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vera zvonareva

Could Indian Wells Stomach Bug Be Worse Than 1988 U.S. Open?

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The major storyline after the first weekend of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., has been more about the stomach bug and not the tennis.

France's Gael Monfils (PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Players such as Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, Gael Monfils and Jurgen Melzer are among the top players forced to withdraw from matches due to the viral infection causing fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

Tournament organizers can hope that the event does not turn into medical ward like it almost did at the US Open back in 1988. A bug nearly wiped an entire session of play – and helped to determine one championship match in America’s Grand Slam tournament.

On September 9, 1988, the traditional second Friday schedule at the US Open in New York was nearly a non-starter as Rick Leach, stricken with a stomach flu, was forced to withdraw from the men’s doubles final against Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, and Chris Evert was not able to post in her women’s singles semifinal against Steffi Graf for the same reason. Fans in the stadium were left to only watch Gabriela Sabatini defeating Zina Garrison in the other women’s semifinal and then being served some senior doubles featuring Hank Pfister vs. Tom Gullikson in senior men’s singles and then Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan vs. Marty Riessen and Sherwood Stewart in senior men’s doubles.

Evert was sickened two nights earlier and did not leave the room until defaulting to Graf, who would go on to win only the third Grand Slam by a woman beating Sabatini in the women’s singles final.

“My body feels like it’s been through a war,“ Evert said in a written statement at the end of what was eventually her second-to-last US Open appearance. “Every muscle and joint aches. Physically, I couldn’t go out and play. I don’t have any energy. I think I’ve been through the worst of it, with the vomiting and diarrhea, but I still have a temperature of 101 degrees.”

Leach was sickened the night before the men’s doubles final and his condition was worse than Evert’s. He had a 103-degree fever and could not even stand out, vomiting much of the night before the final. He was actually hospitalized before being released the next day. The day before the final on Thursday, Leach had to stop practice after only a few minutes, claiming fatigue. The morning of the final, Leach was very ill and vomiting in the locker room.

Perhaps the best known episode of getting sick on court was Pete Sampras and his throwing up in the fifth-set tie-breaker of his 1996 US Open quarterfinal win against Alex Corretja (although I recall Andy Murray’s lunch being splattered all over the Grandstand court a few years back at the US Open in match against Arnaud Clement. No one wants to have the indignity of getting in sick in front of anybody, no less in front of thousands of fans and TV viewers.

Wojtek Fibak, the great Polish player of the 1970s and 1980s, was also the victim of a stomach bug at a very inopportune time. As documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), on October 16, 1983, Vitas Gerulaitis won the men’s singles final at the Swiss Indoor Championships in Basel when Fibak had to rush off the court with a stomach ailment with Gerulaitis leading 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 5-5. Said Fibak after the match of his predicament, ”I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

DIRECTV Offering Australian Open Experience Through January 22 on Channels 701-707: This Week in Tennis Business with Justin Cohen

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DIRECTV offering simultaneous coverage of Australian Open through January 22

Do you have the urge to see even more live coverage of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park? If you said yes, you are in luck. Through Sunday, January 22, DIRECTV will have complete coverage of the first Grand Slam event of the year by showcasing multiple live matches simultaneously and it is all free of charge. With the special mix channel (channel 701), tennis enthusiasts can watch up to six live matches all at once or matches individually on channels 702-707. One of the matches featured in the mix will be the current match shown on ESPN2 or Tennis Channel, while the other five will be side-court matches. Announcers on the mix channels include former ATP World Tour players Fred Stolle and Jeff Tarango. The special DIRECTV offer has also been featured in the past during the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

Tennis Channel, Verizon FiOS TV sign new carriage agreement

According to a recent press release, Tennis Channel and FiOS TV have reached a new multiyear carriage agreement, it was announced by Patrick Wilson, Senior Vice President, Distribution, Tennis Channel, and Terry Denson, Vice President of Global Content Strategy, Verizon. Verizon has started rolling out Tennis Channel – with Grand Slam coverage of Wimbledon, the US Open, French Open and the Australian Open, as well as Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and the men’s and women’s year-end championships – to FiOS TV subscribers in time for its 2012 Australian Open coverage. The channel is now available in the Texas, Florida, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York FiOS TV markets and will be available in all other FiOS markets by Wednesday (Jan. 18). From 2005 to this past September, Verizon FiOS TV carried Tennis Channel through its affiliation with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). When Tennis Channel and the NCTC entered into a new carriage agreement on September 3, FiOS TV opted to work directly with Tennis Channel for its own licensing arrangement. The result is a new, multiyear agreement that returns Tennis Channel to all FiOS TV customers who previously had access. Starting immediately, Tennis Channel is available to FiOS TV customers who subscribe to the FiOS TV Ultimate HD package, as well as the premium Sports Packages. Verizon plans to more widely roll out Tennis Channel next year. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer Tennis Channel to our FiOS TV customers again,” said Denson. “Our customers have waited patiently for this channel to return to their TV screens, and we’re happy to have it back. This new direct carriage agreement with Tennis Channel means FiOS once again offers a daily viewing destination for tennis fans.”

Dubai Duty Free and WTA extend partnership through 2014

Just last week, the WTA announced that they are extending their longstanding global sponsorship with Dubai Duty Free, the world’s leading airport retailer, through 2014. Under the new three-year, multi-million dollar deal, Dubai Duty Free will continue to serve as one of the WTA Tour’s premier sponsors and benefit from a series of original and unique benefits highlighted by (i) a new Dubai Duty Free Player Ambassador Program supported by star WTA players, with the players to be included in the program for 2012 to be named in the near future; (ii) a “Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises Travel Show”, a unique short form-travel series that will be aired on TV and online and hosted by and feature WTA stars; (iii) sponsorship of the WTA’s year-end World No.1 singles and doubles awards; and (iv) Presenting Sponsorship of the WTA’s Pre-Wimbledon Party, the No.1 tennis party of the year, held in London and attracting the world’s best tennis players and a host of celebrities annually. The core elements of the new partnership are designed to align Dubai Duty Free’s standing as the No.1 duty free retailer in the world with many of the WTA’s premium assets. “Dubai Duty Free has been a loyal partner to the WTA for many years and I am thrilled that the world’s leading duty free retailer and the No.1 global sport for women will continue our successful partnership,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman & CEO of the WTA Tour. “A supporter of equal prize money and a true visionary for the sport in the Middle East and beyond, Dubai Duty Free has been a longstanding leader in growing women’s tennis around the world.”

Zvonareva signs endorsement deal with Fila

World No. 7 Vera Zvonareva has signed an endorsement deal with Fila, the leading manufacturer of sport and leisure footwear and apparel worldwide. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “Vera is a proven champion and we are elated that she has become an ambassador for the Fila brand,” said Gene Yoon, Chairman of Fila. “The Fila brand has been worn by champions in tennis for almost 40 years, and Vera’s style and grace are synonymous with Fila’s core design philosophy of visualizing the beauty in sport. To see the full collection of Fila gear that the 27-year-old Russian will be wearing, visit www.fila.com.

USTA names D.A. Abrams new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

D.A. Abrams was named the USTA’s new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer on Tuesday and will work out of the USTA’s headquarters in White Plains, N.Y. Abrams, who will report to USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Gordon Smith, began his career at the USTA in 1993 as a national coordinator for the National Junior Tennis and Learning program. A former collegiate tennis player at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, Abrams’ new role will focus on developing and innovating the USTA’s diversity and inclusion initiatives on both a national and grassroots level. Abrams was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he was a participant in the city’s NJTL program.

USTA Serves awards more than $1.5 million in grants and scholarships in 2011

USTA Serves, the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association, announced that they have granted 41 community tennis and education organizations in the United States more than $400,000 in grants. Combined with scholarship awards, USTA Serves distributed more than $1.5 million in 2011. The bi-annual grant process, a national initiative of USTA Serves, was developed to provide disadvantaged, at-risk children with the opportunity to learn to play tennis and improve their academic skills in a structured format, and to help combat childhood obesity by promoting healthy lifestyles. To date, USTA Serves has awarded more than $10 million to a variety of programs that share those aims. “USTA Serves is thrilled to continue to support great organizations throughout the country who go above and beyond in their efforts to make a difference in the lives of America’s youth by using  tennis as a vehicle for change,” says Mary Carillo, President, USTA Serves. “These organizations share our belief that tennis, combined with education, can have a lasting effect on the lives of children and help pave the way to a brighter future. It’s an honor to support such organizations, and we applaud them in their efforts.” The grant recipients are chosen by a Grant Proposal Review Committee comprised of USTA Serves board members and USTA national staff, with important input from USTA sections. Grants are awarded to programs that successfully combine tennis and education and help children pursue their goals and highest dreams by leading healthier lives, succeeding in school and becoming healthier citizens. Programs that were awarded with grants by USTA Serves in 2011 includes: Academy Cares – Boys & Girls Club Newark (Chatham, N.J.), Battlefield Community Tennis Association (Jackson, Miss.), Break the Barriers, Inc. (Fresno, Calif.), City Parks Foundation (New York, N.Y.), Dade County Sports Foundation (Miami, Fla.), Harper for Kids (San Francisco, Calif.), HERO, Inc. (Purchase, N.Y.), I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County (Boulder, Colo.), Kids and Police Tennis Association (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Our Military Kids Inc. (McLean, Va.), Shinnecock Indian Education (South Hampton, N.Y.), Special Olympics Alaska (Anchorage, Alaska), Tennis for Charity, Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio), United Neighbors, Inc. (Davenport, Iowa), YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta (Atlanta, Ga.), Zina Garrison All Court Tennis Academy (Houston, Texas).

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis announce Direct Acceptance List

The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, which will be played at the Racquet Club of Memphis from February 17-26, has announced their direct acceptance list for this year’s event. The men’s 32-player draw includes three-time champion and former world No. 1 Andy Roddick, Gael Monfils, John Isner, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, Jurgen Melzer, Donald Young, James Blake, Ivo Karlovic, Sam Querrey and Lleyton Hewitt. The 2012 field features players from 16 countries. “We are extremely excited about having our strongest field ever for the 2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships,” said Peter Lebedevs, Tournament Director. “The field is comprised of what Memphis fans really enjoy most – the best veteran players and the top newcomers – guaranteeing ten days of high-intensity tennis.” A special for the fans on Monday night will feature past Regions Morgan Keegan Champion and seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe headlining a doubles exhibition match with American teenager Jack Sock, former Top 10 player James Blake and former Memphis singles and doubles winner Sam Querrey. Individual tickets to the 2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships are on sale now and available at The Racquet Club of Memphis, online at Ticketmaster or by calling (901) 765-4401. For more information about the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, visit www.memphistennis.com.

Legg Mason Tennis Classic named No. 1 sporting event in Washington, D.C.

For the third consecutive year, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, an ATP World Tour 500 tournament, has been named the No. 1 sporting event in Washington, D.C. The 2012 Legg Mason Tennis Classic will take place at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center from July 30-August 5. “This men’s tennis tournament brings in some of the world’s top players and features a surrounding week of parties, exhibitions, and charity events,” wrote BizBash, which also rated the State Of The Union Address, Kennedy Center Honors and the National Cherry Blossom Festival first in their respective categories on their list of Washington’s Top 100 Events of 2011. “Each year we strive to raise the bar in providing the very best fan experience possible,” said Jeff Newman, Tournament Director. “Being recognized as D.C.’s top sporting event for the third straight year by such a reputable publication as BizBash is a testament to that, resulting from an on-going collective effort by our staff, sponsors, volunteers and most importantly the loyalty of our fans.”

San Diego selected as host city for 2012 International Tennis Federation Seniors World Championships

The city of San Diego will host the 2012 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Seniors World Championships from February 5-11, an event that will feature 40 players from the United States. The 32nd annual event is the seniors equivalent of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions. The 40 Americans will compete alongside 1,000 players from 35 countries at seven venues throughout San Diego. The United States team will be defending its championships in five of the ten age divisions. The titles the U.S. team will be defending are the Young Cup, Margaret Court Cup, Maria Esther Bueno Cup, Maureen Connolly Cup, and Fred Perry Cup. The five other Cups the U.S. will be looking to capture are the Italia Cup, Tony Trabert Cup, Dubler Cup, Austria Cup, and the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

Janko Tipsarevic wins first ATP Tour title

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STARS

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-2 to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan

Janko Tipsarevic beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 7-5 to win the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Andy Murray beat Donald Young 6-2 6-0 to win the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok, Thailand

SAYING

“It feels great. I think I deserved it.” – Janko Tipsarevic, after winning the Malaysian Open.

Janko Tipsarevic

“I had some tough matches this week – and I was playing without a bye, so I had a lot of matches in a row – but I just kept trying my best. … All of the top players were playing here, and I played some good tennis to beat them.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, after winning the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

“It wasn’t my day today. Janko played great. He deserved to win, he was more aggressive. You just have to say ‘well done’ to Janko for a great week and a great year overall. I played some great tennis this week and I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the season.” – Marcos Baghdatis, after losing to Janko Tipsarevic.

“I just played really well. Towards the end of the first set he started to play a bit better, but once I got up in the second I hardly made any mistakes. Felt like I was moving well, so it was difficult for him to hit any clean winners. I served very well throughout and didn’t give him any opportunities. It was a great match.” – Andy Murray, after defeating Donald Young in the final at Bangkok.

“It was my first final on the ATP World Tour; I’ve had a semi and the fourth round of a slam, but there’s nothing like your first final. It’s great. I beat some high caliber players and I played well. It was definitely great to win four matches and I’m into the Top 50 which is great for me, it was one of my goals at the start of the year. I just hope I can build on that and have more tournaments like this.” – Donald Young, who reached his first ATP final.


“Obviously it’s very, very exciting; it’s my third career title. I was playing for the first time with Oliver and I’m really happy to be in Thailand and win the title. It’s perfect preparation for the tournaments coming ahead in Japan and Shanghai. Obviously the target at the end of the year is to make the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and I think it’s good preparation; I’m looking forward to playing with Rohan [Bopanna] again next week.” – Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, after winning the doubles in Bangkok.

“Of course I’m very, very happy to win another title, especially with Aisam because he’s a very nice guy. … I hope we can play together again and win another one.” – Oliver Marach, who teamed with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to win the doubles in Bangkok.

“Tokyo is really one of my favorite tournaments. Especially now, after what has happened in Japan, I felt like I owed it to the tournament to come and play – and once again the tournament has been great back to me. To win a title here is so special.” – Liezel Huber, who teamed with Lisa Raymond to win the doubles.
“It feels great to continue the run from New York and to build on that. Every time we step on the court our goal is to win matches and titles. Hopefully we can keep it up for the rest of the year.” – Lisa Raymond.

“Today was one of those days where every shot you hit the ball feels great. You feel like you’re almost seeing the play one shot in advance. You hope you have more days like that. It’s a pretty good wedding present! If this continues, I’ll be very, very happy.” – Eric Butorac, after winning the Malaysian Open doubles.

“(Qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals) is one of our goals for sure. It’s difficult sometimes not to focus on that and instead focus on our matches and how to improve every day and with every practice. But that’s the goal and that’s what we’ve been working for all year, so we would definitely like to make it to London for the first time.” – Jean-Julien Rojer, who teamed with Eric Butorac to win the doubles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

SUCCESS, FINALLY

It was more than a tournament title for Janko Tipsarevic. Until he captured the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Tipsarevic was the only player in the top 20 to not have won an ATP World Tour title. “Yesterday after my semifinal I managed to not think about going for my first ATP World Tour title all evening,” the Serb said. “I was still awake at about 4 a.m. as I haven’t adjusted to the time difference all week, and I decided to have a look at the ATP website to see what the news was. I saw the headline ‘Fifth Time Lucky For Janko?’ and then started reading the article and saw that it said I was the highest ranked player at the moment not to have won a title. Of course, then I started thinking about it lying in bed and I couldn’t get to sleep for another hour!” No problem. Tipsarevic beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 7-5 in the championship match. “I’m so happy that it came in a good place, at a tournament that is really, really nice, and against a good player,” Tipsarevic said. “Marcos Baghdatis has played in 11 finals and was a former Top 10 player, a Grand Slam finalist. So I feel happy that I won against a great player in a final that I hope kept the fans on the edge of their seats until the very end. I could not be happier.”

SAFINA OUT FOR GOOD

Marat Safin says his sister, Dinara Safina, is unlikely to return to the women’s tennis tour because of her injured back. “If you recall, Dinara first suffered the injury in Beijing two years ago,” Safin told the Russian media before he was to play an exhibition match in the Chinese capital against Pete Sampras. “She tried several times to make a comeback, but it only caused her more problems. Now she must think of herself – not whether she will be able to play again, but just to live a normal life. … She will make an official announcement, but speaking as her brother, I think she has no chance at all of making a comeback.” The two – Marat and Dinara – are the only brother-sister tandem to both become number one in the world in tennis.

SAVIC BANNED

David Savic of Serbia has been banned for life and fined USD $100,000 for attempting to influence the outcome of a match. The player was found guilty of three violations of the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, including soliciting or facilitating a player not to use his or her best efforts in an event, and soliciting, offering or providing money “with the intention of negatively influencing a player’s best efforts in any event.” The three violations occurred in October 2010. Savic is banned for life from any tournament or competition organized or sanctioned by the governing bodies of professional tennis. The 26-year-old native of Belgrade, Serbia, is ranked 658th in the world after posting a 6-13 singles record this year, playing Futures tournaments for the most part in Serbia. His best ranking was 363rd in the world in 2009. Consistent with the confidentiality of the Anti-Corruption Hearing process, no details of the hearing or decision will be made public.

STRIKE THREE FOR VERA

Agnieszka Radwanska has Vera Zvonareva’s number, that’s for sure. For the third straight time, Radwanska defeated her Russian opponent, and this time it was for the Toray Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo, Japan. Seeded ninth, Radwanska lost the opening two games and was one point away from being down 3-0. But she then won eight of the next nine games to take a 6-3 2-0 lead and finished with a 6-3 6-2 victory. “I was a little bit nervous at the start, but I woke up after those first two games,” Radwanska said. It was Radwanska’s second Premier-level title of the season. She beat Zvonareva in the final to win in Carlsbad, California, USA, during the summer. “Obviously I’m disappointed I couldn’t come away with the title today,” Zvonareva said. “I started well and broke her, but after that I don’t know what happened to me. I’ve played with Agnieszka a lot and know how she plays, and if I played to my usual standard I could have won, but I just couldn’t today. It happens. I’ll take my lessons from this match then hope to forget it as soon as possible.” With her latest title, Radwanska now has Istanbul, Turkey, and the season-ending TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships on her mind. “Before this tournament my chances of qualifying for the Championships were very small, but now they’ll be better,” she said.

STRAIGHT-SET VICTORIES

Coached by Greg Rusedski, Evan Hoyt and Kyle Edmund led Great Britain to its first Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title, defeating Italy in the final. Hoyt beat Stefano Napolitano 6-4 6-3 before Edmund stopped Gianluigi Quinzi 6-3 6-4 to clinch the victory. “There was less pressure on me to win, so Greg said go out there and swing. He has all the pressure on him so you can go for your shots,” said Edmund. “That’s what I did and I played really well, probably the best match I have on this trip, so I’m really pleased.” The Czech Republic won the battle for third place, beating Italy, while France bested South Africa for bronze in the boys’ event, which was held in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Australia beat Canada for the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas title as Belinda Woolcock beat Carol Zhao and Ashleigh Barty stopped the injured Francoise Abanda, both in straight sets. “I knew it was going to be a tight match and I had my doubts beforehand, but I knew that every point would count so I had to remain focused and concentrate on each and every point,” explained Woolcock. It was Australia’s first Junior Fed Cup crown since 2007.

STRONG MOVE

He didn’t come away with a title, but Donald Young is showing he just might be for real. The 22-year-old American, playing in his first ATP World Tour title match, was crushed by fourth-ranked Andy Murray 6-2 6-0 in the PTT Thailand Open. But his run to the final will boost the left-hander into the Top 50 in the world. “He played well. I couldn’t do much and it showed in the score,” admitted Young about Murray. “It was great play from him. It was my first final on the ATP World Tour; I’ve had a semi and the fourth round of a Slam, but there’s nothing like your first final. It’s great. I beat some high caliber players and I played well.” After becoming the youngest player to be ranked number one in the Junior Boys, Young saw his star dimmed considerably as he rarely won on the ATP World Tour. Until this year, that is, starting with a surprise upset over Murray in Indian Wells, California, USA. Murray avenged that loss by beating Young in the fourth round of the US Open, then needed only 47 minutes to rout the American and win the PTT Thailand Open.

STARTING OVER

Eight years after severing ties, Jelena Dokic has reunited with her father Damir. “I would like to confirm media reports that I have reconciled with my father Damir Dokic,” the Australian tennis player said in a statement. “My partner Tin Bikic and I have visited my father at his home to finally put an end to our disagreement.” Dokic, who was born in Serbia, was ranked as high as fourth in the world in 2002. The family rift followed a series of bizarre episodes that had Damir banned from the All England Club at Wimbledon and ejected from the grounds of the US Open. At one point, Damir claimed his daughter had been kidnapped. In 2009, charged with threatening the Australian ambassador to Serbia and illegal possession of firearms, Damir Dokic served a year in year. “I initiated the meeting as I want to reunite my family and allow us all to get on with our lives and be happy,” Jelena Dokic told the Sydney Daily Telegraph. “This has gone on too long. … My father was very receptive and I believe he has changed greatly. He understands that I am my own person who makes my own decisions.”

SET FOR ISTANBUL

Two singles players and a doubles team are the latest to qualify for the year-ending TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, October 25-30. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova along with Victoria Azarenka have earned berths in the elite event, as well as the US Open doubles champions Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Already in the singles field are top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, three-time Grand Slam tournament champion Maria Sharapova and the doubles team of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. Kvitova will be making her debut in the Championships, becoming the first Czech player to compete in singles at the Championships since Jana Novotna in 1998. The top eight singles players and top four doubles teams with compete for the coveted title and a share of the USD $5 million in prize money. Last year, Kim Clijsters won the singles crown by beating Wozniacki in the title match. Because of injuries, Clijsters, who won the Australian Open in January, did not qualify for this year’s season-concluding tournament.

SEEKING PAN AM GOLD

Three men and two women have been nominated to represent the United States in tennis at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, later this month. Christina McHale and Irina Falconi, both of whom reached the third round of the US Open last moth, will be joined by Denis Kudla, Nicholas Monroe and Greg Ouellette. Sloane Stephens was also nominated to represent the American team was forced to withdraw due to injury. The players will compete in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The Pan Am Games are held every four years in the year immediately prior to the Olympic Games. Tennis has been contested at the Pan American Games since the event’s inception in 1951. Americans who have won the Pan American Games gold medal include Althea Gibson in 1959, Pam Shriver in 1991 and Paul Goldstein in 1999. Other Americans who have competed in the Games include Arthur Ashe, Patrick McEnroe and Chanda Rubin.

STANDING TALL

Mary Jo Fernandez will serve as the honorary chair when the Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships stages its 50th tournament. In 1985 at the age of 14, Fernandez became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open. She subsequently turned professional in 1986 and finished 1990 ranked a career-high fourth in the world in singles. “Participating in the Junior Orange Bowl prepared me for my professional tennis career by matching me with players like (Stephanie) Graf and (Gabriela) Sabatini at 9 to 11 years old,” said Fernandez, who is coach of the US Fed Cup team and a tennis analyst for ESPN. “In fact, winning the Junior Orange Bowl twice earlier, and the Orange Bowl in the 18’s is what inspired me to turn pro. The Junior Orange Bowl will always hold a special place in my heart and I am proud to be its honorary chair.” Other Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship participants have included Andre Agassi, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Andy Roddick and Monica Seles, among others. The tournament draws participants from 74 countries.

SEBELIUS HONORS USTA

Kathleen Sebelius, United States Health and Human Services Secretary, and members of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition have recognized the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for its leadership and participation in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge. Through its National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network and youth tennis programs, the USTA has gotten more than 226,000 children to participate in and complete the PALA challenge. To date, the USTA has had more children complete the challenge than any other youth sports organization in the United States. “The President Active Lifestyle Award is about getting kids and parents to understand how easy it is to have some fun, but also to be fit. It is really aimed at ending childhood obesity in our generation,” Sebelius said. “Our goal was to have a million PALA challenges met by this year, and we are really pleased to say we have almost 1.7 million, thanks to great partners and great organizations. It’s a great partnership to have the tennis association involved.”

SEED MONEY

The Rafa Nadal Foundation, the David Nalbandian Foundation and the East Japan Earthquake Charity Fund have received the first grants for 2011 from the ATP ACES For Charity program. The three grants were announced during the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Brad Drewett, ATP chief executive officer for the International Group, presented checks to Rafael Nadal, the defending Tokyo champion, and Nalbandian for their respective foundations. Nao Kawatei, Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships tournament director, and two children accepted the grant for the East Japan Earthquake Charity Fund. The Rafa Nadal Foundation aims to provide opportunities for socially disadvantaged youth. The David Nalbandian Foundation aspires to create positive conditions that help people with a disability lead better lives.

STOSUR LOOKING AHEAD

US Open champion Samantha Stosur will participate in an exhibition tournament in Singapore in December that could lead to a WTA event within two years. Joining Stosur this year will be Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, China’s Shuai Peng and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska. Two other players will be announced shortly. Besides playing, the stars will conduct coaching clinics with local players.

SHARED PERFORMANCE

Bangkok: Oliver Marach and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5)

Kuala Lumpur: Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer beat Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek 6-1 6-3

Tokyo: Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond beat Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (4) 0-6 10-6 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Beijing: www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/index.shtml

Tokyo: http://rakutenopen.rakuten.co.jp/

Mons: www.ethiastrophy.be

Sacramento: www.natomaschallenger.com/

Shanghai: http://www.shanghaimasters1000.com/English/index.shtml

Osaka: http://www.hp-open.jp/

Linz: http://www.generali-ladies.at/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$2,100,000 China Open, Beijing, China, hard

$1,214,500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan, hard

$143,000 Ethias Trophy, Mons, Belgium, hard

$100,000 2011 Natomas Challenger, Sacramento, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

$4,500,000 China Open, Beijing, China, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$3,240,000 Shanghai Rolex Masters, Shanghai, China, hard

$100,000 Tiburon, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

$220,000 Generali Ladies Linz, Linz, Austria, hard

$220,000 HP Japan Women’s Open Tennis 2011, Osaka, Japan, hard

Favorable draw and good form makes Maria Sharapova US Open favorite

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Flavia Pennetta, a savvy, combative Italian veteran who has always been a tough out for Maria Sharapova, should be waiting for her once again, this time in the third round of the U.S. Open, but Pennetta aside, I doubt Sharapova would trade this year’s draw for the one that took her to the Open championship in 2006.

Maria Sharapova

You can’t play qualifiers and wild cards in every round. There are tough matches along the route to almost every title, but, on balance, could Sharapova have asked for anything as cozy as the lineup she was handed this week at this final Grand Slam of the year.

The queen of screams catches teenager Heather Watson of Guernsey in the first round and probably No. 84 Anastasiya Yakimova, who has been busy playing minor league tennis all summer, in the second before things get real serious with Pennetta.

But once past Flavia, she’ll most likely catch Julia Goerges (2-0 lifetime) in the fourth, Aggie Radwanska (7-1 lifetime) in the quarters and No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva (7-3 lifetime) in the semis. Nice.

Pennetta has won one of three matches vs. Sharapova and all three went to third sets, so there is a confidence factor in this match for both players. But I like the way Maria is playing right now.

You can never be entirely confident with her when she’s hitting eight, nine, 10 double faults a match, but even with her errant serving she’s playing well enough to put away her fourth Grand Slam title. And if she somehow gets it into her brain that she doesn’t have to hit 110 mph first serves on a day when she’s getting only 50 percent of them in, and when she figures out that her ground strokes are good enough that she doesn’t have to slam big, flat second serves. . .well, then, she’s going to be that much tougher.

Who’s going to beat her in New York? Serena Williams, whose damaged foot is going to take pounding on the Arthur Ashe hardcourt for six matches? No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, who hasn’t proven to anyone that she’s experienced enough to win a major?

With Sharapova’s draw, she would be my No. 1 fovorite.

And now for the rest of the tournament, assuming there’s going to be one after Hurricane Irene turns the United States Tennis Center into a minor disaster zone. The grounds crews will be working overtime, brushing away debris, drying courts and taking down and putting up wind screens.

This is going to be an adventure.

Let’s start on the men’s side, where Novak Djokovic and his famous weary right arm plays a qualifier in the opening round. My best intelligence is that Djokovic’s arm is just fine, thank you, but he’ll be receiving daily therapy throughout the fortnight. He looks unthreatened until the quarters, where I think he’ll run into another man with arm fatigue, Tomas Berdych. They’ve played eight times and Djoko has won seven.

He’s a clear choice to win the U.S. Open.

When you examine the difficulty of draws, you separate the 128 players into quadrants and Djokovic’s 32 players include Berdych and Gael Monfils, yet another player with injury issues.

In the second quadrant, you’ve got Mardy Fish, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Frenchman who has taken Federer out twice in a row, including this year’s Wimbledon.

In quadrant three, Robin Soderling, John Isner and Andy Murray. Soderling and Isner are a couple of bombs-away players, but Murray, of course, would only play one of them. Soderling nd Isner will play each other, for only the second time, in the third round, with. Soderling having won their lone meeting, in 2009.

In the fourth quadrant you’ve got Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer and Nadal’s route to a presumed quarterfinal match with his countryman should help him immensely in regaining the confidence he’ll need to compete in the final days of the tournament.

Rafa is 13-4 lifetime with Ferrer with nine wins in the last 10 matches, having lost only at the Australian Open, where he was a bit wounded. He should be good to the semis, where I expect Murray will be his opponent. It is Nadal’s good luck that he’s in the opposite side of the draw from Djokovic and Federer. Can he win the Open again? Sure. He CAN win. But you’d be foolish not to go with Djokovic first.

Federer? We all know his championship days are over and, in order to reach the U.S. Open final, he’d have to beat Tsonga and Djokovic in succession. I don’t see that.

Back in the women’s tournament, there was a lot of teeth-gnashing this week about Serena not being bumped up to a high seed because she’s obviously better than No. 29, which is her ranking as she works her way back from injury (she’ll be seeded No. 28 because Kim Clijsters is out with injury).

There were fears she would face an early match against an elite player and she will have to defeat No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round, but Azarenka is not yet an elite opponent. Serena holds a 5-1 lifetime edge after beating the Belarussian 6-3, 6-3 in the Toronto semis two weeks ago.

Naturally, whatever success Williams has depends on the condition of her foot and I would suggest her injury is a lot more susceptible to re-injury than Djokovic’s shoulder. If she’s OK, she’ll have the usual difficult time with Jelena Jankovic (they’re 4-4 lifetime) in the quarters.

As for the rest of the women’s draw, no one else infatuates me.

This being the United States Open, there’s going to be a particularly strong focus on American players and, with qualifying yet to be completed, there are 14 U.S. women and 12 U.S. men in the main draws. Six of the 14 women are wild cards and six of the 12 men were given free passes. That means out of the 256 spots in the two tournaments, as of today just under 6 percent of the slots are filled by Americans. That, of course, could improve if U.S. players produce in the qualifying.

This is New York, where the USTA is headquartered and I would expect if things don’t go well for the young American players who have been wild-carded into the tournament or who have been nurtured to some extent by the USTA player development program, there will be questioned asked.

One of the most important will concern the cost-benefit factor of the millions of dollars being plunged into USTA development. What is the USTA getting in return for its high-paid coaches and high-end budget?

Combine all that with a hurricane blowing through the grounds and this probably will be one of the more memorable Opens. Line ’em up and let’s play.

Caroline Wozniacki is the No. 1 seed at the US Open 2011

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The USTA announced today that world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has been named the top seed in women’s singles at the 2011 US Open. The 2011 US Open will be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., August 29 – September 11. The US Open Women’s Singles Championship is presented by JPMorgan Chase.

Caroline Wozniacki

Wozniacki, the 2009 US Open runner-up, is the No. 1 seed at the US Open for the second consecutive year and is seeking her first Grand Slam title. She will be followed by No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who reached the final of both the US Open and Wimbledon last year. 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova of Russia is seeded third, followed by No. 4 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Three-time US Open champion Serena Williams is seeded No. 28.

For 2011, the US Open followed the WTA rankings to determine the women’s singles seeds. This is the tenth consecutive year that the US Open has seeded 32 players in both singles events.

“After careful deliberation regarding Serena Williams’ seeding, we decided to maintain the objective criteria in place to determine the women’s singles seeds at this year’s US Open,” said Jim Curley, US Open Tournament Director and Chief Professional Tournaments Officer, USTA.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is seeded fifth, and 2011 French Open champion Li Na of China is seeded sixth. 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Marion Bartoli of France are seeded seventh and eighth, respectively.

The singles draws for the 2011 US Open will be revealed live during a one-hour special edition of SportsCenter on ESPN, Thursday, August 25 at 12 PM ET. Defending US Open men’s champion Rafael Nadal will make an appearance from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Radek Stepanek wins Legg Mason Tennis Classic while Radwanska wins Carlsbad – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

Radek Stepanek beat Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 to win the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC, USA

Agnieszka Radwanska beat Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-4 to win the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, California, USA

Robin Haase beat Albert Montanes 6-4 4-6 6-1 to win the Bet-at-Home Cup in Kitzbühel, Austria

Karol Beck beat Gregoire Burquier 6-4 7-6 (4) to win the Open Castilla y Leon in Segovia, Spain

Aleksandra Wozniak beat Jamie Hampton 6-3 6-1 to win the Odlum Brown Van Open women’s singles in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

James Ward beat Robby Ginepri 7-5 6-4 to win the Odlum Brown Van Open men’s singles in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Radek Stepanek

SAYING

“It’s my biggest win in my career so far and it’s coming in the later stage of my career, so it means so much to me that I’m capable even in this age to play such great tennis, beating the guys from the Top 10 and winning the title. It’s really an amazing feeling.” – Radek Stepanek, after beating Gael Monfils to win the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
“It’s a bit difficult the recovery (after Saturday’s late finish), it’s pretty quick and fast, but still I think Radek played a tough match today. He was pretty aggressive and didn’t miss a lot of balls, so I think he played better than me today.” – Gael Monfils, after losing to Radek Stepanek in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final.
“We are like wine. The older we are getting, the better we are … Until my body falls apart I’ll be trying to stay competitive in this level. It’s very difficult because all the guys are great at this; they’re moving very fast and, as we all know, the speed is leaving slowly, we cannot compete with Mother Nature.” – Radek Stepanek.

“Everything was working. Even though I had two really tough matches in the quarters and semifinals, I played very well today. I really wanted to win this tournament so I was really focused from the beginning. Winning a tournament with a lot of great matches against top players is very special.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, after winning in Carlsbad, California

“He’s very talented, but it’s a tough world out there. You have to keep on working. You have to stay with your feet on the ground and keep on working hard and fighting.” – Marcos Baghdatis, talking about Donald Young, who beat him in the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

“It’s my attitude towards playing. I feel like I actually can do it. I’m going out there with the thought in mind before the match that I can do it, not with the hope of, ‘Oh, if I play well, maybe I can.’ That’s a big change.” – Donald Young, explaining why he reached his first ATP Tour semifinal.

“He had me quite flustered. I couldn’t get set into the way I wanted to play. It wasn’t that I was nervous, but more so he took me out of my game.” – Donald Young, after losing in the semifinals to Radek Stepanek.

“It was one of the goals this year to make it into a semifinal or final, and maybe win it. I was close a few times when I played good but actually lost to good players. To win this match and beat good players this week was really great.” – Robin Haase, after winning the title in Kitzbühel, Austria

“It’s a pity. But I knew that it was going to be difficult because he was playing very well during the whole week. I played well too.” – Albert Montanes, after losing to Robin Haase in the final at Kitzbühel, Austria

“Is it more embarrassing running off the court like a maniac or throwing up on court and being on Sports Center for the next 25 years? Yeah, running off the court is better, so that’s what I did.” – Andrea Petkovic, who did just that in her semifinal loss to Agnieszka Radwanska.

“Serena (Williams) has really improved her level from Wimbledon and six weeks from now, she’ll be more than 10 percent better. Everything is just better, her serve, her movement, and she has now beaten quality players such as Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki, who did well at Wimbledon. I would pick Serena as the US Open favorite considering how many times she won there.” – Marion Bartoli.
“It was never a goal of mine to be the number one American, Andy (Roddick) has always been the number one of our tennis generation. That won’t change regardless of any ranking. But I’ll admit that holding the position will be a nice thing to tell my kids someday and I’m very happy with how I’m playing right now.” – Mardy Fish, on being the highest-ranked American player.

STEPANEK TRIUMPHANT

His victory in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic has put Radek Stepanek in rarified company. With his triumph over Gael Monfils, the 32-year-old Stepanek became the oldest player to win the ATP stop in Washington, DC, since Jimmy Connors in 1988. “I still believe in myself,” the Czech said. “That’s why the emotion was there, winning a big tournament at this stage of my career. It will give me a bit of confidence, a great boost for the rest of the summer.” It was Stepanek’s first ATP title in 2½ years and the fifth of his career. “It’s a great satisfaction for me,” he said. “It’s great to still be able to compete with the young guns.” The oldest player in the world’s top 100, Stepanek became the ATP’s oldest champion since Fabrice Santoro of France won Newport, Rhode Island, USA, in 2008. “I wanted to be in control of the match, be the boss on the court, the one who is deciding what’s going on,” Stepanek said. “I was trying to come to the net because that was my game plan, to be aggressive, put as many returns to the court as much as I can, and when I have the chance to attack. My game plan was working perfectly, and I was aggressive from the first point to the last one.”

SMOOTH SAILING

Agnieszka Radwanska made it look easy as she dominated top-seeded Vera Zvonareva to capture her first title in three years. Playing the Carlsbad, California, event all week with a heavily taped right shoulder because of a nerve problem, the Polish right-hander needed 79 minutes to beat Zvonareva for the first time and snap the loser’s nine-match winning streak. Radwanska hadn’t reached a final since this tournament a year ago when she fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Zvonareva was able to stave off one match point, but that was only delaying the inevitable.

STRONG PARTNERS

Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik can’t lose for winning. The pair extended their winning streak to 14 consecutive matches with an easy 6-0 6-2 win over Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears to capture the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, California. Peschke and Srebotnik won Eastbourne and Wimbledon and have been co-ranked number one in doubles in the world since July 4. Carlsbad is their first tournament – and first title – since their Wimbledon success. “We’re so happy we could follow our wins at Eastbourne and London with this title,” Peschke said. “It’s a great achievement. With each match we’re getting more confident.” The champions have won five titles this year in 14 events, running their match record to 42-9.

SIGHTED

Wayne Odesnik, who was banned after admitting he imported human growth hormone (HGH) into Australia, played in his first ATP World Tour match in 16 months. He gained a spot in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC, when second-seeded Mardy Fish withdrew with a bruised right heel – and taking advantage of a bye didn’t play until the second round. Odesnik didn’t last long, falling to eventual champion Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-1 in a 57-minute second-round encounter. Odesnik was banned for two years in May 2010 after pleading guilty. His ban was backdated to December 2009, then the International Tennis Federation (ITF) cut Odesnik’s ban to one year after he cooperated with the group’s anti-doping program. In January 2011, Odesnik returned to low-level events. “In six months I have gone from nothing to 150th in the world. Keep working hard and it will come. I can’t lose sight of that,” Odesnik said. “I’m still young. In the long run, I think it’s going to help. I’m 25. I think there is a lot of tennis ahead of me.”

STOPPING AT THE TOP

Robin Haase of the Netherlands won his first career ATP title when he topped Spain’s Albert Montanes 6-4 4-6 6-1 at the Bet-at-Home Cup in Kitzbühel, Austria. In fact, it was the first time Haase has reached a final. The 53-ranked Haase became the first Dutch winner of an ATP tournament since Martin Verkerk won in Amersfoort, Netherlands, in 2004. Haase is the eighth player this season to become a first-time champion on the ATP tour. The winner missed most of the 2009 season after surgery on his right knee. It was the first time the 30-year-old Montanes reached the final in a tournament that was not played on clay.

STAYING HOME

A viral illness has caused Venus Williams to withdraw from the Rogers Cup. Saying she is “extremely disappointed” with being unable to play in Toronto, Canada, Williams said she wasn’t feeling well so went to see a doctor. She was diagnosed with a viral illness and told to rest. Lucky loser Lourdes Dominguez Lino got a spot in the draw.

The men’s portion of the Rogers Cup is being played in Montreal this week, and missing will be Andy Roddick. The American withdrew because the abdominal muscle he injured nearly a month ago is insufficiently healed for him to compete. Also skipping Montreal will be Sweden’s Robin Soderling, who is still troubled by a wrist; Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, who has a stomach muscle injury; Spain’s Guillermo Garcia Lopez, suffering from appendicitis; and Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, who withdrew because of personal issues.

SPANISH FIREPOWER

Rafael Nadal says he will play for Spain when it takes on France in the World Group Davis Cup semifinal. The international team competition will be held a week after the US Open completes its two-week run. Nadal skipped Spain’s last Davis Cup tie, when it beat the United States 3-1. The 25-year-old Nadal has only played one Davis Cup tie in nearly two years, winning both his singles matches when Spain dominated Belgium in March. Spanish Davis Cup captain Albert Costa said Nadal had sent him a three-word message – “I’ll be there” – concerning next month’s semifinal against France.

SEES OLYMPIC SENDOFF

Elena Baltacha believes the 2012 Olympic Games in London would be the perfect ending to her career. Britain’s top female player, Baltacha has suffered health and injury problems throughout her career. “I want to get to the Olympics and then maybe retire,” she said. “I’ve been playing tennis for such a long time now. I’m 28 this year, and sometimes I wake up and wonder how much more my body can take. If I’m struggling with injuries, then I’m not going to carry on.” She was diagnosed with a liver condition when she was 19, and in 2006 she underwent back surgery. While primarily a singles player, Baltacha said she would jump at the chance to partner Andy Murray in mixed doubles at the Games. “It would be unbelievable to play mixed doubles with Andy,” she sad. “It would be absolutely fantastic.” Baltacha played mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Ken Skupski and said, “I really enjoyed that. The one downside to plying doubles for me is that I always seem to get injured. That extra match for me means my back might stiffen up.”

SIGNS TO PLAY

Being sidelined with an abdominal muscle strain for most of the summer, Andy Roddick has asked for and received a wild card entry into a tournament the week before the US Open for the first time in his career. Roddick will compete at the Winston Salem Open, a new ATP event in North Carolina that ends on the Saturday before the year’s final Grand Slam tournament begins its two-week run in New York City. Roddick last saw action in Davis Cup against Spain right after Wimbledon. Others in the Winston Salem field include fellow Americans Mardy Fish, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Ryan Harrison and Donald Young, along with Jurgen Melzer of Austria, Bernard Tomic of Australia and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

SWISS MISS NO?

Martina Hingis is leaning heavily toward not teaming with fellow Swiss star Roger Federer to play mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympic Games. “There are talks,” Hingis said, “however there are too many ifs at this point.” In order to compete at the London Games, Hingis would need to return to the WTA tour and be ranked close to the top 50 in the world in singles and in the top 10 in doubles. Besides, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will only accept mixed doubles teams from players who are already on site in London, having qualified in singles or doubles. Hingis retired from the WTA in 2007 after testing positive for cocaine use. She has played World TeamTennis, and last month scored a victory over Serena Williams. “I always said I wasn’t coming back and I did, and after TeamTennis I felt good,” Hingis said. “Then with Serena winning Stanford it makes you think, ‘I played good against her and she beat (Maria) Sharapova 3 and 1.’ But I don’t think I would last a whole match now. TeamTennis is only to five games. To play with Roger in best-of-three sets you’d have to be playing great.”

$$$ FOR MARIA

For the seventh straight year, Maria Sharapova is the world’s highest paid woman in professional sports, according to Forbes Magazine. The Russian’s earnings, mostly from endorsements, are estimated at USD $25 million for the last year, more than twice as much as the current women’s world number one, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. Racing driver Danica Patrick was third with USD $12 million, followed by tennis players Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams. Seven of the top nine female earners were tennis players, including China’s Li Na, who made USD $8 million last year. However, Li Na’s French Open victory is expected to make her the top earner this year. Since her win she has signed at least USD $43.35 million of sponsorship deals with companies like Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Haagen Dazs. Terry Rhoads, former head of sports marketing at Nike, said that two years ago Li “could not buy a sponsor, but now she is the only person with a Nike deal who can wear patches from other sponsors on her clothes. As international brands try to chase the Chinese market, Li is in a seller’s market.”

SAYS ABOUT TIME

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has asked the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to allow the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group II to be held in Pakistan next year. Pakistan participated in Fed Cup this year for the first time in a decade. “We are taking inspiration from the Pakistan Football Federation,” Irshad Bhatti, PTF’s acting president, told a Pakistani newspaper. “FIFA approved Lahore as the venue for the World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh, so we also requested the ITF allow us to host the Fed Cup.” Because of the fear of violence against visiting athletes, Pakistan has had to play all of its Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches in other countries.

SAFINA SITS OUT THE YEAR

Former world number one Dinara Safina is taking off the rest of this year. The Russian, who has not played since early May, is still suffering from persistent back pain. The 25-year-old topped the WTA world rankings for 26 weeks in 2009 and currently stands 65th in the world. “I’m sorry to report that my back is still acting up and I will not be able to play until at least the end of the year,” Safina said on her official website, www.dinarasafina.com. After losing to Kim Clijsters 6-0 6-0 in the opening round of the Australian Open in January, Safina contemplated quitting the sport. She failed to win a Grand Slam title, losing in the finals of the French Open in 2008 and 2009, and the Australian Open in 2009. She and her brother, Marat Safin, are the only brother-sister to each become number one in the world.

SEEKS LAW FIRM

Fighting a 12-month suspension, Robert Kendrick has signed on one of Maine’s largest law firms, Preti Flaherty, to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). The 31-year-old Kendrick was suspended after he tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine at the French Open. The player said he took a capsule called Zija XM3 in an attempt to combat the effects of jetlag, not realizing it contained the banned drug. The ITF said Kendrick failed to mention the Zija XM3 when he filled out a mandatory form given to all players who are drug tested. The form asks the players to mention any “medication or supplements, including vitamins or minerals, taken over the past seven days.”

SITE UNKNOWN

When Bojana Jovanovski arrived in Carlsbad looking for the Mercury Insurance Open tennis tournament, no one knew what she was talking about. The problem was the Serbian teenager flew from Washington, DC, to Dallas, Texas, on to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finally to Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Mercury Insurance Open was played in Carlsbad, California, a difference of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km). After waiting unsuccessfully for tournament transport, Jovanovski called the tournament. Transport had been waiting at the California airport for the player to arrive. “Are you in Carlsbad in California or in New Mexico?” Jovanovski was asked. After spending the night in New Mexico, Jovanovski flew top the correct Carlsbad, arriving just 30 minutes before she was scheduled to take the court for her first-round match.

SALUTED

The ATP ACES for Charity program has awarded the Legg Mason Tennis Classic a USD $10,000 grand to further strengthen its support of the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF). The WTEF combines tennis and education in three main programs, including its flagship Arthur Ashe Children’s Program that serves 1,500 children annually. Other USD $10,000 grants were presented to brothers Bob and Mike Bryan and to Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Last month the ATP announced the 12 inaugural recipients of its ATP ACES for Charity grants program. Grants of USD $10,000 each are being awarded by the ATP on an annual basis to charitable causes nominated by ATP World Tour players and tournaments.

Qureshi donated his USD $10,000 grant to support the United Nations Development Program’s flood recovery activities in his native Pakistan. The doubles star made the donation on behalf of his own foundation and the ATP ACES for Charity program on a visit to Mazdoor Village in southern Pakistan. The village was completely destroyed by floods in 2010.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Carlsbad: Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik beat Raquel Kops-Jons and Abigail Spears 6-0 6-2

Kitzbühel: Daniele Bracciali and Santiago Gonzalez beat Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa 7-6 (1) 4-6 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Segovia: Johan Brunstrom and Frederik Nielsen beat Nicolas Mahut and Lovro Zovko 6-2 3-6 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Vancouver (men): Treat Huey and Travis Parrott beat Jordan Kerr and David Martin 6-2 1-6 16-14 (match tiebreak)

Vancouver (women): Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova beat Jamie Hampton and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 5-7 6-2 10-2 (match tiebreak)

Washington: Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic beat Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-7 (3) 7-6 (6) 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

San Marino: www.atpsanmarino.com

Montreal: www.rogerscup.com/men/english/home.php

Toronto: www.rogerscup.com/women/english/home.php

Cincinnati: www.cincytennis.com/

Cordenons: www.euro-sporting.it/challenger

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$2,430,000 Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada, hard

$122,323 San Mario CEPU Open, San Marino, clay

WOMEN

$2,050,000 Rogers Cup, Toronto, Canada, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,430,000 Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, hard

$122,323 Zucchetti Kos Tennis Cup, Cordenons, Italy, clay

WOMEN

$2,050,000 Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, hard

Mardy Fish takes Atlanta, Vera Zvonareva takes Baku and Serena Williams uses rank protection – Mondays with Bob Greene

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STARS

Gilles Simon beat Nicolas Almagro 6-4 4-6 6-4 top win the bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships in Hamburg, Germany

Mardy Fish beat John Isner 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-2 to win the Atlanta Tennis Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Vera Zvonareva beat Ksenia Pervak 6-1 6-4 to win the Baku Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan

Rui Machado beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-3 6-3 to win the Poznan Porsche Open in Poznan, Poland

Mathilde Johansson beat Petra Cetkovska 7-5 6-3 to win the ITF Roller Open in Petange, Luxembourg
Irina-Camelia Begu beat Laura Pous-Tio 6-3 7-5 to win the BCR Open Romania Ladies in Bucharest, Romania

Mardy Fish

SAYING

“In hindsight, I should have served and volleyed on the second serve. He got it in play and I went for too big of a backhand and missed it by a lot. He played the point well and the next two points he served two really good serves.” – John Isner, who had two match points in the second-set tiebreak before losing the Atlanta Tennis Championships final to Mardy Fish.

“When you’re in that position, it’s almost over. I was lucky to get out of it. I struck some returns and put some balls in play. I played some good points from then on.” – Mardy Fish, who won the last four points in second-set tiebreak, forcing a third set, which he won.

“I’ve lost five finals in my career – two to Mardy (Fish), two to Sam (Querrey) and one to Andy (Roddick), and arguably could have won every single match. This is the second where I’ve had match points and the other ones I’ve been one or two points away. I don’t know what it is. … I keep coming up a little short when I play a friend.” – John Isner.

“Every single opponent was tough. Right now women’s tennis is at a very high level and very competitive, and I know if I don’t have my full concentration or I don’t give my best there is no chance I will win a match.” – Vera Zvonareva, after winning the Baku Cup singles title.

“I’m so happy for this week. Finally some results came out for me and I’m very glad Tatiana and I did this title.” – Mariya Koryttseva, who teamed with Tatiana Poutchek to capture the doubles title at Baku, Azerbaijan.

“I feel very, very good. I had to win so many tough matches this week. Today, the final was really hard to win. I had to play my best tennis and I’m proud to win this tournament.” – Gilles Simon, after beating Nicolas Almagro in the final at Hamburg, Germany.
“I’m happy with my level of tennis on clay all year. I was champion at three tournaments and reached two finals. When you’re in a final, you want to win, but today was impossible because he was better than me in the important moments.” – Nicolas Almagro, after losing the Hamburg, Germany, final to Gilles Simon.

“When you’re in a final, you want to win, but today was impossible because he was better than me in the important moments.” – Nicolas Almagro, after losing in the final in Hamburg, Germany, to Gilles Simon.

“It’s a very good feeling (to win my first ATP World Tour title). I had five chances before, I missed them; so it’s definitely good to finally get the title. I hope it’s not going to be the last one. The whole week we played very solid, very good doubles.” – Alexander Peya, who teamed with Oliver Marach to win the doubles in Hamburg, Germany.


“This year my goal was to make it into the top 100, but I changed it now. I’m in the top 50 and I have to change it again!” – Irina-Camelia Begu, after winning an ITF event in her native Bucharest, Romania.

SCENE STEALER

John Isner camethisclose to beating Mardy Fish and winning the Atlanta Tennis Championships. But just like last year, Fish pulled out the victory, besting his fellow American 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-2. Isner was at double match point, 6-4 in the second set tiebreak. But Fish won the next four points, forcing a third set, which is then easily won. “I was lucky to get out of it,” said Fish, who beat Isner in the final a year ago. “It feels great to win here again and start off the summer like I did last year.” His sixth career title, it’s the first time Fish has successfully defended a championship. “I want to stay in the top 10 for as long as I can and keep bettering my career high ranking and do things I’ve never done before,” Fish said. “Today is one of them as I had never defending a title before, so it’s another milestone for me.” The defeat snapped Isner’s eight-match winning streak. “The match was in my hands,” he said. “I was up a set and a break. It’s as simple as that.”

SMOOTH SAILING

After a slight bump in the quarterfinals, Vera Zvonareva had little problem wrapping up her latest title. It was in the quarterfinals where Anna Tatishvili took the second set and battled the eventual champion for more than three hours before falling 7-5 6-7 (4) 6-2. After that, it was smooth sailing for Zvonareva, who captured her second WTA title of the year and the 12th of her career, beating Ksenia Pervak 6-1 6-4 in the final of the Baku Cup. Pervak was playing in her first WTA final. By reaching the title match, the left-hander will be in the top 50 in this week’s rankings. “Maybe I didn’t play my best tennis this week, but I still fought ever hard and played every match from the first point to the last,” Zvonareva said. “It’s a great feeling to win at the end of the day.”

SIMON SUCCESSFUL

It’s been a long time between French champions on the clay courts of Hamburg, Germany. When Gilles Simon won his second ATP World Tour title of the season, besting Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 6-4 4-6 6-4, he became the first Frenchman to win the title since Henry Leconte 25 years ago. “I feel very, very good. I had to win so many tough matches this week,” Simon said. It was the first clay-court title for the fifth-seeded Simon since he won at Bucharest, Romania, in 2008. The 26-year-old also won in Sydney, Australia, in January and now has captured nine ATP World Tour titles. Almagro was seeking his fourth clay-court title of the season. “I’m happy with my level of tennis on clay all year,” Almagro said. “I was champion at three tournaments and reached two finals.”

SPECIAL RANKING

She may be ranked 172nd in the world, but that’s not going to keep Serena Williams from competing at the US Open. A three-time winner of America’s top tennis tournament, Serena was granted direct entry into this year’s field by using her special injury-protected number one ranking. Because she was sidelined more than six months by a series of health issues, Serena had the right to use her special ranking to enter up to eight tournaments, including one Grand Slam event. Alona Bondarenko also gained entry via a special ranking.

With both Serena and her sister Venus Williams aboard, the United States Tennis Association announced the provisional US Open field will include 97 of the top 100 women, including two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters, Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and French Open champion Li Na. Other former champions in the women’s singles will be Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova. Misaki Doi of Japan, ranked 105th in the world, was the 104th and last player accepted directly into the women’s field of 128.

Novak Djokovic will be seeking his third Grand Slam men’s singles title of the year at the US Open, where the field includes defending US Open champion and French Open winner Rafael Nadal along with five-time US Open champion Roger Federer. Among the world’s top 101 men to receive direct entry includes former US Open winners Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro. Marc Gicquel of France, who is ranked 101st in the world, is the last player accepted directly into the men’s field of 128. Three men used protected rankings to gain direct entry: Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, Tommy Haas of Germany and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.

The 2011 US Open will be played August 29-September 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Both the men’s and women’s US Open singles champions will earn USD $1.8 million with the ability to earn an additional USD $1 million in bonus prize money based on their performances in the Olympus US Open Series.

SMASHING PERFORMANCE

Irina-Camelia Begu believes in doubling up. And because of that, the 2011 BCR Open Romania trophy stays in Bucharest. A native of Bucharest, Begu defeated Laura Pous-Tio of Spain 6-3 7-5 to capture her second International Tennis Federation (ITF) USD $100,000 tournament. Then she teamed with fellow Romanian Elena Bogdan to win the doubles, just as she did when she won her first ITF tournament in Cali, Colombia, earlier this year. At Cali, she also stopped Pous-Tio in the singles final. “I think she was a little scared of me,” Begu said of Pous-Tio, whom she also beat in Budapest, Hungary, in a first-round meeting. “And the audience really helped me in this match.”

The doubles final was one of the most closely contested battles of the year. The teams split their first two sets in tiebreakers, Italy’s Maria-Elena Camerin and Turkey’s Ipek Senoglu winning the first 7-0. The Romanians then took the second tiebreak 7-4 before capturing the match tiebreak 16-14.

It was the third straight match tiebreak for the losers. Camerin and Senoglu beat Ioana-Raliuca Olaru and Erika Sema 10-7 in the match tiebreak in the quarterfinals, then topped Maria Kondratieva and Sophie Lefevre 10-4 in the semifinal match tiebreak.

STARS OF WTT

Two doubles stars – Leander Paes of the Washington Kastles and Liezel Huber of the St. Louis Aces – have been named the World TeamTennis Most Valuable Players. Arina Rodionova of the Kastles and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Aces were named WTT Rookies of the Year, while Murphy Jensen was named WTT Coach of the Year in his third season at the helm of the Kastles.

SAYS I DO

The 2000 Olympic gold medal winner and former world number three, Elena Dementieva, has a new title: Mrs. The retired Russian star married her long-time boyfriend, hockey pro Maxim Afinogenov, at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow, Russia. The ceremony was held on the roof of the hotel and pigeons were released during the celebration. Fellow player Vera Dushevina caught the bride’s bouquet while other players at the wedding included Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Vesnina, Ekaterina Makarova, Maria Kirilenko, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Igor Andreev. The newly-weds received video messages from Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki.

SET FOR CARLSBAD

Three young German stars will battle for the title in the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open when it begins its one-week run July 30 at the La Costa Resort and Spa. “All three of these dynamic rapidly-rising players have a very entertaining style,” Mercury Insurance Open tournament director Raquel Giscfre said of Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki. “They are starting to make an impact in women’s professional tennis and are on the verge of achieving great things in the sport.” All three have won tournaments this year, and Lisicki reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. Petkovic is the highest ranked of the trio at 11th in the world. Two-time defending US Open champion Kim Clijsters and Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova both withdrew from the Mercury Insurance Open because of injuries.

SAYONARA

The dream has ended for former Wimbledon and US Open finalist Mark Philippoussis. “I don’t really have any interest in returning to the ATP,” the Australian told the Boston Herald. “I’d love to play some events. I’m very interested in playing some events, but I’m very happy playing senior events.” After having success when he first joined the seniors, Philippoussis talked opening about rejoining the ATP tour. Now, at the age of 34, he’s decided his future lies with the senior tour. Only a few months ago he was again dropping hints that a return to the ATP would be right up his street. “I’m having a lot of fun. It’s a great group of guys,” he said. “It’s laid back. It’s got a great vibe, and I’m just really enjoying doing that. I’m not really into the traveling. I’ve done so much of it over the years. I’m not really happy traveling.” This month Philippoussis has been playing World TeamTennis with Boston.

SPLITTSVILLE BOUNCE

Just days after dumping his childhood sweetheart, reigning US Open golf champion
Rory McIlroy is dating the world’s top-ranked woman, Caroline Wozniacki. According to reports, the 22-year-old golf hooked up with the 21-year-old Wozniacki on the final day of the British Open golf championships. They reportedly were spotted kissing after an intimate dinner in London. The golfer’s management confirmed he had split from Holly Sweeney, saying the breakup was “amicable.” Sweeney, who had dated McIlroy for six years, said he had dumped her. McIlroy and Wozniacki met at the world heavyweight boxing title match between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko in Germany on July 2.

SHE’S THE TOPS

It apparently doesn’t matter that Serena Williams has only played two tournaments in the past 12 months. The tennis star has been voted the most popular female sports star in a Harris interactive poll among American sports fans. The poll was taken in June, just about the time Williams played a WTA tour match for the first time in 11 months. Two other inactive tennis players made the top 10. Anna Kournikova finished sixth in the balloting and Martina Navratilova was seventh. Venus Williams was second behind her sister in the poll, while Maria Sharapova finished fourth, giving tennis players half of the 10 spots.

SORRY

The BBC has apologized for inadvertently airing an advertisement for the first time. The 30-second commercial was shown on BBC Two during last month’s coverage of Wimbledon. The advertisement urged viewers to “log on now and get your tickets today” for the ATP World Tour finals, the men’s season-ending tournament that will be held in London in November, and also contained numerous references to Barclays Bank. The private television network, ITV, reportedly complained to the BBC about the transmission, demanding to know whether the advertisement was part of a financial arrangement between the BBC and the ATP, a suggestion that the broadcaster vehemently denies. “It was broadcast once. It was a mistake and it should not have been broadcast,” a BBC spokeswoman said. “Steps were immediately taken to ensure it was not broadcast again. This was not part of any deal with Wimbledon, the ATP or the Lawn Tennis Association.”

SHE’S BACK

Martina Hingis will participate in a pro-am event August 1 held in conjunction with the Mercury Insurance Open, a WTA tournament in Carlsbad, California, USA. Now retired, Hingis won the Australian Open singles three straight years, 1997-1999, and also won Wimbledon and the US Open singles in 1997. She won nine Grand Slam tournament doubles titles, and in 1998 became just the fourth woman to win a calendar-year Grand Slam in doubles.

SPECIAL HONOR

Doubles star Leander Paes has been elected honorary life member of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA). Jai Singh Gill, CLTA president, said Paes was unanimously elected for the position and the tennis star has accepted. CLTA patron-in-chief Rajan Kashyap said Paes has a very long and fruitful association with the organization. “Leander had won his first ITF Junior tennis title in Chandigarh in 1989 here, and after that he did not look back. Paes went on to win the Junior Australian Open and Junior Wimbledon and other major titles,” Kashyap said. Currently, Paes is one of the top doubles players in the world.

SHOWING IT ALL

CBC Sports has agreed to a new five-year contract with Tennis Canada to carry the Rogers Cup. The new deal gives CBC exclusive English-language coverage of the semifinals and finals of both the men’s and women’s editions of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank. Multi-platform coverage of the tournaments, which take place during the same one-week period each summer in Montreal and Toronto, will be seen on CBC Television, digital channel bold and streaming online at CBCSports.ca. “The Rogers Cup brings the top tennis talent in the world to Canada year in and year out, and we are thrilled to be the home of this tournament for the next five years,” said Jeffrey Orridge, CBC’s executive director of sports properties.

SET TO CLASH

The Washington Kastles wrapped up an unbeaten regular season with a dazzling display of power, shot-making and teamwork Thursday, trouncing the Philadelphia Freedoms, 25-11, before a spirited capacity crowd that braved the sweltering heat.

The Kastles improved to 14-0, becoming only the second squad in the 36-year history of World Team Tennis to compile a perfect mark in regular season play. The other team to do so was the 1994 Newport Beach Breakers (then known as the Dukes).

SALUTED

Announcer Dick Enberg and the Campbell Soup Company, along with this year’s Tennis Hall of Fame inductees – Andre Agassi and Peachy Kellmeyer – will be honored at The Legends Ball in New York City on September 9. The Legends Ball is an annual social event and fund-raiser put on by the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. Enberg will be presented with the Eugene L. Scott Award, which honors an individual who embodies Scott’s commitment to communicating honestly and critically about the game and who has had a significant impact on the tennis world. Previous recipients of the award include John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe and his wife Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, and Martina Navratilova. The Campbell Soup Company will be presented the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Award, which is given in honor of the man who served as president and chairman of the Hall of Fame from 1982-88, and was responsible for elevating the organization to worldwide recognition. The award recognizes a company that shares Cullman’s enthusiasm for tennis and has also made a significant contribution to society at large.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Atlanta: Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Matthew Ebden beat Matthias Bachinger and Frank Moser 3-6 7-5 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Baku: Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Poutchek beat Monica Niculescu and Galina Voskoboeva 6-3 2-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Bucharest: Irina-Camelia Begu and Elena Bogdan beat Maria-Elena Camerin and Ipek Senoglu 6-7 (1) 7-6 (4) 16-14 (match tiebreak)

Hamburg: Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya beat Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek 6-4 6-1

Petange: Johanna Larsson and Jasmin Woehr beat Kristina Barrois and Anna Lena Groenefeld 7-6 (2) 6-4

Poznan: Olivier Charron and Stephane Robert beat Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa 6-2 6-3

SURFING

Astana: www.ktf.kz

Los Angeles: www.farmersclassic.com/

Gstaad: www.creditagricolesuisseopengstaad.ch/en/

Umag: www.croatiaopen.hr/tenis/home.aspx

Stanford: www.bankofthewestclassic.com/

Washington: www.midatlanticwtc.com/

Segovia: www.teniselespinar.com

Kitzbühel: www.bet-at-home-cup.com/de/

Washington: www.leggmasontennisclassic.com/

Vancouver: www.vanopen.com

Carlsbad: www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$619,500 Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, California, USA, hard

$563,400 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad. Gstaad. Switzerland, clay

$563,400 ATP Studena Croatia, Umag, Croatia, clay

$125,000 President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard

WOMEN

$721,000 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, California, USA, hard

$220,000 Citi Open, Washington, DC, USA, hard

$100,000 President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$1,165,500 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington, DC, USA, hard

$563,400 Bet-at-Home Cup, Kitzbühel, Kitzbühel, Austria, clay

$122,323 ATP Open Castiolla y Leon, Segovia, Spain, hard

$100,000 Odlum Brown Van Open Presented by Ivesco, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hard

WOMEN

$721,00 Mercury Insurance Open, Carlsbad, California, USA, hard

$100,000 Odlum Brown Van Open Presented by Ivesco, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hard

A summary of the first week of Wimbledon – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

STARS

 

Wimbledon

(First Week)

 

Tsvetana Pironkova beat second-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-3

 

Sabine Lisicki beat third-seeded Li Na 3-6 6-4 8-6

 

Bernard Tomic beat fifth-seeded Robin Soderling 6-1 6-4 7-5

 

Tamira Paszek beat sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 3-6 6-4 11-9

 

Feliciano Lopez beat eighth-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2) 6-4

 

Lukasz Kubot beat ninth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3

 

Melinda Czink beat 10th-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4

 

OTHER

 

Paul Capdeville beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos 7-5 6-1 to win the Jalisco Open in Guadalajara, Mexico

 

DAVIS CUP

 

Americas Zone Group III: Barbados and Bolivia promoted to Group II for 2012; Jamaica and Honduras demoted to Group IV.

 

SAYING

 

“I was very calm, but inside I was bursting.” – Bernard Tomic, a qualifier from Australia, after upsetting fifth-seeded Robin Soderling and becoming the first 18-year-old man since 1990 to reach Wimbledon’s fourth round.

 

“When he’s healthy, he must be in the top five … So will be a very tough opponent for me. I know that. I’m not lucky to play against (Juan Martin) del Potro in the round of 16.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about his fourth-round opponent.

 

“I’m moving well, and I’m using all of my arsenal. I thought today was a particularly good performance on my serve.” – Roger Federer, after his straight-set third-round victory over David Nalbandian.

Bernard Tomic

 

“From the bright side, I hung in there in the important moments. I stayed emotionally stable, believing that I can win, and that’s what matters the most.” – Novak Djokovic, who outlasted Marcos Baghdatis in a third-round match.

 

“Probably the opinion of the past champions, they have more troubles between each other. Is different. But for me the rivalry is only inside the court. Doesn’t affect the rest.” – Rafael Nadal, disagreeing with Jimmy Connors’ assertion that today’s players are too soft because they are friends off the court.

 

“It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. … I normally never act like that. I felt at this point I had to get all this frustration out and start again.” – Marion Bartoli, after telling her parents to leave the stands at her match.

 

“You keep moving forward until you decide to stop. At this point I’ve not decided to stop so I’ll keep moving forward.” – Andy Roddick, after being upset in the third round.

 

“Don’t bet against me.” – Serena Williams, when asked about her chances of winning her third consecutive Wimbledon title despite missing more than 11 months with injuries and illnesses.

 

“I’m feeling better and glad to be still in the tournament. I just need that rhythm that I have been missing and keep serving like I did today.” – Serena Williams, after winning her third-round match.

 

“I’ve got to play relaxed, have fun. That’s when I play my best tennis. I think I can play really well when I do that. I don’t really want to stop now after you’ve done it. You really want to keep going. That’s what I’m going to do.” – Bernard Tomic, following his upset of fifth-seeded Robin Soderling.

 

“He’s a nice kid who just doesn’t fear too much. He just goes out and plays. I think that’s a strength in one way, because you just play your game and you don’t really think about your surroundings.” – Xavier Malisse, talking about his next opponent, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic.

 

“Very impressed. First time I have seen him play live. I tell you, a star in the making. I really liked the way he played, his composure. I expect a lot more from him.” – Boris Becker, commenting on Bernard Tomic.

 

“The goal is the second week.” – John Isner, who didn’t make it, instead losing in the second round to Nicolas Almagro.

 

“My ranking, for me, it’s not an issue. I’ll get wild cards into a certain amount of tournaments that I’ll want to play anyway. As I’ve always said, your ranking takes care of itself. Once you’re actually in the tournament, if I can play at that level consistently, then my ranking’s the furthest thing from my mind.” – Lleyton Hewitt.

 

“Before, my tennis was a priority, I was 100 percent focused on it. But the older you get, the interest for other things. Now I want to spend more time with friends and family.  Of course, this does not mean that my career is over, I would love to be on top again.” – Jelena Jankovic, a former world number one player, after she lost in Wimbledon’s first round.

 

SENT TO COURT 2

 

WTA CEO Stacey Allaster said she was “disappointed” that four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams was sent to Court 2 for her second-round match. Williams insisted that the world’s two top-ranked men, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, would never be scheduled for a court outside either Centre Court or Court One. “Serena Williams is a four-time Wimbledon singles champion, the defending champion of Wimbledon, and a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion. I share her disappointment,” Allaster said in a statement. The All England Club noted frequent interruptions caused by rain had forced some court changes but denied there was any bias against either Serena or sister Venus, a five-time Wimbledon winner. Venus also has played on Court 2 this year. “They like to put us on Court 2, me and Venus, for whatever reason. I haven’t figured it out yet.” Serena said. “Maybe one day we’ll figure it out. They (Nadal and Djokovic) are never moved across. Actually, Venus and I have won more Wimbledons together than a lot of the players or by ourselves in doubles even. I don’t make it a big issue, but I think at some point maybe I should.”

 

STOPPED AT THE BORDER

 

Novak Djokovic is missing one member of his entourage at Wimbledon. Great Britain has refused to allow Djokovic’s white toy poodle into the country. “He is upset he can’t bring Pierre to Wimbledon and he is pleading with the authorities to let the dog in,” a source close to the player said. “Whenever he can, he takes the dog with him. He is genuinely upset. For him this is a very serious issue.” Djokovic was photographed with the dog in Paris during Roland Garros, and both were on the cover of the July edition of fashion magazine L’Uomo Vogue. The poodle even has his own Twitter page.

 

SCREECHING

 

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, wants to put a stop of the grunting, yelling, shrieking, crying or high-pitched yelping found on the courts at Wimbledon. Ritchie was quoted in The Telegraph of London saying tournament officials would “prefer to see less grunting” at the grass court Grand Slam tournament. “We have discussed it with the tours and we believe it is helpful to reduce the amount of grunting. We are one tournament in a global circuit. But we have made our views clear and we would like to see less of it.”

 

SENT OFF

 

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli caused widespread amazement during her third-round match when she demanded her parents leave Court 12 while she was playing. Bartoli, who was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007, is coached by her father, who gave up his career as a doctor to mentor her. When Bartoli trailed 3-4 in the final set against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, she told her parents to leave the stands. “I was so tired and exhausted that really I had to express my emotions somehow,” the player said. “I saw them right after the match, my parents, and they understood completely. It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. I normally never act like that.” Bartoli won the match.

 

STOP PROTEST

 

Demonstrators were stopped Saturday from entering the Wimbledon tennis championships by police, causing a backup of thousands of fans who were waiting to get inside the gates. The 14 protesters from the Spanish-based 15M movement, wearing yellow T-shirts reading “real democracy now,” had tins of paint and banner-making equipment hidden in their bags. Sources said they were seeking to protest Madrid’s economic policies. It was feared they might have been targeting the match involving the world’s number one player, Rafael Nadal of Spain, the defending Wimbledon men’s champion. Club officials kept the gates closed for an extra 45 minutes while they assessed the nature of the threat. The group was removed from the queue and left peacefully.

 

SOFIA, HERE WE COME

 

The WTA Tournament of Champions will move next year from Bali to a new venue in Sofia, Bulgaria. The tournament features the six highest-ranked players who have won a title during the year, but who have not qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships. Bali will stage the event for the last time November 2-6 this year before the tournament moves to the Arena Sofia for three years beginning in 2012. Bulgaria has not hosted a WTA tournament in 22 years.

 

STOPPED

 

Li Na’s run at Wimbledon was much shorter than at the year’s first two Grand Slam tournament. At Roland Garros earlier this month, Li became the first player from Asia to win a major singles title. In January, she was runner-up at the Australian Open. But at Wimbledon Li wasted two match points before losing to wild-card entry Sabine Lisicki of Germany 3-6 6-4 8-6.

 

Cashing in on her success in Paris, the 29-year-old Li reportedly signed an endorsement deal with Daimler AG to endorse its Mercedes Benz that is worth about USD $1.5 million annually for three years. Li’s agent, Max Eisenbud of IMG, acknowledged a deal had been struck, but he would not confirm the numbers. Li Na’s other endorsement deals include Nike, Rolex, Spider Tech and Haagen Dazs. She is expected to pull in about USD $10 million in endorsement money this year, which would rank her second in women’s tennis only behind Maria Sharapova, who makes about USD $25 million a year and is the highest earning female athlete in the world.

 

SAY IT RIGHT!

 

Germany’s Julia Goerges gets upset when people call her “gorgeous.” Her name, after all, should be pronounced “Gur-ges” with a hard “g” in each case – like “gurgle.” Umpire Graeme Jones had problems with pronouncing Goerges’ name, most of them variations of “gorgeous” and all tickling the spectators. Finally Goerges had enough and corrected the umpire. “Honestly, I don’t really like it,” the 22-year-old brunette said. “It’s just that people sometimes read my name and can’t pronounce it because they haven’t heard it before, especially in America. You can make the joke once, but you don’t have to do it two or three or four times in a row. It’s getting to really annoy me. … I want to show what I can do in tennis and it has nothing to do with how you look on court. If you’re good-looking on court, it doesn’t win any matches.” Goerges lost in the third round.

 

SOFTIE SERENA

 

Jack Marshall of Scunthorpe in northern England helped reveal the softer side of Serena Williams. The 5-year-old was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2009. His mother Tracy contacted a number of celebrities via Twitter to help spread awareness of his illness and raise money to support him and other sufferers. “I read his story and my heart kind of went out for him,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ That was one thing, I thought if I made it to Wimbledon, I wanted to invite Jack out. The youngster watched Williams win her second-round match. “I got to meet him yesterday. It’s just been so amazing, his whole story, to be so small to have such courage,” Serena said. “He calls me his best bud, so I love it.”

 

SERIOUSLY

 

It was 30 years ago when John McEnroe screamed at a Wimbledon umpire, “You cannot be serious.” Called “Superbrat” by the British tabloid media, McEnroe’s outburst came in a first-round match against fellow American Tom Gullikson, who was serving in the opening set when a McEnroe shot was called out. Approaching umpire Edward James, McEnroe said: “Chalk came up all over the place, you can’t be serious man.” Then, his anger rising, the left-hander yelled: “You cannot be serious. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in. How can you possibly call that out? Everybody knows it’s in in the whole stadium and you call it out? You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?” James then politely announced: “I’m going to award a point against you, Mr. McEnroe.” The umpire later docked McEnroe another point for racquet abuse. After he beat Bjorn Borg to win the first of his three Wimbledon titles, McEnroe became the first singles champion to not be made an honorary member of the All England Club.

 

SET FOR TORONTO

 

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams are heading to Canada this summer. “Venus and I are thrilled to come to Toronto this summer to play at Rogers Cup,” Serena said. For the first time, Rogers Cup will be a virtual combined event with the men playing in Montreal and the women in Toronto at the same time, August 5-14. Previously the two events were played on successive weeks. “They’re really excited to get back on the court and play a lot of tennis over the next couple of years,” tournament director Karl Hale said of the Williams sisters. “They’re hungrier than ever to get out and achieve on the tennis court, which will be good for Rogers Cup.”

 

SHORTER, THANKFULLY

 

For the second straight year, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner faced each other in the opening round of Wimbledon. A year ago, the two battled their way into history as Isner needed more than 11 hours to win. Isner repeated his victory, but this time he needed only 2 hours, 3 minutes to wrap up a 7-6 (4) 6-2 7-6 (6) clash in fading daylight and move into the second round. “I’m just really thrilled to have won that third set,” Isner said, “because if I lose that third set, then chances are we don’t finish. You know, our match goes to a second day.” Last year, they battled for three days.

 

SMASH FOR JOPLIN

 

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is donating USD $100,000 to the city of Joplin, Missouri, USA, to assist with disaster relief efforts in the tornado-stricken community. The USTA is committed to helping rebuild Joplin High School and its tennis courts, which were demolished in the storm. In addition, the USTA will bring SmashZone, the interactive fan attraction featured annually at the US Open, to Missouri Southern State University in an effort to help boost the spirits of the children and families affected by the disaster. The USTA contribution consists of a USD $25,000 donation from the USTA Missouri Valley Section, a USD $25,000 donation from USTA National, and a USD $50,000 grant for refurbishment of the high school tennis courts and technical assistance. In addition to its $100,000 donation, the USTA is working with tennis manufacturers and retailers to collect additional donations including equipment and tennis gear for the Joplin High School tennis team.

 

SPIFFY GARDENS

 

A battle with his gardener over money has prevented Boris Becker from selling his villa in Spain. The gardener claims the three-time Wimbledon champion owes him nearly USD $400,000 for the upkeep of the grounds. A court has decided to hold the debt against the villa, meaning it will be claimed against any eventual sale of the property. “There is a lawsuit and we are fighting it,” Becker said. “They wanted more money than they were supposed to get. It is my house and hasn’t been taken.” Becker is asking USD $24 million for the property, which has been on the market since 2007. He wanted to gardens in pristine condition for the benefit of potential buyers. Becker now lives in Switzerland with his wife Lilly but is currently staying at his home in Wimbledon.

 

SHOWING OFF

 

In partnership with Fila, the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, has unveiled a new exhibit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the brand that has been worn by many great champions of tennis, including Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Monica Seles. “At the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, our mission is to preserve and showcase the history of tennis, with the goal of honoring the legends and inspiring tennis fans,” said CEO Mark L. Stenning. “From Borg’s Wimbledon victories to Seles’ French Open title, Fila has been an integral partner in great moments in tennis history and we are pleased to celebrate their milestone anniversary by showcasing the brand’s rich history to our visitors.” The special exhibit was unveiled in mid-June and will be changed throughout the year as part of Fila’s year-long celebration of the centennial anniversary of the brand. The exhibit includes design sketches as well as dramatic photos of Fila players in action. A wooden Fila tennis racquet and polo shirts worn by Hall of Famer Boris Becker are also part of the display.

 

SAD NEWS

 

Lance Lumsden, one of the best tennis players to come out of Jamaica, has died at the age of 71. According to his nephew, Richard Lumsden, the former Davis Cup player had been undergoing treatment for cancer . Lumsden played at Southern Illinois University in the early 1960s and was one of the first Jamaicans to play tennis on the international circuit in the modern era. In 1968, the first year of the era of Open tennis, he played the world number one, Australia’s Rod Laver, in the first round of the French Open in Paris. Lumsden competed in Davis Cup under the flag of the Commonwealth Caribbean. In 1966, Lumsden and Richard Russell defeated Venezuela 3-2, the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup tie. In the following tie against the United States at the St Andrew Club in Kingston, Lumsden and Russell beat the top-ranked American doubles team of Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell 6-4 7-9 14-12 4-6 6-4. It was the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup match against the United States. Although the United States won the tie by 4-1, the doubles victory by Lumsden and Russell in May 1966 is still regarded as one of the finest hours in the history of tennis in Jamaica and the Caribbean. After retiring from tennis, Lumsden settled in Vienna, Austria, where he married and raised a family. He leaves sons Joris, Marco and Robin, the latter the current honorary consul of Jamaica to Austria.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

 

Guadalajara: Vasek Pospisil and Bobby Reynolds beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos and Ivo Klec 6-4 6-7 (6) 10-6 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.com

Braunschweig: www.nordlb-open.org/

Turin: www.sporting.to.it/

The Lawn Tennis Association: www.lta.org.uk/

Tennis Brit: www.tennisbrit.co.uk/

Bastad: http://women.swedishopen.org/

Budapest: www.budapestgrandprix.hu/joomla15/

Newport: www.tennisfame.com/

Pozoblanco: www.tennispozoblanco.com/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

(All money in USD)

 

MEN

 

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$163,300 Braunschweig, Germany, clay

$122,000 Turin, Italy, clay

WOMEN

 

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

 

SENIORS

 

Volkswagen Senior Classic, Turin, Italy, clay

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

 

$441,500 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass

$120,800 ATP Challenger Ciudad de Pozoblanco Open, Pozoblanco, Spain, hard

 

WOMEN

 

$220,000 Collector Swedish Open Women, Bastad, Sweden, clay

$220,000 Poli-Farbe Budapest Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary, clay

 

DAVIS CUP

 

World Group

Quarterfinals

 

Sweden vs. Serbia at Halmstad, Sweden, hard

Argentina vs. Kazakhstan at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay

United States vs. Spain at Austin, Texas, USA, hard

Germany vs. France at Stuttgart, Germany, clay

 

Group I

 

Americas Zone, 2nd round: Ecuador vs. Canada at Guayaquil, Ecuador, clay; Uruguay vs. Brazil at Montevideo, Uruguay, clay

 

Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: China vs. Australia at Beijing, China, hard; Japan vs. Uzbekistan at Kobe, Japan, hard; playoffs: New Zealand vs. Philippines at Taranaki, New Zealand, hard

 

Europe/Africa Zone, 2nd Round: Italy vs. Slovenia at Arzachena, Italy, clay; South Africa vs. the Netherlands at Potchefstroom, South Africa, hard; Switzerland vs. Portugal at Berne, Switzerland, hard

 

Group II

 

Americas Zone, 2nd round: Peru vs. Dominican Republic at Lima, Peru, clay; Paraguay vs. Venezuela at Asuncion, Paraguay, clay; playoffs: El Salvador vs. Netherlands Antilles at Santa Tecia, El Salvador, clay; Puerto Rico vs. Haiti at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, hard

 

Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: Korea vs. Pakistan at Gimcheon, Korea, hard; Thailand vs. Indonesia at Nonthaburo, Thailand, hard; playoffs: Syria at Hong Kong, hard; Pacific Oceania vs. Iran at Guam, hard

 

Europe/Africa Zone: 2nd round: Great Britain vs. Luxembourg at Glasgow, Scotland, hard; Hungary vs. Belarus at Godollo, Hungary, clay; Bosnia/Herzegovina vs. Estonia at Tuzla, Bosnia/Herzegovina, hard; Denmark vs. Latvia at Fredericksburg, Denmark, clay; playoffs: Ireland vs. Tunisia at Dublin, Ireland, hard; Bulgaria vs. Cyprus at Sofia, Bulgaria, carpet; Lithuania vs. Morocco at Vilnius, clay; Greece vs. Monaco at Thessalonica, Greece, clay

 

Group III

 

Africa Zone at Cairo, Egypt, clay (round-robin in four pools; two nations promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II for 2012): Algeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe

Samantha Stosur an Enigmatic Loser at Wimbledon

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The Enigma (that’s capital T, capital E), upset in the first round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, was off Court 14 on Tuesday afternoon and trudging to the locker room before the scattering of fans had finished clapping for her No. 262-ranked opponent.

Samantha Stosur

Exactly what IS the deal with Sam Stosur?

Here’s what we know about the best woman player in Australia, who has a more or less permanent second home in Tampa, Fla, — She’s fit, she’s very athletic, she has a technique-perfect serve, she trains hard, she’s got an excellent temperament on court, she’s ranked No. 10 in the world.

And she shows up at Wimbledon and can’t play a lick.

Last year, she beat down Justine Henin, No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic to reach the final of the French Open, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone. Two weeks later, at Wimbledon, with a glowing future within her grasp, she lost in the first round to Kaia Kanepi.

This year, more of the same. Last week at Eastbourne, on the southern coast of England, she whipped No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in the quarters before going down to Marion Bartoli in the semis. Still. . .quarters in a grass-court lead-up to Wimbledon and a big win. That’s great preparation. She talked about how optimistic she was heading for London.

Yet there we were again on a blustery Tuesday afternoon, with Stosur facing Melinda Czink, who had won one Wimbledon match in six appearances at the All England Club and who had gone out in the first round of 14 previous Grand Slams. You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of quality backhands Sam hit off the Wimbledon grass.

I don’t want to totally denigrate Czink, who has been as high as No. 38. She has an excellent serve and is a veteran player. But whatever vague glimmer her career once displayed ended long ago and she got into this Wimbledon on a protected ranking.

Stosur was down love-3 in the opening set before she could put together a run of points in this 6-3, 6-4 defeat, but, though she didn’t play well, my sense was that Czink had a hot day serving and deserved some credit.

I expected a turn-around in set 2, but what I got was a 4-0 Czink lead in just 15 minutes. Stosur has a big, flat forehand that plays well on grass, and I’ve seen her control points with her backhands on clay. But for whatever reason, it’s just one flop after another on Wimbledon grass.

Can’t win the big ones? Is that where her reputation is headed? Losing one French Open final doesn’t offer enough evidence to support that and, in fact, you could make a stronger argument that she can’t win the small ones.

Kanepi is a mid-ranking quality player, but the loss to Czink this year is a humiliation. It’s just very difficult to understand how a player of Stosur’s talents, who has won often enough to crack top-10 (she was No. 4 back in February) can play this poorly on the world’s biggest stage.

She is The Enigma.

What the French Open says about the sexes

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By Thomas Swick
swickt@bellsouth.net

The French Open seems to be proving what women have been saying for centuries: Men are so predictable.

The women’s draw at Roland Garros has been a bracketologist’s nightmare, with the early departure of the top three seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva. Clijsters, admittedly, was coming back from time off (necessitated by the increasingly common dance floor injury). But she was beaten by a woman, Arantxa Rus, who possessed a ranking of 114 in the world and the imposing physique of a runway model. (A word of advice to the young Dutchwoman: Stay out of the clubs.)

Francesca Schiavone

Maria Sharapova survived a second-round scare from a 17-year-old, Caroline Garcia, who promptly went and played in the juniors tournament. In the quarterfinals, the #6 seed Na Li defeated, naturally, the #4 seed Victoria Azarenka.

Even the advance of the 2010 women’s champion, Francesca Schiavone, has been unexpected. Very few people watching last year’s final thought, as they did watching Rafael Nadal: “See you here next year.” The happiness we felt for the then 29-year-old Italian was very much tied to the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Or so we thought.

The men, by contrast, have been all status quo. In the quarterfinals, Nadal prevailed easily over Robin Soderling, the only man ever to beat him at Roland Garros (and the man he defeated in last year’s final). Perhaps the biggest revelation in this match was McEnroe’s announcement, during the one-sided second set, that his father had just sent him an e-mail saying he was sitting in Soderling’s box.

Nadal will meet Andy Murray in the semifinals, a man who won his last three matches playing on an injured ankle (not the result of dancing). While in the other semifinal, Roger Federer will play not a Maltese teen or a journeyman Jordanian but the hottest player in the world, Novak Djokovic. The top four are in the semis and all’s right with the world.

This is not to say the men’s matches have been devoid of surprises. During the Murray-Troicki match a ball boy ran onto the court, mistakenly thinking the point was over. The drop shot, thanks in large part to Murray, has returned with a vengeance. And in probably the biggest shock, the only player yet to lose a set is not Nadal or Djokovic but the gracefully-aging man from Switzerland.

Countless deductions will be made about the chaos on the women’s side and the order on the men’s. But one thing is certain: It’s good for the game. Among casual tennis fans, there are two types: Those who complain that it’s always the same faces, and those who complain they don’t recognize any of the names. This year’s French offers something for both.

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

 

Victoria Azarenka wins the Sony Ericsson Open 2011 for the second time

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Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 here Saturday to win the WTA’s prestigious Miami hardcourt crown for the second time.

Azarenka, the 21-year-old eighth seed from Belarus, took full advantage of Sharapova’s struggles, as the former world number one held serve just once and committed 43 unforced errors.

“I played real well the first set,” said Azarenka, who matched Sharapova shriek for shriek in a battle of two of the WTA’s loudest players.

“Maria is such a great fighter, I knew she was going to fight to the end. She came up with great tennis at the end, and I had to hang in there. That’s what paid off.”

Azarenka had won nine straight games to take control when Sharapova dug in, finally holding serve and breaking Azarenka twice to close to 4-3 in the second set.

Once again, however, Sharapova was broken, giving Azarenka a 5-3 lead with her seventh double fault of the match.

Victoria Azarenka

In the next game, Sharapova saved two match points before Azarenka double-faulted on break point.

“I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong,” Azarenka said. “She was just playing really good, so I just had to hang in there.”

But Sharapova couldn’t follow up. Azarenka gave herself a third match point with a backhand winner down the line, and Sharapova then belted a forehand into the net to give Azarenka a second Miami title to go with her victory over Serena Williams in the 2009 final.

“It’s a little bit too late to pick up the pace when you’re down a set and 4-love,” Sharapova said. “I wish I picked it up earlier, obviously. She did many things better than I did today.”

The two Miami titles are the biggest of the Azarenka’s career.

With the victory, Azarenka is projected to rise to number six in the world, the highest ranking of her career.

Although both Serena and Venus Williams missed the tournament, Azarenka’s path to the final included victories over Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva.

Known for her emotion on court, Azarenka stayed on an even keel on Saturday, and said she had reassessed her mental game after falling in the third round at Dubai in February.

“I changed my mentality a little bit,” she said. “I’m enjoying myself so much on the court that there’s no room for me for frustration.

“I just don’t care if I lose – what I mean is not to create such a big drama out of it. If you lose the match, it’s not the end of the world.”

Despite her defeat, Sharapova is expected to return to the top 10 for the first time in two years.

She won three Grand Slam titles between 2004 and 2008, but has struggled to regain that form since surgery on her right shoulder late in 2008.

Since then she has won titles in Tokyo in in 2009 and Memphis and Strasbourg last year, but has yet to claim a major crown.

Sharapova also fell to 0-3 in Miami finals, adding another runner-up finish here to those in 2005 and 2006.

She has lost her last four finals appearances, yet Sharapova said the fact that she’s reaching the title matches is encouraging.

“It means that I’m winning matches, and winning more of them,” she said. “It has been a long road to get here. It’s not over yet.”

The men had the day off on Saturday, but will take center stage again Sunday when world number one Rafael Nadal takes on red-hot Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, ranked number two in the world, is unbeaten in 2011, with 23 match victories and titles at the Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells.

The Serbian defeated Nadal in the final at Indian Wells two weeks ago, but insisted he’ll be the underdog against the Spaniard on Sunday.

“I obviously wouldn’t feel like a favorite,” he said. “For me to win, I will be have to be on the top of my game.”