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Defending champion Rafael Nadal, world no.1 Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick headline 2011 US Open men’s field

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Rafael Nadal

The USTA announced today that world No. 1 and reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, reigning US Open and French Open champion Rafael Nadal, and five-time US Open champion Roger Federer lead the men’s singles field for the 2011 US Open Tennis Championships.  The player field also features former US Open champions Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro.  Each of the world’s top 101 men received direct entry into the US Open, representing 40 countries.

The 2011 US Open will be played August 29 – September 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.  Both the men’s and women’s US Open singles champions will earn $1.8 million with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money (for a total $2.8 million potential payout) based on their performances in the Olympus US Open Series.  The US Open Men’s Singles Championship is presented by Mercedes-Benz USA.

Leading the entry list is world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who will be seeking his first US Open title after reaching the final in 2010.  Djokovic won the 2011 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, and following his win at Wimbledon became the first player other than Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to be ranked No. 1 on the ATP World Tour since Andy Roddick in 2003.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal enters as the defending US Open champion and is seeking his 11th career Grand Slam singles title after winning the 2011 French Open.

World No. 3 Roger Federer is seeking his sixth US Open title which would surpass Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors for most U.S. Open men’s singles titles in the Open Era.  In 2007, Federer became the only man to win the Olympus US Open Series and US Open titles in the same year.

Following Nadal, Djokovic and Federer on the entry list are No. 4 Andy Murray of Great Britain, the 2008 US Open runner-up; No. 5 Robin Soderling of Sweden, the French Open runner-up in 2009 and 2010; No. 6 David Ferrer of Spain, a 2007 US Open semifinalist; No. 7 Gael Monfils of France; No. 8 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up; No. 9 Mardy Fish of Tampa, Fla.; and No. 10 Andy Roddick of Austin, Texas, the 2003 US Open Champion.

In all, there are six entrants who have won Grand Slam singles titles in their careers, including 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

Other American men who received direct entry into this year’s tournament include: No. 35 John Isner of Tampa, Fla.; No. 50 Sam Querrey of Las Vegas; No. 63 Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Miami; No. 66 Ryan Sweeting of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and No. 91 James Blake of Tampa, Fla.

Marc Gicquel of France, ranked No. 101, is the last player accepted directly into the men’s field of 128.  Additionally, three players used protected rankings to gain direct entry: Fernando Gonzalez of Chile; Tommy Haas of Germany; and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.  Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, August 23-26, while the remaining eight spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

Among the players competing in the US Open Qualifying Tournament will be the winner of the second annual US Open National Playoffs – Men’s Championship, held during the Olympus US Open Series event in New Haven, Conn., prior to the US Open Qualifying Tournament.  The USTA created the US Open National Playoffs in 2010 to allow players 14-and-older, regardless of playing ability or nationality, to vie for a spot in the US Open Qualifying Tournament via one of 16 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments.

The July 18 edition of the ATP World Tour rankings was used to determine the US Open main draw entry list.  Seeds will be determined and announced closer to the start of the event.

The 2011 US Open will mark the culmination of the Olympus US Open Series, the North American summer season of 10 ATP World Tour and WTA events that began July 18.  The US Open is the highest attended annual sporting event in the world.  More than 80 million viewers watched the 2010 US Open on CBS Sports, ESPN2 and Tennis Channel, and international broadcasts reached 185 countries.  In 2010, Rafael Nadal completed the career Grand Slam by defeating Novak Djokovic to win his first US Open title.  In the women’s singles final, Kim Clijsters captured the title for the second consecutive year, defeating Vera Zvonareva to win her third career US Open title.

The 2011 US Open will be held Monday, August 29 through Sunday, September 11.  Tickets for the 2011 US Open can be purchased four ways:  1) at USOpen.org; 2) by calling Ticketmaster at 1-866-OPEN-TIX; 3) at all Ticketmaster outlets; or 4) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center box office.  American Express is the Official Card of the US Open.

LAGARDERE EXPANDS, FEDERER SIGNS WITH MERCEDES-BENZ: THIS WEEK IN TENNIS BUSINESS

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By Leigh Sanders

* Arnaud Lagardere is angling to further expand in to the $100 billion global sports industry by directly taking on IMG Worldwide Inc. which represents tennis stars such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. On May 31, they announced the opening of a new sports marketing division of its business empire which adds agency and consultancy actions to their existing sports operations. Lagardere, based in Paris, is looking for faster-paced aspects of the sports industry to invest in to counteract recent sluggish sales brought on by the worldwide recession. On May 11, the company announced a drop in first-quarter revenue of 1.5 per cent but following the Monday announcement those shares rose by 10 cents in Paris trading to 26.17 Euros as of 1:53pm. The movements follow the company’s long-term aims of buying and selling different assets in a bid to fully align itself for the new business and focus mainly on their media actions, moving slowly away from their traditional publishing exploits which saw them make huge profits off the back of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twighlight” series of novels. They also announced on Monday that they had bought the American sports marketing company BEST in a bid to gain an “open door” in to the American sports market whilst also acquiring a 30 per cent stake in Saddlebrook, an academy for promising athletes based in Florida. They also inquired about purchasing IMG itself, but talks ended after a price could not be agreed.

* Mercedez-Benz have announced that Roger Federer has become one of the brand’s main ambassadors allowing them to use his image and his gear for product placement in an initiative to boost the brand’s global renown through tennis. He has already been promoting the company in China since 2008. “Much like our own brand, Roger has an impressive and unrivalled history but the best is still yet to come,” said Stephen Cannon, Vice President Marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA.

* ATP international group chief executive Brad Drewett has described the potential of tennis in China as “the sky [being] the limit” as he helped launch the country’s first Challenger Event in Beijing. “China is an incredible opportunity and the ATP has been well-established here for a long time,” he told Reuters. “The popularity of tennis has grown exponentially here over the past five to 10 years. That growth will continue but the important thing about this program is to have young players coming through who will hopefully be playing on the final weekend in either the China Open or the Shanghai Masters.”

* The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies and the Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) have announced that the insurance magnates will become the sole sponsors of the city’s ATP 250 Event and US Open Series tournament held at UCLA every year. The change brings a new name for the tournament – the Farmer’s Classic – which celebrates its 84th birthday this year.

* ArabianBusiness.com has reported that the Nick Bollettieri-branded tennis academy to be based at the Dubai Lifestyle City in Dubailand has been scrapped. The project was planned by developer ETA Star Group who wanted to build a series of star-branded sports academies at the site. The David Leadbetter golf academy is another to hit the buffers.

* Babolat has announced that TennisChannel will be its partner for the network’s forthcoming 135th anniversary bag check. In addition, Babolat will sponsor the Giveaway du Jour contest which sees the winner pick up a Babolat 135th anniversary bag and racquet.

* Paul Annacone will be leaving his coaching role with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in November. The former coach of Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Marat Safin and Tim Henman has been removed as a Davis Cup coach following the nation’s recent slump and it has been decided that he will no longer continue to work with the LTA.

* This year’s Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, RI, will see its top eight seeds filled by players from the world’s top 100 players. The ATP 250 Event will welcome homegrown heroes Rajeev Ram (defending champion), Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent, Michael Russell and American No. 3 Sam Querrey as well as German No. 53 Benjamin Becker, top Belgians Olivier Rochus and Xavier Malisse, and Columbia’s Alejandro Falla. “We look forward to delivering a very exciting week of professional tennis on the Hall of Fame grass courts this summer,” said Mark L. Stenning, CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The event is played July 5-11.

* Recent reports emanating from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) over the past few days don’t look promising for British tennis. According to internal communications the current aim is to have one male and four female players in the world’s top 100 by 2012. By September 2016, this is set to increaser to four men as well as being in the top groups of both the Davis and Fed Cups. The LTA has defended these targets as “realistic.” “We don’t have too many [male] players aged 22 or 23 at the moment,” says player director Steve Martens. “We’ve got a few, and they do have a shot in the next two years to make the top 100. But I think it’s tough. It’s going to be a strong challenge for them. Not impossible, but no guarantee. That’s why we have to give them the motivation as well as the financial backing in the right way.” But one former head of men’s tennis has another view. “It’s a very negative message,” says Mark Petchey, who walked out of the LTA in 2006. “It makes you question their strategy in terms of what they’ve done for the players. If you don’t really believe that they’re going to become top-100 players then why are you helping them?”

* Jerry Jones has announced that tennis will be coming to his Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys Tennis Slam will feature a pair of best-of-three matches including Serena Williams against Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick taking on John Isner. Matches take place on July 10, six days after Wimbledon finishes. “We have seen the flexibility our new stadium has for holding spectacular events of all kinds and this event should be like no other,” Jones said.

* The draw for the first round matches of next year’s Fed Cup have taken place. In the World Group 1, Australia will face Italy while France face a tricky trip to Russia. Political headlines await the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic tie and a Clijsters/Henin rejuvenated Belgium will host the USA. In World Group II, minnows Estonia host an improving Spain while Germany travel to Slovenia. Serbia host Canada and Sweden will host Ukraine.

* Eurosport and Panasonic have been providing the first pan-European 3D broadcasts of live French Open tennis this year. The men’s and women’s semifinals and finals will be included in the project which is the first ever live pan-European 3D broadcast of an entire multi-day sporting event in Europe. The broadcasts will last for 14 days between May 24 and June 6 and will broadcast to stores across Europe to showcase both Panasonic’s new 3D TV screens and Eurosport’s sports and technical expertise.

* Patrick McEnroe and Tennis.com’s Peter Bodo have combined on a book “Hardcourt Confidential” ($25.95, Hyperion) which is due out June 8. McEnroe is the U.S. Davis Cup captain, ESPN television commentator and the head of the USTA’s Player Development program. Bodo also released an “e-book” this week called “The Clay Ran Red” ($5.99, Diversion Books) about the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry at the French Open.

* Former Wimbledon and French Open champion Jan Kodes has partnered with New Chapter Press for the U.S. publishing of the book “Jan Kodes: Journey to Glory from Behind the Iron Curtain.” The coffee table book, that retails for $49.95 ($32.97 on amazon.com) also profiles the history of Czech tennis.

* Grand Slam Tennis Tours is one of the advertisers on the nationally televised tennis program “World Tennis With Harry Cicma” that airs this summer on New England Sports Network. For more information on Grand Slam tennis tours, go to www.grandslamtennistours.com.

* Michael Chang and Jim Courier, two of only eight Americans to win the men’s singles title at the French Open, will be in the field for the $150,000 Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships in Surprise, Ariz., to be played October 20-24 at the Surprise Recreation Campus Tennis and Racquet Complex. Joining Chang and Courier in the field will be 1984 French Open finalist John McEnroe, 1986 French Open finalist Mikael Pernfors, Mark Philippoussis, Wayne Ferreira, Aaron Krickstein and Jimmy Arias. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships is a third-year event on the Champions Series tennis circuit, the New York-based global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over. For the first time in Surprise this year, mixed doubles matches will be part of the schedule as former world No. 1 doubles player Anna Kournikova and two-time U.S. Open singles champion Tracy Austin will participate in the day and night sessions of the event on Saturday October 23. Tickets for the event go on sale Saturday, May 29 and can be purchased at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex, 14469 W. Paradise Lane and also online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.