Steven has been playing at a high level in tennis since the age of 14. He has played numerous world junior events as well as Futures and Satellite events on the ITF Tours. Additionally, Steven has played a lot of club tennis in France and Germany.
As well as playing at a very high level Steven has also been coaching tennis since the age of 16. Thus, bringing real hands on knowledge to The Tennis Times.
While at the Australian Open 2012 a lot of people were trying to find out who is the boyfriend of Victoria Azarenka. Anyways, we have found that Victoria Azarenka’s boyfriend is Sergei Bubka. Sergei is a Ukrainian professional tennis player who is currently ranked 150th in the world. Ohh and did I mention that his dad is the world famous pole vaulter Sergey Bubka. Plus, his mother, Liliya, is a former rhythmic gymnast.
There have been rumours going around the net that Rafael Nadal is in trouble with his tax. However, all these reports are false and this has been confirmed by Rafael on his website.
Basically, Rafael hired an accounting firm to create a new company to take advantage of a Rasque region tax break, which means he would pay a lot less tax on his image rights. It seems like the Basque tax authorities are investigating, but it all seems above board.
Ivan Lendl does have enough to do (coaching Andy Murray) so he has decided to open his own International Junior Tennis Academy in Hilton Head Island, S.C. The spring class features students from Canada, New Zealand, Russia and the U.S.
“The enrollment influx from fall to spring is a tribute to the elite instruction our coaches provide students each day,” says Peter Orrell, President and CEO of Junior Sports Corporation, owner/operator of the Ivan Lendl IJTA. “Ivan Lendl IJTA offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for passionate junior tennis players to reach their ultimate potential.”
Ivan Lendl IJTA students (grades five through 12) will attend Heritage Academy as they see school as a vital piece of the puzzle.
p.s. In the photo it looks like Ivan has been eating a little too much over the Christmas period. Im hoping he starts to do some fitness training himself when coaching Andy
Anna Kournikova has sold her $7.4 million mansion in Miami Beach. She was hoping to sell the property for $9.4 million, but it fell a long way short in the current economic climate. The house is a seven-bedroom Spanish-style oceanfront villa with private beach, boat dock, two-story guesthouse, entertaining area and pool.
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario has just released her book in which she has announced that her parent stole $50 million of her earnings and that she no longer speaks to them.
“My parents made me suffer a lot,” she commented and said she has no relationships with anyone in her family, including her two former pro player brothers, Emilio and Javier.
Sanchez won $16.9 million dollars in prize money in her 17-year career but claims that overall (including endorsements) she took in about $59 million.
“Today I am without resources,” said Sanchez, who has just taken over as Spain’s Fed Cup captain.
Bernard Tomic in not so surprising news has decided to sell his V8 BMW M3.
I wish to move forward from this and use it as part of my learning experience, so I’ve decided to sell my BMW. I’ll put my dream car on hold for a while and in the next few years I’ll look again and hopefully I will be able to find a similar car. I now want to focus on my tennis without any distractions.
Tomic has a court date on February 14 for driving the car in areas not permitted under his license.
The ITF have finally decided to expand the use of Hawk-Eye replay technology for all rounds in the Davis Cup and Fed Cup World Groups.
The replay technology is used only for matches on hard and grass courts. Thus, it will be interesting to see if can be added to clay courts. Plus, with this addition does that mean the ITF will pay for Hawk-Eye to be implemented? or will the clubs or national organisations need to pay?
Victoria Azarenka has pulled out of the Fed Cup tie against the United States with a lower back injury. Azarenka stated:
It has been a while and I have been trying to take [the injury] day by day. I had the pain since the Australian Open and was hoping to recover, but did not have enough time with all the flying I did.
A lower back injury is very hard to prove even from a medical stand point, thus Im not too sure if its an injury or just a bit of a niggle which means she can have another week to relax a bit after her Australian Open win.
Ryan Harrison has renewed his contract with Babolat. Ryan has been using Babolat racquets since he was 12 and really thinks the racquets will help his career (plus im sure he got a great deal of money).
Seth McKinley, Babolat International Sports Marketing Manager, commented, “”Ryan’s renewal with Babolat is a vote of confidence in the brand, the equipment and the service he recieves from Babolat. Harrison’s charisma, passion and dedication to tennis represent our brand values.””
Marion Bartoli is the top French player, but she has been left out of the France Fed Cup team due to her conflict with Nicolas Escude.
All the issues started when Bartoli fought with the France Fed Cup captain, Nicolas Escude and the French tennis federation over the autonomous coaching set-up with her father, Walter.
Bernard Tomic has been in trouble with the police a lot lately. However, it now seems to be getting quite serious. Bernard Tomic faces jail time and a $20,000 fine.
He was charged with evading police after he allegedly refused to stop and later barricaded himself in his parents’ Gold Coast, Queensland, home on Jan. 26.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $20,000 fine but his high-profile criminal lawyer Chris Nyst called the charges “little more than a storm in a tea cup.”
He is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on February 14 to face the charges
The new HEAD Speed Pro II is now available, featuring the innovative HEAD TRINERGY technology. The Trinergy provides better shock absorption, energy transfer and acceleration than previous versions.
Is Serena Williams dating Grigor Dimitrov? Well it seems like the paid were having a romanic lunch together at L’Avenue, and then left together for a romantic stroll on the streets of Paris. Oh.. and then they visited the Eiffel Tower together. Definitely a date!
Oh.. did I mention he is 10 years younger than her!
Victoria Azarenka had time after winning the Australian Open 2012 to fly to the USA just so she could do the chat show tour. Here is Victoria on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
