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Pierre's Tennisrulz Blog (get your own blog here)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Screw up by Chinese tennis federation
 It is no secret, the Chinese government has set very high goals for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and to do so, it has determined the specific sports where it has a legitimate shot at winning medals. Ladies tennis is one of those sports. The doubles is an obvious opportunity but they have also expressed belief in the possibility of winning a medal in singles as well.What better way to gain international experience than to play Fed Cup competition. And with China in the world group and up against Italy (the defending champs but a beatable team), it was expected that China would have a good shot of making it to the second round. And without looking too far ahead, with powerhouses Belgium, USA and Russia all on the other side of the draw, a final was certainly a possibility.So when I went to see the lineups of all teams in order to make my predictions for Todd's WTA Backspin column, I was very surprised to see both of China's top players not in the lineup. What had happened? News came out today that China has misunderstood a rule about eligibility requirements for the upcoming Olympics... "We did what we could," an ITF spokesman said on Wednesday. "It appeared they'd made a decision based on a misunderstanding of the rules. We advised them because we think it's important that the Fed Cup has the strongest teams possible." "They sacrificed the Fed Cup for the Olympics and we said they didn't need to," he added. "It's a real shame."Incredible isn't it? I mean how could they possibly miss this one?....
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
No it's not true, Slams will stay on top of tennis!
 Many of you will have no idea what I'm talking about...but some others do. To make a long story short, some rumors came out yesterday all over the internet that the ATP was making drastic changes to its rankings system.
Not surprising? Indeed... with all the changes that have been made in the past few years in order to make the game easier to understand, I think even the most hardcore of fans are sometimes clueless as to what is going on.
But yesterday's rumor was taking it to a whole other level. Some websites were reporting that the ATP had confirmed that starting in 2009, the Masters Series events would be extended in importance and would give the same amount of points as the 4 grand slams give.
WHAT!? Yes indeed.. The ATP had to clean up the mess and thankfully they acted quickly, going out with a press release: “The ATP wishes to advise that reports circulating in some sections of the media reporting that from 2009 the Grand Slams will have the same points as ATP Masters events are completely incorrect,” stated the press release.
Well, it's reassuring and I think even for those who are not obsessed with the classic game, this would have been quite a stretch.
But doesn't it say a lot that people actually believed this news? That they thought it was possible? Clearly shows that with all the changes that have been going on lately, a lot of very bad decisions (i.e. round robbins) have been made...
Sure the games needs changes, and I think everyone knows that as a fact, but going out and trying every idea that gets thrown out is not the solution....
Monday, April 09, 2007
Rusedski retires
 Last weekend, one of the best players of British tennis retired without much having been said about it. How come? Well Greg Rusedski was surrounded by controversy on many occasions.
It all started when he announced a few years after starting his career that he would switch to playing for Britain, despite having lived his whole life in Canada. It wasn't a popular choice in his native land mostly because he had been seen as the hope for a nation in search of an elite tennis player. But he explained his decision by the lack of support of Tennis Canada compared to other players and to be fair, he did already have British citizenship because of his mom...
Then, after some success in a few events thanks to a crushing lefty serve, Greg was involved in more controversy as he tested positive to a drug test. He was later cleared of the whole thing because the ATP trainers had actually told Greg he could take the supplements that caused him to fail the test...
But still, his name was never truly cleared, quite unfairly in my opinion given the circumstances.. Add to that injuries that kept appearing and you understand why it was quite a task for Greg to fight his way back to the top. And with a few family (he and his wife Lucy have a 1 year old daughter), his focus steered away from tennis.
He chose to play his final event at home this weekend in the Davis Cup winning the doubles with Jamie Murray, Andy Murray's brother. I would like to thank all the fans for supporting me for 13 years playing Davis Cup for the country. I'd like to thank Jamie for carrying me through the doubles today,'' Rusedski said.Labels: Greg Rusedski
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Thumbs up to Serena!
 "I think mental toughness is to be honest with you, I mean mental toughness is just being able to survive, not on the tennis court, but I think off the court, getting through a lot of things in life. I think mental toughness comes from off the court." - Serena Williams March 31st 2007
Well, to me, at least at this moment, when I think of mental toughness, I think of Serena Williams. It's amazing how she does it time and time again, to fight back from an impossible situation, come back and win her matches. And she does it against the best of the game too, it's difficult to comprehend really. When you know a little bit of what Serena has been through, it's easy to imagine how she can get inspired and not get down on herself even in the toughest of times, on court or not.
But yesterday was still special, even by Serena's standard. Other than Serena, I would say Justine is possibly the best fighter on tour and she certainly gives a great example of mental strength. So after seeing Serena being able to rally back after a terrible start and being so close of losing the match, I have to say Kudos Serena, well done!
Labels: Serena Williams
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