By: Justin Cohen
- The winners of the men’s and women’s singles title at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships will each earn a record $1.54 million. The All England Club announced Tuesday that they are increasing the champion’s prize money by $231,348 to help offset the decrease in the value of the British pound against the dollar and euro. The total prize money for the 2010 tournament will be $21.1 million, which is an increase of 9.4 percent from last year.
- The ATP World Tour has extended its sponsorship deal through 2012 with Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh. Bloomberg is reporting that under the new sponsorship deal, Ricoh will now sponsor six more tournaments. The six tournaments will be in Austria, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Ricoh has been a major sponsor of the ATP World Tour since 2005.
- The Independent of London is reporting that the upcoming French Open will be televised in 3D in Europe. The newspaper says that Panasonic has teamed with Eurosport and Orange to broadcast matches on Court Philippe Chatrier.
- Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, both former top-ranked players and Grand Slam singles champions, will play an exhibition match on July 8 in Brussels at the 40,000 seat King Baudouin Stadium. The attendance goal is to top the 30,492 that watched Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in Texas in 1973.
- Serena Williams has announced that she will not participate in this weekend’s Fed Cup semifinal match against Russia in Birmingham, Ala. Venus has yet to decide if she will play, but is expected to let Captain Mary Joe Fernandez know her status by a Friday deadline. The roster can be changed up to one hour before Friday’s draw ceremony.
- Sydney lawyer Stephen Healy, who is the Head of Tennis New South Wales, will become the new President of Tennis Australia after beating out former Australian Open Tournament Director Paul McNamee in voting.
- James Blake will be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a knee injury and could be in doubt for the upcoming French Open. “I have been required to take a break from competition to treat pain that I have been experiencing in my right knee,” said Blake. “The good news is that I will not need surgery. However, the treatment will require me to take a six to eight week break. I look forward to a successful rehabilitation period and returning to competition on the ATP World Tour in the near future.”
- David Nalbandian, who missed the majority of the 2009 season with a hip injury, has withdrawn from Barcelona and Rome, with a four-inch tear in his left hamstring.
- Sabine Lisicki has withdrawn from Stuttgart and will not participate in Fed Cup because of an ankle injury.
- Defending singles and doubles champion Rajeev Ram has committed to play in the 2010 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Ram, who is currently ranked No. 85 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, will join Sam Querrey, Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent, who have already signed up to participate. “Rajeev really put on a tremendous performance for the New England tennis fans last summer,” said Mark Stenning, the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “We look forward to welcoming him back this year as part of a strong field of top Americans.”
- International Tennis Federation anti-doping manager Stuart Miller told the Associated Press that the organization will review their regulations that allowed American Wayne Odesnik to continue competing on the ATP World tour even after he pleaded guilty to importing human growth hormone (HGH) in Australia in January. “Our rules say if, and only if, we detect a prohibited substance in a sample provided by a player will we impose a provisional suspension,” said Miller. “Clearly, there’s a need to review that rule and there is no doubt that that will happen. I’m not going hide or run away from that, because clearly it is something that we need to look at.”
- In a blog posting on TV2, World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki mentioned that the ankle injury she sustained in her semifinal loss to Vera Zvonareva at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston isn’t serious. “The doctor said that I might be ready soon,” Wozniacki wrote. “I just need to make sure the right treatment.” Wozniacki is scheduled to receive treatment soon in Barcelona.
- In a recent blog posting by World No. 3 Dinara Safina, the Russian informed readers that an MRI revealed she had two stress fractures on her L5-S1 disk and a ruptured muscle. No timetable is set for Safina’s return, but she is currently in Croatia doing rehab with her physio, Tomislav Vrbnjak.
- Sania Mirza announced on her Twitter account that she will continue to play for India despite marrying Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik. The couple plans to reside in Dubai.
- Former pro tennis players Cliff and Nancy Richey will appear at the “Courtside for Katy” Fundraiser event on Thursday, April 22 from 10 am to 11:30 am at the Kingswood Country Club Tennis Courts in Kingswood, Texas. The fundraiser is to be held to help Katy Hayes, a Kingswood resident who is fighting for her life after all four limbs were amputated due to Streptococcal A Infection following child birth. The Las Vegas Longshots – Purple captured the 2010 World Team Tennis Recreation League National Qualifier in the Open Division Championships. Rob Kinas captained the winning team for the fourth consecutive year. The Las Vegas team included former ATP World Tour player Brian Wilson and former UNLV standout Elena Gantcheva. More than 530 players and 71 teams participated in the event, which is the most in the history of the league.