Archive for the ‘Tennis News’ Category

 

Tennis stars come together for another good cause

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Sport is always a great way to bring awareness and knowledge to wide range of issues. Over the years it has been used to promote understanding about health, fitness, social injustice, and issues of race and ethnicity. It is also a great tool for helping people in moments of crisis. With the power of sport and its celebrity players, a lot of money and awareness can be raised to benefit so many people.

With tennis players now playing in Australia at the first Grand Slam event of the year, the devastating floods that have wreaked havoc across Australia are suddenly brought home to many tennis stars.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were amongst other tennis stars who played exhibition matches at Melbourne Park on Sunday 16th to try to do their bit in helping to relieve the devastating affects of the floods. With communities and lives washed away, tennis players did what they have done many times before, and came together for a good  cause.

The “Rally for Relief” event was held at the Rod Laver stadium in Melbourne, a place that will be the scene of so many more matches over the fortnight, but for one Sunday was used for the good of a crisis-stricken nation.  Of course for some players, the affects of the floods don’t need to be brought home. Australian players like Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur were at the heart of the Rally for Relief matches, and were eager to put their sporting talents to good use in helping their fellow Aussies in a tim more »

 

2011 Here we come…

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

It’s been a while, but here we stand, only six days away from the start of the Australian Open 2011. This will be the first Grand Slam event of the new calendar year, and, no, I can’t wait either. There’s something so exciting about the fresh start to a year, the clammy feeling, the nerves, the expectations. We truly have no idea who will rise and who will fall, what the year will shape up to be. We may look back with nostalgia to 2010, but here’s hoping 2011 will give us plenty to talk about.

It’s been a long break for many of the players too. Although the Christmas vacation for most professional players is more work-out than pig-out, this last week has been the first time many have started competing in tournaments this year. The early signs are never a very good indicator for the year to come, but it’s a start.

Andy Murray, for example, will be hoping for a good start to the year. After last year’s near-miss at the Australian Open, he proved that he can leave his mark on a tournament. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet proved that he can win one. He has slipped to number 5 in the rankings after missing a couple of ATP Tour matches, but he seems unperturbed by that. Murray will be playing the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne  this week, and he’ll face Marin Cilic at the event. The rain that has been wreaking havoc across Australia for weeks looks like it’s set its eyes on the event, but with fingers crossed Murray should get a chance to get a good start to the year. more »

 

ATP World Tour Finals 2010

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Like last year, I was lucky enough to grab some tickets for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London. The top eight players in the world pitted against each other in a round robin format, and on a chilly Sunday evening I schlecked my way down the country to be one of the 17500 to fill the stadium to the gills. Any day is a special day at the ATP World Tour Finals, but my specific tickets were for the very first Sunday evening session. That afternoon, Andy Murray had kick-started British confidence by beating tricky Robin Soderling in straight sets, so the O2 was humming with the idea of a Federer/Murray clash later on in the week.

But there was still the evening session to attend, and I had a pressing engagement to attend to; finding where either Roger Federer or David Ferrer would be playing, and get right up against the fence to take 100+ photos. Unfortunately, the players remained elusive. Instead of just the one practice court, the O2 had installed a ‘Fan Zone’, where two more practice courts were set up with a stand of seats for spectators. Neither Federer nor Ferrer made an appearance, I am sad to say, and I expended a lot of energy running from the original practice court to the brand new ones, camera clutched in my hands, praying my luck from last year would reach onto this year.

It wasn’t to be. Although that may be a good thing; if I went weak at the knees at seeing Novak Djokovic up close last year, then I would probably have to be stretchered out of the more »

 

A Trio of Tennis News

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Usually the period after a Grand Slam is a quiet, peaceful time, full of ruminations and celebrations and articles on who is truly ‘the best ever’. And whilst Nadal and Clijsters are still being praised and touted in front of the cameras (and no doubt heading back to the practice courts to improve impossibly more), the others have moved on with determination to the next big events, whether that be a Davis Cup tie, the ATP World Tour Finals or the Korean Open. Since the end of the last calendar Open there have been three bits of news that have stuck out as the most interesting and exciting these last few weeks. So here starts the trio exciting of news; who says the weeks after a Grand Slam can’t be just as jam packed.

1. Juan Martin del Potro

With the former US Open champion absent from the tournament, Juan Martin del Potro has had what one could certainly call a ‘bad year’. His hopes, and indeed ours, were raised when it looked as though he may be at least able to enter the US Open, even if we knew he would not be much of a competition after so many months away. However his cursed wrist refused to heal itself in time, and he was forced to withdraw.

Now, with a tentative breath, I can announce that the Argentine will be back in the tennis furore next week, at the Thailand Open. It’s been eight months of absence, and fans of Delpo will have everything crossed that he makes it through at least a few matches at the Thailand Open to (gently) whip that wrist back into shap more »

 

Here it comes….

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Yep, it’s that time of year folks. We move from the leafy greens of Wimbledon and the achingly hot clay of France and move to the hard courts of the good ol’ US of A. The draws have been released and for the first time we get an idea of what this year will have in store for us. Of course things are constantly changing throughout an Open, but for now here are a few truths we can assure ourselves of going into the final Grand Slam:
No Delpo
For those that were holding their breath and crossing all things that could be crossed that Juan Martin del Potro will be back in time for the US Open (as I was), then there’s some unfortunate news. Del Potro, as defending champion of the US Open, will not be able to compete and defend his title in this year’s tournament. His wrist injury has kept him out of tennis almost since the beginning of the year, and after two weeks of easing his way into the game he has decided that his wrist cannot stand up to the task of a tournament. It’s such a shame after seeing a player reach a career high of fifth in the world, for him to then suffer such a debilitating injury that has pervaded throughout the whole season. One can only hope he keeps his spirits up during the time off; he will need his mental strength when he comes back in the game so he can claw his way back up to the top.
Other Absente more »

 
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