Serena Williams has certainly staked her claim at the top of the women’s’ game after reclaiming her No1 ranking from Dinara Safina after the 2009 US Open. The latter part of the season usually sees players drop their intensity and look forward to the prospect of a holiday. The Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha was more an exhibition of the consequences’ of over playing than a showcase of the best in women’s tennis.
Despite this, Serena Williams looked the freshest of the crop and came through some tough conditions with strapping on her thigh to win the singles. Elena Dementieva said after her 2-6 4-6 defeat, “She’s too good for me” Serena has accelerated her pace at the top of the women’s’ game, it’s reported, with the aid of Power Plate.
“On tour, playing back-to-back matches is tough on your body. Being ready the next day is the difference between winning or losing. If I can accelerate the recovery and healing process, I have a definite advantage. With my Power Plate®, I have that advantage,” Williams says.
Talk of Williams prowess at the Australian Open was accompanied by assurances that she will be around for a few years to come and I wonder if we will see her accelerate away from the rest of the field, or will they match the pace and keep up with her?
The Tennis Warehouse have launched the Adidas Summer Collection. The styles seem to be typical Adidas and nothing really off the wall. Click here to take a look and purchase.
Over at TennisIdentity they have put together a short article outlining the new tennis bags of 2009. So head over and check out the latest bags from Wilson, Head and more.
These days there are so many online tennis stores, but which ones are actually worth using? I thought I would put together a great list of the best online tennis stores.
Tennis Warehouse – Tennis Warehouse is the official partner of ATP and WTA tours. Tennis Warehouse has to be one of the most professional tennis stores online with a huge variety of brands and equipment available.
Midwest Sports – Midwest Sports is a USA based online store that has really been growing over the last 6 months. Midwest has the majority of the leading brands as well as some of the newest on the market like Boris Beckers tennis range. The site is very simple to use and is completely verified.
PWP – PWP claims to be Europe’s number one racket specialist. The site itself has a great design and is very simple to use. Unlike the previous two stores PWP doesn’t just do tennis, they also do table tennis, racketball and more. PWP is based in the UK and they also have five actual stores based in the UK.
Tennis Plaza – Tennis Plaza is another USA based store that is completely verified and as well as accepting credit cards they also accept payments via paypal. Tennis Plaza is the official racket retailer of the Sony Ericsson WTA tour, as well as having a partnership with USTA Florida. In terms of the site itself they have a great range and offer some amazing discounts.
We wanted to share a great new :30 sec video featuring world #10 ranked tennis player Gael Monfils. The twenty-three year-old Frenchman recently sat down to discuss his love for the game and reasons for making the switch to the EXO3 Rebel 95 racquet – one of the models in Prince’s new EXO3 line.
I’d like to introduce you here probably two of the most famous tennis strings (good quality strings I mean) and probably the most used on the pro circuit: In fact 65% of the ATP top 100 and 40% of the WTA top 100 players use it. Know which one I am talking about? Exactly, Luxilon Big Banger Original and Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power. There exist of course varieties of those two strings, they are for instance available in a rough version for more spin etc., but those two are the most common ones. Let me give you a brief introduction here:
Big Banger Original exists as 1.30mm and 1.38mm. Luxilon recommends to install this string 10% looser than other strings. Big Banger Original is a very fast string with a lot of power and a maximum of control and playability. Players like Filippo Volandri, Davydenko Nikolay, Coria Guillermo, Nalbandian David, Puerta Mariano, Gasquet Richard and Ferrero Juan Carlos use Big Banger Original. One big difference between Big Banger Original and Big Banger Alu Power is that the Original gives more spin to the ball, no wonder so many Spaniards and Latin Americans use it.
I would personally recommend this string only to more advanced players and using a racket with a string pattern of 16/19 for maximum spin and control.
The price of a Luxilon Big Banger Original 200m roll is approximately 240 US Dollars or 190 Euros for our European friends.
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power is available as 1.25mm. It combines great durability with impressive power and good control. It is definitely a string with maximum acceleration and control combining at the same time a very good durability. Used by several ATP Tour professionals, including Gustavo Kuerten, Andre Agassi & James Blake and at some point Roger Federer.
Then again I would not recommend this string for amateur players, only more advanced ones and using a racket with a string pattern of 18/20 for a maximum of power and control.
The price of a Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power is approximately 300 US Dollars or around 220 Euros.
For those of you who have already tried them I would love to get some feed backs and of course your own opinions about those strings.
One of the most common injuries amongst tennis players – and indeed any sportsperson, be they a club player or professional athlete – is the dreaded ankle sprain/ twist. Depending on the severity of the sprain it could mean a week out or several. Also, depending on the action taken when the injury occurs, the speed in which it is correctly treated also makes a big difference to the recovery period.
During the recent Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, German Nicolas Kiefer suffered an ankle injury while leading Slovakia’s Domink Hrbaty 3-1. Hrbaty himself suffered this kind of injury early in his career, and it was his first aid efforts among apparently confused medical personnel at the venue that benefited his opponent.
Which is why Ice Bandage could prove an essential accessory for the racket bags of tennis players throughout the country, who do not have access to on-site medical staff or Domink Hrbaty. The most tennishead’s local tennis club can provide is a basic first aid box – at least the club bar offers numerable pain relief options.
When the silver packet is opened it reveals a moist, soft bandage that will cool the site of injury for up to two hours – much longer than ice packs, gels and sprays. It is said to reduce swelling and pain within 10 minutes and no refrigeration is needed.
Ice Bandage can be used on all injuries that need cooling, including sprains and strains to the ankle, wrist, elbow, hand, knee and back. For optimal results the bandage is used to complete the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) method.
Ice Bandage costs £3.91 and is available from independent pharmacies nationwide. For further information click here.
Here are some new shots of Wilson’s 2009 racket bag line up. The image come courtesy of the ATP blog in which they mention that the Wilson bags top line is the “Eco Pro Tour” which is said to be recyclable while the other line is just the “K Pro Tour. ” Check out the shots below.
Adidas has contacted me this morning to inform me that they have launched a new product, the Limited edition Barricade V commemorating the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup and host city Shanghai, China.
As you can see from the picture they are only available in Flashy black and gold. The Chinese characters for “Shanghai” embroidered at the heel of the shoe and also printed on the outsole.
The shoes were worn by Novak Djokovic in the Masters Cup and they will be sold at around USD $120.00.
Adidas will be introducing a new racquet offering for 2009, which brings back the memories of tennis legends from yesteryear.
I remember when I was about 12 and the first pair of tennis shoes that I got were Adidas Barricade, and those shoes I probably had for a longer time than any other.
February 2009 will see the introduction of the Barricade tennis racquet from Adidas!
“Building on our footwear and apparel success adidas tennis feels the market is right for the return to racket production,” says Simon Cartwright, Vice President of Global Tennis. “We can now provide tennis players with everything they need to take part in one of the most popular sports in the world. Consumers can be assured that our new rackets will match the high levels of product quality so long associated with the adidas brand.”
The three racquet range will provide a racquet for every player level, tour player, club player and recreational. Each racket is
named after our benchmark Tennis shoes, Barricade, Response and Feather, and share similar characteristics.
Product Specs
Four Barricade models have been created; The Barricade Tour is designed for the “Tournament Player.” It is the heaviest at 330g and the stiffest of the new adidas rackets, ideal for fast swinging players who can generate their own power and look for additional control.
The Barricade Tour Light is 30g lighter, suiting good juniors, but it offers the same control with every swing. Both the Barricade Tour and Tour light come with and 18/20 string pattern to give excellent control and a crisp feel.
The third racket in this range is the Barricade itself; a lighter and less stiff version of the Tour racket with a 16/19 string pattern to ensure a forgiving and playable racket for competition players. The Barricade Junior, meanwhile, satisfies the needs of young budding tennis stars.
All rackets in the Barricade family feature the adidas POWER STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY (PST). Three structures at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock act like the claws on the Barricade shoe to improve torsional stability. This technology transfers to adidas rackets by adding weight at the same points, putting pop into your shots and increasing the sweetspot.
Pricing
The Barricade range of rackets will retail for $185.00, and the Feather racket for $165.00, while the Response comes in at $145.00
Adidas rackets, which are made by leading tennis manufacturer Keentech, will be sold through adidas own retail as well as tennis specialty stores worldwide. The rackets will be available in the United States beginning February 1, 2009.
Over at TennisIdentity they have put together a short article outlining the new tennis bags of 2009. So 
One of the most common injuries amongst tennis players – and indeed any sportsperson, be they a club player or professional athlete – is the dreaded ankle sprain/ twist. Depending on the severity of the sprain it could mean a week out or several. Also, depending on the action taken when the injury occurs, the speed in which it is correctly treated also makes a big difference to the recovery period.
