Archive for the ‘ITF Tours’ Category

Australia Win a Fed Cup Tie: Dave Taylor Interview

Australian Fed Cup captain Dave Taylor speaks about the Australian team’s 4-1 win over Switzerland in Fribourg.

ITF To Use Hawk-Eye on Davis Cup and Fed Cup World Groups – But Who Pays

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 a Back Injury? Really?

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.

Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Bojana Jovanovski Fed Cup Russia and Serbia Practice Photos

Here is Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Bojana Jovanovski during the practice session for the Fed Cup.

Marion Bartoli Left Out of France Fed Cup Team

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.

Maria Sharapove Is Actually Going to Play for Her Country: Great Pride She Has!

Maria Sharapova is actually going to play for her country in the Fed Cup next month against Spain. This is only the third time she will be playing for her country! How Sad! Its a real shame that tennis players dont seem to have national pride and want to play for their country any more.

If I was the Russian captain I probably wouldnt even want her to play, since she hasnt seemed to care in the past!

Caroline Wozniacki Aces Mardy Fish at Hopman Cup 2012

Caroline Wozniacki rips out an amazing serve to ace Mardy Fish at the Hopman Cup 2012.

USTA Support SOPA

Yet another organisation to stupidly support the SOPA act trying to be pushed through the US is the USTA. Obviously the USTA have a lot of copyright content, but anyone who supports SOPA is just old fashioned and really doesnt support technology or progress.

Please feel free to contact the USTA and tell them what you think about them supporting SOPA! or Tweet them here!

Watch 2012 Hopman Cup Live

If you are based in the US you will be able to watch the Hopman Cup 2012 live on the Tennis Channel.

Coverage from Perth, Australia (all times EST):

Monday, Jan. 2:

10 a.m. – Live, USA v. Denmark

7 a.m. – Instant Encore, USA v. Denmark (Tuesday, Jan. 3)

Wednesday, Jan. 4:

10 a.m. – Live, USA v. Czech Republic

Saturday, Jan. 7:

2 a.m. – Live, Championship

Alex Corretja New Spanish Davis Cup Captain

Alex Corretja has taken over as Spainish Davis Cup Captain. Corretja replaces another former top player as Davis Cup captain, Albert Costa.

“It’s a privilege to be able to captain the best team of players in the world,” said Corretja.

Its all scheduled to be officially announced at a press conference today.

Funniest Match Point Ever: Bruno Echagaray Has a Melt Down!

This is the funniest match point I have ever seen. Bruno Echagaray has a complete melt down during the Dallas Challenger event against Jesse Witten.

New Zealand Banned from Fed Cup 2012: Bad Decision from ITF!

New Zealand have been banned from the 2012 Fed Cup. This is a penalty for a late withdrawal in a match at the end of last year, when top New Zealand player werent able to play. Both were somewhat injured and Tennis New Zealand didn’t want to pay the $50,000 fee to send an inexperienced team.

I think the ban is a little harsh as they should have been just fined an amount of money instead. Cant leave a country out of an international event!

Judy Murray Now Britain’s Fed Cup Captain

It seems like having a son who is a great tennis player has been a good career move for Judy Murray. Judy Murray has herself a new job and she is now Britain’s Fed Cup captain.

The role became vacant a year ago when Nigel Sears (Andy’s girlfriends father) resigned to coach Ana Ivanovic.

“It is a huge honour for me to represent my country in this way, and the role presents a very exciting challenge, given the mix of talent, experience and determination we have in our top female players right now.”

National Tennis League: Australia

Tennis Australia has just released the promo video for the Australian National League tennis. However, I didnt realise its not a national league at all! Only VIC, WA and SA will be competing.

Bit of a joke!

Ian Goolagong Appointed National Indigenous Coach for TA

Ian Goolagong (brother of Evonne) has been appointed to Tennis Australia in the role of National Indigenous Coach.

Francesco Ricci Bitti Back as ITF President Again

Francesco Ricci Bitti is yet again the president of the ITF. Bitti was re-elected just a few days ago and will now remain as president until 2015. This will be his fourth four year term as ITF president.

Thirteen others were elected or re-elected to the ITF board of directors through 2013.

They are Ismail El Shafei of Egypt, Jean Gachassin of France, Lucy Garvin of the United States, Jack Graham of Canada, Chris Kypriotis of Brazil, Suwat Liptapanlop of Thailand, Juan Margets of Spain, Roman Murashkovsky of Russia, Geoff Pollard of Australia, Stuart Smith of Britain, Rene Stammbach of Switzerland, Jon Vegosen of the United States, and Georg von Waldenfels of Germany.

2011 Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Finals

The ITF have announced the teams and draw for the 2011 Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Finals. The Finals will be played on September 27 – October 2 October at La Loma Centro Deportivo and Club Libanes Potosino in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

JUNIOR DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS

Group A

1. Great Britain (1)
2. Thailand
3. Germany
4. Canada (8)

Group B

1. Japan (4)
2. Tunisia
3. Ecuador
4. France (6)

Group C

1. Australia (3)
2. Argentina
3. South Africa
4. Israel (5)

Group D

1. Italy (2)
2. Mexico
3. Hong Kong, China
4. Chile (7)

JUNIOR FED CUP BY BNP PARIBAS

Group A

1. Australia (1)
2. Argentina
3. Great Britain
4. Mexico (7)

Group B

1. Spain (4)
2. Thailand
3. South Africa
4. Czech Republic (5)

Group C

1. Italy (3)
2. Bolivia
3. Germany
4. Japan (6)

Group D

1. Canada (2)
2. Chinese Taipei
3. Romania
4. Brazil (8)

Congrats to Isaac Frost on First ITF Futures Title

A good friend of mine just won his first ever ITF title in Darwin this week. Isaac Frost I have known for a very long time and I thought I would just congratulate him on this brilliant result.

Frost won the Darwin Future event beating Nick Lindahl in the final, 6-1 4-6 6-4.

Frost is only 20 and he had taken 400 spots of his ranking so far in 2011. Looking forward to seeing what he can do in 2012.

Davis Cup 2011 Semifinal and World Group Playoff Team Nominations

Here are the team nominations for the 2011 Davis Cup. The semifinals and world group playoffs will be held September 16-18.

WORLD GROUP SEMIFINALS

SERBIA v ARGENTINA

Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, SRB (hard – indoors)

Serbia

Novak Djokovic

Viktor Troicki

Janko Tipsarevic

Nenad Zimonjic

Captain: Bogdan Obradovic

Argentina

Juan Martin del Potro

Juan Ignacio Chela

Juan Monaco

David Nalbandian

Captain: Tito Vazquez

SPAIN v FRANCE

Venue: Plaza de Toros de los Califas, Cordoba, ESP (clay – outdoors)

Spain

Rafael Nadal

David Ferrer

Fernando Verdasco

Feliciano Lopez

Captain: Albert Costa

France

Gael Monfils

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Gilles Simon

Richard Gasquet

Captain: Guy Forget

WORLD GROUP PLAY-OFFS

ROMANIA v CZECH REPUBLIC

Venue: Centrul National De Tenis, Bucharest, ROU (clay – outdoors)

Romania

Adrian Ungur

Victor Crivoi

Horia Tecau

Marius Copil

Captain: Andrei Pavel

Czech Republic

Tomas Berdych

Radek Stepanek

Lukas Rosol

Jan Hajek

Captain: Jaroslav Navratil

RUSSIA v BRAZIL

Venue: Kazan Tennis Academy, Kazan, RUS (hard – indoors)

Russia

Mikhail Youzhny

Dmitry Tursunov

Igor Kunitsyn

Igor Andreev

Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

Brazil

Thomaz Bellucci

Ricardo Mello

Bruno Soares

Marcelo Melo

Captain: Joao Zwetsch

ISRAEL v CANADA

Venue: Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon, ISR (hard – outdoors)

Israel

Dudi Sela

Amir Weintraub

Jonathan Erlich

Andy Ram

Captain: Eyal Ran

Canada

Milos Raonic

Vasek Pospisil

Peter Polansky

Daniel Nestor

Captain: Martin Laurendeau

SOUTH AFRICA v CROATIA

Venue: Fanie Du Toit Sports Stadium, Potchefstroom, RSA (hard – outdoors)

South Africa

Kevin Anderson

Rik de Voest

Izak van der Merwe

Raven Klaasen

Captain: John-Laffnie de Jager

Croatia

Marin Cilic

Ivan Dodig

Antonio Veic

Nikola Mektic

Captain: Goran Prpic

CHILE v ITALY

Venue: Estadio Nacional, Santiago, CHI (hard – outdoors)

Chile

Paul Capdeville

Jorge Aguilar

Fernando Gonzalez

Nicolas Massu

Captain: Hans Gildemeister

Italy

Fabio Fognini

Potito Starace

Simone Bolelli

Daniele Bracciali

Captain: Corrado Barazzutti

JAPAN v INDIA

Venue: Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, JPN (hard – outdoors)

Japan

Kei Nishikori

Tatsuma Ito

Go Soeda

Yuichi Sugita

Captain: Eiji Takeuchi

India

Somdev Devvarman

Rohan Bopanna

Leander Paes

Mahesh Bhupathi

Captain: Shiv Prakash Misra

BELGIUM v AUSTRIA

Venue: Lotto Arena, Antwerp, BEL (hard – indoors)

Belgium

Xavier Malisse

Olivier Rochus

Steve Darcis

Ruben Bemelmans

Captain: Johan van Herck

Austria

Jurgen Melzer

Andreas Haider-Maurer

Oliver Marach

Alexander Peya

Captain: Gilbert Schaller

AUSTRALIA v SWITZERLAND

Venue: Royal Sydney Golf Club, Sydney, AUS (grass – outdoors)

Australia

Bernard Tomic

Marinko Matosevic

Lleyton Hewitt

Chris Guccione

Captain: Patrick Rafter

Switzerland

Roger Federer

Stanislas Wawrinka

Stephane Bohli

Marco Chiudinelli

Captain: Severin Luthi

AMERICAS ZONE GROUP I FIRST ROUND RELEGATION PLAY-OFF

ECUADOR v MEXICO

Venue: Francisco Segura Cano (Guayaquil Tenis Club), Guayaquil, ECU (clay – outdoors)

Ecuador

Julio-Cesar Campozano

Ivan Endara

Roberto Quiroz

Juan-Sebastian Vivanco

Captain: Raul Viver

Mexico

Daniel Garza

Miguel Gallardo

Cesar Ramirez

Santiago Gonzalez

Captain: Jorge Lozano

ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND RELEGATION PLAY-OFF

PHILIPPINES v CHINESE TAIPEI

Venue: Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Lapu-Lapu, PHI (clay – outdoors)

Philippines

Treat Huey

Ruben Gonzales

Jeson Patrombon

Playing captain: Cecil Mamiit

Chinese Taipei

Ti Chen

Yeu-Tzuoo Wang

Hsin-Han Lee

Chu-Huan Yi

Captain: Chia-Yen Tsai

EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND RELEGATION PLAY-OFFS

FINLAND v POLAND

Venue: Barona Arena, Espoo, FIN (hard – indoors)

Finland

Jarkko Nieminen

Henri Kontinen

Harri Heliovaara

Micke Kontinen

Captain: Kim Tiilikainen

Poland

Jerzy Janowicz

Grzegorz Panfil

Mariusz Fyrstenberg

Marcin Matkowski

Captain: Radoslaw Szymanik

SLOVAK REPUBLIC v UKRAINE

Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, SVK (clay – outdoors)

Slovak Republic

Martin Klizan

Lukas Lacko

Pavol Cervenak

Filip Polasek

Captain: Miloslav Mecir

Ukraine

Sergiy Stakhovsky

Illya Marchenko

Sergei Bubka

Artem Smirnov

Captain: Orest Tereshchuk

AMERICAS ZONE GROUP II THIRD ROUND

PARAGUAY v PERU

Venue: Club Internacional de Tenis CIT, Asuncion, PAR (clay – outdoors)

Paraguay

Daniel Lopez

Diego Galeano

Jose Benitez

Gustavo Ramirez

Captain: Victor Pecci

Peru

Dulio Beretta

Mauricio Echazu

Ivan Miranda

Sergio Galdos

Captain: Luis Horna

ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP II THIRD ROUND

KOREA, REP. v THAILAND

Venue: Gimcheon Total Sports Town Tennis Courts, Gimcheon, KOR (hard – outdoors)

Korea, Rep.

Yong-Kyu Lim

Young-Jun Kim

Suk-Young Jeong

Jae-Min Seol

Captain: Yong-Il Yoon

Thailand

Kittiphong Wachiramanowong

Perakiat Siriluethaiwattana

Sonchat Ratiwatana

Sanchai Ratiwatana

Captain: Tanakorn Srichaphan

EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP II THIRD ROUND

GREAT BRITAIN v HUNGARY

Venue: Braehead Arena, Glasgow, GBR (hard – indoors)

Great Britain

Andy Murray

James Ward

Colin Fleming

Ross Hutchins

Captain: Leon Smith

Hungary

Adam Kellner

Attila Balazs

Kornel Bardoczky

Gyorgy Balazs

Captain: Miklos Hornok

DENMARK v BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

Venue: Hillerod Tennisklub, Hillerod, DEN

Denmark

Frederik Nielsen

Martin Pedersen

Thomas Kromann

Christoffer Konigsfeldt

Captain: Kenneth Carlsen

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Amer Delic

Aldin Setkic

Damir Dzumhur

Ismar Gorcic

Captain: Daver Vranic

e-Tennis: Live Streaming of Future and Challenger Events

A while ago I had an idea to live stream some of the smaller Future and Challenger events and finally someone has actually done this! e-Tennis is live and currently streaming live on Livestream.