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
Scotland has announced their team for the Home Nations Cup.
16 players and 4 captains have been selected across the men’s and women’s teams in the Senior, 18U, 14U and 12U age group categories.
The Scotland team will compete at the Lansdowne Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th September against teams from Ireland and Wales.
The team in full is:
Senior
Euan McGinn (Captain)
Men
Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh)
Jason Barnett (London)
Women
Mhairi Brown (Edinburgh)
Emma Devine (Edinburgh)
18U
Mark Walker (Captain)
Boys
Jonathan O’Mara (Arbroath)
Euan McIntosh (Edinburgh)
Girls
Alice Keddie (Dundee)
Anna Brogan (Glasgow)
14U
Toby Smith (Captain)
Boys
Vincent Gillespie (Stirling)
Ross-Tiree Wilson (Largs)
Marton Fucsovics is the Wimbledon Junior Boys Singles champion for 2010. Fucsovics defeated Ben Mitchell 6-4 6-4 in the final (I used to play tennis with Mitchell’s older brother, and remember Ben was he was only 12. Damm Im getting old now).
Fucsovics, the 13th seed, beat the unseeded Mitchell on the 11,400-seater Court One while Rafael Nadal was securing his second Wimbledon men’s title on Centre Court. The first Australian to reach the boys’ title decider since Chris Guccione lost the 2003 final, Mitchell had been hoping to join tennis legends Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg on the champions’ honour board.
The Hungarian Fucsovics said that win had given him the confidence to beat the 17-year-old again in the Wimbledon final.
“I felt that I would win this match in the beginning, but he was playing very well. I already played against him in Australia, and now he was playing much better,” the champion said.
“I feel very happy. I was playing very good, and I hope I can play like this all year.
“I was very nervous in the match. In the whole match I was very nervous, even when I was on the match point.
“I didn’t know what to do when I won the last point. I was really happy.”
Fucsovics won the US Open doubles last year, and scored another first for Hungarian tennis by claiming the singles title here.
“Hungarian tennis is not so big yet. I hope I can be the first very good player,” he said.
Even in defeat, Mitchell finds himself in pretty good company.
Ashley Cooper (1954), Rod Laver (1956), John Frawley (1983), Jason Stoltenberg (1987), Todd Woodbridge (1989) and Mark Philippoussis (1994) have also made the final.
Cooper, Laver and Cash all went on to win the men’s title at the All England Club, while Stoltenberg and Woodbridge reached the semi-finals and Philippoussis was runner-up to Federer in 2003.
The reigning Australian Open junior champion is eligible to spend another two years bolstering his already impressive age record, if he wants to.
But, after mixing junior and senior events in roughly equal measure in 2008, the talented Gold Coast teenager would prefer to speed up his development by committing fully to the men’s circuit next year.
“I’ve started this year to play more and more (open) Futures and Challengers, but then again I’ve played also juniors,” German-born Tomic said.
“I think it’s time to put juniors away next year hopefully and just focus on Challenger level and Futures and getting my ranking up to where I want it to be.”
Tomic is the junior world No.3, with the two players ranked above him both about 18 months older.
In the senior rankings, he is 772.
While he hopes to steadily cut that number, he needs to rely on the generosity of officials if he is to play in ATP events or senior grand slams.
His chief aims for the coming summer are to make his ATP debut at the Brisbane International, starting January 4, and then play in the Australian Open later that month.
He will need wildcards for both, a prospect that remains uncertain, particularly given Tennis Australia’s recent emphasis on awarding wildcards on a merit basis, with Tomic only the 26th-ranked Australian man.
