SUMMER HEAT DOWNUNDER: 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Friday, November 27, 2009

SEEING IS BELIEVING - 1M FINE - SERENA

SERENA Williams may cop the largest fine in tennis history when the world champion is penalised for her US Open meltdown.

Industry sources last night indicated the International Tennis Federation's grand slam committee was close to consensus on the Williams case, almost 12 weeks after the US Open incident.

Williams was cited for committing a major offence, an infraction which carries possible suspension from January's Australian Open.

Williams allegedly threatened to kill a lineswoman in New York, saying: "If I could, I would take this f ... ing ball and shove it down your f ... ing throat".

The winner of 11 majors, Williams almost certainly will contest the 2010 Australian Open, where she is the defending champion.

But she is likely to receive a fine which far outstrips the $US100,000 Lleyton Hewitt was docked in 2002 for missing a Cincinnati interview.

ITF grand slam administrator Bill Babcock has finished his inquiries, taking evidence and submissions from Williams and the officials involved on the day.

His findings will be discussed at the ATP World Tour finals at O2 Arena tomorrow by the four members of the grand slam committee.

Geoff Pollard (Australian Open), Jean Gachassin (French), Tim Phillips (Wimbledon) and Lucy Garvin (US), who will consider Babcock's recommendations, can overturn, or vary, his verdict.

One option for officials in the Williams case is to ban her from next season's US Open or strip her of the $US342,825 prizemoney and the 900 rankings points.

There is talk of a $1 million fine, and a good behaviour bond.

Williams was fined the maximum on-site penalty of $US10,000 in New York for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Her outburst was triggered by a suspect foot fault call in a tense semi-final against Belgian Kim Clijsters.

Williams tardy apologies were not burdened with sincerity.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

What can we learn from this pic:

1. His grip size is probably 4 2/8.

2. His pinky is almost off the butt.

3. He's switched to an Continental because he

will be hitting the ball late.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

SWEDE KILLER?

Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 Monday in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by keeping Nadal on the move on the hard court at O2 Arena.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

RODDICK OUT OF BARCLAY'S

Andy Roddick is withdrawing from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals because of a left knee injury.

The No. 6-ranked Roddick hurt his knee at last month's Shanghai Masters.

The ATP said Tuesday that French Open runner-up Robin Soderling, No. 9 in the rankings, will take Roddick's spot in the eight-man field.

The draw for the tournament is Wednesday, and play starts Sunday. The other participants: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

MAKE NO BONES

Some exercises do not promote bone density - swimming, weight training, cycling, walking.

Weight lifting isn’t explosive enough to stimulate such bone bending. Neither is swimming. Running can be, although for unknown reasons, it doesn’t seem to stimulate bone building in some people. Surprisingly, brisk walking has been found to be effective at increasing bone density in older women, Dr. Barry says. But it must be truly brisk. “The faster the pace,” he says — and presumably the greater the bending within the bones — the lower the risk that a person will fracture a bone.

FULL ARTICLE - NY TIMES

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

SWINE FLU

Tommy Haas, Germany's top-ranked tennis player, is recovering from swine flu.

"I did a test because I suspected that I had swine flu. The test was positive," Haas said in Tuesday's Bild newspaper. "Of course, it was a shock for me."

Haas told the paper he was already feeling better.

"I've calmed down now because although swine flu is a very strong form of flu, you can quickly overcome it when you're in good physical condition like I am," Haas said.

The 31-year-old Haas, ranked 17th in the world, pulled out of a tournament in Stockholm last week after becoming ill. He first thought it was normal flu but then had himself tested.

He also has pulled out of this week's Swiss Indoors and is unlikely to play next week at the Paris Masters.

PARIS OPEN TSN1 AND TSN2

Sunday, November 1, 2009

TACTFUL SAMPRAS

Q: Do you watch women's tennis?

A: You can ask someone like Kobe [Bryant] if he watches the [WNBA Los Angeles] Sparks. If I have time -- I've got two kids -- to watch something, it's not going to be ladies' tennis. It's going to be basketball or football. Ladies' tennis, there's some great players, but it's not anything I'm interested in.

LETTING HIS HAIR DOWN

The tennis star's brother was sent running around Paris to find bobby pins to keep Agassi's disintegrating spiked-mullet weave from coming off his head before a match in the 1990 French Open.

"Of course I could play without my hairpiece. But after months of derision, criticism, mockery, I'm too self-conscious," he wrote. "Image Is Everything? What would they say if they knew? Win or lose, they wouldn't talk about my game. They'd only talk about my hair. I can close my eyes and almost hear it. And I know I can't take it."

Saturday, October 31, 2009

AGASSI'S DRAGON - HIS FATHER

I'm seven years old, talking to myself, because I'm scared, and because I'm the only person who listens to me. Under my breath I whisper: Just quit, Andre, just give up. Put down your racket and walk off this court, right now. Wouldn't that feel like heaven, Andre? To just quit? To never play tennis again?

But I can't. Not only would my father, Mike, chase me around the house with my racket, but something in my gut, some deep unseen muscle, won't let me. I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and still I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.

At the moment my hatred for tennis is focused on the dragon, a ball machine modified by my fire-belching father and set up on the court he built in our yard in Las Vegas. Midnight black, mounted on big rubber wheels, the dragon is a living, breathing creature straight out of my comic books. It has a brain, a will, a black heart -- and a horrifying voice. Sucking another ball into its belly, the dragon makes a series of sickening sounds. As pressure builds inside its throat, it groans. As the ball rises slowly to its mouth, it shrieks. And when the dragon takes dead aim at me and fires a ball 110 miles an hour, the sound it makes is a bloodthirsty roar. I flinch every time.

My father has deliberately made the dragon fearsome. He's given it an extra-long neck of aluminum tubing, and a narrow aluminum head, which recoils like a whip every time the dragon fires. He's also set the dragon on a base several feet high and moved it flush against the net, so the dragon towers above me. I'm small for my age, but when standing before the dragon, I look tiny. Feel tiny. Helpless.

My father wants the dragon to tower over me not simply to command my attention and respect. He wants balls that shoot from the dragon's mouth to land at my feet as if dropped from an airplane. The trajectory makes the balls nearly impossible to return in a conventional way: I need to hit every ball on the rise, or else it will bounce over my head. But even that's not enough for my father. Hit earlier, he yells. Hit earlier.

My father yells everything twice, sometimes three times, sometimes 10. Harder, he says, harder. But what's the use? No matter how hard I hit a ball, no matter how early, another ball comes back. Every ball I send across the net joins the thousands that already cover the court. Not hundreds. Thousands. They roll toward me in perpetual waves. I have no room to turn, to step, to pivot. I can't move without stepping on a ball -- yet I can't step on a ball, because my father won't bear it. Step on one of my father's tennis balls and he'll howl as if you stepped on his eyeball.

Every third ball fired by the dragon hits a ball already on the ground, causing a crazy sideways hop. I adjust at the last second, catch the ball early, and hit it smartly across the net. I know this is no ordinary reflex. I know there are few children in the world who could have seen that ball, let alone hit it. But I take no pride in my reflexes, and I get no credit. It's what I'm supposed to do. Every hit is expected, every miss a crisis.

My father says that if I hit 2,500 balls each day, I'll hit 17,500 balls each week, and at the end of one year I'll have hit nearly one million balls. He believes in math. Numbers, he says, don't lie. A child who hits one million balls each year will be unbeatable.

Hit earlier, my father yells. Damn it, Andre, hit earlier. Crowd the ball, crowd the ball.

Now he's crowding me. He's yelling in my ear. It's not enough to hit what the dragon fires at me; my father wants me to hit it harder and faster than the dragon. He wants me to beat the dragon. The thought makes me panicky. How can you beat something that never stops? Come to think of it, the dragon is a lot like my father. Except my father is worse. At least the dragon stands before me, where I can see it. My father stays behind me. I rarely see him, only hear him, day and night, yelling in my ear.

More topspin! Hit harder. Hit harder. Not in the net! Damn it, Andre! Never in the net!

Nothing sends my father into a rage like hitting a ball into the net. Over and over my father says: The net is your biggest enemy.

My father has raised the enemy six inches higher than regulation. If I can clear my father's high net, he figures, I'll have no trouble clearing the net one day at Wimbledon. Never mind that I don't want to play Wimbledon. What I want isn't relevant.

Hit harder, my father yells. Hit harder. Now backhands. Backhands. My arm feels like it's going to fall off. On one swing I surprise myself by how hard I hit, how cleanly. Though I hate tennis, I like the feeling of hitting a ball dead perfect. When I do something perfect, I enjoy a split second of sanity and calm.

Work your volleys, my father yells, or tries to. An Armenian born in Iran, my father speaks five languages, none of them well, and his English is heavily accented. He mixes his v's and w's, so it sounds like this: Vork your wolleys. Of all his instructions, this is his favorite. He yells it until I hear it in my dreams. Vork your wolleys, vork your wolleys.

I get an idea. Accidentally on purpose, I hit a ball high over the fence. I catch it on the wooden rim of the racket, so it sounds like a misfire. I do this when I need a break, and it crosses my mind that I must be pretty good if I can hit a ball wrong at will.

My father hears the ball hit wood and looks up. He sees the ball leave the court. He curses. But he heard the ball hit wood, so he knows it was an accident. He stomps out of the yard, to the desert. I now have 4 1/ 2 minutes to catch my breath and watch the hawks circling lazily overhead.

My father likes to shoot hawks with his rifle. Our house is blanketed with his victims, dead birds that cover the roof as thickly as tennis balls cover the court. My father says he doesn't like hawks because they swoop down on mice and other defenseless desert creatures. He can't stand the thought of something strong preying on something weak. (This also holds true when he goes fishing: Whatever he catches, he kisses its scaly head and throws it back.) Of course he has no qualms about preying on me, no trouble watching me gasp for air on his hook.

Violent by nature, my father is forever preparing for battle. He shadowboxes constantly. He keeps an ax handle in his car. He leaves the house with a handful of salt and pepper in each pocket, in case he's in a street fight and needs to blind someone. Of course some of his most vicious battles are with himself. He has chronic stiffness in his neck, and he's perpetually loosening the neck bones by angrily twisting and yanking his head. When this doesn't work he shakes himself like a dog, whipping his head from side to side until the neck gives and makes a sound like popcorn popping. When even this doesn't work, he resorts to the heavy punching bag that hangs from a harness outside our house. My father stands on a chair, removes the punching bag and places his neck in the harness. He then kicks away the chair and drops a foot through the air, his momentum abruptly halted by the harness. The first time I saw him do this, I had no doubt he'd killed himself. I ran to him, hysterical. Seeing the stricken look on my face, he barked: What the f--- is the matter with you?

Most of his battles, however, are against others, and they typically begin without warning, at the most unexpected times. In his sleep, for instance. He boxes in his dreams and frequently punches my dozing mother. In the car too. If another driver crosses him, if another driver cuts him off or objects to being cut off by my father, everything goes dark.

I'm riding with my father one day, and he gets into a shouting match with another driver. My father stops his car, steps out, orders the man out of his. Because my father is wielding his ax handle, the man refuses. My father whips the ax handle into the man's headlights and taillights, sending sprays of glass everywhere.

Another time my father reaches across me and points his handgun at another driver. He holds the gun level with my nose. I stare straight ahead. I don't move. I don't know what the other driver has done wrong, only that it's the automotive equivalent of hitting into the net. I feel my father's finger tensing on the trigger. Then I hear the other driver speed away, followed by a sound I rarely hear -- my father laughing. He's busting a gut.

Such moments come to mind whenever I think about telling my father that I don't want to play tennis. Besides loving my father and wanting to please him, I don't want to upset him. I don't dare. Bad stuff happens when my father is upset. If he says I'm going to play tennis, if he says I'm going to be No. 1 in the world, that it's my destiny, all I can do is nod and obey.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

METHY AFFAIR

Agassi has admitted to using meth.

He also confessed in the book itself to a lifelong hatred of the sport.

"I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have," he wrote.

This admission of hate for tennis can only reflect the psychological and physical abuse by his father, a former boxer.

Friday, October 23, 2009

EAT YER GARLIC

For centuries, garlic has been extolled not just for its versatility in the kitchen but also for its medicinal powers.

Whatever the reason, studies seem to support an effect. In one double-blind study, published in 2001, British scientists followed 146 healthy adults over 12 weeks from November to February. Those who had been randomly selected to receive a daily garlic supplement came down with 24 colds during the study period, compared with 65 colds in the placebo group. The garlic group experienced 111 days of sickness, versus 366 for those given a placebo. They also recovered faster.

Besides the odor, studies have found minimal side effects, like nausea and rash.

One possible explanation for such benefits is that a compound called allicin, the main biologically active component of garlic, blocks enzymes that play a role in bacterial and viral infections.

Or perhaps people who consume enough garlic simply repel others [with colds].

NY TIMES full article.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

WINNING WALLOON WOMAN WRETURNS

Former world number one Justine Henin plays to make her return to tournament tennis at next year's Brisbane International as part of her preparations for the Australian Open.

The Belgian is planning to play two warm-up events later this year but has chosen Brisbane for her official comeback after recently deciding to come out of retirement.

"After a 15-month absence I am pleased to begin my second tennis career at the Brisbane International," the 27-year-old said in a statement Wednesday.

Henin was given a wildcard into the January 3-10 event because she no longer has a ranking, and will be joined by compatriot Kim Clijsters, who won this year's U.S. Open after also making a comeback.

The pair are using the Brisbane tournament to fine tune their preparations for the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne from January 18-31.

NALBANDIAN’S HIP

David Nalbandian is planning to follow the same path as Argentine compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro when he resumes his career next year.

Nalbandian, a former Wimbledon finalist and world number three, has been sidelined through injury since May and underwent hip surgery in August.

However, the 27-year-old expects to make a comeback next year and has entered the Auckland Open from Jan, 11-16 to complete his preparations for the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne the following weekend.

Del Potro won the Auckland event earlier this year before going on to capture his first grand slam title at the U.S. Open last month.

REUTERS

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

WORLD TOUR FINALS IN LONDON

American Andy Roddick has booked his place at the World Tour Finals with four weeks of the season remaining, the ATP said on Tuesday.

The world number seven will join Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro at the end-of season tournament to be held in London from Nov. 22-29.

Roddick, who reached the semi-finals in 2003 and 2004, has qualified for the season-ending event seven years in a row.

Two places are still up for grabs with Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco leading the chase.

REUTERS

Sunday, October 18, 2009

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME - A VIRUS?

The new report has intrigued scientists, been seen as vindication by some patients and inspired hope for a treatment.

But the new study is not conclusive, and a great deal of work remains to be done to find out whether the new virus really does play a role. Just detecting it in patients does not prove it is what made them sick; people with the syndrome may have some other underlying problem that makes them susceptible to the virus, which could be just a passenger in their cells.

The new suspect is a xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV, which probably descended from a group of viruses that cause cancer in mice. How or when XMRV found its way into humans is unknown. But it has also been linked to cancer in people: it was first identified three years ago, in prostate cancer, and later detected in about one-quarter of biopsies from men with that disease (and in only 6 percent of benign biopsies). It is a retrovirus, from the same notorious family that causes AIDS and leukemia in people.

Read the whole article, here.

COOLING DOWN - ANOTHER MYTH-TAKE

The idea of the cool-down seems to have originated with a popular theory — now known to be wrong — that muscles become sore after exercise because they accumulate lactic acid. In fact, lactic acid is a fuel. It’s good to generate lactic acid, it’s a normal part of exercise, and it has nothing to do with muscle soreness. But the lactic acid theory led to the notion that by slowly reducing the intensity of your workout you can give lactic acid a chance to dissipate.

The lactic acid theory is wrong, but it remains entrenched in the public’s mind.

One study of cyclists concluded that because lactic acid is good, it is better not to cool down after intense exercise. Lactic acid was turned back into glycogen, a muscle fuel, when cyclists simply stopped. When they cooled down, it was wasted, used up to fuel their muscles.

Click here to read the whole article.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

WASH YOUR HANDS

With swine flu sweeping across the country, health officials are reminding Americans to wash their hands often to reduce the spread of the disease.

Soap and warm water have long been said to prevent the spread of infections, but is warm or hot water really more effective than cold?

In its medical literature, the Food and Drug Administration states that hot water comfortable enough for washing hands is not hot enough to kill bacteria, but is more effective than cold water because it removes oils from the hand that can harbor bacteria.

In studies in which subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had “no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction.”

They found no evidence that hot water had any benefit, and noted that it might increase the “irritant capacity” of some soaps, causing contact dermatitis. “Temperature of water used for hand washing should not be guided by antibacterial effects but comfort,” they wrote, “which is in the tepid to warm temperature range. The usage of tepid water instead of hot water also has economic benefits.”

NY TIMES

FED AND NADAL START NEW SEASON

Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will begin the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi by playing in a six-man, $250,000 winner-takes-all exhibition tournament, local media reported on Tuesday.

Swiss world number one Federer and his Spanish rival have confirmed they will be taking part in the event, which starts on Dec. 31, Dubai's Gulf News quoted organisers as saying.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Russian Nikolay Davydenko, Spain's Fernando Verdasco and Swede Robin Soderling will also take part.

British world number three Andy Murray, who defeated Nadal in the inaugural event this year, has decided to skip the event, organisers added.

REUTERS

Monday, October 12, 2009

HENIN CAUGHT OZ WILD CARD

Justine Henin has been granted a wild card entry to the Australian Open in what she is targeting as her comeback to Grand Slam tennis.

Henin, who won the 2004 Australian Open among her seven major singles titles, announced last month she was returning to the women's tour after more than a year in retirement.

The Australian Open has up to 12 wild cards to issue in each of the men's and women's 128-player draws.

Henin will not have a protected ranking when she returns to the tour and so will need to get wild card entries or enter the qualifying tournament for a place in the main draw. She announced her comeback soon after fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open, only three tournaments into her own comeback from retirement.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

SHANGHAI ON TSN AND TSN2

OZ AND THE GOLDEN BRICK ROAD

The men's and women's champions at the Australian Open will collect US$1.86 million for winning the season's opening Grand Slam event.

Australian Open organizers announced the increased prize money for the Jan. 18-31 tournament on Tuesday, with the total for the tournament increasing by 4.1 per cent to $21.4 million.

The Australian Open has offered equal prize money for the men's and women's draws since 2001, when the total prize pool was $7.5 million and the champions received $450,000.

Friday, October 9, 2009

PIANO STAIRS

STRETCHING

-- Stretching before exercise will not reduce your risk of injuring yourself during that session, and it will not help your performance. In fact, it's clear that it will temporarily decrease power, speed and running efficiency.

-- Stretching after exercise will not reduce soreness the next day. Any muscle damage has already been done.

-- But regular stretching does seem to produce increased strength and fewer injuries over all. It doesn't seem to matter when you stretch, as long as it's not immediately before your workout.

So what should you do? Jason Winchester, lead author of the LSU study, recommends a “dynamic warm-up.” Start with a low-intensity, rhythmic activity to elevate your heart rate and body temperature, such as jogging, swimming or easy biking.

Then progress to dynamic movements that mimic the motions of your intended activity. For runners, that might include high-knee drills and butt kicks; for basketball players, some arm windmills; and for weightlifters, lifting with a greatly reduced weight.

Next, add in light stretching either after your event or on your off-days.

Read the whole article in THE GLOBE AND MAIL

I AM SCAR[R]ED FOR LIFE

Tennis star Serena Williams looks every inch the champion as she poses naked on the cover of America's ESPN magazine.

The stunning shot shows the 28-year-old athlete smiling and looking confident despite having previously admitted she struggles to accept her body shape.

'My thighs…I think they're too big. And also my arms. I think they're too muscular. They're too thick,' she said.

'I swear to God, I'm going to shove this ** ball down your throat........'

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

WITTEN'S FUTURE

At the beginning of this year, Jesse Witten's world ranking in professional tennis was so low, fans needed sonar to find him.

He lost his primary sponsor. He was forced to drop from Challenger to Futures tournaments, comparable to being demoted from Triple A to Class A in baseball. He considered quitting.

Less than nine months later, the 26-year-old Naples, Fla., resident lived the dream of every struggling pro.

Witten, who's scheduled to play at 11 a.m. today in the first round of the Natomas/USTA $50,000 Men's Professional Tournament at the Natomas Racquet Club, barely got into the U.S. Open qualifying tournament, won three matches to enter the main draw and advanced to the third round.

There, he met Novak Djokovic and served for a two-sets-to-one lead against the world's fourth-ranked player.

The stands at 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium were packed, and millions watched the enthralling match on CBS on Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Then reality finally set in for Witten, as he lost his serve, the set and the following one to end the match.

Still, he pocketed $48,000, more than double his 2009 earnings of $19,284 to that point, soared 89 places in the rankings to No. 187 and revived his career. Witten is now No. 174, three spots below his career high.

"I've been playing well and able to get on a roll ever since team tennis (in July)," said the former four-time singles All-American at Kentucky and the NCAA singles runner-up as a freshman in 2002. "It really helped me out, and it kept building and building."

After nagging injuries last year caused his ranking to plummet to No. 397, Witten won three Futures singles titles in the first half of 2009.

One came at Del Oro High School in Loomis in June as he saved three match points in the final against Russian Artem Sitak.

Was Witten nervous on the national stage in the U.S. Open?

"Surprisingly, I wasn't," said Witten, unusually stocky for a pro tennis player at 5-foot-10 with a devastating forehand. "I had nothing to lose, and I played like it.

SACRAMENTO BEE

EVERT AND NORMAN

Tennis champ Chris Evert and golf legend Greg Norman have split just 15 months after they wed - because neither wanted to move out of their own home.

Mum-of-three Chris had kept the Florida mansion she shared with her exhusband, despite Greg's pad being even more flash, and his having carried out big renovations ready for her to move in.

A friend said: "Chris hated the idea of living in the same place Greg shared with Laura, his wife of 25 years."

The couple, both 54, confirmed they had split but promised to "remain friends".

Sunday, October 4, 2009

IT'S STILL NOT ABOUT YOU, SERENA

Serena Williams was accentuating the positive on Sunday after her return to singles action for the first time since her rant [This was no rant! It was a physical threat.]at a lineswoman at the U.S. Open last month.

The world number two was fined a record $10,000 for the verbal assault on the official during her semi-final loss to Belgian Kim Clijsters in New York, and could still face further punishment after an investigation into the incident [Not likely. Tennis officials would rather look the other way.].

Williams, who has since apologised [ belatedly] to the official, could face a grand-slam ban if the incident is deemed a "major offence" by investigators.

The Australian and French Open champion said she thought it would be inappropriate to comment about the investigation while it was continuing, but suggested that her enthusiasm for the game was undimmed by the incident.

Serena, this isn't about YOU!

It's OUR beautiful game and you have made it ugly!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

MURRAY'S WRIST

As expected Andy Murray’s problems with inflamed tendons in his left wrist have forced the world no.3 to pull out of next week’s Rakuten Japan Tennis Championships in Tokyo and the Scot’s participation in the upcoming Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 the following week remains uncertain.

Although MRI scans have shown 22 year-old Murray is suffering no long-term damage to his non-racket arm, he is determined not to endanger his chances of contesting either the calendar ending ATP World Tour Championships at London’s 02 Arena or next January’s Australian Open where he is determined to mount a concerted campaign to win his first major title.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

MURRY - SORE WRIST

World number three Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week's Japan Open due to a wrist injury, the Briton said on his website.

Murray suffered the injury at last month's U.S. Open and aggravated the problem in Britain's Davis Cup tie against Poland on Sept. 18.

He will sit out the Oct. 5-11 Tokyo event on the advice of doctors, a statement on his website (www.andymurray.com) said.

His withdrawal will come as a further blow to tourmanent organisers following world number one Roger Federer's cancellation due to fatigue.

U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will assume top seed status at the $1.3 million event.

REUTERS

Monday, September 28, 2009

MEN'S RANKINGS

Friday, September 25, 2009

NALBANDIAN RETURNS

Former world No. 3 and 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian will make his comeback from hip surgery in an exhibition tournament in Buenos Aires in December.

The Argentine, who had surgery in May, will be joined in the tournament on the clay courts of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, Spaniard Carlos Moya, Russian Marat Safin, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and compatriot Juan Monaco.

Nalbandian plans to return to the ATP circuit in January in Sydney where he will defend his title and play in the Australian Open.

REUTERS

Thursday, September 24, 2009

SERENA'S TAMPAX COMMERCIAL RELEASED

"If I could, I would take this &%$#@! Tampax and shove it down your &%$#@! * and kill you," Williams said."I swear to God I'm... going to take this &%$#@! Tampax and shove it down your &%$#@! *, you hear that? I swear to God, bitch!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

As the 642nd shot of the rally floated high above her head, Vicki Nelson decided it was time to go for a winner.

“I thought I was going to go crazy,” Nelson told reporters after the match. “No matter what I did with the ball, she kept getting it back.”

She added: “It took me a long time to get up the nerve to come in, but she finally hit a short lob and I put it away — forever.”

Twenty-five years ago, on Sept. 24, 1984, Nelson and Jean Hepner, who were ranked No. 93 and No. 172 in the world, engaged in a 29-minute, 643-shot rally that remains the longest point played in a professional tennis match.

For comparison, during a match last month, Andy Murray and Julien Benneteau had a rally that lasted 53 shots, and it was the longest either of them could remember playing in competition.

The rally between Nelson and Hepner occurred in the first round of the $50,000 Virginia Slims-sponsored Ginny tournament at the Raintree Swim and Racquet Club in Richmond, Va., with Nelson finally prevailing, 6-4, 7-6 (11).

The 6-hour-31-minute marathon was itself the longest match in tennis history for nearly 20 years and remains the longest match completed on a single day. (In the 2004 French Open, Fabrice Santoro defeated Arnaud Clément in 6:33. That match, however, was suspended by darkness in the fifth set, so the final 1:55 was played the next day.)

Both Nelson and Hepner seem vaguely embarrassed that their names are in the record books.

“Even now, just thinking about it, my stomach is starting to hurt,” Hepner said. “I had a lot going on in my personal life at that time and I was trying to turn my career around and it was getting tougher to do. But I didn’t stay out there for six hours to get attention; I just wanted to win that match badly.”

Hepner, who was then 25, retired from the sport soon after and now lives in Redwood City, Calif. She is a teacher, property manager and competitive chess player, but only rarely plays tennis and no longer has any connections to the professional tennis world.

Nelson, who goes by Nelson-Dunbar after marrying, lives in Medina, Ohio, and remains involved in the sport. Her husband, Keith Dunbar, was a professional tennis coach and their 13-year-old son, Jacob, was the top-ranked player in the country in the 12-and-under division last year. Their son Ethan, 17, wants to play Division I tennis in college next year, and their 10-year-old daughter, Emily, has just begun playing.

The rally that put Nelson-Dunbar and Hepner in the record books came at set point for Hepner, who was ahead, 11-10, in the second-set tie breaker, which lasted 1:47 on its own.

“There was tons of lobbing,” Nelson-Dunbar said. “I would try to come in and she’d lob me again.”

After winning the point, Nelson-Dunbar collapsed with cramps in her legs. The chair umpire, who apparently maintained consciousness throughout the 643-stroke point, actually called a time-violation warning, but Nelson-Dunbar pulled it together and got back to the baseline to begin the next point.

How does a point go on for 29 minutes before one player or the other hits a winner or makes a mistake?

“We were both pretty much standing on the baseline lobbing,” Nelson-Dunbar said.

Hepner recalled, “I was just really concentrating and was very consistent.”

Two points later, Nelson-Dunbar closed out the match and apologized to the lines officials for its length.

“I felt so bad for them,” she said. “They were sitting out there so long, and they must have been falling asleep.”

Hepner said she had no idea the match had dragged on for more than six hours. “There’s time distortion when you are in the alpha state — like a hypnotic state,” she said. “I had no idea that six and a half hours had passed.”

John Packett, who covered the match for The Richmond Times-Dispatch, had the foresight to keep track of the strokes, explaining, “I started counting because the rallies were going so long, you had to figure, Who knows how long these points are going to last?”

Packett, who covered tennis and other sports for The Times-Dispatch for nearly 40 years, recalled the match as dull, yet strangely compelling.

“I’m not sure why I even watched it,” he said. “I’m glad I did, since it turned out to be a historic match, but it wasn’t one of the highlights of my journalistic career.”

Hugh Waters, a former tennis coach and the owner of the Raintree club, remembered: “I had a lot of people coming up to me at the tournament saying the match was ridiculous, but I always jumped on them. It takes guts to do what they did.

“People don’t understand the mental aspect of the game: this was a battle of wills and real tennis fans like me could appreciate it.”

Nelson-Dunbar turned 22 minutes after the match ended, but she went to bed without celebrating because she had to play again that afternoon.

Before calling it a night, she called Keith Dunbar, who was then her boyfriend.

“She told me it was the worst day of her life,” he recalled. “I asked her if she lost, and she said no, she won, but she had just gotten off the court. I told her to imagine how Jean felt.”

In her next match, Nelson-Dunbar was ushered out of the tournament by Michaela Washington, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0. “I was really bad — I could barely move that day,” Nelson-Dunbar remembered.

She earned $775 in prize money for the week, and Hepner, who stayed with a local family during the tournament to reduce travel costs, took home $475 for her efforts, or about $73 an hour on court.

Among the astonishing elements to the match was this: If Hepner had won the epic rally, she would have forced a third set, and who knows how long the match might have lasted.

DAVE SEMINARA

NYTIMES

Sunday, September 20, 2009

POINTS

The top five players -- Del Potro must now be included in that group -- will have no less than three weeks off after the Open before returning to the ATP wars and, while most of them are signed to play at least four events, Rafael Nadal's plans are not yet clear.

He's recovering from an abdominal injury and is signed into only Shanghai (Oct. 12-18), Paris and the Masters Cup in London.

Here's a player by player breakdown:

* 1. Federer. Has 11,240 ranking points with 1,400 to defend the rest of the year, including 500 at Basel and 450 from Madrid during 2008. He'll reappear Oct. 5 at Tokyo, then play Basel, Paris and Masters Cup. He's currently 1,695 points ahead of No. 2 Nadal, but Nadal has 700 fewer points to defend. There are approximately 5,000 points left out there among Masters Cup, Paris, Basel, Tokyo, Shanghai and Valencia.

* 2. Nadal. Has 8,845 ranking points with 700 to defend the rest of the year, including 450 from Madrid and 250 from Paris. His scheduled return to play is Oct. 12 at Shanghai, but that's subject to his recovery from injury.

* 3. Andy Murray. Has 8,390 ranking points with a whopping 2,350 to defend the rest of 2009, including 1,000 for winning Madrid last year, 600 from Masters Cup and 500 at St. Petersburg. He's going to have a difficult time holding onto No. 3 by year's end. He's scheduled back at Tokyo with Shanghai, Valencia, Paris and Masters Cup on his dance card.

* 4. Novak Djokovic. Has 7,480 ranking points with 1,840 to defend the rest of the season, including 1,300 for winning Masters Cup. On his schedule is Shanghai, Basel, Paris, Masters Cup.

* 5. Del Potro. Has 6,825 ranking points with 1,200 to defend the rest of the season, including 250 at Madrid. He'll play Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris and Masters Cup.

If you subtract the points Djokovic and Del Potro have to defend the rest of this season from their current totals, Djokovic would still be ranked No. 4, but by only 15 points ahead of Del Potro, who has a serious chance to rise to No. 3 by the end of the year.

Charles Bricker

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

WHAAAAATTTTTTT???????

ALL ABOUT HER

There's no chance Serena will be suspended from one or more future Grand Slams, a ruling currently being pondered by the International Tennis Federation. The TV networks simply won't allow it. Serena is a bigger story than ever, certain to cause a buzz wherever she goes. It won't necessarily be a negative buzz, either. When she spent Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, she reportedly moved cheerily through the celebrity world she so desperately covets. I'm sure someone said to her, "Girl, you went off!" - with hearty laughter all around.

As for how Serena handled the whole thing, well, that's an entirely different story. More than once in the aftermath of her vicious language toward a lineswoman, who had called her for a foot fault that put her one point away from losing the match (Williams lost the match when the umpire assessed her another point for the dissent), she described herself as a "sincere" person. That is hardly the case. Her reaction to this crisis was the very definition of insincerity.

First, during her postmatch interview, she completely distanced herself from blame, speaking in absurdly general terms. Then she let one of her handlers draw up a nebulous written statement, explaining how "everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job" and how "I look forward to continuing the journey." I was surprised there wasn't some sort of toothpaste ad at the end.

She should have been right back at the National Tennis Center that following day, demanding some air time with CBS. She needed to get before the cameras with a heartfelt apology to the lineswoman, Clijsters, the fans at courtside and especially young kids who were watching on television. Instead, she and her handlers issued an "amended" written statement, containing the proper words but offering no glimpse of Serena in person, and she was off to her nightlife frivolity.

By the time she came into the interview room, following her women's doubles title with sister Venus on Monday, a USTA official was there to monitor the scene, making sure that all but the initial questions would be about doubles. (Imagine the paranoia that goes into that kind of thinking; Serena needs to explain herself, and the USTA would prefer some sort of gag order.)

Serena decided, on her own, that she could handle the pertinent questions. She did all right, but once again seemed to lack conviction. When she insisted, again, that she couldn't remember what she'd said to that lineswoman, she lost a ton of credibility. Serena has spent her whole life trying to act like a champion on court, hiding her rage against all forms of injustice, and she finally snapped. I think she would recall the words quite well.

So there you go. Hardly a mention of Kim Clijsters or Juan Martin del Potro, the most worthy champions, but that is the columnist's role: Write what the people are talking about. Ugliness, once again, has ascended to the forefront.

Monday, September 14, 2009

LOST IN THE STORM

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro bludgeoned Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-2 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Sunday to reach his first grand-slam final.

The sixth seed overpowered the Spaniard in two hours, 20 minutes of outstanding hitting to set up a final against either five-times champion Roger Federer or fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

"It's very difficult for me to speak at this moment. This is my favourite tournament and I can't believe this moment," a beaming Del Potro said in a courtside interview.

"I am very close to my dream, to win this tournament. I hope I can do it. I am very happy to be here. Tomorrow I will fight until the final point, if I win or lose, I think this is the best moment of my life."

Nadal went into the match struggling with a right abdominal injury and his service speed was clearly down, allowing Del Potro to be aggressive on his returns.

SERENA SWEARS SHE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING

"If I could, I would take this &%$#@! ball and shove it down your &%$#@! throat and kill you," Williams said."I swear to God I'm... going to take this &%$#@! ball and shove it down your &%$#@! throat, you hear that? I swear to God, bitch"

SERENA PENALTY: 3%

Serena Williams was fined $10,000 Sunday for a profanity-laced tirade directed at a U.S. Open line judge, and an investigation is under way to determine whether there should be additional punishment.

The $10,000 penalty — not quite 3 percent of the $350,000 in prize money Williams earned by reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows — is the maximum on-site fine that can be issued for unsportsmanlike conduct at a Grand Slam tournament.

The U.S. Open said in a statement that the Grand Slam Committee Administrator will "determine if the behavior of Ms. Williams warrants consideration as a major offense for which additional penalties can be imposed."

ANOTHER VIEW

Trailing 4-6 5-6 15-30, Williams launched into a second serve but the bespectacled lineswoman sitting at the baseline held up her finger to call her on a foot-fault -- meaning the American had served a double-fault to go match point down.

Astounded by the verdict, Williams flipped out and marched to the official shouting. She waved her racket ominously in the lineswoman's direction and then shook a ball in her clenched fist as she threatened "to shove it down" her throat.

"I swear to God I'm... going to take this... ball and shove it down your... throat, you hear that? I swear to God. You better be glad -- you better be glad that I'm not, I swear." Williams told the line-judge in her expletive-laden rant.

Having already received a warning earlier in the match for smashing a racket, Williams was handed an automatic point penalty for a second violation which gave Clijsters the match 6-4 7-5.

The Los Angeles Times was in no doubt about exactly what punishment should be meted out.

"Let's get right to the point. Serena Williams should be fined heavily and suspended for a while from the pro tennis tour. Let's see what kind of guts tennis, a sport normally soft on discipline, has this time. If she were a football player, she'd be out for the season."

EVERY WORD WRITTEN BY SERENA

"Last night, everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job. Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don't agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly," Williams said in a statement released Sunday by a public relations firm.

"I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience."

Unfortunately, the lies and obfuscation of PR are beginning to do their work.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

RACKET AND SPIN

"All hell broke loose" is how original bad boy of tennis John McEnroe described drama queen Serena Williams as she went kicking and screaming out of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

Williams has made a cameo appearance in medical drama ER and lists acting as a hobby but she does not need to rely on a script to produce her own drama.

On Day 13 of the hardcourt major, wide-eyed fans at Flushing Meadows witnessed the latest episode to unfold around the 11-times grand slam champion.

Facing Kim Clijsters in a hotly anticipated semi-final showdown at the Open, an angry outburst from Williams resulted in one of the most bizarre endings to a match on a grand slam stage.

With the Belgian on the brink of victory, defending champion Williams was called for a foot-fault on a second serve to go match point down.

Astounded by the verdict, Williams immediately saw red and threateningly marched up to the official. She waved her racket ominously and thrust the ball into the lineswoman's face as she launched into a tirade.

"I swear to God I'm... going to take this... ball and shove it down your... throat, you hear that? I swear to God," Williams told the line-judge.

The lineswoman reported her to umpire Louise Engzell for verbal abuse. Having already received a warning earlier in the match for smashing a racket, Williams was handed an automatic point penalty for "unsportsmanlike conduct," giving Clijsters the match and a final date with Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Not since McEnroe was defaulted from a fourth round match against Mikael Pernfors at the 1990 Australian Open -- when he swore at the umpire, supervisor, and referee -- has a singles player suffered such an ignominious exit from such a high profile match.

But Williams remained unrepentant for her tirade even though the lineswoman told the chair umpire that she felt threatened.

"She says she felt threatened? She said this to you?" she asked the reporter who fielded the question.

"I've never been in a fight my whole life, so I don't know why she should have felt threatened."

The ball leaves her racket with a great deal of spin!

REUTERS

NOT SO SERENE, EH!!

"IF I COULD, I WOULD TAKE THIS ** BALL AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT AND KILL YOU" -Serena's threat to the linesman who called her footfault.

Of course, Serena 's denying everything, but the audience behind the linesman heard it all.

The interesting question is - will the USTA will take further action?

Probably, they'll run and hide, not wanting to be embroiled in all of the issues involved.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

COST HITS THE ROOF

The cost of building a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium is too expensive and may not be practical for the U.S. Open, the head of the U.S. Tennis Association said Saturday.

A persistent drizzle over the last few days has created a scheduling nightmare for the Open, but USTA executive director Gordon Smith said a roof was not the answer.

"Would I love to have a roof? Absolutely," he said. "But it is certainly one of those situations where you have to really look at the practical aspects.

"In '07 we didn't have a single session rained out. In '08 we had one, and thus far, knock on wood, hopefully we'll only have one rained out in '09."

However, this is the second straight year the U.S. Open has been forced into a Monday finish because the rain came late in the tournament and gave organizers no wiggle room.

"Had they been earlier in the tournament, we wouldn't be in the position where we have to end on Monday," he said.

"So you weigh that against the potential costs of a roof on Ashe of $100 million or more, and it's a tough decision, especially when we're trying to figure out the best ways to utilize the revenues to promote our sport."

Friday, September 11, 2009

SATURDAY MATCHES

LEIGH CHEERS JESSE

Blue shirt - third from right.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/photos/2009-09-05/200909051252171069617.html?glryid=2009-09-05/20090905

DELPO LOVES NY

"My dream is to win this tournament," the soft-spoken Argentine said after stopping Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.

"I'm so close to do it."

Del Potro will meet with third seeded Rafael Nadal or number 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile with a spot in the final at stake.

With a 15-1 record since Wimbledon, the sixth-ranked Del Potro is on a hot streak. He admits to being comfortable with the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

When asked what he liked about New York and the Open, he did not hesitate.

"Everything. The stadium, the crowds, the people, the city. Everything. It's so lovely," he said. "I like to play here in U.S., and I like hardcourts. I like this tournament.

"It's my favourite surface, the biggest stadium than other (grand slams). Many Argentines come here to see the match, so for me, it's the best one."

REUTERS

RAIN DELAY

After 10 days of clear weather, rain and winds swept through Flushing Meadows Thursday, tossing the U.S. Open's final weekend into disarray and stranding Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez in the midst of their quarter-final.

For the second year running, Nadal faces the prospect of playing a string of successive days at the year's last major if he is to win the only grand slam missing from his collection.

Nadal was leading Gonzalez 7-6 6-6 with the Chilean serving at 2-3 in the tiebreak when a second shower burst halted Day 11 proceedings at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The eventual winner of the last men's quarter-final will meet Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who had battled through blustery conditions to beat Croatian 16th seed Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1.

Nadal and Gonzalez will resume their battle no earlier than 2 pm today [Friday] following the first women's semi-final pitting champion Serena Williams against Kim Clijsters.

REUTERS

Thursday, September 10, 2009

FEAST TURNS TO FAMINE

Gourmet tennis for the gourmand.

First match around 2 pm and the second at 7 pm.

Am I swinish for wanting more, sir?

QUARTERS

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

SPECTATOR PARTICIPATION

A man was arrested at the U.S. Open after running on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium to kiss Rafael Nadal following his victory Tuesday night.

Tournament spokesman Tim Curry said police arrested the man for interference with a sporting event.

"We're reviewing what happened and then will determine if we have to make any changes to our on-court security procedures," Curry said.

When Nadal finished beating Gael Monfils, the spectator ran out of the stands and approached the Spanish star on the sideline before security guards intervened. It's the latest in a series of similar episodes at major tennis events, including when a man went up to Roger Federer during the French Open final and tried to place a hat on his head.

"For me, it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice," Nadal said. "He said, 'I love you,' and he kissed me."

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

MEN'S DRAW - TUESDAY

Sunday, September 6, 2009

MEN'S DRAW

POSITIVE RESULT

Check-out time finally came for Jesse Witten.

He spent two weeks at Flushing Meadows, the first working his way through U.S. Open qualifying and the second pulling off two upsets, then putting a scare into No. 4 Novak Djokovic before finally bowing out.

Could this run, which ended with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss to Djokovic on Saturday, be a career changer for the 276th-ranked player?

"I hope it is, because I mean, I don't want to deal with being ranked 200, 300 anymore," Witten said. "It would be nice to be able to use this."

Players ranked 200 or 300 travel alone, get few perks and often find themselves in the spot Witten was in earlier in the week, when he and a few buddies who came to watch him all crashed in his hotel room in Manhattan. A night or two, they figured. Instead, the stay lasted a whole week, the fan base grew and Witten found himself trying to parcel out his allotment of 22 tickets.

"Finally, I'm like, 'OK, I can't do it,"' he said. "I put one of them in charge of it."

Witten earned $48,000 for his trip through qualifying and into the third round. His ranking will rise about 70 spots, as well. It will keep him in the game - not always a given for a 26-year-old four-time NCAA All-American from Kentucky.

"It makes me want to keep playing. It gives me some money to keep playing," he said. "I love tennis. I love competing. It's a tough lifestyle, obviously, when you're in the lower levels."

Saturday, September 5, 2009

WITTEN BELONGS

Seven months after he nearly gave up the game and two weeks after he was dropped by his clothing sponsor, American Jesse Witten gave the world's fourth-best player a huge scare at the U.S. Open on Saturday.

The 26-year-old, who needed a wildcard to even get into the Open's qualifying event, served for a two-sets-to-one lead in their third-round encounter before the Serb finally scraped through 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4.

In his on-court speech, Djokovic admitted it must have been hard to distinguish which one of them was the world number four, while the 276th-ranked Witten said his $48,000 paycheck would allow him to compete more.

"It makes me want to keep playing," Witten said. "It gives me some money to keep playing. So now I can afford to keep playing for the rest of the year, at least."

At the start of the year, Witten was struggling on the Futures circuit - two levels below the main tour - and considering hanging up his rackets.

To add insult to injury, the day before the qualifying event was due to begin at Flushing Meadows, Witten was dropped by his clothing sponsor.

But he battled through three matches to qualify for the main draw and his two wins - over Igor Andreev and Maximo Gonzalez - will take him up around 100 places when the new rankings are released after the U.S. Open.

"I don't want to deal with being ranked 200, 300 anymore," he said. "It would be nice to be able to use this. It helps to see where I am, playing with some guys that are in the top 100 and top 10."

Once he had settled down, Witten was far from overawed against Djokovic as he hit back from 5-2 down to win the first set and served for the third set before eventually bowing out.

"The biggest thing for me usually is I feel like I don't belong," Witten said. "I never really said it or tell people that.

"Just in my mind, I don't know how good I am, so it's good to kind of see that I can play with these guys and I kind of belong a little bit here."

While the likes of world number one Roger Federer live it up in a $3,075 per night hotel suite in New York, Witten has been enjoying the more simple things in life at the Open.

"I don't have to worry about conserving one shirt," he said. "I can just go through them and just throw them in the laundry bag.

"You get chauffeured around with the cars. Everything is nice here. This is the best tournament in the world. You can't beat this."

REUTERS

WITTEN-DJOKOVIC CLOSE

Fourth seed Djokovic barely knew what hit him as he came face-to-face with a player who had never won a tour match before this week but American Jessie Witten thrilled the hollering home fans for almost 3-1/2 hours before he succumbed 6-7 6-3 7-6 6-4.

Being on a roll is something Witten had never experienced before this week.

Struggling to make ends meet on the lower echelons of tennis the 26-year-old came close to quitting the sport earlier this year. Things went from bad to worse on the eve of Open as he became a victim of the global credit crunch when he was dropped by his clothing sponsor.

But handed a wildcard into the qualifying draw, the 276th ranked Witten has made the most of his opportunity to get some free laundry done at the expense of U.S. Open organisers.

Domestic chores aside, for over an hour he responded to the rhythmic chants of "Jess-ie, Jess-ie" ringing around Louis Armstrong Stadium as he tormented a racket-bashing Djokovic.

But in the end, he did not have the firepower to subdue Djokovic, who applauded the American's heroics before telling the crowd. "It was hard to tell who was the number four player out there."

"Once I started playing, I mean, we're having rallies, and you don't really think of the rankings. You're thinking strategy more than numbers," said Witten, who had to request almost two dozen tickets from the organisers to satisfy the demands of his friends and family.

Despite his defeat, Witten hoped the biggest payday of his career -- $48,000 for reaching the last 32 - will allow him to prolong his career for "at least the rest of the year."

REUTERS

Friday, September 4, 2009

JESSE AND DJOKOVIC - 11 AM SAT

I know ---- Federer plays at 11 am too, but I'll be watching Jesse's match on atdhe.net

Try the full monitor view. The feed from the TENNIS CHANNEL is quite good.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

DJOKOVIC NEXT!!!!!!

WOOT!!!!!!! WITTEN WINS

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

JESSE WITTEN

You can’t fault Jesse Witten for his timing.

The former Lely state tennis champion won his first ATP Tour singles match in seven tries on Tuesday morning ... in the men’s singles main draw of the U.S. Open.

Witten romped over No. 29 seed Igor Andreev of Russia in straight sets for a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 first-round victory.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Witten said. “The last couple of weeks I’ve been playing well, and I’m not even sure why. I’m just going to roll with it.

“I’m hitting the ball well,” he added. “I’m dictating play well without making a lot of errors. Everything is bugging a lot of guys, even a guy like him who is so good. I really don’t know what to say about it. I’m not going to argue it.”

Witten, 26, took the first set 6-4, and then shut out Andreev in the second. Andreev led the third, 2-1, before Witten broke him to take a 3-2 lead, then went on to close out the match.

Witten will face Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in the second round. Gonzalez defeated Karol Beck 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.

The winner between Gonzalez and Witten likely will face fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic in the third round.

Witten said he sought advice from John McEnroe, his World TeamTennis teammate, this week.

“We’ve gotten closer over the last five or six years,” Witten said. “He was trying to give me some pointers, helping me out. He usually doesn’t say too much when it comes to somebody else’s game or coaching like that. That meant a lot, just to know that he was there. And he called me after I qualified. It makes you feel appreciated and what you’re doing makes it worth it.”

Witten qualified for the Open on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Austria’s Alexander Peya (No. 259). Witten, a former University of Kentucky All-American, is currently ranked No. 270 in the world.

In 2006, Witten qualified for the U.S. Open but lost to Paul Goldstein in the first round of the main draw. His career-high ranking came in October 2006 when he reached No. 171.

Witten reached the final of the NCAA Championships as a sophomore in 2002 and was a first-team All-SEC singles selection all four years and Kentucky’s first five-time All-American (four singles; one doubles).

NAPLES DAILY

JESSE - 11 AM ON COURT 11

Monday, December 21, 2009

Former tennis champion Boris Becker says he sympathises with Tiger Woods, whose life is in turmoil after he admitted cheating on his wife.

Becker, 42, who fathered a child with a Russian model after a brief sexual encounter in a cupboard at a London restaurant while his wife was pregnant, said he could identify with the golf star.

"I experienced exactly the same and I can sympathise with him," the German newspaper Bild quoted Becker, winner of six grand slam titles, as telling a TV show to be aired later on Monday.

Becker, who had a messy divorce and became the butt of jokes for his flings, said he believed it would be "damned hard" for father-of-two Woods to save his marriage to Swede Elin Nordegren.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Argentina's former world number three David Nalbandian has targeted the Davis Cup as a main objective as he steps up his return from a seven-month injury layoff at an exhibition tournament in Buenos Aires this weekend.

The 2002 Wimbledon runner-up, who made a winning return to action at an exhibition tournament last week, has been sidelined with a hip injury since May and has been recovering from surgery in August.

"The first issue is to make it through these first four months," the 27-year-old told a news conference. "I have to be careful and time will tell what goals I can set. But obviously the Davis Cup is still a clear objective; after that, the big tournaments."

Nalbandian is set to return to the ATP Tour at the Jan 11-16 Auckland Open to complete his preparations for the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne the following weekend.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

What happens when people start watching less television? Do they eat less? Exercise more? Sleep better?

To the researchers’ surprise, cutting back television time didn’t have an effect on calorie consumption, nor did it change sleep habits. The group that watched less television did, however, move more, burning an average of 120 calories more a day than the control group.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Tennis star Andy Murray has been dumped by his girlfriend for spending too much time playing “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2”, at least according to an article in that most trusted and intellectual of ‘newspapers’, The Sun.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

For years, flexibility has been widely considered a cornerstone of health and fitness. Many of us stretch before or after every workout and fret if we can’t lean over and touch our toes. We gape enviously at yogis wrapping their legs around their ears.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Serena Williams was fined $175,000 and may be suspended from future U.S. Opens after yelling at a lineswoman at the New York tennis Grand Slam this year.

She was found guilty of aggravated behavior after the outburst, which came after she was called for a foot fault. Her fine, which includes $10,000 she has already paid, will be donated to the Grand Slam Development Fund, the ITF said.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Nikolay Davydenko grabbed the last semifinal spot at the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Robin Soderling 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 Friday, knocking defending champion Novak Djokovic out of the tournament.

Davydenko, Djokovic and Soderling all finished with two wins in the round-robin phase, but the third-ranked Serb was eliminated on sets. Soderling had already secured advancement and finished at the top of Group B.

Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-3 earlier Friday, handing the Spaniard his third straight loss at the tournament.

Davydenko will face top-ranked Roger Federer in Saturday's first semifinal match. Soderling will take on US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro later in the day.

SERENA Williams may cop the largest fine in tennis history when the world champion is penalised for her US Open meltdown.

Industry sources last night indicated the International Tennis Federation's grand slam committee was close to consensus on the Williams case, almost 12 weeks after the US Open incident.

Williams was cited for committing a major offence, an infraction which carries possible suspension from January's Australian Open.

Williams allegedly threatened to kill a lineswoman in New York, saying: "If I could, I would take this f ... ing ball and shove it down your f ... ing throat".

The winner of 11 majors, Williams almost certainly will contest the 2010 Australian Open, where she is the defending champion.

But she is likely to receive a fine which far outstrips the $US100,000 Lleyton Hewitt was docked in 2002 for missing a Cincinnati interview.

ITF grand slam administrator Bill Babcock has finished his inquiries, taking evidence and submissions from Williams and the officials involved on the day.

His findings will be discussed at the ATP World Tour finals at O2 Arena tomorrow by the four members of the grand slam committee.

Geoff Pollard (Australian Open), Jean Gachassin (French), Tim Phillips (Wimbledon) and Lucy Garvin (US), who will consider Babcock's recommendations, can overturn, or vary, his verdict.

One option for officials in the Williams case is to ban her from next season's US Open or strip her of the $US342,825 prizemoney and the 900 rankings points.

There is talk of a $1 million fine, and a good behaviour bond.

Williams was fined the maximum on-site penalty of $US10,000 in New York for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Her outburst was triggered by a suspect foot fault call in a tense semi-final against Belgian Kim Clijsters.

Williams tardy apologies were not burdened with sincerity.

What can we learn from this pic:

1. His grip size is probably 4 2/8.

2. His pinky is almost off the butt.

3. He's switched to an Continental because he

will be hitting the ball late.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sweden’s Robin Soderling backed up his impressive opening win over World No. 2 Rafael Nadal by defeating defending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 6-1 in Group B action Wednesday at The O2 in south-east London.

In a 29-minute second set, Soderling won the final six games of the match with controlled aggression and few errors. Djokovic was unable to move around the court to the best of his ability and, in attempting to end the points quickly, more often than not made the error.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Roger Federer ensured he would end the year as world number one after he beat Andy Murray 3-6 6-3 6-1 in a round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday.

The Swiss could have been usurped by Rafael Nadal but the Spaniard's defeat on Monday coupled with Federer's two victories in London meant he could no longer be overtaken this year.

Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 Monday in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by keeping Nadal on the move on the hard court at O2 Arena.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Four-time Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion Roger Federer survived a scare on Sunday evening against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco before prevailing 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the second Group A match at The O2 arena in London.

Andy Murray marked the start of London's five-year hosting of the ATP Tour Finals with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win over U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in front of 17,500 fans inside the spectacular O2 Arena on Sunday.

The Briton withstood a ferocious comeback by the Argentine, who lost the opening five games, to open his account in Group A which also contains world number one Roger Federer and Fernando Verdasco who play later.

Eight top tennis stars including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will participate in the ATP World Tour Finals beginning today.

Success in this event may get Nadal number one rank back while Federer after his recent failures may remain on topfor further some time if he wins the tournament.

There is a difference of 945 points between Nadal and Federer and if Nadal does not lose any match in this tournament then he will become world number one gaining 1500 points.

All players have been divided into two groups in the tournament.

Federer will contest Andy Murray of Britain in Group A while US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco of Spain are also included in this group.

In Group B, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Robin Soderling will face each other.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Draw for the round-robin stage of the ATP Tour finals which begin on Sunday at the O2 Arena in London (prefix denotes seeding).

Group A (1) Roger Federer (Switzerland) (4) Andy Murray (Britain) (5) Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) (7) Fernando Verdasco (Spain)

Group B (2) Rafael Nadal (Spain) (3) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) (8) Robin Soderling (Sweden).

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Andy Roddick is withdrawing from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals because of a left knee injury.

The No. 6-ranked Roddick hurt his knee at last month's Shanghai Masters.

The ATP said Tuesday that French Open runner-up Robin Soderling, No. 9 in the rankings, will take Roddick's spot in the eight-man field.

The draw for the tournament is Wednesday, and play starts Sunday. The other participants: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco.

Next week's ATP World Tour finals at London's O2 Centre will be the biggest indoor tennis event ever staged.

World number one Roger Federer heads the cast of the top eight singles players and eight doubles pairs who have qualified for the lucrative year-ending tournament that begins a five-year stay on the banks of the River Thames in Greenwich.

On the eve of Wednesday's draw which will be performed inside a pod of the London Eye -- the largest Ferris wheel in Europe -- more than 250,000 seats had been sold for the round-robin tournament which begins on Sunday.

A practice court has been constructed in the foyer of the venue so that the public, even those just visiting the cinema or restaurants, will have a chance to see top players in action.

After the traffic problems in Shanghai, London's organisers have also come up with a novel way to get the players from their central London hotel out to the venue -- they will go by boat.

"We have two 62-seater boats, they are smoother than a car and they will have the players door to door in 30 minutes. It's a really nice way for the players to see London.

With Federer joined by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco the quality of the tennis on offer is matched by the prize money at stake.

Should a player win all his round-robin matches on the way to the title he would pocket $1.63 million, more than the 850,000 pounds ($1.43 million) Federer took from winning Wimbledon this year.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009