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A glamorous field of the best, and most beautiful women tennis players is lining up for the LA WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS August 3-9th at the Home Depot Center. World number 1 and defending champion DINARA SAFINA will be back to try and repeat. MARIA SHARAPOVA on the comeback trail, with her revamped serve after shoulder surgery, will compete. As will 2009 French Open Champion SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA, former number 1 ANA IVANOVIC and supermodelesque DANIELA HANTUCHOVA, along with some fresh, new, international faces on the tour.
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA , ranked 14th in the world, from Poland; DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA, ranked 12TH, from Slovakia; CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, ranked 9th, from Denmark; and VICTORIA AZARENKA, ranked 8th in the world, from Belarus, will all vie for a share of the $700,000 prize money in the 39-year old tournament. LA WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS has a bunch of exciting ticket packages, including a buy one get one free week pass. If you love tennis, you haven’t lived until you’ve spent a week on a tour event. It’s like tennis envy. There are some entertaining events in conjunction with the tennis matches, like the World Grunting Championships. Check it all out and order tickets now at: latennischamps.com. See you there!
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The reality is SELES didn't really care for the grass, but she did make it to the final in 1992, only to lose to STEFFI, who won 7 of 9 WIMBLEDON titles over the period from 1988 to 1996. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA managed to win in 1990 and CONCHITA MARTINEZ won in 1994.
MONICA SELES was number 1 in the world for 178 weeks, and then on April 30th, 1993 in Hamburg, Germany, during a break in a match, a fan ran from the stands and stabbed her in the shoulder. The incident rocked SELES, keeping her from the tour for more than 2 years. But in a testament to her greatness, she returned in 1996 to win another grand slam title, the Australian Open, for her 9th major. She won 53 titles total in her career, including the Canadian Open, the very first one she competed in after her injury. We spoke with SELES in 2004 at a Lorius World Sports Awards event in Los Angeles, and at that time, she still had hopes of returning to the court. She had been semi-retired because of injuries. But the women's game, thanks in part to the powerful play of MONICA SELES, had moved on. It was SELES who first started the trend of grunting, not only on powerful strokes, but all of her shots. Nowadays, that's pretty much the norm. Tennis has a lot to thank MONICA SELES for, and for that, she is a deserved member of the Tennis Hall of Fame. For more information, go to: tennisfame.com
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Sports swagger is always part skill and performance, and part bravura, or bullshit. You have to be tough to attain the top of your sport, and you don’t get there without talent and determination. But there’s a lot of trash talking and complete bluffing involved too. Just ask SERENA WILLIAMS. She, the holder of 10 grand slam trophies, and the most powerful physique on the women’s tour, is currently ranked number 2 in the world, behind DINARA SAFINA. SERENA doesn’t like that too much, and in Rome on Monday, she said as much, “We all know who the real number 1 is. Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.” When asked which opponent stirred the most fear in her, SERENA continued her rant, “Probably myself. I always beat myself.” With a stick sometimes. WILLIAMS followed up that performance with a first round loss to PATTY SCHNYDEF, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, while number 1 SAFINA advanced beating VIRGINIA RAZZANO in straight sets. DINARA commented on Monday, after hearing SERENA’S remarks, “It’s not luck. Nobody gave it(number 1) to me. I played 2 Grand Slam Finals and last year I won 4 titles. This didn’t come out of sky.” Indeed.
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KIM CLIJSTERS might be just what the women's tour needs, as MARIA SHARAPOVA continues her comeback from shoulder surgery, the Serbian women who showed much promise last year, IVANOVIC and JANKOVIC underperform. SERENA and VENUS WILLIAMS have come back to dominate the game once again. SERENA beat sister VENUS in 3 sets yesterday in Miami, to face VICTORIA AZARENKO in the women's final Saturday. Between the two of them, they have won the last 3 grand slams titles, and 5 of the last 9. It was the 20th time the sisters had met in a match, with each of them winning 10. SERENA is the number 1 seed here, while AZARENKA is seeded 11th. The two last played at the Australian Open where AZARNEKA had to retire in the 2nd set because of dizziness. On the men's side, JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO (shown above) finally put an end to the fast start world number 1, RAFAEL NADAL was on. NADAL won this year's first slam, and won in Indian Wells over NOVAK DJOKOVIC. But the top seed couldn't defeat DEL POTRO, who bested NADAL in 3 sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3). DEL POTRO will face ANDY MURRAY who took out the next hottest player on the tour right now, 8th seeded FERNANDO VERDASCO, 6-1, 6-2. ANDY RODDICK gave ROGER FEDERER a tough match for a change, but the result was the same, with FEDERER advancing to the semifinals 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. But there, ROGER, who had a chance to make a major step towards regaining his top spot on the tour, fell to NOVAK DJOKOVIC 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Last week FEDERER lost in the semis to ANDY MURRAY. So it will be DJOKOVIC facing teither MURRAY or DEL POTRO in the final.
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The tennis tournament, formerly named after an insurance company, with a trophy of a large sea mammal has a new sponsor. BNP PARIBAS, a familiar name on the tennis circuit, is the new sponsor of the 5th largest tennis tournament on the planet. There is a new trophy too, unveiled to the media in a lavishly catered hello to tennis here in the States. Members of the press were wined and dined with French delicacies, brie and chanterelles, shrimp sliders, crab cakes and poached salmon, as the new prize, an abstract of two shooting stars was presented for the first time, with the help of 2-time champion and could be supermodel DANIELLA HANTUCHOVA Friday evening.
With the top players on both the men’s and women’s tours inhabiting Indian Wells for these two weeks, if you are a tennis fan, you need to get to the desert. The first week of the tournament is the time to get a close-up look at some of the game’s rising stars. FERNANDO VERDASCO, who rose to prominence in 2008 breaking into the top 20 for the first time, and then followed that up at this year’s Australian Open, losing to RAFAEL NADAL in the semifinals, showed up sporting a Mohawk do. Did you know he posed nude for Cosmopolitan in 2008 to promote awareness for male cancer? He stands 6’2” and though he plays for Argentina in Davis Cup, he was born in Madrid, where his family owned a restaurant, and had hard courts in their backyard!
VERDASCO drew large crowds wherever he went, from the practice courts to the outer courts where he and doubles partner FELICIANO LOPEZ lost on Sunday in their first round match to MARIUSZ FRYSTENBERG and MARCIN MATKOWSKI of Poland. Did you know Poland is a new hotbed for tennis, with AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA and sister URSZULA rising up the rankings, and moving through the draws in Indian Wells?
Before I digress, FERNANDO VERDASCO is still alive in men’s singles, seeded 10th and having dispatched RICHARD GASQUET 6-3, 6-2 Monday to advance to the 4th round. He next plays PHILLIP KOHLSCHREIBER of Germany. You recall KOHLSCHREIBER gave ANDY RODDICK fits at the Australian Open last year, where he blasted a career high, 32 aces in his 5-set victory over the American serve demon.
If you are a RICHARD GASQUET fan, there is still time to see him in action, in doubles, the new trend this year, as almost all of the top men are teaming with partners to play doubles. GASQUET and STANISLAS WAWRINKA of Switzerland are still alive in the doubles draw. Even ROGER FEDERER played doubles this year, losing to the BRYAN BROTHERS in his first doubles match in 7 months.
Speaking of siblings, did you know that ANDY MURRAY, who by the way is still very much alive here seeded 4th, has a brother that plays tennis? JAMIE MURRAY and SIMON ASPELIN lost in the 1st round to DAVID NALBANDIAN and JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO. You really can see just how tall 6’6” is when it is standing next to 5’11” NALBANDIAN on an outer court. Wow!
There are so many stories to keep up with at a tennis tournament like this where the men and women are all here, and there are both singles and doubles. There are 8 courts going, plus 6 practice courts, so there is always something to see. The big stories are still playing out. On the women’s side, the WILLIAMS sisters still haven’t warmed to the sibling lovefest here. Their absence, number 1 and number 5 on the tour is missed. But, as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of young, up and coming players on the WTA tour, and this is their time to shine. Indian Wells is the place where MARIA SHARAPOVA had her coming out party at the age of 14. She was here, trying out her new shoulder playing doubles. While she lost in the 1st round, it
was the first time in months she has played tennis, and she said she is anxious to get back to the regular competition. So DINARA SAFINA came in as the top seed. She nearly lost her first time out, but has settled into the tournament, moving into the quarterfinals with a win over American JILL CRAYBUS, 7-5, 6-4. JELENA JANKOVIC, seeded 2nd, lost to ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA her first time out. Now I’ll bet you’ve never seen ANASTASIA play. You’ve still got a chance; the 17- year old from Samara, Russia who was ranked 45th at the end of 2008, is in the quarterfinals!
With KUZNETSOVA, the 6th seed losing, and ELENA DEMENTIEVA, the 3rd seed also losing, 4th seed veteranVERA ZVONAREVA and defending champion ANA IVANOVIC, seeded 5th will be very much in the hunt.
The real excitement here though, will be on the men’s side. ROGER FEDERER is playing for the first time since his tearful loss to RAFA in the Australian Open finals. NADAL is on a tear, drawing overflow throngs to the practice courts, where autograph seekers have knocked down several fences trying to get a very special souvenir, causing officials to rethink the fans access to the players at these practice routines. You can still get an autograph, but the players won’t have to wade through a crazy mob to come and go for hitting practice.
Meanwhile, NOVAK DJOKOVIC, looking leaner and meaner than last year, is lurking behind the leaders in the number 3 spot. He has RODDICK and NADAL to get through to the finals, if things go according to seeds. And the most interesting story, ANDY MURRAY, who seems to have the least trouble beating both ROGER FEDERER and RAFAEL NADAL these days, is still alive, with 15th seed TOMMY ROBREDO up next and a possible match-up with ROGER FEDERER in the semis to get to the final. That should be fun.
It’s all here, and there is still time to catch the action. The BNP PARIBAS runs through Sunday March 22nd. For information or tickets, go to: By the way, did I mention, it could be your last chance to see MARAT SAFIN? The mercurial Russian has announced this will be his last year on the tour. We shall see…
Take a peek inside the first week of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells |
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The talk coming into the 2009 tennis season was that ANDY MURRAY was the mate to beat. Or, that was the talk, after MURRAY won 4 tournaments and the vast majority of ATP points since losing to ROGER FEDERER at The US OPEN last year. Before that, the thought was that ROGER FEDERER was ready to avenge his losses to new number 1, RAFAEL NADAL (shown above at the Pacific Life Open 2008) at the French and Wimbledon. Of course prior to that, it was NOVAK DJOKOVIC, with his first grand slam victory last year in Melbourne, here in defense of his title, who was talked about as the favorite. DJOKOVIC was indeed breathing down ROGER FEDERER’S neck for the number 2 spot in the world, and talking of moving up. There was talk of ANDY RODDICK, 15 pounds lighter and with a new coach, who sailed through to the semi-finals rather easily, and with little notice until NOVAK had to retire against him in the quarters. Talk focused on ANDY. Could he beat FEDERER? ANDY, no small talker, avoided all talk. FERNANDO VERDASCO had everyone talking with his impressive fitness, and the bouncing of ANDY MURRAY from the tournament in the 4th round. Talk about shock. Talk only increased when VERDASCO survived a round in the ring with JO-WILFRED TSONGAS, himself quite a talker, to advance to the semis in a slam for the first time in his career. There, VERDASCO nearly eliminated RAFAEL NADAL in an amazing match that pushed NADAL to the physical limit. In 5 hours and 14 minutes, it was the longest match in Australian Open history. It was the talk of the fortnight. But talk was that NADAL could not possibly win a rematch with FEDERER, having surely exhausted his strength while FEDERER cruised to a victory over RODDICK. FEDERER would easily best NADAL, who had nary a day to rest after his epic with VERDASCO. But that was all talk, talk. NADAL left no doubt who is the most fit on the tour. Nor was there any doubt who was the better player on this day, as he broke FEDERER twice in the 5th set to win his 5th in a row over the former number 1. Talk about a change of the guard only continues. There can be no doubt who is the best player in the world on this day, as NADAL has won 3 of the last 4 grand slams, on 3 different surfaces. At the age of 22, RAFAEL has amassed 6 grand slam titles, earlier than either FEDERER or SAMPRAS. NADAL is now talked about in the likes of BJORN BORG, who was quite the talk, having won 6 majors 6 months younger than RAFAEL. Talk about great. Talk now is no longer of ROGER surpassing SAMPRAS, but of NADAL doing the once unthinkable feat. High talk indeed. At the age of 27, ROGER FEDERER, once talked about as the best player of all time, head and shoulders above the rest of the field, is nearly a pitiful figure. It’s absurd to talk that way, but there it is. I’m talking serious. At the awards presentation ROGER was reduced to tears, unable to finish his talk. Talk about sad. NADAL talked for him, “Roger, sorry for today. I really know how you feel right now. Remember, you’re a great champion.” What are you talking about! Talk about how far the mighty have fallen. It was not even 2 years ago when the field wasn’t even within talking distance of the great ROGER FEDERER. Now they talk behind his back. Forget that, they talk straight to his face. What’s really sad is the idea, even the expectation, that ROGER was entitled to be the best forever. It’s not possible, just talk. Silly talk. No one is talked about forever. NADAL claims to know how ROGER feels. It’s hard to imagine that could be true. But it will be true soon enough, especially at the rate NADAL plays. He throws his whole soul into every match. He may last long enough to rule the empire of tennis that ROGER once ruled. And he may push ROGER enough to propel FEDERER into grand slam victory number 14 and beyond. But it’s all talk until the day that a new champion comes along. A VERDASCO, maybe an ANDY MURRAY, perhaps GILS SIMON, or some other, not even talked about just yet. Until then, there is no doubt; RAFAEL NADAL is the TALK of the town. And the talk is of a grand slam. My, how we like to talk. Speaking of talk, SERENA WILLIAMS is now all the talk on the women’s side. SERENA, the number 2 seed, breezed to a victory, another of her odd-year wins down under, now totaling 4. She beat DINARA SAFINA 6-0, 6-3 in a depleted women’s field that saw number 1 seed JELENA JANKOVIC and last year’s champion ANA IVONOVIC exit early in the championship. They were all talked out. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA gave SERENA her biggest test, serving for the match, in the quarterfinals, but couldn’t quite get it done, losing to SERENA in 3 sets. It was classic, come from behind, SERENA WILLIAMS, as she won her 10th slam title as KUZNETSOVA folded. SVETALANA must be talking to herself. She was within a whisper of beating SERENA, who by the way, is not talking. SERENA WILLIAMS has heard all this talk before. We’ve all heard the talk of the SERENA SLAM. She’s been there, done that mate. And she refuses to talk about it. About winning a grand slam, she has nothing to say. She has the goods to do it. So goes the talk. If she only dedicated herself to it, conditioned herself for it, wanted it bad enough. She could win all 4 majors this year. As could NADAL. Talk is, if they would just walk that walk…
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The largest tennis tournament outside the 4 grand slams, once known as The Pacific Life Open, has a new sponsor. BNP PARIBAS, one of the largest banks in the world, and a regular sponsor of major tennis events like THE FRENCH OPEN, and DAVIS CUP, has signed on to sponsor the Indian Wells tennis tournament set to begin March 9th, 2009. Tournament officials announced a new night session for the first week of the event, Thursday March 12th. Last year the tournament drew 330,000 attendees, drawn to the full slate of the world’s best players on both the men’s and women’s side of the draw. Only the grand slams draw more fans. |
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The 2009 tennis season is off to a bang, after last year’s momentous events, seeing the fall of ROGER FEDERER from the number 1 perch. RAFAEL NADAL hasn’t had even a month to enjoy his new spot atop the world before a new challenger to the throne has served notice; it’s anyone’s game this year.
ANDY MURRAY defeated top ranked RAFAEL NADAL to take the title at the CAPITALA WORLD TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP exhibition in Abu Dhabi to get things started this tennis season. And he did that, after beating No. 2 ROGER FEDERER in the semi-finals. It is a rare accomplishment to beat both ROGER and NADAL, back-to-back in a tournament. MURRAY has a 5-2 record against FEDERER, having just ousted him from the Masters Cup tournament in November. He has been touted as the UK’s next great tennis hope for several years now, finishing 2008 ranked number 4 behind NOVAK DJOKOVIC.
There are several new faces trying to break into the top 5, with GILLES SIMON from France at number 7, and JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO from Argentina sitting at 9th in the world. SIMON beat FEDERER in the MASTERS CUP tournament in Shanghai in November, and DEL POTRO went on a tear over the summer winning 23 straight matches and 4 tournaments before losing to ANDY MURRAY in the quarterfinals of the US OPEN. On the women’s side, JELENA JANKOVIC is the top ranked player, a feat she achieved without winning a grand slam. She reached the US OPEN final, and made the semis at the Australian and the French. SERENA WILLIAMS, who actually won a grand slam last year, finished 2008 ranked 2nd, with DINARA SAFINA, riding the best tennis of her life to 3rd.
Of course MARIA SHARAPOVA will be in the hunt again, coming off shoulder surgery, which she quietly had done for the nagging injury. SHARAPOVA will be defending her 2008 Australian Open title. VENUS WILLIAMS climbed to number 6 in the world in 2008, and ANA IVANOVIC, after a brief taste of No 1, fell to number 5, after starting 2008 on fire. Tennis, 2009 style is here, with the Australian Open from Melbourne set to begin January 19th. Southern California tennis fans, the amazing tournament in Indian Wells, where the stars of both the men's and women's tours make their only appearance on the West Coast in the same tournament begins March 9th. Get your tickets!
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With FEDERER primed to win back his top ranking finally wrestled from his grasp by RAFAEL NADAL, and with DJOKOVIC having his best year in 2008, winning his first grand slam at the Australian Open, if MURRAY steps up to contend things should get very interesting on the men’s side. DJOKOVIC is trailing FEDERER by a very slim margin, and NADAL will feel the pressure of going into a season ranked No. 1 for the very first time. Meanwhile, MURRAY has spent the off-season training hard, bulking up, and has his own plans for the 2009 season.
