The Injured waste no time while others break records

Maria Sharapova is still injured and has withdrawn from the next three of the bigger events in Italy and France, however she is everywhere, from magazines to billboards to tv channels. Just this past week she filmed a segment for ESPN's primetime news magazine, E:60. She will be appearing with Matt Stafford, the UGA quarterback who is up for top pick in this weekend's NFL Draft. She is to give him a makeover for the segment. Watch the preview.


Vera Zvonareva, who has been on a roll recently, is also out for the next 12 weeks or so due to an ankle injury. However, she too is making progress on the business side of things by signing with IMG marketing and representation.

The weeks all Russian final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix ended in a win for Svetlana Kuznetsova over the No.1 Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3. Kuznetsova overcame herself as she has lost the last six finals she has been in, and this is her first title since August of '07.

Another injury stricken woman, is 21 yr old Golovin, who has dropped from 12 to 1228 in the world due to back problems. First the Sports Illustrated shoot, now she has agreed to commentate the French Open this year for the French television broadcasting.

On the men's side, Hewitt hasn't had as much success as in the past, but he is steadily breaking records. Now in Germany at the BMW Open, he has reached his 500th career victory. Hewitt now has a 500-170 career record, which includes two major titles. The only two other active players with more than 500 wins are Roger Federer with 638 and Carlos Moya with 573. That is impressive!

David Nalbandian has fought as long as he could his biggest rival, his hip injury. After a year of pain and suffering he decided to succumb to surgery second week of May and miss the French Open. This won't be an easy comeback for the world's top 10.

Tournament and News Recaps

Sony Ericsson Open:
Men's Champion:
Andy Murray defeated Djockovic 6-2, 7-5 in the finals and Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 in the semis. En route to the finals, Djockovic defeated Federer in the semis 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and the top seed Nadal was upset by Del Potro in the quarters 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3).
Women's Champion:
19 year old Viktoria Azarenka defeated an injured Serena Williams 6-3, 6-1 for her third title. Serena beat Venus in the semi's 6-3 in the third. Jankovic lost 2cnd rd to Gisela Dulko after a bye and Safina lost 3rd to Stosur after one win. Azarenka beat Kuznetsova to get into the finals against Serena 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.


Safina became World #1 Arpil 20th. With Serena's injury and first rd lost at the Andalucian Experience, Safina was able to overtake her points. Here is what she had to say about it:
"It's a great honor to reach the number one ranking and it is a dream that every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares. It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the number one ranking (in 2000) and I am happy to share this achievement with him. There's no question that while I am very proud of my results over the past year, I would have liked to reach this achievement in a different manner. I hope to prove to everyone over the coming months that I merit the honor of being world number one."

Andalucia Tennis Experience WTA Tournament:
Jelena Jankovic was able to regroup after her last two tournament 1st rd losses and beat fifth seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 3-6 6-3 for her first title of the season.

MPS Group Championships:
A promising teenager, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-2 to win this event, making it her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour career title

Family Circle Cup:
Another promising teenager captured this prestigious title as an underdog. Germany’s Sabine Lisicki beat fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in the final as well as Bartoli and Venus Williams en route, to claim her first career WTA title and jump from the 60s to the 40s in the rankings.

Monte Carlo Masters Series:
Nadal beat Djockovic in the final 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 but didn't play his best according to his team.

Barcelona Ladies Open:
Unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci beat defending champion Maria Kirilenko 6-0 6-4 to win her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Married!
Both Roddick and Federer tied the knot this past week. Federer married his long time girlfriend and expectant mother Mirka Vavrinec in a small ceremony in Switzerland. Andy Roddick married his swimsuit model girlfriend Brooklyn Decker in Texas.
http://tennis-atp.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-andy-roddick-brooklyn-decker-on.html
http://tennis-atp.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-roger-federer-and-mirka-wedding.html

Burn out victims inspired:
Kim Clijsters is back in training after she refound the "desire" as well as Gaston Gaudio, a former French Open Champion. Gaston Gaudio, who is ranked 966th after nearly retiring for 2 years, won his first ATP match in two years at the Barcelona Open. Gaudio said earlier this year that he had rediscovered his enthusiasm for the game.

Marketing and Advertising:
Aside from Jankovic signing with a Chinese company for 5.1 millions dollars, Sharapova sketching dresses for the French Open she may or may not play and promoting Unilever's dandruff shampoo called Clear and Cole Haan sports attire...here is a video worth watching
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/multimedia/default_video.asp?videoid=1151 and this one too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9G2iIYkPSg

Television News:
Reality TV, we can't live without it. Martina Hingis will now be joining Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles as a reality tv star. Hingis has been in London filming ITV’s Beat the Star, a show that pits a star against a member of the public in physical and mental challenges. Maybe it will pop on the internet for those of us that don't have ITV.

#1's in 08

2008 has come to a close and there are a few chart toppers that can't go unnoticed.

Maria Sharapova not #1 on court but #1 on Yahoo

- Maria Sharapova marked 2008 as the most searched for name. Having not played the majority of the year due to her injury, nevertheless she was able to beat out quite a few Olympians to top the list at #1. Its good to be talented, hard working and beautiful.

http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/28/maria-sharapova-declared-as-the-biggest-hit-on-yahoo-in-2008/

Jelena Jankovic and Rafael Nadal were ITF World Champions in 2008
- Nadal has proved himself to be a Grandslam champion. Jelena has not. This shows that more than one road can lead to glory.


If you have any questions regarding the charity, or how to donate tennis racquets, visit TennisRacquetsforKids.org


http://crazyworldoftennis.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-itf-world-champions-nadal-jankovic.html

Tennis Fashionistas

Vogue, move over, tennis magazine is here! It is amazing how far fashion has come in sports. Fashion in tennis has always banked on great personalities like Agassi and Chris Evert, but there has never been more freedom of expression through outfits on the court as there has been in this decade. Just this year at the US Open commentators were interviewing Chris Evert and asked her if she regretted the fact that she belonged to a prior generation, given that today’s tennis stars have so much more of everything. Chris Evert said no, but she did say that she couldn’t believe she had to pay a designer to wear a unique dress to the finals of a Grandslam whereas designers today are paying so much for athletes to wear their designs, or to even design their own as is often the case with Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and of course Bethanie Mattek. It is pleasing to see how companies really try to stay fashionable and not only differentiate designs among the brands but even among their own collections. It definitely translates for a bigger fan base and more marketing opportunities when these outfits then hit general retail and the crowd goes wild. Here are a couple links to some of the Women’s fashions we witnessed in 2008.

Bethanie Mattek: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/05/30/bethanie-mattek-gives-a-sneak-peak-into-her-wardrobe/

Amelie Mauresmo: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/31/all-amelie-mauresmos-2008-reebok-tennis-outfits/

Jelena Jankovic: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/25/what-did-jelena-jankovic-wear-during-2008-tennis-season/

Daniela Hantuchova: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/21/retrospection-of-daniela-hantuchovas-2008-nike-tennis-outfits/

Maria Kirilenko: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/18/video-overview-of-all-maria-kirilenko%E2%80%99s-2008-stella-mccartney-outfits/

Venus Williams: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/17/all-venus-williams%E2%80%99-2008-eleven-outfits/

Ana Ivanovic: http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2008/12/16/video-overview-of-all-ana-ivanovic%E2%80%99s-2008-adidas-outfits/

Here is a sneak preview of the upcoming Australian Open outfits which promise to be colorful and radiant to start the new season off: http://crazyworldoftennis.blogspot.com/2008/12/adidas-australian-open-outfits.html

Men’s Fashion has changed over time as well. When you think Nadal and Federer, there is so much more than a rivalry there, or the talk of their difference in being a lefty or a righty, two hander or one hander, there is an entire persona that is formed, just as in the celebrity world. Look at Nadal’s custom pant style with the sleeveless tight torso hugging shirts and Federers always classy tuxedo look, it is not a coincidence, it is todays necessity for athletes that become so much more to the sport to differentiate themselves. They are brands to the world at the same time that they are at the peak of their athletic careers. Tennis is clearly a highly marketable sport and this great deal of fashion that goes alongside it makes it that much more interesting and jubilant. This dual factor can probably be further explained by the fact that almost every female tennis player wishes to have a parallel career in fashion and modeling, they are so intertwined.

If you have any questions regarding the charity, or how to donate tennis racquets, visit TennisRacquetsforKids.org

Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal: http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/federer-vs-nadal-blazer-vs-pirate-pants/3265

On the tennis radar; Master’s Cup, retirement and reality TV shows

Novak Djokovic capped off the year with as big of a bang as he started it. Vying for the title among the world’s elite eight, Djokovic came out on top over Nikolay Davydenko with a 6-1, 7-5 victory. One could almost say, an unlikely winner, as the majority of the year he was getting overshadowed by the likes of Nadal, Federer and Murray. Nadal pulled out of the Master’s Cup before it began with tendonitis in the knee and Roddick withdrew after his first match when he sprained his ankle in practice. Federer, really wanting this title on his resume, was also nursing a back injury and lost a tough match to Murray. "It's been a good year, you know," Federer said. "Tough to start off with. Tough to end. But I think it gives me the opportunity to start over all new again next year." This has not been an easy season for Djokovic either, with injuries and illnesses like his persistent asthma, but things must have fell into place for him in Shanghai. He opened the year with his first Grandslam victory at the Australian Open and he finished the final leg of the official year end race a winner at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. He told the press after the win, "It was special because I've played in the second part of the season in a couple of finals, and I didn't manage to win the title for a long time, since Rome. That's probably the reason why I couldn't close it out at 5-4. I was a bit nervous. It's not easy, you know. There is a lot of pressure involved. I'm happy that I managed to hold my nerves in the end." This win solidifies Djokovic as the number three racquet in the world. “It means a lot,” said Djokovic. “I would put it in the same league as a Grand Slam, because the best eight players in the world are participating here and everybody has a lot of motivation to finish the season in the best possible way."

Also in Shanghai, the doubles masters were crowned. Canada's Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic, went undefeated in the round robin and deprived the Bryan brothers of their third consecutive title in the event. Nestor and Zimonjic beat the Bryan’s 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the final round for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Other news cast is the retirement of Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman. This great tennis player has finalized his 17 year professional tennis career having played in 1, 791 singles and doubles matches, winning 709 in doubles and 414 in singles and a prize money total of $14.5 million.

On the fun side of news. Jimmy Connors, the eight time Grandslam champion and former number one, was recently arrested in Santa Barbara at a UC Santa Barbara game after refusing to leave the arena upon request and bickering with an officer.

After Monica Seles appeared on Dancing with the Stars this year, 52 year old Martina Navratilova, has signed on a British reality television show filmed in the Australian jungle, which sounds a lot like Survivor from its description.

Holiday shopping does not exclude the rich and famous. Sharapova was spotted shopping this past week in the big apple. Sharapova has also done a photoshoot to be featured in Spain’s December issue of GQ and she looks phenomenal. Speaking of shopping, buyers in India are all set with a new Reebok product line that Vaidisova helped launch with Sunitha Rao recently.