THE NATURAL

 

"I've never seen a guy do this," U.S. tennis great Stan Smith, 63, winner of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, was saying early Tuesday evening. "He's one of a kind."

But Smith wasn't talking about Bopanna or Qureshi. He was staring at the other end of the court. There, for a moment anyway, stood a 31-year old American about to serve named Brian Battistone. He held his racket in his left hand, tossed the ball some 15 feet into the air with his right, then switched the racket into his right and leapt high before smacking the ball over the net like Karch Kiraly spiking. Battistone's father used to own the Utah Jazz, and he's a former ballboy with a 36-inch vertical leap; his serve was clocked last year at 139 m.p.h. The ball cracked down at an unholy angle as Battistone landed. You have never seen anything like him.

And that's only the half of it. The racket in Battistone's hand was fire-engine red. It had two handles, splayed on the end like a divining rod, and goes by the name, "The Natural."

"He does two things that are very, very odd," Smith said. "The two-handled racket, plus the serve is, uh, pretty amazing."

Still, Smith was less shocked than most onlookers, whose comments ranged from "What the hell is that?" to "That jump makes no sense on the second serve" to "What was his coach smoking?" Tennis has a long tradition of geeks obsessed with string hybrids and the latest experimental gear; 43 years ago, Smith himself was knocked out of the 1977 U.S. Open by a no-name wielding soon-outlawed spaghetti strings. Battistone's two-handled racket is legal, though at first he traveled with a certificate for disbelieving referees, opponents and tournament directors.

"When my brother and I first came out on tour 2½ years ago, it was the worst," Battistone said after. "Nobody had even seen it before, and people would laugh constantly, make jokes. But after we were able to win a few matches, and in the first year we made the top 200. I don't think it's quite normal yet, but a lot of players are used to it and have fun with it now. They'll try it out. People see it as somewhat legitimate."

Somewhat. Battistone, who started playing with the racket -- developed by Southern California inventor Lionel Burt -- in 2007, teamed for this Open with Ryler DeHeart, who refuses to even pick up the racket -- much less swing it -- for fear that it will mangle his stroke. In the locker room before Tuesday's match, Battistone showed "The Natural" to Rafael Nadal, said it would be a natural for him, and Nadal took a few swings. Whether that had anything to do with his surprising difficulty that night with unranked first-round opponent Teymuraz Gabashvili isn't clear, but Nadal said after that such a racket was, well, crazy.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/sl_price/09/03/bopanna.qureshi/index.html?eref=si_tennis&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fsi_tennis+%28SI.com+-+Tennis%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#ixzz0yTydJG7t

BETWEEN THE LEGS

SERENA FOOTFAULTED - - AGAIN??

NYTIMES 

Article on Serena's injured foot.

Jesse Witten Wins 1st Qualie Round

Next round for Jesse is tomorrow, Friday.

A SHOKING LOSS - NOT!!!

 

Both Serena and Venus were subjected to psychological abuse at the mouth of their father, and probably physical abuse at his hands. Their Mom had been admitted to hospital twice with broken ribs.

Champions they are, but only if they feel unthreatened. Leading a match, they will run roughshod over their opponents.

But if their opposition can stay close, their internal temperature rises and an implosion is not far off. Today, was a stellar example.

Tsvetana Pironkova - WHO? - of Bulgaria, stayed close and Venus shattered like glass on rock. Double faults, missed put-aways - it was ugly [more than most women's matches].

Serena could have gone the same way, but struggled past Na Li [7-6, 6-3].

Women's tennis is mediocre, but most matches devolve into psychodramas.

Martina Navratilova was the same - in tears and the match not yet finished.

It's difficult to name any balanced woman player - Kim Clijsters only comes to mind.

Tom Tebbutt in today's Globe touted Serena's mental toughness.

Quite the opposite, Tom, she has an Achilles' head!

WIMBLEDON KEY DATES

June 7, 2010: Wild card announcements start, LTA wild card play-off begins.

June 14, 2010: Qualifying begins.

June 16, 2010: (12 noon) Seedings announced.

June 17, 2010: Qualifying ends.

June 18, 2010: (10 am): Official draw.

July 3, 2010: (from 2pm, weather permitting): Ladies' singles final, men's doubles final, ladies' doubles final.

July 4, 2010: (from 2pm, weather permitting): Men's singles final, mixed doubles final.

DOH!

JESSE WITTEN QUALIFIES

Former University of Kentucky men's tennis star Jesse Witten will compete in first-round action of the French Open against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, Monday at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France at 11 a.m. CET (5 a.m. EST). The lone tennis Grand Slam event played on a clay surface began Saturday.

Witten, listed No. 184 according to ATP rankings, earned his way into the prestigious tournament last week when he won three qualifying matches. The Naples, Fla., native won a three-hour-47-minute marathon against Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-6, (7-2), 4-6, 17-15 on Tuesday to start his run. Daniel was ranked 107th in the world. A day later, Witten posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia's John Millman. Witten punched his qualifying ticket Friday when he registered a 7-5, 6-2 win over Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia.

Witten will be making his first appearance at the French Open. He has participated twice in the singles tournament at the US Open (2006 and 2009) with a third-round finish in 2009. He also took part in the US Open doubles tournament in 2006.

Witten's first-round opponent Monday in Paris, Baghdatis, holds a No. 29 singles ranking and has played in five previous French Opens, including a fourth-round finish in 2007.

Witten grew into an iconic tennis figure at Kentucky during his college days (2002-2005), becoming only the 11th four-time men's singles All-American in NCAA history. The native of Naples, Fla., was named the 2005 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and advanced to the championship match of the 2005 NCAA Singles Championship. As a newcomer in 2002, Witten was named SEC Freshman of the Year, helping the Wildcats to a 23-10 mark and eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

FRENCH OPEN ON TSN

MADRID ON TSN AND TSN1

NEWCOMBE - SKIN CANCER

Australian tennis great John Newcombe expects to attend Wimbledon next month after recovering from an operation for skin cancer.

The 65-year-old Newcombe had a growth removed from the right side of his nose after his doctor discovered the cancer had spread under the skin.

"It's just a small little white thing you can hardly see it," Newcombe told Australia's Channel 10 television network.

"It's a cancerous growth so he [the doctor] had to cut ... and I finished up having to have 64 stitches."

Newcombe won seven Grand Slam singles titles and reached the world's No. 1 ranking.

AP

WRIST SURGERY FOR DEL PO

World No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, who has been sidelined from the ATP World Tour since the Australian Open in January, will undergo surgery on his right wrist on Tuesday in the United States. In a statement, the Argentine divulged that the operation will be carried out by Dr. Richard Berger, director of hand surgery at the Mayo Clinic in the city of Rochester, Minnesota.

APOLLO LAUNCH - TURN ON SOUND

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 from Mark Gray on Vimeo.

ITALIAN OPEN ON TSN AND TSN1

NESTOR TAKES BARCELONA

Top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic became the first repeat winners at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell in 27 years Sunday as they defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Knowles 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the final of the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament.

The Canadian-Serbian duo, currently No. 1 in the 2010 ATP Doubles Team Rankings, adds a further 500 ATP World Tour Ranking points to its tally and shares €89,660 in prize money. The top eight teams at the end of the season will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 21-28 November.

Nestor and Zimonjic clinched their 20th tour-level title together, following on from their title defence at last week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Bhupathi-Mirnyi). They also lifted trophies in Sydney (d. Hutchins-Kerr) and Rotterdam (d. Aspelin-Hanley) and finished runners-up at the Australian Open (l. to Bryan-Bryan) and the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Lopez-Nadal) earlier in the season.

Last year, Nestor and Zimonjic went on from Barcelona to triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where they will play next week. They completed the sweep of 2009 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments in Madrid.

ATP

MARK KNOWLES MILESTONE

Bahamian Mark Knowles has become just the fifth player in ATP World Tour history to record 700 doubles match wins.

The 38-year-old Knowles partnered former World No. 1 singles player Lleyton Hewitt to a 6-4, 7-6(0) victory over sixth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach on Thursday for a place in the Barcelona Open BancSabadell quarter-finals. Knowles and Hewitt won 71 per cent of service points and saved four of six break points for victory in 89 minutes.

“It’s a great milestone,” said Knowles, who has a 700-338 overall doubles record. “It reflects a pretty good career and I’ve had some great partners along the way to get me to that milestone. It’s exciting [and] it’s been a very challenging year. Every win is special these days based on the year I've had with injuries.”

Knowles joins Todd Woodbridge (782 wins), his long-time former partner Daniel Nestor (745), Sherwood Stewart (723) and Jonas Bjorkman (709) in the exclusive 700 Match Wins Club.

"I've got to know Lleyton pretty well recently,” said Knowles. “I asked him to play here and he was excited to play. Obviously it’s an honour. It’s extra special that he got me to 700 today.”

Over the course of a 19-season pro career, Knowles has won 52 career doubles titles. He has won at least one title for 16 of 17 years (except 1999) from 1993-2009. He won his three Grand Slam doubles titles with Nestor at the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 US Open and at 2007 Roland Garros.

When asked how much longer he intends to play, No. 8-ranked Knowles said, “You never know. I've got a great partner lined up in Mardy Fish this year. So far our biggest obstacle has been to try and stay healthy between the two of us.

“I still enjoy being out there and competing. A lot depends on health, family and other issues, but I feel like I'm still playing at a good enough level to stay out here and compete.”

ATP

WIMBLEDON PRIZE HISTORY

Following is an evolution of the prize money awarded to singles champions at Wimbledon since tennis turned professional in 1968 (all figures in pounds sterling).

            Men              Women

1968 2,000          750

1970 3,000         1,500

1975 10,000      7,000

1980 20,000     18,000

1985 130,000   117,000

1990 230,000  207,000

1995 365,000  328,000

2000 477,500 430,000

2005 630,000 600,000

2007 700,000 700,000

REUTERS

WIMBLEDON PRIZE MONEY

Wimbledon organizers have increased prize money for the men's and women's champions to £1 million ($1.53 million).

The All England Club has sanctioned the £150,000 rise to offset the effects of the falling value of the British pound against the US dollar and euro.

The total prize money for the event will be £13.725 million, an increase of £1.175 million on 2009.

The All England Club agreed to pay women the same prize money as men for the first time in 2007. The £1 million prize for the 2010 ladies singles' champion is more than double that of eight years ago.

CNN

NADAL KNEES REST

Spanish tennis star
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Conde de Godo tournament in
Barcelona because of further problems in his knees.

The
former world number one had just returned to winning ways after
triumphing in Monte Carlo, but tendonitis in his knees forced him out
of the Barcelona competition.

"My body has asked me to rest," he explained in Barcelona based spots paper El Mundo Deportivo.

Nadal
was plagued with knee problems last year and was unable to play at
Queens, Wimbledon or take part in the final of the Davis Cup, which
Spain won in Barcelona.

"I
have said on several occasions that the calendar is badly structured at
this time of the season," commented Nadal, in reference to the fact
that the competitions in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and the Rome Masters
(which begins next week) represent three consecutive weeks of
competition with no rest in between.

"I
am really sorry I can't play in Barcelona, more than in any other
competition. I feel it is the competition that is played in my club and
at my home," he explained.

Nadal
will now focus on recovering in time to play the Rome Masters, before
competing in the Madrid Masters in early 9-16 May and then the French
Open (May 23-June 6).

MONTE CARLO ON TSN