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Tennis-X Notes: Safin Out of Davis Cup Final; Shark Bets Evert
Posted on October 21, 2007
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Marat Safin says he has ended his 2007 campaign and will not play in the Davis Cup final against the U.S...According to The Age, Jelena Dokic has vowed to work around the clock in a bid to be 100 percent fit for the Australian Open wildcard playoffs in December.
From Tennis.com blogger Steve Tignor: "Doug Adler (Tennis Channel commentator): OK, Doug, why don't you just state at the beginning of the tournament that every player should come to the net more and be done with it. But then what would you say the rest of the week?"...Goran Ivanisevic and girlfriend Tanja Dragovic had their second child, a son Emanuel on Saturday according to Tennis.com...Former world No. 2-ranked Swede Magnus Norman will be countryman Thomas Johansson's traveling coach throughout 2008...Serena Williams when asked whether her loss in the Moscow final to Elena Dementieva, coupled with two boxing matches between Russia and the U.S. that Russia won, would be painful for the Americans: "It's not painful because we still have Britney Spears."...Serena Williams has clinched a spot at the eight-woman season-ending WTA Tour Championships...From ateonline: "Bookmaker William Hill has said that people would always find a way to fix matches in tennis, despite new rules currently being put in place by the ATP, WTA Tour, International Tennis Federation and Grand Slam Committee to avoid corruption in the game. Spokesman Graham Sharpe said there would never be a foolproof system, commenting "Whatever rule you have in place, they'll find a way around it."...Tickets for the U.S. vs. Russia Davis Cup final weekend sold out within an hour of being made available. The Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., will host the three-day competition from Friday, Nov. 30, through Sunday, Dec. 2. "he stage is set for a memorable event -- a classic match-up between our top American team and the defending Davis Cup champions from Russia," said Arlen Kantarian, Chief Executive Officer, Pro Tennis, USTA. "This is the first Davis Cup final in the U.S. in 15 years, and we are thrilled that we'll have a sold-out patriotic crowd supporting our team."...Russian Nikolay Davydenko continues to hammer Brit Andy Murray for speaking out on gambling and men's tennis: "I think it's a guy trying to be more famous than he is on the tour. If he says something then he knows something. We need questions from the ATP as to why he knows and what he knows. I think it is something very stupid on his part." Davydenko then pulled out of Madrid citing an elbow injury...The latest "Cost of Doing Business Survey" from the Tennis Industry Association for facilities reports a 14% increase in the average number of U.S. tennis club members since 2005...From TENNIS magazine editor Steve Tignor: "The ATP's chairman, Etienne de Villiers, has overplayed his hand by renaming the Masters Series the "1000" series. It takes years for a new name to gain traction, and Masters Series, so named by the last chairman, Mark Miles, in 2000, was well on its way. It's hard to imagine "one-thousand" ever establishing itself in the tennis vernacular...But if the ATP has botched the name of its top tier of events, the WTA has done something worse -- not making them identifiable at all. Look no further than the two tournaments being played this week. Any self-respecting tennis fan knows that the men's event in Madrid is part of the Masters Series, which means all the top players will be there. But did you know that the women's tournament in Zurich is the equivalent of a Masters event? Yep, it's a Tier I, as the WTA calls these, and it had a solid field (for the WTA). But a solid field means little unless the public knows why the best players are there."...Andy Roddick has qualified for the year-end Masters Cup...India's Sania Mirza has announced she is ending her season early due to injuries: "It's been a long and hard year for me where I had to make comebacks from two serious injuries and surgery," Mirza told the Times of India. "I am mentally tired and my body is crying out for a break. I am looking forward to a rest and then a great season next year."...According to the Herald Sun, Greg Norman bet girlfriend Chris Evert $1 million that he could beat her at tennis within a year...Lleyton Hewitt's younger sister Jaslyn took second place in her first bodybuilding competition, just six months after taking up the sport. A tennis coach, she trained for up to four hours a day to prepare for the event.
Also see:
Nalbandian Foils Federer to Cap Incredible Week in Madrid
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-10-21/309.php
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