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.

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.