Twusa 13 2014

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TENNIS WORLD Australian Open

A New Dawn Or A Curtain Call?

Li Na’s triumphs and the future of tennis in China

Tony Minnis Discusses Lawsuit Against LSU

THE SIEGE

February 2014

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Contents Tony Minnis 3 Discusses Lawsuit Against LSU Australin Open 19 The Siege Talking With Toni 25 An interview with Rafael Nadal’s coach and uncle Sizzling Serena 32 At age 32, Serena has no desire to retire Interview with Nick Kyrgios 39 The new star of Australian Tennis Old Guns 46 The Top 100 players are getting older Genie in a bottle 63 Eugenie Bouchard

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Tony Minnis Discusses Lawsuit Against LSU In May of 2012, longtime LSU women's tennis coach Tony Minnis was terminated even though his tennis team had just qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 15th time.

After a hard fought first round loss to Texas A&,M , Coach Minnis was called into Athletic Director Joe Alleva's office and told after 21 years, his contract would not be renewed.

Mr. Alleva also never gave Coach Minnis a reason for his termination. Six months later Tony Minnis ended up filing a lawsuit against LSU. I caught up with Tony Minnis and had an interesting Q and A with him.

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et us explore the history and biography of Tony Minnis. Tony Minnis was the exhead women’s tennis coach at Louisiana State University. Minnis played high school tennis at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge and collegiately for ULL. As a player, Minnis competed in the 1988 NCAA Team

Let us explore the history and biography of Tony Minnis. Tony Minnis was the ex-head women’s tennis coach at Louisiana State University. Minnis played high school tennis at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge and collegiately for ULL. As a player, Minnis competed in the 1988 NCAA Team Championships and was a semifinalist at the NIT in 1986.

During his four years, the Ragin’ Cajuns had a 78-39 overall record and finished each year ranked in the Top 25. In his senior season, ULL was ranked 15th in the final polls and advanced to the sweet sixteen of the NCAA Championships. Mr. Minnis was the second winningest player in ULL history.

Minnis, succeeded, Geoff McDonald, as the Head Women's Tennis Coach at LSU in 1992. He graduated from ULL in 1988 with a degree in finance and earned an MBA in 1996. His teams have competed in 15 NCAA Tournaments. He was named 1997 SEC Coach of the Year and 1995, 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2009 regional coach of the year and is the winningest women's tennis coach in LSU history, with over 250 wins.

21 seasons at LSU: 285-234 (.549) LSU's all-time winningest women's tennis coach 2009 Southwest Regional Coach of the Year 2007 Southwest Regional Coach of the Year 2004 Southwest Regional Coach of the Year 1999 Southwest Regional Coach of the Year 1999 Louisiana Coach of the Year 1997 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year 1997 Louisiana Coach of the Year 1995 Southwest Regional Coach of the Year 1995 Louisiana Coach of the Year 1. What reason did LSU give for not renewing your contract?

I was called into Joe Alleva's office after returning from the NCAA tournament and told that my contract was not being renewed and that they were going in a different direction and

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“It is very clear and obvious that I was treated differently than other coaches at LSU� to go see Human Resources. That was it!!

2. Did you receive any warning that your job was in Jeopardy?

Not at all, I received a bonus that same month of my termination for qualifying for the NCAA tournament for what LSU referred to as athletic excellence and I did not receive an evaluation the year prior to termination (2010-2011 year).

3. How many times did your teams qualify for the NCAA tournament?

Fifteen different times, as of matter of fact, 15 of my last 18 years which is more than any other SEC west school during that time frame.

4. How many times were you named Coach of the Year?

I was Regional Coach of the Year 5 times in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2007, and 2009. This award is given to 8 Coaches across the

Nation for each Region and it also nominates you for National Coach of the Year. I was also SEC Coach of the Year in 1997.

5. Did you Coach any successful players?

Yes, I coached 10 All-Americans including Megan Falcon who was ranked number 2 in the country in 2007 and as high as number 1 in the country in 2008 and Bruna Colosio who finished top 10 in the country in 2000 and 2001. Also, Suzanna Rodriguez, who was two time All-American and reached the Quarterfinals of the NCAA in 1994.

6. Why do you think it is racial discrimination that you were terminated for?

It is very clear and obvious that I was treated differently than other coaches at LSU based on the documentation and evidence I've gathered throughout the time that the

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I did with no Head Coaching experience. I'm happy that she is making the money, and I think she will do a fine job, it's just clear to me that I was under paid.

8. LSU athletics generates millions of dollars, why were the tennis facilities so poor and there no indoor?

I'm not really sure, but the very first thing that incoming athletic director Joe Alleva voiced to me when he was hired in 2008 is that it is a necessity to build us a indoor tennis facility and upgrade our outdoor facility, so that we could recruit comparable kids to other SEC schools.

incidents occurred. I always carried myself in a first class manner and approached the athletic administrative officials with the utmost respect and professionalism. The way I was treated by the athletic administration was completely inexcusable.

7. Did you have any concerns while coaching at LSU that you voiced to the Administration?

Yes, my main concerns were the lack of facilities (especially indoor, there was none) and my salary. LSU(along with Auburn) was the only school in the SEC not to have any type of on-campus indoor facility as of 2001, then Auburn built a indoor facility in 2007.

This was a very difficult situation because when it rained or dealt with cold weather, we had really no place to practice. The only other option was another facility about 30 minutes off campus. In the summer of 2008, I learned my salary was not up to par with other Coaches in the SEC and at LSU considering a Coach of my tenure. At a 2008 Board meeting, Board member Dottie Reese asked why my salary lagged behind the rest of the coaches at LSU and LSU responded by saying my salary was about 5th in the SEC which I later found out was untrue. As a matter of fact, the new Women's Tennis Coach, Julia Sell, is making anywhere from 25k-35k more than

9. Did you have any concerns when Joe Alleva was hired considering the Duke Lacrosse incident that just happened back in 2006?

I had several people warn me about him, and I read on the Duke Lacrosse scandal and was concerned on how he fired the coach and dismantled the program before he had all of his facts; but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was not until my second meeting with him that I really became concerned.

10. What happened in that meeting?

I voiced some concerns of events that had just transpired and when I tried to explain the situation to him, he cut me off and said "You can always get another job".

11. How did you respond to that comment?

I was floored and insulted! I told him if he wants me to get another job, I would because I have an MBA and don't need to be treated like this.

12. What did he say to that?

He walked around the desk, shook my hand, and said I want you as my Coach. At that point, I shook his hand and walked out of the office.

13. What was your relationship like with Miriam Segar?

It was very strange! I had a number of student-athletes over the years come to me and tell me that Miriam was out to get me so to be very careful. It's now very clear to me that she had issues with me being the Head Women's tennis Coach at LSU, I never really trusted her.

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“I had several people warn me about him, and I read on the Duke Lacrosse scandal�

14. What about Eddie Nunez?

I always felt as though Eddie never really cared about the tennis program and that it was more of an agitation that took him away from football and basketball. I always felt like I was annoying him when I would voice concerns that were legitimate.

15. Tell me about your Evaluation in 2008?

We had a nice year, finishing 27th in the Country and as high as 21. We qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 13th time in 14 years; beat Washington State in the 1st round before losing to California-Berkeley in the 2nd round. On my evaluation, I received a Needs Improvement (below average).

16. How did you respond?

I was shocked!! It made no sense to me whatsoever.

17. What about your Evaluation in 2009?

We had an even better year! We finished 24 in the nation and got as high as 16, upset Florida for the first time in school history, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 14th time in 15 years, beat Long Beach in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing in the second round to Stanford. I was also named Regional Coach of the year for the 5th time. Again, on my evaluation, I received a Needs Improvement (below average).

18. How did you respond this time?

I was floored again and set up a meeting with Mr. Alleva and also emailed him asking what are the expectations of the tennis program at LSU? 18. What was his response?

Mr. Alleva responded with a letter stating that LSU Women's Tennis should be a top 10

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22. How did you respond?

I consulted with a couple of attorney friends' of mine and then contacted Jill Craft who is an outstanding attorney.

23. You recruited Olivia Howlett who was the number 1 Junior college player in the country, what happened with her eligibility?

We signed Olivia in April of 2010. In early August, the NCAA cleared Olivia to come to LSU. Olivia then came to LSU expecting to have 2 years of eligibility. About two weeks later, LSU's compliance department called me into their office and told me that the NCAA had made a mistake and Olivia had committed a violation, they had called the NCAA and told them that they had made a mistake, turned her in, and she was now ineligible. I asked what the violation was and LSU responded that she had surpassed the tennis rule by a few months. The tennis rule at the time stated that a student-athlete has a one year grace period before they have to go to school and Olivia had violated the rule.

program and makes the sweet 16 yearly.

20. What did you think of his response?

What was interesting is that a few months later on a TV talk show, Mr. Alleva stated that his tennis teams at LSU cannot compete for championships due to the lack of an indoor facility which makes it difficult to recruit the top kids; therefore it will be difficult to recruit the top kids until LSU gets an indoor. Mr. Alleva not only made statements to hurt our recruiting, but also acknowledged that it would be very difficult to be a 10 ten program under these circumstances. I have his interview on tape.

21. At what point did you hire an attorney?

In 2008, after I got reprimanded for the purchase of motivational books for my team to read over Christmas, which was considered an NCAA violation, even though I’ve done it twice before in previous years and the accusation of stealing $14.00 and no money. The end of the reprimand stated that the program was going in the wrong direction even though we had just won the SEC west, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 12th time in 13 years, Megan Falcon was the number 1 player in the country at one point that year, and I had just been named Regional Coach of the year.

24. How did you respond?

I thought LSU overreacted and should have made an attempt to solve the situation since this was a very minor and the NCAA had already cleared her. I thought that a penalty should be given, but compared to other more damaging violations; I thought this was very petty. The penalty was for an entire year and Olivia would have to transfer because the SEC has a rule that you must have 2 years of eligibility to even be on scholarship.

25. How did Olivia handle the situation?

She was devastated. I asked LSU to appeal and they did and lost. I then asked LSU to appeal again and they didn't want to because they felt as though we had no chance. After going back and forth with them, LSU finally appealed again and lost again. I then contacted Olivia's mom who contacted the NCAA and she was ruled eligible. They issued a penalty; however, her mother accomplished what an entire Compliance department could not.

26. What were your thoughts around this time?

It was very clear and obvious that the

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athletic department were retaliating and discriminating against me. I felt like I was treated differently from the other coaches.

27. What happened next?

I asked the athletic administration for all the salaries in the SEC, and voiced concerns about my salary. It was very clear and obvious that my salary was below par.

28. In your lawsuit, you state that policies were fabricated, explain?

I received a reprimand in the spring of 2012 for making a player run for being an hour and a half late, while running she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital, in the letter of reprimand, I was admonished for not following a policy that a trainer must be present during physical activity. I knew that the policy was nonexistent. I then emailed Joe Alleva, Eddie Nunez, and Miriam Segar, asking for the copy of the policy which was in my letter of reprimand. They responded, with a copy of a policy, which was vastly different than what I was reprimanded for. I was also reprimanded for not assessing a student-athlete that showed up late, even though LSU had never trained me in CPR and the NCAA requires every institution to train their coaches in CPR and for 21 years I had never been trained. It was very clear to me that they were trying to frame me. It's interesting that they started requiring all their coaches to become certified in CPR, after the incident I had with LSU! 29. Did you ever speak to the Administration?

I set up a meeting with Joe Alleva, Eddie Nunez and Miriam Segar, and voiced my concerns about the inaccuracies and inconsistencies in this letter of reprimand.

Within 5 minutes of me talking, Joe Alleva jumps up and says that this meeting is over.

30. What happened next?

I sent Mr. Alleva a letter rebutting the letter of reprimand and I never got a response. Six weeks later after qualifying for the NCAA tournament and receiving a bonus for what LSU calls "Athletic excellence" I was terminated. In addition, my emails were mysteriously deleted, but luckily, I had forwarded them to another account for safe keeping.

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that I had to file suit, because I had done nothing wrong.

34. How did it feel to be the first African American head coach hired in any sport in LSU history?

I just tried to roll up my sleeves and work hard and do the best job I possibly could! I did feel a responsibility to try and make sure I did things above board and follow the rules and be a team player! It's disappointing that in this day and age, my race factored into LSU's behavior. I’m just glad I had the foresight to document it!

31. What happened to your health insurance?

I was told I had been at LSU for 21 years, but in the State system for 19 years and 11 months and I was one month short of receiving health insurance for the remainder of my life. I was also told if I agreed not to file a claim, that LSU would give me one month to get to 20 years to receive my health benefits.

35. Tony, in closing, what would you like to share with our readers about the recent experiences you’ve had?

I'm just glad I had the foresight to document.

Most of my claims can be backed up by documentation, so I'm ready to move forward and go to court! In conclusion, I would like to personally thank Mr. Minnis for his time during out interview and hope that he is able to clear his name and Written by Jason G. Lampione (Jason is an international leader in sport and currently writes for multiple publications, such would include: Tennis World USA, SW Members Club, Tennis

“I just tried to roll up my sleeves and work hard and do the best job I possibly could!”

32. What was your response to that?

I told them I would see them in court!

However, once they saw my documentation, they went ahead and gave me my health insurance.

33. How has the job search been for college positions after the LSU incident?

I had applied for six jobs that I was clearly qualified for and only received two interviews even before I had filed the suit. On the two interviews, I was consistently asked: "Why were you fired, this doesn't make any sense considering your background and resume?" I, then, realized

Mind International, and Tennis Now! He has received numerous awards for excellence in both business and leadership development as a consultant. His primary passion and focus is coaching ranked players from around the world, while giving lectures in the areas of sport psychology, peak performance, business and leadership development, becoming an influence, high performance coaching, and mental toughness. Jason currently resides in the New York area and can be reached at jlampione@yahoo.com, if you should have any questions.)

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A New Dawn Or A Curtain Call?

Dolor Sit Amet

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hinatown comes out of nowhere, with a big portal of lacquer and twirls copied from the Forbidden City, but the spaces are narrow. There is much to see here, as in similar spaces in big cities around the world. Yet one need not go to Chinatown to see the Asian influence in Melbourne. China is everywhere in the city, and often not where you expect it to be.

The center of Melbourne, with its Victorian marble and glass skyscrapers, its towering trees and pretty fountains, has deep Anglo-Saxon roots. But the long Australian tradition of being welcoming to foreigners means that people from various cultural backgrounds can be seen on the streets of Melbourne. German engineers, Scandinavian technicians, Greek taxi drivers, and of course the Chinese. Lawyers, bankers, entrepreneurs…they are essential cogs in the engine that keeps Australia going.

They call the Australian Open the “Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific,” and here one can see why.

There have, of course, been proposals for a “fifth Slam” in China, to nobody’s surprise. The growth of Chinese influence is such that they are taken seriously in every endeavor. After all, one of the main reasons there are only four Slams is that nobody has had the organizational ability or financial resources to create a fifth. But that might soon change.

China, many argue, is ready.

But, as it stands, the Australian Open is the closest thing to a home Slam that Li Na has.

Perhaps that is why she always plays so well here. And finally winning, after coming so close twice in the past, changes everything for her. She played like she was in her own back yard against Cibulkova in the final, and it was clear that the title meant a lot to Na. Ironically, coach Carlos Rodriguez (who used to work with Justine Henin) wanted Na to be “less Chinese…happier and talkative, more free to feel and laugh.” But that doesn’t mean she wants to turn her back on her heritage. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“I'll end up being the ambassador of our sport,” she said after the win. “But my country is really ready to host a great tournament. The sponsors and future business opportunities are good. And I also hope good players. In fact, I'm sure of this."

The Chinese public greatly enjoyed the tennis at the Olympic Games in Beijing, and Li Na’s success on the WTA Tour has further raised the profile of the sport in the country. There are currently three significant tennis events in China – combined tournaments in Shanghai and Beijing, and a WTA tournament in GuangZhou. This year will see two more events being introduced in Shenzhen and Wuhan for the women, and a sixth is planned for Nanjing.

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The “Asian Swing” of the tennis Tours, as it has become known, consists of ten tournaments in South East Asia, with events in China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia. These events have proven to be particularly lucrative for the top players, who are paid high fees for attending. For that reason, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray are always willing to make the long trip.

"Never mind if it seems unrealistic," says Beijing tournament director, Zhang lfred, "the hypothesis of a fifth Slam is the direction to follow. Ten years ago, even the Beijing tournament would have seemed impossible, and yet we put it up and we have a broad base of fans."

Currently, tennis is China’s third most

Kumar Khanna, the head of the Asian Tennis Federation. “Eight is not enough today, it takes more than that.”

"Sooner or later it will happen," John Newcombe has said of the hypothetical fifth Slam. "They represent an area of the world in frenzied expansion, and would know to organize it well. Not only that, they could complement the other four tournaments, and make everyone happy."

As a rule, the Chinese have learned quickly and well, and it is always worth considering that money can create new traditions.

Written by Daniele Azzolini

Tennis is China’s third most popular televised sport, after football and basketball popular televised sport, after football and basketball, and the tennis equipment market is worth around $4 billion. There were 4 million tennis players in China at the end of the 1980, and now there are 16 million.

Insignificant figures for such a large country, but impressive when considered from a European perspective. It is as if one-third of the Italian population left the house with a racket every morning.

This growth, however, is tied to success in the professional game, and Li Na is not getting any younger. China has yet to produce a player that can follow in her footsteps, and the highest ranked male player is Wu Di, at 203 in the world.

There are ten Academies already operating in the country (Michael Chang opened his own one in 2008), but for true growth China needs more tournaments.

"The more tournaments, the more opportunities to close the gap," says Anil

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Wawrinka not looking to compete with Federer’s achievements Tennis World

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For years, Swiss tennis has only really been about one man but in winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, for once Stanislas Wawrinka put Roger Federer in the shadows.

Written by David Cox

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Wawrinka’s natural talent has long been known but for years it appeared doubtful that he would ever gain the physical and mental strength necessary challenge the best in the world. After beating Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal in succession to prevail in Melbourne, there’s no doubt that he’s finally reached the summit.

14-time Grand Slam time champion Pete Sampras believes that Wawrinka can remain at the top for some time to come and become a regular in the world’s top five.

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“I will always feels that I'm the Number 2, because Federer is the greatest player ever”

remain at the top for some time to come and become a regular in the world’s top five.

However Wawrinka himself says he’s not interested in any ranking rivalry with Federer.

“That's not my goal to be honest for the year,” he told Tennis World. “It doesn't matter if I'm Number 1 or Number 2 in Switzerland. I will always feels that I'm the Number 2 because he's the greatest player ever. So the working to be in a greater position than him, it's not my goal at all. I'm trying to do my best to improve my game, to improve my ranking for sure and that's all that is important.”

Federer enjoyed his best major performance in the past twelve months,

partner and Davis Cup team-mate, still sees him as a very serious contender in the slams.

“I'm not sure about playing amazing all the year, but I'm sure he has some chance to have a big shot maybe Grand Slam or winning bigger title that's for sure,” he said, “But when you see whack from the racquet that the top guys generate it's tough to stay with them all the year even for Roger, but again I'm sure it's going to be better than last year for him.”

Federer’s decision to appoint Stefan Edberg already looks like a very shrewd move based on his performances in Melbourne and Brisbane. His once sublime net game noticeably suffered in 2013 but during the Australian Open it appeared to back to its former sharpness

Wawrinka told the press that Federer was absolutely delighted for him winning the title in Melbourne.

"He has texted me, he has called me. He was quite crazy for me – really, really happy. He has been in that situation so many times so he knows the feeling and he was really, really happy. As I always say, he is my first supporter, he is always there.”

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“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, si dici consectetuer adipisci elit mpendere integre.”

His once sublime net game noticeably suffered in 2013 but during the Australian Open it appeared to back to its former sharpness and Federer also looked far more assured off his backhand in the baseline tussles. Wawrinka knows well how quickly the impact of a coach can change things.

He appointed Magnus Norman during the clay-court season last year and the move enjoyed immediate rewards. Since then Wawrinka has gone from strength to strength and while the likes of Murray, Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori have more high profile men in their corners, he knows that Norman is a master tactician.

“I think he’s good enough to help me,” he said. “He was Number 2 in the world.

He used to do a great job with Robin Soderling, bringing him from 30 to five.

He helped me a lot last year already and I'm sure he can improve a lot together and that's why we're working together.”

So what next for Wawrinka?

After his strong showing at the US Open in September, he will fancy his chances of a good run at either Indian Wells or Miami in March and given the ease with which he generally adapts his game to clay, he will feel he has a chance of potentially threatening the top four during the spring.

However as a Grand Slam champion, there will be an important psychological adjustment to make.

Wawrinka has spent his life as one of the ‘chasers’, the nearly men of the tour.

Now he’s one of the ‘hunters’ and plenty of players will be even more motivated to take the scalp of a major champion.

Helping him deal with that will be Norman’s next big test.

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The Siege

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ike the famous movie, this is the right way to define Stanislas Wawrinka’s victory at the Australian Open. With an outstanding performance, the Swiss has confirmed all the improvement made during last season in 2013, which ended with his first participation at the London Masters.

With an outstanding performance, the Swiss has confirmed all the improvement made during last season in 2013 The Swiss won defeating the first two best players of the world, a challenge that had been missing in history since 20 years, showing great solidity and an extraordinary play.

With this achievement, it seems that Wawrinka has taken off the label of very good player lacking something more and now he seems determined to enter the circle of top players.

Stan the Man had a quite easy path until the quarter-finals where the great favorite for the final victory Novak Djokovic was waiting for him. Last year it was an epic battle that ended after a five-hour match with the Serbian’s victory. The result wasn’t obvious, considering that the Swiss always engaged world’s number two, but Djokovic seemed in great shape and he started as the favorite.

After a quite simple first set, Wawrinka got over the tension and won second and third set hands down; at that point Djokovic was cornered and reacted sending the result to the fifth set.

This time the Serbian champion turns out less lucid and he makes two errors under the net in a crucial moment, letting the 28-year-old Swiss lead.

In semi-final, Wawrinka faces the Czech Berdych and in four sets he doesn’t waste the chance to get to his career’s first Slam final. On the other side there’s the always present Nadal, who had his first worries of the tournament in the quarter-finals with Dimitrov and in the semi-final destroyed a dull Federer.

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All the bookies made Nadal the favorite, considering that Wawrinka had never won a single set against the world’s number one before. Fate interferes and influences the final with a problem in the back for the champion from Manacor, so after four sets Wawrinka can exult and Rafa barely chokes back tears.

paid the price of deciding to play in Sydney before the Slam.

The first fiery Slam of the year is filed, with Wawrinka that at last can be considered with full rights a portent of this moment. With this tournament the Swiss got rid of the good-player label and he violently entered the circle of top players.

The Swiss seemed to be the one of some time ago, with his new racquet and Edberg’s cures, but he melted just against his nemesis Nadal, who nullified any type of attack from him.

What about the other players?

Murray played a good tournament, right after the back surgery he got to the quarter-finals where he surrendered to Federer’s shots; all in all a good tournament for him.

Nadal got to the final and unfortunately his back didn’t let him to go whole hog against Wawrinka but certainly the Spanish is always present to important appointments.

Also this year, Del Potro left the tournament too early, showing that he still has continuity issues, not because of Dimitrov played a very good tournament, physical problems in this case, maybe he losing in the quarter-finals against the paid the price of deciding to play in Sydney before the Slam.

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Spanish, making some errors due to inexperience in very important moments.

However a very good tournament that seems a positive signal for the Bulgarian’s definitive growth.

The same goes for the Czech Berdych who makes the most of the tournament.

The most disappointed is probably the Serbian, with Becker in his team we didn’t expect to see the usual mistakes anymore, those caused by a lack of mental strength during delicate moments of the game, but a wrong play under the net, in which his coach was a master, condemned him to the defeat.

With Wawrinka now world’s number three we expect great battles from him and we can have great expectations for a new season full of surprises.

Written by Alex Bisi Tennis World

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How many times have you heard on the news the rules to follow during the hot summer?

Probably also the tennis players in Australia thought about it during changeovers while trying to find some cool, since the first week of the Slam was characterized by many retirements and fainting on the court, (9 just in the first round) due to the hard play conditions during the hottest part of the day.

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Fiery Australia

“Until someone dies they’ll keep letting play with this heat. I saw also Snoopy on the court!”

Not all of them were caused by the hot temperatures, for instance Isner, Haas and Tomic, but certainly Frank Dancevic’s, who fell on the fiery court.

This was Dancevic’s comment on the situation: “Until someone dies they’ll keep letting play with this heat. I saw also Snoopy on the court!” The Canadian’s objection wasn’t the only one: he was joined by Tsonga, Wozniacki, Paire, Cornet and Mladenovic.

Even Martina Navratilova talked about impossible play conditions.

The average temperature was around 104°F, with sultry wind and not only the players paid the price but also a ball boy fainted and was helped by Gimeno Traver.

On January the 16th, Adelaide won the prize as hottest city in the world, proving that the conditions were really hellish for the athletes.

From the third day of the tournament it was decided to take a forced break during the matches in order to give the players the chance to recover and the conditions improved during the following rounds because it was possible to play with fresher temperatures; but people already wonder about next year.

Murray expressed his concerns about the possible change of the first Slam’s date, even if he suggested Atp and Itf to agree and find a solution. Next year they will probably confirm the rule of a forced break, because it is more difficult to find a solution, with all the variables of a Slam (number of matches, players, tv rights), different from the extension of time for the first rounds.

Andy Roddick, who has been out of the circuit for one year, has a different opinion; he told PowerShare Series that tennis players have to stop complaining since they should be prepared to push their body to the edge, they are well paid to do this and

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The American continued saying that athletes make a mistake when they train with cool temperature and then they go to Australia without being ready for what’s waiting for them.

We all have our opinions and Wawrinka, fresh winner, if we may say so, of the tournament will not remember the heat but his great sport performance where he definitively became a Top Player.

At this point, with the first Slam already given, we only have to refresh our ideas and jump back in this new season that has just begun, hoping for our favorites that the Devil doesn’t play more tricks.

Written by Alex Bisi

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Talking With Toni

An interview with Rafael Nadal’s coach and uncle The Rafa project is more than a decade old. It is jointly run by his uncle, Toni, and of course Rafa himself.

It is also a project that will not end until the day he retires.

The project crossed a critical threshold when Rafa turned 27, traditionally an ominous age for tennis players.

But if they were nervous at all, they didn’t show it, and the last year’s results have put an end to any fears they might have had about his age or his knees.

Indeed, they seem to prepare for each tournament as if they are just getting started. Rafa’s desire to win is endless, and as long as his health holds up, they will chase every record in existence – even if they would never admit it.

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uring the journey that led to world number one, at what time of Rafa’s development did you realize that he would become a high-level player and one of the strongest players in history?

"I have always thought that Rafa was very strong.

When we got to play on the ATP circuit, I was convinced he would become number one, but then Djokovic came out and I changed my mind. Rafa at that time was number two after Federer, Djokovic began to win in Australia, and when they played it was very close. Since Rafa was a child, I have always believed that he would become a great player. I have an anecdote: Years ago, we were at the home of Carlos Moya, who asked me: ‘Do you think he could be a player like Albert Costa, and win Roland Garros?’ I replied : ‘I don’t know.’ Rafael was 15 years old and I thought he could go as high as number 6 or 7 of the rankings. ‘Maybe he can be like Carlos Moya?’ I thought maybe. It was not an act of presumption, but because I always believed that he would reach great heights."

Since last year, Rafael has played more aggressively. Why has he done this? Is this change a further step in his rivalry with Djokovic?

"We have always adapted to every situation. When Rafael was a child, the idea was trying to try and communicate and always be very aggressive. He had great drive, hit the ball in front of his body and was always looking for the point. When he arrived on the ATP circuit, he was the youngest and had to play with people bigger and stronger than him. The change which occurred was dictated precisely by this: he began to hit the ball later, he had to withdraw because his serve was very weak and we realized that, in so doing, he started beating very strong players. And we continued in this direction.

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“The goal we have is to always play at our best. If you are playing your best, if you win, fine, otherwise we'll try again next time.”

If he did not win playing this way, we would have changed things. At that time he could run a lot, but now he can run much less, so again it is changing.

It is crucial to adapt to situations."

What are Rafa’s objectives for the near future? Many speak of the four Grand Slam titles that separate him from Roger Federer. Is this one of the main objectives?

"No, this is not one of our main goals.

The goal we have is to always play at our best. If you are playing your best, if you win, fine, otherwise we'll try again next time. Then, when we get the records, if they arrive, you feel the happiness inside you explodes.

And we want to continue to feel happy, maybe as early as the next trip to Australia. If Rafa wins, he has twice won all the Grand Slams. But the significance of the company, to be in the same class as Sampras, is wonderful. Moreover, Rafa has always worked hard, and has always believed that the only important thing was to improve. This has always been his obsession. And I've always said that tennis is not a sport that is complicated, especially because it offers solutions. I mean, everything that does not work…there is an answer, a solution. I think that the search for this solution is the thing that differs from the normal tennis champions.

They never cease to look for the right solution."

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"I do not know if there is a Spanish method, I have not used it and I followed my own method. Carlos Moya did not have the same game as David Ferrer, the play of Alex Corretja was not equal to that of Albert Costa. I do not think there is a Spanish method, what I believe is that in Spain there is a mentality that has turned into a successful chain: When Bruguera won Roland Garros, people realized that this was possible, after that Carlos Moya won, then Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Alex Corretja. I believe that all these players play in different ways. The thing to emphasize is that we, like all players on clay, we base our game on control."

And what other "right solutions" must Rafa find?

"There's always the problem of the serve. Rafa, you know, plays lefthanded, but is not naturally a lefty.

This causes a loss of speed in the movement of the service. We are trying to prevent it. It is not easy, but we have some ideas that might be useful."

What victory surprised you most in 2013?

"I was surprised by the season in its entirety. At Vina del Mar, the resumption, Rafa’s game was barely there. He reached the final, but it was not easy. And his knee hurt. It was in Acapulco, when he easily beat Ferrer in the final, that something clicked inside. The security of being able to still play at a high level."

Rafael is considered one of the most determined and mentally strong players in the world. How much space is there, in his coaching, for mental training?

"We place great importance on mental training. I believe in the work of every day, because when you get used to hard to work, it will work fine in all the breakers."

written by Jason D Alessandro

In your coaching, do you use the “Spanish method” that is so often talked about. Do you even believe there is such a thing as “a Spanish method”?

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Let´s learn from Rod Laver how to have the Killer Instinct It’s an attribute that all tennis champions have. Is it innate or learned?

Mild – mannered, kind and humble, Rod Laver, probably the greatest tennis player of all times, had it and used it to become the only player to win the Grand Slam of tennis twice. “When I was a kid, beginning to play well, a little better than the ordinary, I experienced the pleasure of playing in front of a crowd.

It was such a good feeling to be admired for my shots and I was in no hurry to leave the court."

Read the article http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Let%92s-learn-from-Rod-Laverhow-to-have-the-Killer-Instinct-artt345.html

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Stan, Juan Martin, David and the end of Fab 4

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e were almost getting bored. From 2010 to 2013 the only players that were able to win the Great Slam competitions were the four phenomena (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) who dominated the tennis scene over the last seasons. Now something seems to have changed.

The success of Wawrinka at the Australian Open, the return of Del Potro and Ferrer’s perseverance: after a long period dominated by the “Fab 4”, for the first time the protagonists are changing, which promises great spectacle for the year 2014 The second part of 2013 already showed something different: the early eliminations of Rafa Nadal (first round) and Roger Federer (second round) in Wimbledon, the semi – finals reached by Wawrinka and Gasquet at the U.S. Open, Del Potro’s supremacy in all Atp 500, Ferrer’s three consecutive finals at the end of the season. These last four mentioned players have changed the hierarchies in tennis world, and now at last, in addition to the Fab 4, there are more tennis players that can fight for the first Atp ranking’s positions.

All the signals given by the end of 2013 were confirmed by the results of the first new season’s tournaments: in the first week of the year Lleyton Hewitt came back to success in an Atp event beating Roger Fegerer in the final in Brisbane; Stanislas Wawrinka won in Chennai, while the following week Del Potro stood out in Sydney, confirming that he is at the same level of 2009, when he won his only, for now, Slam in New York.

But what happened at the Australian Open was completely unexpected for the first Major of the season: the winner wasn’t one of the favorites, the Fab 4 that triumphed in 34 Slams on 35. Stanislas Wawrinka defeated one after the other Djokovic, Berdych, Nadal and conquered the first Major of his career. This wasn’t only Wawrinka’s tournament, who now is number 1 of his country, passing Roger Federer in the ranking. Also King Roger was one of the positive protagonists of the Australian spectacle, winning in the quarter – finals against Andy Murray and then being defeated in semi – final against Rafa Nadal. The disappointment came from Del Potro who was defeated in the second round by Bautista Agut, although he rose in the Tennis World

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rankings thanks to other players’ misfortunes, whereas Ferrer achieved his fourth consecutive quarter – final in Slam, confirming his very high level.

The current ranking puts an end to the Fab 4’s domination. On top we find Rafa Nadal, followed by Novak Djokovic, but from the third position on we see the unexpected events. “Stan the Man” Wawrinka is third, Del Potro fourth and Ferrer fifth. Murray is only sixth, followed by Berdych and Federer, who’s eighth in the Atp ranking. If we take a look at the season’s ranking, the change is even more evident: the race is led my

Argentinian, after four victories in Atp 500 tournaments (unique record) in 2013, won his first title in this season and despite the disappointment in Melbourne he could be very dangerous for everyone on American hard courts; the Spanish keeps having an incredible regularity and he will unlikely fall this year, when it seems there will be more balance in the rankings; the Czech finally is one of those players who, if it’s a good day, can defeat anyone and he is showing improvements also from the point of view of perseverance and performance.

The current ranking puts an end to the Fab 4’s domination.

Wawrinka, followed by Nadal, Federer and Berdych, whereas the talented Bulgarian Dimitrov is surprisingly seventh, after having shown in Australia his qualities and reaching the quarter – finals.

So the new season lets us dream new scenarios, with a fight for the Atp ranking’s first position in a group of at least eight players, which includes Wawrinka, Del Potro, Ferrer and Berdych. The Swiss, who last year had already achieved two important semi – finals at the U.S. Open and Atp World Tour Finals, before the incredible Australian success in this beginning of 2014, is still undefeated in this season with 10 victories and he is supposed to be one of the main competitors for the top of the ranking at the end of the year; the

In the end, we should not forget the youngest Dimitrov and Raonic, who could be the surround of 2014 season that announces itself very interesting and full of surprises.

written by Mardo Di Nardo

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Sizzling Serena Tennis World

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The American has won 18 trophies since April of 2012, only one fewer than the 19 she won from 1999 to 2002

That Serena Williams is the undisputed queen of the WTA Tour is now well-founded, but the dominance of the world number one is even more evident if we take a closer look at her numbers. The American has won 18 trophies since April of 2012, only one fewer than the 19 she won from 1999 to 2002, and two fewer than she managed between 2003 and 2011.

Compared to Steffi Graf, Serena still has a long way to go: the German won 22 Slams and 107 overall tournaments.

But at age 32, Serena has no desire to retire. “I am having so much fun that I have not thought of an age when I could stop,” she said recently. “For sure I am not considering retiring any time soon.

I could continue playing for another ten years beyond 40. Ten years ago I would not have imagined it, but nothing is impossible."

She would need at least two more seasons like the last one if she is to even approach Graf’s records, but as Serena says, nothing is impossible. Of course, her early exit from the Australian Open has not helped, and her health is always a concern, but things are still looking up for the American.

This is especially true considering the current crop of female players. At Rome last year, I asked Serena to compare the players she is facing now to the ones from a few years ago.

“I think there is a big difference in the style of play,” she said. “For example, before there was someone like Mauresmo, who came to the net, and had a more varied game.

Now almost everyone plays from the baseline, and their styles are the same. But both generations are strong, no doubt."

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Her relative health over the past few years has helped, and Mouratoglou’s calming influence has also done much for her mental well-being. Her coach has helped her on a technical level too, improving her footwork and lateral movements in particular. She is now able to construct points more effectively, and wait for the right opportunity to unleash a winner.

She might not have the numbers to make a claim for the greatest player in history, but there is still an argument to be made. She is a much more complete player now than she ever was, and she really has no flaws to speak of. This is something that could never be said of anyone, even Graf. So, for me, Serena is the best player in history, and I believe she will prove me right in the coming years.

Written by Adriano S Tennis World

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Djokovic, what happens?

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any tennis players, or better, every player except one (Rafa Nadal) would be very happy to be in Djokovic’s ranking’s position. But the Serbian is not going through an exciting period from the point of view of results, at least in Slam’s tournaments. The defeat against Stanislas Wawrinka in Melbourne in the quarter-finals weighs a lot

The Serbian is world’s number 2, but at this moment he isn’t holding any Slam’s title and it seems as if he has entered a negative spiral that doesn’t let him win those challenges that really matter for the player who ended 2011 and 2012 on the top of the Atp ranking: Djokovic stopped a series of 14 consecutive semi-finals in Grand Slam’s tournaments, and most of all now Novak doesn’t hold any Major title.

In fact, more than 12 months have gone by after his last remarkable performance in a Slam, when last year he won in Australia. It seems as if Djokovic was cursed in the four most important tournaments in tennis season.

The Serbian has never really been infallible in Majors, considering that apart from 2011 he never got to win a Slam, different from the Australian Open. This year the problem is that he failed where he had never failed before and now he has to stand up again without counting on the 2000 points conquered in the southern hemisphere.

The reason why it is difficult to understand Nole’s situation, is that his crisis, if that’s what we can call it, is referred only to big tournaments. At the end of last year, the Serbian had dominated winning the Atp 500 in Beijing, the Masters 1000 in Shanghai and Paris, the Atp World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup, scoring 24 consecutive victories. Before those 24 matches he had lost only in one Slam (the US Open final against Nadal), now he stopped the series again in a Slam. Is it just a coincidence? That seems impossible.

What we can certainly say is that such a hard situation wasn’t faced by Djokovic since a long time. From the beginning of 2011 the Serbian always held at least one Slam’s title. The only positive aspect of this situation could be the bigger motivation in the Masters 1000 on hard court during the American spring and most of all, at Roland Garros, where over the last years Nole was always the favorite player: in 2011 he was still undefeated before the Parisian Tennis World

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event; in 2012 he could get the “Nole Slam” since he had already won the three previous Slams; last year he had conquered Monte Carlo and he seemed in better shape than anyone else, since Nadal wasn’t certainly in his best conditions. It must be said that since he never won the French Open, Novak has always been motivated in facing this tournament, but in this season, the fact that he hasn’t won a Slam in a long time could give him a further input to find his best tennis.

As of the ranking, Djokovic’s abstinence hasn’t had big effects: the Serbian, as already said before, is number 2 in the Atp ranking. Right now Novak has around 3700 points less than Nadal, who yet has, from this point on, many points to defend. On the contrary Djokovic, apart from

Dubai (Atp 500) and Monte Carlo (Masters 1000) has nothing to defend until October. Considering the Serbian’s great regularity and the big amount of points won at the end of last year, we could expect, if we make a prediction, Djokovic number 1 in October 2014, without winning any Slam.

Djokovic will certainly try to come back to success as quick as possible, since now he has to deal with more competitors for world’s first position, like Wawrinka and Del Potro, who seem in the best conditions ever. The ranking is still on the Serbian’s side, 2014 will tell us if he will get to be number 1 again or if he will be swallowed up by the group of chasers. written by Marco Di Nardo

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Beware Of The Baby

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he story of Stefan Kozlov starts in 2001, when at the tender age of three, he boarded a plane with his father Andrej in Macedonia and set off for the United States.

In Pembroke Pines, his father became part of the local tennis academy, which was located near the Federal Center of the USTA. Thus it was that Stefan's life became intimately linked to the hard courts of Florida and the USTA tennis program.

Run and gun Kozlov immediately impressed coaches and observers with his natural ease on the court. He is extremely agile and quick on his feet, but also has the flair and “run and gun” style of many of his American predecessors, like Andre Agassi.

Stefan is currently in the same program as fellow promising youngsters Michael Redlicki, Alexandra Kiick, Taylor Townsend and Grace Min. Guiding all of this talent is Nicolas Todero. Kozlov enjoyed his first international tennis experience when he triumphed in the "Aegon Teen Tennis" even in Bolton, England, a tournament reserved for elite under-14 players. However, he was three years younger than the competition. The management agency "Octagon" jumped at the chance to sign him, and immediately offered him a contract.

In 2012, aged just fourteen, he won his first ATP points in the Futures event in Godfrey, and a year later surprised everyone by nearly beating the experienced Michal Przysiezny on the grass at Newport.

He eventually lost, even though he was a break up in the third set, but he made a mark on everyone who saw him.

Przysiezny impressed It was ultimately the cramps that took over in that match, and his brother Boris was forced to help him to the locker room. However, the performance sparked a hope in observers that the United States had a real hope of a future start in the young man.

Przysiezny echoed everyone’s thoughts when he admitted: "A player of his age usually is not that good. I am lucky I didn’t lose."

The youngest Today, Kozlov is the youngest representative in the Top 15 junior rankings.

His success in the spring leagues of the United States, his quarter-final showing at Junior Wimbledon (where he was the second youngest player to enter), and his final appearances at Gerdau and the International Hard Courts Tennis World

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in College Park, all point to a very bright future for this young man. And while he plays like someone much older, he also seems to have a very mature mind. “I want to learn from every experience,” he said after his loss in Newport. “I learned after Newport that playing against pros of a certain level is very tough. They are stronger in every shot and serve much harder than I can. But I want to keep learning.”

We can only hope that he does indeed keep learning, and that we keep hearing his name for many years to come.

Written by Andrea Facchinetti Tennis World

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Interview with Nick Kyrgios Kyrgios was born in Canberra, Australia.

Kyrgios' father George is of Greek heritage and his mother Norlaila is from Malaysia.

Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios (Nick for short) is the third of three children. His brother, Christos, is a lawyer, and his sister, Halimah, is an actress.

Kyrgios attended Radford College until Year 8 and completed his Year 12 certificate in 2012 at Daramalan College in Canberra.

Kyrgios was a promising Basketball player and had represented ACT and Australia in Basketball until he made the decision to focus solely on his Tennis when he was 14 years old.

Kyrgios gained a full scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012 where he was able to further develop his tennis.

Kyrgios is an avid fan of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.

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hen did you start playing tennis?

I started playing tennis at 6 years old.

Why did you choose tennis as a career?

At first I didn’t really want to play

tennis. Mum used to take me to the courts and put a racket in my hand and make me play.

Does anyone else in your family play tennis?

Not anymore, but my sister and brother used to play as well.

When did you realize you wanted to become a professional tennis player?

I guess once I was about 16 and I started breaking through in the juniors. I had always loved tennis and had a passion to play but at that stage it became pretty clear to me that it was something that I wanted as a career.

What is your routine before a match? Do you have any superstitions?

Apart from warming up and general pre match preparation I will always have my beats on cranking music.

What is never missing from your tennis bag?

My beats (headphones).

Do you have a girlfriend?

How does your tennis affect your relationship?

Nah nothing official. Look, if I were to have one, she would need to be a person that knows how I am and what this sport means to me. That means supporting and lifting me up where they can and in no way make it harder. Being a professional and striving to the best is a tough journey so they’d have to be understanding of not only the time it takes out, but also the mental dedication.

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“I don’t really look at any part of the journey as ‘worse’. The things you face, you face for a reason. You can look at the down times negatively” Do you like reading?

If so, what kind of books do you prefer?

I read occasionally. If anything, generally biographies and stories about influential people lives.

Tell us something about your Facebook page.

After you finishing reading this interview, you are going to visit it and “like” it.

Tell us something about your website.

It has a blog on there that I update regularly. It’s a good place for my supporters to check out what I am up to and my thoughts on what’s currently happening in my life.

Who is your celebrity crush?

I’ve got a few.

What do you think about Genie Bouchard’s articulation of dating Justin Beiber?

Given what has recently surfaced I am not too sure, if they were actually to date, that it would last too long anyway...

Which WTA player would you like to go on a date?

Wait and see – I might ask her soon enough.

What has been your most memorable tennis moment?

It would have to be my loss to (Benoit) Paire in the second round of the

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Who is the best player you’ve ever faced?

Everyone on the tour is extremely talented and on their day anything can happen. Ranking wise though, the best player I have played was David Ferrer in the 2013 US Open.

Which is your favourite surface and why?

These days I don’t really have a surface preference. I have played some great tennis on every surface and I think one of the challenges of the game is being able to adapt. I enjoy playing on all surfaces. Some surfaces my suit my game more than others though.

Australian Open. I had all my friends and family come and support me in Margaret Court. Also, the amount of support I was getting from the Australian fans was incredible. The atmosphere was electric and I experienced some ridiculous emotions out there on court. I played some great tennis but obviously I didn’t come away with the win. On the positive side, the match taught me some invaluable lessons that will help me grow into a better player. Once again I appreciate all the support everyone gave me that night.

When was the worst patch of your tennis career?

I don’t really look at any part of the journey as ‘worse’. The things you face, you face for a reason. You can look at the down times negatively, or you can view them as challenges that force you to improve and get better. It’s during these times of struggle that you learn the most about yourself and really test how much it means to you. Those are the times that you build your strength.

What is the strongest part of your game? What about the weakest?

I’d say my serve is probably my strongest weapon. At this stage it would be my conditioning and physicality, but I am working overtime on that every day.

How many hours do you spend on the court every day? And in the gym?

It varies – on average it would be at least a couple in each.

What is your least favourite part of training?

I don’t have any, I love being challenged.

What is your favourite food?

I don’t have a favourite, there are so many foods I love eating. I really enjoy hoofing.

What is your favourite movie?

Pitch Perfect, Project X or Juwanna Man Who are your favourite actors?

Jonah Hill would be up there

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What was the last electronic gadget you bought?

Probably a charger for my iphone5 because I left mine on the plane on the way to France for Davis Cup. What do you think about the state of tennis in Australia?

It is exciting.

Your opinion on Bernard Tomic and Thansasi Kokkinakis Great young talents with their whole careers ahead of them.

How far they go is completely up to how hard they are willing to work.

What could be changed to make tennis in Australia bigger and better?

More involvement of kids from a young age. Involving tennis more in school PE programs.

Who is the most humorous tennis player?

(Novak) Djokovic Any players in particular you don’t get along with?

None at this stage.

Tell us something about your recent, gruelling match with Benoit Paire.

I need to get stronger, but I will never stop fighting.

When was the last time you cried?

Hurting my shoulder before the Brisbane International Now, we want no diplomacy here ;) Who is the best – Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray?

(Roger) Federer.

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Have you read Andre Agassi’s autobiography? What do you think about it?

Yes – I loved it. Honest, vivid and a true depiction of the life of a champion. These are the types of things that interest me in reading.

What are your tennis goals for 2014?

Keep improving on the court and in the gym. Keep developing my foundation whilst trying to improve my ranking and play good tennis.

Again, no diplomacy... Who is the best – Serena, Sharapova or Azarenka.

No diplomacy, but you didn’t ask me who is the best in regards to what?

There would probably be different answers for each category (Smiles)

If given a chance, which WTA star would you chose for mixed doubles?

Whoever is the current number 1 ranked doubles player at the time.

Who is the most beautiful tennis player in the world? "(Ana) Ivanovic" Who is the most beautiful tennis player in the world?

(Ana) Ivanovic Which is your favourite tournament?

Australian Open What sports do you play apart from Tennis?

Basketball

Do you read Tennis World? What suggestions do you have and where do you rate us on a scale of 10?

Yes I do. No suggestions I think everything you guys do is awesome.

I don’t have a rating for you because you are off the scale ;) Written by Vishal

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How to play against people with only a good forehand There is a very common kind of tennis player, especially in lower levels of competitive play, who you will come up against a lot in your travels.

What kind of tennis player, you ask? I am talking about the kind of player that only possess one of the two basic baseline strokes.

READ THE ARTICLE http://www.tennisworldusa.org/How-to-play-against-peoplewith-only-a-good-forehand-artt115.html Tennis World

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Old Guns Tennis World

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Interesting study from Australia: the Top 100 players are getting older

The 2014 tennis season got off to an interesting start in Brisbane, where former world number one Lleyton Hewitt beat fellow former world number one Roger Federer in the final.

It’s been three years since Hewitt’s last Tour-level success, and it seems as if it will not be his last. Both Federer and Hewitt are 32 years of age, although Rusty has many more injuries and ailments to show for it. The final was an emphasis of a fact that is becoming increasingly clear in modern tennis: age is not the hurdle it used to be.

One need only look at the Top 10 for confirmation of this, where two players (Federer and David Ferrer) have long since passed 30. Lurking just outside of the Top 10 is Tommy Haas, at the truly

ancient age of 35. But how can we explain this sudden surge in successful older players? A study by ISEAL (Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living), AIS (The Australian Institute of Sport) and Tennis Australia analyzed the last 35 years of the ATP rankings in an attempt to identify trends in long-term player development. The study’s objective was to identify the real facts on the evolution of tennis.

They found that the average age of the Top 100 has increased at a rate of about 1 year per decade over the past 35 years. This would seem like good news for most, but a closer look reveals that players shouldn’t celebrate quite yet. The results suggest that players They found that the average age of the Top 100 has increased at a rate of about 1 year per decade over the past 35 years.

This would seem like good news for most, but a closer look reveals that players shouldn’t celebrate quite yet.

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now take much longer to reach the Top 100 than they once did. Put simply, the Top 100 is like a bottleneck, with a very narrow entrance, and the youngsters are usually the ones that get stuck, at least initially.

Even the ATP has confirmed this. In 2013, only 4 of the 64 tournaments were won by players under 24, and the average of the Top 10 was 28 years.

What do you say to young hopefuls, like Australians Nick Kyrgios or Thanasi Kokkinakis? The road will be long, especially when compared to that of their predecessors.

Take Bernard Tomic, who at 18 years of age in 2011 reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, entering the Top 50. But since then his ranking has stalled. Are the criticisms leveled at

him always justified? What should his ranking be? In fact, Tomic is the fifth youngest player in the Top 200. Only he and the Czech Jiri Vesely are under 23 in the Top 100. It’s hard to say that he should have a better ranking, in the light of what his peers are doing. His critics should perhaps be more patient with him.

Spending one year on the court costs, according to estimates, between $121 000 and $197 000. Only about 200 players earn that much each year. The longer road to breaking even (by reaching the Top 100) means longer spent in financial insecurity. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Federations to identify the most promising juniors, since the gap between juniors and the pros is widening every year.

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Success within the shadows

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avid Ferrer has spent the vast majority of his career firmly in the shadow of an all-time great in Rafael Nadal. But in 2013, the 31 year old defied the march of time to enjoy the best season of his career.

Players are producing their best tennis in their late twenties and early thirties It seems to be a growing trend on the tour that players are producing their best tennis in their late twenties and early thirties. Newly crowned Aussie Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka’s form has been a revelation over the past twelve months and Ferrer has also got steadily better with age, winning his first Masters title in Paris at the end of 2012 before making the French Open final and hitting a career high ranking of No.3 last year.

“I don’t know,” Ferrer said, when Tennis World asked him for his secret.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve never had an important injury, like many players, and I have more experience with my serve and more confidence these days.

But I think that the most important thing is that I’ve never had an important injury.”

Ferrer credits his genetics for his ability to stay injury-free despite a punishing tournament calendar which sees him compete far more often than the likes of Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

“I’ve been always trying to work on my physique ever since I was young, as well as improving my game,” he said. “Maybe I’ve been born with genetic or physiological advantages as I’ve never had a major injury. But of course I work hard too and that plays a part.”

Ferrer insists that he won’t be slimming down his schedule even as he turns 32 in April and his insatiable appetite for hard work was drilled into him over the years by childhood coach Javier Piles, who he split up with just before the new season after a decade on tour together. He says he’s determined to once again Tennis World

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finish the year inside the top five but there’s no question that it will be harder than ever for him this season with Federer returning to form, Wawrinka showing he’s capable of toppling the elite on the big stage and Juan Martin Del Potro also eyeing more glory.

Ferrer enjoyed a solid fortnight at the Australian Open but he was outgunned in the quarter-finals by a determined Tomas Berdych in four sets. “I’m at a good time in my career,” he insisted.

“My goal is always to finish the year ranked inside the top five and to play enough matches to achieve that. But I don’t want to think about the future. I want to focus on the present, and right now I have more confidence and more experience, especially with my serve,

than ever before so I believe I can do some big things.”

While Wawrinka has admitted to spending much of his career plagued by self-doubt, if Ferrer has ever suffered from such an affliction he’s hidden it well. Despite his relative diminutive stature, the 5-foot-9 Spaniard has always compensated with a bristling intensity and warrior spirit used as an example by coaches around the world.

Like Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova (who at 5’2 is one of the shortest players on the WTA Tour), Ferrer has always been determined to show that basketball-player proportions are not always necessary to succeed in tennis and as a youngster he was inspired by the success of Juan

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Carlos Ferrero and Lleyton Hewitt.

“Ferrero was world No. 1 and won a Grand Slam, and he’s similar height and build to me,” he said. “Of course, the game evolves every year, and the players become taller and taller, but I still reached No. 3 [a new career high] in the world in 2013. I try to be solid and consistent. If you don’t have [a big serve], you’re usually better at controlling the ball or you’re more agile moving around the court. If you’re tall, agile and you have a big serve like [Novak] Djokovic or [Andy] Murray, then that’s ideal.”

Ferrer has always based his game

It’s that attention to detail which has seen the Spanish dominate men’s tennis over the past decade but Ferrer feels there are additional explanations too.

“We have very good coaches and the weather in Spain is perfect for playing tennis,” he said. “It’s really important that you develop good technique as a junior to get a good foundation for your game and our junior coaches are excellent. I think that it’s also a generational thing. Sweden once dominated tennis, now they have no players at the top. Over the past ten years, Spain have been very fortunate

“Spain has very good coaches and the weather in Spain is perfect for playing tennis” around a strong return with Federer once describing him as the best receiver in the world.

“I don’t have a big serve, I don’t have a big shot but I have a very good return,” Ferrer said. “It was something I practised a lot as a young player with my first coach and still, I’m trying to improve it every day because it’s an important weapon for my game. My coach would serve to me from the middle of the court and I tried my best to react as quickly as possible. It’s such an important shot and it’s taken a lot of work over the years to get it to this point.”

to have produced some really outstanding players and that requires a lot of luck as well.”

Written by David Cox

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An Interview With Juan Carlos Ferrero A born winner, humble and true to himself

A born winner, humble and true to himself. These are some of the words and phrases people have used to describe the former world number one from Spain, Juan Carlos Ferrero. He is often known as "Juanki," a nickname he picked up in Villena in 1989, where he trained with Antonio Martinez Cascales. A few years ago, he built his house near his tennis academy "Equelite," also in Villena, which is where we met him for a chat.

After your retirement, how do you keep yourself busy? We saw you play a little bit with Nicolas Almagro, as a sort of coach‌ The truth is that I do a little of everything. I'm here trying to help the boys in the academy, with Tita Torro, also with Nico and the tournament in Valencia. That is taking up a lot of time.

Speaking of Tita, she is one of the most promising players the Academy has produced. How do you see her future?

Tita is playing really well, although she is not getting great results at the moment. But I saw her train this week and she is playing well. I wish the best for her.

What did it feel like when you were number one in the world?

I think that it is something that takes some time to get used to. If you do not get good results, you cannot get to be number one. So, it came at a time when I was playing great and this ranking was a result of my victories.

The truth is that when you get up there, you cannot believe that you actually accomplished what you had been dreaming of for so long.

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What was the most special moment of your career?

I'd say there were two. The first was the Davis Cup in 2000, which was great for me and the team. Second there was Roland Garros, the one tournament that I chased for a long time and finally won. Becoming number one afterwards was also very special.

How do you see Spanish tennis these days?

I think the Spanish tennis in the last 10-12 years has been and still is at a very high level. There are also young people who are entering the real world now and have to work a lot, but they are playing well and I have confidence that they will play at a high level.

Written by Stefania Grosheva

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An Interview With Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Guillermo Garc铆aL贸pez (born 4 June 1983 in La Roda, Castile-La Mancha) is a professional male tennis player from Spain.

He has won two singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 23 in February 2011.

To date, he has collected eight wins over top-10 players, including World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in 2010, and World No. 4 Andy Murray in 2012.

He is good friends with fellow Spanish tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero, and both train at the JC Ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy in Villena, Spain.

H

ello Guillermo! One of the main causes of the many injuries in tennis is the length of the ATP season in general, and the hard court season in particular.

What do you think about this?

I think that has always been demanding. I spend a lot of time on the court and I think every year has been very hard. Personally, I have played more than 30 weeks every year.

Do you have plenty of time to recover between tournaments?

I spend so much time travelling around. You make many trips and you are often tired.

You travel to many countries where the food is different. What do you like to eat? Are you very strict with your eating habits?

Not too much (laughs). I try to eat the same regardless of where I am. Breakfast is always the same...I always eat before every match, I relax a bit and I keep a good routine.

Normally, what are your habits before each match?

After I warm up, I really like to focus and be alone.

Isolation is a routine.

Which of the players on the Tour are the toughest to play against?

I have played against the Fantastic Four and the truth is that Federer and Djokovic are the hardest, at least from my point of view. When I play against them do not seem to have any chance of success.

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“This is an individual sport and you normally do not get to build true friendships.”

Who are you close to on the Tour?

Honestly, there are various people with whom I have a good relationship.

Although this is an individual sport and you normally do not get to build true friendships, but I have great relationships with David Ferrer and Albert Montanes, Oscar Hernandez, Pablo Andujar.

I believe that with the group of Spaniards I get on well with everyone.

When you want to relax and unwind, what are your hobbies? I love going to the movies. Walking into a room and sit quietly to watch a movie that you like on a big screen relaxes me so much.

What is your favorite movie?

My favorite movie is "Gladiator."

Where did you get the nickname "Willy?"

It comes from Guillermo, I think that William is my name in English, and it’s the diminutive form of that.

Finally, what are your goals for 2014?

To be better at every level, physically and mentally. And I would like to play more consistently.

Written by Stefania Grosheva

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In Search Of Perfection

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he perfect season. A single year in which a player wins every tournament in which they participate. Not just all the Slams, but all the other events as well. Not a single loss in a single match for a whole year. It is a dream, secret and shameful, for each player, but since the Open Era started nobody has been able to

From the point of view of win-loss percentage, no player since 1996 has done better than the latest version of Serena Williams even come close. Even last year, when Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams had two of the best seasons in tennis history, with two Grand Slam titles each, they still suffered several losses. Their campaigns will undoubtedly rank among the best seasons of the Open Era, but they were far from perfect. But looking back over the past 45 years of tennis, history, we will find only a few that were better.

The Best…since 1996 From the point of view of win-loss percentage, no player since 1996 has done better than the latest version of Serena Williams: 95.1% of matches won (78 of 82). In 2012, Serena managed 93.5% (58 of 62), and ten seasons ago, when she won three Slams, 91.8 % (56 of 61). In 2003 her record was 92.7% (38 of 41).

How can her record be better now than a decade ago? One reason is possibly that the level of competition has dropped. Her maturity has also helped her win matches where she might have faltered before.

Last year, Nadal also compiled his best ever season.

He boasted a record of 75-7 (91.5%), improving on 2005’s 79-10 (88.8%, and a Grand Slam), 2008’s 82-11 (88.2%, two Grand Slam titles) and 2010’s 71-10 (87.7% and three Slams).

However, extraordinary as his season was, a number of Federer’s seasons were better than Nadal’s, as was Djokovic’s 2011.

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The lords of the Slam But what are the criteria for determining the magnitude of a season?

On the whole, performance at Grand Slams is perhaps the most important measure. In this, Rod Laver in 1969, Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf in 1988 are unassailable, having achieved the Grand Slam.

In '69, however, the left-hander from Rockhampton, despite winning 18 tournaments, lost fifteen meetings (against 117 wins, 87.2%).

In 1988, Graf added to her four Slams an Olympic gold medal, achieving what has since become known as the "Golden Slam."

victories). In 1983 she won sixteen tournaments and achieved a winning record of 98.9%. She lost only one match, at Roland Garros in the second round against Kathy Horvath, then number 45 in the world. Another painful loss came in 1984, where she lost at the Australian Open against Helena Sukova. It was only one of two losses the whole year, but put an end to her Grand Slam ambitions. But one cannot speak of Martina without mentioning her historic rival, Chris Evert. The champion of Fort Lauderdale had her greatest successes before the explosion of Navratilova, and was never able to win more than two Majors in a single season.

Martina Navratilova had perhaps the most nearperfect seasons of any player The then nineteen year-old German won 72 matches out of 75 (96%), yielding only twice to Gabriela Sabatini and once to Pam Shriver. Graf’s best year in terms of win percentage came in 1989, when she won 97.7% of her matches. She lost only two matches out of 88, against Sabatini and Arantxa Sanchez. She also had two defeats in '87 and in '95. In the latter year she won three Slams.

Martina the Great Martina Navratilova never won all four Slams in the same year, despite winning six Slams in a row between '83 and '84. She had perhaps the most near-perfect seasons of any player, having lost a maximum of five matches each year between '82 and '86 (she lost only 14 matches against 442

Her best year was 1978, when she son 56 matches out of 59 (94.9%). That year she won only the US Open.

The unstoppable Seles To return to Graf, Steffi was certainly helped, in the latter part of her career, by the forced stoppage of Monica Seles, who between '91 and '93 (before being stabbed by a spectator) won seven out of nine Grand Slams, with only one defeat in the Majors (against Graf at the Wimbledon final in 1992.

Seles lost six matches out of 80 (92.5%) in '91, and five out of 75 (93.3%) in '92.

Before the explosion of Serena Williams, the last player to win three Slams in a year was Martina Hingis in 1997.

The young Swiss, because of a previous fall from a horse, lost the

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final of the French Open against Iva Majoli. That year, she lost a total of five matches out of 76 (93.4%). Ten years later, Justine Henin was beaten only four times in 67 matches (94%), winning two Majors.

1984 – Magic Mac When it comes to the men, one cannot talk about legendary seasons without mentioning John McEnroe’s now mythical campaign of 1984.

Big Mac played at such a level that it is unlikely to ever be repeated.

In fact, it may be that he burned himself out a little that year, as he never won a Slam again after 1985.

The '84 season saw him win Wimbledon (6-1, 6-1, 6-2 over Connors in the final), the US Open (6-3, 6-4, 61 over Lendl) and eleven other tournaments, with an incredible 82

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Behind McEnroe is another left-handed American, Jimmy Connors, who had a great year in 1974 Jimmy at his best Behind McEnroe is another lefthanded American, Jimmy Connors, who had a great year in 1974.

Jimbo won three Grand Slam titles (and could not play at Roland Garros, because he was under contract with World Team Tennis), twelve other tournaments, and won 93 of his 97 matches played (95.9%).

The Belleville fighter only lost in the final in Omaha against Karl Meiler, in the quarter-finals of Nottingham against Stan Smith, the third round of Montreal against Juan Gisbert, and in the quarter-finals in San Francisco against Onny Parun.

Reigning Roger Rounding out the podium is Roger Federer.

The champion from Basel has won three Slams in a single year three times (2004, 2006, 2007).

However, his best year statistically was 2005, when he “only” won Wimbledon and the US Open. Roger arrived at the last match of the year, the Masters final against David Nalbandian, with the chance of equalling McEnroe’s 1984 record. After winning the first two sets, however, the Argentine came back to eventually prevail 7-6 in the fifth set.

The other defeats came against Safin in Melbourne, Gasquet in Monte-Carlo and Nadal in Paris.

He ended the year 81-4 (95.3%).

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The year before Roger also had a great year, winning 92.5% of his matches (74-6) and eleven titles.

The next season he won 94.8% of matches played (92-5), with twelve trophies. Bjorn Borg is also worth mentioning in this regard.

In his best year, 1979, he won 84 of 90 matches, with a 93.3% conversion rate.

He won 13 titles and two Slams.

Other notable seasons While Ivan Lendl stayed at or near the top of men’s tennis for many years, he never really had a spectacular season, statistically speaking.

He always lost at least six matches every year, with his best record being 86-6, or 92.5%.

Novak Djokovic’s 2011 season saw him win 76 matches with just six losses, or a 92.1% win rate. The Serb started the season with a 41-match winning streak (only one less than McEnroe in 1984).

He lost to Federer in the semi-finals at Roland Garros. He slowed down a bit in the second half of the season, but still won three Slams and ten titles.

What about Mats?

So far, we have not mentioned Mats Wilander who, like Connors, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, won three of the four Slams in a single year (1988).

The Sweden won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open, as well as Miami (then sort of fifth Major, with a draw of 128 and best of five set matches), Cincinnati and Palermo.

To focus on the more prestigious targets, however, Mats did not play much that year.

His final record was 53-11, with a rate of 82.8%. Statistically, he had a better season five years prior, winning nine titles, a Slam and going 82-11 (88.2%).

The best players in the 1990s had surprisingly tame seasons when compared to those mentioned above.

Andre Agassi’s best year was 1995, with a record of 89% (73-9). Pete Sampras, (86.5%, 77-12, in 1994), Boris Becker (88.9%, 64-8, in 1989) and Stefan Edberg (86.7%, 78-12, in 1987) also never had a “Mac-like” season.

The incomparable Suzanne Even though it did not happen in the Open Era, Suzanne Lenglen’s record between 1919 and 1926 is worth recounting.

During that time, she lost only one match.

Truly an accomplishment the likes of which we will never see again. But then, perhaps it is a good thing, since it would be boring if we always knew who would win a tournament.

Half the fun lies in the upsets!

Written by Fabrizio Fidecaro

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Fifteen Minutes

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very tennis player, amateur or professional, dreams of reaching his moment of fame. Some chase it more than others, but everyone chases it.

Andy Warhol said that everyone is entitled to fifteen minutes of fame, and he was very right For Roberto Bautista-Agut, those 15 minutes started at the Australian Open in 2014. Though he had made some headlines last year for his many victories on the Challenger circuit, he very much announced himself to the world when he ousted world number four Juan Martin Del Potro in Melbourne.

Del Potro was considered a dark horse to win the whole event, so his early exit caused shockwaves around the tennis world. That was in the second round.

Next up, Bautista-Agut ousted talented journeyman Benoit Paire, to book himself a place in the fourth round against young phenom Grigor Dimitrov.

He lost in a tight match to the Bulgarian, but he had made it clear that he would be a force to be reckoned with going forward.

But who is he really? Nicknamed "Bati," is a native of Castellón de la Plana in Valencia, Spain. He is the son of Joaquin Bautista, a former football player and current banker, and Esther Agut, who runs a clothing store. Roberto has a passion for horses and football, and he almost made the latter into a career.

He even tried out for youth teams related to his favourite clubs: Villarreal and Castellon. But ultimately, when it came down to making a decision, he opted for tennis over soccer.

He does not have the talent of the top players, but his stubbornness and commitment to hard work has seen him quickly rise to the Top 100. And, of course, his greatest tournament to date was the Australian Open. BautistaAgu’s game is simple, but it proved very effective in defusing Del Potro’s incredibly powerful play.

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For much of his career, Bautista-Agust has spent his time on the edge of the Top 100, forced to play Futures and Challenger events to keep his dream alive. It was certainly not easy, since the rewards in those event are meagre and the competition fierce. However, he proceeded to be successful enough to justify an extended stay on the Tour.

Between 2007 and 2010 he won ten Futures titles, nine of which came in Spain (the other one came in Tripton, England). In 2012, he managed to win three Challenger trophies, two of them in Italy, in a stretch that brought him to the Top 100 for the first time. At the beginning of 2013, he turned some heads in Chennai, where he beat Tomas Berdych en route to reaching the final, which he lost to Janko Tipsarevic.

His game is somewhat different to that of his most famous compatriots, like Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer.

He hits flatter and plays more aggressively than those stalwart defenders. He wants to control the exchange and move his opponent around as much as possible. His backhand in particular is very flat, and he takes the ball very early indeed.

Bautista-Agut’s game has been built slowly and painstakingly over many years. He might not have the raw talent of many of his peers, but his passion and dedication have more than made up for that. If Rafael Nadal has taught us anything over the past decade, it is that a decent amount of talent can take you to the top of the world if you work hard enough, and work is something that Roberto Bautista-Agut is not afraid of.

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She realized that she had become popular when she received a letter last Halloween.

In it was a picture of a little girl dressed like Eugenie Bouchard, including Nike sneakers and a blonde wig.

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Genie In A Bottle

Genie was twelve years old when she moved with her mother to Ft Lauderdale

She realized that she had become popular when she received a letter last Halloween. In it was a picture of a little girl dressed like Eugenie Bouchard, including Nike sneakers and a blonde wig.

Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard is a big star in Canada. She hails from an affluent part of Montreal, where the average annual income per capita is $210 000.

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney lives just a few houses away from Eugenie. It is a place of beautiful villas, an enclave of happiness within the West Side of Montreal.

She comes from an upper class family.

Mike, her dad, is a financial advisor for several major banks. Julie, her mother, is Genie’s permanent traveling companion.

Growing up, Genie also liked basketball, but her success in tennis quickly put an end to any thoughts about that other sport. She was just nine years old when she won a

tournament for Under-12 players in Paris.

From that moment on, everything was about tennis. Genie was twelve years old when she moved with her mother to Ft Lauderdale, so that she could work out in Nick Saviano’s tennis academy. Then, when Canada opened a federal center back home, they returned.

Genie has a twin sister, Beatrice, a brother, William, and another little sister named Charlotte. Not long into her tennis career, Genie met and befriended Laura Robson, who hosted her at her home in London during the Junior Wimbledon event. The two spent a lot of time together, both on and off the courts, despite the fact that friendships in women’s tennis are few and far between.

But the two did not let the traditions of their peers get in their way. For an example of their fun-loving natures, one simply needs to watch "Laura and Genie's Gangnam Style," which has

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racked up nearly 500 000 views on Youtube. It featured a number of tennis stars, including Maria Sharapova, Fernando Velasco, JoWilfred Tsonga, Sam Stosur and Heather Watson.

Blonde, tall, tanned and beautiful, Genie manages to charm those around her without feeling the need to flaunt her extravagance. She supports the Miami Heat, loves Dwayne Wade, and has a special place in her heart for a certain young male singer. After beating Ana Ivanovic in Melbourne, she revealed her secret crush.

“If you could choose, with who would you like to go out to dinner tonight?” a journalist asked of her. "With Justin Bibier," she coyly replied. For her efforts, she even got a Tweet from the prince of pop. It stated simply: "Good luck."

Soon afterwards, Bieber was arrested for drunk driving and drag racing in his Lamborghini. Thousands of miles away, Li Na eliminated Eugenie Bouchard in the semi-finals. A bad day for both Genie and her crush.

But even though it ended on a down note, the fortnight was an unqualified success for the Canadian. Blessed with a generous draw, Genie put away Heo Chen Tanga, Virginie Razzano, Lauren Davis, Casey Dell'Acqua and Ana Ivanovic en route to the semis. She became the first Canadian to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in 30 years (Carling Bassett-Seguso reached the same stage at the 1984 US Open).

Genie’s rise to prominence has been nothing short of meteoric. In 2013, she entered the Australian Open with a ranking of 147 and didn’t even reach the main draw (she lost in the second Tennis World

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fell swoop more than doubled it by scooping $550 000 for her final four appearance. She has assured fans that the money will not go to her head. She cannot buy a fast car, since she does not even have a driver's license. At best, she said she would buy a Louis Vuitton handbag to add to her collection.

Famous in Canada, and often travelling with her, is the Genie Army.

These young men wear T-shirts with the letters “GENIE” proudly displayed in bold font. Every time she completes a tournament, they buy her stuffed animals to mark the occasion. round of qualifying). A year later, she was within a match of competing for a Grand Slam title, entering the Top 20.

She has powerful ground strokes and, more importantly, is very strong mentally. She is also able to play very well at the net, something she showcased to great effect against Ana

"I'll have to buy a new suitcase to fit all the memories," she laughed in an interview.

Maybe she will invite them to her favorite restaurant, Beauty’s, to celebrate when she gets back At heart, Genie is really a simple girl, who likes to relax in front of the TV. She even likes to watch tennis, despite

“I'll have to buy a new suitcase to fit all the memories.”

Ivanovic. Her forehand and serve both need improving, but there is plenty of time for that.

After winning the Junior Wimbledon title in 2013, Genie won best newcomer on the WTA Tour in the same year. She has won six ITF titles, reached a WTA final and a Grand Slam semi-final. Not bad for a girl who is yet to celebrate her 20th birthday.

She arrived in Melbourne with career prize earnings of $415 742, and in one

the fact that she spends every day playing the sport.

"I like it, what can I do?" she shrugged.

When asked in Australia, Genie revealed that had she not become a tennis player, she would have become an air traffic controller. Even without having become one, she is flying high, at least right now.

Written by Dario Torromeo

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Walking The Walk Ipsum dolor Tennis World

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Dustin Brown’s unique journey to relevance

One hundred and twenty-eight men entered the draw, each stepping on court dress completely in white, racket in hand. Though they all looked similar, each was different, none more so than Dustin Brown. While most other players opted for a clean white shirt, perhaps with just the logo of their sponsor, Brown decided to put his Twitter handle right in the center of his shirt (@dreddytennis).

One cannot expect anything less from a person who has never really done anything the conventional way.

Though his father is Jamaican, Brown is a German citizen, the country where he was born and which his mother hails from. He is close to his mother and father, who have been extremely

supportive of his tennis ambitions.

They drove him from Challenger to Challenger in an old motorhome when he was younger, because they could not afford more extravagant ways of sending their son to these tournaments.

Brown could have become British, because of his grandmother’s ancestry, but negotiations with the LTA (the Lawn Tennis Association) were so tiresome and drawn out he eventually decided to go it alone.

Twelve years in Jamaica Brown’s tennis journey started in earnest in 1996 when, at the age of 12, he moved to Montegro Bay in Jamaica.

He had little else but a Dustin Brown (born December 8, 1984 in Celle, West Germany) is a German professional tennis player.

Brown competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 89 in January 2011 and his highest doubles ranking of World No. 43 in May 2012

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suitcase full of rackets and dreams. He has great memories of his time there, and learned a lot about life and tennis in Jamaica, but the Federation had little money to help him, and he had to fend for himself for the most part.

He turned pro in 2002, and moved back to Germany in 2010, where his career finally took off. Success did not come quickly or easily, however, but in fits and starts. On 17 January, 2011, he reached his best-ever ranking of 89, which meant that he could get into most tournaments without playing qualifiers – a significant milestone for the youngster.

Two years later, at Wimbledon, he recorded the biggest victories of his career when he defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and former world number one Lleyton Hewitt at Tennis World

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Wimbledon. He would lose in the next round to Adrian Mannarino, to whom he had also lost previously in a final in Sarajevo.

But the loss did not darken the mood of the German – nothing ever does.

“Maybe now I can convince someone to give me my own clothing line,” he joked after the loss. “I think people would like the Twitter handle on the front.”

Brown has won five Challenger titles in his career, to go with his four Futures trophies.

He hasn’t won anything on the main Tour, but he is proud of all he has accomplished. He has done well in doubles too, and has even two trophies on the ATP Tour, one of which came in Marseille with the

But that is not the most important thing for Brown.

“I talk in my own way,” he says on his Twitter profile, which is what life is really all about to him.

It is fitting, then, that he lives in the town of Celle in Germany, which boasts of itself as the "Great Independent City."

An independent city for an independent man, and he would have it no other way.

Written by Gianluca Atlante

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How to play the first passing shot in tennis Today we see, with Max, what you can do when your opponent approaches the net!

The first thing to do is not panic ... :-) The second thing is ... read the article http://www.tennisworldusa.org/The-rule-of-the-firstpassing-shot-%28part-1%29-artt110.html

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The Trouble With The Cup

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n 1931, Frank Shields should have played the Wimbledon final against his closest friend, Sydney Wood. At the end of his semifinal victory against Jean Borotra, however, Shields, a great striker of the ball and grandfather of Brooke, the future Mrs. Agassi, was experiencing some knee pain. It was not a very serious injury,

In short, the process of disassembling and reassembling the cup is taking much longer than it should nothing debilitating. Yet poor Frank was not able to play the final. He was prevented by the USLTA, the American Federation, who wanted him in perfect shape for a Davis Cup tie against France a few weeks later.

"The day before the final I knew that I would be the champion," Wood recalled decades later. "Frank wanted to play, and he could have, but the committee of the American Davis Cup did not permit him. In those days we were amateurs, and the USLTA had power of life and death over us. I think it was a terrible affront to be denied a Wimbledon final like that.�

It is hard to imagine a similar scenario playing out today. In fact, today the roles of the players and the Davis Cup officials have been completely reversed.

The venerable bowl, chiseled in Boston thanks to the big bucks of Mr. Davis, has become less and less important with each passing year Federer has snubbed the event for years, limiting his participation usually only to ties that Switzerland needed to win in order to stave off relegation.

Murray says he loves the Cup, but rarely plays. Even the patriotic pair of Nadal and Djokovic, who have both been on winning Davis Cup teams, have shied away from competing recently.

Blame the crazy tennis calendar, the stress of the modern game or the selfishness of modern athletes, who are much more attracted to money and individual glory. But the reality remains that the Davis Cup, and even more seriously its sister the Fed Cup, are in danger of disappearing altogether.

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For a century the Davis Cup has been, along with Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open (the Australian Open less so), the most prized possession in tennis. The Davis Cup used to be the trophy that everyone wanted in their house. Though, to be fair, those days came to an end in 1907, when Mabel Brookes, the wife of Norman Brookes, “The Wizard” of Australian tennis, used the cup as a punch bowl in their house. Since then it has not been given to players for personal use.

There have been many suggestions for saving the Davis Cup, with some being more realistic than others. One of the most common calls is to change the

cumbersome," Goran Ivanisevic said of the event. "We must make the matches shorter or only hold the competition every two or three years.

When players are given the choice between focusing on their own game and their future, and the Davis Cup, the choice is obvious. It does not give enough money or ATP points, the big names do not play. For some countries it does not matter, since if Nadal does not play Spain can deploy 55 other players, but some small countries cannot count on those kinds of numbers."

This year, Spain had to contend without Nadal, Ferrer and Verdasco,

Nadal “When the competition does not have the best players, it is a sign that something is not working” "format" of the competition. Currently, every year more than 120 countries compete in the competition in some form, though this format has been criticized as unwieldy and cumbersome.

"There are too many matches to play every year," Jim Courier, the US Davis Cup captain, said recently. "The top guys struggle to fit it into their schedule. No, the system is old and needs to be changed. Only the ITF does not realize it."

Many others share Courier’s opinion.

Rafa Nadal, John McEnroe, Pat Rafter, Alex Corretja and Goran Ivanisevic have all expressed similar thoughts.

"The Davis Cup is great, but it's time to change it because it is too

and Djokovic did not join the Serbian team either. This put a dampener on both ties, especially the latter, since Federer would have had to square off against one of his chief rivals. Del Potro is also at odds with his Federation, and has declined to participate this year. Murray played in the first round against the US, but his availability going forward is always a question mark.

"I think Davis can organize better," Rafael Nadal said last year. "When the competition does not have the best players, it is a sign that something is not working. It reflects on the organizers."

So, what can be done? How can we polish this tarnished silverware? Some have proposed simply moving the dates

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of the ties. Djokovic, for example, has made it very clear that he does not like playing Davis Cup right after a Grand Slam event. This is certainly understandable, since no major name will want to play Davis Cup after winning a Slam, or even after playing in the final rounds. If the ties were moved to more neutral dates, more big players might consider playing. But this alone is not enough. Another proposed solution is to transform the early rounds into a round robin format. Countries would be grouped into parties of four, with the winners being brought together for a Final Four showdown at the end of the year. The matches would also be best of three sets, instead of best of five.

But the format most supported by most players, like Agassi, Courier, Ivanisevic

and McEnroe, is one similar to the soccer World Cup. That is, ever two or four years an event is held over two weeks to settle the winner.

"Look at the World Cup of soccer," Robin Soderling said a few years ago. "It is the biggest sporting event on the planet, but if you were playing every year it would not be so. I personally like the Davis Cup today, but we should hold it only every two years. I'm sure it would become much more important."

Indeed, less might be more when it comes to the Davis Cup. Though this suggestion has many fans, it is not without its drawbacks. For many countries, who generate a lot of money from home ties, this change would be tough to swallow. Another problem is

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Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have even less desire for the Fed Cup than the men have for the Davis Cup.

where a two-week period would be found for the new competition. Andy Murray has suggested that Davis Cup play should be mandatory, which would make it a much more popular event with the public, if not with the players.

"Let’s make it mandatory," he said recently. “Like with the Masters 1000 events. This would end the discussions and everyone would play it.” It is an idea what very few of his colleagues would support, but it is not without merit. However, the Fed Cup is in such dire straits that Murray’s suggestion might be the only way to save it. The final of this once prestigious has become somewhat of a laughing stock, with teams consisting of players ranked

way outside of the Top 100 – even if those countries have Top 10 players, like Russia recently – making up the Championship round of the competition.

Indeed, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have even less desire for the Fed Cup than the men have for the Davis Cup. They don’t even try to hide their disdain for the tournament, and it is doubtful that if concessions on the format were made if they would play even then. But the biggest obstacle to change is the one that is the most necessary for it: the ITF itself. For 113 years they have been doing things in a certain way, and change does not come easily.

The process of disassembling and reassembling the cup is taking much longer than it should. To consider everyone’s feelings on the matter is nothing short of impossible, and at some point a unilateral decision of some sort will have to be made. Else, if matters continue as they are now, the Cup might be dead beyond the point of resurrection before too long.

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"We do our best to listen to everyone and try to improve," ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti has said more than once. "’But we are not willing to deviate from our principles: the match length, tie location and annual duration. People talk about playing Davis Cup every two years, but it is a naive position. The calendar of tennis lasts a year, so if you change it you have to make other changes. And we have already seen the difficulties that are encountered every four years to accommodate the Olympics in the program."

Regarding the format with the Final Four, he is even less sympathetic. "It would be a very bad experience, because if the host nation is not one of the four qualified, interest diminishes rapidly, not only in that country but

throughout the world. So you have to think very, very carefully."

Bitti also dismissed ideas to increase the number of matches played to five or six in singles, and two in doubles.

And although he is cagey about the match length, he has hinted that he might consider a best-of-three format for ties in the earlier rounds. "I do not rule it out, he said. "Maybe not for the semi-finals or finals, but it could happen one day. We keep in mind the needs of the players, and this is something we are considering."

Written by Stefano Semeraro

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Becker, Edberg and Lendl: Motivation, Technique or Marketing?

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The hiring of former champions, such as Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg by three of the Fab Four has sparked a serious debate: is someone who has won in the past automatically a good coach?

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he new fashion in tennis seems to be the rediscovery of the past. An 80s revival has swept the elite of international tennis, starting in 2012 when Scotsman Andy Murray hired former world number one Ivan Lendl.

Even Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic could not resist the charm of these former champions. The Swiss started collaborating with the Swede Stefan Edberg (his childhood idol and winner of six Slams) before the season started, and Tennis World

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If Ledl Ivan was able to push Murray to the next level, finally ending Great Britain’s Grand Slam drought, what can Edberg and Becker do for Federer and Djokovic?

the Serb started working with Boris Becker in the off-season.

This is a very interesting topic indeed.

If Ledl Ivan was able to push Murray to the next level, finally ending Great Britain’s Grand Slam drought, what can Edberg and Becker do for Federer and Djokovic? The answer may be everything, and it may also be nothing.

Federer may have the most to gain from his partnership with Edberg, since "Mister Serve & Volley" can do a lot to advise Federer on a more offensive game plan, especially with an eye on Wimbledon. The marriage of Djokovic and Becker, on the other hand, seems a bit stranger.

It is unclear exactly what Djokovic wants to gain from the relationship,

since he likely does not want to learn more serve and volley tactics, such as the kind Becker used to such great effect in his career.

Nadal was alone among the Fab Four in the off-season not to make changes to his core coaching staff. The partnership with his coach and uncle Toni shows no signs of abating.

Indeed, Toni has stressed that Nadal is special, and does not need a strong personality to push him to bigger and better things, as he is capable of doing that himself. Though such statements haven’t stopped the media from speculating that either John McEnroe or Mats Wilander might join the Spaniard’s team as consultants in the future.

Another former player turned coach worth considering is Tony Roche.

The Australian was born in 1945, and worked with the likes of Lendl, Pat Rafter and Roger Federer.

At the time of their collaboration, Federer was at the top of his game, dominating basically every event he entered.

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Aside from providing a certain psychological perspective, what impact can a past champion really have on the career of an established star?

We need only think back to 2006, when Andy Roddick hired Jimmy Connors as his coach, to remember that past champions often do not make very good coaches.

Yes, Roddick did reach the final at the US Open once under Connors’ guidance, but their two years together did not see any technical changes at all in Roddick’s game.

At best, we can perhaps say that his backhand improved a little, but that might have happened anyway.

Connors teamed up with Maria Sharapova last year as well, but their relationship lasted for only one tournament.

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Another former player turned coach worth considering is Tony Roche. The Australian was born in 1945, and worked with the likes of Lendl, Pat Rafter and Roger Federer. At the time of their collaboration, Federer was at the top of his game, dominating basically every event he entered. While Roche did help Federer become more competitive on clay, especially at Roland Garros against Nadal, the Swiss did not finally capture that elusive title until 2009, when they had long since stopped working together. It is also perhaps not quite fair to put Roche in the same category as Lendl, Edberg and co. since he was never quite as good a player as they were. In fact, he was probably a better coach than he was a player.

In the end, coaching is not an exact

science, whether you are a high profile former player or not.

And each situation and person is different. Lendl’s time with Murray has proven fruitful, but for a number of reasons that cannot translate to the challenges that Djokovic, for example, is facing.

Lendl cut the cord which so tightly bound Murray and his mother, and provided him with a voice of reason that he could respect and trust.

It is telling that Murray only really started changing his game when Lendl started coaching him, even though his former coaches had all given the exact same advice. He needed someone better than him to tell him what to do.

The same is not true of Federer or Djokovic.

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If we were being cynical, we might also speculate that adding a famous person to your team is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to raise your profile and massage your ego. This might indeed be the only way to explain Becker’s presence, especially considering that the one tournament Djokovic most wants to win – the French Open – was never won by Becker. So he is hardly the one to consult when it comes to questions about how to defeat Nadal on clay.

Whatever the outcome of these various collaborations, it is clear that tennis in general stands to gain much from these arrangements. Videos of Djokovic imitating Becker are already making the rounds on Youtube, and news headlines love this new twist to the Fab Four’s rivalry. Whether it will have a similarity positive effect on their games, however, remains to be seen.

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Mental Training

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here are many ways to do this, and it is very important that each athlete has the right training regimen to suit them. For example self-talk, which we discussed in a previous article, is one mental exercise that can help. There are also other techniques for relaxation and activation.

Preparing for a match is not only a physical endeavor, but also a mental one. Just like the body, the mind needs to practice, train, and warm up before a match.

Mental training, in a strict sense, means the learning or improvement of a process of movement through intense mental effort, without the gesture being performed physically. Mental training is particularly effective when it is connected to a previous relaxation technique. This is because if you practice in a state of relaxation, you can more easily create a faithful representation of reality.

Mental training is done through certain techniques: 1. Subvocal training, which consists of talking to oneself, rehearsing desired movements with images and words.

2. Hidden perceptual training, which consists of observing the movements of others.

3. Ideomotor training, which consists of the mental representation and display of one’s own movement.

These techniques may be understood as progressive and successive to one another, thus starting from subvocal training, one goes to perceptual training and then to ideomotoric. They may be seen as complementary.

Mental training is very complex. If you produce clear representations of errors, the training should be stopped, otherwise it creates incorrect images of the movement, which has negative consequences in practice.

This consideration is particularly important. Mental training is recommended only if you are sure of the correctness of the movement that you are visualizing. Otherwise it becomes counterproductive, because instead of helping, the exercise decreases the effectiveness of movements.

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Mental training, to be effective, must occur at the same speed with which the movement or behavior is performed in reality. In addition, the movement should be imagined from the perspective of the one who does it.

This means that if you imagine a tennis player serving, you will not see yourself while serving. You must instead just imagine yourself making the service gesture.

All of these aspects make mental training very complex. It requires a lot of concentration, a lot of precision and a remarkable representative capacity.

It is a strenuous workout, especially the first few times that you try it.

of the air, the sweat, the beating of his their hearts. Here is another fundamental characteristic of this training: synesthesia. This entails imagining a situation in detail, with all five senses. Not everyone has the same ability to imagine these kinds of things.

For some, the display comes naturally, for others less so. For some it works better than for others. Certainly to be most effective, these training techniques must be used often and correctly.

I once worked with a young tennis player who engaged in this kind of mental training almost instinctively.

As a child, before falling asleep at night,

Mental training can also be used with less technical aspects of preparing for a match, such as emotional challenges.

Its duration should be limited to two or three minutes a day, and should be done every day. You must choose the right detail of the movement that you want to train.

The benefits of mental training have been very consistent in sports. In particular, the following results have been observed by those who use this kind of training: - Reduction of the learning time of the acquisition of new techniques Increased motor stability - Increased accuracy and speed - Reduction of pre-match stress Mental training can also be used with less technical aspects of preparing for a match, such as emotional challenges.

There are athletes who imagine being on the court, the crowd noise, the smell

he would imagine how he wanted to play the next day. For several years, he did only this in as far as mental training is concerned.

When we started working together, this young athlete had a problem with the beginning of every match. He went on court unprepared and mentally cold. As a result, very often he would lose the first two or three games, and everything became more difficult as a result.

When I spoke to him of mental training, he said that he had already been doing it for some years. Together, we worked to refine what he was already doing by himself, giving it more order and substance. We added the relaxation phase, and because his ability to produce mental images was

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already very good, we were able to improve his situation with great speed.

Now, the night before each match, he imagines specific moments of each match, his walk to the court, and his feelings on the court. He does not focus on a technical act, but a particular moment of the match. This helps him to get mentally ready for the match. The first game had ceased to be a problem for him, and he is now able to start playing his best tennis from the start of each match. That is because, when the match starts, he has already been playing for a while.

Written by Stefano Massari

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The Technical Mind

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t is true that today genetics plays a fundamental role in almost any sport, as all sports have become more and more centred on physical power, tennis included. As a result, those who possess the inborn abilities of an athlete are better able to cope with the stresses and strains of being a professional sportsperson.

“Totally absorbed in what it does, the mind becomes more elastic, free from any material bond, to receive and translate into movement any experience relating to place and time.”

These people are also able to adapt to a number of different contexts, especially those relating to competition. These are basic skills, or capabilities, which in the case of sports can and should be augmented and strengthened through training.

It is true, however, that even when such “physical” abilities are present, other abilities – of a cognitive and emotive nature – are needed to effectively exploit physical talents. We can say that Mother Nature always needs “Father Courage” in order to flourish.

Let me explain this through a metaphor: a car can be important, but so is the driver. A beautiful car with a good engine is powerful, but so is a normal car that has been upgraded and fine-tuned. Both cars will, in theory, perform at the same level. The difference, in practice, is the driver. The driver’s style, way of perceiving things and interpreting the road, of avoiding obstacles, exploiting straights and handling turns is what determines whether the car finishes first or last in the race. It is the driver that gives some character and personality to a car that would otherwise be like a lifeless, purposeless frame.

The driver at the wheel almost forgets what lies on the outside, which only serves him as a reference to follow a path, his path, an inner path in which a number of elements meet and merge. These elements are space, time and the deep perceptions of his actions. Paradoxically, he almost loses track of time and finds himself in a personal dimension in which time doesn’t exist. He is completely immersed in what he does, and absorbed by the taste and Tennis World

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the pleasure of what he is doing.

modus operandi.

This condition can be associated with any individual who has a true passion for something, who is strongly motivated and fully immersed in the present. Generally, there exists a specific “technique” for everything in life. This technique is often more of a methodology: a collection of applied procedures which allow us to best carry out required tasks. But, as the saying goes: “easier said than done!”

The principle translates into practice via the intention to have a “reasonable” (rather than “reasoned”) relationship with movement and thus with one’s body. This relationship is freer and less constrained than normal. This gives flexibility to the mind of someone who has the difficult task of managing the movement of their body, the ball and their opponent in a context that has strict predefined rules.

Somewhere in-between planning and doing lies the mind. In tennis, for example, one can have a fair technical approach, combine with good physical

This gives a framework of learning for a pupil like the one mentioned above.

Having said this, should the tennis

The mind transcends its rigid framework, becomes more elastic and prepares itself to receive the experience of the senses

preparation, but it is always the mind that puts everything together and brings it into play at the right moment.

One day during a lesson, an adult beginner with a limited physicalathletic aptitude but with great willpower and superior mental abilities, prompted me to develop a theory that I call “The sensible mind.”

According to this theory, the mind transcends its rigid framework, becomes more elastic and prepares itself to receive the experience of the senses. In so doing, it channels and rearranges it into new broader frameworks, more ductile and adaptable in time to similar or different experiences, with which it will technically adopt the same

coach also be a bit of a philosopher?

I believe that anyone who knows how to do their job and does it with passion will have a strong and intense bond with their subject matter, and be completely immersed in it.

Consequently, philosophising (in the sense of thinking about a problem, trying to find solutions) should be entirely spontaneous.

Written by Lilly Raffa

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Tennis And Vegetarianism

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Vegetarian comes from the Latin “vegetus,” meaning “healthy, strong and vigorous.” Vegetarianism is the set of behaviors (concerning food and general living) that enable a person to reach the state of "vegetus," i.e. to become healthy and vigorous

Prehistoric humans survived by eating fruits consistent with a fruitarian diet, as demonstrated by their anatomy, physiology and instincts.

A growing number of athletes have adopted a vegetarian diet for environmental economic, religious, ethical and health-related reasons.

Vegetarian diets can easily meet the nutritional needs of athletes of any kind, provided that they incorporate a variety of plant foods.

Prehistoric humans survived by eating fruits consistent with a fruitarian diet, as demonstrated by their anatomy, physiology and instincts.

As a result of geological and meteorological changes (ice ages, droughts, etc.) man lost his original habitat (his "paradise on earth"). Finding no more fruit, man became a hunter, and with the help of fire, began to eat seeds, grasses and meat. The consequences on the overall health and lifespan on the species were immediate. According to a prominent paleoanthropologist, less than half survived to live more than 20 years. Obviously, it is important to realize that while a fruit is alive after it has been harvested, i.e. its maturation continues even after it has been detached from the tree, meat gathered from a cadaver is home only to degenerative processes (decomposition and putrefaction).

Diets high in carbohydrates help create optimal glycogen stores in the muscles and liver, and have been shown to optimize athletic performance during prolonged exercise of moderate intensity (such as cycling and running).

Recent studies have also suggested that the benefit of a high consumption of carbohydrates is not confined to the mere maintenance of glycogen stores, but is also linked to the maintenance of the intermediate steps of the Krebs cycle, as well as the preservation of the bioenergetic Tennis World

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status of muscle activity (which is also related to muscular fatigue). The nutritional guidelines for athletes state that 60-65% of their total energy should come from carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are the fuel of excellence, which is used by the muscle tissue during intense exercise. In the absence of adequate caloric intake, the body is forced to use stored fats and proteins in tissue. The type and intensity of exercise determines the energy requirements of an athlete’s body. For athletes, complex carbohydrates should form the biggest part of their diet, as the proteins are needed for the renewal

of synthesizing only eleven. The nine essential amino acids, which cannot be synthesized by the body, must be obtained from our diet. A diet based on a variety of cereals, legumes and vegetables is easily capable of providing all the essential amino acids required by the body. It was once thought that a variety of plant foods needed to be eaten together to get the protein that the body needs. However, we now know that this combining is not really necessary to get all the essential amino acids. More concentrated sources of protein include tofu, soybeans, tempeh and seitan.

The vegan diet (which excludes anything of animal origin) is the best choice, because it allows you to get the right protein intake without the disadvantage of introducing animal fats. and growth of muscle tissue. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of carbohydrates and protein, so a diet based on a variety of cereals, legumes and vegetables is easily capable of providing the energy required for an athlete to function.

In particular, the vegan diet (which excludes anything of animal origin) is the best choice, because it allows you to get the right protein intake without the disadvantage of introducing animal fats.

Proteins, composed of chains of molecules called amino acids, play an important role in the formation, maintenance, and repair of all body tissues, including muscles. The food we eat contains twenty different amino acids, but our body is capable

Vegetarian athletes can easily reach an adequate protein intake, as long as their diet has sufficient energy sustenance and consists of a variety of foods containing vegetable protein, such as legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. It is important to always remember that, even if a part of the protein will be broken down into amino acids to provide energy, the primary role of protein is to support the body. Protein should come from plant sources (rather than meat, dairy or eggs) or foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. It should be emphasized that a diet high in carbohydrates is necessary to allow for the formation and repair of body tissues.

Fats should complete the remaining energy needs of the body after the

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intake of carbohydrates and proteins.

A higher intake of fats (especially mono-and polyunsaturated fats) can be really beneficial. Adding more fatty foods such as nuts and seeds, nut butters, tahini, avocados, olives, olive oil, sesame oil, etc. can aid the vegetarian athlete during intense training, while not compromising intramuscular triglycerides. Diets chronically too low in fat (less than 15%) are not ideal for periods of intense training.

Example of diet - Whole grains: Choose whole grains like bread, cereal, rice and pasta. These foods are rich in complex carbohydrates, fiber, zinc, vitamins A and B, and a single serving also provides about 2-3 grams of protein.

- Vegetables: Choose a variety of

vegetables of various colors: red, orange or yellow in addition to green leafy vegetables for vitamin C, betacarotene and other anti-oxidants.

These foods also provide iron, calcium, fiber and small amounts of protein per serving.

- Other considerations: Choose a variety of legumes (peas, black beans, great northern beans, chickpeas, etc.), soymilk, tofu, tempeh and textured vegetable protein. These foods are not only rich in protein (about 7-10 grams per serving), but they are rich in complex carbohydrates, fiber, iron, calcium and vitamin B. - Fruits: Choose a variety of fruits (in season) and fruit juices in order to get other vitamins, especially vitamin C. The number of protein structures is virtually unlimited. For example, the

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The type and intensity of exercise determines the energy requirements of an athlete’s body

human body has more than 10 000 different proteins. Scientists have identified eight groups of simple proteins and four groups of complex proteins. In vegetable protein, nitrogen bases are predominantly from the pyrimidine group. Their metabolism, based on oxidative processes, results in the final product of urea, normally eliminated by the man via urine. In animal protein, however, nitrogenous bases are of the purine group, with uric acid as the final product. In carnivores, these acids are converted by a special enzyme called uricase.

Man, however, does not possess this enzyme, and is combined with sodium and is deposited mainly in the

joints (in the form of sodium urate), causing pain, swelling and gout.

All sostane nutrients are formed in the plant kingdom, including the proteins and amino acids that constitute them.

In animals, these nutrients are split in to their various constituent amino acids, and then reconstitute specific proteins specific to each animal. This process occurs both directly (by eating plants) and indirectly (by eating the bodies of animals that eat plants).

Observing the animal world, we can see that the strongest animals (which for centuries man has used for their strength and endurance), like as oxen, horses, donkeys, mules, camels, buffalo and elephants, eat only plants,

Other vegetarians Shophenauer, Hippocrates, Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Seneca, Ovid, Euripides, Leonardo da Vinci, Garibaldi, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Horace, Cicero, Goethe, Confucius, Tolstoy, Gandhi.

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from which proteins are derived.

Vegetarians and vegans, despite having eliminated from their diet all foods of animal origin, have a completely normal muscle tone, thus demonstrating that man can also synthesize the essential amino acids derived from plant foods.

Some vegetarian and vegan athletes Carl Lewis, long jumper and sprinter He has won many gold and silver medals, and was a top sprinter and long jumper for 15 years. Carl Lewis has been a vegan since 1991. Robert Sweetgal He has crossed the United

Billie Jean King: tennis player. King is a 6-time Wimbledon champion in singles, 10 times in doubles and four times in mixed doubles. She also won 4 US Open single titles, five US Open doubles titles, as well as one Australian Open and one French Open title. She was chosen as the best female athlete in the world in 1967, and in 1972 was named "Sportsman of the Year" (first woman to receive this award). In 1973 she was voted best athlete in the world.

Martina Navratilova: tennis player. #1 in the world in 1978/79/80/82/83/84/85/86/8,

Vegetarian diets can easily meet the nutritional needs of athletes of any kind, provided that they incorporate a variety of plant foods.

States on foot seven times, and set the world record run of 17 071km in 279 days (9 months and 6 days).

Marco Olmo: ultramarathon competitor.

Mark is considered a legend. He specializes in ultramarathons ranging over 100 km, with stops for several days, all over the world, in the deserts leaping among rocks in the river, up and down hills, day and night. He won the 5th edition of the race around Mont Blanc, won the Chaberton Marathon, Desert Cup, Desert Marathon, Ultratrail Tour du Mont Blanc, the Grand Raid Du CroMagnon, Verdon Trail and Raid Oman.

He has been a vegetarian for almost 20 years.

winner of the Australian Open in 1981/83/85, Wimbledon in 1978/79/82/83/84/85/86/87/90, Roland Garros in 1982/84, the US Open in 1983/84/86/87 and in the mixed doubles in Melbourne in 2003.

At 46 years and three months she set the record as the oldest player in a Grand Slam tournament.

Dave Scott: triathlete. Star of the triathlon, a sporting legend, Scott says that "it is a ridiculous mistake" to think that athletes need animal protein. He was the Ironman Hawaii champions for 6 years. In 1994, he took 2nd place at the age of 40, and 5th place in 1996 at age 42. He was voted best athlete in the USA in 1999.

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Scott Jurek: ultra runner Scott is a six-time winner of the "Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run." In 2004 he broke the record for this race: 15 hours, 36 minutes, 27 seconds. He runs 10-12 ultramarathons a year. He has been a vegan since 1999 for health and ethical reasons.

Ruth Heidrich: triathlete (Ironman) She has won 6 Ironman titles (3 800 meters swimming, 180 km cycling, 42 km running), more than 700 races, including marathons, triathlons, pentathlons and more. She became vegan after diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982.

Edwin Moses, 400 meter hurdler Ediwn won Olympic gold with a world record, and holds many other records.

Murray Rose: swimming Murray held the world record for 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle.

Rose also won 3 gold medals in 1956 (400m, 1500m, 4x200m). A legend of the sport, and the youngest winner of 3 gold medals. He was a vegetarian his whole life.

Pierre Verot: skier Pierre holds the record for endurance cross country skiing, of 83 hours and 2 minutes.

Written by Amanda Gesualdi

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The Sleep Of The Spirit Tennis World

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I feel like a Martian.

Every single day, when I'm on the court with my students, I always get the same feeling of having just landed from another planet. And I know why I feel this way. It is all because of my father’s philosophy in raising me. He was a big believer in the statement: what does not kill you makes you stronger.

I remember, for example, that when I was sick he would never give me any medicine. He believed that this would ensure that my body strengthened my immune system. Once a doctor strongly advised that I should be

For a long time, I woke up at 6 AM to go running before school. Needless to say, I could stay on the court a whole day in the sun without really getting tired – I was used to it. My father also demanded that my behavior on the court had to be above reproach, and I always had to be respectful to my opponents. I would not dare smash a racket or steal a point from my opponent, as I had too much of a fear of my father’s wrath.

You might think that my youth was sad and that I have bad feelings about those times. However, now that I am older, I am very grateful for what my father did for me.

“Suffering is perhaps the only viable means to break the sleep of the spirit.” given antibiotics, but he did nothing.

He sat next to my bed, thermometer in hand, measuring my fever every half hour. I remember the temperature rising, rising...and when it topped 40 degrees and I began to ramble, he finally gave in and listened to the doctor’s directions.

One afternoon, when I was about 12 years old, we went on the court, and my father said, "Today, we do only serves." I thought this would be great, since it would be much less demanding than our usual grueling workouts. My father positioned three containers of balls in each service box and told me I had to be able to hit them all before we went home. It took hours, and it was very dark when I finally managed to satisfy his demands.

And I think every parent should endeavor to do the same: to make their children as strong, serious and independent as possible. His mantra of daily sacrifice kept my soul awake. But alas, I cannot say the same for my students, who seem to be in a state of perpetual slumber. I fear they will never wake up, and spend their entire lives floating from one place to the next, never truly embracing life.

Dedicated to my father Mario, the farmer and caretaker of my body and soul. He will always live on inside me.

"Suffering is perhaps the only viable means to break the sleep of the spirit" Saul Bellow, The Rain King - 1984 Written by Andrea Guarracino

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20 golden rules of Allistair McCaw for great performance

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llistair McCaw is world class fitness coach, sports performance specialist, contributor of the book „Tennis Mental Game Secrets”, in year 2013 he run 12 marathons in 12 months in different cities of the world, speaker on prestigious Australian Tennis Coaches Conference right before the Aussie Open,

“What is defeat? Nothing but an opportunity to get better created exceptional formula of training called McCaw Method, for more take a look on his fanpage: facebook/McCawMethod Words of wisdom: 1. Don't limit your challenges, Challenge your limits.

2. The best thing about the past is that it shows you what not to bring into your future.

3. One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to selfconfidence is preparation.

4. Athletes who succeed are the ones who listen and absorb what their coaches teach. They yearn to learn.

5. Never drop your standards because it offends someone, In fact keep raising them. Don’t let anything or anyone hold you back from reaching your goals.

6. To be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, & expect to win.

7. We can't always control what happens to us in life, but we can control our attitude towards it.

8. Progress is made by taking steps, sometimes big, sometimes small. The key is to keep taking them!

9. Discipline is not punishment. Discipline is doing what needs to be done, at the right time, to the best of your ability.

10. If it challenges you, if it scares you, if it pushes you out of your comfort zone… Do it.

11. Discipline is just choosing between what you want most over what you want now.

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12. One bad moment doesn’t make a ‘bad' day! Just get over it and get on with it!

13. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

14. You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. Think about where you want to be.

15. If you spend time with successful people you’ll be more successful, their traits will rub off on you. The opposite is true as well.

16. You win because you’re confident, you’re confident because you win. In other words - Success motivates.

17. A successful athlete doesn't spend their time comparing themselves or current level to their greatest ever performance

18. Making big changes in your life can be scary. But do you know what’s even scarier? Regret.

19. Looking for the secret to success as an athlete? Stop looking, there are no secrets.

Simply... Put in the work. Be on time.

Stay consistent. Show up every day fully committed. Warm up. Give your best. Have goals. Have a plan. Take care of your nutrition. Learn from each practice & match. Get your nap in the middle of the day. Think positive.

Learn from failures. Stretch. Recover well. Be prepared. Work harder.

20. “What is defeat? Nothing but an opportunity to get better Written by Jan Stanski

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Shoulder injuries in tennis players Tennis World

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Shoulder pain is almost exclusively caused by the service action in tennis.

Most Tennis players at some time in their careers will suffer from shoulder pain or injuries, because it is the most common overuse injury of the upper limb in tennis players.

High profile players like Maria Sharapova’s struggles with shoulder injuries have led to lot of focus been put on this injury.

Shoulder pain is almost exclusively caused by the service action in tennis.

The serve is the most important shot in tennis, not only because it sets up so many points but it also accounts for 45% of all the shots in tournament play. Shoulder injuries also plague most sports with overhead throwing actions like baseball, handball, javelin and

throwing in fielding in cricket. A lot of research has been focused on the shoulder in sports medicine and we are still not hundred percent sure about the cause of shoulder injuries in tennis players.

We also did a study at the 2007 SA senior interprovincial tournament on 76 players of which 20 had a history of shoulder pain induced by tennis. In these players we could not find any specific factors that could cause shoulder injuries when we looked at service speed, grip positions, level of play, years of playing and difference in range of motion. Our studies confirmed a difference in range of motion in the dominant shoulders in the tennis players we tested, which is 1. Lorem ipsumdolor sit amet, consectetuer adipisci elit. Impendere idque finis ut, arguerent sit.

2. Aeque honestatis beateque et aut rerum conducunt, expediunt...

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the same in studies done in the USA on tennis players and also baseball players.

Shoulder injuries in tennis players are overuse injuries caused by the service action and it should be prevented. A tight posterior (backside) joint capsule with a relative muscle imbalance rotator cuff muscles is the cause for shoulder injuries in tennis players. It is important for tennis players to have the right technique and to remember the kinetic chain of the body that leads to a great serve. There are certain professional tennis players with abbreviated service actions that can generate a lot of flat out of speed on the serve, but they are also the ones with more shoulder problems. Young players and coaches should not try short cuts when it comes to the service action and when it comes to Tennis World

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focus on core exercises.

There are other causes for shoulder pain in younger players like stress fractures and in the older players, osteo-arthritis, inflammatory arthritis and frozen shoulder.

When players start to develop shoulder symptoms on the serve the following adjustments in technique and conditioning should be made: - Service toss up position more to the right in right handed players, - Focus rhythm of service, timing and leg drive, - Change grip position on the racket to number 2 or 1

X-rays and diagnostic ultrasound can exclude other pathology like subacromial bursal impingement, os acromiale and biceps tendonitis.

When these special investigations are still inconclusive a MRI needs to be done to exclude pathology inside the shoulder joint.

There is a place for arthroscopic surgery in shoulder injuries in Tennis players, but the majority of cases should be managed with the help of a good tennis coach, physiotherapist and biokinetisist.

Written by Daniel Morkel

Stretching must focus on the joint capsule at the back of the shoulder and not on the front part of the shoulder.

- Start a posterior capsule stretch program - Rotator cuff strengthening program.

Stretching must focus on the joint capsule at the back of the shoulder and not on the front part of the shoulder.

Written by Daniel Morkel

Physiotherapy, ice and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories can also be helpful in the acute injuries.

If the pain does not improve with a good stretching and strengthening program with the help of a physiotherapist or biokineticist, there could be other underlying causes to the shoulder pain and a proper evaluation with X-rays must be done.

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