MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: FED CUP WEEKEND

STARS
Marin Cilic beat Michael Berrer 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-3 to win the PBZ Zagreb Indoors in Zagreb, Croatia
Feliciano Lopez won the SA Tennis Open in Johannesburg, South, Africa, defeating Stephane Robert 7-5 6-1
Thomaz Bellucci beat Juan Monaco 6-2 0-6 6-4 to win the Novistar Open in Santiago, Chile
FED CUP
First Round
World Group
Italy beat Ukraine 4-1
Czech Republic [...]

RODDICK WINS SHOOTING MATCH WITH LOPEZ

By Bud Collins
Bud Collins, the world’s most famous tennis journalist and author of the definitive tennis history book THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS, profiles the Andy Roddick and Felciano Lopez match Friday at the Australian Open. The following story – and other musings from Down Under – can be found at Bud’s official website [...]

FEDERER IS SECOND-MOST POPULAR ATHLETE ON FACEBOOK; SHARAPOVA’S $70 MILLION DEAL WITH NIKE: THIS WEEK IN TENNIS BUSINESS

By Justin Cohen
· According to Marca, Roger Federer is the second most popular athlete on Facebook. The current World No. 1 has 3.18 million Facebook fans.
· Maria Sharapova has signed an eight-year sponsorship deal with Nike, which is reportedly [...]

FEDERER, THE BEST OF ALL JUNIORS

Eleven years ago this week, Roger Federer was staking his claim as the top player in the world – in the juniors. Federer ended his junior career by winning the 1998 Orange Bowl in Key Biscayne, Fla. The win placed him in the No. 1 ranking in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings for the [...]

Mondays With Bob Greene: Spain Retains Davis Cup

STARS

Michael Berrer beat Jarkko Nieminen 6-7 (4) 6-4 6-4 to win the Salzburg Indoors in Salzburg, Austria

Konstantin Kravchuk beat Marcel Granollers 1-6 6-3 6-2 to win the Yugra Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

Pat Rafter beat Stefan Edberg 6-7 (5) 6-4 11-9 (Champions tiebreak) to win the AEGON Masters Tennis in London, United Kingdom

Spain beat Czech Republic [...]

SPAIN CLINCHES DAVIS CUP

Spain won the Davis Cup for a fourth time Saturday in Barcelona as Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez defeated Radek Stepanek and Thomas Berdych 7-6, 7-5, 6-2 to clinch a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic.
Spain firmly established itself as the modern day Davis Cup powerhouse with its fourth title since 2000. Spain also won [...]

BARCELONA’S OFFERINGS FOR THE TENNIS TRAVELER

The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Finals are going to be held in Barcelona Dec 4-6, 2009 as Spain will host the Czech Republic. The event will take place at Barcelona’s Palau Saint Jordi, the arena built for the 1992 Olympics. The site has a capacity of 17,000 and was the site of [...]

Mondays With Bob Greene: Wickmayer and Malisse to appeal against ban

STARS

Michael Berrer beat Dominik Hrbaty 6-7 (6) 64 7-6 (3) to win the men’s singles at the Ritro Slovak Open in Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Michael Russell won the JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana, beating Taylor Dent 7-5 6-4 in Champaign, Illinois, USA

Eduardo Schwank beat Jorge Aguilar 7-5 6-4 to win the Lima Challenger 2009 in Lima, Peru

Takao [...]

This Week in Tennis Business: Buchholz to step down in 2010 as Sony Ericsson Open chairman

By: Justin Cohen

Butch Buchholz, founder and tournament chairman of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, will be stepping down following the 2010 event. The event started in 1985 by Buchholz, is now owned by IMG.

Roger Federer signs a 10-year sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse. As a part of the deal, the Swiss bank will [...]

Mondays With Bob Greene: It’s difficult to play 11 months at a high level

STARS

Nikolay Davydenko beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3) 6-3 to win the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, China

Yanina Wickmayer won the Generali Ladies Linz, beating Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-4 in Linz, Austria

Samantha Stosur beat Francesca Schiavone 7-5 6-1 to win the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka, Japan

Marcos Baghdatis beat Denis Istomin 6-3 1-6 6-3 to [...]

Nadal and Davydenko reach Shanghai final

Rafa Nadal reached the final of the Shanghai Masters when Feliciano Lopez retired on Saturday, the second evening in a row when the top seeded Spaniard’s opponent had to withdraw injured.
World number two Nadal was coasting at 6-1 3-0 when his compatriot Lopez, struggling with an ankle injury, became the ninth player to fail to [...]