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

Stories of Interest

- Anne Koethavong, the only British female tennis player to crack into the top 100 in the past 7 years, has launched her own website. Who doesn’t have a website these days. There are even plenty of parents launching sites for their juniors in hopes of attracting attention of sponsors, and mimicking the pros. That is not necessarily bad however.

- "I love my job. I love hitting balls, running, jumping, chasing after that ball. I love what I do, so that's what keeps me motivated," said 28 year old Venus Williams in Hong Kong this week, dissipating all questions about retirement plans. She has yet to win the French Open and the Australian and she is in great shape, why stop now!

- "I can't run and I can't play," said Davydenko. "I know that I may not return to the court soon." He is in a lot of pain due to a left heel injury and has pulled out of several pre-Australian tournaments as well as the first slam of the season. "What's important," he said, "is that I have to be fit as there are still three more Grand Slam tournaments left."


-"I have nothing to do with this," said Peer of the Israeli invasion of Gaza. "I'm Shahar Peer. I came here to play tennis. I know I'm from Israel and I'm proud of my country and that playing tennis is what I'm going to do tomorrow." Already in the quarters and surrounded by security, Peer was asked by the tournament to withdraw and respect the country’s boycott of Israel, but she didn’t secede to their request. "The sports boycott of Israel is a key part of any boycott campaign because it is much more visible than a trade or investment boycott and can have an important psychological impact," said a tournament representative. "Two days ago, I was crying a bit, actually more than a bit, so it was a hard time for me," she said. "I hope as soon as possible it will end and we will all be happy, because no one wants to be in a war." Peer said she had never previously been the focus of protests and had even been the first Israeli to play in the Muslim country of Qatar. She said the protesters had the right to express their views. "It's their choice and they are choosing what they want to do".


- "This could be a very meaningful season for me," Federer said. "I can equal Pete Sampras' record. I can add another Wimbledon title and this is something that is very dear to me. I can also win my first French Open title, so I am looking forward to my season." Federer has reportedly been training harder and feeling better and his fans have a lot to look forward to this season, including more great history in the making. "Rafa is my main rival," Federer said. "We have been doing it for so many years and have had great matches." Of course, both Federer and Nadal were beaten by Murray this week.

-IMG, the leading client management company in tennis represents some of the worlds greatest champions, such as Federer, Nadal, Sharapova, Venus Williams and James Blake. IMG also owns and manages many of the top tournaments like the Sony Ericsson Open and Australian Open and now they will represent Jelena Jankovic, the world number 1. She will be joining their modeling agency as well as giving them responsibility for all her management and promotion. She grew up training at IMG Sports Academy, curious why she hasn’t been offered this opportunity before now. Other changes in Jankovic’s life is her new clothing sponsor. Reebok has expired and the Chinese brand Li Ning didn't hesitate to pick her up. If that is indeed true, it would be a sure bet that this brand paid the most.


-News from the junior side is that Americans John Isner and Christina Mchale have earned wildcards into the Australian Open. They both won a round robin play off hosted by the USTA.

Photos: Nadal and Federer in Qatar
http://crazyworldoftennis.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-hq-pic-of-rafa-and-roger-from-doha.html


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

WestHampton Beach Tennis & Sport Supports Tennis Racquets for Kids

Tennis Racquets For Kids Inc. is grateful to WestHampton Beach Tennis and Sport for embracing our charity. Tennis Racquets for Kids Inc., is a non profit organization dedicated to the distribution of donated tennis racquets to individual children or to organizations or charities that represent children in need of such racquets. Owner, Scott Ferguson agreed that previously owned tennis racquets, which are often discarded, represent an opportunity to help children who otherwise might not be able to afford them. He was excited to help recycle these used tennis racquets which will now be provided to less fortunate children. A collection box was set up at the facility and racquets were placed in a drop box. We are thankful to WestHampton Beach Tennis and Sport, owner Scott Ferguson, and the WestHampton community for their overwhelming generosity and continued support in helping underprivileged children realize their dreams. A special thank you is also extended to Ms. Pam Shields for her extraordinary personal interest and contribution.

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

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

#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

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Tennis Racquets for Kids!!!

Here are some fun quotes from 2008 to start off the year with some humor:

http://www.tennistalk.com/en/blog/Cheryl_Murray/20081217/Top_tennis_quotes_of_2008_-_Federer%2C_Nadal_and_more

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