06 November 2009
The Fed Cup finals are finally here! A scrappy, Williams-sister-free Team USA is in the “toe” of the Italian boot this weekend, battling for Fed Cup glory on slow red clay. World No. 49 Melanie Oudin, who proved herself as a little-known underdog in the first round against Argentina this February, is now the team [...]
06 November 2009
Photo of the beautiful Fed Cup trophy via Paul Zimmer at FedCup.com USA vs. Italy are playing the Fed Cup Finals this weekend in Reggio Calabria on outdoor clay. The Fed Cup will be broadcast in the States on Tennis Channel – all times Eastern: Fed Cup Final 2009 USA vs. Italy Tennis TV Schedule Saturday, November 7, 2009 5:00am [...]
06 November 2009
What’s coming out of the taps in Basel? Whether it’s Lindt chocolate or clean, crisp natural spring water, we have three Swiss players into the Basel quarterfinals on Friday. The last and only other time Basel saw three Swiss in the quarterfinals was eight years ago, when Federer, George Bastl and Michel Kratochvil made it [...]
05 November 2009
The AFP reported today that both Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse have been suspended from tennis for a year (and fined 1000 euros) by the Flemish Doping Tribunal. Wickmayer, world No. 18 and a US Open semifinalist, was punished for failing to report her whereabouts to drug testers on three occasions. Malisse was punished for [...]
04 November 2009
I guessed Basel was going to be a Roger Fest, and it hasn’t disappointed me so far! We had that great interview from SI the other day and now this – a phenomenal in-depth chat with Rene Stauffer and Fredy Wettstein of the Basel-based paper Basler Zeitung. It was first published on November 2 – [...]
03 November 2009
Photo: JP/Ricky Yudhistira The WTA’s final tournament of the year is this week in Bali at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. The $600,000 tournament is a kind of consolation year ending championships, open to the top players who have won at least one International Series level event in 2009 and who didn’t make Doha. Sabine [...]
03 November 2009
I just can’t get closure on a tournament until I see the player party video, can you? Here’s the party in Doha. I love Wozniacki’s “brainless ball basher” vs. “pusher” analysis of her match vs. Azarenka! Also, I didn’t realize Jelena Jankovic was a budding fashion designer. I propose that Serena and J.J. design the evening [...]
03 November 2009
The Times U.K. reports that Andy Murray has signed a five-year sponsorship deal with German brand adidas, worth over $16,000,000 (£10 million). Via the adidas press release: adidas has a new addition to its tennis line-up in 2010 with Andy Murray joining the global sportswear brand. The 22-year-old Briton will sport the iconic 3-Stripes from January onwards [...]
03 November 2009
The ATP’s latest “Uncovered” features Marian Vajda, Novak Djokovic’s coach and “second father.” Perhaps the deep personal bond between the two explains why Marian is comfortable sharing coaching duties with Todd Martin, who joined Team Djokovic around the time of this year’s US Open. Novak spoke recently about how the Vajda/Martin tag-team works (Quotes via The Independent): “He [...]
03 November 2009
Roger Federer announced his 2010 schedule via his website. He’s planning to play 18 tournaments and “hopefully” the season ending championships in London. Roger Federer’s 2010 Schedule: (tournament starting dates noted) December 31: Capitala World Tennis Championship, Abu Dhabi (exhibition) January 4: Qatar Exxonmobil Open, Doha (ATP 250) January 18: Australian Open, Melbourne Feburary 22: Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, [...]
03 November 2009
A lot of interesting stories continue to develop in Tennis Land, so I thought I’d put them all down in one place: Let’s start with some fun stuff. Reporter Matt Cronin via Twitter: “Sharapova recently began dating the Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic. Now if she can only help “The Machine” get his deadly jump shot back.” Vujacic [...]
02 November 2009
Roger Federer spoke recently to Swiss news magazine Schweizer Illustrierte about some of his favorite things: his twins Myla and Charlene, Mirka and his hair. I love that the interviewer, Stephanie Ringel, is unable to hide her Fedophile tendencies. Her descriptions (in italics) sometime read like a tennis Harlequin romance. Here she is, trying not [...]