Single-day tickets available for U.S. vs. Belarus Fed Cup World Group II First Round tie in Worcester
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., January 30, 2012 – The USTA announced today that single-day tickets for the 2012 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II First Round tie between the United States and Belarus at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass., February 4-5, have been released. Tickets will be available for public sale starting Tuesday, January 31, at 10 a.m. ET.
Tickets for either the Saturday or Sunday session will be sold with prices from as low as $40. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-888-334-8782. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the DCU Center Box Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to shortly after the matches begin at 12 noon. Two-day ticket packages remain available for sale.
The best-of-five match series begins Saturday, February 4, at 1 p.m., with two singles matches, featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Sunday’s schedule will feature two “reverse singles” matches, when the No. 1 players square off followed by the No. 2 players meeting each other, followed by a doubles match.
U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez named Serena Williams and Venus Williams, American teen Christina McHale, and world No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber to the U.S. team last week. New world No. 1 and 2012 Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka will be leading the Belarus team.
The match will mark the first-ever matchup between the U.S. and Belarus in Fed Cup competition. The winner of this match will advance to the World Group Playoff and play for a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title in 2013. The loser will compete in the World Group II Playoff and will either maintain its status in World Group II for the following year or be relegated to zonal competition.
Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage.
Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the world’s largest annual international women’s team competition with 90 countries competing in 2011. The United States leads all nations with 17 Fed Cup titles, the last coming in 2000. For more information, including access to player and historical Fed Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/fedcup.
Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Fed Cup team.
Azarenka, Djokovic earn big pay days in Melbourne with victories
Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic each pocketed $2,372,910 after winning the singles crown at the 2012 Australian Open in Melbourne. Azarenka, who claimed the top WTA Tour ranking on Monday and her first Grand Slam title, polished off Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in the championship match on Saturday in one-hour and 22 minutes. “It was an amazing month in Australia. It’s a dream come true,” said Azarenka. Djokovic, who captured his third consecutive Grand Slam title including his fifth overall major, defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal in five grueling sets in five-hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam championship match in the open era.
20 million viewers watched Djokovic-Nadal Australian Open finals match on Eurosport
20 million viewers watched Novak Djokovic defeat Rafael Nadal in five sets to capture his third Australian Open singles title on Eurosport, which was the most watched tennis match ever on the network. Australia’s Channel 7 coverage of the match saw an average audience of 1,860,000 million tune in past 1:30 a.m.
Djokovic-Nadal Australian Open epic to be added to Steve Flink’s upcoming book
Stop the presses! Steve Flink, the noted tennis journalist and historian who is in the process of finishing his upcoming book, THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME, has a new chapter to add. Novak Djokovic’s epic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open singles final will be a last minute addition to the volume, due out June 1, 2012 by New Chapter Press. Djokovic’s victory lasted 5 hours, 53 minutes, making it the longest singles final ever at a Grand Slam tournament and the longest match in the history of the Australian Open. “This was definitely one of the greatest matches of all time – easily one of the ten best since the Open Era of tennis started in 1968,” said Flink. “Djokovic and Nadal both showed boundless energy and determination. They moved beyond themselves time and again, finding reserves of willpower they never knew existed. It was a match that will stand the test of time. It was riveting theatre and I am looking forward to documenting it in my book THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME.” THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME features profiles and rankings of the greatest matches and strokes in the history of the sport. The book features matches played by such legends as Bill Tilden, Suzanne Lenglen, Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and many others. Flink breaks down, analyzes and puts into historical context these most memorable matches, providing readers with a courtside seat at these most historic and significant duels. THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME ($25.95) can be pre-ordered at the following link: http://m1e.net/c?96018505-hfHRXEzeOF2.c%407188901-8dHbIBKkvkdMM. Flink, one of the most respected writers and observers in the game, is currently a columnist for TennisChannel.com. He is the former editor of World Tennis magazine and a former senior columnist at Tennis Week. He lives in Katonah, New York.
Ten tennis players make Top 100 most powerful athletes list
The 2012 Power 100 rankings of the most powerful professional athletes in the United States was recently released by Bloomberg/Businessweek, revealing ten tennis players in the Top 100. The ten tennis players included in the list were: Rafael Nadal (No. 5), Roger Federer (No. 6), Novak Djokovic (No. 9), Serena Williams (No. 25), Maria Sharapova (No. 33), Caroline Wozniacki (No. 40), Andy Murray (No. 80), Petra Kvitova (No. 83), Venus Williams (No. 93) and Victoria Azarenka (No. 96). CSE’s Analytics team, lead by VP, Analytics, David Newman, evaluated more than 3,000 athletes across a variety of sports, with 50 percent based on “off-field” measurements and 50 percent on “on-field” performance. CSE’s proprietary analytics utilizes a range of industry statistics, including data from E-Poll.
Bryan Brothers to compete at Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport
For the first time in 10 years, the top-ranked ATP World Tour doubles pair of Bob and Mike Bryan will return to the famed grass courts of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport to compete in the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. “Playing at the International Tennis Hall of Fame is always a special experience, and we’re really looking forward to returning this summer,” said Mike Bryan. “Coming off Wimbledon, it will be great to keep going on grass courts for a bit longer this summer.” This year’s tournament, which is the only ATP World Tour event in the United States played on grass courts, will occur from July 9-15. Tickets for the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships are on sale now on www.tennisfame.com or by calling (866) 914-3263. Through February 12, a Ticket Twosome special is available – buy two tickets for any one session, Monday – Thursday, and save $2 per ticket. The promo code to access the discount is TWINS. Members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the history of the sport, save $5 on all Monday – Thursday tournament tickets.
del Potro to defend title at Estoril Open
World No. 10 and recent Australian Open quarterfinalist Juan Martin del Potro has confirmed that he will return to the Estoril Open in Portugal to defend his title. Last year, the Argentine defeated Fernando Verdasco in straight sets to capture the title. This year’s tournament will be played from April 28-May 6. “I’m delighted to have the chance of defending my title at the Estoril Open, a tournament of which I keep found memories, not only for the victory itself, but above all for the fact that it was in Portugal, where I fully recovered my confidence after the wrist injury,” said del Potro.
Ricardo Sanchez out as Wozniacki’s coach after two months
TENNIS.com is reporting that after just two months, Ricardo Sanchez is out as 20-year-old Caroline Wozniacki’s coach. The Dane, who dropped to No. 4 from the top spot in the new rankings on Monday after losing in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open to Kim Clijsters, will supposedly not hire a new coach for the time being. Wozniacki will continue to be coached by her father, Piotr, and possibly work on occasion with adidas development coaches Sven Groenefeld and Mats Merkel. According to the Ekstra Bladet, the Danish newspaper will quote Piotr in their Wednesday edition as saying his daughter didn’t get enough inspiration from Sanchez’s coaching. Sanchez previously coached world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.
Andy Murray to skip Britain’s Davis Cup match against Slovakia
World No. 4 Andy Murray will skip Britain’s Euro/Africa Zone Group I Davis Cup tie against Slovakia in Glasgow, Scotland from February 10-12 after sustaining several injuries en route to reaching the semifinals last week at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Murray said it was “probably a sensible decision” to pull out of the tie because his schedule this year is extremely busy due to the London Olympics. Without the former three-time Grand Slam finalist on his squad, British Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith has selected James Ward, Daniel Evans, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins to headline his team.
Blake and Tomic withdraw from SAP Open
American James Blake (knee) and Australian teenage sensation Bernard Tomic (leg) have withdrawn from the SAP Open due to injury. Due to the recent withdrawals of Blake and Tomic, American Sam Querrey and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin have moved into the main draw. Querrey is scheduled to play his first round match on Tuesday, February 14 at 7 p.m. PST. In 2011, rising Canadian star Milos Raonic defeated Fernando Verdasco to claim his first ATP World Tour singles title. This year’s tournament will take place from February 13-19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.