Wimbledon is often considered sacred ground from the perspective of a professional tennis player. Victory on these revered lawns presents the ultimate tennis glory. A majority of professional tennis players would sight Wimbledon as the most desirable title in all of tennis. There is a distinct, indescribable eminence that comes with claiming the Wimbledon trophy.
No player better represents not only the brilliance but pure elegance that is characteristic of a Wimbledon champion than Roger Federer. The graceful nature with which Federer plays the game is of no comparison and is truly visible on grass. It is on this surface that Federer’s fluidity and variety really provide him with the upper hand against virtually every opponent.
Unfortunately, the beauty associated with grass court tennis is only seen for an abbreviated time span. The grass court season begins the Monday following the French Open and ends around a month later. With four warm up tournaments over a span of two weeks, transitioning from the slow, high bouncing clay courts to the fast, low bouncing grass courts presents a formidable challenge. Many players such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have even opted to skip these warm up tournaments and jump into Wimbledon cold.
For the surface on which the most striking and highly technical tennis is played, it would seem a just exploit to the tennis world to extend the season much beyond its current length. The Clay court season, which spans from February to June, is four months of relentless back court grinding that presents an extremely demanding physical challenge. The Hard court season, which lasts from July to the end of November, arguably takes an even bigger physical toll on players. A prime example of this is Rafael Nadal. Nadal plays the game with a never say die attitude, but unfortunately because of this he has encountered various knee problems throughout his career due the incredible effort and grit he puts into every single point. The toll taken on his knees on grass is not nearly as severe as the aggravation experienced on the hard and clay courts.
With this being said the grass courts are considerably less destructive to the body and allow the players to focus more on what’s being done on the court as opposed to what the court is doing to their body. Despite all of this, I am in full recognition that there are obvious obstacles in the way of extending the grass court season such as a lack of venues and scheduling. If the ATP is in fact able to extend the life of the grass court season, it would not only be a positive improvement for the health of the players but it would also be nothing short of a gift to tennis fans all around the world.
The new WTA Tour rankings are out and here is what has changed after the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The complete top ten according to the August 15 rankings is below:
1. Caroline Wozniacki
2. Vera Zvonareva
3. Kim Clijsters
4. Victoria Azarenka
5. Na Li
6. Petra Kvitova
7. Maria Sharapova
8. Francesca Schiavone
9. Marion Bartoli
10. Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams won the Rogers Cup in Toronto and she is now 31st in the world rankings.
This week is the Cincinnati tournament in which we will see Serena Williams possibly play Samanthat Stosur in the second round.
WTA CEO Stacey Allaster will be looking at grunting in the womens game.
“We have a hindrance rule,” Allaster said. “The reality of it is the athletes themselves are not coming to me say, we have an issue. (But) I’m very fan-centric and if there is a number of fans who are communicating with us that it’s an issue, then it’s something that we need to look at.”
It was annoying watching Serena Williams play Victoria Azarenka in the Rogers Cup semifinal because both players have amazingly noisy grunts.
“It’s very difficult to change the existing athletes because this is how they’ve trained, prepared for their entire lives,” said Allaster, who noted that some male players grunt too but, “unfortunately our decibels are a little bit higher Our DNA is different.”
Li Na is now by far the richest tennis player! Maria Sharapova was previously the highest, earning over $24 million each year in prizemoney and endorsements. Now, Li Na has over $42 million on endorsement contracts.
“We could do five more endorsement deals but she just doesn’t have the time,” said Eisenbud, a vice president at Coral Gables, Florida-based IMG Tennis who signed Li in November 2009. “It’s incredible.”
Since winning the French Open, Li Na has signed contracts with Daimler and Chinese insurance company Taikang Life Insurance Co.
“It was hard to set the price” after Li’s triumph in Paris, Eisenbud said. “We had to change it a lot.”
Last week we reported that Coco Vandeweghe had split with coach Tom Gullikson. Now, it has been announced that her new coach is Jan-Michael Gambill. Gambill got to know Vandeweghe during the World Team Tennis and they are now going to work together through the US Open.
After that I wouldnt be surprised if Vandeweghe drops Gambill and finds yet another coach.
WTA Tour rankings are out and Caroline Wozniacki is still leading in August. I still think Kim Clijsters would be the best player in the world if she played more than once a month on average!
Singles
1. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 9,915 points.
2. Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 7,625.
3. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 6,850.
4. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 6,115.
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 5,941.
6. Li Na, China, 5,855.
7. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5,437.
8. Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 4,831.
9. Marion Bartoli, France, 4,425.
10. Sam Stosur, Australia, 3,275.
11. Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 3,245.
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 3,220.
13. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 2,915.
14. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, 2,775.
15. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 2,775.
16. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, 2,595.
17. Peng Shuai, China, 2,580.
18. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia, 2,555.
19. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, 2,470.
20. Julia Goerges, Germany, 2,335.
Zhang Shuai has had to retire from her second round match at the WTA Collegar Park tennis tournament due to heat illness after dropping the first set 6-4 to Irina Falconi.
After her first round win, Zhang complained that she was tired and sick in her head and stomach.
It seems like Petra Kvitova is the darling of womens tennis at the moment. Now, the Wimbledon champion has graced the cover of Magazin DNES, a Czech TV Guide magazine.
Melanie Oudin reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2009, but hasnt performed well since. Recently Melanie jumped into a conference call and stated she hadn’t had any luck lately.
“I’ve hadn’t luck on my side lately” (terrible English!). “I’ve tried to stay positive, keep working hard I have a lot to learn, and hopefully, I still have a long career ahead of me. My goals right now is just to start playing better again. Start to get some more matches under my belt.”
Melanie you need to just keep working and the wins will come. It has nothing at all to do with luck! Whoever works the hardest gets the victories eventually.
In this video recorded during the Wimbledon Championships, Stacey Allaster sat down to talk about how women’s tennis has evolved over the past couple of years and how they have expanded the organization to China as well as to the social media scene in order to gain a wider fan base. It seems to be working because prize money levels at Grand Slams and other tournaments seem to be rising every year and the coverage of women’s tennis on television is increasing. This is great news for women’s tennis and I hope Stacey will continue doing a fantastic job for years to come in order to make tennis one of the major sports in the world. Go WTA!
Jarmila Gajdosova and Julia Goerges were for some reason made to hit a few tennis balls at the top of the Stubnerkogel mountain at the WTA Gastein Ladies event in Austria.
Here is a great video from the WTA of Bethanie Mattek-Sands trying to surf. Bethanie went to the south of France to meet two time European surfing champion Lee-Ann Curren.
Would have been nice to see a little more of Bethanie surfing and a little less straight promo.
Citi Group has just announced that they will be sponsoring the WTA tournament in Washington DC July 23 to 31. The tournament was previously known as the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Tennis Championships, the tournament is now titled the “Citi Open” and will be played at the Tennis Center at College Park in College Park, Maryland.
“Citi is proud to be the inaugural sponsor of this significant new WTA tennis event, one that we anticipate will become a key stop on the women’s tour,” said Dermot Boden, Chief Brand Officer of Citi. “This is a great addition to our sports sponsorship platform and gives us another opportunity to support women’s athletics.”
“Citi enjoys a long history with the D.C./Maryland area, having nearly 40 branches in the area, including our most recent ‘Smart Banking’ Flagship Branch opening today,” said Michelle Peluso, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Citibank. “We are excited to share this unique experience with our customers and tennis fans alike.”
“We are pleased that Citi has joined us as the title sponsor in the first year of this prestigious WTA International event. Having the support of such a prominent brand is critical to the success of this tournament and a great testament to the sport of tennis,” said Donald Dell, Chairman of the Citi Open and Group President of Lagardère Unlimited. “We look forward to building a successful partnership with Citi while establishing a great tradition of WTA tennis in the area.”
For more information about the Citi Open and tickets please visit www.citiopentennis.com
It was all glamour at the Pre-Wimbledon Party of 2011. The women stars of the game got dressed up and this year it was particuarly interesting with each of the players wearing an outfit that was designed by a British designer. Let’s take a look at some of the girls who headlined the show.
Jelena Jankovic wore a Vivienne Westwood dress
Ana Ivanovic wore a Matthew Williamson dress
Maria Sharapova wore an all Alexander McQueen ensemble.
Serena Williams wore a Burberry gown.
Betanie Mattek-Sands surprised everyone with a dress made by one of Lady Gaga’s designers
Caroline Wozniacki wore a Stella McCartney dress and who also designs her on-court dresses as well.
Other players who were at the party include Li Na (wore Giles Deacon); Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (wore David Koma); Andrea Petkovic (wore Richard Nicoll); Heather Watson (wore Mulberry); and Laura Robson (wore Temperley). Nicholas Kirkwood provided shoes for the occasion.
Serena Williams is scheduled to make her return to professional tennis today. Williams will compete in the Eastbourne tournament and is amazingly happy to be back playing tennis after her illness layoff.
Expect both Williams sisters to be strong contenders again at this years Wimbledon that starts next week.
