"Me, Myself" and I

No, its not that movie with Jim Carrey featuring a whole 10 seconds of Anna Kournikova and no it is not the confession of a narcissist. It is news from the sports retail world. It is the name of Adidas's new ad campaign.

“The new Adidas philosophy of Me, Myself is inspiring to me because it shows women as individuals; that we are all athletes in our own right and that we all have things that we do differently whatever level of athlete we are,” said Ana Ivanovic about her new Adidas campaign that is going to be in print and broadcast. That campaign is called “Me, Myself’ and features text that explains the 30 minutes that athletes need to themselves to peak. "Ana, 30. Thirty minutes of 'me' time - it's what I need before I can meet my next challenge. Impossible is nothing." This sounds like a very good and inspiring campaign.

I really like the sound of this campaign. It’s a good example to kids, who often forget about what their 30 is all about. Unfortunately that can be a lot of things from brushing their teeth twice a day, to writing out flash cards for an exam, to stretching before and after practices. Taking away from this particular campaign, I think this will serve as a great reminder to kids particularly about their 30 mins of stretching before and after tennis. So many juniors skip this step because it is “boring”.

Newsflash, sports are about routine, at least in preparation. Unlike many truly routine sports like gymnastics and swimming, tennis at least is a game with many interesting nuances and unlimited time to turn things around, to ploy game plans and dissect opponents. But those opportunities don't come to those that don't take preparation seriously. Take some time to figure out your 30, Me, Myself.

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

This Weeks Highlights

• Ivanovic has lost to No. 23 Mauresmo in QF of Brisbane 6-3 6-2

• Venus Williams beat Jankovic at the JB Classic in Hong Kong. Venus went undefeated also beating Chakvetadze and Zvonareva.
• It’s the 13^th Hopman Cup title for the Slovaks as Dominika Cibulkova and Dominik Hrbaty edged past the Safin’s. No. 19 Cibulkova beat Safina 6-7(3) 6-1 6-4 for her first time ever, and No. 250 Hrbaty beat Safin 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(3)
• Viktoria Azarenka captured her first WTA title in a win over Marion Bartoli in Brisbane.
• Dementieva beat Vesnina 6-4 6-1 in Auckland, capturing her 12^th singles title.
• No crisis for Aussi Open champions, the singles finalists will receive $1 million each while the winners will get $2. This is a 12.3 % increase from last year.
• The Spanish wild card duo of Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal defeat top seeds and 2008 ATP Champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
  

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

In with the new, out with the old: good and bad news week 1

All tennis fans know the rules of tennis but few tennis fans know how their role models make up their schedules, earn their points and keep their rankings. The rules, the paychecks and the technology keep changing and this year is no exception. Let’s take a look at the WTA tournament changes for the New Year. If you want to see the official break down, check out http://www.onthebaseline.com/2009/01/02/the-2009-sony-ericsson-wta-tour-roadmap-guide/, or download the 2009 calendar, http://onthebaseline.com/uploads/files2009_WTA_Calendar.pdf.

It is also important to note that the Sony Ericsson Tour has doubled the women’s points in value. This has been in effect since January 5^th, 2009. The new system will count one less tournament towards the player’s ranking (from 17 to 16). Check out the top 10 women’s rankings from the source.


"I couldn’t believe that I have got my own star in the sky. That is something unbelievable and I am so happy," said Jelena Jankovic as she really was awarded her own star bought for her by her sponsor Knjaz Milos and its brand of Aqua Viva water. For Astrology buffs, it is located in the SC2 Hercules constellation of North polar region and it is called JJ. Jankovic seems to be at the top of world with an Olympic athlete water polo player boyfriend, a world number one ranking and now a star to call her own in space.


Marat Safin was seeing stars last week. He arrived in Perth for the Mixed Team Hopman Cup, asked to reschedule the match and went to see a doctor. He then further stunned fans, when he showed up to play an Italian team with his sister Dinara, with two black eyes. In his statement he hesitated to give details about a brawl he had gotten into in Moscow, but didn’t hesitate to say the he had won the fight. He and Dinara also won their match.

Kim Clijsters is the opposite of celebration as she lost her 52 year old father, Leo Clijsters, to a year long battle with lung cancer. He was a former Belgian International soccer player and managed Kim in her tennis career until she retired in 2007. =(

Sven Groenveld is also at a loss this week as Ana Ivanovic has decided to drop her coach. Currently at No. 5 in the world, Ivanovic will likely be coach-less before the Australian Open.

Jelena Dokic, the former No. 4 in the world, had made her big advance for a comeback at the end of 2008 and she is now steadily climbing the rankings in preparation for 2009. Currently ranked at 179, she faced Mauresmo at a warm up tournament in Brisbane this week and lost in two tie-break sets. "If I got blown away maybe it wouldn't hurt so much,” said Dokic about her match. It will be interesting to follow her results this month.

Lindsay Davenport is definitely out with the old and in with the new. She will be making another halt to her career as she is expecting her second child. “Of course this unexpected but exciting surprise now means I will be putting tennis on hold for the foreseeable future,” Davenport said in a statement.

Andy Murray just beat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the Abhu Dabi exhibition match. He also defeated Roger Federer in the semis. That’s $183, 000 there. Looks like an exciting start and some possible majors on the way for Murray. Roddick and Monfils are cruising through the draws in Doha right now.

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