It has been reported that Rafael Nadal has purchased a new beachside house in the exclusive residential complex Playa Nueva Romana in the Dominican Republic.
The community will have “1,200 luxury homes, a marina, a five-star hotel, and an 18-hole golf course. This new development represents an investment of more than US$180 million and covers an area of 620 acres of coconut groves, just 45 minutes from Santo Domingo’s international airport.”
Former Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis is currently facing financial collapse as he is unable to pay his mortgage on his Williamstown home in bayside Melbourne.
Philippoussis earned more than $8 million dollars on court over the years, but is now being sued for failing to pay the mortgage and not just for a small amount, for about $1.3 million.
“Money came in left, right and centre; you just thought that’s how it was for everyone and that’s how it will always be,” he said.
“It’s the toughest time of my life right now, but it’s also the best time because I’ve woken up to so many things in my life.
“When I get back up from this I’ll appreciate so many things so much more. I’ve fallen down and I’ll get back up. This is how it is. It’s life.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsong takes a look at the new EA Wii tennis game that has him as a new character.
Over at the DamnGoodList they have profiled the top 25 female tennis players. The list features so big names and some ladies who are still yet to actually make their mark on tour. Take a look and let us know what you think.
Players include:
Elena Dementieva
Tatiana Golovin
Sania Mirza
Marta Domachowska
and more..
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.
Im not too sure why but I just today started to wonder what has happened to Guillermo Coria. Coria was a top ten player back a few years ago and until a drug scandal was leading the way on clay before Raphael Nadal. Guillermo played a few ATP tournaments this year in the middle of the year, but the majority ended up in defeats.
I was just wondering if anyone actually know what is going on with Guillermo and how come he is not back in the top 50 tennis players in the world?
Roger Federer has become the world’s richest tennis player, with career prize money earnings listed as a staggering $US43.29 million ($A66.56 million).
Federer’s passage into the third round of the ATP Madrid Masters event yesterday saw the Swiss player edge past former No.1 Pete Sampras of the United States.
Federer will take his earnings to $US43.5 million ($A66.88 million) should he win in Spain. Sampras earned $US43.27 million ($A66.53 million) in his career.
Federer and Sampras, with 13 and 14 Grand Slams win each, stand almost $US12 million ($A18.45 million) clear of third-placed Andre Agassi.
Current world No.1 Rafael Nadal stands eighth in the list with $US20.5 million ($A31.52 million) in earnings, while legends Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors do not even make it into the top 10.
The top players could boycott next year’s WTA Tour if their questions are left unanswered, third-ranked Dinara Safina said Saturday.
The Russian said the players were unhappy with the planned changes to the schedule.
“If they [WTA] don’t listen to what we have to say, we might even choose to boycott the new tour,” Safina told reporters after losing 6-2, 7-6 to compatriot Vera Zvonareva in the Kremlin Cup semifinals.
“They said the leading players would have to play in designated tournaments while lower-ranked players would be able to enter any event they like. There’s no logic in that at all.
“What if all the top players choose to enter the same tournament? What will the WTA do then? We want to know.”
Under the so-called Road Map 2010, 26 Tier One and Tier Two events will be combined into 20 Premiere tournaments with players committed to play in at least 10.
Four $4.5 million tournaments, to be held in Indian Wells, Calif., Miami, Madrid and Beijing, will be mandatory for all players who qualify.
Below the mandatory events will be five $2 million stops in Canada, Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati and Tokyo, of which the top-ranked players must play at least four.
The WTA has committed to having at least seven of the world’s top 10 players at each of these events. Players will complete their schedules by competing in at least one or two $700,000 events.
“There are a lot of grey areas,” said Safina. “No one seems to understand which tournaments you can play and which you can’t.”
Her thoughts were echoed by Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“I was told only two players from the top 10 could enter a smaller tournament like the Kremlin Cup next year,” said seventh-ranked Kuznetsova.
“What if [No. 1-ranked] Jelena Jankovic and Serena or Venus [Williams] want to play here? Then all the top Russian players, and there are five of us in the top 10, will not be able to play in their home tournament. That’s nonsense.”
In an e-mail to ESPN.com on Sunday, a WTA Tour official said the Kremlin Cup can receive unlimited top players under the new plan.
Safina, who will become a career-high No. 2 when the new rankings are released on Monday, said the leading players will get together at next month’s season-ending WTA Championships in Doha to share their concerns.
Name: Novac Djokovic
Country: Serbia
Birthdate: 22th of May 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 190 cm or 6ft 3in
Website: www.novakdjokovic.rs
Scouting: Novak is a very strong player from the baseline with equally good ground strokes on both sides. His forehand side is a bit stronger than his double handed backhand, but he tends to go for his shots a lot more on the forehand side, producing more winners but also more unforced errors.
As well as having a strong forehand he also has a strong first serve (as most of the top professionals do). Novak’s second serve is mainly just a stock standard kick serve but also likes to switch it up from time to time.
In terms of weaknesses a player really needs to step up on the day to be Novak. Making a lot of unforced errors isnt really going to give you not much of a chance playing Novak. Stepping in to his second serve and trying to push him onto the back foot early in the rallies is essential, while also mixing up your depth of shots from the baseline. From what I have seen of Djokovic over the years is that he has good hands at the net, but takes him a long time to get settled and into the right position to make a good volley.
