The stadium in Hamburg is scheduled to be pulled down in 2013, regional media are reporting. There has been a lot of buzz on Twitter about this report, and if true it would mean the end of the ATP500 Masters event in Hamburg.
@NeilHarmanTimes @TennisReporters Stadium in Hamburg should be pulled down 2013, regional media reporting. Would be the end for the ATP500
— Tim Boeseler (@tennismagazin) April 13, 2012
Sometimes I find tennis events very unprofessional. I recently came across this video of the Malaysian Open ATP Tour event draw, the draw seemed like it was conducted in a shopping mall with the present having to read everything off cue cards (even the players names).
Im a firm believer in only doing something if its done right and in this case they probably should have just done the draw behind closed doors or at least in a conference room.
Rafael Nadal has been talking about his game leading into the Madrid Masters 1000 event which started yesterday.
“Well, I am feeling good,” said Nadal. “Both tournaments are very important for me. The two victories. We will see what’s happening here probably is the most difficult tournament because the altitude, the ball is faster and it’s going to be a challenge for me.
“No it’s not ideal conditions but last year I play the final so it’s not terrible conditions, too.”
Throughout his NHL career, Tie Domi never appeared well-suited for the country club set. But Domi will be putting on his tennis whites for a match with John McEnroe in Canada next month. The former bad boy of the Maple Leafs and the former bad boy of tennis will play doubles against Jim Courier and another former-NHL hot head, Claude Lemieux, at a Legends of Tennis event in Hamilton.
Former Wimbledon champions Martina Hingis and Richard Krajicek will be the star attractions at this summer’s Nottingham Masters tournament. The event takes place at Nottingham Tennis Centre between 10 and 13 June.
Lindsay Davenport is rumoured to be returning to Indian Wells next month but not as a player, as a reporter. Instead of headlining the competition in the desert, Davenport will take her place in the broadcast booth at the BNP Paribas Open.
I didnt know but the BNP Paribas Open is the most attended tennis tournament outside of the Grand Slams. Thus, Lindsay and former ATP player Justin Gimelstob will have a lot of commentating to do at the event.
Slovakian glamour girl, Daniela Hantuchova, is the latest to confirm her attendance at the Brisbane International in January.
The world number 19 was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2008 and broke into the top 10 when she reached number 5 in August 2002.
She will be joined by French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic and reigning Australian Women’s Hardcourt Champion Na Li in the women’s draw.
The men’s draw boasts Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marcos Baghdatis, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Mardy Fish with the player cut off date, for the tournament ,on the 21 November.
Daniela Hantuchova said “I am really excited about returning to Australia and playing a strong field in the lead up to the Grand Slam.
“I took home some really nice memories last year. It was something very special for me.
“With my preparation this year and the quality field at the Brisbane International, I will be even more ready.
“I love Australia and have played in tournaments there since 2001. I am looking forward to playing in this new event and challenging some high quality players in the lead up to the Australian Open.”
World Number 3 Novak Djokovic spoke very enthusiastically about how he has been able to help Serbia to possibly host its first ATP tournament.
Djokovic, who has already qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, and his family are on the point of buying out the rights to the Dutch Open tournament in Amersfoot and transferring that week’s action to Belgrade.
The 21-year-old Australian Open champion, who hails from the Serbian capital, revealed earlier this month he was in negotiations with organisers to transfer the event with help from his father and uncle and said the arrangements were all but in place.
“Now I can say the country is supporting us and we have all the things we need – just the formality from the ATP to really take the tournament Amersfoort to Serbia,” Djokovic said after reaching the third round of the Paris Masters when Dmitry Tursunov of Russia withdrew with a shoulder injury in the second set of their encounter.
Djokovic said he expected an official announcement in Shanghai and he was delighted at the prospect.
Back home in Australia we have an airline called Virgin Blue which states they have the best looking stewardesses in the world, but at the Madrid Masters they take it one step further, by hiring models to be ball girls.
Feminism, whats that? I think most females probably don’t like the idea, however it seems to be having a great promotional affect for the tournament. It is kinda portraying a more fun side of tennis.
I still really believe that the ATP and WTA tour are doing such a poor job at marketing and building the sport. Models as ball girls is probably not the best idea in the world, but at least it is giving tennis and tournament a bit more press and stands them out from the rest of the crowd. These types of ideas are only going to help give tennis more exposure and obviously more exposure means more money for everyone involved.
TENNIS.com has been named as the new title sponsor of the Zurich Open in Switzerland in a few weeks.
“We’re proud that one of Europe’s most important tournaments will operate under our name,” declared George Mackin, Director at The Tennis Company. “We decided to title sponsor the TENNIS.com Zurich Open based on its long and successful history and the outstanding player field they have this year.”
“We are delighted to be teaming up with Octagon to title-sponsor the TENNIS.com Zurich Open and hope that it will be the first of many future tennis event title sponsorships that we work on together, “ added Dave Morgan, Chairman of the Tennis Company.
TENNIS.com is one of the worlds premier tennis destinations and it is good to see them trying to promote their services a little bit more within the sport. I do think however they have a lot of issues with their own tennis website, and they probably should have spent this sponsorship money on redoing their site! After launching several new media companies, im always open to becoming an evangelist for them.
It has been reported that Maria Sharapova will be missing the remainder of the season, and she will be making her return in the second week of January at an exhibition event in Hong Kong.
After the layoff from her healing shoulder injury she is planning on heading to Melbourne to defend her Australian Open crown. After such a long layoff can we really expect her to challenge again for the Australian Open title?
With Lleyton Hewitt and Casey Dellacqua already confirmed starters, tournament director Paul McNamee announced the Russian siblings Marat Safin and Dinara Safina would team up for the first time to form the second team in the tournament. McNamee also admitted he is chasing Djokovic to play the tournament, but there will be no Roger Federer or Raphael Nadal in Perth because they have already committed to other tournaments. Im really looking forward to seeing some new faces in the Perth teams event this year, instead of having most of the top players finding a few up and comers has to be on McNamee’s list.
With the Rogers Cup in Toronto starting today who are the players to watch? With Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal both playing it should really be both of those 2 players in the semi finals, but what other 2 players are going to join them? Looking at the draws I really think we will see both Tommy Haas come through the draw to play Roger in the semi, and I think Wawrinka also has a chance to sneak through the Djokovic section of the draw to play Rafa in the other semi.
Who else might have a chance of making the semi finals in the Rogers Cup? You can find the single drawsheet here.
