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Today's News Last updated at Thu, 10 May 2012 19:40:18 GMT Note: Regular updates are resuming.   Madrid Masters boss plans to introduce fluorescent tennis balls to contrast with blue clay next year - DPA "We are also going to improve the ball," Tiriac said. "We're thinking fluorescent green or fluorescent orange, which hold light better and work better in contrast to blue clay."   Fernando Verdasco stuns Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open - Tennis Grandstand “I lost today because I deserve to lose. I was at 5-2, I arrived at the moment to close the match and I didn’t know how to close it, I didn’t know how to do it. I made a big mistake with my match at 5-2. That’s what happened. He played better than me.” ...“It’s the ATP and the tournament they can do what they want. I arrived here Thursday to prepare as best as I can for the tournament. I was not good enough to play and adapt my game to this court. If things continue like this I will be very sad and next year it will be one less tournament on my calendar.” ...Later Nadal was questioned about his intentions for next year as to whether he was insinuating that he would not play “I’m not prepared to risk being here with injury. There are two options: They change it or… I’d like to play here but… ...“I don’t know, you can ask them. I think the tournament is great but that’s a bad decision. But they can do what everybody wants. Today is not the day to talk about that, today is the day to talk about Fernando – he played better than me and that’s why I lost, not because of the court. The court is the same for both and that is the real thing.” ...Federer made it clear that he is not angry about the surface but “understands Rafa’s disappointment as he was against it from the start – and so was I. For him to go out in the third round is obviously disappointing, he never felt comfortable on the surface – it is a tough surface. It’s a tough loss and there is frustration obviously.”   Skating Through - Stephen Tignor, Tennis.com Yes, Fernando Verdasco thanked the blue clay for letting him stay on his feet long enough to record his first win over Rafael Nadal in 14 tries. It wasn’t a pretty affair, closer to the lead balloon these two tossed up in Cincy last summer than their supersonic semi from the 2009 Australian Open. But credit Verdasco for seeing his opportunity, throwing off his usual gloomy doubts and second-guesses, and seizing it. It came at 3-5 in the third. The man known to himself as FeVer was still down a break, hardly a promising situation, but he recognized that Nadal wasn’t his usual self, that he was out of sorts and there for the taking. Instead of gagging at this realization, Verdasco began to play his most confident tennis of the day. He hit two big backhand winners in that game, and two bigger inside-out forehand winners in the next game to break Rafa at love. A few minutes later Verdasco was flat on his back with his arms stretched wide, doing his best Rafa-victory impersonation. Later he said this win, over Nadal on clay, was the “maximum for me.” It was great to see how much it meant to him. ...Was this the right thing for the world’s Top 2 players to do? Are they overreacting or whining unduly? I’ve read a lot about how Nadal, and now Djokovic, complain too much. It’s true, Nole is dramatic, and Rafa has his views. And who knows what Nadal would have said if had won today. But are they complaining, or just expressing their opinions? Would you not want them to say, especially when they’re asked by the press, what they really believe?   Feeling blue in Madrid - Matthew Cronin, tennisreporters.net It’s really too bad that instead of just tossing around impressionistic comments on the deepness of the color of Madrid’s blue clay that the tournament has devolved into as spitting match between the top men, tournament owner Ion Tiriac and the ATP. Because really, this week should be about how the world’s best men and women are playing in altitude on dirt and it’s not. It’s about Rafa Nadal after his shocking loss to Fernando Verdasco saying he won’t play next year if changes are not made. ...Fortunately, Carlos Moya, who is the assistant tournament director and just recently retired, said that they will do all they can to fix the surface which apparently has too little top dressing. Moya said that they are listening to the players and given that he and Nadal are very close personally, you have to believe him. Tiriac also said that they would take hard look at the surface. Both say they don’t believe it has anything to do with the coloring process, but they are going to have to prove that to the competitors. ...Williams will face Maria Sharapova, whom she has beaten six straight times. Sharapova former coach, Michael Joyce, told me the other day that the reason why he thinks that Serena has Sharapova number is because she has a great read on Maria serve and can break her at least a couple times a set, and that Sharapova has tremendous trouble returning Serena’s serve (like most players do). Plus, Sharapova cannot out leg her.   Is Madrid Open's blue clay worth all this fuss? - Jon Wertheim, SI.com While it's probably regrettable that the Madrid promoters chose a different type of clay than other events, including the forthcoming French Open, big deal. Courts always play a little differently from event to event. (You think the speed and bounce at Queen's Club is a perfect facsimile of the Wimbledon grass?) And while I respect players' willingness to use their acquired capital to voice their grievances, I sometimes wish they picked their battles more judiciously.   What happened to Rafael Nadal in Madrid - Ravi Ubha, ESPN Nadal won't be too concerned about getting beaten by Verdasco on Thursday at the Madrid Open, although you'd have backed him to get the job done when leading 5-2, 15-0 on his serve in the third set. Uncharacteristically, Nadal, who owns one of the best overheads on tour, sent one into the net on the ensuing point, and it seemed to unnerve him.   Madrid's blues more than just clay - [Kamakshi Tandon], ESPN The Caja Magica gave the event a modern, industrial feel very different from most tennis venues. Though it matched the tournament's ambitions, the city of Madrid has not found it such an ideal fit. After committing to the project in hot pursuit of the Olympics, the city council was left to manage a huge facility that faced a string of financial challenges, chronicled in detail by the local press. Expected to cost 120-to-150 million euros, it came in closer to 300 million thanks to miscalculations about the soil and the cost of the retractable roofs. ...The basketball team left one year into a five-year contract worth 1.1 million euros annually. Problems cited were a temperamental air-conditioning system, the stadium's distance from public transport and thefts from spectators' cars parked in the middle of the relatively poor neighborhood. The Madrid tennis federation was the next to exit, with the city council claiming 200,000 euros in unpaid fees when the two parted ways this past February. An anonymous source told the website El Confidencial that the federation could neither fully use nor cover the cost of the building and 17 hectare grounds: "There are expenses we cannot assume in full. Do you know the windows and toilets we must clean and maintain?" In a syndicated version of the story (but not the one appearing on the original website), the extra cost of blue clay was also cited as a factor: "Now they want to put blue clay because Ion Tiriac says so. For 15 days, they would pay for the blue clay, but the other 350 days it would be us." The exact status of that comment is unclear, but the bleaching and dyeing process required to make red clay into blue does make the final product more expensive, with Tiriac cited elsewhere as saying the cost is approximately double. ...It all recalls the tournament's most infamous publicity stunt: bringing in models to serve as ball girls during evening matches starting in 2004 (extended to male models as ball boys when women's matches came to town). Though it generated plenty of initial buzz, the impact has since faded, but the extra cost and effort remain. If it becomes an annual event, blue clay is likely to suffer a similar fate, particularly with the number of blue hard-court events already on the calendar. As for the Caja Magica, its lasting value remains to be seen, though there has been some progress after the initial setbacks. A deal was made earlier this year with the Formula 1 team HRT to locate its headquarters there, and the city hopes to increase its annual income from the facility to just over 5 million euros this year.   What's underfoot gets into Nadal's head - Richard Evans, Foxsports To his fury and frustration, the Spaniard blew all kinds of chances against Fernando Verdasco before losing to his compatriot 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 for the first time in their 14 all-time meetings. And, of course, it was all about the blue clay. Despite playing impressively against Nikolay Davydenko the day before, Nadal allowed the whole controversy about the slippery surface to get inside his head and started spraying balls all over the place as he tried to serve out for victory twice in the third set. "I will not play here next year if the clay is blue," he said, throwing down the gauntlet to Ion Tiriac, the brooding Romanian impresario who went out on a limb by deciding to switch from regular red European clay to this deep blue in order to make it easier for TV audiences to follow the ball. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who beat Stan Wawrinka 7-6, 6-4 under lights, piled more pressure on the tournament organizers when, answering a question about if he would do the same as Nadal and not play next year if the court is not changed, he replied: "Yes, the same. The winner this year will be the one who doesn’t get hurt. This is a new experience and, hopefully, it will be the last experience.” Now, Tiriac must face the consequences, and they will include the wrath of many Spaniards who will not have enjoyed seeing their national hero humiliated. The only consolation was that the defeat came at the hands of a local player whose family members run two popular restaurants in Madrid and who has won many admirers for his rugged and determined brand of tennis. Nadal was quick to praise Verdasco. "I think he deserved it,” Nadal said. “He played really well at the big moments. The court was the same for both of us. I just wasn’t good enough to adapt despite coming here earlier than I do for most tournaments in order to prepare." ...This was a match lost between the ears — not with the legs. The surface had nothing to do with the smash that he dumped into the net from a range of three feet in the final game, nor some of the forehands he hit long from firm-footed positions.   Djokovic meets his impersonators - Madrid Open website The world no. 1, whose impressions of his fellow players are now renowned, got to meet his own impersonators this Monday, the winners of the Mutua Madrileña competition to find the best ‘Nole’ imitator Mutua Madrileña launched a competition to find the best “Novaks”, and the world number one had the chance to meet the five winners this evening.   Futures pro hopes to regain past success - Treasure Coast Palm So how did the red-headed, 6-foot-7 left-hander end up here, playing in a $10,000 USTA Futures Pro Circuit tournament against a 32-player field composed mostly of talented juniors, college players and young professionals filled with dreams of getting to where he already has been? "I tore my Achilles," Guccione, now 26, was saying Tuesday after his first-round doubles match at the SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic at The Boulevard Village and Tennis Club. "I was out for about nine months, but it bothered me for a year after I came back. So even though I've been back playing for a couple of years now, it's been an up-and-down thing. "I'm still struggling to find my form." ..."Obviously, you don't want to be out for nine months and lose your ranking, so it was a bit frustrating," said Guccione, the No. 5 seed in this tournament, which also features the younger brothers of Tour players Ryan Harrison of the U.S. and Jurgen Melzer of Austria. "But I never thought about giving up. So I'm out here, trying to get back up there." ...The Achilles finally feels fine, he said, but he's playing with a nagging toe injury. He's also playing against opponents who are noticeably younger and faster and, possibly, hungrier — and who don't have a wife and 3-month-old daughter traveling the minor-league circuit with them. The age difference, though, doesn't bother him, he said.   Li Na eases into last 16 at Madrid - Xinhua Williams said she still found it easy to find motivated to continue playing aged 30. "I love playing tennis," she said. "I love walking on court and have people coming to see me play. It is still a thrill and I see it as the ultimate compliment that I have a talent that people come to watch."   Halle...where the streets have Roger's name - Reuters The small German town of Halle, known around the world for the grass court tennis event dominated by Roger Federer, has paid tribute to its biggest ambassador by naming a street after the 16-times Grand Slam champion.   Novak Djokovic fumes at Madrid Masters - AFP "This has no similarities with red clay, it's totally different," said Djokovic, winner of the 2011 edition over home hero Rafael Nadal. "It's much more slippery. "The material of blue clay and red clay are different. When you slide on red clay you can feel when you stop. Here you are always slipping. "Most players I've spoken to share the opinion that the court is slippery."   How relevant is Madrid to the French Open? - Simon Cambers, Tennis Space Nadal was not in favour of the switch to blue clay but on the question of altitude, surely he has a point. If the tour wants to build brands in the run-up to a grand slam event – as the Emirates US Open Series tries to do for the US Open – it needs uniformity in terms of surfaces and conditions. What’s the real point playing on clay at altitude if the French Open is at sea level? Altitude training is one thing, but actually playing matches in totally different conditions is hardly an accepted method for professional sportsmen and women.   Confident Sharapova sails in Madrid - Richard Evans, Foxsports Eventually the sky turned blue to match the courts and, by then, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, Juan Martin del Potro and Milos Raonic were all winners Tuesday on the third day of action at the Mutua Madrid Open at the futuristic Caja Magica. The talk was all about the blue clay, but it seemed to have minimal impact on the way players performed — although everyone agreed that it was slippery, especially when dry. "You just have to work on your balance a bit more," a relaxed Sharapova said after she had completed her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Czech Klara Zakopalova under the roof of the Manolo Santana Stadium. ... "It's the altitude here which makes the biggest difference, and obviously that suits me," Raonic said.   A Prediction - Tom Tebbutt, Tennis Canada Federer’s last match was a loss to Andy Roddick in Miami and he has not played a tournament match in 43 days. You have to think that Raonic is his worst nightmare coming back, especially on the unfamiliar blue clay in Madrid. ...Raonic has been playing very well on the clay and only a great performance, especially on the service return, by David Ferrer stopped him from getting to the final in Barcelona two weeks ago. Ferrer still did not break Raonic in a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) semi-final win. On March 13 at Indian Wells in their only previous meeting (above), Federer defeated Raonic 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 in a very competitive encounter. Just a couple of hours before he beat Nalbandian on Tuesday, Raonic tweeted the following: “Milos Raonic ‏ @milosraonic After this week there will be 1 champion, 1 blue clay specialist, 1 undefeated guy on blue clay and they will all be the same guy” Most likely that guy will be Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, not Raonic. But it’s nice to see him having some fun with Madrid’s famous, or infamous, tierra azul. NOTE: It was good to see two players who have both had hip surgeries – Raonic and Nalbandian – looking so hale and hearty during their match in Madrid on Tuesday.   Showdown of WTA's biggest stars looms, more Madrid Open thoughts - Bruce Jenkins, SI Well, Boris Becker was right: Players and television viewers will get used to it. We really don't have a choice. It's not like they painted the courts pink, or in all the wondrous colors of the rainbow. It's just not clay-court tennis in Europe -- not for my money. I knew that on Monday, when, at the conclusion of Tennis Channel's comprehensive Madrid coverage, the programming switched to the Juan Martin del Potro-Richard Gasquet final from Estoril over the weekend. Ah, yes: the pure red clay. The real thing. Let Ion Tiriac have his bizarre dream, I say. Madrid isn't Monte Carlo, a spectacular outdoor setting framed by the azure Mediterranean. With its partially enclosed roof, it has the feel and sound of an indoor event. It will never be Roland Garros, nor should it pretend to be. ... Ryan Harrison had been waiting for another crack at Sergiy Stakhovsky. In his U.S. Open debut two years ago, Harrison had three match points on Stakovsky at 6-3 in the fifth-set tiebreaker. Down 2-1 in sets, Harrison had fought his way back before a raucous crowd on the grandstand, only to let it slip away. In a match that reflected his growing maturity, Harrison won a tough first-rounder 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) against the Ukranian in Madrid.   Mirnyi and Nestor share No. 1 ATP doubles ranking - ATP website Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor have moved into a tie with each other for the World No. 1 ATP Doubles Ranking... The American twins had shared the No. 1 individual spot for 90 consecutive weeks. At 39 years, eight months, Nestor is the oldest player to hold top spot.   Serena's impressive feats on clay - Paul Newman, The Independent Some leading men are unhappy with the blue clay on which the Madrid Masters is being played, but Serena Williams had no complaints yesterday. "I haven't noticed a difference between the blue and the red clay," Williams said after a 6-3, 6-1 win over Elena Vesnina. "I think it's the same. It's just you don't get as dirty."   Players blue about Madrid's 'Smurf-court' - The Telegraph Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the two best clay-court players in the world, have been lambasting Tiriac’s decision for some time – both for its potentially disruptive effects and for its unilateralism. And now that the event has actually started, the rank and file have joined in, with the reliably outspoken Sergiy Stakhovsky tweeting that “I can say with full responsibility on my shoulders that it is the worst court of @ATPWorldTour.” It would be easy to paint the players as whingeing prima donnas, who would block any attempts to change the game on principle. But then they are dedicated to excellence – they wouldn’t be here at a Masters Series tournament if they weren’t – and this surface is clearly not the best way to prepare for the clay-court finale at Roland Garros. Neither is it making much of an impact on the TV companies. “I thought the visual contrast would be stronger,” said Mark Petchey, a commentator with Sky Sports. “I know the surface is getting the tournament talked about but I still feel it has been an own goal, because the top players – particularly the top men – have not come on board. If Tiriac carries on down this path next year, he can expect some high-profile absentees. I’ll be staggered if we’re not back to red clay in 12 months’ time.”   Oudin, star at '09 US Open, gets French wildcard - AP   Will Melanie Oudin... ever be a big time player again - Matt Cronin, Tennis Channel She moved her base from Georgia to New York so she could also work with USTA Player Development chief Patrick McEnroe and his crew at the USTA Training Center – East at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.(home of the US Open). There, she’d have the attention of slew of coaches and trainers and could also trade strokes with two other hard workers, Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko. She cleaned up her strokes. She stopped trying to play Big Babe tennis and went back to her base, which was to be fast, relentless counterpuncher...Even though she suffered five first round losses to start 2012, USTA Player Development was seeing progress, as well as commitment. She qualified for the WTA tournament in Charleston, scoring her first two wins of the year. She won a match at the Dothan Challenger and then took a big step, winning five straight contests, including a win over her competent countrywoman, Irina Falconi in the final of the Boyd Tinsley Challenger.   Seeing Red - Steve Tignor, Tennis.com So after all of the controversy, the blue clay turns out to be . . . boring and conventional? My initial glimpses of it over the last few weeks had made it seem like a cool novelty—“Wow, the clay is a different color.” But after three hours of watching actual matches on two of the show courts from Madrid this morning, the effect is beginning to be reversed for me. Now it doesn’t look like blue clay; it just looks like a blue court. Not unlike the ones in Melbourne. And Indian Wells. And Marseille. And Valencia. And Cincinnati. And Flushing Meadows. And at the O2 Arena in London. And a dozen other places. This wouldn’t bother me except that Madrid comes smack in the middle of the one long stretch of the season that isn’t supposed to be blue. Watching this event after Barcelona and before Rome makes me understand, and miss, the associations I have with red dirt. From my vantage point in the States, where most of our courts are asphalt and the ones that aren’t have a grayish tint, red clay signifies the Old World, and an alternative, century-old Continental tennis tradition. Blue clay, on the other hand, signifies the power of Ion Tiriac’s bank account.   Blue Clay Revisited - Peter Bodo, TennisWorld We're in the midst of another "this is tennis" moment thanks to Ion Tiriac and the blue clay in Madrid, and the players are once again proving that they love the idea of change a lot more than the reality of it. This is hardly surprising, given that the players originally were against many of most significant developments in the game, from larger-headed racquets to the tiebreaker. Hence, we have objections to the blue clay, like this assertion from Novak Djokovic, delivered during the Monte Carlo tournament, weeks before he even set eyes upon the new color: "Sometimes, change is good. I like innovative and creative people. But, on the other hand, it's going to be the only blue clay court tournament in the world, first time ever in history." Um, yes. That's kind of how change works, right? ...None of the big guns have fired a single shot yet on the blue clay, but it's already been a marketing and publicity bonanza for Tiriac and his Madrid event. That's a good thing if, like me, you were disturbed by those oceans of empty seats we saw during early rounds there in year's past. Tiriac is many things, not all of them good, but nobody ever accused him of being stupid. ...I bet that by the end of the Madrid event, people will be saying the same of blue clay as they said of the optic-yellow ball, the tiebreaker, and electronic line-calling: Hey, this is pretty cool. I have a funny feeling the singles winners will echo that sentiment.   Tennis entering its Blue period? - Stephanie Myles, Montreal Gazette The event is only four years old, and despite the major financial investment with three weatherproof stadium courts, it’s hardly firmly established as a major success. They’ve done many innovative things to create buzz. This is just the latest. As long as the surface doesn’t prove to be unsafe, what’s the harm? Federer’s coach Paul Annacone said the last time he checked, the courts were the same for everyone. So let’s just get on with it, shall we? In the end, it will be like any other tennis court on the planet. Those who lose will think it’s the worst court in the world. Those who win will think it’s just perfect.   Beneath surface of blue clay debate: Players want a say - USA Today This sentiment from the world No. 1 is reminiscent of the frustration that top-ranked players experienced during the 2011 U.S. Open, when they didn't have any say about when to play (or not play) during rain delays. "I understand that we all want to see a certain change and improvement in our tennis world," Djokovic said. "But on the other hand, you need to hear out what the players say, especially the top ones, because we need to feel that our opinion matters. That was not the case this time." ...So just how is this blue clay produced? It all starts with the original, red clay. Iron oxide is extracted from the clay, producing a white clay, which is then treated with a water-based blue dye for 24 hours prior to drying. The clay then goes through a cooking process, where it is heated to a temperature between 900 to 950 degrees. The clay is then ground and sifted to an exact grain size. Two layers of blue clay are placed on the court, with the first layer being a much finer grain, which serves to set the base. The iron oxide is removed at the start of the process to produce a white clay, simply because the original red clay cannot be directly dyed to the desired blue color. ...Of the 37 tournaments played on hardcourts, 31 of them are blue. That's 84% of all hardcourt tournaments and 49% of all ATP World tour tournaments. May 6   Nadal unhappy with blue clay in Madrid - AP ''My thoughts haven't changed on the concept and organization of this tournament,'' Nadal said Friday. ''My criticism is not directed at the tournament but at the ATP, which should never have allowed such a change at a tournament of this scale.''   Madrid Open wants ‘good faith’ from stars on blue clay - DPA Roger Federer, who have been very critical of the new surface. “Good faith, good faith. Let every player who tries the court say truly and in good faith the feeling they get,” the tournament’s executive manager Gerard Tsobanian told dpa in an interview. ...“Don’t they go from one colour to another in indoor tournaments? So where’s the problem? Here we’re talking about going from one colour to another once, not all the time,” Tsobanian said. Right after Madrid, the French Open is set to have one pink clay court this year for promotional purposes, although it is not to be used for the main tournament. “ Is it clay? It is. The colour is different? Yes. Do you see the ball better? Yes. Is it a better experience for all? Yes. Then what arguments can you have against it?” Tsobanian said of blue clay. ...“Rafael has revolutionized tennis. He is a revolutionary, an innovator. His physical game, the rotation of the ball, the sleeveless shirts... And our tournament, at the end of the day, is just like him. We are a young and innovative tournament, he is a young and innovative player. We’re identical, Nadal could be our icon,” Tsobanian adds. “Of course we’re not a traditional tournament! We can’t be, with just 10 years in place, and neither do we want to be. Let us be modern and innovative, revolutionize sport. Why block us? (Bernie) Ecclestone changes the rules every week in Formula 1, he adapts to what clients demand,” he argues. “This reminds me of the controversy over using models as ballgirls eight years ago. Eight years later we’re still doing it, because from the start we did it professionally,” Tsobanian stresses.   Madrid Open wants ‘good faith’ from stars on blue clay - DPA Roger Federer, who have been very critical of the new surface. “Good faith, good faith. Let every player who tries the court say truly and in good faith the feeling they get,” the tournament’s executive manager Gerard Tsobanian told dpa in an interview. ...“Don’t they go from one colour to another in indoor tournaments? So where’s the problem? Here we’re talking about going from one colour to another once, not all the time,” Tsobanian said. Right after Madrid, the French Open is set to have one pink clay court this year for promotional purposes, although it is not to be used for the main tournament. “ Is it clay? It is. The colour is different? Yes. Do you see the ball better? Yes. Is it a better experience for all? Yes. Then what arguments can you have against it?” Tsobanian said of blue clay. ...“Rafael has revolutionized tennis. He is a revolutionary, an innovator. His physical game, the rotation of the ball, the sleeveless shirts... And our tournament, at the end of the day, is just like him. We are a young and innovative tournament, he is a young and innovative player. We’re identical, Nadal could be our icon,” Tsobanian adds. “Of course we’re not a traditional tournament! We can’t be, with just 10 years in place, and neither do we want to be. Let us be modern and innovative, revolutionize sport. Why block us? (Bernie) Ecclestone changes the rules every week in Formula 1, he adapts to what clients demand,” he argues. “This reminds me of the controversy over using models as ballgirls eight years ago. Eight years later we’re still doing it, because from the start we did it professionally,” Tsobanian stresses.   Murray pulls out of Madrid Masters with back injury - Reuters   Scholl knocks out Oudin at Kiwi tournament - Florida Today   Venus Williams On Her Fashion Line, Serena Being A Bombshell - Forbes   What I wore: Venus Williams - New York Times   Fish Skipping Olympics to Play in Washington - New York Times “He called us about a month ago, and said, Look, I’m not planning to play the Olympics, so I want to enter Washington early,” Dell said, paraphrasing. “He had just moved into the top 10. And I said: ‘God, we’d love to have you! Can we announce it?’ Make him sort of the poster boy of the tournament. “So I then said to him, Why aren’t you playing the Olympics? Well, first of all, I’ve played the Olympics and won a silver, in ’04. And he said, I’ve had that experience. I’d rather play the American circuit, and get points and move my ranking up than go to Wimbledon where I’ll have just played, you know, a month before. So I said, hey, that’s fine!” ...“The irony of it is there will be three or four people, I’m telling you right now, in the top 15 that will enter. I can’t tell you who they are, but it will be the same reason. “It’s the surface and the dates that really attract the players,” Dell continued. “And I think some grass court players will play the Olympics, and some who really don’t play well on grass — because you don’t realize the amount of money involved for the rankings. Take an average player, let’s say who’s ranked 50. In his contract, if he has a good agent, in his contract is going to say, ‘If you get to the top 15 you’re going to make, you know, $100,000.”   Waiting for an offer from bundesliga - Amir Weintraub, Israel tennis results What is the deal here? These leagues are played in parallel to the ATP World Tour, but they have one big advantage: the money is very good and it's guaranteed, whether you win or lose. The paralyzing pressure of losing ranking points does not exist. Your payment is determined according to your ranking. A top-100 player will receive approx. 6,000 Euros for a match in the French league, a player of my ranking will be paid approx. 2,500 Euros per match (A sum I canusually earn only by completing a 5-match tournament) and a top-30 player will earn 12,000 Euros for a single match. Show me a non-slam ATP tournament that pays this well. ...I've played one league tournament, two years ago. All the players had very few ranking points or none at all. I made it to the Semi-Final, where I lost to an excellent player who, as it turned out, had no ranking points. When I asked this guy: "If you're so good, why aren't you playing on the pro tour?" he answered: "I signed with teams in France, Germany, Belgium and Italy, and I make approx. 80,000-100,000 Euros per annum as a result of this arrangement. All the costs are funded by the team that I'm playing for at that moment. Why should I play on the tour, so I could lose money?"   Jamie Murray interviews his brother... - Tennis Space In the second part of the conversation, Jamie interviews Andy. ...JM:What’s the one thing you would save if your house was on fire? AM: The one thing I’d say? The Tennis Space: Save. AM: Oh, save. I was going to say, don’t think I could get away with that. I would save my dogs, probably. Is that wrong that I said that over my girlfriend? I’d take my dogs, I’d take them for sure.   Just something about the comfort of clay - Greg Garber, ESPN ESPN.com: So that Rennae Stubbs conversation really turned things around? Raymond: Yes. As hard as it was to hear -- for both of us -- I'm so thankful that she values not only our friendship, but valued me and was worried about me. To hear it from her to get my life together was really important. Things just started happening. My personal life was in a bad way, which was reflected in my career. I got very irresponsible, for lack of a better word. This sport is so physical now; you have to rely on fitness. I neglected that for a few years. So I lost a few years when I wasn't in shape. I'm 38 but I feel like I'm more like 35, 36. I'm probably in the best shape of my life. I feel like I'm a better tennis player than I was five, six years ago.   Comcast continues to rally in FCC dispute with Tennis Channel - LA Times blog But on Wednesday the FCC general counsel said that the full FCC would decide the matter and that Comcast was not required to move Tennis Channel at this time. May 2   ITF Olympic rules to be more demanding in 2016 - Matt Cronin, Tennis.com Ticker After the 2012 Games, a player must make himself or herself available to play Davis Cup or Fed Cup four times in an Olympic cycle. Currently, players only have to make themselves available for two ties in the two prior years to the Olympics. Maria Sharapova has already gone on record with her objections to the changes. "I’m disappointed," said Sharapova, who added that some other players feel the same. "I met with the [ITF] one on one in Miami. They didn't listen to us at all." However, the ITF sees it differently. "The Olympics has become a very important part of the tennis calendar with most players looking at an Olympic medal as an honor close to a Grand Slam title, including the mixed doubles," ITF spokesperson Barbara Travers told TENNIS.com. "But the Olympics is not a regular tournament; it takes more than ranking to participate. In order to compete in the Olympics, every athlete must be in good standing with their national governing body. The mechanism to demonstrate the willingness to represent your country in tennis is by making yourself available to play Davis Cup by BNP Paribas or Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, something we acknowledge that most players have embraced.["]   Got Those Old Madrid Blues - Steve Tignor Tennis.com Novak Djokovic summed up the consensus when he said that it was a risk to do this so close to the red-clay French Open, because no one—or, at least, “Not me, not Rafa, not Roger”—had ever played on a blue court before. Serena Williams said the idea was “ridiculous.” Nadal said that the red-clay season is the red-clay season, and that he wouldn’t play on anything that would hurt his chances in Paris. But even before it went blue, Rafa has had his issues with this tournament. He talked about skipping it three years ago because Madrid is at a higher altitude than Paris. Those concerns did eventually get the ATP to flip the event with Rome, so that it wasn’t the final Roland Garros tune-up. Sam Stosur came out against it, and said she doesn’t want her clothes turning blue. Lisa Raymond loves it so far because it tricks her into thinking it’s a hard court. Federer, with no other choice but to take his chances, recently said that everything about the blue clay better be perfect, or it’s going to be a disaster. Milos Raonic says the "Smurf court" is slipperier than red, and that the ball bounces lower. Sorana Cirstea of Romania says she loves it and that’s it’s a big advance for the sport. Maria Sharapova kept her reaction safely neutral—“It’s unique,” she said after a hit. Andy Murray says it’s worth a shot because sometimes it is hard to see the ball on TV from Madrid. All of which inspired American sportswriter Greg Couch to respond via Twitter this afternoon: “Lot going on in the world today. Tennis players whining about blue clay. Just shut up. You’re embarrassing yourself, the game.” That’s one way of looking at it.   Nadal Is No Fan of the New Blue Clay Courts in Madrid - Christopher Clarey, New York Times blue clay strikes him (and a few others) as an innovation too far: an unnecessary risk and misguided exception to the rule that should be beneath a tournament of Madrid’s stature and could disrupt the views and rhythms of players accustomed to sliding on the red stuff. “Only the owner of the tournament win,” Nadal said. That would be the formidable Ion Tiriac, the mustachioed, dandily dressed Romanian who was once Ilie Nastase’s doubles partner but is now a successful solo act: a billionaire with a portfolio in which tennis plays an increasingly minor role. Still, the sport that launched him into orbit remains dear to Tiriac, and he insists that Madrid’s new “pista azul” is no publicity stunt but rather a genuine attempt to improve tennis (this, it should be noted, is from the same guardian of the game who approved the hiring of models as ball girls in Madrid). “Listen, I respect Nadal from A to Z, and I respect his behavior and his tennis and everything,” Tiriac said in a recent interview. “But I believe when he’s going to see it, he’s going to believe it, and I think he’s man enough to recognize that.” Nadal, who has been against this change since it was first discussed in earnest in 2009, has yet to practice on the blue clay despite all the advance notice. But Tiriac maintains that the new color is all about visibility and not his own. “For the players on the court, it’s about a 22 percent improvement,” he said of the blue surface’s contrast with the yellow ball. “For the television viewer it’s even more: about 27 percent.   Best-paid athletes from 200 countries - ESPN The Magazine (figure beside earnings is GDP) Australia (female) Samantha Stosur tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $3,476,153 $57,119 Belarus (female) Victoria Azarenka tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $3,771,032 $5,702 Belgium (female) Kim Clijsters tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $2,325,741 $43,815 China Li Na tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $3,709,139 $4,354 Cyprus Marcos Baghdatis tennis ATP Tour, 2011 earnings $603,356 $28,364 Czech Republic (female) Petra Kvitova tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $5,145,943 $18,839 Denmark (female) Caroline Wozniacki tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $4,065,581 $55,830 France (female) Marion Bartoli tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $1,757,863 $39,546 Germany (female) Andrea Petkovic tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $1,652,271 $39,857 India (female) Sania Mirza tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $548,834 $1,406 Israel (female) Shahar Peer tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $475,249 $29,312 Italy (female) Francesca Schiavone tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $1,782,351 $33,877 Kazakhstan (female) Yaroslava Shvedova tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $512,475 $9,167 Pakistan Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi tennis ATP Tour, 2011 earnings $434,430 $1,003 Poland (female) Agnieszka Radwanska tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $2,456,568 $12,263 Russia (female) Maria Sharapova tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $2,899,148 $10,351 Serbia (male) Novak Djokovic tennis ATP Tour, 2011 earnings $12,619,803 $5,123 Serbia (female) Jelena Jankovic tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $1,078,418 $5,123 Slovakia (female) Daniela Hantuchova tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $809,682 $15,976 Slovenia (female) Katarina Srebotnik tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $842,365 $23,110 Switzerland Roger Federer tennis ATP Tour, 2011 earnings $6,369,576 $68,880 Ukraine (female)Elena Vesnina tennis WTA Tour, 2011 earnings $718,980 $3,035   The WTA gospel according to Chela - Stephanie Myles, Montreal Gazette blog And so the rather clever Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina decided to break up the tedium with a series of Tweets that are sort of his version of a Letterman Top-10 list. ...Please forgive any non-scrupulously exact translations... ...ways to know you're a WTA Tour player 10. It is crucial to produce 100 millimetres of tears a day, on average. 9. The sound when you hit the ball exceeds 1500 decibels. 8. At some point in your career, you’ll have an acne attack. 7. Before serving, you turn your back to the court and fix your strings for 20 seconds. 6. You never practice with other WTA players. 5. When your coach comes on court to talk to you, you look elsewhere. 4. You must hang a stuffed animal on your racquet bag. 3. From the quarterfinals on, you come on court with makeup. 2. You hate all of your colleagues. 1. At the end of the match, you wave like Miss Universe ...And [Paulo Suarez] made an addition to No. 1: “…even though you’re on Court 27 and there isn’t a soul around.”   Melzer heads field as main draw serves up action at SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic - Treasure Coast Palm Gerald Melzer, whose older brother, Jurgen, was No. 8 in the ATP World Tour rankings at this time last year, will play the first match on the Stadium Court when the SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic begins Tuesday at The Boulevard Village and Tennis Club. May 1   Oudin looking to get back on track at Kiwi - Florida Today That was 2009, when the 17-year-old Marietta, Ga. native swept through the annual women’s tournament at the Kiwi Tennis Club, a victory that catapulted her to victories in Raleigh and then into the improbable round of 16 at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, where she defeated Maria Sharapova   Serena Williams says diet change to support Venus not hard; talks about health, side projects - AP ... promote Sleep Sheets, which bills itself as a natural sleep aid. Serena said she’s had trouble sleeping for years because she’s “constantly on a natural high, high on life and happy, happy, happy and working.” She said her sleep difficulty was so bad one year it affected her at the Australian Open. “Several years ago before like the finals, I couldn’t sleep, and I had to take something to relax and make me go to sleep,” she said. “It was obviously a pharmaceutical thing, but I physically couldn’t sleep, and the only thing with that is that it slows you down the next day.” She still won the trophy. “I did, but I was a little sluggish,” she said, laughing. “It’s nothing that I ever want to do again. I can’t put the finals of the Australian Open on the line because I can’t sleep.”   BBC portfolio cut as ITV takes French Open - Paul Newman, The Independent Just a month after the Royal & Ancient Golf Club warned the BBC that its dwindling interest in golf could threaten its hold on future television coverage of The Open, ITV will rip another plank from the corporation's platform as a holder of major sports rights with more than 150 hours of coverage of the French Open tennis tournament. Although the BBC's commitment to the year's second Grand Slam event sometimes appeared half-hearted, with much of the coverage available only via the red button, the loss is significant in that it demonstrates ITV's determination to challenge for a broad range of sports rights.   Prince Files for Bankruptcy - Bloomberg Declining demand “combined with increased competition over the past five years” and a drop in “consumer discretionary spending” led to the bankruptcy, said Gordon Boggis, chief executive officer, in court papers. The company plans to cancel secured debt in exchange for new equity as part of its reorganization plan. ...Prince today said its subsidiaries outside the U.S., including those based in Europe, Taiwan and China, are not subject to the proceedings and “are expected to operate in ordinary course.”   Rafa Nadal's Second Mountain - Grantland   Rafa Nadal's Second Mountain - Grantland   Nadal's clay mastery sparks morale boost; Madrid's blue nightmare - Bruce Jenkins, SI To the consternation of most everyone involved, Ion Tiriac is serving up just such a catastrophe at the Madrid Open, which opens on Sunday. He has taken one of the most enthralling sights in tennis -- red clay courts in the heart of Europe -- and drowned it in a sickening onslaught of blue. Esteemed tennis journalist Tom Tebbutt has called it "a shameless publicity gimmick" by Tiriac, the onetime tour renegade who runs the Madrid event, and that's putting it mildly. It's one thing to shift the hardcourts of the Australian and U.S. Opens from green to blue, for the benefit of television; as ghastly as it sounded at first, we've all come to accept it. Tiriac's brainstorm amounts to replacing the Wimbledon grass with Astroturf, or staging the World Cup soccer on a carpet. Madrid will be played on clay, but who even thinks of changing its natural, earthy color, let alone insult the sport and its top players? Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have all come out against the decision, Federer saying, "I find it sad that you have to play on a surface the players don't accept. And it's sad that Rafa, at a tournament in his own country, has had to fight against a surface he does not want to play on." Maybe television viewers will be able to see the ball a bit better, but every shred of tradition and aesthetic pleasure will be lost, and if I weren't responsible for watching Madrid, journalistically, I wouldn't watch it at all. "The history of clay court was on red," Nadal said. "It wasn't on blue. Only one person wins -- the owner of the tournament."   Deconstructing Barcelona - Tom Tebbutt, Tennis.Canada Nadal looked pretty amazing at times in Barcelona, but David Ferrer was the guy who really impressed me. He played great in a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) win over Milos Raonic in the semi-finals. He may have played even better in the final. It remains a head-scratcher that he somehow managed not to win either the first set or the second set in a 7-6(1), 7-5 loss to Nadal after having five set points in the first and serving for the set in the second. ...Sharapova deserves praise for winning the title 6-1, 6-4 over world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the final, even if the Belarussian was bothered by a wrist injury. In the previous rounds, she beat No. 3 seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-6(3) and No. 5 Sam Stosur 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5. The most encouraging sign for Sharapova is that her serve is probably the best it has been since shoulder surgery in the fall of 2008. The player I enjoyed the most was Mona Barthel, a 21-year-old German who is 6-foot-1 and has a lovely free-swinging game. She is loose and wiry and just explodes forehand and backhand winners from all over the place – and she serves big. She defeated Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 7-6(4) and No. 7 seed Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 before losing to top-seed Azarenka in a 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5 thriller. Her compatriot, Angelique Kerber, 24 and a US Open semi-finalist last year, is also a big hitter and fun to watch. She outhit Wozniacki by the startling score of 6-1, 6-2 in Stuttgart. With Serena and Venus Williams returning for next week’s event in Madrid along with all the other top stars except for the injured (hip) Clijsters, women’s tennis has not looked this intriguing in quite a while.   The lost way in San Jose - Matthew Cronin, tennisreporters.net Many fans around the globe do not have a tournament they can drive to and those who do are very lucky. I can’t tell you how many people have told me over the years at Stanford or San Jose how much they looked forward to the tournament and wished that they could go to a Grand Slam annually, but couldn’t afford it or make it happen. San Jose was their US Open.   Tennis ball maker sues rival over No. 1 claim - AP Penn Racquet Sports Inc. and parent, Head USA Inc., filed a claim of false advertising Monday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. The lawsuit claims that Dunlop International Ltd. and Dunlop Sports Group Americas Inc. have been misleading the public by labeling Dunlop balls as the "World's No. 1 Ball" and boasting that it has a 70% share of the global tennis ball market. Penn argues Dunlop doesn't have the largest worldwide share and shouldn't be allowed to use the No. 1 claim.   James Blake full of surprises - Team USA U.S. Olympic Committee website James Blake was full of surprises on Wednesday when he arrived in midtown Manhattan to help the New York Road Runners celebrate opening day of the 2012 New York City Marathon season. First was the idea that Blake would train for a November 4 marathon while he was still playing professional tennis – especially during an Olympic year when he might have a chance to improve upon his fourth-place finish from the 2008 Beijing Games. Second was when he said “hello” and introduced his pregnant fiancée, Emily. ...I didn’t play the Australian Open; I was barely walking at that point. After surgery, I had two weeks of no weight-bearing. Then I was on crutches. My physical therapist came to live with me in Tampa around January 4 or 5. At that point, I was just on a bike. It was about eight weeks till I could jog a little bit. I didn’t start playing till February maybe. I’m functional on the court but my results haven’t been great.   ... [Getting married] November 9 in San Diego ...We met when I did an exhibition with Pete Sampras and she worked for the PR company that was helping him.   That's some kind of rally: Brian Baker on comeback trail - Douglas Robson, USA Today The American turned 27 Monday after serving up one of the more inspiring comeback stories in recent memory. The Nashville native won a Challenger title Sunday at Savannah, Ga. — his first since 2004 — and in the process earned himself a wild card into Roland Garros, the site where his promise once bloomed before his body broke down. Starting in 2005, he had three hip surgeries, a sports-related hernia operation and then Tommy John elbow surgery. He was effectively out of tennis for six years, and enrolled at nearby Belmont University, where he also worked as the assistant tennis coach. But he never gave up the dream, slowly worked on his game and started to play — and win — matches at lower-tier events. "I knew what I was getting myself into," Baker said of his comeback and the risks it poses to his fragile body. "Not every day is super fun, but it beats anything else that I'd want to do. Tennis has been the main constant in my life. I enjoy competition and I've been blessed with good talent. What I've wanted to do ever since I was a little kid is be a pro tennis player."   Brian Baker down but never out - Greg Garber, ESPN That list of injuries is horrific. Any one of them could have been career-threatening. Which one was the worst to deal with? Baker: They were all pretty serious. The sports hernia surgery probably was the easiest to come back from, in 2006. The hip surgeries were tough. I mean, Gustavo Kuerten and Magnus Norman never really played the same after they suffered those. The Tommy John surgery [February 2008] is not common in tennis. You're usually looking at a year off and, in my case, it was even longer than that. They're taking a tendon from your forearm and trying to replace a ligament in the elbow. Once that started feeling better, it gave me the confidence to give it another go. If you're out as long as I was, you're never certain you'll come back. You just try and stay positive. I felt like I had some things to prove on the tennis court. I was realistic I couldn't ever play again. I just didn't want to let the dream go too easy. ESPN.com: What did you do for those six years out of tennis? Baker: I would have gone back to school sooner, but when they're telling you it'll only be four, five months, you keep working out, thinking you can come back. Once I had the elbow surgery, I went to Belmont University with normal student hours. I also helped coach the tennis team. I was majoring in business with a finance concentration, and I still have one year to go.   Whatever happened to top American junior Brian Baker - Charles Bricker, World Tennis Magazine Beating Denes Lukacs of Hungary (No. 404) in the final round of qualifying Monday afternoon by 6-1, 6-0 won’t make his career highlight reel, but it does send him into the main draw against fellow American Ryan Sweeting (No. 130) with a chance to start rolling up the ranking points Baker needs to get into the French Open quallies in late May. A number of players who have had single hip surgeries never returned to their former proimnence (Magnus Norman, Gustavo Kuerten, Harel Levy). Baker has had three hip surgeries, all done by Dr. Richard Byrd of Nashville, who took care of Norman, Guga and Levy as well. Why should Baker re-achieve where those players didn’t? Maybe, he believes, he has an advantage because his surgeries came at age 20, when his body was still relatively untouched by the wear and tear of tennis. And yet how and why did this happen to someone so young? Two surgeries on the left hip, one on the right — all labrums. “Part of it is genetic,” said Baker. “It’s just the way my hips were formed with not as much mobility for what’s needed in a physical game like tennis. Maybe I could have done more for my hips knowing the genetics. But, honestly, I don’t look back. I don’t like to play that game.”   Oudin wins 11th Annual Tinsley tournament - Charlottesville Daily Progress When trailing five games to love in a set, players sometimes check out — mentally, physically or both — in an effort to conserve energy for the next set. On Sunday afternoon at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, Melanie Oudin found herself in that predicament. However, instead of mailing the set in, Oudin gave it everything she had. While she wound up losing the set, the momentum she gained from pulling closer propelled her to a dominating third-set performance and a 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-1 victory over former Georgia Tech star Irina Falconi in the finals of the Boyd Tinsley Classic. The tournament victory was Oudin’s first in over two years — and gave the Georgia native hope that she can return to the form that saw her make a quarterfinals run to the U.S. Open when she was just 17. “This was definitely an unbelievable week for me from start to finish,” Oudin said. “I thought I played well the whole time[."] ...Leo Azevedo, a coach who worked with Oudin this week, believes the 20-year-old is on the right track. “This win was really good for her and will be very good motivation for her,” Azevedo said.   Miami links - any onsite outlets missing? Please email... ESPN | Foxsports | Tennis.com | Tennis Australia | TennisGrandstand.. | Tournament website New York Times | Miami Herald | South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Palm Beach Post | The Times (subscription only) | The Telegraph | Daily Mail   Indian Wells links - Any missing? Please email... Foxsports | SI | Tennis.com | tennisreporters.net | Tennis Canada | Tennis Space Los Angeles Times | USA Today | Desert Sun The Telegraph | The Guardian | The Independent   Bernard Tomic splits with model girlfriend Donay Meijer - Melbourne Herald Sun “It has all been a bit crazy but all I have to say in regards to it is we have gone our separate ways and I wish him all the best,” she told the Herald Sun. "I hope people will respect my privacy." When asked about how she is coping, Meijer replied: “I’m a bigger person, I’m just going to leave it there.” ...Tomic spoke exclusively to the Gold Coast Bulletin to confirm he and Meijer split. ..."We are no longer together. She has her plans and career in modelling to worry about and I have to focus on my tennis."   Tennis, Without All the Tension - Wall Street Journal At tournaments, stringers say an increasing number of daredevil tour players, most of whom have compact, powerful groundstrokes, have started to ask them to shave as many as 20 pounds off their string tensions to take their rackets down to the low 30-pound and high 40-pound range. Those sorts of numbers were oddities a few years back when lively natural gut strings stretched into the high 60s (or occasionally even reached the 70s) reigned supreme on tour. ...In 2004, Federer was stringing his rackets at 55 pounds, which was considered ultra-loose for that time. While stringers say he already has the lowest tension of any of the men in the top 10, stringers say he's gone down even more. Ferguson of Priority One said Federer uses vertical main strings, made of gut, strung at 49 pounds and a synthetic brand called Luxilon Alu Rough in the cross strings at only 46.2 pounds. ...Today, Prokes says he recommends that players go down in tension by at least 10% when switching to a polyester string, a move that, he says, puts less stress on the arm. Andy Roddick has lowered his tension gradually from 63 and 64 pounds a few years back to 55 and 56 pounds at the U.S. Open, according to Prokes, his stringer.   When All Else Fails, There's Still Federer - Wall Street Journal   MSG exhibition - Roddick imitates Nadal - Clip   MSG exhibition - Clip   Anderson beats Matosevic to win Delray Beach title - Sandra Harwitt, Miami Herald His first victory was at the Johannesburg tournament in February 2011 — the tournament is no longer on the ATP World Tour schedule. So winning Delray Beach took care of the disappointment of not being able to defend his Johannesburg title. “It’s fantastic,” said Anderson, who ran courtside to kiss his wife after the victory. “It’s the first one in the United States. Apart from South Africa, this is my new home. Obviously, any tournament is a great experience to win, but winning one here in the U.S. makes it extra special.” The 36th-ranked Anderson — he’ll move up to around No. 30 — could be considered the tournament spoiler this year. He ousted fourth seed Andy Roddick 2-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 in the quarterfinals and top seed John Isner 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) in the semifinals. “Each match was pretty tricky,” Anderson said. “Obviously, Andy and John, two guys with big serves in night matches. And [Sunday’s] match, I felt quite a bit of expectation on my shoulders, obviously the higher-ranked player by quite a bit.’’ ...Matosevic, who won seven matches this week, seemed sluggish at times in the final. “It was a little bit mental,” said Matosevic, who earned a $39,000 finalist check. “I didn’t sleep well, and I had to deal with so many messages from people. I’m not used to so much attention from a lot of people, and maybe it was all too much for me in the end.”   Su Wei 'bags' first big win - New Straits Times Su Wei was leading 2-6, 7-5, 4-1 before Petra signalled to the chair in the sixth game that she wanted to discontinue. The 26-year-old is the first qualifier and Asian player to win the event's singles title. The iron-willed Petra first withstood a three-hour battle against World No 14 Jelena Jankovic in her 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) win in the semi-finals which was postponed from Saturday due to rain, before facing Su Wei a few hours later. "I feel so happy and I hope to continue winning after this. In my first visit here at 14, I won a title and in my last visit, I helped Taiwan do well in the Fed Cup Qualifiers (2009) and today (yesterday) I finally lifted my first tour title," said a delighted Su Wei yesterday.   Su-wei wins Malaysian Open after Martic retires - Malaysia Star The strain of having to play two tough matches took its toll on Martic, as she had barely three hours of rest before returning to court for the title decider. The lanky Martic knew it was game over after she signalled for her trainer to come and massage her legs as she fought back tears. It was indeed an anticlimactic for the crowd but Su-wei, who pocketed the winner’s cheque of US$37,000, was not complaining. Su-wei had to battle her way through the qualifiers but luck was on her side throughout the tournament. Top seed Agnieszka Radswanka of Poland withdrew due to injury to hand Su-wei a place in the last four and she went one step further by beating Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday to reach her first WTA final.   Roddick Still Trying to Escape Rut - Tom Perrotta, Wall Street Journal When these two stars meet in the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden on Monday evening, Roddick will be hoping for just two things: No injuries and a good workout so he can slowly build momentum for a final hurrah—and if he's lucky, an extended one. "For me it's a matter of health," he said in a telephone interview from Delray Beach last week, where he eventually lost in the quarterfinals. "I know I can play." ...For Roddick, there's another benefit to this event: He has never played in Madison Square Garden, now known as the House of Jeremy Lin."I wanted to say I played in the Garden one time," he said. "Roger and I get along great and I think there's a lot of mutual respect there." Federer agreed. "I don't feel I have that winning record against [Roddick] for some reason, just because he competes so well," he said in a conference call late last month.   Final spots in BNP ParibasOpen earned by qualifiers - Desert Sun Madison Keys needed to find her calm to get past fellow Boca Raton, Fla., native Jessica Pegula in the BNP Paribas Open pre-qualifying finals Saturday. The 17-year-old Keys held off Pegula 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 to earn a wild card into the qualifying tournament, which begins Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “We kind of grew up in the same age group, but we never played each other,” Keys said. Then she laughed, “We flew to California to play each other.”   Larry Ellison building a better BNP Paribas Open - Desert Sun Ellison has provided financial security to the tournament. His goal is not to turn a bigger profit, it's to increase the stature of the tournament, already considered the top event outside of the four majors. And with Ellison at the helm, the BNP Paribas Open that begins Monday in Indian Wells has been closing the gap with the Grand Slam events. “It puts Indian Wells in a position to be leaders in the world of tennis, so that's great,” said Franklin Johnson, the former vice president and board member of the International Tennis Federation, the governing board of tennis's four majors. Each year during Ellison's ownership, the BNP Paribas Open introduced new elements to the tournament that have made it the talk of the tennis world. In 2010, the tournament put together the “Hit for Haiti” event that featured the game's biggest names past and present — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf. Last year, the tournament implemented the Hawkeye replay system on all courts. No major tennis event had Hawkeye on more than four courts last year, and still no other tournament has it on all courts. “The slams try to stay in the forefront of what's happening, so this will put pressure on them,” said Johnson, who was president of the USTA. This year, the tournament has increased prize money to $11 million, and offers the men's and women's singles winner each $1 million — more than any of the other elite tournaments on the ATP or WTA, but still behind the four majors.   Chang's rise helped pave way for Lin - ESPN   Qualifier reaches Delray Beach final; top-seed Isner falls in semis - PalmBeachPost Matosevic took 4-1 leads in all three sets before things turned strange. How else to explain a semifinal in which the winner served 12 double faults, had to save 13 of 17 break points, required five match points and won one fewer point (122-121) than the loser? "All three times I've played him, some weird stuff like that has happened," Matosevic said, citing a 5-2 third-set lead against Sela that did him no good.   Matosevic takes unorthodox path to victory at Delray Beach ITC - South Florida Sun-Sentinel the tournament that lost its biggest drawing card when Andy Roddick exited in the quarterfinals, will get Cinderella and the Giant on Sunday at 3 p.m. Kevin Anderson, the 6-foot-8 South African who knocked off Roddick, bounced top-seeded American John Isner 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal late Saturday. Anderson handled the blazing serve of the 6-9 Isner, the second-ranked American who has been playing well late, including a victory over Roger Federer last month in Davis Cup play. "One of my options was to stand back a little bit, but I thought his serve was jumping up too much. So in order to change it a little bit and try to take it early and just get solid hits, I know I was better off just taking a bit of risk. I thought I wa[]s able to do that very well," Anderson said.   Exuberant qualifier Matosevic fights his way into Delray final - Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald t was a seesaw match with the momentum constantly switching between the 173rd-ranked Matosevic and 75th-ranked Sela. Matosevic faced 17 break points, of which he saved 13, double-faulted 12 times and needed five match points before finally getting the job done. First, he fell to the ground in disbelief. Then he crouched and started screaming in delight. After that he got up and started waving his arms and blowing kisses to the sparse crowd that stayed through the two-hour, 54-minute battle of attrition. A little overdramatic? Not if you’ve just reached your first ever ATP World Tour final and prior to this week had only won three of 18 tour-level matches in your career. To the 26-year-old late-bloomer, it seemed as if he’d just climbed Mount Everest. “Yeah, that’s what it felt like [that I won the tournament],” said Matosevic of his postmatch reaction.   Su Wei's dream run continues - New Straits Times The World No 123 had an advantage in the match, as she had not played since Thursday. Su Wei's quarter-final opponent, Agnieszka Radwanska's withdrew due to an elbow injury on Friday. As for Eleni, she had only a few hours rest after her quarter-final match, brought forward from Friday, before she was back on court to face Su Wei. Eleni defeated Australia's Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. "I came here when I was 14 years old and won an age-group event and today (yesterday), in my first event since then, I am in the final once again.["]   Langkawi to hold court - New Straits Times tournament is currently a Tier III event that offers a total prize money of US$220,000 (RM660,000). A tier III event must offer a minimum prize money of US$600,000 (RM900,000). ...If the plan goes through, then the Malaysian Open will be the biggest WTA tournament in Southeast Asia.   Andy Murray still has some work to do after Roger Federer's desert win - Kevin Mitchell, The Guardian He is getting closer and he heads for Indian Wells and Miami with a sound, improving game and an on-court demeanour that is noticeably calmer since he took on Ivan Lendl as his coach in January. He beat Djokovic on Friday with as good a service game as he has produced in a long time but it let him down against Federer, even though the winner's 50% first-serve rate was only two points better.   Dubai enjoys a reminder of Roger Federer's brilliance - Chuck Culpepper, Abu Dhabi National   Bhupathi, Bopanna win first crown - Gulf News The experience of Mahesh Bhupathi helped hand new teammate Rohan Bopanna a perfect birthday gift as the Indian duo powered their way to a 6-4, 3-6 1-0 (5) upset win over third seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open doubles final here yesterday. Bopanna, who celebrates his 32nd birthday today, was thrilled at making an entry into the big league with their first ATP World Tour title. "I have never won an ATP 500 doubles, so this is going to be a special one for me," Bopanna said   No crisis for Djokovic despite loss - Gulf News But the Serb still has high hopes for the remainder of the season. "I'm feeling good on the court, aside of this match. I played well in some parts, but he [Murray] was just the better player," Djokovic said. "But generally I feel good, physically and mentally. It's just the start of the season and with some [ATP] 1000 events coming up which are really important [Indian Wells and Miami], I need to get ready." ...Despite the rigours of the ATP Tour, as well as almost constant demands on his time from sponsors and fans, Djokovic refuses to believe that he may have strayed a bit with off-court activities. "I thought I've been doing well since Wimbledon last year. I have been having a lot off-court activities since I became No 1, but I have a team of people that controls it well," he said.   Melbourne... tennis isn't always love all - Sydney Morning Herald I flew down to Melbourne and toured the MCG, marvelling at the intricate membership system of its resident Cricket Club, with a waiting list of 217,000 people. Then I bought some sunscreen and flocked to the Australian Open, because magazine The New Yorker just declared men's tennis "the most entertaining sport around" and that sounded like an easy introduction. Has anyone noticed how much the court at the Rod Laver Arena looks like a giant swimming pool? Like being dropped into the middle of a foreign country, having no understanding of a sport before engaging with it can induce delirious culture shock. Why does the announcer insist on declaring love? Why do the linesmen perform a choreographed march before a game? Is it normal for players to make out with the camera, as Goran Ivanisevic did, or strut down the court like a catwalk model while a ball boy takes their place in a doubles game? At lunchtime I was left with a list of questions. " Just wait for Federer," I was instructed by a companion. By the time Federer appeared in the late afternoon, I had sat through a win by Vika Azarenka, who entertained everybody by screaming in a "woman in white sheet pretending to be a ghost" sort of way. But Federer, dressed in Swiss red, silenced the arena the moment he stepped on to the squishy blue court with Juan Martin del Potro. On television, tennis is an alternation of close-ups and swooping shots from the Spidercam. This creates a sense of intimacy but it drains away the atmosphere surrounding a game. Experienced in person, the crowd is a tensed muscle, as singularly focused as the players themselves. My head involuntarily swung from left to right, right to left, as the ball arched over the net in a thrilling standoff between two men who turned physical fitness into an art. Just for a moment, forgetting my ignorance of rules and a lifelong dismissal of competitive sports, I think I really got it.   Top-seeded Isner coasts to semifinals of ITC - South Florida Sun-Sentinel The top-seeded twin doubles tandem of Bob and Mike Bryan bowed out in the second round late Thursday to the same team of Ivo Karlovic and Frank Moser that stunned them in the first round at the U.S. Open last September... they didn't go down without a fight as apparently Mike Bryan volleyed some insults at Moser during the post-match handshake. Tempers flared and the argument carried over into the player's lounge where the two had to be calmed down by ATP Supervisor Mark Darby with local Delray Beach policemen nearby. "There was a discussion back and forth at the net and it continued in here,'' Darby said. "They didn't have to be physically separated. Two [Tour] officials talked to both guys and that was it.''   Petra gets big boost - New Straits Times In one of the tournament's most exciting matches, the Croatian slogged for nearly 150 minutes to upset China's World No 19 and third seed Peng Shuai 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 for her maiden victory over a top-20 ranked player this season.   Right elbow injury forces Radwanska to pull out - Malaysia Star Radwanska came out to address the crowd at the Langkawi centre court yesterday, saying she was disappointed at not being able to continue. “I had a great time and I am happy I decided to play here. I hope to come back again,” she said.   Federer bats for human judgement over gadget - Gulf News Former world number one Roger Federer has spoken out in favour of human judgement over the use of Hawk-Eye technology in tennis. "What I like without Hawk-Eye is just the players challenging the umpires more often. The umpires had to be very aware. People today don't lose any energy over arguing with umpires any more, which back in the day we used to. I think also their mental strength came into play more often," Federer told the media following his Dubai Duty Free Men's Open quarter-final win over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny late on Thursday. ...The former world No 1, a four-time winner here, is aware of the huge following he has via social media websites, which show he has more than ten million fans following him this week. "Yes. More than Switzerland has people," he said laughing. "I don't know if the ten million are on live score or watching my match, but I definitely feel great support by my followers, how they're into it.   Azarenka discovers cost of being No 1 - Barry Flatman, The Times "For me, it is important to enjoy every day of what I do," she said in Dubai while relaxing with her tennis-playing boyfriend, Sergei Bubka Jr, and her mother, Alla... ...More recently she has become obsessed with photography. "It's something we are subjected to a lot and many people want to take shots of me, so I figured let's turn the tables." She is also one of the loudest grunters on tour and has a quick response for anybody who cares to quiz her on the subject. "I ask them if they snore when they are asleep, and then say can't they do anything to stop. It's a similar situation, it's something I've done since I started playing tennis and it's impossible to stop. I'm not trying to put my opponent off. I'm sorry people don't like it but I'm not that happy when I sit on a flight and the person next to me is snoring." ...The two have not spoken since, and Radwanska, who won the tournament in Dubai, beating Julia Goerges of Germany 7-5 6-4 last weekend, said: "I lost a lot of respect. I was angry because of what was going on there, I don't think this is a great image for women's tennis." Azarenka refuses to be drawn on the subject. "I still see her as a friend, but what could I do? I wouldn't have pulled out this week if I wasn't hurting. I don't believe in making comments about opponents. There are so many people on this planet that there are bound to be conflicting opinions and there's nothing more that can be said."   Andy Murray defeats Novak Djokovic to reach the final in Dubai - The Guardian Murray's was some win, albeit over the shorter distance, 6-2, 7-5. He achieved it largely through a souped-up serve – fast, varied and with great control – against probably the best defensive player in the world. Making full use of a super-fast surface, Murray banged in five aces and got a stunning 71% of first serves in, winning 85% of the points on them.   Andy Murray gains sweet revenge with straight-sets win over Novak Djokovic[] in Dubai - The Telegraph Dubai might only be a minor tournament in the grand scheme of things, ranking on the third tier of the ATP scale. But victories over Djokovic — at any level – have been rarer than purple tennis balls in recent times. If you discount the final three months of 2011, when he was carrying a shoulder injury, Djokovic’s most recent proper defeat was inflicted by Federer at last year’s French Open. Murray said afterwards that the result “will do the confidence no harm, that’s for sure”. He also suggested that it was the culmination of a series of close matches between these two rivals and contemporaries, who have been hammering away at each other since they were 11 years old. “The last couple of times we played each other, in Australia and in Rome, I might have lost the match but I fought for every single point and made it really, really tough for him,” Murray said. “I think that’s why he started going for more in the second set tonight, and making mistakes because of that. “I’m sure Novak knows that if he wants to beat me, he is going to have to fight 110 per cent and play long, long points. That’s why you need to go in against the top guys every time with that attitude.”   Novak Djokovic found wanting for once - Chuck Culpepper, Abu Dhabi National The trembling quail of a serve made it love-30 as Andy Murray served for the match at 5-3, and it foretold the complete withering of the 6-2, 5-2 lead he once held over the No 1 titan Novak Djokovic. Soon it went to 6-2, 5-5 and uh oh, and now did come a moment that might mean something through the 2012 season. For a great tennis era to become even better, it would help if Murray can become even better. So mark it down that last evening in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at Aviation Club, Murray stared at one of the most foreboding things the game can offer nowadays, and then he stared it down. The sight was Djokovic charging back from cornered, and the result was Murray winning eight of the last 10 points. "That's the most important thing," the No 4 player said. "When you do get nervous and blow a chance, you stay strong and win the match. I did that."   The awesome foursome a force to reckon with in tennis - Chuck Culpepper, Abu Dhabi National For yesterday's editions, I bungled a fact from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, hurriedly looking up the world ranking of Janko Tipsarevic, seeing the numeral 27 next to his name, jotting it down, typing it in. Twenty-seven would be his age. His ranking would be No 9. Now, aside from feeling bad for short-changing a cool guy who last night collaborated with the No 1 player on a second set of superb quality, I could always castigate myself for briefly forgetting that Tipsarevic reached No 9 last November, or I could blame the extraordinary state of the men's tour.   Pakistan not allowed to host Davis Cup yet again - The Express--Tribune Pakistan’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania group II second-round tie will be played in the Philippines after the Davis Cup Committee deemed the security situation unsatisfactory in the country. ...“We always win the first round but we never progress in the competition because our home ties are switched on a regular basis,” said Khan. “It’s unfair to us. Hockey teams are coming to Pakistan, squash tournaments are also featuring foreign players and I don’t understand why the ITF can’t see that.["]   Fish sponsor video - Clip   That flimsy PED truce was an illusion - ESPN Internationally, the Spanish have a similar dilemma. While both Nadal and the Spanish government want to sue the French, with whom they were already upset over Yannick Noah's inflammatory November commentary, Jose Ignacio Wert, the Spanish minister for education, culture and sport, acknowledged his country's sports programs have a credibility problem. The country launched its own Mitchell-style investigation, Operation Puerto, in 2006, which, Mitchell report-style, implicated more than 50 cyclists -- yet did not punish any of its athletes. In any other universe, even though he has never been linked to performance enhancers and has never failed a drug test, Nadal and tennis would be at the center of the doping question. The game has become more powerful, more physical and more grueling, most recently evidenced by the epic five-hour, 53-minute Australian Open final between Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Big servers such as Canada's Milos Raonic, America's John Isner, Croatia's Ivo Karlovic and Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro routinely top 135 mph. Nadal, never a big server, won the 2010 U.S. Open over Djokovic because, for two weeks, he did something he'd never done before: He became a big server, adding roughly 20 mph on average to his serve -- the equivalent of a low-90s pitcher hitting 98 on the gun. Nadal hit 130 mph on the radar gun during that championship fortnight, and attributed the increase to a grip change to continental. But he'd never reached that velocity before, and hasn't done it consistently since. Success also breeds suspicion, and the Spanish are the monsters on the ATP, boasting six of the top 30 players in the world and 12 of the top 100. Instead of whining about feeling persecuted, the Spanish should be doing anything and everything to show they're above reproach. Of course, maybe the French should be watching their backs, too, with five of the top 31 players and 10 of the top 100 players on the tour. >> "Nadal, never a big server, won the 2010 U.S. Open over Djokovic because, for two weeks, he did something he'd never done." Of all the potential things that could be thrown around, this example is weird, because it's hard to imagine how doping could produce such a dramatic, temporary effect on serving in particular. Increased muscle? It's not like he had skinny arms before. And there doesn't seem to be that much correlation between strength and serve speed at that level -- the fastest servers are mostly tall, relatively lean guys. Stimulant? Would that really add 10 or 20 mph on a serve, and why wouldn't he be able to replicate it? In short, it's hard to explain that temporary serve with or without doping.   USTA to move U.S. Open men's final - Greg Garber, ESPN The U.S. Open men's final has been pushed an extra day, to Monday, the past four years. Soon, according to the United States Tennis Association, it will become a permanent arrangement, possibly as early as this year. "We're in ongoing discussions regarding the schedule to ensure there's a day of rest for the men and women between the semifinals and finals," Chris Widmaier, the USTA's managing director of corporate communications, said Thursday. "It's not clear if it will happen for 2012, but we expect it will by at least 2013." The women's final would move to Sunday after the NFL on CBS, eliminating the Saturday night primetime session.   Bryan brothers living separate lives - Sandra Harwitt, ESPN When we were first introduced to Bob and Mike Bryan in 1998, they were identical twins living identical lives. ...They repeatedly talked about when they would get married and buy a bigger house, where their two families would live together. They believed one day that would happen, but as they eventually discovered, matters of the heart tend not to conform to the best laid plans. ...It's hard to erase a bond that started in the womb, however, so it was no surprise that Mike immediately flew to Miami the day after his niece was born. Bob is making sure to include his twin in the baby experience. The doting daddy already has snapped about 2,000 photos of Micaela -- he's counting -- and has sent every picture to Mike. Playing the proud uncle, Mike quickly held up his cell phone and rolled through all the Micaela photos.   Andy Roddick battles past Denis Istomin to advance to quarterfinals of Delray Beach International Tennis Championship - Palm Beach Post "There is progress being made," Roddick said of his current game, "but that being said, there's a lot progress still to be made."   Nostalgic Roddick gets revenge with second-round victory - Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald An electronic sign alerts motorists on I-95 that Andy Roddick is playing tennis off Exit 52 this week, just another reminder that despite his career-low No. 30 ranking, the former Boca Raton resident and Boca Prep High alumnus is still a big draw with the South Florida crowd. Roddick delighted the fans Thursday night with a 6-4, 7-5, second-round win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. ...He drove past the house his family rented in Delray Beach and reminisced about his days with Mardy Fish at Boca Prep, where they played tennis and basketball and filled in as pitchers at baseball practice when they were needed. He started a scholarship program at the school, and one of the recipients was future U.S. soccer star Jozy Altidore. “Obviously, I feel very comfortable here,” he said. “It’s nice driving the car and knowing where you’re going, little things like that.["] ...He said he still owns “the first house I bought in Boca with my own money.” This site is not responsible for the content of external websites and does not vouch for the accuracy of material excerpted above. This page is updated Monday-Friday except as noted. Comments, corrections and suggestions may be made via email.

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