40 Titles & Dubai Set Straight

Venus Williams won her 40th title earlier this week in Dubai. Venus defeated France's Virginie Razzano earlier this week taking the title in straight sets. Before she could win this title she battled it out with her sister Serena in the semi-finals winning in a third set tie breaker. Tennis wasn't the only thing on everyone's mind at the tournaments close.
Venus had her own two cents to share in her champion's speech. As she collected her trophy, she said that it was "a shame that one of our players couldn't be here", refrencing the missing Shaher Peer. Even though Peer couldn't recieve a visa, Israel's Andy Ram was able to get his in time for the ATP World Tour event following the women. Hopefully Dubai will think twice before disallowing tennis players in the future, as the men's event is currently underway in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

Politics Are Everywhere

Professional tennis is performed on a global scale. Even though America might be more welcoming all cultures and walks of life, not all countries are. Yesterday, February 20th, the Women's Tennis Association served the Dubai Tennis Championships organizers with a $300,000 fine. This fine was recieved after Israeli player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates. This would never happen in today's sporting events in America.
Andy Roddick commented on the citation stating, "I really didn't agree with what went on over there. I don't know if it's the best thing to mix politics and sports, and that was probably a big part of it." The WTA handled the situation well, providing compensation to Peer and taking steps so future Israeli players won't have similar problems. The Tennis Worldstage is unique from many other sports, for instance football and basketball which are contained within the states. In the month of February alone, the ATP has events scheduled in Chile, Croatia, South Africa, Brazil, The Netherlands, France, Argentina, U.A.E., Mexico, and America. This makes the sport even more challenging as American players face off in different climates and wider ranges of opponents everywhere they go, not to mention the culture which may induce conflict mirroring yesterdays events.

Tennis & Teamwork

Tennis is most often recognized as one of the few major sports where a single competitor can become victorious without the aid of a team. Doubles is the exception in the tennis world where you and a teammate must work together with synced movements to win titles. With over 50 Men’s doubles titles, Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan from America hold the number 1 ATP spot. And yes it’s not just a coincidence that they have the same last name, they are identical twins! The most recent major title captured by the brothers was the Australian Open. This event is the very first grand slam event to be played every year, which occurs in late January at Melbourne Park.
American tennis didn’t just stop with one doubles title on the world stage; women from the states also crushed their opponents to take the women’s Australian Open doubles title. These were none other than the Williams Sisters who have captured a career 13 doubles titles together. Besides competing for over $10.7 million in prize money, they get to play in what I think is the best looking tennis complex on the planet. The following is a link showing the beautiful Australian skyline and tennis center. Here. The main white facility is the 94 million dolllar Rod Laver Arena which has a retractable roof. This roof was used during the finals, but not because of rain, temperatures had climbed to 115 degrees 3 days in a row. Even though Australia is aesthetically pleasing and might have cute little kangaroos running a round, it is sweltering.

Tennis & America's Elite Players!

The sport of tennis has seen amazing growth over the past decade in the states, the USTA (United States Tennis Association) which allows competitive tennis play within its association has over 670,000 members within America. This doesn't even include the over 3 million Americans who go out to our nations parks, public tennis centers, and country clubs at least once a week to hit a ball. Or the tens of millions across the globe who spectate any of the four grand slams in tennis which include the French Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
Besides these major events, the professional tennis players follow a rigorous schedule competing for points in their respective associations. Women play in the WTA Tour (Women's Tennis Association) and men in the ATP Tour(Association of Tennis Professionals). However, in January of 2009 the ATP Tour was renamed the ATP World Tour. Both of these associations were formally brought about in the early 1970's, and are thriving on today's world stage. However, the excellence of professional American tennis players on this stage isn't as good as it has been in the past.
The main players showing domination on the ATP include Andy Roddick, ranked 6th followed by James Blake at 11 and Mardy Fish in 24th. The WPT includes the American William's sisters, Venus in the sixth spot and Serena holding down the world's top spot. This is great!, but sadly no other women are repping USA in the top 25. This "Tennis America" blog will cover the movement of these top American players as well as events surrounding the success and defeats of them in the tennis world. Enjoy!