Henman Says No Retirement; Combined Senior Rankings Debut

The Argentines managed a semifinal in '83 and a quarterfinal in '84 before getting bounced from the World Group in 1988-89, and during a nine-year stretch from 1993-2001.

The year 2002 seemed to mark a Davis Cup resurgence for Argentina with players such as Gaston Gaudio, Guillermo Canas, and Juan Ignacio Chela in the mix, and Guillermo Coria brought on in 2004. But while the Argentines have maintained World Group status since 2002, between injuries and opponents putting them on slick surfaces they've been unable to fare any better than the semifinals, still without a championship-round berth since 1981.

This weekend the trend continues in Croatia.

Ivan Ljubicic is coming off the event in Miami where he nearly dispatched of the entire Argentine Davis Cup team en route to the final. The service bomb-dropping Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic will fill the No. 2 singles spot as the Gauchos again facing a weekend on ice-fast indoor carpet.

The Croats will perform in both singles and doubles, while Argentina will front David Nalbandian, and either Agustin Calleri or Chela in singles, and a doubles combination likely including Juan Acasuso.

For the Croats a win would be sweet revenge from their last meeting in the 2002 quarterfinals, where the Argentines rolled out their favored mud-slow red clay, but still needed the final singles match to clinch as Gaudio straight-setted Croat "Dr." Ivo Karlovic. Due to what seems to be a dispute with the Croat Federeration over money, or with captain Ljubicic, or both, Karlovic is not on Croatia's quarterfinal squad.

"Overall in the series, I think it's absolutely open," says Ljubicic who anticipates a tight tie. "I think doubles, it's gonna be very important because David (Nalbandian), the way he plays now, it's going to be very hard to beat him. I think it's definitely the best match of the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup...(Calleri) has a big game. He's a very dangerous opponent.

Compounding problems for Argentina is the absence of one of their best fast-court players, Guillermo Coria, who remains at No. 7 on the ATP Rankings with a lowly 4-4 record in 2006. The confidence-challenged former French Open runner-up has gone into seclusion with new coach Jose Higueras, practicing for what he hopes will be a coming-out party during the claycourt season.

Tennis-X.com Debuts Combined Senior Rankings

JACKSONVILLE, FL--April 4, 2006-- On Tuesday Tennis-X.com, the web's premier tennis news and opinion website, premiered the 2006 Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings, a cumulative ranking for senior tour players combining results from the competing Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions in Europe, and the Outback Champions Series in the U.S.

"Senior players jump between the two tours so it makes sense," says Tennis-X.com Senior Editor Luke Johnson. "With the cooperation of both tours, the Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings will bring together fans on both continents to follow the race to see who finishes as the top senior player in 2006."

Former No. 1s Jim Courier and Marcelo Rios are tied atop the inaugural rankings for the week of April 3, with Courier winning the first Outback event of the year in Naples, and Rios capturing the Doha crown on the Merrill Lynch tour in his senior tour debut.

After winning at Doha, the top-ranked Rios "called out" the No. 5-ranked John McEnroe, who last year said he was looking forward to facing some of the new young blood on the senior tour.

"I'm looking forward to playing McEnroe," Rios said. "That's one of my goals. He has been talking a lot so I'm waiting for him to come to play me."

The current Top 10 on the Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings contains five former No. 1s, and eight Grand Slam winners.

The next Merrill Lynch event is scheduled this week, April 6-9 in Doha, and the next Outback event for April 27-30 in Boston.

2006 TENNIS-X.COM COMBINED SENIOR RANKINGS
(Top 10, through April 2)

1T. Jim Courier (400 pts.)
1T. Marcelo Rios (400)
3. Pat Cash (310)
4. Cedric Pioline (250)
5T. Richard Krajicek (200)
5T. John McEnroe (200)
7T. Thomas Muster (125)
7T. Mikael Pernfors (125)
9T. Sergi Bruguera (80)
9T. Aaron Krickstein (80)
9T. Henri Leconte (80)
9T. Mats Wilander (80)

Henman Now Says No Retirement this Year

Tim Henman, who has watched himself get put on the back burner with the rise of Andy Murray and a slide to No. 3 in the British rankings, says he has no intention of retiring in 2006.

Henman has suffered with back problems over the last year and had indicated that if things didn't get better he would be forced to pull the plug on his career in 2006.

"If I wasn't enjoying it and feeling I was able to compete, then certainly it would be time to assess things," the 31-year-old told the BBC. "But right now that certainly seems a long way off and there's no reason why I can't play a good few years yet. Right now I'm very motivated, feeling healthy and looking forward to having some better results."

Before the back injury it was shoulder problems that were hampering Henman's serve.

"There's no doubt it's been a difficult 15 or 16 months and that's been probably dominated more by back problems than my results on the court," Henman said. "In the last couple of months I've really felt like I've begun to turn the corner."

In Miami Henman beat Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt in consecutive rounds, results which have had an effect on his outlook for the remainder of 2006.

"I've felt healthy on the court and that puts a totally different slant on everything," Henman said. "When you can practice and train properly and actually enjoy what you're doing it's going to have a knock-on effect on performance. I've started to really feel like I've been playing some good tennis. In individual matches I've started to have some good results. It's a question of stringing that together over a 10- or 11-month period."

DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Who cares if you need it or not, show your love for Tennis-X, contribute to the fund, only eight bucks for one year of daily tennis news! Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning to get their heads around the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. A year's subscription costs less than a meal and a pint. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Larry Scott, whose view on equal prize money while with the ATP was one you wouldn't term as "progressive," is now of the attack as CEO of the women's tour according to Reuters: "The WTA Tour has strongly criticized French Open organizers over their failure to award all women competitors the same prize money as their male counterparts at this year's claycourt grand slam. Roland Garros organiszrs announced on Monday that for the first time the men's and women's champions would receive the same amount, 940,000 euros ($1.13 million), at the May 28-June 11 tournament. However, other women competitors will receive less than their male counterparts, prompting an angry response from the WTA, which runs the women's tour. "This move should not be allowed to distract from the fact that in the 21st century it is simply indefensible that 127 women's singles competitors and an equal number of women's doubles players in a grand slam tournament should be receiving considerably less prize money than their male counterparts," the WTA Tour CEO Scott said. "Quite apart from the moral case for parity, the remarkable quality and depth of play demonstrated by professional women tennis players, combined with the global popularity and media and sponsor interest in our players, merits equal prize money at all the grand slams." -- Amend that to 'remarkable quality and depth of play demonstrated by professional women tennis players from the quarterfinals on' -- the reason why the French is offering the men's and women's champions the same amount, but not the same round-by-round money for the women...From AR.com: "Speaking exclusively to AndyRoddick.com, John (Roddick) discussed the long term goals for Andy saying "Obviously winning Grand Slams is the top priority. I don't think you can really say one is more important than another, but I do think Wimbledon holds a special place in the minds of tennis players." John doesn't plan any major adjustments in Andy's game as it is rather good already. But he does have some ideas for improvement. "As far as Andy's training and preparation goes, we are not looking to reinvent the wheel. Andy knows his game, and we need to get back to ripping forehands when he is set, and being less predictable on some of his shots." -- "Rather good already"?...Since the ATP started charging for their broadband service featuring matches/highlights, they have approximately 1,200 subscribers, almost double what they anticipated...Maria Sharapova was 0-for-11 in video replay challenges in Miami...Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur have won their last four tournament since finishing runners-up at the Aussie Open...Three more weeks and Amelie Mauresmo will tie Venus Williams' reign at No. 1 with 11 weeks total...Name the vice president of communications for the WTA Tour -- most of the writers at the Miami U.S. Tennis Writers Association meeting couldn't, not a great sign for job the WTA is doing with tennis in the U.S...There are no Williams sisters in the Top 10, and the lone American Lindsay Davenport has fallen to No. 5 -- getting the picture yet U.S. fans? Outside of those three, there is one other American in the Top 50, Jill Craybas at No. 49. Also no Americans among the Top 16 seeds at the lone WTA event this week in Amelia Island...Brenda Schultz-McCarthy lost in the first round of qualifying over the weekend at Amelia Island...Trying to get his bad ankle healthy in time for Davis Cup this weekend, now Andy Murray is suffering from a fever and swollen glands...Tennis blogger Peter Bodo on his observations of Ivan Ljubicic: "He wears a jock strap. At least it looks like he does, and it ain't something I was going to ask him about in a crowded presser full of women and men. Anyway, no red silk bikinis with little gold Gucci buckles on them for this hombre!" -- maybe too much investigate reporting there...From ESPN's Darren Rovell: "Car company Land Rover has signed tennis star Maria Sharapova to a three-year deal that one source with knowledge of the deal said is worth approximately $2 million a year."...From tennis writer Matt Cronin: "(U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick) McEnroe told the USTA's Tim Curry that if his wife, actress Melissa Errico, had not delivered the child by April 1, that he would stay home (from the U.S. Davis Cup tie) and await the delivery. (Dean) Goldfine will be assisted by former tour player and USTA coach Jay Berger. Goldfine privately coached (Andy) Roddick last year. Andy let him go in early February and hired his brother, John. Andy and Goldfine still get along and the team told McEnroe that if he couldn't make the tie, Dean was the man they wanted. "The guys know the situation," McEnroe said. "The guys will be comfortable. That's who my team wanted, that's who they felt most comfortable with. Dean's a guy they've been around a lot. He's been my assistant before. Do I think it will affect the outcome? No. I'd like to think that I'm that important, but I can't think that highly of myself. These guys know what to do on the court."...Again, no one has ever won IW and Miami back-to-back two years in a row, nobody except Roger Federer...Martina Navratilova is skipping Amelia Island this week, in Manhattan to launch her new book "Shape Your Self"...Donald Young won his first-round match at the River Oaks exo this week: "I consider this my first ATP win, because it pays like an ATP tournament," a smiling Young, 16, told the Houston Chronicle after beating Hugo Armando. That's a reach...From the New Zealand Herald: "Veteran Davis Cup tennis player Alistair Hunt has been left stranded in Frankfurt, while the rest of the squad is not able to be contacted in Kazakhstan. Hunt was a late inclusion in the Davis Cup squad for this weekend's tie in the former Soviet Republic. He has spent three days in Frankfurt, waiting for his visa to be processed. Tennis New Zealand CEO Don Turner says they have not been able to speed up the process. Turner says communication with Kazakhstan is almost nil and they are struggling to find out what is happening. He has also confirmed the New Zealand team has changed hotels in Kazakhstan, because the hotel tripled the price when they arrived. But the trouble is that Turner does not know where the team has moved to, until they make contact." -- Good luck finding your Davis Cup team...From tennis writer Charlie Bricker who does the math: "In 2005, (Andy) Roddick averaged 13.2 aces per match and 5.0 per set. In 18 matches this year, all on hardcourts (the ATP doesn't count aces in Davis Cup matches), Roddick is averaging 9.9 aces per match and 3.7 per set. To the statistically naive, that doesn't seem like much of a dropoff. In fact, it's a 26 percent loss and, taken over the course of a tournament, it can't be ignored."

Also see:
Top 10 Tennis Comebacks of 2006
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-04-04/c.php