Heard Around

by Savannah

I came across some interesting interviews over the weekend. One is with Mashona Washington and is very entertaining. The others are with young Indian phenom Yuki Bhambri and pro veteran Igor Andreev.
I'll say upfront that Mashona was not asked about the recent vandalism issue but she does reveal a lot about herself, about the world of women's tennis, and how she sees herself.

Shelia: Hello Mashona, thank you for consenting to do this interview for Black Tennis Pro’s, I appreciate it.

Let’s start with some current issues in tennis, one of the most prominent being the recent resignation of WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott. Do you think that the WTA benefitted during his tenure?

Mashona: Yeah I think so, but it’s hard to speak specifics because I haven’t actually played full time on the tour since I was injured in ‘06, so I really haven’t been able to experience all of the pluses that he has brought to the tour.

After having been injured, you’re missing the tour meetings and while they send newsletters, I haven’t kept up as well as I should because I wasn’t playing that much, so it didn’t affect me. But he has had a lot of positive contributions, I’m sure.

Shelia: One of the things that Scott has talked about with reference to his decision making process to leave, was the rejection of his proposal to merge the two tours. Have you ever given any consideration to their being a single combined tour?

Mashona: I think that would be a great idea because I’ve found that when our tours in general are combined with the men’s events the quality of our tour - our tournament - is automatically raised because we just get a lot of the amenities men get. They get so much more in terms of ... sometimes I think if they came to one of our tournaments and had to deal with some of the things that we did, like with our - maybe amenities - or just some things that we get, they’d be like, oh my god!

You know, they’re really spoiled. We’re still spoiled, but I had two brothers that played on the men’s tour, so I could go with them and see all of the things that they are offered. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a lot of great things that are offered to us.

I think it’s a great idea, it makes tournaments more fun. You don’t have to see the same players all the time, or just women. I think it’s a great thing.
(...)
Shelia: Now, on another issue that has been making noise recently, the new drug testing rules which dictate that players must inform testers of their whereabouts for a period of one hour of everyday for a period of a week - how hard is that?

Mashona: Well, I haven’t really experienced that. When I was outside the top hundred I thought it was interesting that I was probably drug tested once, maybe twice; but as soon as I was in the top hundred, I was drug tested probably like eight or nine times in one year.

Shelia: Interesting....

Mashona: Now, it could be coincidental, yes. Or it could have just been, as they say ‘random.’
(...)
Shelia: When I read what some of the other players had to say about this new rule I felt for you all, I wouldn’t want to be so subjected.

Mashona: Sometimes it can be the last thing that you want to deal with. When I come off the road - my first three or four days - depending on how long I’m on the road, say six, seven, eight weeks, then the first two or three days - two days for sure - I’m like, in the bed. I don’t take any phone calls, I just want to be a vegetable. I want to just walk my dog in the park and that’s it. I don’t want to do anything.

Like I said, on the other hand, if that’s what it takes, I mean if you don’t have anything to hide, its just the way it is to catch the ones that are doing something.

The only unfortunate part is, you have like one person and it’s like the ‘lucky loser’ rule or the rule for the qualifiers. Because of a past issue, now it’s no longer the highest ranked player who gets in the draw. Now, there’s a draw and anybody who loses can get in.

Shelia: So, there’s no specific criteria within those who have lost during qualifying of who will become the a lucky loser?

Mashona: Okay, so you have qualifying, and you have four people that qualify, let’s say it’s a 64/32 player draw, you’re going to have four qualifiers - then each of the four players that lost in the final round of qualifying; then say there’s somebody in the main draw that withdraws, leaving a lucky loser spot, then one of those four can get in - a lucky loser.

So, in essence, it used to be where the highest ranked loser in the final round of qualifying would take that lucky loser spot, but because a couple of players on the men’s tour, they kind of did the math and they were saying ‘hey, I already know I’m going to get in and if you want to get in too, give me a little bit of your prize money and we can call it a day. I’ll throw the match so you can get in, I already know I’m going to get in....’ And so they would kind of cheat a little bit - get people in and get a little extra money.

So they changed the rule that if you lose in the final round of qualifying, then it’s pure luck of the draw. They take the four that lost and pull their names out of a hat. I don’t really think it’s that fair - you’re the highest ranked player, you should get in. They do that on the ITF and USTA events, they’re not doing that on the tour. Well, I think they did that at Wimbledon last year, maybe they’re using it at their discretion. I just don’t think that it’s very fair.

It happened to me when I thought I was going to get in because I was the highest ranked player, they were like, ‘the rule has changed, and I was like, what? I was crushed, I couldn’t believe it.

The entire interview is posted HERE.

In his interview Yuki Bhambri reveals the precociousness of youth alongside a mature vision of what he sees for himself as a pro. He has trained in the States and unfortunately has developed an aversion to clay.

Bhagya Ayyavoo: How does it feel to win your maiden ITF Futures title?

Yuki Bhambri: I couldn't have asked for a better start to 2009. First the Australian Open, came up with wildcard for Miami, probably the biggest ATP event after the Grand Slam. I played a close match against world No.70 (Diego Junqueira). And, then the tennis Futures win, to be the youngest Indian to do so. It's great.

BA: How has this transition been for you, from Juniors to the ATP circuit?

YB: I think I have been lucky to be training at the IMG. I have been lucky to play, you know there are lot of good players, lot of higher-ranked players. So, I have been in the atmosphere where I play sets on a regular basis with people ranked higher than me, who are playing in the Futures and Challenger level. I have been consistent and it gives a lot of confidence if you can come out and replicate the same thing in the tournaments. I mean, this is the first step towards the transition. I think it is a long long way and it is a hard grind and hopefully I can be there.

BA: It's been a couple of months since your junior Australian Open triumph. After that, you were looking forward to the Miami event where you got a wildcard. How did that tournament pan out?

YB: That match (against Diego Junqueira) gave me a lot of confidence because I was playing well, I was in that match. I thought I had a great chance of equalizing it or may be take it to the decider, and you never know what happens after that. If you can compete against a world No.70, how hard can it be to compete against a 400 or a 500 ranked player. It is just that extra motivation that was required for me..to believe in myself so that I can do it.

BA: You must have had a fair assessment of the ATP circuit by now. What do you think are the areas that you will have to work on to get better and be a consistent performer on the tour?

YB: Well, right now, I am focusing on playing more tournaments. The more I play, the more matches I get, the more confident I will be on court. The training has been good. I have trained for the last two months. The training aspect has been really really great. I have been focusing on developing my strengths - which is my forehand. The fitness part has been good. I haven't been really tiring on court. It's just a matter of playing more matches and winning them.

BA: How have you been preparing for the clay season?

YB: I wouldn't really be focusing much on clay. I am definitely focusing more on the men's circuit. Now that I know, I can beat good players and I can perform at that level.

BA: What's up for you next, what are the tournaments that you will be playing?

YB: I will be playing the ITF Futures next week as well in Delhi. There's a future next week. It is right here at DLTA (Delhi Lawn Tennis Association). And then I will be going to Kuwait in the middle of May. So, two more Futures.

BA: Are any of those two Futures clay events?

YB: No, not clay.

BA: You are the reigning Australian Open champion, so you can't go into the next Grand Slam - the French Open without any practice on clay. So how are you going to adapt to the new surface if you don't play events on clay?

YB: I will have a couple of days practice on clay. I think the most important factor at the French Open me will be to get through the first couple of rounds. The earlier I adapt to the surface and how well I adapt to it. You know, like sliding on the court. That's really the main thing. So, the earlier I adapt to it, the better I will get, and I know that. So, it's about focusing and doing that extra bit of training on clay.

BA: So, does that mean no more junior events for you?

YB: I am not looking at playing the juniors any more. You play the juniors to win the Slam. So, there is really no point in playing there. But, I am actually looking forward to the Wimbledon (junior). It's the most prestigious tournament and I definitely want to get that one.

BA: Switching to the Davis Cup tie that was scheduled to be held in Chennai. You made it to the squad for the first time, but unfortunately the tie has been called off. Your thoughts on that?

YB: Well, it's unfortunate. But, it is a bonus for us as well. It would have obviously been a tough tie for us. I was looking forward to it, to be part of the team and watching Hewitt and Guccione play. But, on the other hand, we are in the World Group play-off. One more tie and we are in the World Group.

For the entire interview please go HERE

When I think of Igor Andreev I think seasoned pro. Well known to the serious tennis fan Igor has a dedicated fan base and when he is at his best he plays some of the best tennis around. Igor sat down with Mariya Konovalova of Talk About Tennis and talked about the sport of tennis on the main men's tour.

Currently ranked No. 22 in the world, the Russian sat down with TAT after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II ATP World Tour tournament in Casablanca, where he was the top seed.

TAT: Igor, can you clarify your coaching situation? You’ve been alone for over a year now. Are you looking?
IA: I’m alone for now. It’s possible that for the period up to Roland Garros someone will be traveling with me, either a physio or someone from Valencia. But so far, I’m OK alone. So, really, I’m not “on a hunt,” such that I must find someone.

Of course, there are moments when you need training, help getting into playing shape, but overall, I’m still pretty satisfied as is.

TAT: And when you’re training in Valencia are you alone there also, or you have someone there?
IA: Well, in Valencia, it’s an academy. I’ve been there a long time, and there are coaches there, guys you can practice with. Same in Moscow. So, things like practices and such, there are no problems with that.
(...)
TAT: You did not play in South America this year, whereas you have in the last couple of years. Why did you decide on that?

IA: There are many reasons. First of all, there are technical things like getting visas, and of course, all the traveling, it takes a lot of time. Possibly, next year I will play there, I don’t know. Actually, the tournaments there are really good.

TAT: Can we talk about the transition to the clay season? How long does this process usually take for you? You’ve had difficulties with the first two matches here, is that related to the surface switch?

IA: Well, of course, the surface transition is difficult. Actually, switching to clay is probably even a little more difficult, because it’s a demanding surface. You have to move a lot and really well, and in the beginning, you end up stumbling trying to get the positioning right. Of course, you need time to adjust, and, ideally, time off to train. But, with the schedule we have, I decided to play here; I didn’t have time to train. As I got here, I had to play right away, so it was a little difficult. But, the most important thing is winning, and I can still see some progress.

TAT: Clay is the surface where you’ve had the most success. Do you feel more comfortable on it?

IA: Well, really, these days, I would not say clay is my best surface. I’ve had some good results on hard for awhile. Really, with time, as you play on tour for several years, you get used to all kinds of courts.

TAT: You’ve been ranked around the Top-20 for the last year or so. Do you have any sort of goal for this year?

IA: Well, the goal is just to improve my game. You can’t just look at rankings. It starts with the right shot, and then you’ve won the point, then the game, the match, and so on. Of course, it would be good to get the ranking higher, but you can’t just think about that. What you should be thinking about are just things that will help you hit the ball right, and the rest may come from that.

End Notes

Dinara Safina begins play as the number one woman in the world at Stuttgart this week.

James Blake has already crashed out of Rome losing to Victor Crivoi 7-5 and 6-3. At one point Blake was down 0-5 in the first set. Some fans said Blake looked totally unfazed by his poor play at the beginning of the match but he did recover and make it decent.

Novak Djokovic has hired a new fitness coach. Gebhard Phil-Gritsch of Austria worked famously with Thomas Muster. Speaking of Mr. Djokovic I wonder what he was thinking when he performed this little dance during an exhibition in memory of Federico Luzzi prior to the start of the Rome M1000?


David Nalbandian may have to have surgery on his right hip. The injury forced him out of Barcelona.

Tennis Talk

by Savannah

The BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden has started. The women qualifiers started play on Monday. The men begin today. Main Draw play begins Thursday and Friday respectively. The new online service TennisTV begins it's coverage on March 14 when the men's seeds commence play.

High School Drama

Colette Lewis is reporting on some news out of Miami regarding the men's draw and the Sony Ericsson event.

India's Yuki Bhambri, the world's top-ranked junior and the reigning Australian Open Junior champion has received a main draw wild card into the Sony Ericsson Open, which begins on March 25. That news, first reported by The Hindu, was confirmed by IMG Vice President Olivier Van Lindonk. The 16-year-old had earned a qualifying wild card by virtue of his victory at the Orange Bowl, on the site of the Sony Ericsson, but IMG, who owns the tournament, has decided to upgrade him. He'll join Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt, who have already been announced as wild card recipients.

Bhambri recently came in for some criticism for choosing to play in this week's Pro Circuit event in Texas rather than serve as a practice partner in India's Davis Cup tie with Chinese Taipei this weekend, according to this story from DNA. (University of Virginia's Sanam Singh, who is mentioned here as a part of the Davis Cup team, is not participating). Bhambri, using a junior exemption gained by finishing in the Top 10 of the ITF Juniors last year, lost in the first round of the Futures event to Lester Cook 6-4, 6-2. He also lost, in three sets, to Singh in the first round of qualifying for the ATP's Chennai Open back in January. IMG needs to use some caution in handing out a wild card to such a big tournament--it worked fine with Michelle Larcher de Brito, who last year used hers to win two Sony Ericsson matches before losing to Shahar Peer, but Bhambri is well behind her in terms of physical maturity. No one wants to see the Donald Young scenario repeated with another precocious and talented teen who is being viewed as the best hope to improve his country's tennis fortunes.

I recently spoke with Chris Woodruff, the associate head coach at the University of Tennessee (this is a teaser for my Tennis Recruiting Network article next week) and he made it very clear to me the danger of playing at the wrong level--and this was as an NCAA champion who felt in over his head. The occasional wild card is generally not harmful, but as Woodruff said, word gets around that you haven't earned your way in and there's not much sympathy from professionals for that circumstance.

The highlighted section regarding Donald Young is especially relevant since Donald, once the great American hope, was passed over for a Main Draw wild card at Indian Wells while lower ranked Ryan Sweeting and John Isner got in. Boys grow at a different rate than girls do as indicated above. I hope that someone somewhere slows young Bhambri's roll so that he grows both mentally and physically into his game.

Speaking of juniors Bernard Tomic of Australia has been fined and suspended from ITF sponsored events until April 6, 2009. Rumors were that he was looking at a life long suspension after following his father's instructions and walking off the court during a Challenger event so I guess this relatively light sentence will be accepted with grace by the Tomic clan. Bernard is also sixteen by the way. He also won a Challenger event last week.

Coaching News

Brad Gilbert will be working at Nick's place. With the USTA working hard to put in place a team that will teach an all court surface, thinking form of tennis to the best and brightest the United States has to offer this has to be a step backwards. It's one thing for Brad to try and hone an already developed mature player. It's another thing to have him shaping young minds.

David Nalbandian has hired Juan Monaco's coach. We all know how David likes to share. Lets see how this works out.

Davis Cup/Fed Cup News and Talk
Fed Cup semi finals take place April 25-26, 2009. Italy vs Russia will take place on clay at the Castellaneta Marina in Puglia, southern Italy. The Czech Republic vs United States will take place indoors at Brno in the Starobrno Rondo Arena.

The Fed Cup World Group Playoffs take place the same weekend.

As for Davis Cup the World Group Quarterfinals take place in July. The draw will be done May 12, 2009 in London.
Will Croatia choose clay even if it's not their players best surface? Will Captain Patrick McEnroe go with James Blake or will we see someone like Sam Querrey or Robby Ginepri if the surface chosen is indeed clay?

Does anyone remember the Fed Cup tie between Russia and Israel in Israel and how the crowd behaved? People said it was because they're not used to the rules of tennis. They know the rules in Argentina and that's never stopped them there. I'm just sayin'.

Apples and Oranges

Why is there so much virtual ink being spilled over the continued boycott of the tennis tournament at Indian Wells by Number One in the world Serena Williams and Number Five in the world Venus Williams? Why is almost all of it negative? These postings started appearing last week and have increased in vitriol as the time for the tournament to begin approaches. Here are excerpts from Martin Rogers Blog on Yahoo that are in wide circulation.

It's bad enough for a professional sports tour to implement a toothless, useless and self-defeating piece of legislation. To make sure that its idiocy generates a flurry of media attention and overshadows one of the biggest tournaments of the year, however, takes a special brand of ineptitude.
The WTA Tour tried to get tough at the start of this season by attempting to force leading players to compete in "premier" events or risk penalties of ranking points or suspension.
But as soon as Venus and Serena Williams stood up for themselves on a point of principle, the Tour cowered into submission and rendered its own "Roadmap" program utterly ineffective.
(...)
While the actions of some fans all those years ago can never be condoned, it is time for Venus and Serena to either forgive and forget, or be prepared to face the consequences of a continued boycott.

Under "Roadmap" rules, any top player skipping Indian Wells should receive zero ranking points and be ineligible for the following two tournament weeks. If WTA Tour chairman Larry Scott was serious about making his policy work, he had the ideal opportunity to lay down the law.
Instead, he has allowed the Williamses to exploit a loophole that permits them to avoid suspension by performing promotional duties for the tournament.

What is Mr. Rogers saying here? Yes the situation seven years ago was allowed by the powers that be to get out of control. Yes the Williams family has stood on principle and boycotted the event ever since. BUT the Williams family should abide by the WTA rules and either forgive and forget or accept the penalty of 0 points for the IW event and not be able to play in Miami. That insolent Williams family is being allowed to "exploit a loophole" and get away with thumbing their noses at the tour.

I wonder where Mr. Rogers, and all the other pundits, outrage was when one Maria Sharapova announced publicly last year that she couldn't be bothered doing some p.r. work for the tour, pulled out of a tournament late, and was -gasp- allowed to do promotional work for the tournament involved by one Mr. Larry Scott. And just to show it's not just the WTA that bends over backwards for it's superstars Mr. Roger Federer pulled out of Dubai just because and avoided the 0 points for that event by attending the players party while the injured Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco received 0 points for that week. Andy Roddick also withdrew from Dubai. Let's just say he didn't attend the players party.

I know how old I am and there are days I feel like I'm up to the "h" in Alzheimer's but I try not to cherry pick what I remember and what I don't remember. I'm not paid to write this blog. It's something I do because I love tennis. Mr. Rogers is being paid to write his blog and it would behoove him to mention, even in passing, that exceptions have been made and continue to be made for certain players. It doesn't matter if it's Roadkill or Brave New World. Those of us who criticized the WTA in the Sharapova situation were vilified. No one dares mention the get out of jail free card Roger got regarding Dubai nor the statement by his trainer that there wasn't really anything wrong with Roger's back and that the withdrawal was precautionary. I wonder what the reaction would've been if any other coach or trainer came out with something like that?

At no point did the Willams family say they were unwilling to accept the rules of Roadmap. They simply restated their position that they will not step foot on the premises again. No one has ever said differently on either side. In this case I think the tour did the right thing and all the "pundits" need a big cup of the stuff the guy in the picture is offering. It seems he's going to be quite busy this year.

It should be stated that I'm not singling Mr. Rogers out. He's not the only one who's pushing this. It's just that the selective outrage of the tennis press is mind boggling at times.

End Notes

Congratulations to Marion Bartoli who won the only tournament last week in Monterrey Mexico. Marion is newly svelt and getting moreso. It's Marion's first title in three years.

The doubles at Monterrey were won by Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo.

Remember her? Kim Clijsters is working on her tennis six hours a day four days a week according to a report by The Times Online. Her fans are ecstatic. If she returns can the other Belgian be far behind?

With Serena not playing at IW Dinara Safina is poised to become Number One. Is she ready for what that means? Somehow I can't see her and Ana Ivanovic having a girlfriend chat but Ana is Exhibit A for not being ready for the demands on the top player.

A Look Back and A Glance Forward

by Savannah



There will be no crying pictures here. As Craig said in response to an earlier post on the Australian Open Men's Final the powers that be there gave one player preferential treatment. In case you forgot the bottom half of the draw played first. This assured the man making the semi final from that part of the draw would get two days rest instead of one since the good people running things there play the men's semi final over two days instead of both matches playing on the same day. Why? It's all about the chee$e. The women's semi's play on the same day but I'll get to the women later.

Normally it's the number one player who gets coddled but not in this case. The World Number 2 was treated as if his shit don't stink not the World Number 1. The world number one got a brutal draw that tried to assure that if he reached the semi finals he'd be battered and bruised. As we all know that wasn't quite the case. He came into the Final a day and a half after playing the Grand Slam semi final to end them all. Most tennisheads, even his fans, thought he'd be running on fumes and that even his vaunted will would not carry his battered body through a grueling match.

Peter Norfolk Men's Quad Champion
Craig has said over and over "don't believe the hype". The ESPN talking points constantly referred to the amount of time the Crying Man spent on the court highlighting the relatively easy romp he had to the final. It fell to PMac to say that there had been a five setter along the way and that CM had "survived" a five set challenge from one Tomas Berdych.
This was hi-larious to hard core fans sine Berdych bitched out and handed that match to CM. There was no struggle after the second set. Bud Collins didn't mince words about the two day semi final schedule for the men and took a few licks at the US Open for the men having to play their semi the day before their final. He could've mentioned the way they manipulate said schedule if hurricanes are set to arrive but I digress.

The CM does believe his hype and why shouldn't he? He hates being introduced as the world number two so he isn't. Players were simply introduced. Where was an adult to say "Excuse me but you are number two and will be introduced that way. Moving on?"

I think Neil Harman (thanks HelenW) says it best.

Think of three recent examples: the Italian Open final of 2006, when Federer had two match points against Nadal and tossed in two astonishingly poor forehands; the matchless Wimbledon final last year when the Swiss came back from two sets down to take it into a decider and missed a forehand on match point as twilight fell; and the last, and surely the most destructive, which came yesterday as Federer collapsed, his mind frazzled and his right arm failing him as Nadal dug in and refused to countenance defeat.

Federer put a lot of it down to serving poorly and in the middle of the second set, a long way away from the finality of defeat, he missed 11 consecutive first serves. In the third set, which Nadal won by playing a near-faultless tie-break, Federer had break points - two lots of three in consecutive games. Everything was a terrible chore.

But that is what makes Nadal such a champion. Put it into his head that he cannot win - and the schedule here, with one semi-final taking place a full day before the other, is something tennis at this level ought not to tolerate - and he accepts the challenge head on. When the world No1 lost the fourth set, which he really should have won, having allowed five break points to slip through his fingers for a 3-2 lead, one assumed the momentum was with Federer. But that was never the case. At the match's end, and although it took three match points to see Nadal home, Federer was visibly coming apart at the seams.

When he beat Juan Martin Del Potro, the sixth-best player in the world, for the loss of three games in the quarter-finals, Federer said that as the contest drew to a close, he was simply happy to put the Argentinian “out of his misery”. Five days later, and he knew how that felt. Not at all nice.

I've always said if you want to know how Roger is doing watch Mirka. She was in tears towards the end of the fifth set. Maybe seeing her in tears set Roger off, I don't know. Patrick McEnroe who seems to hang from Roger's gonads every time he plays was not heard from for most of the fourth set IIRC. The media is supposed to be neutral isn't it?

Mixed Doubles Champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza
On a side note there has always been a xenophobic undertone to the Rafa hate. I found this interesting thread on the ESPN Tennis Boards. The thread title is "Swarthy Southern Europeans dominating tennis" and asks the question when Northern Europeans will reassert their dominance. It's still there. I guess people who think like this will go nuts if the young man from India, Yuki Bhambri (seen here with his mother Indu Bhambri) makes a successful transition to the main tour from the junior ranks huh?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Soft draws do not a champion make. There are two ways to react when the fix you thought was in fails. One is anger. The other is tears.

The Ladies

Women's Doubles Champions Serena Williams and Venus Williams
I rarely make predictions because tennis is such a flukey sport but I did say here that it would be a Williams or Elena Dementieva who hoisted the women's trophy in Melbourne. When Venus Williams went down to a feisty Carla Suarez Navarro it fell to Serena Williams to carry the torch.

Kunieda Shingo Men's Wheelchair Champion
There is talk that Serena lucked out twice on her way to the Final. The first time was the illness of Victoria Azarenka that forced her to retire. The second was when in the blast furnace like heat of the day the people of TA came to their senses and closed the roof that should've been closed from the beginning. Now playing in human(e) conditions Serena regrouped against Svetlana Kuznetsova and won their match. The final was played with the roof open but I don't think it would've made a difference.
Why is it news when some luck breaks Serena's way and malicious gossip when an entire tournament has been set up to favor one player?

Men's Doubles Champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan
By the way does Mike Bryan say he and Serena hooked up in Melbourne? Amazing what you find in official interviews isn't it?

Q. Did you say you were going out with Serena?

MIKE BRYAN: Yeah.

BOB BRYAN: We went two years ago. We've been seeing each other at the courts these two weeks. We just said, Let's do a repeat of two years ago. She won the singles, we won the doubles, then we all went out in the club until the wee morning of Sunday.

Q. Is that club still here?

BOB BRYAN: Same club. Right across the street from the hotel.

MIKE BRYAN: All I know is Serena usually picks up the bill.

Q. She didn't beat you guys when you were 10?

BOB BRYAN: No.

MIKE BRYAN: We knew her. They grew up in Southern California. They came up to our club.

No, we were always just way older. I know she said she beat Andy.

I think there is about a four year age difference between Mike Bryan and Serena.

Junior Boys Doubles Champions Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Cheng-Peng Hsieh of Taipei

End Notes
Life, and tennis, goes on. The women are playing Fed Cup this week. There are three ATP tournaments including the new one in Johannesburg.

I found it ironic that some fans openly wished that Maria Sharapova had competed this year in Melbourne. The last time Maria faced Serena in a Melbourne final she didn't fare any better than Dinara Safina. I guess some find it hard to accept that when either Williams sister is totally fit and totally focused on tennis that no one, and I mean no one, can beat them. I still have issues with them and their lack of pre match preparation - I mean Carla Suarez Navarro Venus? - but even in the "twilight years" of their careers they are still the standard to which everyone is held. Even those who are in the "anybody but a Williams" camp howled when Jelena Jankovic was ranked number one in the world. I'm not rehashing the pro and con arguments here I'm just making the point that no one can say Serena Williams doesn't deserve the ranking she has now. She's said it's important to her. Let's see how she protects it. I think it's safe to say that without Venus and Serena there is no women's tennis in the United States. TPTB know this so stop the sniping.

Junior Girls Doubles Champions Christina McHale of the United States and Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia
As for the men I notice that talk of the "Big Four" has stopped. I was surprised that so many tennis fans felt Novak Djokovic would not defend his title. Andy Murray I'd love to see some fair draws and the proper respect given to the world number one player. I'm looking forward to seeing how the newly resurgent French men fare this year. When it comes to Wimbledon will Andy Murray be given a quarter featuring all the juniors and qualifiers? What will the US Open do this year when it comes to it's schedule? Will players like Fernando Verdasco make a serious run towards the upper echelons of their sport?

Junior Girls Champion Ksenia Pervak of Russia
This is the stuff we tennis geeks worry about. When all is said and done the ATP product is still vastly superior to the WTA product. There is a lot of talk, serious talk, about combining the tours under one umbrella. I don't like the idea because somehow it'll be bad for the men's tour.

The Australian Open has always been an anomaly, the red haired stepchild of the Grand Slams. With 2009 it looks as if it's finally come of age. Will the Asia Pacific Slam stay in Australia or move to main land China? If I didn't know Hisense was a Chinese company I would never have found out listening to the US broadcasts.

Esther Vergeer Women's Wheelchair Champion
There was a lot of chatter on fan boards before the end of the second week that the Slam was boring. How you reach that conclusion before an event has ended is beyond me.

There is a long, grueling year ahead for players and fans. Anyone who says they can see what's going to be going on in November is a seer and needs a 1-800 number.

The Orange Bowl

by Savannah

I've been one of the people whining about the state of American tennis so I feel it my duty to report when American juniors do well at a major junior tennis tournament.

The Orange Bowl followed hard on the heels of the Eddie Herr tournament and saw many of the players who won there fall. Yuki Bhambri of India prevented an American sweep of the finals. Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought and in a couple of years these young men and women will be moving up the pro ranks.

For complete coverage please visit Zoo Tennis Colette Lewis site for everything junior in tennis.


Julia Boserup


Yuki Bhambri


Asia Muhammad and Laura Embree


Devin Britton and Jarmere Jenkins

Exhibitions and Wild Card Playoffs

• The Australian Open Wild Card Playoff has begun. A few things to note about it. It's free. F-R-E-E. 
  

It is also a true tournament. It has a round robin format and draws from the junior and professional ranks. So far the highly touted juniors Jessica Moore and Bernard Tomic have been shown the door. Moore may have a wild card into the main draw. Tomic was defeated by a twenty four year old who plays mostly Futures. After his father showed his ass a week or so ago Tennis Australia is still debating what if anything should be done, especially since the elder Tomic issued an apology.

The United States Australian Open Wild Card playoff features four men. Just sayin'.

Exhibitions 

• Juan Monaco won the Copa Argentina over Gaston Gaudio. Gaudio played pretty good tennis on his way to the final overcoming Feliciano Lopez, one of Spain's Davis Cup heroes. He is said to be looking at a comeback in 2009.
  

• Florian Mayer won the German Masters event. 
  

• A much anticipated showcase match between Marat Safin and Novak Djokovic at St Anton did not take place. Marat withdrew with a ligament injury. Janko Tipsarevic played in his place and won. Philipp Kohlschreiber won the mens final. Patricia Mayr won the women's event.
  

• The Paris Masters event starts this Thursday December 18. Tsonga has withdrawn but the field is still pretty strong. It features a round robin format.
  

Davis Cup and Fed Cup 2009

Tickets are on sale for the Fed Cup tie between the United States and Argentina as of December 15. The tie will be held in Surprise, Arizona at the club run by John Austin, brother of Tracey.

Spain will play it's tie against Serbia in the Valencian city of Benidorm. It's a resort town featuring nice beaches and is of course at sea level. No news yet on where the Davis Cup tie between the United States and Switzerland will take place. If Andy Roddick has any say it'll be in Texas, probably in San Antonio.