Isner Headlines ATP Newport; Previews; X-Notes

Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships
Newport, R.I., USA
Surface: grass

Seeds: John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov, Igor Kunitsyn, Ryan Sweeting, Alex Bogomolov, Jr., Olivier Rochus, Michael Berrer, Tobias Kamke
ADHEREL
Floaters: Karol Beck, Ryan Harrison, Nicolas Mahut, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic

Notes: Former world No. 2 Haas continues his comeback; Isner replaces Fish who is called for Davis Cup duty; Isner is 0-2 career in Newport, and Rochus is the only seed with a winning record in Newport; Fish won the title last year, and there are no former champs in the field that received direct entry; (1) Isner starts against the crafty Beck (winner to potentially meet Harrison), and (7) Berrer vs. (WC) Haas.

Collector Swedish Open presented by Sony Ericsson
Bastad, Sweden
Surface: red clay

Seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Flavia Pennetta, Lucie Safarova, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Vera Dushevina, Iveta Benesova, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Polona Hercog

Floaters: Alize Cornet, Aravane Rezai

Notes: Top-seeded Wozniacki has a tough opener against Cornet; Rezai beat Gisela Dulko in last year’s final.

POLI-FARBE Budapest Grand Prix
Budapest, Hungary
Surface: red clay

Seeds: Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani, Klara Zakopalova, Lucie Hradecka, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Mathilde Johansson, Irina-Camelia Begu, Evgeniya Rodina

Floaters: none

Notes: Agnes Szavay beat Patty Schnyder in the last two finals.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
From Time magazine on the WTA’s new: “How you feel about Kim Clijsters doing a split in a frilly orange skirt probably depends on your reaction to a well-oiled Caroline Wozniacki serving a tennis ball into a wind machine. Then again, these provocative scenarios, which form part of the Women’s Tennis Association’s new “Strong is Beautiful” advertising campaign, seem tame compared to the spot starring Belarusian tennis ace Victoria Azarenka. “I like to hit the ball hard. Crush it,” the 2011 Wimbledon semi-finalist says in a voiceover, as the camera pans from crotch to chest to face. “If the ball comes back then it’s trying to tell me something. How about a little harder?”…Andy Murray will compete in Davis Cup for Britain in July as GB slogs their way through zonal play…Patrick Rafter says Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt will “bond” prior to teaming as the Australian Davis Cup team tries to get past China, slogging its way through zonal play in an effort to eventually rejoin the World Group. If the Aussies win they advance to the September World Group Playoff..The 2011 Wimbledon women’s quarters had players from eight different European countries for the first time at a Slam in the Open Era…According to Britain’s Daily Star, Andy Murray said regarding his mom flirting with Feliciano “Deliciano” Lopez on Twitter: “I think it’s about time she stopped that nonsense. It makes me want to throw up, it’s disgusting.”…Ana Ivanovic has hired another new coach, the father of Andy Murray’s girlfriend. Nigel Sears, who formerly worked with Daniela Hantuchova, is the father of Kim Sears, Murray’s live-in girlfriend. Mr. Sears is the recently-departed head of women’s tennis at the British Lawn Tennis Association…Andy Roddick says tennis is more popular than ever in the U.S., it’s just a matter of producing top players again: “If you want to talk about [U.S. tennis dying], let’s go by participation numbers, retail numbers, racket sales, USTA memberships, prize money — up, up, up, up, up. Maybe that’s the water-cooler talk, but I like to deal in facts. Do we (in the U.S.) have four guys in the Top 5 in the world? No, we don’t. That’s about the only difference. That doesn’t mean tennis is dying. It’s an international sport. I feel like a lot of times people refuse to accept that back home, which is unfortunate.”…Milos Raonic pulled from Davis Cup for Canada due to his hip injury sustained at Wimbledon.