Sharapova signs HEAD racquet endorsement deal worth apparently $2 million
World No. 18 Maria Sharapova and HEAD racquet sports have announced a multi-year endorsement deal, which is reportedly worth $2 million a year. The three-time Grand Slam singles champion, who is engaged to New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic, will join the “HEAD Racquet Rebels” marketing team that already includes Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling. The 23-year-old former world No. 1 previously played with Prince racquets for more than 10 years. Sharapova said in a statement that she is confident her new HEAD racquets will help her get back in to the Top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings.
Wozniacki signs deal to play with Yonex racquets
World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who has played who Babolat racquets her entire career, will now be playing with Yonex frames. The 20-year-old Dane, who won six singles titles in 2010, will be playing with the Yonex VCore 100S. Tennis racquet experts insist Wozniacki will have to quickly adjust to the different head shape since her previous Babolat racquet was round and her new frame is rectangular. Most tennis players change frames mid-career despite already having successful results on tour because they see big dollar signs with the sponsorship deal.
Champions Series Tennis Circuit to feature expanded markets in condensed fall season in 2011
On Tuesday, InsideOut Sports + Entertainment announced an expanded and re-formatted Champions Series tennis circuit starting in 2011 with one-night events in 12 North American markets played this fall. Each new Champions Series event will feature a field of four major champions competing in a one-night shootout tournament with two semifinal matches followed immediately by a championship match. Players will compete for ranking points and a prize money bonus pool for the top three finishers on the circuit. Information on venues, dates, player fields, sponsors, ticket information and television airings will be announced in the coming months. “The new version of the Champions Series will be more impactful with one-night powerhouse events allowing a wider audience to experience this special brand of tennis,” said Jon Venison, Co-Owner of InsideOut Sports + Entertainment. “Players will be able to play in two or three markets over one weekend in the same amount of time they would spend in one city with the prior multi-day tournament format of the circuit. Additionally, with the condensed fall schedule, fans will be able to more easily follow the season from start to finish.” Since its debut in 2005, the Champions Series has held 32 tournaments around the world featuring players such as Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Bjorn Borg, Marat Safin, Michael Chang, Patrick Rafter and Courier.
Dent starting tennis academy in Newport Beach, California
Recently retired American tennis player Taylor Dent announced via his Twitter page that the Dent Tennis Academy opens on January 17th at Old Balboa Bay Club in California, which is currently named the Tennis Club at Newport Beach.
2011 Sony Ericsson Open single-session tickets on sale now
On Monday, January 3, single-session tickets went on sale for all 24 sessions for the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Fans can purchase tickets now by calling the tournament ticket office at (305) 442-3367 or by visiting the Sony Ericsson Open official website at: www.sonyericssonopen.com. This year’s tournament, which will again take place at the Crandon Park Tennis Center just minutes away from downtown Miami, will be played from March 21-April 3. Men’s and women’s qualifying will start on March 21 with several women’s main draw singles matches taking place on March 22. The first men’s main draw singles matches will begin on March, 23. In 2010, American Andy Roddick defeated Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych to win the men’s title while Belgian Kim Clijsters defeated American Venus Williams to win the women’s title.
Dunlop tennis ball partnership done with French Open, but continues with Masters 1000 events
In 2010, the Dunlop tennis ball was used during the entire clay court tennis season, including at the all the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 events. It was recently announced that Dunlop will no longer be the official tennis ball used during the French Open, the second Grand Slam played during the calendar year and the only Grand Slam played on clay. “We have decided to concentrate on our sponsorship of the full clay court season prior to the French Open. Dunlop is immensely proud of its unrivaled portfolio of sponsorships and our intention is to maximize the full value of these properties during the main European clay court season,” said Sunny Singh, Head of Sports Marketing for Dunlop.
Agassi and Safin to play exhibition matches in Taiwan
Former top-ranked players Andre Agassi and Marat Safin will play two exhibition matches on January 6 and 8 in Taipei and Kaohsiung, respectively, according to organizers. The event will also feature Russian world No. 10 player Mikhail Youzhny andTaiwan star Yen-Hsun Lu, who beat Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2010. Also featured will be raising Taiwan player Jimmy Wang. The exhibition event will open by featuring a one-set singles match between Youzhny and Lu at the Taipei Arena, followed by a best of three-set match between Agassi and Safin. The exhibition will conclude with a doubles match featuring all four players. The tournament will then be moved to Kaohsiung and the doubles teams will be rearranged.
Federer-Nadal exhibitions matches raise close to $4 million for charity
The tennis exhibition matches played by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in Zurich, Switzerland and Madrid, Spain, helped raise close to $4 million for charity. Following the match in Zurich, Federer announced that event in his home country raised $2.5 million for his foundation to support projects in Africa. Following the match in Spain, Nadal said his event helped bring in $1.32 million toward the Rafa Nadal Foundation. Nadal also mentioned that more money will be brought in once pieces of the court that the match was played on are sold.
Former World No. 4 Kiefer retires
Former world No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer announced his retirement from the ATP World Tour effective immediately so he can spend more time with his girlfriend and daughter. Kiefer, who won the 2004 doubles silver medal with Rainer Schuettler at the Athens Olympics, won 366 singles matches and lost 274 throughout his career that started in 1995. The 33-year-old German won six career singles titles and three doubles titles, while earning just over $7.4 million in tournament prize money during his lengthy career. Kiefer reached the semifinals in 2006 at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals once at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
More wildcards announced for Australian Open
Former world No. 4 and 2000 Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic and former world No. 8 Alicia Molik have been awarded wild cards into the women’s main draw for the upcoming Australian Open in Melbourne. Matthew Ebden and Peter Luczak, both of Australia, have been awarded men’s main draw wild cards. Olivia Rogowska and Marinko Matosevic secured wild cards by winning the Australian Open wild card playoffs, which were played in December at Melbourne Park. One pair of wild cards for the Australian Open is awarded by the USTA and one by the FFT as part of a reciprocal deal with Tennis Australia, which gets a pair of wild cards for Australian players at the US Open and French Open in return. The American playoffs were won by Laura Davis and Ryan Harrison, while Virginie Razzano and Beniot Paire were selected for wildcards by the French federation.
Zheng pulls out of Australian Open with wrist injury
2010 Australian Open women’s semifinalist Jie Zheng has withdrawn from the Australian Open as she recovers from recent wrist surgery.
Alona Bondarenko will miss Australian Open due to knee surgery
Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine has withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open in Melbourne after recently undergoing knee surgery. This is the second time in the 26-year-old’s career that she has had to have knee surgery.
Bondarenko sisters change mind, will play Fed Cup
After saying they will not participate in Fed Cup for their home country of Ukraine, Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko have changed their mind and said they will continue to play Fed Cup, according to the Vice President of the Ukraine Tennis Federation. Kateryna is expected to play in Ukraine’s first round Fed Cup tie against Switzerland, while Alona will be sidelined for the first round tie due to recent knee surgery.