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2010 US OPEN ARTWORK SURFACES, GEICO BECOMES WTT PRESENTING SPONSOR: THIS WEEK IN TENNIS BUSINESS

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By: Justin Cohen

  • The official artwork of the 2010 US Open has surfaced to the public (see photo) as tickets for the 2010 US Open tennis championships have been on sale to the public for just over two weeks. For ticket information, go to www.USOpen.org.
  • World Team Tennis announced that GEICO will be the presenting sponsor of the 2010 WTT Pro League. Since 2005, GEICO has been the official auto insurance sponsor of the WTT Pro League and presenting sponsor of the WTT Coaches Challenge. GEICO will now be extending its role with the WTT as the presenting sponsor and will have league-wide branding and signage initiatives including baseline signage, net post covers, umpire boxes, instant replay boxes and LED screen. “We applaud World Team Tennis for putting together a unique program that challenges players and entertains fans,” said Rynthia Rost, GEICO Vice President.  “We see how WTT inspires people to be connected to the sport and enjoy the competition.  We’re delighted to once again take part in the upcoming WTT season.” The WTT Pro League regular season kicks off on July 5 in ten cities with the finals being played in Kansas City on July 25. Serena and Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, John McEnroe, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, Michael Chang and Bob and Mike Bryan are all slated to participate in the WTT Pro League this summer.
  • Via Twitter from TennisReporters, former American player Jan-Michael Gambill allegedly owes more than 1.7 million dollars in delinquent federal taxes.
  • AT&T and Tennis Channel announced the addition of Tennis Channel to the U-verse® television line up. Tennis Channel is available on channel 660 and 1660 (high definition) in the AT&T U450 package, as well as The Sports Package. Plans are in full gear for a distribution expansion across multiple AT&T screens, including AT&T mobile and U-verse online services. “We’re proud to bring the Tennis Channel to AT&T customers. It’s a great addition to the U-verse TV channel lineup and our Sports Multiview app,” said Dan York, the President of Content at AT&T. “This deal helps us with important strategic content initiatives and gives our U-verse TV customers access to even more exciting sports content, and in thrilling HD.”
  • The USTA Player Development has announced the hiring of Argentine Diego Moyano as their new Clay-Court Specialist coach. Moyano, who will be based at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., will assist in coaching and training programs designed specifically for clay court play. Moyano, who played professionally from 1997-2005 and reached a career best ATP ranking of No. 130 in 2000, will report to Jose Higueras.
  • Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been re-elected to the ATP World Tour Players Council. Novak Djokovic was not re-elected, while Sam Querrey and Nenad Zimonjic were the newly appointed members.
  • The Bank of the West Classic from July 26-August 1 at Stanford University’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium will feature 11 of the top 27 seeds from this year’s Wimbledon. Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Shahar Peer, Yanina Wickmayer, Maria Sharapova, Zheng Jie, Vera Zvonareva, Daniela Hantuchova, Alisa Kleybanova and Maria Kirilenko will all compete in Palo Alto during the Olympus US Open Series event.
  • The Cowboy Tennis Classic at the new Cowboy Stadium in Dallas has been cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation of the July 10 exhibition matches that were to feature Andy Roddick, John Isner, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. All tickets will be refunded according to a statement.
  • Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Fla., has become the presenting sponsor of “World Tennis with Harry Cicma” which can be seen on the New England Sports Network (NESN). The final three shows in July, August and September, will be hosted from the official site of the Saddlebrook Resort and will feature interviews with top players that train at the resort. The “World Tennis with Harry Cicma” deal with Saddlebrook was brokered and negotiated by Leverage Agency Chief Executive Ben Sturner. Leverage Agency (www.LeverageAgency.com) is a top five sports marketing agency with headquarters in New York City. Other sponsors of the 2010 season of the show include Tournagrip (www.uniquesports.com), Ace Authentic (www.aceauthentic.com), Grand Slam Tennis Tours (www.GrandSlamTennisTours.com), the International Tennis Hall of Fame (www.tennisfame.com), Morfit Performance fitness apparel (www.MorfitPerformance.com), the Peter Kaplan Tennis Academy (www.WesthamptonTennis.com), State Ultra Lounge (www.StateUltraLounge.com) and New Chapter Media (www.NewChapterMedia.com.)
  • Justine Henin’s brother, Thomas, faces one year in prison after being convicted of embezzlement and fraud in Belgium. He was recently sentenced to two years in prison with one of those years suspended after he was busted for stealing 200,000 Euros from a bank he worked at 10 years ago. Henin’s other brother, David, is also alleged to have benefited from the crime and might be slapped with 300 hours of community service.
  • Following his opening round straight set loss to Robin Haase at Wimbledon, 30-year-old James Blake said he experienced more pain in his knee that has caused him troubles recently and will consider retiring from the ATP World Tour if the problem continues. “If it doesn’t get better soon, I’m not sure how much longer I want to play in pain,” said Blake. “It was feeling great in Eastourne, and then had a little setback.” The former Top 10 player said he will see how the injury holds up throughout the summer.  “If (the option) is continuing to play in pain, I’ll reassess after the Open and see if I want to continue that. If I need to, after the Open, take the rest of the year off and then see if I can start fresh in 2011.”
  • Thomas Muster, a former world No. 1 and 1995 Roland Garros champion, will come out of retirement at the age of 42 and play on the ATP Challenger circuit. “I never formally retired, as I said after that match I would go on a holiday,” said Muster. “So now I am just returning from my holiday.” He will play his first challenger at Braunschweig in Germany in two weeks.
  • The Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., is having a special ticket offer through June 26 for the only professional grass court tournament played in the United States. Buy two tickets for the finals on Sunday, July 11 and receive an autographed picture of top seeded American Sam Querrey. Tickets for the tournament, which will be played from July 5-11, can be ordered online at tennisfame.com or by calling 866-914-3263. American Rajeev Ram is the defending singles champion.Georgia Tech’s Irina Falconi and University of Southern California’s Robert Farah were named the 2010 Campbell’s/Intercollegiate Tennis Association National College Players of the Year on Tuesday. The award is given annually to one male and one female singles player who has had the most outstanding year in college tennis. Falconi and Farah will be recognized at the 2010 International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on July 10 in Newport, R.I., during the ATP World Tour Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Former ITA National Player of the Year winners include James Blake, Amer Delic, Bob Bryan, MaliVai Washington, Lisa Raymond, Jill Craybas and Laura Granville.

JANKOVIC HAS RAIN TO THANK

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By Blair Henley

Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic may have the rain to thank for her second round win over Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The two waited over four hours to start their match, but the wet weather forced them to halt play again at 1-1 in the third, breaking Kanepi’s momentum after a strong second set.

Kanepi, listed at 5’11” and 163 lbs., beat Jankovic in their only previous meeting last year in Dubai, but her powerful game was much less effective on the damp clay at Roland Garros Thursday.

Jankovic is coming off a solid clay season, beating both Serena and Venus Williams earlier this month in Rome. She plays the winner of No. 27 seed Alona Bonderenko and Magdalena Rybarikova.

It took just over an hour for No. 28 seed Alisa Kleybanova to take out struggling 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-0. Ivanovic, currently ranked No. 42, won the first two games before losing 12 out of the next 13.

Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan ran out of magic against Australia’s Jarmila Groth losing 6-0, 6-3. Date-Krumm, 39, became the second oldest woman to win a French Open match when she upset last year’s finalist, Dinara Safina, in the first round.

Also advancing were No. 17 seed, Francesca Schiavone and No. 11 seed Na Li.

Serena Williams’ match against Julia Goerges was postponed until Friday.

CATCHING UP WITH SERENA AND VENUS

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Serena Williams and Venus Williams are back on top of the tennis world. The sisters are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the WTA Tour rankings and are the top two seeds at the 2010 French Open. Will they face off for the women’s singles final on Saturday, June 5 just as they did at Roland Garros in 2002? The next two weeks will see if that scenario will play out.

Television personality Harry Cicma spoke with both Serena and Venus about Roland Garros, Wimbledon and other topics in tennis in this interview that appears on the TV show “World Tennis with Harry Cicma” which airs this summer on the New England Sports Network (NESN).

WOZNIACKI, SERENA WIN ROLAND GARROS OPENERS

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By Blair Henley

Caroline Wozniacki’s appearance at the French Open was in question just days ago after she aggravated an ankle sprain sustained last month, but the third-seeded Dane showed no sign of injury in her 6-0, 6-3 win over Russia’s Alla Kedryavtseva on another hot, sunny spring day at Roland Garros Monday.

“It feels pretty good today, actually,” she said. “I’ve had good support in the [ankle] tape, so I was really happy about that.”

At 19, Wozniacki is the lone teenager ranked in the top 25, propelled by her appearance in the 2009 U.S. Open final and her rigorous match schedule. Since the start of the 2009 season, she has played more matches than anyone else on tour – 125.

Top-seeded Serena Williams, who has never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam, struggled in her first set against No. 76 Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.

Williams had trouble with her string tension from the beginning of the match yelling, “I can’t hit!” and repeatedly looking down at her racket. After going up 4-3, she handed off two rackets to get restrung.

The match stayed on serve through the first set before Serena dominated the tiebreak 7-2.  From there the American found her rhythm, winning the second set 6-2. Interestingly, she stayed with the offending racket even after the stringer brought restrung, presumably tighter, replacements down to the court in the second set.

The U.S. suffered its first major casualty with Melanie Oudin falling 7-5, 6-2 to veteran Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.

“In the end, I think experience really took over,” she explained to Tennis Channel’s Corina Morariu. “This is definitely a learning year for me, and I’m just going to be looking forward to the grasscourt season coming up.”

At No. 37, Oudin is the third highest ranked American woman after Serena and Venus Williams, but she has struggled to duplicate her success after reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open last year.

2008 French Open champ, Ana Ivanovic, overcame a slow start to beat Kai-Chen Chang 6-3, 6-3. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva, No. 24 Lucie Safarova and No. 15 Francesca Schiavone also advanced.

WHO IS THE GREATEST WOMAN TO NEVER WIN A GRAND SLAM? TRY ELENA DEMENTIEVA

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By Charlie Bricker

It’s not the sort of statistical minutia that one aspires to, but, in Paris on Sunday afternoon, Elena Dementieva won her 16th career WTA title and not only edge to within five of Pam Shriver’s 21 but further solidify her dubious credentials as the best woman player never to win a Grand Slam singles.

Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva

You could hoist a pretty good argument on this issue. Does that negative “honor” indeed belong to Dementieva, whose prodigious ground strokes have been twice betrayed in her efforts to win The Big One by her dicey serving. Or is it Shriver, who won 70 percent of her matches over a long career and reached one major final, losing a competitive straight-setter to Chris Evert at the 1978 U.S. Open.

Or, if I can offer up a few more candidates, is it Amanda Coetzer. Or Helena Sukova. Mary Joe Fernandez perhaps. Or Dementieva’s fellow Russian contemporary, Dinara Safina.

I’m going with Dementieva, and I feel confident that, despite still being in the prime of her career, she’s never going to win a Slam. Her overall record is a bit to the rear of Shriver’s body of work. But Pam gets marked down for disdaining the singles court at Roland Garros. She didn’t play there often and, when you think about those big old feet clomping around on clay, it’s not surprising.

Watching Dementieva on Saturday win the 544th match of her otherwise brilliant career, a come-from-behind victory over the plucky young American Melanie Oudin, was just another exercise in wonderment for me. Her ground strokes are a joy to watch — right there in a class with Serena and Venus Williams in their best moments.

Furthermore, she’s a lot more athletic than she looks at first blush and she’s a savvy, well-drilled player who not only plays the game, but understands it. The serve? Well. Ouch. She’s changed it again. It was atrocious for years and you may recall when she was dusted badly in 2004 French Open final by Anastasia Myskina, she screamed after yet another double fault: “I hate my serve.”

It got better as the years progressed, though she always looked a bit stiff — a little too mechanical. Now she’s changed again, trying to get a little more rhythm into the delivery  motion, but it’s only sporadically effective. What she has done, at least for now, is cut down on the double faults — only 13 in three matches at the Paris Indoors this week.

On balance, there’s so much game there that it’s a real head-scratcher why she hasn’t won a major. The Australian Open was her 45th Grand Slam. She’s been to two finals, losing to Myskina and to Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets at the 2004 U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, there’s a litany of players who have won a major but who wouldn’t come close to matching Elena’s overall skills — Iva Majoli . . . Jana Novotna . . . Myskina . . . Barbara Jordan.

You can argue with me if you care to, but here’s my list of best ever not to win a major, in order:

1. Elena Dementieva: Career record 545-256 (68%), Grand Slam record 112-45 (71%), 16 career titles, highest ranking No. 3 (2009). Grand Slam finals: 0-2.

2. Pam Shriver: Career record 625-270 (70%), Grand Slam record 124-53 (70%), 21 career titles, highest ranking No. 3 (1984). Grand Slam finals: 0-1.

3. Mary Joe Fernandez: Career record 437-203 (68%), Grand Slam record 141-48 (75%), 7 career titles, highest ranking No. 4 (1990). Grand Slam finals: 0-3.

4. Dinara Safina: Current record 4-2, career record 340-151 (69%), Grand Slam record 65-30 (68%), 12 career titles, highest ranking No. 1 (2009). Grand Slam finals: 0-3.

5. Helena Sukova: Career record 614-307 (67%), Grand Slam record 145-51 (74%), 7 career titles, highest ranking No. 4 (1985). Grand Slam finals: 0-4.

6. Amanda Coetzer: Career record 568-337 (63%), Grand Slam record 96-56 (62%), 9 career titles, highest ranking No. 3 (1997). Grand Slam finals: 0-0.

Charles Bricker is a guest columnist for WorldTennisMagazine.com. He can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com