Time To Be Seen and Not Heard for Juniors?

by Savannah

Remember back in the day when no one talked about Junior Tennis? Yeah there were kids out there playing their hearts out but many of them ended up going to college on scholarships and played tennis on weekends in parks or country clubs.

All of that changed a few years ago though and I'm wondering if it might not be time to go back to the days when kids weren't tagged #1 with a bullet like the old Billboard record charts and they were relatively free to pursue or not pursue a pro career. What changed? Richard Williams and Oracene Price's daughters changed the way the world at large viewed tennis. All of a sudden every parent with a dollar and a dream to borrow a phrase felt their child had the goods to become the next Williams sister and the race was on. If your child could hit a tennis ball over the net he or she was dragooned into playing tennis because Venus and Serena. The siren song reached as far as Eastern Europe and as near as the lower 48 states in North America.

An important article was posted this week by Steve Tignor on the current wild card system employed by the Grand Slams where their up and coming players are given the chance to play on the big stage of a Slam and see how they do against the best in the business. Most of these players end up as cannon fodder, hitting or practice partners for the top players rarely making it past the first or second round of play. Here is Tignor's opening salvo:

The way it's done now, each major gives most of its wild cards to its home players. The few that don't go to the other Slam countries, in a reciprocal arrangement. For example, six of this year’s men’s main-draw wild cards went to Americans, one went to Pierre-Hughes Herbert of France, and another to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia. It’s understandable, on one level: The national federations run these tournaments, and their first mission is to promote tennis in their home countries. But there are only four countries that host Grand Slams: Australia, France, Great Britain, and the United States.

Should players from these countries have a leg up forever?What about all of the worthy—and often worthier—hopefuls from other nations? The umbrella organization for the federations, the ITF, is in the business of promoting the game not just in four places, but around the world. And with the recent prize-money increases at the majors, a free ride into the first round is more valuable to a young or struggling player than ever. It can also be valuable, as Hewitt’s long, multi-year good-bye has shown, to an aging legend, too.

But are all of these wild cards to "rising stars" a help or a hindrance? As is pointed out in the article Donald Young was picked to be the next big US player. Now, at age 26, he is doing what he could have done at age 19 and playing Challengers not only in the States but overseas as well. He's not storming the top ten but he's playing well enough to beat the likes of Gilles Simon who is not an easy out. With tennis careers lasting longer Young has a chance of getting and maintaining a career in the top 20, something that would've been laughable five years ago.

What does this have to do with junior tennis? There is a lot of hoopla and promotion around Juniors now. There are racquet and clothing contracts available. Some majors go out of their way to put top juniors on televised courts not only for junior matches but when they play main tour players. Tennis is all about the pleasure of pressure but is the focus on juniors causing some players to stay stuck at that level of play? How often have we seen promising juniors getting Wild Card after wild card and instead of rising in the rankings sinking, no plummeting in the opposite direction because their games, mentally and physically, aren't able to cope with those of the top pros.

I watched the match between Danka Kovinic and Anna Karolína Schmiedlová last evening and feel it was a prime example of the lowering of tennis IQ in players labeled "promising" or "rising stars". Kovinic can hit the snot out of the ball but can't control her power. AKS has been playing a lot of main tour matches this year and while her skills are developing you'd think she would've won the match easily based on where she played and how she's done for a player her age. Instead we got a marathon of junior level tennis where AKS won because Kovinic thinks there's only one way to hit a ball. AKS was barely standing but she has a bit of subtlety in her game and won. Was it exciting? Yes, in the sense that someone was going to have to win and maybe someone will faint kind of way. Was it great tennis? No.

I also got to watch one of my "ones to watch" this season, Alexander Zverev, 18 play both qualies and a main draw match live. Zverev's got a pretty decent game. Of course it still needs work, but he plays his age. Shot selection can be improved on as well as paying closer attention to what his opponent is doing.

I also watched Chung Hyeon age 19 on an outer court, and Frances Tiafoe age 17. Both were in the Main Draw, Chung based on his ranking, Tiafoe via a Wild Card. Tiafoe has all the shots. He moves well. He's got a big personality. But on court he's 17. Chung, who forced Stan Wawrinka to three tiebreak sets, has been playing a mix of Challengers, ATP 250 events and Slams. It shows. His game is much more mature than Tiafoe's, and right now I don't see Tiafoe being able to duplicate what Chung did even in defeat. Tiafoe's game is not maturing. I think it would've been better to hold a Slam WC for Tiafoe until he is 19 and has hopefully gained a measure of tennis maturity by playing Challengers and ATP 250's not only in the States but overseas.

Are Wild Cards overused for young players from countries with long tennis histories? Yes. Is too much emphasis being put on doing well at a Slam instead of doing well at tennis, especially in the US? Yes. Should the emphasis on "the next great one" be downplayed? Yes. Labeling a youngster a success when he/she has yet to prove that they can do more than hit the cover off the ball or has connections in a particular Federation is wrong.

I've been a critic of Patrick McEnroe and his stewardship of the USTA Player Development program but one thing he was right about was teaching young prospects to play on clay. Here's a quote from Andre Agassi who, along with Pete Sampras and Jim Courier, are being recruited by PMac's successor Martin Black to help mentor young American men. Keep in mind they're talking about young men by the way.

Agassi thinks the drought can be explained through domination and change in the game.

"I think the biggest problem over the last decade has been Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic," Agassi said. "You throw in Murray and you have one hell of a generation who have clearly raised the standard."

He said that the new game doesn't naturally suit itself to the American game as it once did.

"Back in the day, me, Pete, [John] McEnroe and [Jimmy] Connors, we hit the ball through the court," Agassi said. "We struggled a bit on clay, but our game still translated throughout the year for the most part. Now with the spin and the athleticism, you need that clay mentality in every part of the game."

I've been saying this for years but now that Agassi has said it maybe some of the éminence grise of tennis will pay more attention to what has to happen if the US is going to be competitive in tennis again. We don't need any more players with all the shots and no game. The Zverev's, Chungs, Schmiedlova's and Bencic's of the world are "hungry to win" and are working on improving their games not their celebrity profiles. So yes, it's time for everyone involved with Junior tennis especially in the US to take a step back, let the kids develop their games on their own at their own pace. If your game is set at 18 there is no where for you to go. It's definitely time to let the kids be seen and not heard.

USTA Names New Head of Player Development

by Savannah

A few things jumped out at me reading the article by Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal on the appointment of Martin Blackman as head of Player Development for the USTA.

First of course is his background in USTA politics and his past as Senior Director of Talent Identification for that organization.

Second is the endorsement by Nick Bollettieri who raves about Blackman bringing "stability".

Mr. Blackman is moving his family to the new USTA training facility in Lake Nona, Florida, something that was high on the must do list of the USTA.

Then there is this:

Blackman said he would try to strengthen partnerships with private coaches and ask current and former American champions for advice. He mentioned Agassi, Courier, Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, and Blake.

“I’m really going to listen to what they have to say about what has worked,” Blackman said.

American tennis champions have traditionally trained with private coaches. But as the country’s performance in pro tennis, particularly men’s tennis, plummeted in the late 2000s, the USTA decided to spend more on development and hired McEnroe in 2008.

And this:

In the years since, McEnroe endured criticism over the program’s structure, player turnover, and sometimes strained relationships with private coaches, players, and parents, who felt that the USTA would only support players enrolled in the program, rather than those who sought partial help but wanted to keep private coaches.

In 2013, McEnroe adopted a new strategy: fewer full-time students and more time devoted to outside players and coaches who could visit and train.

Though American men’s tennis continues to struggle, the U.S. has a promising crop of junior boys, including 13 ranked in the top 100 of the International Tennis Federation’s 18-and-under rankings and three in the top 10. Women’s tennis is strong, with the Williams sisters and young pros like Madison Keys, 20, and Sloane Stephens, 22.

I'm wondering what insight Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi can give though. As far as can be determined Sampras was as clean cut as he appeared. We all know Agassi used illegal drugs while playing and was never called out or sanctioned for his behavior. Today Sampras would be called a servebot and Agassi would be famous as a scalp in the WADA Anti Drug plan. Jim Courier, because of Davis Cup, is more familiar with the men's game and the strategies behind it than either of those former players.

Both Andy Roddick and James Blake played until relatively recently but towards the end, with the men's game becoming more strategic and based on skills US players don't have their play could best be described as anachronistic. With the hiring of Mr. Blackman I don't see the level of US tennis changing much if at all.

In the end however it seems to be that the most important thing for US men's tennis is the Benjamins. The US system seems to demand that players have their own coaches who are free to take money from the USTA, use its facilities, and duck all the blame for the current state of men's tennis.

There is going to be a drop in the level of tennis after 2016 and it still seems to me that the USTA and it's coaches are preparing for that drop. Their fervent hope would appear to be that the "hit hard and harder" approach, "Serve Bot Tennis" if you will, will be on the ascendancy again and US men will be able to compete on an international level once more.
That to me is what is most important to the tennis establishment in the United States. They care the most about the men's game and don't really care about women's tennis although it's nice that they're including Lindsay Davenport in the discussion. It should be noted that current women's number one Serena Williams is not being coached by an American and has changed her approach to the game. Her new hitting partner, Robbye Poole is American though.

It seems to me that Mr. Blackman is the establishment choice. They know him. He's not going to upset the apple cart. The money will keep flowing to private coaches and all will be right with the world. Will this improve the state of tennis in the United States? It depends a lot on what players like Francis Tiafoe achieve going forward. I don't think you'll see results from players like him for another five years or so. Meanwhile the Europeans keep coming and rising up the rankings with the ability to construct points, superior court knowledge and mental abilities and overall better games even in their late teens. We already know about Chung Hyeon, Borna Ćorić, Elias Ymer and Alexander Zverev. They're making waves while US prospects like Ryan Harrison are just getting past the stage where superior play from an opponent results in tantrums.

Somehow I get the feeling that as long as Mr. Blackman keeps the old ways in place he'll be fine. After all, it is always "all about the Benjamins baby".

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File This Under Interesting...

by Savannah

It's still the silly season. Fans are posting soft porn pics of female tennis players while the PR machines for the men are busily posting pictures of various and sundry men practicing on hard courts or posting announcements that Player X is now back training. Officially.

Maria Sharapova gave an interview with claws barely concealed. The only thing interesting was that it took her and her team so long to craft a statement about the Connors fiasco that didn't include the words "IMG thought it was a good deal for Jimmy. He could get some scratch and I would get some publicity". Otherwise it's the same old same old.

Roger Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick, husband of ESPN commentator Mary Joe Fernandez have formed their own publicity firm. They've already got Juan Martin del Potro under contract. So this season when Mary Joe is praising some player you either never heard of or who doesn't have a snow balls chance in hell of winning the match they're playing don't think that she's playing up one of her husbands clients. She'd never do such a thing. After all that would be a conflict of interest and we all know that would never, ever, happen with ESPN's tennis coverage.

So if that's pretty much all the news why am I even posting this a few days before the Holidays? I think this will make it all clear.


photo via Rajiv Dhoot top news in.

Novak Djokovic is turning to Boris Becker for help in 2014.

The second-ranked Serb said Wednesday that Becker will join his staff for next season as head coach.
"He is a true legend, someone who has great tennis knowledge and his experience will help me win new trophies from the Grand Slams and other tournaments," Djokovic said in a statement. "Becker is a great person, too, and I am sure he will fit in our team in the best possible way."

The 46-year-old Becker, a six-time Grand Slam champion, will travel with Djokovic and other coaches to tournaments, including next month's Australian Open.

Djokovic won his fourth Australian Open title last year and finished the 2013 season ranked No. 2 in the world behind Rafael Nadal.
Becker will join a coaching staff that also includes Marian Vajda, Miljan Amanovic and Gebhard Phil-Gritsch.
"I will do my best to help him reach his goals, and I am sure we can achieve great things together," said Becker, who became the youngest man to win Wimbledon when he was 17 in 1985.

Vajda, who has been working with Djokovic since 2006, said the Serb needed a new head coach to continue improving.
"Becker's assignment will not affect much my position in the team, since I will do all I can for Novak, just like I did before," Vajda said. "On the other hand, choosing Boris as the head coach is a good solution, I am sure we will get along very well, and that Novak will continue to progress."

See nothing happens in a vacuum. I was puzzled by Twitter posts a few days ago asking whether Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras had ever been approached about coaching a top player. Personally I don't think either man is cut out to be a coach and yes that could be personal bias. But the people posting were dead serious and went on. And on. And on. And just as suddenly the subject was dropped. Now I understand why the flurry of interest and faux rage about why they've never been publicly considered by anyone.

I guess the USTA has its panties in a bunch because no one really wants an ex American superstar to coach them. Todd Martin, who was never a superstar in the way Agassi and Sampras were was coaching for about a minute and that's been it. As for the women Martina Navratilova has expressed interest in coaching but if she has gotten feelers nothing has been made public.

So back to Boris. It's an interesting choice to say the least. Boris has stayed around the sport but has, to my knowledge never coached a player, let alone a top ten player.

Long time readers of this site know that I am not a fan of the man ranked #2 in the world but putting that aside what does Boris bring to the table other than a name? Is this another Jimmy Connors moment for Becker? It'll be interesting to see what changes he will have made in his charge going into Melbourne.

Andre Agassi and Sexting

by Savannah

Sometimes someone says it better than you. Sarah Thurmond at tennis.com wrote about the incident in Taiwan over the weekend where during a charity auction Agassi offered the highest bidder for an item the chance to see his wife naked via a picture on his cell phone. The video of the event can be found by clicking the above link. Here is Ms. Thurmond's piece/

Remember when Andre Agassi smacked his wife, Steffi Graf, in the face with his racquet while attempting a left-handed forehand during an exhibition in Houston? She walked off the court holding a towel to her face; he continued playing. We can only imagine the hell she gave him later that night. It probably went something like this: "You always have to get so carried away in front of a crowd! One of these days you're going to take it too far, and someone is going to get hurt. Oh wait—that just happened!"

Well, that sound you hear is a bell ringing, signaling round two of what I suspect will be another bout between the married tennis legends. Once again, Agassi used Graf as the mark of his comedic jabs. Last week, Agassi was in Taipei playing an exhibition with Marat Safin, Mikhail Youzhny and ATP players from Taiwan, including Yen-Hsun Lu. The players attended a charity auction, and, as this clip shows, at one point Agassi took over as auctioneer. Holding up what looks like an autographed, semi-ornate porcelain platter, he said, "You pay more than $4,000, and I will show you a picture of my wife on my phone naked." That got the crowd clapping. It also got a man to put up the money because the next shot on the video is Agassi showing him something on his phone. It may not have been an actual photo of Graf in the buff, but if it was, it didn't get too much of a reaction from the winning bidder:

Graf must be a really a good sport to put up with Agassi's "take my wife, please!" schtick. If she isn't, it's a good thing Agassi was a good defensive player because after this latest incident, those skills must come in handy at home.

After The Storm

by Savannah

Kia, in her response to the previous post touched on some things I wanted to mention.

The Dust Up in the Desert Part Deux

Last night while watching TC a "Court Review" clip came on hosted by Cari Campion of TC. It was a review of the "Hit for Haiti" exhibition from the night before. I wondered if they would show some of the fantastic shots and assumed they would skip over the unpleasantries between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Boy was I wrong.

Instead of just pretending it didn't happen TC decided to make it look as if the two men were just joking around and having a good time. If that's what a good time is I spent most of my youth doing the wrong things. Later in the evening they showed a second clip on "Hit for Haiti" again hosted by Ms Campion and it didn't mention all the fun Sampras and Agassi had. Maybe they remembered that a lot of people saw the event and that neither man went to the presser held afterwards. There are also rumors that indicate the two men stepped to each other in the tunnel after the cameras and mics were gone. Sounds like a good time was had by all right?

A New American Prospect
One of the matches I looked forward to seeing last night was the one between rising young American Sloane Stephens and Vera Zvonereva. Sloane is only 16 and this would be her first time playing in a big stadium. I didn't expect her to win - when she's calm Bepa plays quite well - but I hoped she'd make a good showing.

Sloane did just that. Bepa can be excused for thinking she had an opening match one level short of a walk over but by the end she knew she had to kick it up a whole lot to make sure she won without dropping a set. Sloane gave the veteran a hard time on almost every service game and showed that when it comes to rallying she can hang tough. If she is managed with an eye towards her getting WC's into big events and gradually acclimating herself to the main tour American tennis fans may have the player they've been waiting for.

Sloane, seen here with coach Roger Smith, has a rudimentary pro level game. She's got all the shots and is working on point construction and strategy. I liked that she was angry at herself for not playing better. She really thought she could and should be winning.
Right now she's flying under the media radar. She's gotten a lot of folks attention after last night. Let's hope the slow and steady approach continues for her.

Fun, Fun, Fun

Evoking the spirit of California surfer culture Edina Gallovits, Andreas Seppi, Andy Ram, Agnieszka Radwanska, Agnes Szavay and Sorana Cristea did some modeling. They look as if they're having a grand old time.

End Notes

I want to wait until all of the players have played their opening matches before commenting on the tournament so far. Yes there have been some surprises, some major, some not so much. I'm going to be out and about tomorrow early and I'm hoping to be back in time to see the day's coverage.

I must take a moment though and say that Robbie Koenig and Doug Adler did a tremendous job. Instead of yapping all through the matches they commentated they assume that viewers, new or tennisheads, have enough intelligence to follow what they're watching. Once a point was finished they made quick comments and when play resumed they shut up. I kept wondering what was different about the broadcast and then I realized it was the blessed silence. Keep up the good work guys.

I spend a lot of time bashing the coverage we get here in the States but aside from starting late (coverage started Saturday while play started Wednesday) I'm impressed with what Tennis Channel did yesterday. They showed every match they could and didn't go off the air until the last match of the day was played. Coupled with TennisTV I had wall to wall coverage since TTV showed some matches in full that Tennis Channel only showed highlights from. Great work by all involved.

Oh What A Night!

by Savannah

I don't publicize it but Friday nights are pour moi. If possible I avoid the Internet and sit and watch television. I did that for the first part of the evening catching up on shows I missed during the week that were sitting on the DVR and preparing for a tennis overdose tomorrow by avoiding the above mentioned internet and except for a foray onto the Foodnetwork to find an oven setting I did well.

But such is my life that I got a text asking when my fave ATP player was going to play so I went to the BNP Paribas Open/Indian Wells official site to check out the Order of Play.

You see once I start looking at tennis stuff my brain short circuits and I end up on tennis fanboards. That is how I found out about the Dust Up in the Desert (I don't have that rhyming gene a la Muhammad Ali. Sorry.) The boards were all lit up about some trash talk between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. There was talk of a fired up Agassi with blood shot eyes going after Sampras the way he did in his book. Deciding I needed to find out just how serious this was I went on Twitter and the tennisheads were all over the situation too. Insinuations were being made there that Andre appeared to be "on something".

I found this hard to believe. I mean what tennis player is going to take the court in a high profile exhibition match aimed at raising money for the people suffering in Haiti intoxicated or high? Andre has done a lot to tarnish his image in the last few months and something like that would just be beyond the pale.

Fortunately Tennis Channel's war with Cablevision ended right after the US Open last year so when someone let me know they were repeating the event I put on my television. This was the regular television not the HD one that's in the living room. I had read that on HD the condition of Andre's eyes was very clear so I decided that when the men's segment came on I'd watch it on the HD television.

It must be said that Martina Navratilova talked all through the women's portion but while annoying it didn't get personal. Unfortunately my ear isn't tuned to her accent when she's speaking fast so I didn't catch a lot of what she said. I can say I'm sure that no insults were spoken by her.

Unfortunately I could easily understand what Andre was saying. It started when he said younger viewers probably wonder who the two bald guys are playing with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Even though Sampras managed to reply by saying he still had some hair left you could see that he was annoyed to say the least. Losing your hair is traumatic for anyone, male or female, as Andre of all people should know. You will read that it started when Pete imitated Andre's pigeon toed walk. Sampras did that after the hair comment. Now it was Andre's turn not to be amused.
Before you could settle down Andre started in on Pete being a cheapskate and bad tipper. First he turned his pockets out and imitated a person pretending to look for money in said pockets and finding none. A few minutes later he said he'd hate to be a parking valet when Pete drove up.
Sampras aimed a serve right at Andre barely missing him. The crowd had been laughing and taking the comments lightly. Now an uneasy silence reigned and both Federer and Nadal were quite uncomfortable. Federer tried to make some jokes of his own but by that point things had gone too far downhill to salvage the good feelings that were part of the first few points.

Both Tracy Austin and Patrick McEnroe were stunned into silence. Justin Gimelstob tried his best to calm the waters but instead seemed to be making matters worse. At the end there was an embrace at the net but no one was fooled. Emotions were still running high.

By the end of the match Agassi had run out of gas and his team lost 8-6 to Federer/Sampras. But the score will always be secondary to what happened between the two biggest stars of American tennis. It's perverse tennis history and something that will be talked about for a long time. Was Andre "on something" as many implied? I don't know. I know that I saw that his eyes were big and round, pupils hugely dilated, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot and that he suddenly ran out of gas leaving Rafa to play two men on his own. HDTV is a bitch. It shows everything.

What should have been a joyous occasion before a packed house turned out to be a downer. The people of Haiti, and the people who put the exhibition together, deserved better.

The good news is that a check for one million dollars was given to the Red Cross. That is what this was supposed to be about.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah


The push is on. One of my best tennis friends Tweeted yesterday that the Andre Agassi story has run it's course, that it's time to move on. I beg to disagree my friend. The tennis establishment has just started it's full court press and some of the things I'm reading go beyond pushing for "compassion" for the man who disgraced the ATP.


Stephanie Myles asked why there is so much animosity towards Agassi and includes the following anecdote:

Swedish player Joachim Johansson urged fans on his blog not to buy the book because it was a "cheap public-relations ploy." He also said that when he first came on tour in 2004, "everyone" was talking about how the ATP had covered up a positive test from Agassi, and that he thought people would be "relieved" the truth came out.

There is also this:

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal condemned him, the general tone being "our sport is clean, and this hurts us all."

How, exactly? Agassi has been retired for three years. This happened in 1997. Do they lead such a sheltered existence that they don't even know what crystal meth is?

You can sort of see where Nadal is coming from; he has denied performance-enhancing drug rumours for years, so he's probably touchy about that subject. And he's young.

But Federer? We thought he was a little savvier than that, and a lot more gracious.

And this.

Another critic was former No. 1 Boris Becker, who, given his Eurotrashy lifestyle, was probably lucky he got away with a slip-up or two himself.

"You could forget about it if he had had too many beers or smoked a joint. But we are talking about one of the worst drugs," Becker said. "He has won many Grand Slams, some of them against me. If he won those because he was on speed it's simply unfair."

Then of course Martina Navratilova comes in for her criticism.

The revelation in Agassi's memoirs that he used the drug crystal meth for much of 1997, at the lowest point of his long career, brought virulent reactions from every corner of tennis - except for the Americans, who mostly stood firmly behind their icon.

Well, all except for Czech-born American Martina Navratilova, who compared Agassi to disgraced baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.

I guess Martina, who has said some pretty douchey things in her time, didn't get the memo in time. She's said to be backing off her statements.

Notice a pattern here? Just in case you don't it seems that the Europeans are lined up firmly behind condemning what the revelation does to the sport of tennis while the Americans are taking the stance that AA is a great man and that this little thing of having a positive drug test ignored, is just a tempest in a teapot. Tanking matches? No biggie. He's fessed up. Give him a pass. There are a few players from Eastern Europe and South America who might disagree with you.

Sergei Brugera of Spain has already said that a review should be made of Agassi's Olympic medal from 1996. And Marat Safin, who has been vocal throughout said the following today:

PARIS (AP) -- Former No. 1-ranked Marat Safin believes that Andre Agassi should give his tennis titles back after confessing he tested positive for a banned substance during his career and lied about it to the ATP.

Agassi admitted in his autobiography ''Open'' that he used crystal meth in 1997 and failed a drug test, a result he says was thrown out after he lied by saying he ''unwittingly'' took the substance.

Safin, who plans to retire this month, said in an interview with L'Equipe newspaper on Tuesday that Agassi should ''give his titles, his money and his Grand Slam titles'' back.

''I'm not defending the ATP, but what he said put it in a delicate position,'' Safin said. ''The ATP allowed him to win a lot of tournaments, a lot of money. It kept his secret. Why does he need to be so cruel with it?''

Agassi, who retired in 2006, won 60 titles, including eight Grand Slams, during his career. He recently told The Associated Press that he had to speak about his lies because he couldn't live with it anymore.

''If he is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end,'' Safin said. ''You know, the ATP has a bank account and he can give the money back if he wants.''

Safin, who will retire after this week's Paris Masters, won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open. The 29-year-old Russian said he isn't going to write his autobiography when his career will be over.

''Me, I don't need money,'' he said. ''The question is: Why did he do this? What is done is done. Does he hope to sell more books? It's absolutely stupid.''

SOURCE

A lot of the turmoil in men's tennis has had the Europeans vs The Americans as a back drop. The more that becomes public about this situation the more understandable the bad feelings on the other side of the pond and south of the border become.

The WTA and The Belgians

Stacey Allaster has made the following statement:

BALI (Reuters) - The governing body of women's tennis would like to see the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) revise its 'whereabouts rule' to give players more flexibility when they are competing.

Last week, Belgian players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse were both handed one-year suspensions for failing to notify their national doping agency where they could be reached, under a ruling the WTA believes is a little too stringent.

"Basically each quarter, they (the players) go in to the computer system and have to give at least one hour a day where they're going to be," WTA Tour chairman Stacey Allaster told Reuters.

"There's no doubt that this anti-doping program is rigorous and I think everyone in sport who is part of the WADA code are all united that we want to have a clean sport.

"This rigorous testing for out of competition, which is really what the whereabouts rule is about, is meant to ensure the integrity of the testing system and the integrity of the sport.

"But I think together with the (men's tour) ATP, we do believe that the procedures for reporting during competition could be modified. I think when the athletes are in competition it's easy for WADA to see where the athletes are."

Allastar sympathizes with players at an event who find it difficult to inform authorities where they are going to be on a daily basis.

"If I'm at a tournament I don't know when my match is, I don't know when I'm practicing. That does become challenging for the athletes in competition," she added.

"So together with the ATP we have been advocating through the International Tennis Federation, to WADA, to make procedural changes to the reporting structure of the whereabouts program in competition."

Really Stacey? I'm waiting to see if they manage to pull this off before another Belgian player returns to the WTA tour.

End Note

Richard Gasquet's hearing is today.

Boris Becker's IQ and Andre Agassi

by Savannah


Sometimes you come across something, a picture, a short story, a novel, that brings you up short and makes your jaw drop in total shock. I'm posting this article by Dennis Fitzgerald that left me speechless. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

It's interesting how we all loved Andre Agassi (well, OK, not everyone) when he was exuberant, energetic, telegenic star in his younger days. Glamming it with Hollywood stars, enjoying life as tennis' man about town. And winning too.

Now, he is retired, still beloved by many. But apparently he hasn't lived up to other folks' expectations. He committed the mortal sin of being.....mortal! He exposed himself, along with some not so pretty demons, in a book. Self-serving, according to some. To sell some books, according to others.

Well Agassi didn't have to tell his story. Or tell the story he did. But it was his choice. For better or worse.

For those who don't like what they have read about him already, OK don't buy the book (and get the full picture). For those who feel that Andre let them down, my condolences. But I am curious. Just when did you ask Andre to be your personal guide and savior? And what did he say when you asked him?

While Andre made choices in his life (some I bet he regrets), and choices as to what he included in his book (don't know if he regrets any of those just yet), don't we all make choices in our lives? Are we all to be judged (and condemned) by random acts throughout our lives? And just why are celebrities put to a higher moral standard anyway? As a collection their moral standards are pretty low, if you ask me.

Andre bringing shame to himself? And tennis?

While Martina Navratilova's comments really burn me, and make me so annoyed at her pomposity. Shrillness. And sheer hypocrisy. I put it down to a lack of intelligence. And compassion. Ironic, because she always craved compassion and understanding from everyone else, but apparently is incapable of showing it to others! If gay marriage were legal, what number wife would Martina be on by now? You see what goes around comes around.

Becker's comments were just as ridiculous. But then Becker's IQ was a lot lower than a weak second serve. But he made up for it with an enormous ego. And Becker ought to be at the top of the list as far as former pros not making any comments at all about Agassi. I guarantee you that John McEnroe, among a few others, will not make any public comments and especially no public criticism at all of Andre.

For Becker to have admitted he was addicted to prescription drugs, and then take Agassi to task? Puh-lease. Take a good hard look in the mirror Becker.....then again perhaps we ought to pry Becker away from the mirror since I always suspects he spends far too much time admiring himself....or perhaps check in to Reality Hotel before making any further public comments. When you check into Reality Hotel, you get a healthy does of true introspection.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah

It wasn't just the meth. It's not just the on court rages. And no it's not the hair piece. Can we forget the hair piece? Now it's admitting that he tanked his 1996 AO semifinal match to Michael Chang so that he wouldn't have to play Boris Becker.

My friend Lucio Lopez provided me with a side by side translation from the Spanish of Marcelo Rios 2004 statements. I like to put the original language in the translation since there are nuances that may not translate well into English. Lucio did this in between performing his regular life duties as a doctor. Thank you Lucio.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=562905
Está claro que el tenis mundial vive un momento de ebullición tras la salida a la luz de los casos de doping del argentino Mariano Puerta y del británico Greg Rusedski. Y más aún luego de las declaraciones de este último, que afirmó que "de los mejores 120 del ranking de la ATP, hay 43 con índices de nandrolona por encima de lo permitido".

It is clear that tennis is going through a boiling point after the doping cases of Argentine Mariano Puerta and British Greg Rusedski have seen the light. Even more so after the latter’s declarations, where he stated that “of the best 120 in the ATP ranking, there are 43 with levels of nandrolone above the permitted”.

Ahora, el chileno Marcelo Ríos alimentó la controversia. En declaraciones publicadas por el diario La Tercera, el Chino disparó contra la ATP. "Yo sé que si le detectan a (Andre) Agassi nandrolona, no lo van a decir. El es un tipo muy fuerte en el tenis y el tenis se vendría abajo si lo agarran con doping. La ATP no lo diría", acusó Ríos.

Now, the Chilean Marcelo Rios has fueled the controversy. En public declarations published by La Tercera newspaper, El Chino fired against the ATP, “I know that if they detect nandrolone in Agassi, they will not say it. He is a very strong person in tennis and tennis would devaluate if they match him with doping. The ATP would not tell.”, accused Rios.

El ex número 1 del mundo se refirió a ciertos "privilegios" que recibirían los tenistas más reconocidos. "Los sudamericanos lo hemos discutido bastante. Es un tema complicado. No tengo problemas en decirlo: siempre nos preguntamos quién te certifica que le hacen el control a Agassi o quién le hace el examen a Sampras...", afirmó Ríos.

The World ex –number referred to certain “privileges” that the more known tennis players would receive. “(We) The South Americans have discussed it a lot. It’s a complicated issue. I have no problems in saying it: we always wonder who certifies that Agassi is controlled or who performs the exam on Sampras…”, stated Rios.

Y contó una anécdota sobre un hecho muy llamativo que involucra directamente a Andre Agassi durante un torneo del circuito. "Hay un caso en Australia donde hubo un control y él (por Agassi) desapareció diciendo que al hijo lo iban a raptar".

And he told an anecdote about a very suspicious event that involves Andre Agassi directly during a tournament in the tour. “There’s a case in Australia where there was a control and him (Agassi) disappeared saying that they were going to kidnap his son.”

http://www.icarito.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,3308_5832_47763787,00.html
Ti, this article status the same things, I’m only translating the new stuff that appears.
El "Chino" profundizó aún más y recordó un hecho en especial: "Hay un caso que hubo en Australia (N de la R: en 2002), donde hubo un control y él (Agassi) desapareció, diciendo que al hijo lo iban a raptar... A mí me encantaría mandar a que le hicieran dóping y yo decir 'oye, yo quiero ver y certificar que se lo están haciendo'. Porque no sé quién manda, quién decide a quién se lo hacen".
(the bolded part is the Australia anecdote again, what follows after the bold is new):
“… I would love to have him tested and say “hey, I want to see and certify that he’s being tested”. Because I don’t know who’s in charge, who decides who is tested.”.

yo sé que si le pillan a Agassi nandrolona, no lo van a decir. El es un tipo muy fuerte en el tenis, y el tenis se vendría abajo si le pillan un dóping. El ATP no lo diría. Son organizaciones tan fuertes que Agassi sería un problema si sale positivo
(same MO, this one adds to the ATP keeping silent if Agassi were to be caught comment)
“…They are such strong organizations that Agassi would be a problem were he to test positive.”
(I assume that Rios refers to Andre as an organization)

En Pontevedra, Florida, donde está el cuartel general de la ATP, no reaccionaron muy agradados ante los dichos de Ríos, pero la respuesta fue más técnica que pasional: "Los procedimientos son muy básicos y están claramente especificados para todo el mundo en nuestra página web (www.atptennis.com) y se demuestra cuántas veces se le han hecho controles a los jugadores... Nosotros no tenemos favoritos y tampoco tenemos algo contra los sudamericanos", di-jo a La Tercera Greg Sharko, director de Comunicaciones de la ATP, quien además no cree que por estas declaraciones el "Chino" pueda recibir una sanción.

Más al oeste, en las oficinas de Agassi Enterprises, en Las Vegas, evitaron realizar cualquier comentario hasta que Perry Rogers, representante del tenista, regrese de un viaje de negocios en Los Angeles.

In Pontevedra, Florida, where the ATP headquarters lie, Rios’ comments did not sit very well, but the answer was more technical than passionate: “The procedures are very basic and are clearly specified for everyone a tour website (ATPtennis.com) and it shows how many times the players have been tested… We don’t have favorites and neither do we have anything against the South Americans.” said to La Tercera Greg Sharko, director of ATP Communications, who Besides doesn’t believe that “El Chino” could be sanctioned for his statements.

Further to the West, in the offices of Agassi Enterprises, in Las Vegas, they avoided any commentary until Perry Rogers, his manager, returns from a business trip in LA.

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2004/01/14/d-05204.htm
Nuestro deporte está a la cabeza en los controles antidóping", opinó el estadounidense Agassi. "El tenis está limpio", añadió su compatriota Roddick. Rusedski denunció días atrás que más de 40 jugadores controlados por la ATP dieron positivo por nandrolona, como él, e insinuó que este esteroide está ampliamente difundido en el circuito. Sin embargo, la Asociación dijo que 36 tenistas presentaron niveles elevados de la sustancia, pero que estaban debajo del nivel considerado dóping (dos nanogramos por mililitro). A las críticas del inglés se les sumaron las del chileno Marcelo Ríos, ex número uno del mundo. "Son organizaciones tan fuertes que Agassi sería un problema si sale positivo. La ATP no lo diría", declaró Ríos.

“Our sport is at the head in antidoping controls.” expressed the American Agassi. “Tennis is clean.” (present tense) , added his compatriot Roddick. Rusedski denounced in recent days that more than 40 players controlled by the ATP came back positive for nandrolone, as him, and insinuated that this steroid is spreaded amply in the tour. However, the Asociation said that 36 players presented high levels of this substance, but that they were below the level considered as doping (two nanograms per milimeter). Former world number one, Chilean Marcelo Rios, added to the British’s critiques. “They are such strong organizations that Agassi would be a problem were he to test positive. The ATP would not tell.”, declared Rios.

Then there are these comments by Nicolas Escude of France made in 2002. Emphasis mine.

Drug Testing Under Fire

Nicolas Escudé, along with several top French players, harshly criticized the ATP for its drug-testing program in interviews with Le Parisien, a French publication. Escudé was quoted as saying, ''To say tennis is clean, that's wishful thinking.'' Also criticizing the tour's chief executive, Mark Miles, Escudé added: ''They tell me there are files that can't be opened. What can they be, if not files on doping? If these files exploded, tennis would be in bad shape for six months. But it would be a bad thing for a good cause.''

ATP Tour officials defended themselves by citing the intense testing scrutiny the players are under. Last year, in ATP events alone, there were 542 in-competition tests and 50 out-of-competition screenings. The top 10 players were tested an average of 3.8 times each.

This year, the Tour has increased testing in competition by 20 percent and out of competition by 100 percent, David Higdon, a Tour spokesman, said.

The majors also conduct drug testing of players. In the past year, only one player, Argentina's Guillermo Coria, has violated the Tennis Anti-Doping Program. He tested positive for metabolites of nandrolone, which he said he unknowingly consumed while taking a contaminated nutritional supplement. But as rigid as the Tour's testing is, there is no screening process in place for EPO, a banned endurance booster.

''We're always looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve,'' Miles said.

Last month, the ATP switched from a United States-based testing company to a Swedish firm, in part because of its advanced blood-testing capabilities. Soon, the ATP hopes to incorporate an EPO test into its Tennis Anti-Doping Program.

In the same Tennis Notebook NY Times reporter Selena Roberts reports the following:

Juan Carlos Ferrero was concocting a devilish blend of drop shots and forehand winners in a cold drizzle when Andre Agassi ended the young Spaniard's assault with the crook of his finger.

Agassi motioned to the chair umpire, who summoned the French Open referee, Stefan Fransson, to the court. After a few words with Agassi, and a nod toward a baffled Ferrero, Fransson suspended the men's quarterfinal match around 7 p.m. even though play on the outside courts continued.

Call it the perks of superstardom and the trickle-down effect of star power. That's how the annoyed Spaniards saw it. Thirteen minutes into the resumption of play, after a five-hour rain delay that had halted the match in the sixth game of the first set, Agassi had lost two of the first three games.

Down by 6-3, 1-0 and with Ferrero locked in on his shots, it was to Agassi's advantage for his opponent to sleep on his hot start. Who knows if Ferrero can replicate the same flawlessness on Thursday?

Visibly upset after the match was suspended for the day, Ferrero said, ''I didn't say anything'' when Fransson came onto the court at Agassi's request. One person from Ferrero's camp added: ''Andre canceled the match. No one asked Juan Carlos.''

Although he could not explain why the juniors kept playing on the outside courts today, Fransson dismissed the notion that Agassi influenced his decision to end play on center court. ''I can't do much about the perception,'' he said.

Agassi did not stick around to discuss the matter. Wearing a ski cap on his head, but still in his tennis shorts, Agassi hustled out of the building 15 minutes after the match was suspended.

In his wake, there was anger. Not only did the decision to suspend Agassi's match disrupt the 22-year-old Ferrero's groove, it also meant that Alex Corretja's rain-delayed quarterfinal from Tuesday had no chance to be completed, either. If it was too dismal on center court for one match, it was too dismal for Corretja's.

''Yesterday, he played until 9:45 p.m., to when you couldn't see,'' said Corretja's coach, Javier Duarte. ''Tonight, it's early. Why now? I don't like it.''

Corretja wouldn't have needed much daylight to win his quarterfinal against Andrei Pavel. It would have been no contest. After Corretja left the court with a lead of 7-6 (5), 7-5, 4-5 on Tuesday night, Pavel left Paris today to be by his wife's side for the birth of their baby.

''I've been here all day,'' Corretja said. ''I've been waiting and now I don't know what to say.''

He'll have to wait for Thursday. So will Ferrero. Perhaps seeking a turn in momentum, hoping to ice Ferrero overnight, Agassi managed to end the day early with the crook of his finger.

Maybe this answers some of the questions about why no one is really rallying around Agassi. And this is just what is known publicly.

I'll end with Marat Safin's comment.

"How they will escape this situation -- this is the ATP's and Agassi's problem."

Miscellany

Despite being diagnosed with H1N1 Tommy Haas expects to play Bercy.

Serena Williams now holds the WTA 2009 earnings record. Her winnings totalled $6.5 million.

There are people trying to talk up an ATP version of Bali. My first response is no. So is my second.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from Bali.

WADA Is Not Backing Down

by Savannah


As Pam Shriver said yesterday the bad part of the Agassi drug admission is not that it happened but that he lied and the ATP appears to have assisted in perpetrating that lie. Here is an article from the online Guardian that lays the issue out from a drug testing point of view.

The tennis authorities are have been asked to investigate "the possibility of perjury" or a "breach of the law" by Andre Agassi following the former Wimbledon champion's admission that he lied in a letter to the ATP after he tested positive for crystal meth in 1997.

David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is to write to the ATP and the ITF because he believes "this is not a dead issue".

The move comes after more damaging revelations emerged last night in which Agassi declares that his father, Mike, asked him to take the illegal amphetamine, speed, before playing and that he took it.

...his brother, Phil, warned him that the pills their father was giving the player were not simply caffeine, but speed.

"One night, Phil asked me to promise him something: 'Don't ever let Paps give you any pills to take'," writes Agassi of his brother's advice in an extract of the book which is being serialised in the German newspaper Bild.

"The pills are something else...speed. They are really tiny, white and round. Don't swallow them, no matter what happens. "

Agassi, however, still took the tablets handed to him by his father before a national tournament in Chicago. "This will help you. Swallow it. He puts the pill in my hand. Tiny, white, Round. I swallow it and I feel good. Not much different. A bit more alert.

Agassi writes that his father was giving him caffeine pills before every match to boost his performances.
(...)
"Wada's position is simple," said Howman. "The tennis authorities should investigate a possible breach of the law by Agassi, if he lied on oath about this, and also a possible breach of the law by his lawyers. If his lawyers knew at the time he was lying, then that is extremely serious.

"There are limitations over what he can do, but we don't believe this is a dead issue. We believe the authorities should be investigating the possibility of perjury."

Wada are due to send out letters to the authorities this week.

I'm not quite sure what reaction the Agassi camp thought it would get but I'm sure this was not on the list.

The Week That Was

by Savannah

Now that Andre Agassi has admitted his use of meth went on for "a year or so" the ball is now firmly back in the ATP's court. When all is said and done it is the ATP that has to explain why it accepted the now admitted lie of drinking the wrong glass of soda or whatever and allowed Agassi to avoid drug testing that caused other - dare I say lesser - players to lose their source of income.

I really don't care about the hair or his jealousy because his then wife was doing her job. I refuse to be sidetracked by bullshit. What I do care about is the information given by players while this was all going on. I care what Nicolas Escude and Marcelo Rios said. I care what the ATP didn't say or do. I care about titles that may have been won while a player was "under the influence". I care that the "tennis press" (an oxymoron at this point) seems to have been an active participant in the cover up.

In the final analysis the sport of tennis has been damaged not because of a hair piece. It's been damaged because fans now know that anti drug testing was done on every Spanish player at some ungodly hour of the morning. We know that Belgian players were recently hauled before the anti drug administrators for missing drug tests. We know about Guillermo Canas and Guillermo Coria. We know about Volandri. And heaven knows we know about Richard Gasquet kissing the wrong girl and Mariano Puerta ingesting his wife's meds. And now we know that TPTB may have actively participated in covering up drug use by a man who was at that time one of it's star players. It was a secret only to the fans since players knew what was going on and spoke about it. Because the allegations were in the foreign press the US press could ignore it.

The last thing the ATP wants is for a completely independent look at just what was going on in men's tennis, specifically United States tennis, at that time. Who are the seven players who had positive tests that were ignored? At this time the only two players I'm willing to give a pass to are Pete Sampras and Michael Chang. Everyone else, Borg, Agassi, John McEnroe, is fair game.

The WTA YEC

It's been a strange week. The White Group, which consisted of "the future of women's tennis" has shown that they are really not ready for prime time. Between the tears, playacting, inability to handle the heat of the desert not to mention "fractured" backs that became "unfractured" and you have a soap opera. Meanwhile the "old biddies" of the Maroon Group seem to be doing just fine, nagging injuries and all. Almost all of the women in the Maroon group are pushing thirty and yet we've seen better tennis from them. If the future of women's tennis consists of drama taking the place physical and mental toughness we're in the deep end of the pool kiddies.

Miscellany

Anil John posted the following in the online edition of the Gulf Times.

Dinara Safina may be missing out on a large fan base because many in this part of the world are unaware she is a Muslim or simply don’t care. Both attitudes are based on some serious fault lines.
Now, I know all about keeping religion away from sport and that sports stars should be appreciated for what they do on the court and not on the basis of what faith they belong to. But in Safina’s case I don’t mind sticking my head out and ask some tough questions.

The lack of adulation for Safina is strange and incomprehensible for the simple reason that the Muslim world is so desperately short of women role models.

When Moroccan male tennis players such as Younes el-Aynaoui – a winner in Doha – and Hicham Arazi were regulars at the Qatar Open, fans packed the stands to cheer their every shot. But when Safina plays there’s hardly a ripple of excitement. It’s a question that demands serious answers. Is this because Safina is a woman, one is tempted to ask.

I find this a very odd time for an article like this to appear regarding Dinara Safina and tangentially her brother Marat Safin. With all the other pressure on Dinara right now does she really need a controversial issue like this on her shoulders? It's never really been a secret, their profiles on Wiki clearly state their religion, so my question is why now?

Anne Keothavong gets my "Heroine of the Week" award for asking why everyone is so surprised about Agassi. Once again those pesky foreigners seem to be much more informed than those of us on this side of the Atlantic.

There are actually three men's events taking place this week in Lyon, Wien, and St Petersburg. The results have been interesting to say the least. Add Horatio Zeballos to the top fifty after his performance this week after his breakthrough performance in St Petersburg.

Cara Black and Liezel Huber have secured the number one ranking in women's doubles for the third consecutive year. Congratulations ladies!

Marcelo Rios on Agassi

by Savannah



Thanks to Craig for finding a translation of comments the Chilean former number one made regarding drug testing and Andre Agassi. It's little wonder that Chino was hated by the American tennis establishment.

Scandal in Tennis

Rios thinks that the ATP protects Agassi of doping "I know that if nandrolona were found on Agassi, they would not disclose it. He is a very prominent, very popular player and if he were to fall, the world of tennis would fall with him. The ATP would not say it. They are such a large dependent organization that it would be a problem if Agassi or Sampras tested positive", attacked the Chilean, ex- Nº1 of the world. The Marcelo Chilean Rios, ex- Nº1 of the world, accused the organization of the ATP of never openly disclosing certified drug tests on Andre Agassi. When commenting on the situation of dopajes of the Argentinean Mariano Puerta and, specifically, of the Englishman Greg Rusedski, whom respectively tested positive of clenbuterol and nandrolona, the Chilean not only lamented the incidents but accused the ATP of favortism. In his third radial commentary since the 2 of January on the microphones of Chilean Radio, Rios directly blamed the Association of Professional Tennis players (ATP) of not wanting to surface similar cases of doping of the more famous players, focusing instead on the "lesser" players of the tour. "[We]the South Americans have discussed it repeatedly. It is a complicated subject. I do not have problem in saying it: we always said (we asked ourselves) who publicly certifies the doping tests of Agassi or Sampras ?". The Chilean left-handed person remembered a case in Australia 2002 "where there was a control and Agassi disappeared, saying that they were going to kidnap his son..."

"I would love to be able to see and certify Agassi's doping tests because now I currently have no idea who is doing the test, and who decides who gets it and who doesn't."

"I know that if they were to find nandrolona on Agassi, they wouldnt say it to anybody. It would taint his reputation and bring tennis down dramatically. ATP would not say it. It is such a large organization that it would be a problem if Agassi tested positive ", he charged. The newspaper La Tercera consulted the ATP, in Pontevedra, Florida, and obtained an answer by them stating that "the procedures are very basic and clearly are specified for everybody on our website (www.atptennis.com) and it publicly states how many times controls to the players have been performed". "We do not have favorites nor do we hold something against the South Americans", said Greg Sharko, director of Communications of the ATP. In the offices of Agassi Enterprises, in Las Vegas, they avoided making any commentary until Perry Rogers, representative of the tennis player, returns from a business trip in Los Angeles.

According to the statistics of the ATP, during 2002 1,428 controls were made and amongst the most frequently tested players of that year, the Russian Marat Safin, the Argentinean Juan Ignacio Chela, the Czech Jim Novak, the Swiss Roger Federer and the Swedish Jonas Bjorkman, appeared with ten controls each.

The translation was posted by tennis head undomiele HERE

I highlighted the Perry Rogers factoid because there has been speculation that Agassi revealing the meth information has to do with his split from his long time friend and confidant.

Not So Idle Chit Chat

by Savannah



A lot has come out since I last posted about the Agassi situation. It seems that a lot people spoke out in 2003/2004 about the drug situation in men's tennis. You have to give it to tennis fans. They know how to find the dirt.

7 Players Exonerated in 2004

ATP trainers provided electrolyte supplements

Seven top male tennis players who tested positive for nandrolone were exonerated by the ATP on "clearly unsustainable grounds", the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday.

WADA said in a statement that more positives had come to light despite the ruling body of men's tennis (ATP) withdrawing contaminated electrolyte supplements which it believed were the source of the banned anabolic steroid.

Testing of the suspect electrolytes failed to show up traces of nandrolone-related products, WADA said.

The ATP announced last July that players might have taken banned substances in supplements handed out by ATP trainers. It asked WADA to set up an investigation of the seven positive dope tests involving players between August 2002 and May 2003.

In its report WADA was scornful of the ATP's inconsistent disciplinary process covering the seven cases.

The allegation that an ATP-supplied electrolyte might be responsible for the positive test was made by just one of the players, the fifth charged, WADA said.

An ATP investigation "found through questioning ... that most of the 43 players with positive or elevated tests claimed (in retrospect) that they had used the electrolyte replacement product provided by trainers," WADA said.

WADA said the independent tribunals which exonerated the players made an "extraordinary series of findings" founded on two principles - shifting the onus of proof to the ATP to show it was not the source of the positive tests, and precluding the ATP from sanctioning players based on positive tests because it might have been responsible for those positives.

Briton Greg Rusedski was cleared of doping offences in March after an ATP-appointed tribunal found the ATP could have been responsible for his positive nandrolone test.

Rusedski admitted in January he had tested positive in a test taken in July 2003. The WADA review did not cover his case.

It should be noted that Guillermo Canas was banned for the same thing Rusedski was given a pass on.

Circling the Wagons - It Wasn't Me

Charles Bricker posts this in defense of the ATP.

If you're upset about the way the ATP handled the Andre Agassi drug case back in 1997, don't even try to hang this one on former CEO Mark Miles.

I just got off the phone with Mark and he explained that all decisions about drug violations is the 100 percent province of an independent, ITF-appointed panel of certified experts who have no direct connection whatever with the ATP, and that neither Miles nor any other ranking ATP executive has the power to override or amend that panel's decision. In any way.

That is a fact and it was reinforced today by a statement from the ATP, which reads:

“It has always been ATP policy not to comment on anti-doping test results unless and until an anti-doping violation has occurred. Under the tennis anti-doping program it is, and has always been, an independent panel that makes a decision on whether a doping violation has been found. The ATP has always followed this rule and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter.”
Miles, who left the ATP in 2005 after 15 years as its No. 1 official, was as candid as he felt he could be, but he is honoring retroactive commitments not to comment on specific drug cases that came up during his tenure at the men's tour.

"I can't comment on any case. I can't even confirm that there was a case involving Andre. And I'm not going to comment on Andre's book. But I can amplify. I've seen the ATP statement and the statement is true. The ATP program was set up to ensure that any decision on any case was decided by a panel, a tribunal. And there were no exceptions to that.

"I don't know if Andre says anything in his book that is incongruous with that," he said, and then made what I thought was a very interesting remark. "Panels have made decisions that have left some people scratching their heads," said Miles.

Agassi in 2003...

World number two Andre Agassi has rejected claims by Australia's Andrew Ilie that illegal drug use is rife in professional tennis.
(...)
Ilie's claims cut little ice with Agassi, a strong supporter of drug testing.

"The one thing that I'd like to stick to is what we do know," said Agassi after his victory over South Korean Lee Hyung-Taik.

"What we know is, while there's been a minimal amount of players caught over the last 10 years, we are probably the leading sport in reference to how often we test, how professional our tests are and how strict our penalties are.

"The talk of who might be or might not be taking drugs is irresponsible," said Agassi.

The Gag Rule

Bill Simon and the Agassi book.

I had no choice. Word was out. Andre Agassi had a new autobiography that was about to hit and it promised to be a barnburner. After all, if any athlete could write a riveting, what’s-it-all-about volume, it was Andre.

But just to get an advance copy, I had to (for the first time in 29 years) sign a non-divulgence (”squeal and you die”) contract; a seven-clause gag rule saying I would not reveal the contents of the curiously titled book, “Open,” until early November. I agreed, and on Aug. 17, Andre’s four-pound 437-page baby arrived.

For weeks I devoured every detail. Then I waited and waited some more.

Certainly, the book’s explosive details would be leaked in the media. After all, deep within the book, Andre offers up the most explosive confession in sports history, candidly detailing his first experience with crystal meth.

Note: There are also Spanish language sources that provide more information. When I have the translations I'll post them.

In Other News...

L'Equipe reports that Richard Gasquet has withdrawn from Bercy to focus on his upcoming hearing before the CAS on November 10.

Serena Williams will be the year end WTA Number 1. Dinara Safina's withdrawal from Doha guarantees Serena will be ranked Number 1 until the end of December.

It is never easy to watch someone unravel in front of the world. Once again I'm writing about the system and how it affects players. If anyone needs a time out it's Dinara. I can only imagine the pressure put on this young woman by the powers that be. She looked absolutely terrified to take the court the last time I saw her. There are a lot of people calling on her to fire her coach. Dinara said in the past that he is the coach she needs, the one who understands her temperament. I'm just saying.

I finally have Tennis Channel. And I can finally hear Lindsay Davenport commentate. She raked the players over the coals for playing so much this year before someone reminded her that Roadkill is the reason players like Safina made the Asian swing regardless of their physical condition. When the players have no control over their schedules bad things happen. She is honest and straight forward in her commentary. Good times.

Agassi - The Fallout

by Savannah

From the BBC

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it could not comment because it withdrew a doping case against him.
(...)
An ATP spokesman said it commented on the results of drugs tests only when a violation had occurred.

"Under the tennis anti-doping programme it is, and has always been, an independent panel that makes a decision on whether a doping violation has been found," he stated.

"The ATP has always followed this rule and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter."

BBC Radio 5 live's tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend feels Agassi's legacy could be ruined by the revelations and will also damage tennis's reputation.
"This is sure to severely tarnish the reputation of one of the great champions," said Overend.
"I think it will have underlying implications for the sport in terms of the suspicion about some of the athletes and whether or not they are on drugs.

"The fact that Agassi lied and the authorities believed him has enormous repercussions. How many other cases may there have been like this?"

From ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti

Please find below a statement from ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti concerning the statements made by Andre Agassi:

“The ITF is surprised and disappointed by the remarks made by Andre Agassi in his biography admitting substance abuse in 1997. Such comments in no way reflect the fact that the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is currently regarded as one of the most rigorous and comprehensive anti-doping programmes in sport. The events in question occurred before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was founded in 1999 and during the formative years of anti-doping in tennis when the programme was managed by individual governing bodies. The ITF first signed the WADA Code in 2004, and the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme undergoes constant review and improvement. In 2006, the ITF assumed responsibility for administration of the anti-doping programme on behalf of the ATP and then, in 2007, also on behalf of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The ITF, Grand Slams, ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour are now unified in their efforts to keep tennis free of drug use, and this should not be overshadowed by an incident that took place over 12 years ago. The statements by Mr. Agassi do, however, provide confirmation that a tough Anti-Doping Programme is needed.”

From WADA

Following Andre Agassi's revelation that he was let off by the ATP after testing positive for crystal meth in 1997, WADA chief John Fahey says he expects the ATP "to shed light on this allegation"


So far nothing from the Grand Poobah's of American tennis journalism.

Andre Agassi and Crystal Meth

by Savannah


This has been breaking tennis news all day. It sounds self serving to say that Agassi's change in physical appearance has made me suspect him of drug use for some time but it did. It also makes me wonder about that rage filled episode in 2001 that he got away with. I just didn't suspect meth. Meth is not a drug that is used casually under any circumstances.

There was supposedly an embargo on this story. It wasn't supposed to break until early November. But it's out now. It seems that the old canard applies here about people in glass houses.

The 1992 Wimbledon champion, the winner of eight grand-slam titles, also says that he has always secretly hated playing tennis and lived in fear of his bad-tempered and violent father.

Agassi, now 39, relates how he took crystal meth - possession of which carries a maximum five-year jail sentence in the US - in 1997, when his form was falling and he was having doubts about his impending marriage to the actress, Brooke Shields.

Had the positive drugs test become public, the repercussions for Agassi could have been catastrophic. It remains to be seen whether repercussions will follow his confession.

In his book, Agassi recounts sitting at home with his assistant, referred to only as Slim, and being introduced to the drug. "Slim is stressed too ... He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell's gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that's the sound you make when you're high ... Make you feel like Superman, dude.

"As if they're coming out of someone else's mouth, I hear these words: You know what? F*** it. Yeah. Let's get high.

"Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed.

"There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy.

"I'm seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds."

In the autumn of a year in which he pulled out of the French Open and did not bother to practise for Wimbledon, Agassi is walking through New York's LaGuardia airport when he gets a phone call from a doctor working with the ATP.

"There is doom in his voice, as if he's going to tell me I'm dying," Agassi writes. "And that's exactly what he tells me."

Agassi learns that he has failed a drugs test. "He reminds me that tennis has three classes of drug violation," Agassi writes. "Performance-enhancing drugs ... would constitute a Class 1, he says, which would carry a suspension of two years. However, he adds, crystal meth would seem to be a clear case of Class 2. Recreational drugs." That would mean a three-month suspension.

"My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I've achieved, whatever I've worked for, might soon mean nothing. Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It's filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth.

"I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter. I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: Sincerely.

"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it." The ATP reviewed the case - and threw it out.

SOURCE

This and That

by Savannah

Craig politely pointed out that I haven't posted in a few days. Hate when life slips up on you just for shits and giggles but it happens. I have been posting things on Twitter from time to time but I slighted last weekends winners by not giving them any recognition. Their pictures will be interspersed throughout this post.

Sex and the ATP

Every sport needs a sex scandal I suppose. When the news broke that two non Swedish players were busted for soliciting in Stockholm suspicion immediately fell on the Spanish surnamed players but that didn't prove out. There was a lot of talk about an Italian player who had pulled out of the event but he had never travelled to Stockholm so that boomlet died.

By the end of the day speculation was focused on Ernests Gulbis, whom it actually turned out to be. Gulbis and his unnamed friend were given a small fine and allowed to continue playing. In Sweden they arrest the johns not the ladies (or men) providing the services. Apparently they were busted in a hotel. I'm sure the ATP will be updating it's players manuals next year.

Yanina Wickmayer 2009 Linz Champion
Tennis Through American Eyes

Last week it was Andre Agassi. This week it's Pete Sampras. The men who formerly dominated tennis seem to be speaking out about their sport and where they see it going every time a microphone is shoved in their direction. Are we supposed to treat each of their pronouncements as coming from Mount Olympus or as pronouncements from the Oracle at Delphi?

The American tennis establishment has a very unique view of the tennis world. It's no secret that they are not happy with the European domination of tennis (except for the Monogram. Some of them have to be pulled away by the hair from his shrine) and are dreaming about the day a Brit, an American or an Aussie "restores order" to the tennis world.

But since opinions are like anal apertures and everyone has one they're entitled to theirs. It's when you see articles like the following one on James Blake that you wonder if the Americans have taken leave of their senses.

Franklin L. Johnson gives the following analysis of James Blake.

Here's why James Blake can return to the top five:

1. He has a top five forehand. There are few with a bigger stroke in the game. He has to learn how to use this massive shot more selectively. Coach Jones can help him graduate from a shot maker to a match taker.

2. JB possesses blue streak speed, quickness and agility. Only a handful of players can match this dazzling combination.

3. Blake's first serve is underrated. With a little work and a little more consistency, it could become fearsome.

These three gifts alone are sufficient to boost Blake into the top five and don't need much improvement. Here are parts of his game where Kelly Jones can make a big difference in turning James into a champion:

4. JB's backhand needs work. He allows his weight to fall to his left when he runs left, which makes it hard to recover to the center of the court. He tends to play the shot more to his back foot which results in floaters beyond the baseline. And he catches the shot a bit late which reduces his power and control. Consistently transferring his weight forward and playing the ball out front would solve all these problems.

5. Blake is a poor strategic thinker. It appears he rarely enters a match with a solid game plan nor does he consistently appear to recognize his opponent's strengths and weaknesses. He seems to rely completely on his shot making skills to win. While this approach pleases the fans with the occasional super shot, it's not enough to win with on a regular basis. Coach Jones can help him "see" the match from start to finish. Better match management and learning to make mid-match adjustments is the key to regaining a place in the top five.

6. James is a lover, not a fighter. He loves the fan adulation and star status. If he wants to get serious about his tennis, he has to forget the adulation when he steps to the baseline. He has to want it more than the guy on the other side of the net. For this, he needs to read chapters from Rafa's biography every day. If it doesn't exist, he should help Rafa write it.

7. Blake sometimes has trouble letting go of a poor shot or game. He lets the negativity linger at times — you can see it on his face as he stares up at the sky after an error. The top players press the delete key and do not carry one poor point over into the next nor do many of them show the negative body language he does. Blake must channel his emotion and energy in more positive and productive ways. Coach Jones will help him become more efficient in winning points on his serve so he can use most of his energy to attack his opponent.

8. James doesn't mind losing. He's a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow who likes to keep his life simple and uncomplicated. If he really wants to become a champion, he has to change his attitude both on and off the court. Champions hate to lose. This is what drives them to improve their great games. For the best, winning and losing matters. Coach Jones takes his job seriously. Maybe, some of his desire for excellence will inspire Blake.

You see what I mean? I could swear I heard Grace Slick singing "White Rabbit" while I read this.

Nikolay Davydenko 2009 Shanghai Masters

A big shout out goes to Andy Roddick for reaching the ATP year end final for the seventh straight year. People (including me) have dogged him about some of his play in the past and said that he has underachieved but once again he's proven that he belongs in a discussion of modern tennis. He's done great work with Larry Stefanki and has even played doubles this year making it to a final on the Asian swing. Congratulations Andy. Keep showing that Americans can play the modern game so that the players who come after you are not wed to the mindless ball bashing school of tennis.

Shahar Pe'er and Bali

Drama once again surrounds Shahar Pe'er. The Israeli's visa has not yet arrived and there are reports of concern in her camp. The island of Bali is populated by a majority Hindu population but Indonesia is one of if not the largest Muslim country in the world. In 2006 they pulled out of Fed Cup rather than play an Israeli team.
By winning two tournaments in South East Asia Shahar qualified for Bali. New WTA CEO Stacey Allaster faces a huge problem if the visa is not granted. Does the WTA pull out of Bali so late in the game and play the event elsewhere? Does it stick to its guns and make the authorities there grant the visa? Once a country agrees to host a WTA event doesn't it have to abide by the rules of the WTA?
It's reported that Shahar's agent Amit Naor (who is also Novak Djokovic's agent) and who usually deals with all of those issues for the Israeli players said he was promised the tournament would be canceled if Shahar won't get the visa.

End Notes
I can't believe the crappy coverage of the Kremlin Cup. There is almost a total blackout. I know, I should reup my subscription to Russian Television but it's amazing that this once great tournament has been reduced to what would have been a Tier III for the women. The men have a few big names but it's nothing like it used to be.

As I type this there is still one spot open for next week's YEC in Doha. The following women have qualified.

Dinara Safina 7652 1**

Serena Williams 7437 2**

Caroline Wozniacki 5570 3**

Elena Dementieva 5365 4**

Svetlana Kuznetsova 4773 5**

Victoria Azarenka 4371 6**

Venus Williams 4317 7**

==================

Jelena Jankovic 3660 8

Vera Zvonareva 3301 9

Flavia Pennetta 3060 10

Marion Bartoli 2715 11

Samantha Stosur 2691 12

Agnieszka Radwanska 2690 13

Maria Sharapova 2680 14

Na Li 2402 15

Samantha Stosur 2009 Champion Osaka
I'm glad to read that Martina Hingis has decided not to come back to the Main Tour. She's had a chance to live life and see that there is indeed life after tennis. In this time of "retirements" that look oddly like suspensions for one reason or another it's nice to see her stick to her guns.