdanovic represented Great Britain in Davis Cup was against Austria in September 2008.

SLIPPERY SITE

Russia will be putting the Italian Fed Cup team on ice. When Italy travels to Moscow for the semifinals April 16-17, the tie will be played on a specially built indoor court laid on top of an ice rink. The Russian tennis federation (RTF) said the tie will be the first major tennis event held at Moscow’s 14,000-seat Hodynka arena, which was built in 2007 to stage that year’s ice hockey world championships. The winner of this tie will face Belgium or the Czech Republic, who meet in the other semifinal, in the November final.

SPONSORS

BMW Group Malaysia has a special reason to be the title sponsors for this week’s Malaysian Open women’s tennis championships in Kuala Lumpur. “We decided to go into women’s tennis as there is a worldwide following and is an important event in the calendar,” said BMW Group
Malaysia corporate communications manager Sashi Ambi. “We want to support the initiative as well as further promote women’s tennis. We also want to create awareness and passion for tennis locally.” Among those who have entered the tournament are Shuai Peng of China, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, Marion Bartoli of France, Sania Mirza of India, Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, Jarmila Groth of Australia, Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand and Dinara Safina of Russia.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Acapulco (men): Victor Hanescu and Horia Tecau beat Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-1 6-3

Acapulco (women): Mariya Koryttseva and Ioana Raluca Olaru beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja 3-6 6-1 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Delray Beach: Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram beat Christopher Kas and Alexander Peya 4-6 6-4 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Doha: Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik beat Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-7(2) 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Dubai: Sergiy Stakhovsky and Mkhail Youzhny beat Jeremy Chardy and Feliciano Lopez 4-6 6-3 10-3 (match tiebreak)

TO SURF

Kuala Lumpur: www.bmwmalaysianopen.com/
Monterrey: www.abiertodetenismonterrey.com/portal/
Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/
Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/
Zurich: www.zurichopen.net/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

WOMEN

$220,000 BMW Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hard
$220,000 Whirlpool Monterrey Open, Monterrey, Mexico, hard

DAVIS CUP
First Round
(March 4-6)

World Group

Serbia vs. India at Novi Sad, Serbia, hard
Sweden vs. Russia at Boras, Sweden, hard
Czech Republic vs. Kazakhstan at Ostrava, Czech Republic, hard
Argentina vs. Romania at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay
Chile vs. United States at Santiago, Chile, clay
Belgium vs. Spain at Chaleroi, Belgium, hard
Croatia vs. Germany at Zagreb, Croatia, hard
Austria vs. France at Vienna, Austria, clay

Group I – Americas: Mexico vs. Canada at Asuncion, Estado de Mexico, clay; Uruguay vs. Colombia at Montevideo, Uruguay, clay

Group I – Asia/Oceania: China vs. Chinese Taipei at Shanghai, China, hard; Philippines vs. Japan at Lapu City, Philippines, clay; Uzbekistan vs. New Zealand at Namangan, Uzbekistan, clay

Group I – Europe/Africa: Slovenia vs. Finland at Ljubjana, Slovenia, clay; Ukraine vs. Netherlands at Kharkiv, Ukraine, hard; Portugal vs. Slovak Republic at Cruz Quebrada, Portugal, clay

Group II – Americas: Peru vs. Netherlands Antilles at Lima, Peru, clay; El Salvador vs. Dominican Republic at Santa Tecla, El Salvador, clay; Puerto Rico vs. Paraguay at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, hard; Venezuela vs. Haiti at Caracas, Venezuela, hard

Group II – Asia/Oceania: Korea vs. Syria at Changwon, Korea, hard; Hong Kong vs. Pakistan at Hong Kong, hard; Iran vs. Indonesia at Tehran, Iran, clay; Pacific Oceania vs. Thailand at Guam, hard

Group II – Europe/Asia: Great Britain vs. Tunisia at Bolton, Great Britain, hard; Ireland vs. Luxembourg at Dublin, Ireland, hard; Belarus vs. Bulgaria at Minsk, Belarus, hard; Cyprus vs. Hungary at Nicosia, Cyprus, hard; Morocco vs. Bosnia/Herzegovina at Marrakech, Morocco, clay; Estonia vs. Lithuania at Tallinn, Estonia, hard; Denmark vs. Monaco at Kolding, Denmark, carpet; Greece vs. Latvia at Thessaloniki, Greece, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN and WOMEN

BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)

SENIORS

BNP Paribas Zurich Open, Zurich, Switzerland, carpet

Mondays with Bob Greene: Aussie Kim Clijsters and Novak Djokovic Crowned at Australian Open

by

STARS

Australian Open

Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 6-3

Women’s Singles: Kim Clijsters beat Li Na 3-6 6-3 6-3

Men’s Doubles: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi 6-3 6-4

Women’s Doubles: Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta beat Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko 2-6 7-5 6-1

Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Daniel Nestor beat Chan Yung-jan and Paul Hanley 6-3 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

/Junior Boys Singles: Jiri Vessely beat Luke Saville 6-0 6-3

Junior Girls Singles: An-Sophie Mestach beat Monica Puig 6-4 6-2

Junior Boys Doubles: Filip Horansky and Jiri Vessely beat Ben Wagland and Andrew Whittington 6-4 6-4

Junior Girls Doubles: An-Sophie Mestach and Demi Schuurs beat Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 6-2 6-3

Men’s Wheelchair Singles: Shingo Kunieda beat Stephane Houdet 6-0 6-3

Women’s Wheelchair Singles: Esther Vergeer beat Daniela Di Toro 6-0 6-0

Men’s Wheelchair Doubles: Maikel Scheffers and Shingo Kunieda beat Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Pelfer 6-3 6-3

Women’s Wheelchair Doubles: Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven beat Ariek Van Koot and Jiske Griffioen 6-0 6-2

Quad Wheelchair Doubles: Andrew Lapthome and Peter Norfolk beat David Wagner and Nicholas Taylor 6-3 6-4

OTHER

Bastian Knittel beat Daniel Brands 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) to win the Heilbronn Open in Heilbronn, Germany

SAYINGS

“The last few years, when I was No. 1 or top three, I’ve always been kind of one of the players that could win it (a major). When I was younger, it kind of overwhelmed me a little bit. The pressure or the nerves that I put upon myself got sometimes in the way of what I was trying to do out there and what I had to focus on. I think now that I’m a little bit older … the pressure leaves as soon as I leave through that door. I think I was able to do that throughout this week, too.” – Kim Clijsters, about winning Grand Slam tournaments.

“I look at the tournament as a whole, it was excellent. I don’t think anyone would say that reaching a Slam final is a bad achievement. It’s a very, very good achievement.  Obviously right now there’s disappointment because you just lost the match. But when you look back over the tournament, you know, there’s not many people that can say they’ve made Slam finals. So, you know, I’ll be very happy with the way the tournament went. But I would have obviously liked to have gone one step further.” – Andy Murray, after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open men’s singles final.’

“I hope I can push tennis in the Chinese market, I hope more people can participate in the game. The more people you have – it’s like a pyramid – the peak can only get higher if there are more people at the bottom.” – Li Na, after taking the runner-up trophy at the Australian Open.

“If these guys are going to get upset, I’m going to continue to use it.” – Leander Paes, whose use of the word “vamos” apparently upset Argentina’s Juan Monaco and Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in their doubles match. Paes and fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi won the second-round encounter.

“I think at the end I was a little nervous. Also in the beginning, first game I was a little nervous, shaking a little. But I had to speak after my match, and I think that was the most difficult part of today.” – An-Sophie Mestach, after winning the junior girls title.

“Obviously it’s a sad situation to see such a great player end her career in this kind of way.” – Kim Clijsters, commenting on the retirement of Justine Henin because of a injured elbow.

“You never want to see player like Justine retire, because she’s great for women’s tennis. Her achievements were great. She has done a lot for women’s tennis. I played her so many times and I never beat her, so that’s probably the biggest memory that I have.” – Vera Zvonareva, on Justine Henin’s retirement.

Novak Djokovic

“That was last year. This is a new year. That’s how I have to look at it.” – Chanda Rubin, when asked about her house burning down on December 29.

“I’ve barely lost matches lately. So I’m happy with where my game is at, with where my condition is at. I’m really excited for what’s to come. This is obviously a bit of a blow. At the same time, I played a good tournament. I have no regrets. I left everything out there. We’ll see what comes next.” – Roger Federer, irked when asked if he felt he couldn’t win major tournaments any more.

SERBIAN NO. 1?

Serbia’s Davis Cup captain Bogdan Obradovic believes Australian Open men’s singles winner Novak Djokovic can become number one in the world this year. “Djokovic has improved in every department and, quite frankly, I expected him to beat (Andy) Murray after the way he played throughout the tournament,” Obradovic told Reuters news agency. “He has become mentally and physically stronger, he is even more accurate with his passing shots than in 2008 and can win points quickly when he needs to. With all that in mind, it will be very difficult to stop him from becoming the world number one this year, if he keeps playing at this level throughout the season.” To become number one, Djokovic would have to surpass top-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain as well as Switzerland’s Roger Federer. The Serb beat Federer in the semifinals before crushing Great Britain’s Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 6-3 in the title match. “Djokovic has gone to another level,” Obradovic said. “He is a different player and a different person, more confident than ever before in his career.”

SENIOR SWINGER

Goran Ivanisevic is back – at least for one tournament. The former Wimbledon champion is returning to ATP competition at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors this week, partnering Croatia’s top player, Marin Cilic, in doubles. Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001 after gaining entry to the grass-court Grand Slam event with a wild card. Three years later he announced his retirement from the men’s tour at Wimbledon. He recently has been playing on the senior tour, but said he is entering the ATP tournament as a way of promoting the event in his home country.

STAY-HOME MOM?

With her fourth Grand Slam tournament title – her first other than the US Open — Kim Clijsters is becoming a little hesitant about her future. “I do think this is probably my last full season that I’ll be playing,” said Clijsters, who has made it known that she would like to have more children. Still, “I also would like to try and keep going until the (2012 London) Olympics,” she said. “I’ve never played the Olympics, which is little under a year and half. Then we’ll see after that.” Clijsters came from behind to beat China’s Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Australian Open final. The Belgian retired in 2007, got married and had a baby. She returned to tennis in 2009 and won her second US Open, a title she successfully defended last September. She said her return to tennis was made with “the Olympics in my mind. I wanted to try to keep going till then,” she said. “I obviously never expected things to be going so well so quickly. I thought it was going to take a little bit more time to get back into the rhythm or get back into my routine of traveling with a family and everything.”

SINO STAR

Call it Laugh Night at the Open. Li Na reached the Australian Open women’s single final, where she lost to Kim Clijsters 3-6 6-3 6-3. But the Chinese player won the respect of all tennis with her strong, penetrating ground game, her bubbling personality and a string of one-liners. Asked about her preparation for her semifinal match, Li cracked up the audience when she said she had trouble sleeping because of her husband’s snoring. Asked what had inspired her when she was down a match point in the second set of her semifinal against top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, Li replied: “Prize money.” The first person from Asia – male or female – to reach a Grand Slam tournament singles final, Li again starred in the post-match on-court interview after losing to Clijsters. “I’ve made many jokes about my husband, but it doesn’t matter if you are fat or skinny, handsome or ugly, I will always follow you, always love you,” she told him. The 28-year-old Li is the second oldest woman to play in an Australian Open final – trailing Chris Evert, who was 33 when she lost to Steffi Graf in 1988. Her previous best Grand Slam performance was last year’s Australian Open semifinal appearance where she was defeated by Serena Williams 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1). She even took her defeat in the final in stride. “Also for myself, doesn’t matter today if I win or lose because I tried my best at tennis already,” she said.

STRANGE TWIST

Marina Erakovic said she couldn’t play for New Zealand in this week’s Fed Cup competition because she was injured. Since Sacha Jones, New Zealand’s top player, was also injured, the nation withdrew its team from the women’s team competition. But Erakovic entered this weeks’ USD $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA. Asked how Erakovic was too injured to play for her country, but not injured enough to play an ITF event, Tennis New Zealand CEO Steve Johnson said: “We’ve been talking to all of our players over the last several months about selection for the team. Then it transpired she wasn’t going to play and she was going to go to America and she had a bit of an injury so she was withdrawing from the team. With that and with Sacha’s injury, plus with an injury to Katherine Westbury, we had our top three people unavailable for the team, so the decision was made to withdraw reluctantly. The injury wasn’t the key reason she withdrew. It was part of the reason why she withdrew.” Erakovic did withdraw from the Rancho Santa Fe tournament.

STEP ASIDE

It was a distraction that neither Dmitry Tursunov nor his semifinal opponent, Andrej Martin, had encountered on the ATP tour. Rain forced the USD $50,000 Singapore ATP Challenger semifinals to be moved indoors at the Singapore Island Country Club. But one club member, apparently unhappy about losing court time, continued to play tennis with his children on the court next to Tursunov and Martin. “No one has complained,” Kenneth Low, Sports Management Group managing director, said when questioned. “The club members and patrons were very supportive. We asked them (the members) to stop playing and they did. It didn’t occur to them that they should stop.” Tursunov, who was once ranked 20th in the world but was unseeded in this event, went on to win the tournament, defeating Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic in the final 6-4 6-2.

SPREADING THE CHEER

Tennis is the most international of all sports. This week’s WTA top 10 rankings feature 10 different nationalities for the first time. Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki retains her top ranking, with newly-crowned Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium switching places with Russia’s Vera Zvonareva. Reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy rose to a career-high number 4, followed, in order, by Australian Samantha Stosur, American Venus Williams, Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska. Israel’s Shahar Peer is ranked 11th in the world. The men’s top 10 currently includes players from eight different countries: Spain’s  world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and compatriots David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco, plus Roger Federer of Switzerland, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Sweden’s Robin Soderling, Andy Murray of Great Britain, Czech Tomas Berdych, American Andy Roddick and Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

STANDING TALL

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their fifth Australian Open men’s doubles and kept India’s Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi from completing a career Grand Slam. The Bryans, who captured the title 6-3, 6-4, have held the number one ranking in doubles for the past eight years., and have won the US Open men’s doubles three times, and the French Open and Wimbledon once each. This year’s Australian Open title increased their record for most tournament doubles titles in the Open Era to 68, seven better than the old mark held by Australians Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. Bhupathi and Paes were playing as a team in their first Grand Slam tournament since 2002. The Indian pair was seeking a career Grand Slam, each having won the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon either together or with other partners.

SHE’S PREGNANT?

The Times of India reports that Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias and tennis star Anna Kournikova are expecting their first child. The two have been dating since 2001, although they are famously cagey about their romance, according to website Stuff.co.nz.  The web site said Kournikova has lately taken to wearing flowing clothes that cover her figure. It is believed that she is trying to hide a growing baby bump, with the couple said to have recently announced the news to friends and family.

STRUCK DOWN

When the BNP Paribas Open is held March 7-20 in Indian Wells, California, USA, the tournament will feature one of the strongest fields outside Grand Slam tournaments. The top three men and top three women singles players are expected to be on hand. Besides Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, and Kim Clijsters, the tournament also will feature its two defending champions, Ivan Ljubicic and Jelena Jankovic, as well as the past six women to win the tournament title. Nadal will be seeking to join Federer, Michael Chang and Jimmy Connors as the only men to have won the Paribas Open three times. Clijsters will be trying to become the first woman to win three Paribas Open titles. The tournament will also feature Hawkeye replay technology and video displays on all match courts, making the event the first to have such technology on eight courts, according to event organizers.

SLOBODAN STILL BOSS

Despite the actions of Novak Djokovic’ father, Slobodan Zivojinovic has been reelected president of the Serbia Tennis Federation (TSS). Zivojinovic held on to his post with a landslide victory in the balloting. A Wimbledon semifinalist in 1985, Zivojinovic became TSS president in 2003 and won his third four-year term after 502 of the 690 delegates voted for him despite some delegates, led by Srdjan Djokovic, boycotting the balloting. “Serbia won the Davis Cup and became world tennis champions despite Zivojinovic and his aides being in charge all these years, not thanks to them,” the senior Djokovic told the session before leading his supporters in a walkout. “You people have nothing to do with Serbia’s recent tennis success; you don’t care how hard our children had to work to get to the top and how much the parents had to sacrifice.” Led by Novak Djokovic, Serbia beat France 3-2 to win its first Davis Cup title.

STEPPING ASIDE

Steven Martens has resigned as player director of Great Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and will become general secretary of the Royal Belgian Football Association. A former Belgian Davis Cup captain, Martens had been was at the LTA for four years and took up the player role in 2008. An LTA statement said Martens had led a “significant change program in the way performance tennis is structured and delivered across the country.” There was no mention of a successor to Martens.

SO DESERVING

Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer is the newest inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Selected in the contributor category, Kellmeyer will join Andre Agassi at the induction ceremonies into the shrine at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, on July 9.  Kellmeyer, who will turn 67 on Feb. 19, was a champion of gender equity six years before Title IX became law. In 1973 she became the first employee and tour director of the Women’s Tennis Association and currently serves as WTA operations executive consultant. During her career she also directed WTA operations and player and tournament relations and was involved with every major policy decision. Thanks in part to her efforts, prize money increased from USD $309,000 in 1973 to USD $86 million in 2010, and the number of tournaments grew from 23 in the United States to 53 in 33 countries. Kellmeyer was a top junior in the late 1950s. In 1959, when she was 15, she played in the US National Championships, which became the US Open in 1968. She played tennis on the men’s varsity team at the University of Miami in the early 1960s, the first woman to do so in Division I. She graduated from Miami in 1966 and received a master’s degree from Florida Atlantic in 1974.

SPANISH WOE

Rafael Nadal believes he suffered a hamstring tear during his Australian Open quarterfinal match against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. “I know what I have,” Nadal was quoted by wire service EFE as saying in Spanish. “I have nothing important, it is a broke (muscle) fiber. I have the point perfectly located and I know what it is.” Nadal was seeking his fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament title – a “Rafa Slam” – when he suffered the injury and was upset by Ferrer 6-4 6-2 6-3. “I would prefer (not to) talk a lot about the injury,” Nadal said right after the match. “He played at a very high level and I wasn’t able to compete against him tonight. Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don’t want to have this image, no? I tried my best all the time. But it is obvious that I didn’t feel at my best. I had a problem during the match, in the very beginning. After that, the match was almost over.”

SHE’S BACK

Magdalena Maleeva, who retired in 2005, has been named to the Bulgarian Fed Cup team that will compete this coming weekend in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I playoffs in Eilat, Israel. Other members of the squad include Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova, Elitsa Kostova and Dia Evtimova. “I’m not prepared very well because I have two kids to care for. but I did some training when I played with Boris Becker and (Bulgarian Prime Minister) Boyko Borisov,” Maleeva joked, referring to the charity match during the Zagorka Tennis Cup finals last summer in Sofia, Bulgaria. Once ranked as high as fourth in the world, Maleeva said Dora Rangelova, the captain of the team, persuaded her to participate in Fed Cup. Maleeva, who will turn 36 in April, ended her competitive pro career in 2005. However, in September 2010 she participated in the national championships and won, triggering speculations about an eventual comeback. The top Bulgarian tennis player took part in 41 matches with the Bulgarian Fed Cup team – 26 singles and 15 doubles. Her last Fed Cup appearance was in 2005 when she was the team’s captain.

STAYING THE COURSE

Venus Williams says she has no plans to retire from tennis. The 30-year-old American injured the psoas muscle in her groin during a second-round match against Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic. She fought through the pain and won the match, but then had to retire after the first game of her third-round matchup with Germany’s Andrea Petkovic. “I just obviously couldn’t play,” Williams said. “I mean, just couldn’t move. Just too painful. It’s super disappointing because this is just not how I envisioned my Australian Open being.” Williams has won seven Grand Slam tournaments, including five Wimbledons. The Australian Open was her first tournament since last year’s US Open because of tendinitis in her right knee.

SIGNAGE

When Ekaterina Makarova and Kim Clijsters walked onto court to play their fourth-round Australian Open match, the chair umpire put a stop to things. The umpire, Mariana Alves of Portugal, said the sponsor logo on the front of Makarova’s shirt was too large and instructed the Russian to change the shirt before the match could begin. When Makarova returned to the court, she had moved the logo from the front of her shirt to her right sleeve, where larger logos are permitted. The Grand Slam Rule Book specifies that advertising logos on the front of the shirt cannot exceed four square inches if there is one logo, or two square inches if there are two.

SAYS GO AWAY

A relative of French player Aravane Rezai will be barred from women’s events indefinitely for what the WTA said was a “serious safety matter.” The WTA statement did not identify the relative of give any details of the incident, which apparently happened during the just-concluded Australian Open. “The health and well-being of our players is the number one priority for the WTA,” the statement said. “A serious safety matter has been brought to the WTA’s attention, which has resulted in a family member of Aravane Rezai being indefinitely suspended from all future WTA events pending our investigation.” Citing the player’s privacy, the WTA would give no any further details. A French newspaper, Le Parisien, said Rezai’s father had been involved in an altercation with his daughter’s boyfriend before her first-round match, which she lost.  “I’m not trying to make excuses but I had a big problem this morning,” Rezai said after the defeat.

SPONSORS

Kia Motors is delighted with his sponsorship of the Australian Open tennis championship, thanks to its very visible signage and the fact its brand ambassador, Kim Clijsters, won the women’s singles. The Korean automaker said the public relations benefits generated by sponsoring the Australian Open are estimated to be worth $700 million. “About a billion people from some 160 countries watched the Australian Open, and Kia’s logo was extensively exposed. We expect that the publicity gained through media exposure would be worth 17 percent more than last year’s $600 million,” the carmaker said in a statement. A Kia official declined to reveal the size of the sponsorship deal, by past press releases by the company said it is a “multi-million dollar sponsorship.” Kia’s sponsorship began in 2002, and in 2008 the firm extended it for five years to 2013. Kia posted better-than-expected earnings last week with its net profit in 2010 reaching 2.25 trillion won – up 55.4 percent from a year earlier.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Heilbronn: Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marray beat Frank Moser and David Skoch 6-1 6-4

SITES TO SURF

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com

Johannesburg: www.satennisopen.co.za/

Zagreb: www.zagrebindoors.com/

Santiago: www.movistaropen.cl/

Rotterdam: www.abnamrowtt.nl/

San Jose: www.sapopentennis.com

Costa do Sauipe: http://tenisbrasil.uol.com.br/brasilopen/

Paris: www.opengdfsuez.com/

Pattaya City: www.pentanglepromotions.com/pattaya-open-2010.html

Midland: www.DowCorningTennisClassic.com

Cali: www.campestrecali.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$486,500 PBZ Zagreb Indoors, Zagreb, Croatia, hard

$442,500 SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg, South Africa, hard

$358,250 Movistar Open, Santiago, Chile, clay

FED CUP

World Group

Australia vs. Italy at Hobart, Australia, hard

Russia vs. France at Moscow, Russia, hard

Slovak Republic vs. Czech Republic at Bratislava, Slovak Republic, hard

Belgium vs. United States at Antwerp, Belgium, hard

World Group II

Estonia vs. Spain at Tallinn, Estonia, hard; Slovenia vs. Germany at Maribor, Slovenia, clay; Serbia vs. Canada at Novi Sad, Serbia, hard; Sweden vs. Ukraine at Helsingborg, Sweden, hard

Group I

Europe/Asia Zone, at Eilat, Israel, hard, round-robin, four pools: Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Switzerland

Americas Zone, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay, round-robin, two pools: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru

Asia/Oceania Zone, at Nonthaburi, Thailand, hard, round-robin, two pools: China, Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Republic, Thailand, Uzbekistan

Group II

Asia/Oceania Zone, at Nonthaburi, Thailand, hard, round-robin, two pools: Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Turkmenistan

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$1,565,000 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, hard

$531,000 SAP Open, San Jose, California, USA, hard

$442,500 Brasil Open, Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, clay

WOMEN

$618,000 Open GDF Suez, Paris, France, hard

$220,000 PTT Pattaya Open, Pattaya City, Thailand, hard

$100,000 Dow Corning Tennis Classic, Midland, Michigan, USA, hard

$100,000 Copa Bionaire, Cali, Colombia, clay

Mondays with Bob Greene: The First Week of the US Open 2010

by

STARS

US OPEN

(First Week)

Kaia Kanepi beat fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-2 7-6 (1)

Stan Wawrinka beat fourth-seeded Andy Murray 6-7 (3) 7-6 (4) 6-3 6-3

Richard Gasquet beat sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-4 6-2

Michael Llodra beat seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-4

Kateryna Bondarenko beat eighth-seed Li Na 2-6 6-4 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic beat ninth-seeded Andy Roddick 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 (4)

Peng Shuai beat ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 2-6 6-1 6-4

Gisela Dulko beat 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka 5-1 retired

SAYINGS

“You’re making this a little way too dramatic for what it was. It’s like a Shakespeare poem.” – Maria Sharapova, responding to a detailed question regarding her service preparation

Maria Sharapova

“It was nice, I mean, except that 99.9 percent of the people were against me.” – Sergiy Stakhovsky, on playing and defeating 18-year-old American Ryan Harrison 6-3 5-7 3-6 6-3 7-6 (6).

“You know, I thought I hit the ball pretty well. I thought he played very high-risk and executed for four sets. I kept telling myself, ‘You know, this has to have an expiration date on it.’ Unfortunately, I needed another set for that.” – Andy Roddick, after losing to Janko Tipsarevic.

“Every match I win now, it’s like winning an entire tournament. Before, I was really lucky and blessed to be so good when I was so young. And it was just normal. I grew up winning since I was six years old. I was winning tournaments and it was always normal. But once that has been sort of taken away for years, you haven’t had that feeling, you know. Every match gives me such satisfaction. I really enjoy it so much. And just the fact that I have the ability to do it again, I’m really happy out there. My dream never died and never went away.” – Mirjana Lucic, after playing in her first US Open since 2003 and winning her first Open match since 1999

“I think that’s a positive problem to have, that I play many matches. That means that I’m winning.” – Caroline Wozniacki, when asked about playing tournaments in the final two weeks before the US Open. She won both.

“To win on this stage here and to take out a Top 20 player in the world is the biggest win of my career. I’ve always believed in myself. I have always had confidence in myself, so obviously I’m extremely excited and really pleased with what happened.” – Ryan Harrison, after upsetting 15th seeded Ivan Ljubicic in a first-round match.

“I was warming up in the gym prior to my match against Gisela Dulko when I fell while running a sprint. I fell forward and hit my arm and head. I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring. I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell. I was taken to the hospital for some medical tests and have been diagnosed with a mild concussion.” – Victoria Azarenka, who collapsed on-court during her second-round match.

“It’s tough coming back, especially after the US Open I had last year, coming back and expecting to do that well again. And, yes, the expectations for me, I think, from the fans were extremely high. You could tell by the crowd. Even the second I walked out there, people expected me to win again like last year.” – Melanie Oudin, a quarterfinalist last year who lost to Alona Bondarenko in the second round this year.

“I think rankings obviously tell a lot about the player, but I think just the way you feel about your game at the time (is what’s important). I remember a couple years ago when I was here and I was saying, ‘Even though I’m number one, I don’t feel I’m playing as number one.’ Now I’m ranked (number 40) but I feel like I’m playing like a Top 10 player, and I have confidence that I can beat these players. That’s huge for me.” – Ana Ivanovic, after knocking off 21st-seeded Zheng Jie.

“People tell me that I only look 5-foot-5 and a half (1.64m). I’m going with 5-6 (1.68m). That’s what the doctor said.” – Melanie Oudin, when asked about her height.

“There are days when you’re not going to be feeling the ball, you’re not going to be moving your feet. In those days, you just really have to fight and really have to try your best and give your maximum and try to get through these kinds of matches. If you are able to do that, then it gives you a lot more confidence for the next round.” – Jelena Jankovic, who needed three sets to win her first-round match.

“It was very hard to play somebody you never played before, especially that she’s good. It’s not like [a] junior or somebody. It’s a player who [has] played before, and I didn’t realize that she plays very different game from everybody who I’ve played ever.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, after needing three sets to defeat Kimiko Date Krumm, who will turn 40 later this month.

“I really hope that wasn’t my last match on Arthur Ashe Stadium. I definitely want to be back here next year. If it was, I competed my heart out. I did everything I could. But I think I got more in me and I think I’m going to be back here. Maybe more night matches, some more excitement for the crowds, some more good times.” – James Blake, after losing to Novak Djokovic.

“I think I could easily at this stage in my career just say, ‘I have won Grand Slams; I have been there and done that.’ But I never felt like I had enough. I always felt like I could be a better tennis player.” – Maria Sharapova, on her long return from shoulder surgery.

SPANISH SEMI

There will be a Spanish player in the men’s semifinals at the US Open. After the third round, all four spots in the top quarter of the draw feature Spanish players, led by top-seeded Rafael Nadal, who is seeking his first US Open crown and a career Grand Slam. Nadal’s fourth-round opponent will be fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. That winner will have a quarterfinal meeting with the winner of another all-Spanish pairing, 10th-seeded David Ferrer against eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco. Two other Spaniards – Albert Montanes and Tommy Robredo – also reached the fourth round. The six Spaniards in the fourth round is the most men from one nation since the United States had eight reach the round of 16 in 1995 and ties the record for a foreign country. Australia had six players in the fourth round in 1969.

SET FOR HALL

It’s Andre Agassi’s turn to go into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHoF). The two-time US Open winner and eight-time Grand Slam tournament champion headlines the ballot for the ITHoF’s Class of 2011. Others on the ballot in the Master Player Category are Thelma Coyne Long, who dominated Australian tennis in the 19302, 40s and 502, and Christine Truman Janes, a British star of the 1950s and 1960s. Nominated in the Contributor Category are tennis promoter and administrator Mike Davies and Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer, who played a vital role in the growth of women’s tennis. Voting will take place over the next several months and the Class of 2011 inductees will be announced early next year. Agassi’s wife – Stefanie Graf – is already in the ITHoF.

STOPPING SHORT

After pulling off one shocker at the US Open, 18-year-old American Ryan Harrison learned what Yogi Berra was talking about when he said, “It’s not over until it’s over.” In the opening round Harrison upset 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia. Playing his second–round match in the cozy confines of the Grandstand with the crowd overwhelmingly pulling for him, Harrison battled Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine evenly through the first four sets, the teen-ager winning the second and third sets. Down 1-3, love-40 in the fifth set, Harrison fought back, saving five break points. He then broke back for 3-3 in another long game. With the set tied 6-6, Harrison won five straight points to reach triple match point at 6-3. An overhead winner by Stakhovsky saved the first one. He then hit an unreturnable serve. Harrison netted a backhand before double-faulting, giving his opponent match point. Stakhovsky didn’t waste his opportunity, closing out the match with a forehand volley winner.

SAY, MON

Dustin Brown brought a little bit of Jamaica with him when he played at the US Open. Besides the green-black-and-gold clad cheering section, Brown wore long dreadlocks and neon-bright shoestrings: one lime-colored, the other orange. The big-serving right-hander won his opening round match, beating Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, before falling in the second round to fourth-seeded Andy Murray. Brown also played at Wimbledon this summer, becoming the first man from Jamaica to play in a Grand Slam tournament since Richard Russell, who last played at the French Open in 1974. The only other Jamaican man to play in a Grand Slam event in the Open Era was Lancelot Lumsden.

STARTING AGAIN

Two veterans returned to the US Open this year for the first time in years. It was 14 years between Kimiko Date Krumm’s trips to New York’s Grand Slam tournament. Playing for the first time since 1996, Date Krumm drew a first-round match against former US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and lost 6-2 4-6 6-1. Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic won her first-round match, downing Australia’s Alicia Molik 7-6 (5) 6-1. Lucic was playing in her first US Open since 2002. “I feel fantastic. I’m so happy,” Lucic said. “I worked so hard to get here. This is my first US Open in, I don’t know, seven years or something. (It) feels incredible.” Lucic, who won the US Open junior girls title in 1996, lost to fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the second round.

SET TO BEGIN

John McEnroe has talked about reviving American tennis his way. He’ll get his chance the day after the US Open ends when the John McEnroe Tennis Academy officially welcomes its first class. The academy is in a revamped 20-court, USD $18-million tennis complex on Randall’s Island, a strip of land in the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. “Hopefully I can jolt things and get things going here again,” McEnroe said of his goal to revive tennis in New York and, by extension, in the United States. “Hopefully I can be a regular presence and hopefully Patrick (McEnroe, John’s younger brother and captain of the United States Davis Cup team) and the USTA will support what I’m doing.” Patrick McEnroe was hired by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) two years ago to run an elite player development program.

SENIOR BREAK

The tie-break is 40 years old. A nine-point tie-break made its debut in Grand Slam tournament competition on opening day of the 1970 US Open. The Australian Open followed suit, introducing the tie-break in 1971. The French Open followed suit in 1973 and Wimbledon in 1979. The US Open remains the only Grand Slam event to employ the tie-break in the deciding set – fifth set for men’s singles and third set for women’s singles and the doubles competitions. Since its advent, two women’s singles finals have been decided in a final-set tie-break, and Martina Navratilova was on the losing end each time. She lost to Tracy Austin in the 1981 final and to Hana Mandlikova for the 1985 title. The longest tie-break in US Open history was in 1993 when Goran Ivanisevic defeated Daniel Nestor 20-18 in the third set tie-break of their match. There has never been a five-set match with five tie-breaks, but there have been two women’s singles matches where all three sets went to a tie-break. Gigi Fernandez beat Leila Meskhi in the third round in 1991, and Steffi Graf beat Pam Shriver in the quarterfinals in 1985.

SPOKESMAN SAMPRAS

Hall of Famer Pete Sampras will serve as the first spokesman for “Tennis Night In America,” a joint promotional effort between the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and StarGames, Inc. “Tennis Night In America” is an annual celebration of the sport that includes youth registration events at facilities around the country. It concludes with the BNP Paribas Showdown at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Feb. 28, 2011.

SECOND EDITION

Journalist/analyst Bud Collins has released the second edition of his famed tennis encyclopedia and record book, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis.” The 816-page volume is considered the most authoritative compilation of records, biographies and information on the sport of tennis. Collins dedicated the second edition to John Isner, Nicolas Mahut and chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, the three principles from the record-breaking longest match of all-time, which was played this summer at Wimbledon. Isner hit a record 113 aces in winning 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68 in 11 hours, five minutes. Collins was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHoF) in 1994.

SEEDED NUMBER ONE

Caroline Wozniacki is the ninth different player to be seeded number one at the US Open in the last decade. Only Justine Henin has been the top seed twice during that span, in 2004 and 2007. And only two of those seeds have gone on to win the Open – Henin in 2007 and Serena Williams in 2002. The others were Dinara Safina in 2009; Ana Ivanovic, 2008; Amelie Mauresmo, 2006; Maria Sharapova, 2005; Kim Clijsters, 2003; and Martina Hingis, 2001. During that span, there have been only two top-seeded men: Rafael Nadal in 2008 and 2010, and Roger Federer the rest of the time.

SO MANY PEOPLE

The US Open set a Day One attendance record this year when 59,931 people came through the turnstiles, breaking last year’s mark of 59,848. The Day Session attendance fell just shy of the 2009 mark of 36,085, while the Night Session attendance of 23,849 broke the previous record of 23,763, set in 2008.

SPECIAL, WOMEN

Stefanie Graf helped Longines, the Swiss watch company, honor three “Women Who Make a Difference” at the second annual awards dinner in New York City. Dr. Margaret Martin, Kristen Malfara and Valerie Sobel were honored for the extraordinary impact they have made on children’s lives through their foundations – The Harmony Project, The M.O.R.G.A.N. Project and the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation. The “Women Who Make a Difference” honorees were chosen from more than 100 entrants, each of whom is making an extraordinary impact in children’s lives within her community. Graf is a philanthropist in her own right and an ambassador for Longines.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced a three-year partnership between USTA Serves, the USTA’s philanthropic entity, and the New Look Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by R&B superstar Usher Raymond IV. The collaboration is designed to mentor youth to become global and community leaders. The partnership will help guide thousands of American youth in using their athletic and creative talents to become leaders in their local communities by expanding both tennis and service opportunities to youth across the country. “We have a common mission,” said Shawn H. Wilson, resident of New Look Foundation, “to enrich young people, and together both organizations can make this goal a reality.”

SAD NEWS

Paula Shmerler, the mother of television reporter Cindy Shmerler, is dead. The 81-year-old was the first woman graduate in interior design from the architecture school at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Besides Cindy Shmerler, she is survived by two sons, Andrew and Bill.

SITES TO SURF

US Open: www.usopen.org

Biella: www.itfbiella.com/

Genova: www.atpgenova.com/

Szczecin: www.pekaoopen.pl/

Guangzhou: http://sports.21cn.com/09gzopen/

Quebec: www.challengebell.com

Sofia: www.bgtennis.bg/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

US Open, New York, New York, USA, hard (second week)

$108,000 Genova Open, Genova, Italy, clay

WTA

US Open, New York, New York, USA, hard (second week)

$100,000 ITF event, Biella, Italy, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$137,000 Pekao Szczecin Open, Szczecin, Poland, clay

WTA

$220,000 Landsky Lightning Guangzhou International Women’s Open, Guangzhou, Chia, hard

$220,000 Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, hard

$100,000 Allianz Cup, Sofia, Bulgaria, clay

DAVIS CUP

World Group Semifinals

France vs. Argentina at Lyon, France, hard

Serbia vs. Czech Republic at Belgrade, Serbia, hard

World Group Playoffs

Israel vs. Austria at Tel Aviv, Israel

Colombia vs. United States at Bogota, Colombia

Germany vs. South Africa at Stuttgart, Germany

Sweden vs. Italy at Lidkopoing, Sweden

India vs. Brazil at Chennai, India

Australia vs. Belgium at North Cairns, Australia

Kazakhstan vs. Switzerland at Astana, Kazakhstan

Romania vs. Ecuador at Bucharest, Romania

Americas Zone Group I, Second Round Playoff – Canada vs. Dominican Republic at Toronto, Canada

Americas Zone Group II, Third Round – Mexico vs. Venezuela at Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico

Asia/Oceania Zone Group I, Second Round Playoff – Korea vs. Philippines at Changwon, Korea

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II, Third Round – New Zealand vs. Thailand at Nontheburi, New Zealand

Europe/Africa Zone Group I, Second Round Playoff – Belarus vs. Slovak Republic at Minsk, Belarus; Latvia vs. Poland at Riga, Latvia

Europe/Africa Zone Group II, Third Round – Slovenia vs. Lithuania at Vilnius, Slovenia, Lithuania; Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Portugal at Ouebrada, Bosnia and Herzegovina

US Open: Kim Clijsters Quietly Winning

by

NEW YORK – For being the defending champion, Kim Clijsters certainly has been skirting the headlines at the US Open.

On Friday, the talk was all about Hurricane Earl’s impact on New York City, which at least during the day turned out to be all bluster and very few raindrops, but not enough to halt play for long on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

An 18-year-old American, Ryan Harrison, had his Flushing Meadows run ended, 6-3 5-7 3-6 6-3 7-6 (6) by Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, while Britain’s Andy Murray, one of the pretenders for the men’s crown, easily dispatched Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5 6-3 6-0.

Kim Clijsters

Meanwhile, the mom from New Jersey – that’s where Clijsters’s husband hails from – ran her winning streak in America’s premier tennis tournament to 17 straight matches. Clijsters lost the first three games before ripping through the next 12 to snare a spot in the fourth round of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

“That’s tennis,” Clijsters said. “And, until the set is over, you can still always come back and win.

“That’s what I tried to do, tried to be a little more aggressive and just go for the angles a little bit more.”

It worked to perfection for the tournament’s second seed.

“If you start to focus on how you’re hitting or feeling the ball, you might start worrying,” she said. “I was just trying to give it my best each point.”

In other early women’s matches, fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-2 6-3; sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, the French Open champion, downed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-1 7-5; 12th-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5 6-2; 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-2; and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic ousted Virginie Razzano of France 7-5 6-0..

Beating the rain and winning their men’s second-round matches were 10th-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 18th-seeded American John Isner, 23rd-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, Tommy Robredo of Spain, Michael Llodra of France and Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain.

Robredo advanced to the third round when Julien Benneteau of France retired while trailing 6-4 6-6 (2-1). Ferrer beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4 6-4; Lopez outlasted Benoit Paire of France 6-4 6-7 (4) 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-2; Gimeno-Traver defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 4-6 6-2 6-0 7-6 (2); Youzhny beat Dudi Sela of Israel 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-3; Isner stopped Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7) 6-4; and Llodra downed Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (2) 6-4 6-2.

Last year Clijsters ended her two-year retirement during which she married American professional basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to their daughter, Jada. In her third tournament back on the tour, she won her second US Open.

While Clijsters’ victory was big news, some were still talking about how her semifinal foe, Serena Williams, lost the match on a point penalty assessed when she went off on a profanity-laced tirade at an official who had called a foot fault on her.

Even after Clijsters won her third-round match Friday, she was asked about Serena pulling out of this year’s Open because of foot surgery.

“Look, my tournaments are not based on what Serena does,” Clijsters said testily, answering a question in her post-match interview. “Obviously I try to focus on what I have to do best, and that’s trying to play good tennis and trying to see how far I can go. Whether she’s here or not, my attitude is always the same.”

Clijsters also won the US Open in 2005. The following year she was injured and could not defend her title. Then came her retirement, marriage and family. She and her husband have homes in both her native Belgium and New Jersey, where he grew up.

“They’re both home,” Clijsters said. “I think you create that home atmosphere. You know, I even try to create it in our hotel room.

“It’s obviously nice to go to a place that you’re familiar with and you can cook yourself and do everything kind of yourself. But, obviously, my childhood memories are in Belgium. I still live on the same street as my parents used to live, where I grew up. My grandparents live next door. That’s obviously what I go back to when I go back after the US Open.”

Right now her sight is set on yet another US Open victory. She has won three hard court titles his year, including a US Open warm-up event in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. There, she beat Ivanovic when the Serb retired from the match while trailing 2-1. The two will battle in the fourth round.

“She had some injuries when I played her in Cincinnati in the semifinals,” Clijsters said. “The first three games we played I think were pretty good tennis. We can kind of have a rematch here.”

Ana Ivanovic on a Roll

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When Ana Ivanovic cruised past No. 21 seed Jie Zheng 6-3, 6-0 on Wednesday, it marked the first time since last year’s Wimbledon that the former world No. 1 reached the third round of a Grand Slam.

Decked out in a hot pink Adidas dress and her signature visor, Ivanovic looked comfortable on the court against a player who had beaten her twice before, and there was no sign of the ankle injury that caused her to withdraw from her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters in Cincinnati just a couple of weeks ago.

Ana Ivanovic

“I feel like I’m playing like a top 10 player,” she said post-match. “I have confidence that I can beat these players. That’s huge for me.”

Unlike Dinara Safina, another former No. 1 who has struggled mightily this season, Ivanovic has consistently projected positivity even when her ranking dropped into the mid-60’s earlier this year. Now she is back in the top 40, and poised to continue her ascent at the Open.

Her next hurdle will be veteran Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano who upset No. 13 seed Marion Bartoli in the second round. With the women’s draw as wide open as it’s been in years, you can bet Ivanovic’s loyal followers will be anxiously waiting to see if the smiley Serb can turn her new-found confidence into a U.S. Open breakthrough.

Many predicted tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka was poised for a strong run, but her scary collapse on the court while trailing Gisela Dulko 5-1 put an end to those hopes. Spectators undoubtedly assumed she was suffering from a heat-related illness as temperatures on court topped 100 degrees, but after a trip to the hospital doctors concluded that a mild concussion sustained during a fall in practice earlier in the day caused her headache, dizziness and blurry eyesight.

Also advancing on a steamy Day Three were No. 3 seed Venus Williams, who overcame a tough first set to defeat Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino 7-6, 6-3, and Kim Clijsters who easily took out another qualifier, Sally Peers, 6-2, 6-1.

Melanie Oudin’s bid for another dream run in New York came to an end against Alona Bonderenko 6-2, 7-5, and another American, Vania King came frustratingly close to taking out No. 24 seed Daniela Hantuchova before falling 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Elena Dementieva, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta are all through to the third round.

By Blair Henley

Sun Shining on Jamaica; Victoria Azarenka Collapses on Grandstand Court

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NEW YORK – Jamaica’s Dustin Brown was almost as hot as the broiling sun baking the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as he blasted his way past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4 7-6 (6) 7-5 to post his first Grand Slam tournament victory.

“Being Jamaican … heat is normally not an issue for me,” Brown said. “Today was extremely hot and I was definitely fighting with that.”

For the third straight day the year’s final major tennis event was played under extremely hot conditions. By 11:30 a.m. the temperature had reached 90 degrees with 42 percent humidity. It was even hotter on the asphalt courts, where temperatures topped 100 degrees.

Victoria Azarenka

Tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus appeared wobbly while playing, then collapsed to the ground while chasing down a ball on the baseline. At the time she was trailing Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 5-1.

“I was warming up in the gym prior to my match against Gisela Dulko when I fell while running a sprint,” Azarenka later said in a statement. “I fell forward and hit my arm and head. I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring.

“I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell.

“I was taken to the hospital for some medical tests and have been diagnosed with a mild concussion.”

The only thing missing from Brown’s impressive victory was the steel band that for several years would entertain fans on the plaza outside Arthur Ashe Stadium. But while there was no music, there was plenty of Jamaican joy surrounding the outside court where the two non-seeded players had been relegated.

“It felt like I played a Davis Cup match at home there because a lot of Jamaican guys and Jamaican guys I know that live in New York came out to support me,” Brown said. “It definitely helped me in the hard times where I was really struggling – concentrating and also struggling with my body.”

Wearing dreadlocks and day-glo shoelaces – one orange, the other lime green – the 6-foot-5 (1.96m) Brown slammed 21 aces to go along with his nine double-faults. He finished with 116 total points, 20 more than his opponent.

“That’s one of my biggest weapons, my serve, and it definitely was there when I needed it the most. Especially at the end when I realized that I tried to close out the points really fast,” said.

Born in Celle, Germany, to a Jamaican father and German mother, Brown has honed his skills on the minor-league clay court tournaments of Europe. He pulled off a shocker at a grass-court event this past summer – in Newport, Rhode Island, USA – when he beat another big boomer, American Sam Querrey. It was the Jamaican’s first victory over a top 20 player.

Against Ramirez Hidalgo, Brown mixed his booming serves with deft drop shots, most of the time catching his foe way behind the baseline. Time and again, Ramirez Hidalgo would race to the net, arriving too late to do anything with the ball and usually shoveling it into the net.

“I try it and see how it works,” Brown said of his drop shot. “If the guy is running it down every time and hits a winner, then I should stop. But today it worked pretty well, so I kept using it.”

Brown broke his Spanish foe twice in the opening set, then held at 15 in the 10th game to take first blood, 6-4. The next time either player broke serve, it again was Brown, and this time it was to wrap up the first-round victory.

In the final set, Brown lost just five points on his serve, and no more than one in any of his six service games.

With Ramirez Hidalgo serving to level the set at 5-5, Brown battled through four deuces before he finally closed out the 65-minute victory on his third match point.

In this, the third day of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, several seeded players were ousted.

Young American qualifier Ryan Harrison, making his main draw debut, knocked off 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-4.

“I played him in Indian Wells (California, USA),” the 18-year-old Harrison said of his veteran opponent. “I know kind of what I’m going to get from him.

“He serves very well. Off the ground he’s pretty steady, doesn’t miss a lot. He relies on you to make some mental errors and uses his experience and his serve and his ability to play to his advantage. Coming out today I was looking forward to … playing as aggressive as possible and using my transition game to help me.”

Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was bounced by Frenchman Michael Llodra 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-4.

In women’s matches during the day, Virginie Razzano knocked off French compatriot Marion Bartoli, the 13th seed, 7-5 6-4; Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic beat number 21 Zheng Jie of China, and Luxemburg’s Mandy Minella eliminated number 32 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4 6-0.

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: ARAVANE REZAI COLLECTS TITLE IN SWEDEN

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STARS

Mardy Fish beat Olivier Rochus 5-7 6-3 6-4 to win the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, USA

Aravane Rezai beat Gisela Dulko 6-3 4-6 6-4 to win the Collector Swedish Open Women in Bastad, Sweden

Agnes Szavay beat Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-4 to win the GDF SUEZ Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo beat Roberto Bautista-Agut 7-6 (6) 6-4 to win the Open Diputacion Ciudad Pozoblanco in Pozoblanco, Spain

DAVIS CUP

World Group Quarterfinals

France beat Spain 5-0 at Clermont-Ferrand, France

Argentina beat Russia 3-2 at Moscow, Russia

Serbia beat Croatia 4-1 at Split, Croatia

Czech Republic beat Chile 4-1 at Coquimbo, Chile

Americans Zone Group II Second Round: Venezuela leads Peru 2-1; Mexico beat Paraguay 4-1

Americas Zone Group II Playoffs: El Salvador beat Bolivia 4-1; Netherlands Antilles leads Guatemala 2-1

Asia/Oceania Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Chinese Taipei beat Philippines 4-1; Uzbekistan beat Korea 3-2

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Second Round: Thailand beat Indonesia 4-1; New Zealand beat Pakistan 3-2

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Playoffs: Pacific Oceania beat Malaysia 4-1; Hong Kong China beat Sri Lanka 3-2

Europe/Africa Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Netherlands beat Belarus 4-1

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Second Round: Lithuania beat Ireland 3-2; Slovenia beat Bulgaria 5-0; Portugal beat Cyprus 5-0; Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Estonia 3-2

Aravane Rezai
Aravane Rezai

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Playoffs: Great Britain beat Turkey 5-0; Monaco beat Norway 5-0; Denmark beat Egypt 5-0; Hungary beat FYR Macedonia 4-1

SAYINGS

“We beat Spain, the defending champions. It’s unbelievable.” – Michael Llodra, after leading France over Spain in Davis Cup play.

“It’s magical. They pulled for each other. I hope it’s just the start of a long story for that squad.” – French Davis Cup captain Guy Forget after his team beat two-time defending champion Spain.

“Personally, I had a lot of responsibility with the package that I carried on my back before this tie but right now I feel so relieved that we won. We won in one of the toughest atmospheres against a team that has a lot of success in this competition.” – Novak Djokovic, after leading Serbia over Croatia.

“The only problem is that some words you can understand. Probably when you play in other countries they also say stuff but you don’t understand them.” – Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, commenting on what was said by the passionate Croatian crowd during their Davis Cup doubles match.

“It was a very difficult match but at the end I showed I could win these matches and these tournaments.” – Aravane Rezai, who won her fourth career WTA Tour title, capturing the Collector Swedish Open Women.

“To win two times at home, I can’t describe this feeling.” – Agnes Szavay, a native of Hungary, who successfully defending her GDF SUEZ Grand Prix singles title in Budapest, Hungary.

“I don’t know if any of us said we’re just going to be doubles players. We just excelled on the doubles court a little more than we did on the singles. As much as we would have loved to win more in the singles titles, we did in doubles.” – Todd Woodbridge, as he has partner Mark Woodforde were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“She was fire and I was ice.” – Natasha Zvereva, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame along with her doubles teammate Gigi Fernandez.

“I can’t believe actually that I’m here. This is kind of the last straw. A guy in a wheelchair is being inducted into the Hall of Fame.” – Brad Parkers, a pioneer of wheelchair tennis who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“I’ve certainly lost a lot of heartbreak finals, and it feels good to win one.” – Mardy Fish, after coming from behind to win the Campbell’s International Hall of Fame tournament.

SO LONG, BILLIE

Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams combined to knock Billie Jean King out of one part of the record book. A world record tennis crowd watched Clijsters beat the Wimbledon champion 6-3 6-2 in an exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. The crowd of 35,681 at King Baudouin Stadium surpassed the previous record of 30,472 set in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome in the Battle of Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. It originally was supposed to be an all-Belgian affair, but Williams stepped in when Justine Henin withdrew after injuring her elbow. Another tennis superstar also got into act: Martina Navratilova umpired the match.

STANDING ROOM ONLY

Brussels wasn’t the only spot on the tennis map to have an overflowing crowd. Wimbledon attracted a record crowd for the final Sunday. The All England Club reported that 32,036 spectators attended the final day, which included Rafael Nadal capturing his second men’s singles title, this time with a straight-sets victory over Tomas Berdych. Overall attendance for the two-week tournament was 489,946, the second-highest total for 13 days. The record was set in 2009 when 511,043 fans attended Wimbledon.

SEIZING THE MOMENT

In their first meeting in Davis Cup competition, it was Serbia that came out on top of Croatia. Ranked second in the world, Novak Djokovic won his two singles matches while Nenad Zimonjic showed why he’s one of the top doubles players in the world, teaming victoriously with Janko Tipsarevic as Serbia advanced to the semifinals of the international team tennis competition for the first time. The two countries were formerly part of Yugoslavia. Since they split, Croatia won the Davis Cup in 2005. “This is probably the sweetest victory in my career because this is not just an individual win, but a victory for my country,” Djokovic said after Serbia captured the tie 4-1. “Serbia is writing history by reaching the semifinals. Beating Croatia in this kind of heated atmosphere is really something big.” The tie was played in Split, Croatia.

France crushed two-time defending champion Spain as Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau wrapped up the 5-0 victory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Spain played without its top player, Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, while France was missing its top player, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It was the first time Spain had been beat 5-0 since 1957, when it lost to South Africa, and it was the first time Spain has lost to France in 87 years. “Hopefully they will keep the same level of play and by September our team will be even stronger,” said French captain Guy Forget. “Maybe it’s our time now.”

David Nalbandian beat Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (5) 6-4 6-3 in the decisive fifth match as Argentina ended Russia’s 17-tie winning streak at home. The last time the Russians had lost at home was to the United States in the 1995 final. Nalbandian has been sidelined with a hamstring problem since April, but he won both of his matches in straight sets, on the opening day downing Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6).

It made no difference that Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek stayed at home. The Czech Republic beat Chile 4-1 and advanced to a semifinal matchup against Serbia. Chile’s top player, Fernando Gonzalez, also missed the tie because of injuries. Instead, Ivo Minar and Jan Hajek won their opening day singles in straight sets and the Czech Republic clinched the victory when Lukas Dlouhy and Hajek won the doubles.

SLIPPING

For the first time since November 2003, Roger Federer is not ranked either first or second in the world. The super Swiss tumbled to number three in the world, behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, after losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Federer also lost in the quarters at Roland Garros in June, which broke a record of 23 consecutive semifinal or better appearances in Grand Slam tournaments going back to the French Open in 2004. Since he was last ranked third in the world, Federer has won 15 of his record 16 Grand Slam tournament singles titles. He is one week short of tying Pete Sampras for the most weeks spent at number one: Sampras leads with 286 weeks.

SHARING THE THRILL

Two doubles teams are among the newest inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Australia’s Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde – the “Woodies” – headed the class of seven inductees into the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, shrine. Also enshrined were doubles partners Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva. The Woodies combined for 11 major titles and 61 ATP Tour championships from 1991-2000, a men’s record that is shared with American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. “I think we won our fourth tournament we played together,” Woodbridge said. “It was close on average to every fourth tournament we won the next 10 years. That’s pretty good business.” Fernandez and Zvereva won 14 Grand Slam tournament titles as a team. Also inducted were Brad Parks, the pioneer of wheelchair tennis, Owen Davidson and Derek Hardwick. The latter was enshrined posthumously.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

The richest purse in tennis will go to the US Open singles champions as each will earn a record USD $1.7 million. The purse for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament will top USD $22.6 million, an increase of USD $1 million from last year. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said each singles champion can also earn an additional USD $1 million. The bonus money is for the US Open Series, 10 hard-court tournaments that are linked to the US Open. The two-week tournament in New York City begins August 30.

SETTING OFF ALARMS

A first-round match at the Hall of Fame grass-court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, is being investigated by tennis officials. The investigation was triggered by irregular betting on the match between Great Britain’s Richard Bloomfield and Belgian Christophe Rochus. Bloomfield, ranked number 552nd in the world, defeated his higher-ranked opponent 7-6 (1) 6-3. “If people are willing to risk four pounds to win one, that is indicative of a substantial gamble,” said Tony Calvin, spokesman for online gambling exchange Betfair. Bloomfield had been rated even money against his 160th-ranked foe. In the hours before the match, the odds on Bloomfield winning shortened to 1-4. After he won the first set, the odds shortened to 1-8. Notification of the irregular betting pattern was made to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), an independent body created by the sport’s governing bodies. Bloomfield also was involved in a betting controversy in 2006 when he beat Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in a first-round match at Wimbledon.

SINCE WHEN?

When Mardy Fish captured the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, it was the first time since 2003 that Americans had won the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, tournament two years in a row. Fish beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 5-7 6-3 6-4. Last year, American Rajeev Ram was the winner.

STAYING POWER

Maybe Nicolas Mahut didn’t spend as much time on the grass courts at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, as he did at Wimbledon, but he went one round further. In his first match since his record-setting exploits at Wimbledon, the Frenchman won his opening round match at the Campbell’s International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships, defeating Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-3 1-6 6-3. Mahut lost his second-round match to Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6 (5) 6-3. Still, it was much better than his record-setting 11-hour, 5-minute loss to John Isner at the All England Club. Mahut lost the fifth set 70-68, which in itself would have been the longest match in tennis history. “Nothing is worse than what I did in Wimbledon,” Mahut said. “Every match, I pray it will be easier. I can’t complain any more.”

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bastad: Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta beat Renata Voracova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 (0) 6-0

Budapest: Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin beat Sorano Cirstea and Anabel Medina Garriguez 6-3 6-3

Newport: Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione beat Santiago Gonzalez and Travis Rettenmaier 6-4 6-4

Pozoblanco: Marcel Granollers and Gerard Granollers-Pujol beat Brian Battistone and Filip Prpic 6-4 4-6 10-4 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Stuttgart: www.mercedescup.de/

Bastad: www.swedishopen.org/

Bogota: www.tennissegurosbolivar.com/web/

Palermo: www.internazionalisnaiopendisicilia.it/

Prague: www.pragueopen.cz/

Portoroz: www.sloveniaopen.si/

Bad Gastein: www.gastein-ladies.at/

Petange: www.tennispetange.lu/

Poznan: www.porscheopen.pl/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$500,000 Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany, clay

$500,000 SkiStar Swedish Open, Bastad, Sweden, clay

$133,000 The Baltic Cup, Sopot, Poland, clay

$125,000 Seguros Bolivar Open, Bogota, Colombia, hard

WTA

$220,000 XXII SNBAI Open, Palermo, Italy, clay

$220,000 ECM Prague Open by Glanzis, Prague, Czech Republic, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$1,264,000 International German Open, Hamburg, Germany, clay

$531,000 Atlanta Tennis Championships, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, hard

$107,000 Poznan Porsche Open, Poznan, Poland, clay

WTA

$220,000 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portoroz, Slovenia, hard

$220,000 Nurnberger Gastein Ladies Open, Bad Gastein, Austria, clay

$100,000 ITF Roller Open, Petange, Luxembourg, clay

DULKO TOPS AZARENKA IN ROLAND GARROS UPSET

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By Blair Henley

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the opening day of the 2010 French Open was Gisela Dulko’s 6-2, 6-1 dismantling of No. 10 seed Victoria Azarenka.

Dulko has had trouble on clay this season, losing in the first round of her last four tournaments, but she didn’t need much to out-steady Azarenka, who has struggled recently with her confidence as well as a left thigh injury.

Post-match, Dulko explained her game plan. “I had a very good strategy. I think she played very well. At the beginning I was trying to play a very good first serve and play on her forehand, because that’s her soft spot. I wanted to play well and to vary my game. I managed that.”

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was another seeded casualty, losing to Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-4. Martinez Sanchez couldn’t follow up her stunning results in Rome earlier this month where she took out Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic en-route to the title.

Frenchwoman and No. 15 seed Aravane Rezai, who recently toppled Justine Henin, Jankovic and Venus Williams to win in Madrid, delighted her home crowd by easily dispatching Canadian qualifier Heidi El Tabakh 6-1, 6-1.

Also advancing in the women’s draw were No. 2 Venus Williams, No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 14 Flavia Pennetta, No. 26 Dominika Cibulkova and No. 30 Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko, a quarterfinalist at this year’s Australian Open, faced a tough opponent in hard-hitting Karolina Sprem, but pulled out a win 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Williams, playing in her 14th straight French Open, had a few tight moments with former top 10 star Patty Schnyder, winning 6-3, 6-3.

Kuznetsova, the defending champion, started slowly, losing the first three games to Sorana Cirstea before reeling off 12 of the next 13 for a 6-3, 6-1 win.

“Definitely I was a little bit nervous in the start,” she admitted.  “It was rough start for me, but I think I’m very happy about it.”

Kuznetsova also acknowledged her subpar results this season. The sixth seed came into the tournament with a 1-3 record on clay and 9-9 record overall – the worst of any top 10 women’s player.

“I was not showing as good results as I would like to, but I knew this moment has to pass, because I deserve better.”

Kuznetsova faces 22-year-old Bosnian Andrea Petkovic in the second round.

In an all-American matchup, Varvara Lepchenko beat Christina McHale 7-5, 6-3.

Top seed Serena Williams will be in action on day two along with No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, No.4 Jelena Jankovic, No. 5 Elena Dementieva and No. 7 Sam Stosur.

HENIN WINS TO SET UP DEMENTIEVA CLASH

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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Justine Henin, playing in her first tournament in almost two years with an official WTA Tour ranking, advanced to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday by beating Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-2.

Henin double-faulted five times Wednesday and struggled with inconsistent groundstrokes, but she saved seven of eight break points while converting five of six. Henin is ranked No. 33 on the WTA Tour computer after competing in her third tournament earlier in the year in Indian Wells, Calif., making her eligible for a ranking. She reached the finals of Brisbane and the Australian Open, losing to Kim Clijsters and Serena Willliams, respectively. She lost in the first round of Indian Wells to Gisela Dulko.

Justine Henin
Justine Henin

Henin, a former No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion, is mounting a comeback this year after a 20-month retirement. She’ll play fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the second round Friday.

Henin and Dementieva played an epic second round of the Australian Open earlier this year, won by Henin 7-5, 7-6 (5).

“I realize it’s gonna take a little bit of time to really be in the good rhythm and find myself again on the court, and I have to get used to different kind of things,” Henin said.

“I didn’t live this life for almost two years, so that takes a little bit of time.”

Henin will face a stiffer second-round test from Dementieva. Henin said she is looking forward to the match to find out where she is with her game.

“Now I’m going to have a tough round, tough match,” Henin said. “That’s what I want. So it’s going to be perfect to test myself.”

Seeded players had a first-round bye.

Making her first appearance in Miami since 1996, 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan earned a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

Date Krumm, who retired from the tour in 1996 and started to play again in 2008, spent 2 hours, 32 minutes on the court in beating Chakvetadze.

Chakvetadze saved two match points she faced while serving at 2-5 in the third set and broke Date’s serve in the next game. The Russian lost the match, dropping her serve at love in the final game.

“In the beginning, everybody said (it was) impossible to come back on the tour,” said Date Krumm, who lost the 1995 final in Key Biscayne to Steffi Graf on March 25, 1995.

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: THE FIRST WEEK OF INDIAN WELLS

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STARS

Indian Wells (First Week)

Carla Suarez Navarro beat top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 4-6 6-1

Elena Baltacha beat seventh-seeded Li Na 7-6 (6) 2-6 7-6 (7)

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat ninth-seeded Marin Cilic 7-6 (1) 6-0

Zheng Jie beat 10th-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-3 2-6 6-3

Gisela Dulko beat Justine Henin 6-2 1-6 6-4

Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal beat third-seeded Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes 6-4 3-6 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska beat fourth-seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 6-4 4-6 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Igor Andreev and Evgeny Korolev beat fourth-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-4 6-4

OTHERS

Fernando Meligeni beat Mark Philippoussis 6-2 4-6 10-8 (match tiebreak) to win the Rio Champions Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Stefan Edberg beat Goran Ivanisevic 3-6 6-3 12-10 (match tiebreak) to win the BNP Paribas Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland

SAYINGS

“The tennis ball is perfect. I am not perfect.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, the top-seeded Russian after she lost to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at Indian Wells, California.

Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki at Indian Wells

“As the tiebreak started, she just came out with unbelievable stuff. I think she hit four backhand winners down the line. And I thought, ‘OK, yeah, that’s why you’re top 10. I understand.’ But then at 5-1 I went into the zone and I felt really strong and I just fought my heart out.” – Elena Baltacha, a qualifier from Great Britain who saved two match points en route to a 7-6 (6), 2-6 7-6 (7) upset win over China’s Li Na.

“This week is so special for me because last year this was the last match, and then I haven’t played for almost a year.” – Mario Ancic, winning his first ATP match in more than a year after recurrences of mononucleosis.

“I’m hitting the ball well and training well. But I can see I’m having trouble closing out matches. That’s not something you can practice for.” – Carlos Moya, after edging qualifier Tim Smyczek 7-6 (7) 7-6 (5) in the first round at Indian Wells California, USA

“To not defend my Wimbledon title last year was one of the toughest decisions in my career, but this is a new year and now I have the chance to go back to England and to compete on the grass again.” – Rafael Nadal, who won the last two grass-court tournaments he played, Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in 2008.

“Before the event started, I felt like a stranger among so many great champions. I was the only one that hadn’t reached the top 10, and here I am with this trophy.” – Fernando Meligeni, the surprise winner of the Rio Champions Cup, a senior event played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“John is a great fighter and a fantastic tennis player. He’s still got the fire and wants it badly. There’s only one John McEnroe, and so long as he keeps playing it’s good for tennis.” – Stefan Edberg, after edging McEnroe in a seniors tournament in Zurich, Switzerland.

“It’s too bad I blew it. Any time you’re up 5-0 in a tiebreak you should certainly win it.” – John McEnroe, after losing to Stefan Edberg.

“After 20 minutes of play I was dead. I had pain in my elbow, in my knee. I had blisters. It is tough not to play for four months and then try to play. I have to get used again to play at least a couple of times a week. This is new for me.” – Marat Safin, after losing his first Champions Series match just 17 weeks after retiring from the ATP World Tour.

“Marat’s game is based on the physical power, and as he is not in a competitive shape, it gave me an edge.” – Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, who stunned Marat Safin in the Russian’s Champions Series debut in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“What we guaranteed was at least a million dollars, but people are continuing to make contributions. With a little bit of luck, we’ll tally everything up and we’ll go over the million dollar target.” – Larry Ellison, owner of Indian Wells Tennis Garden, when he presented a check for USD $1 million to the American Red Cross Haiti relief and development fund.

STRICKENED

A broken left wrist has caused fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Davydenko first suffered the injury last month in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, but it was misdiagnosed. An MRI scan on Sunday showed the true injury. “He has a fracture in his left wrist and he will be in a split for the next four weeks,” an ATP Tour official said. The Russian hurt his wrist when he fell during a loss to Sweden’s Robin Soderling. In his next tournament, Davydenko retired with a wrist injury from a match with Michael Berrer.

SAYS BYE TO TIE

Following suicide bomb attacks in Lahore, Pakistan has given up hope of staging a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in July. Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Dilawar Abbas said that while his country has asked the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to allow the tie to be played in Pakistan, “there is no doubt the situation has changed after the Lahore blasts.” Two suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military killed at least 45 people in Lahore in the latest incidents. Several sporting events have been cancelled in the country since the Sri Lanka cricket team’s bus was ambushed last year. Since then the ITF has already moved Davis Cup ties against Oman and Hong Kong out of Pakistan when those nations refused to play in the country.

SPORTSWOMAN OF YEAR

Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters were among the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Williams was named Sportswoman of the Year for the second time, while Clijsters earned Comeback of the Year honors. The 28-year-old Williams, who also won the award seven years ago, was crowned champion at the Australian Open and Wimbledon as well as the season-ending Tour Championships as she regained the number one ranking in 2009. Clijsters won the US Open last year after being absent from tennis for two years to get married and have a baby. Sprinter Usain Bolt won the Sportsman of the Year award for the second time. Former Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo was presented with the Sport for Good award, honored for his humanitarian work through the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.

SHARING SKILLS

Goran Ivanisevic will continue to coach Marin Cilic on a part-time basis. Ivanisevic will travel with the Australian Open semifinalist to Key Biscayne, Florida, and Madrid, Spain, to continue the relationship the two began at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors tournament in February, an event Cilic won. The 21-year-old Cilic is coached on a full-time basis by Bob Brett, who also coached Ivanisevic. At Miami and Madrid, Brett will step back and let Ivanisevic take over. “I will be like a mentor to Marin,” Ivanisevic said. It was Ivanisevic who first brought Cilic, then 15 years old, to Brett’s attention. Cilic and Brett have worked together ever since at Brett’s academy in San Remo, Italy.

SPEED BUMP

Justine Henin ran into a speed bump on her comeback trail. Playing just her third tournament since ending a 19-month retirement, Henin lost to Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-2 1-6 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. The Belgian, who was ranked number one in the world when she retired in May 2008, had reached the finals at Brisbane, Australia, and the Australian Open in her previous two tournaments this year. Against Dulko, however, Henin struggled on serve, saving just two of eight break points, and never found consistency with her ground strokes. “It was a tough day today, I agree,” Henin said. “I wasn’t consistent enough. That’s very simple. It’s a bit of an off day and you have to deal with it.”

SUPER MATCH

When Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe clashed at the ATP Champions Tour event in Zurich, Switzerland, it was the fans that came away the winner. Edberg saved two match points and earned a standing ovation with his thrilling 6-4 4-6 13-11 (match tiebreak) victory. The 51-year-old McEnroe won the first five points of the tiebreak, only to see Edberg knot the score at 8-8. McEnroe surged again, setting up two match points, before Edberg rallied for the victory. “I was pretty lucky to come out of this one,” Edberg said. “I thought I had lost the match when I was 5-0 down in the tiebreak. John was serving well and you shouldn’t really win a match like that, but luckily I did.” The two players received a standing ovation from the crowd at the Saalsporthalle in Zurich.

Edberg rallied from two match points down again in the title match before defeating Goran Ivanisevic 3-6 6-3 12-10 (match tiebreak). This time, the match points came on Ivanisevic’s serve, one of the biggest in tennis.

SENIOR STUNNER

Being the youngest in the field and newly retired from the ATP Tour, Marat Safin probably thought it would be an easy run at the Banco Cruzeiro do Sul Rio Champions Cup, a senior event. He was so wrong. Safin was stunned by South African Wayne Ferreira 7-6 (4) 6-4 in the Russian’s Champions Series debut. The 30-year-old Safin played his last match on the ATP World Tour 17 weeks ago. The 38-year-old Ferreira last played a full season on the ATP Tour in 2004. It was his first win over Safin after losing all three previous meetings during their ATP careers.

SIGNED UP

Lleyton Hewitt is the latest star to enter the first Atlanta Tennis Championships, scheduled to be held July 19-25 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The hard-court tournament was moved to Atlanta from Indianapolis, Indiana, and serves as the kickoff to the 2010 Olympus US Open Series. Besides Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam tournament winner, others who have entered the Atlanta Tennis Championships include Americans John Isner, James Blake and Robby Ginepri.

STANDING TALL

As he promised, Fernando Gonzalez toured the area in Chile where a massive earthquake last month killed hundreds of people. During Chile’s first-round Davis Cup tie against Israel, Gonzalez promised the visit. “The people are very strong even though they’ve lost everything, and they are optimistic,” Gonzalez posted on Twitter during his visit. “I wish every one of us would have this fighting spirit to get through this moment and move forward.” Gonzalez visited a fishing village called El Morro, near Talcahuano, which was devastated by both the earthquake and a subsequent tsunami. The Olympic gold medalist played a tennis exhibition with children of the area. Talcahuano’s mayor, Gaston Saavedra, thanked Gonzalez for his visit, saying: “A national figure as Fernando Gonzalez helps people to clear their mind a little, especially the ones that have lost everything.”

STUMBLING

Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs won 32 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles titles together before they went their separate ways. Now they’re back together again, but the victories have yet to follow. Seeded fourth at the PNB Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA, Raymond and Stubbs were upset by Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 4-6 10-3 (match tiebreak). Raymond had been seeking to become the first woman to win the doubles at Indian Wells seven times. Since reuniting at the start of this year, the team of Raymond and Stubbs has lost their opening match in three of their four Tour events.

STRAIGHT IN

The last time Rafael Nadal was at Queen’s Club, he came away with the grass-court tournament title. Now he’s returning, but not as the defending champion. Nadal missed the tournament last year because of a knee problem. In 2008, he became the first man to win the French Open, Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in the same year. “I always look forward to coming to England to play at The Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, but this year there is even more motivation because I could not defend my titles last year,” Nadal said. Also entered in this year’s Queen’s Club is US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

SEEKING ANSWERS

Talk about pressure. Now the House of Commons will take a look at the state of British tennis. The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, has asked a group of MPs and peers to examine whether the Lawn Tennis Association is putting its public money to the best use. It is believe to be the first time the government has been asked to scrutinize the perceived flaws and failings of British tennis. In addition to the £ 25 million-plus the LTA receives each year from Wimbledon, the governing body of British tennis is receiving £ 26.8 million of public money from Sport England spread over a four-year period from 2009 to 2013. At least two hearings are planned, and a number of LTA’s critics are expected to testify about where they think the current tennis administration has gone wrong. Sutcliffe said there was a possibility of cutting future funding for British tennis.

SERVING ALL

The Bud Collins Tennis Courts have opened for play at the Prince Royal’s College in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The courts, named for the famed tennis writer, were the scene of a small tournament as part of the opening festivities. Players aged 8 to 18 participated, with Collins himself awarding the trophies. Collins’ missionary grandparents founded the Prince Royal’s College in 1887. The writer’s father was the third of seven children, all born in Siam, then the name of the country now known as Thailand. The opening of the Bud Collins Tennis Courts is a continuation of the Collins legacy at the school.

SWISS RECIPIENT

Heinz Grimm of Switzerland is the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Golden Achievement Award given by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation (ITF). The Golden Achievement Award is presented annually to individuals who have made important contributions internationally to tennis in the fields of administration, promotion or education, and have devoted long and outstanding service to the sport. Grimm has been active as an administrator in the sport for more than five decades. He received the award at the Swiss Tennis Gala Night in Zurich from Sir James Harvie-Watt, a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Among his many activities, Grimm has been chairman of the Fed Cup Committee and in 2001 was named an honorary life vice president of the ITF. Before he became an administrator, Grimm played on Switzerland’s Davis Cup team in 1960 and served as a playing captain in 1961 and a non-playing captain from 1962 to 1974. Nominations for the Golden Achievement Award are submitted by tennis federations and individuals from the around the world, and then voted on by the Golden Achievement Award Selection Committee.

SOME HOME COOKING

Nothing like playing at home for Fernando Meligeni. Spurred on by a boisterous and supportive home crowd, the Brazilian was a surprise winner of the Banco Cruzerio do Sul Rio Champions Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Meligeni downed Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-2 4-6 10-8 (match tiebreak) in the final. His first title in the Champions Series for players 30 and over earned Meligeni USD $60,000. Before now, Meligeni’s best career performances were a semifinal appearance at the 1999 French Open and a fourth-place finish at the 1996 Olympic Games.

SLOANE SPECIAL

A 16-year-old native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, Sloan Stephens won her first WTA Tour match, defeating Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5) 7-6 (7). It wasn’t easy, however. Stephens led 5-2 in the second set and had match point on her serve in the ninth game. Then she had to rally from 3-6 down in the second-set tiebreaker. “I wasn’t getting nervous,” the young American admitted. “She started playing a lot more. Before, she was hitting a lot of balls off the court and I was waiting for the error. She made me play at the end.”

SIGNED UP 2

US Open finalists Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki have entered the grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, England. Clijsters celebrated her return to professional tennis following a two-year retirement by winning America’s premier tennis event by beating Wozniacki, who is the defending champion at Eastbourne. “I won it in 2005 and can’t wait to play there to come back to challenge for the title again,” Clijsters said. “It’s a really well-run tournament in a laid-back atmosphere providing the perfect preparation ahead of Wimbledon.”

SERENA VS. MARTINA

When World Team Tennis begins play in July, Martina Hingis will take on Serena Williams in a battle between two players who have been ran ked number one in the world. A five-time Grand Slam tournament singles champion and the youngest woman to be ranked number one, Hingis will play for the New York Buzz and face Serena on July 9. Hingis also will play Venus Williams of the Washington Kastles on July 7 and Kim Clijsters of the New York Sportimes on July 19.

STEALING THE LIMELIGHT

Martina Navratilova and Andre Agassi stole the limelight with their wit as well as their racquets while playing exhibition matches to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Navratilova and Justine Henin beat Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport 8-6 before Pete Sampras and Roger Federer stopped Agassi and Rafael Nadal by the same score. The men’s doubles match also added some controversy to the night. After Sampras did an impersonation of Agassi by walking pigeon-toed on the baseline, Agassi responded by pulling out both the pockets of his tennis shorts and saying he didn’t have any money. In his book “Open,” Agassi wrote that Sampras had a reputation for being a very bad tipper.

SERVING TENNIS CANADA

Marc Bibeau is the newest member of Tennis Canada’s board of directors. President of Beauward Shopping Centres Ltd., Bibeau has played tennis his entire life and is a volunteer director of Tennis Canada. “Tennis has always been my passion,” Bibeau said. He replaces Senator Francis Fox, who decided not to stand for re-election after four years on the board.

SITES TO SURF

Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.org/

Marrakech: www.arryadia.com/mtt

Sunrise: www.sunrisetennis.com

Bogota: www.tennissegurosbolivar.com

Miami: www.sonyericssonopen.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$4,000,000 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

$145,000 Morocco Tennis Tour, Marrakech, Morocco, clay

$125,000 BMW Tennis Championships, Sunrise, Florida, USA, hard

WTA

$4,000,000 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

SENIORS

Seguros Bolivar Tennis Champions, Bogota, Colombia, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$4,000,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)

WTA

$4,000,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)