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Tennis-X Notes: More Betting Stories
Posted on October 8, 2007
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen has announced this will be his last year on tour...From press release, because we couldn't write it any sillier ourselves: "Tennis superstar Andy Roddick announced today a deal with AriZona Beverage Company to create Hypotonic Performance Sports Drink, an energy drink targeted towards the competitive athlete. Roddick's power and determination on the court are reflected in the first drink using a proprietary performance-enhancing formula that facilitates a faster hydration and overall better performance for athletes. Hypotonic Performance is now available in select markets including New York, Chicago and Florida. Hypotonic will be available at retail in a 20 ounce PET bottle for $1.50 and feature Andy Roddick's likeness on the packaging. In addition, Roddick's favorite flavor of Lemon-Lime was incorporated into the new beverage."...From Tom Tebbutt of the Globe and Mail: "The Ladbrokes betting shop, a pleasant five-minute walk up Church Road from the All England Club, has been a popular drop-in spot during the Wimbledon championships. In 2005, the coach of a top-25 player on the WTA Tour made four winning wagers there, all on women's matches, including taking Eleni Daniilidou, a 9-to-1 underdog, to upset Justine Henin in the first round. A few months later, at the U.S. Open, the coach was informed that betting was against tour rules. The coach said he thought the rules applied only to players. That kind of naivete is not as rare as one might think among coaches and probably some players as well."...Tennis commentator Mary Carillo speaking on the men's tennis gambling issue and broadcasting the '95 Davis Cup final from Moscow: "We were paying off [everybody]. It was a joke how many hands were out just for them to turn on the electricity...We'd already greased them. That's the deal over there. The Russian mafia has been around hockey forever, and figure skating. Obviously, they were a big part of the Salt Lake City scandal, with the pairs [skating]. Yevgeny Kafelnikov got into some gambling problems. Andrei Medvedev -- that poor guy, who was such a wonderful character and a really fine player...Now I've heard very sad stories about what happened to him because he got mixed up with those boys. There's a very scary undercurrent of gambling in all sports."...From Inside Tennis: "Reliable sources indicated to Inside Tennis magazine that Gordon Smith, a widely respected tennis veteran from Atlanta, has been selected as the next executive director of the United States Tennis Association. Smith, a former SEC conference doubles champion who was born in Rome, Georgia, is now in his second term as a USTA board member...An active player who played for the University of Georgia, Smith has a long resume of service to tennis through the Southern Tennis Patron's Foundation and the Georgia Tennis Foundation."...The Australian Open is replacing the traditional green Rebound Ace surface with a new double-blue Plexicushion surface...Marat Safin returns from a two-month injury and mental layoff at this week's Kremlin Cup in Moscow: "I felt like I needed to take my mind off tennis for a while," said the 27-year-old. "Hopefully this will be my year, although I can't make any promises."...Tennis Australia has evicted state betting agency Tabcorp from the grounds of next year's Australian Open in response to the betting and match-fixing scandal in men's tennis. The Italian Tennis Federation is also reportedly drawing up rules barring Italian players from betting on tennis..The ATP announced that "ten cities that have been awarded "500" status for the new-look 2009 ATP Tour. The ten are Rotterdam, Dubai, Acapulco, Memphis, Barcelona, Washington DC, Beijing, Tokyo, Basel and Valencia. In addition, Hamburg has been reserved a "500" level week."...Maria Sharapova will now play the Kremlin Cup in Moscow according to organizers.
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