Mesh Tennis

Henin routed Eleni Daniilidou 6-0, 6-2 and will meet third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-4.

Second-seed Amelie Mauresmo topped Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Marina Hingis, the 2001 champion, lost 7-6 (3), 6-2 to Jelena Jankovic after a quick turnaround.

Henin is 12-1 against Kuznetsova, with wins in the 2004 Dubai final and 2006 semifinal. Mauresmo leads Jankovic 4-1 overall, but the Serb won their previous outing last month in Sydney. ESPN

Stepanek is also out in Rotterdam.

Kournikova will appear in two television spots, the first beginning in March, illustrating the brand’s performance product, as well as, its trendsetting style. The commercials will demonstrate that with athleticism, grace, confidence and K-Swiss you can overcome all obstacles and reach your final goal. “I’m looking forward to working with K-Swiss, and am proud to be involved with a classic tennis brand, known for its performance, elegance and style,” noted Kournikova. She will also promote the brand in print ads appearing in fashion and lifestyle magazines.

Jennifer Weiderman, V.P. of Marketing for K-Swiss noted, “Having an individual of Anna’s profile represent K-Swiss will serve as a huge asset for the brand. Her mix of athleticism and style will help us to reach out to consumers 13-30, while bringing the brand back to its tennis heritage.”

In addition, Kournikova will make personal appearances for the brand and wear K-Swiss tennis sneakers and apparel for all of her team and charity tennis appearances. Yahoo

For example, Rainbow will offer a series of “sportskool” fitness videos in high-def which include instructions on skiing from Olympic medal winner Bode Miller; advice on basketball from NBA legend Bill Walton; and tips on tennis from Anna Kournikova.

Rainbow’s high-def offering could be well timed. Cable TV operators, particularly industry leader Comcast, is planning to add more HD programming to their on demand lineups. tvpredictions

I seriously think this was blown all out of proprtion. It’s such a ridiculously tiny amount of money (compared to the overall amount you win) that I am surprised a) anyone cared about the difference and b) when it became clear that the players did care, anyone resisted just paying it out. I don’t really want to hear about pay issues, because the disparity between the top and bottom pros is painful. Let’s hope Roland Garros does the same as the Wimby folks so I won’t have to write any more about this.

Female tennis stars will be quids in at Wimbledon this year after officials decided to increase their prize money to match the men’s.
Until now, players like Serena Williams and last year’s winner Amelia Mauresmo have got about £30,000 less than the men for winning the championship.

Wimbledon bosses said the men deserved more cash because they played longer matches, but lots of people complained.

Now men and women will get equal prize money at every level of the contest. CBBC

Kim Clijsters announced her plans yesterday, saying, “We’ll marry just after Wimbledon on 14 July.”

I guess thedetails will be the next thing to get…maybe Lleyton will be on the invite list.

Surely Aus is better off than the US - why are they complaining?

Worst of all, the grassroots game is withering. “It’s dying, dead,” Ron Gaunt, tennis player, parent, carer and stalwart of the once-strong Illawarra Lawn Tennis Association, based in St George and Sutherland, explains. “In the past 15 years the number of children playing junior tennis has dropped from around 1100-1200 to barely 500.”

The main reason, one suspects, is the loss of suburban tennis courts. According to the former champion John Alexander, more than 1000 have disappeared in Sydney - no doubt subdivided, sold off, lucratively developed.

But as Gaunt argues, loss of courts is just one twist in the game’s death spiral. Others include the obsession with finding “the next Lleyton Hewitt” (at the expense of junior funding); the financial pressures on parents (it costs more than $10,000 to put a 14-year-old through the junior tournament schedule); and the sacrifices demanded of talented kids (some tournaments start on Thursdays). Little wonder that young players, potential champions and parents find cheaper, quicker, more convenient games to play.

Local tennis officials puzzled by the emergence of promising youngsters from south-west Sydney discovered they came from newer, gated communities, such as Denham Court, where tennis courts are included. The only form of the game to be prospering seems to be mosquito tennis, played nightly in bedrooms by people using small, battery-operated racquets, strung with electrified, zapping wires. At least someone has caught the tennis bug. SMH

Top-seeded and defending champion Justine Henin, last week’s Antwerp titlist Amelie Mauresmo and former Dubai champ Martina Hingis were among Wednesday’s second-round winners at the $1.5 million Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open.

…

A third-seeded Kuznetsova handled American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) on Day 3, while fifth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, the 2005 Dubai runner- up, got past last week’s Bangalore runner-up Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-3, 7-5.

In other second-round action, sixth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder overcame Aussie Alicia Molik 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova came back to beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); and Greek Eleni Daniilidou fought back to defeat Japanese Ai Sugiyama 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Thursday’s quarterfinals will pit Henin against Daniilidou, Mauresmo versus Hantuchova, Kuznetsova against Schnyder and Hingis versus Jankovic. The Sports Network

It’s like a U2 concert apparently.

Sanctions for withdrawals from ATP events will be imposed in 2009 when players in top eight elite events will be fined and suspended if they do not show up, the ATP Tour said on Wednesday.

ATP chairman Etienne de Villiers announced a major renovation of the men’s game including 1,000 ranking points for each winner of an elite event.

“We had 384 withdrawals last year,” said de Villiers, who formerly ran the Disney operation in Europe. “On the basis of 2,000 players jobs, that’s a fifth.

“It’s like going to a U2 concert and one of the band members doesn’t bother to show up. That’s the kind of thinking we have to impress upon the players.”

This week’s Rotterdam event is a perfect example of the chronic problem, with pullouts through injury and other reasons from the likes of Tim Henman, Marcos Baghdatis, Mario Ancic and - the day before his opening match - Lleyton Hewitt.

“This is a complicated issue,” said the ATP boss. “Our sport is incredibly demanding physically. I would say that most injury pullouts are legitimate.

“But we are now offering them as a (no-penalty) option. We want to close that door.” Xinhua

Now I KNOW some of you must have comments on this. No doubt that the WTA is going to be watching the fallout from this announcement.

Amelie Mauresmo favours intervention by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to discourage players from last-minute pullouts from tournaments.

“In most cases you have to rely on the good faith of players, and I don’t see any fines being slapped on players for last-minute pullouts from tournaments,” Mauresmo told the media after arriving in Dubai as a wild card.

“Maybe there should be some sort of points penalty to discourage players from pulling out. But then, you never know, it may be a genuine injury,” she added.

One possible solution, Mauresmo felt, lies in players, especially the top-20, in cutting down on their work commitments during the year. In fact, there has been a move by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to concede to a popular demand from players asking for lesser commitments.

“Think of the toll one single year can take on a player with as many as 30 tournaments, the Grand Slams, and if needed the Fed Cup along with the choice to play in home tournaments.

“And if you keep on doing semifinals and finals each and every week, then things can get quite demanding,” Mauresmo said.

“I am certainly not for strong sanctions against the players. I could get an injury and would have to pull out from a tournament just two days before.

“It’s a tough decision and the WTA has some hard work to do.” Gulf News

Yeah.

Roger Federer has tied Jimmy Connors’ record of 160 consecutive weeks as the world’s top tennis player.

Federer tied the mark with the release of Monday’s rankings. He’s been atop rankings since Feb. 2, 2004. Connors reigned from July 1974 to August 1977. The ATP began ranking players in August 1973.