Tennis Has Its Education Too

Excelling at tennis takes a lot more than hard work; you can be the most athletic person in the world and with all the coordination and still be trash. Tennis has shot patterns with different percentages used at different times and a corresponding footwork to be a professional. And since there is thousands of scenarios encountered on a court during a match, you must be able to adapt to opponents play styles making the correct move every second. Just last week, players graduated from the ATP University to make them an even better rounded player.

Besides the obvious player relations side of the ATP University, it helps players feel more a part of the organization and more responsible as an idol in the tennis world. Since the program started in 1990 the ATP has graduated over 700 tennis professionals on the tour. The following is a picture of the 2009 graduating ATP University class.

Roddick Reaches Quarters

The top american player at the moment, Andy Roddick, will play in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells tournament tommorow. He will be battling it out against the defending champion and world number 3 Novak Djokovic. After breaking a three match losing streak to David Ferrer in the previous round Roddick's chances are looking alot better. Roddick has also been recently crowned Sina's favorite male tennis player, Sina is the No.1 website for news in China. More on that here.

Indian Wells

The grand slams host the biggest viewing audiences for any tennis related event in the world. Outside these tournaments, the next best thing to a grand slam tournament like the U.S. Open is Indian Wells which commenced today. The picture on the right is of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden located in the Coachella Valley of southern California. The stadium can hold over 16,000 fans, and boasts its world class tennis facility. However, this second largest tennis stadium in the world isn’t the reason for the players to gather here every year. The prize pool alone totals $4.5 million and the tournament represents 1/16th of the points that can be accumulated in a year.
Despite the crucial points that can be earned towards rankings, two American’s are missing out on the tournament and will probably never travel to Indian Wells again. Serena and Venus Williams, currently ranked number 1 and number 5 in the world respectively, did not even enter. This is because in 2001 when Venus was supposed to battle Serena in the semi-finals she defaulted blaming it on tendinitis. At the time, the public did not believe such an excuse and racist remarks were yelled out in the finals towards the innocent Serena. This was even hard to believe but was blamed on the town of Indian Wells which is 96.33% white (2000 census) and has the highest proportion of millionaires of any city in America. Hard to believe such a thing would happen, but the sisters have not returned since.

Vania King Finds Foothold at Jill Craybas Loss

Photo of Monterrey, MEX

The Monterrey Open in Mexico started on monday. Jill Craybas and Vania King were the only two americans to enter the tournament. Jill Craybas exited the tournament in the first round to the third seed from Italy, Flavia Pennetta. Vania King won her first round match in straight sets against the czech Klara Zakopalova. Then continued, winning her second round match earlier today in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. She did this upsetting the Hungarian Agnes Szavay and will play the French Marion Bartoli tommorow in the quarterfinals. Hopefully, Vania King will do well in this tournament and continue to improve throughout the year.

King is currently ranked 108 for singles in the world and should progress breaking the top 100 after her success in this tournament. Her entire player profile and picture can be viewed here courtesy of the official Sony Ericson WTA Tour website.