Tennis-X Notes: Murray Practicing with Agassi; Ivan a Fluke?

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
adidas has won a temporary court order that will allow its three-stripes logo to appear on player clothing at Wimbledon...Goran Ivanisevic says Tim Henman has a good chance to win his first Wimbledon title this year: "I give the best chance of British players to Tim because he has the game to actually win Wimbledon -- even now. You can never underestimate Tim. I like the way that he plays. I call him the 'professor' of tennis. OK, maybe he's in his 30s now, but I was nearly 30 when I won. No one gave me a chance, but I came, and I won. If Tim is ready, I fancy his chances." -- Can you picture Goran saying "fancy"? Hmmm...This is only the third time in the Open Era that the top four men's seeds have reached the final four. The other years were 1984-85, when No. 1 John McEnroe, No. 2 Ivan Lendl, No. 3 Jimmy Connors, and No. 4 Mats Wilander reached the semifinals in both years with the same seedings in each appearance...Ivan Ljubicic on how to play Rafael Nadal on clay: "There's no tactic against Rafael. I think Roger [Federer] showed us in Rome the way to give him trouble. He was pretty close. He had two match points. As close as you can get, actually...You cannot be too aggressive, you cannot be too defensive."...Ten of the 19 meetings between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne have been in tournament finals...Bob Bryan who has reached the French Open mixed doubles semifinals with Martina Navratilova: "It's beautiful to watch her hit these volleys. She has better hands than all the guys out there, so she's holding up her court. I don't have to do much. A lot of times I'm just sitting there, watching her take over. It's definitely a lot of fun."...From Slam! Sports Tennis: "When former Grand Slam semifinalists show up at Grand Slam tournaments, they usually can be found in special courtside seats or in the broadcast booth. Not Belgium's Filip Dewulf, who lost to eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the 1997 French Open semifinals. Dewulf did dabble in broadcasting when he retired from tennis in 2001. But then he decided to try his hand at print journalism, starting out by writing columns for the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Niews ("The Last Word"). Now, just like in his playing days, he goes to Grand Slam tournaments -- to cover them for the paper. "I really do like doing this," said Dewulf, who won two titles and reached a career-high ranking of 39th. "I actually tried writing soccer as well, but tennis is easier for me." Dewulf finds life as a journalist much to his liking. Unlike some former players, Dewulf tends to hang out with his journalist colleagues as opposed to with players. "You need to keep your distance between journalists and tennis players," Dewulf said, adding, "Tennis players like to keep their distance from the journalists. I was a little like that. It's hard not to, because you grow up thinking that. But now I know better. This is a much tougher job."...Martina Hingis needs to get in shape...Blogger Justin Gimelstob needs to stop the bleeding boring-wise...David Nalbandian needs to consider a personality transplant...SI.com's Jon Wertheim: "I'm willing to bet a Euro -- which is equal to roughly $50 by my reckoning -- that [Rafael] Nadal is speaking to an ATP rep for a few minutes, the rep is translating from Spanish to English and then writing it up."...Patrick McEnroe: "I don't expect (David Nalbandian and Ivan Ljubicic) to stay at No. 3 and No. 4 for as long as Federer and Nadal are No. 1 and No. 2. I think it's more of a fluke than anything."...From Leo Schlink writing for The Australian: "Australian whiz-kid Bernard Tomic is poised to become the highest-paid 13 year old in international tennis as a cluster of global clothing giants jostle for his signature. Rated the best player of his age in the world, Tomic has already been signed by International Management Group for a six-figure fee. The winner of 76 junior tournaments and a runaway leader in the world 13-and-under rankings, Tomic will be feted at Wimbledon this month by the company that wins the right to clothe him. Nike remains favourite to add the Gold Coast baseliner to a glittering stable that includes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Industry estimates put Tomic's sign-on figure at more than $100,000 -- a figure that dwarfs what the majority of senior players, apart from the elite, earn from clothing endorsements."...Andy Murray speaking with The Sun on hitting with Andre Agassi this week at Queen's: "It was great to play against Andre. He hits the ball so hard and it was a real test to face him. Agassi is without doubt one of my heroes. He's one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen."