Djokovic Convinced Me To Play...

Former number one and 2008 Roland Garros champion Ivanovic said on Thursday that after last playing the eight-nation mixed team event in 2006, she is pleased to be returning to Perth for the opening tune-up for the Australian Open.

“I’m very excited about this, coming here, there is a lot of potential to do really well,” said the 23-year-old, who ended a two-year trophy drought this past autumn with WTA victories in Linz and Bali.

“Novak has been asking me to come back ever since the first year we played here.”

Ivanovic is well used to summer condition in the southern hemisphere, arriving in Australia from Europe in time for Christmas with her parents. She and men’s number three Djokovic teamed for Serbia in Perth five years ago, with Ivanovic winning two of her three singles matches in group play.

“There are lots of great players out there but it’s been a little bit shaky, it’s been up and down,” she said of a women’s game currently without a dominating player with the decline of Serena Williams and number one Caroline Woznbiacki still without a Grand Slam crown.

“A lot of players have been fighting injuries and haven’t played that many events, so I think if you can start good and be consistent you can get really far next year.”
With her ranking having risen to 17th after sinking to 68th in the years since her Paris Grand Slam title, Ivanovic feels poised for a rebirth in the sport.

“I want to get back to the top ten and hopefully win another slam,” she said. “Winning a Grand Slam is something I can never forget. If I had to choose I would always choose a Grand Slam over number one ranking. I have potential to win some more and it would be a good start next year.”

“I think I’m on the right way. I work really hard but consistency is the main thing. You have to perform good week after week and also match after match. You have to recover well and then get your game up because you have lots of tough opponents. In a Grand Slam you have to win seven matches and there are no easy matches anymore — from the first round on you get tough opponents.”

Ivanovic showed her potential in the 2008 Australian Open, where she reached the final four months before winning Paris. But with her post-Paris form drop, she only managed the third round in 2009 and the second round a year ago at Melbourne Park.

“My goal now is to get to the second week (of a Slam). I feel good about my game and my fitness at the moment but I just don’t want to get too excited about the possibilities or how far I can get. “It’s very important to just set realistic goals and aim for the second week, then take it day by day. I think it’s all about confidence.”

Perth play begins New Year’s day with Australia (Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik) facing Belgium with seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans.

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



A little bit of profit to start the season off with and it's a slow process but should be good to see the process in action over time without any other distractions now. I have high hopes for this system and am really looking forward to the proper tournaments starting to get some more selections.

Soderling looked in great shape yesterday beating Tsonga, hitting some cracking passes that were just inch perfect. Baggy had chances to pull it level for a tie break and the miss on MP was just horrific to watch.

Perhaps he has spent too much of the off season working on fitness and not enough time on the court? There is no point being fit and getting to every ball if when you get there you are making errors. It may take him a few weeks of match practice to make an impact now, who knows?

I hope everyone reading this has a great New Years Eve tonight, it may take a day or two to recover before I post again! :)

Tomorrow It Begins.....

Here it is! After stopping the system betting in September I am happy to finally get on with some tennis betting again tomorrow. The balance I will be using is just over £350 so let's see how it goes.

Something I noticed whilst looking at my spread sheet is that there were about 4 (I think) sequences that I broke down, usually in to 4 or 5 smaller amounts to then recover over a period of time when matches qualified for it.

Of these, there were not many that qualified and were recovered in the (approx) 2 month period in which the bank doubled twice.

This has now lead me to changing slightly the way I will be doing it. I will still be effectively chasing the losing bets but after 3 losing bets, instead of breaking the loss down I will just wipe it off and carry on without worrying about it.

Because it didn't do any big damage to the bank I think long term this will be better and less chasing should mean more profit, after all, the bank doubled twice in two months without recovering any of these broken down losses in large amounts.

For tomorrow it's both favourites so hopefully we get off to a good start! It's good to have the tennis back and good luck with all your bets should you be getting involved tomorrow!



P.S. I haven't done too badly this week, but I've been waiting for the tennis like a mad man!

Update...

Just a quick update to say I won't be carrying on with this blog until the new season starts in January. I hope you are all winning lots of money in recent weeks!

Vesnina v Kudryavtseva

Vesnina had steamed in a little from 1.5 ish down to 1.41 at the start. What I thought was crazy was that all she done was held serve in the first game and she was down to 1.28. Time to lay.

Kudry held her service game and Vesnina was back up to 1.43. All green nice and early.

A lot of the time I will only do one trade and as soon as I am all green I will leave that match but I kept watching in case another opportunity came up.

At the start of the second set Vesnina took an age to hold serve with many deuces. When Kudry went 30-0 on serve she was looking in complete control so I backed her at 1.49.

She duly went and broke Vesnina to love so I put a lay in at 1.24 to go all green again. It was matched and it was good timing as Kudry was broken back right away.

That will be all for this match now so I will just watch the rest and enjoy it, getting back in to the swing of things. I may put some the withdrawn money back in in a week or two depending how this goes as it's only really a safety measure in case I am so rusty I make lot's of mistakes.

Still need to find the groove...

I still need to find my way with exit points. It's been so long and I should really use this time to use smaller stakes until I get used to how well the players are playing again.

I had a chance to get out with a ten tick profit on Gasquet by backing him during the tie break but Robredo missed his shot and Gasquet went on to win. This is a prime example of me knowing I should have got out with a smaller profit that I was hoping for as this would have been better than taking a loss.

Nobody ever went broke taking a profit did they? I paper traded the system and I think it's the right decision to leave it for a while as it would have been a loss of approximately £43.

I will only be around for the Vesnina match this morning as I will then be out playing football so I hope I can get a little green which I will take as early as I can just to help find my feet with trading again.

Vesnina and Date Krumm...

I got in from work and saw Szavay was 1.14 despite being on serve. Date Krumm is a battler and although she hasn't had the good results she got when she first came back she could still cause problems and I thought it was worth a lay. She ended up winning the set on the tie break and I greened out before the third started.



I laid Vesnina just after she was broken at the start of the 2nd set. I have seen her lose concentration on serve so many times so I layed her and was hoping for Niculescu to hold and then maybe get a couple of points on her serve again. She held and also had a bp on Vesnina's serve but I was brushing my teeth, came back and Vesnina had held serve and then broke Niculescu.

This was bed time for me after working so I redded out after missing the chance and took the loss.

A change up for a while...

Ok, I am not happy using this system at this time of year with such a lack of motivation in the players it is costing me money. I will from now on only use this system in bigger tournaments where motivation will be high and previous good results can hopefully be repeated.

For a while I will start trading again, using the stats that I used to use to trade in play. Matches will be less now as many of them are on when I am at work and it will take me a while to get back in to the groove of things. I have not really concentrated on watching too much tennis for around 6 months since I started this system so I need to get clued up with how players have been playing.

I will have to take it slow of course until I find my groove again and use small stakes until I get used to trading again. I have taken out £200 to keep back in case it goes wrong early on and I will keep £232.08 to trade with.

I will try and put up screen shots of the trades and explanations of my thinking behind them when I can.

Chilean tennis player Gonzalez to have hip surgery

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)—Chilean tennis player Fernando Gonzalez says he’ll have hip surgery and expects to be out up to nine months.

Gonzalez said Wednesday on his website that he will have surgery on his right hip on Oct. 4 in New York. He said his doctor said knee surgery is also a possibility.

Gonzalez has been out sidelined for much of the year. He attempted to play in the recent U.S. Open but retired during the third set of his first-round match.

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



Another mug performance lost £23 and I am still not too confident about how this is performing at this time of year. There are still too many players not putting effort in in my opinion and it's still costing me.

I may have to break down losing sequences in to smaller parts as I will have a proper seethe if I start to recover and come across more tanking or mugs performances from players who have little or no motivation.

Swiss tennis stands at the crossroads

written by Thomas Stephens, swissinfo.ch

Following Switzerland’s 5-0 thrashing by Kazakhstan at the weekend, the president of the Swiss Tennis Association wants answers from Roger Federer.

The loss meant Switzerland were relegated from the World Group – the 16 best teams in the world – to the zonal group Europe/Africa. The draw to see who they’ll have to beat in 2011 to return to the top tier will be held on Wednesday.

“We need to have an answer [from Federer] – is he going to be part of the team or not?” René Stammbach, president of Swiss Tennis since 2006, told swissinfo.ch. “Any answer will be respected and accepted – but we want answers.”

The world number three pulled out of the Davis Cup encounter, which was held in Astana a week after his semifinal defeat at the US Open.

Stammbach blamed the 5-0 loss on a tired Stanislas Wawrinka – who had just reached the quarterfinals of a grand slam event for the first time – and a strong Kazakh team.

However, while this Swiss disparity between individual success and team failure is nothing new – even with Federer they dropped out of the World Group in 2007 – Stammbach has ordered team captain Severin Lüthi to talk to Federer and find out where he stands.

“At the end of the day it’s always going to be his decision – we don’t have a contract with him. We’re just depending on his good will. If he wants to defend the colours of the country, that’s up to him,” he said.

“It’s not that we absolutely want to force him to say ‘yes’. We can’t expect that from him. But we would like to know what the goal is in his head – is it still to reach the semifinals or finals of the World Group or even win it?”

If that were the case, Stammbach said they would do everything to help achieve it.

“But if the goal has changed – and his actions lead me to believe it has – then I think we also have to readjust the goal. We cannot go on travelling with 17 people to a zonal group match. It’s not in proportion to the goal. That’s what we need to clarify,” Stammbach said.

So has Federer played his last Davis Cup match? “Possibly yes, hopefully no.”

Unfulfilled potential

The irritating thing for Swiss fans is that in theory Switzerland could win the Davis Cup. A country only needs two world-class players who want to play for their country, and in Federer and Wawrinka, Switzerland has two Olympic gold medallists.

Bearing in mind that an athlete like Federer comes along once a century, there’s a feeling that the past few years have been wasted – Switzerland hasn’t fulfilled its potential.

“I completely agree,” Stammbach said. “One reason is that Federer now has a family and he obviously wants to spend more time with them, which is absolutely understandable. And he’s still concentrating on his ATP career – you have to just accept that.”

The Swiss Tennis president personally thinks that players who benefit from the association’s support when they are young owe it to the association to play in the Davis Cup tournament when they are older.

“When I was elected four years ago, I introduced new contracts to everyone in the squad – there are about 40 people we support directly either by money or practice facilities, coaches and so on. If they don’t play [Davis Cup], they have to repay all the costs we have invested in them, which is about SFr120,000 ($119,500) per person per year.”

Disappointment

Since 2006 Federer has played in three out of nine Davis Cup matches. Is Stammbach disappointed by that?

“If the question is isolated, the answer is yes. If you look at it in a broader context, then I am still disappointed but it is understandable. Don’t forget what he has done for tennis in general and tennis in Switzerland in particular – how can you be angry with a guy like that? No one else has done so much for tennis.”

He points out however that for Swiss Tennis the Davis Cup is just “one part of a mosaic”.

“Our main aim is to make sure that more people are playing tennis in Switzerland. We have 200,000 members – we want to get 250,000-300,000 in the next five years. That’s our ambition, and the Davis Cup as a window helps to achieve that goal, but there are other things that are as important as the Davis Cup.”

He also credits Federer with helping increase the number of junior licences for boys by more than ten per cent.

“That doesn’t say anything about the quality, but what we have to do now is invest money to ensure that there will be a post-Federer period – and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

“The seeds have been planted. Now we have to be patient.”

So the future of tennis in Switzerland is bright?

“Well, with all the money in the world the British – they have Murray but they haven’t produced two top ten players like we have. Money doesn’t guarantee anything, but at least you can try.”

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



Another quick update before all the WTA matches go on through the night when I will be at work. A good day today from the matches that qualified and clawed back some the losses that have occurred over the last couple of days.

More days like this and it will be up to where it was before in no time. There has been no pictures for the WTA so won't be able to see any of the early morning ones anyway so it's just carrying on as usual and do the bets without watching.

It's certainly less stressful this way anyway.

The balance is now at £441.42

Another Bad Day...

Another bad day over the weekend although most of the loss bar £3 came from one bet so that has now been broken down and will be recovered over time. The two bad days have cost about 15% of the bank so it's not disastrous, just annoying.

I can't wait for the better players to get involved instead of all these mugs that can't finish a game off but I still need to bet on these matches as they were included in the research.

It's been a very slow month of progress since reaching £400 and it's only slightly over that amount now after 3 weeks of wins and losses. I hope I can just get a few decent days in to claw back some of these losses, sometime this week starting today would be good!

Super Sabrina the teenage tennis star...

Possibly one for the future here?

DETERMINED Sabrina Federici has targeted a career as a British tennis star after becoming the UK’s top ranked 14-year-old.

Sabrina is still on a high after becoming the Nike Junior Tour UK National Masters Champion for her age group at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

And she has now qualified for the Nike International Masters at the Club Med on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas in December.

Sabrina recently helped England to victory in the Four Nations Championship at the Welsh National Tennis Centre in Cardiff.

Although she lost to Scottish rival Alice Keddie, she later found out that her ranking at under-16s had risen to number three in the UK.

It continues the St Joseph’s High School pupil’s meteoric rise in the sport after she only started playing the game late in her life compared to modern tennis greats.

According to her mother Susan, she did not pick up a racket until she was seven years old.

But the youngster, who lives in Westhoughton and practises at Bolton Arena every day, has never had to be nagged to work on her game.

“We have never pushed her,” said Susan. “She is completely self motivated and loves playing the game. Her dad sometimes jokes that he wishes she had never picked up a racket because running her to all the tournaments she plays in is quite hard work.

“But Sabrina is determined to get as far in the game as she can and, if she doesn’t make it as a player, she’ll probably coach.”

The family’s glamorous sounding name comes from her Paris born father Claudio, whose parents are Italian and moved to Bolton when he was six.

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



Another frustrating day as most of the profit from yesterday ended up being lost. The slow progress is so annoying and I have to keep saying to myself that it is long term I have to think and I can't win everyday.

I think as long as the balance is higher after a month then things are good as sometimes there are slow periods of growth.

The mug tennis is still going on and there are some more Davis Cup matches to get involved in so all I can do is dust myself off and go again. I won't be watching any tennis today as I am out playing football today and then going to see Jimmy Carr Live tonight so won't be around and I'll have to just hope it's a good day!

Hewitt survives four-set scare

Lleyton Hewitt has given Australia the perfect start in their Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Belgium in Cairns with a four-set win over little known youngster Ruben Bemelmans.

It was far from easy though as Hewitt struggled to a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 2-6 6-4 win over world No.191 Bemelmans, who was a late replacement for the injured Steve Darcis.

Hewitt broke early to seize control of the opening set, but despite a difference of over 150 ranking places, the young Belgian broke back and actually held four set points before it went to a tiebreaker.

The Australia's experience shone through in the tiebreaker as he took it 7-4, but it was far from convincing from the former world No.1.

Both players held serve with ease in the second set until the 12th game when Hewitt forced two break/set points, of which he converted the second to take the set and a stranglehold on the match.

But Bemelmans, who has played just four ATP Tour level matches for one win and three losses, wasn't about to throw the towel in just yet as he broke the Hewitt serve three times on his way to a comfortable third set.

Hewitt regrouped in the fourth set and looked on track when he broke Bemelmans early on only for the plucky Belgian to dig deep and break back in the seventh game.

The match was halted for an extended period of time after a spectator succumbed to the heat and needed medical attention, but that didn't stop Hewitt as he broke to close out the match in three hours 16 minutes.

Carsten Ball takes on Olivier Rochus in the second match as Australia looks to return to the World Group for the first time since 2007.

Meanwhile, Darcis' participation in the tie appears all but over after a medical examination on Friday morning confirmed he had small tear in his right shoulder.

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



At last some decent profit. It was four faves that came up as selections from yesterday evening/night matches and they all came through. The matches were at different stages of sequences but Arvidsson was the latest stage and she came through in 3 sets to beat Lucic.

It's taking a bit longer to double the bank this time. With it taking a month exactly first time then 24 days to double it again, since then it has been just over 3 weeks I think and it's only gone from £400 to £495.43. It's not something to complain about of course and it's better than going down but it does seemed to have slowed down.

I think this is clearly from the quiet USO second week where selections were very few and now this week there was only two tournaments and not many qualifying matches again. I hope (and expect) it will pick up again when the indoor tournaments start and try and get the bank growing at a decent rate again.

I'm also hoping/setting a target of around March or April next year to have a decent amount in the bank to enable to with draw, pushing 5 figures or even into 5 figures if it has a good start to next season, well I hope for that or I'll be completely bust!

Now then, a nice woman to look at.....

Rohan Bopanna not to figure in Davis Cup doubles

US Open finalist Rohan Bopanna will not figure in the doubles event of the Davis Cup World Group Play-Off tie against Brazil here on Friday as the team has decided to stick with the tried and tested duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.

"We are sticking to our world best combination of Leander and Mahesh for doubles. We have lot of options. We have an hour's time to bring in changes in fielding players for matches. You should understand Rohan has to play two singles ties," non playing captain S P Mishra told reporters here.

Bopanna partnered Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to the runners-up trophy in the US Open last week.
Mishra said India has the home advantage though Brazilian singles players are higher ranked.

"We have the home advantage and our players are used to playing here and they should perform well. In Davis Cup, ranking does not matter," he asserted.
He said a 2-0 verdict on the first day would be a dream and the Indians would try hard to achieve that.

"We have to win at least one, if not both matches at the end of the first day."
Indian and Brazil tennis players said neither team has any distinct advantage and have equal chances of winning the tie.

Speaking to reporters, Brazil team captain Joao Zwetsch said though the Indians have the home advantage, the visitors are well prepared and have got acclimatised to conditions.

"We expect a close finish on all three days. We know India is a strong team. But we are preparing hard.We are happy about our preparation for the important tie. All our players are in good shape.

"We are ready to break the jinx of having missed out on chances since 2003. We had to be ready for taking our chances without missing them," Zwetsch said.
Having higher ranked singles players Thomas Bellucci and Ricardo Mello was a positive point in their favour, Zwetsch said.

He said each match would be an emotional game.
"We have to convert our superior rankings on court and win the matches to be in the World Group", he said.

Bellucci rejected suggestions that the Indians have an edge on hardcourts and said Brazil favour clay surfaces for their matches.
"I have in the last three years, particularly this season, won many matches on hard courts. I have got good results and hope we play good on this hard court here", Bellucci said.

Asked whether teh hard court was slower, Swetsch said it was similar to the US Open court.
"Our stars mostly are baseline players and they are comfortable playing here and have adjusted well to the conditions," he said.

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



This is a complete mug week of tennis so I am just glad to be not losing. The screenshots may be overlapping, I'm not checking, just clicking on "from yesterday" and printing as there is tennis on most hours of the day at the moment.

The players motivation will be at a much lower level from here until the rest of the year as most have got their best results from lower competitions so just won't want to be there.

This may be a testing time for the system so fingers crossed it can keep it's head above water and although I know the growth will probably be much slower as long as it keeps growing I will be very happy.

Nadal reluctant to talk about Federer record...

From Reuters...

With the U.S. Open trophy tucked safely under his arms and the world of tennis at his feet, Rafa Nadal answered the one question everybody was asking with a shy grin.

"I think talking about if I am better or worse than Roger (Federer) is stupid," he protested. "Because the titles say he's much better than me, so that's true at that moment. I think that will be true all my life."

Federer, 29, has a record 16 grand slam championships, but the 24-year-old Nadal made his ninth grand slam triumph something extra special.

The 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic of Serbia for his first Flushing Meadows win made Nadal the seventh man to claim all four of the sport's grand slam titles, and the first since Rod Laver 41 years ago to close a season with wins at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. championship.

The question, however, still remained.

Almost from the moment he stepped onto the court as a teenager raised on dusty red Spanish clay courts, Nadal has been answering the same question: Was he going to be the greatest player of all time?

Nadal's New York performance made a huge statement.

After piling up five French Opens, two Wimbledons and an Australian Open the hard-hitting left-hander had set his sights firmly on the final jewel in the grand slam crown.

He improved his serve, honed his volley and nurtured his fitness to triumph at a Federer stronghold where the Swiss had won five titles and reached six successive finals.

"It was an amazing feeling," beemed Nadal. "I played my best match in the U.S. Open at the most important moment, so I am very, very happy for that, for sure.

"To win in here in the U.S. Open I think is the more difficult tournament for me to play, more difficult conditions to adapt, to adjust my game on this court, for the balls, for the court, for everything."

With Nadal sweeping through the slams, it is easy to forget the turnaround the Spaniard has made.

Last year his chronic knee problems were so bad it kept him from defending his Wimbledon title. An abdominal problem weakened him at the U.S. Open, and his physical woes were so bad he quit his quarter-final at the Australian Open in January.

"Life changes sometimes, no?" said a philosophical Nadal. "Ten months ago (it) seemed like I was never gonna be the same. Now, seems I gonna be one of the greatest....

"When you come back, you are ready to value how difficult it is win titles and how difficult is to be there all the time."

Nadal understands how quickly things can change in tennis and in life, but he served his rivals a dire warning in addressing the state of his game.

"For me the most important thing is try to keep serving like I did during this tournament," said Nadal, who lost only one set in the championship.

"If I can do it, it is gonna be a big change for me and my tennis career, because if I have those free points that I had during all this tournament, (it's) gonna be different for me.

"I can play more aggressive. I can play with more calm when I am returning.

"After that, I can improve everything: volley, keep improving the volley, keep improving the position on court, being more inside the court.

"I improved a lot since last year, but never is enough. I am not a perfect player, so everybody can improve."

Even with improvement, Nadal was loathe to speculate on catching Federer.

"We will see what happens in the future. I am not a genius."

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




A mixed few days but I have come out on top over the last few days (since Sat night the screenshot is for) so can't complain. I managed to watch the Final last night up to the rain delay and missed the rest which was a bit annoying as I didn't get to enjoy it as I hoped I would but never mind.

I am happy that there are more matches available to bet on now with some WTA matches each day and I should get more than the 1 or 2 picks each day that I have had since the middle of last week.

There will probably be many mug matches, many chokes and the usual WTA action that makes it so fun but frustrating at the same time to watch.

Williams optimistic despite US Open defeat...

From Reuters...

Venus Williams fell short of a happy ending to her storybook run at the US Open after her vaunted serve deserted her in the semifinals against defending champion Kim Clijsters on Friday.

Despite the disappointing 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 defeat, the 30-year-old said she was confident she still had a lot of tennis left to play.

"I definitely feel like I'll be back next year," Williams told reporters. "This is what I do and I feel like I played great tennis even with minimal preparation."

Williams, who was aching to add a third US Open crown nine years after collecting her last, had not played a match since Wimbledon due to a knee injury but yet was agonisingly close to reaching the final.

After winning the first set 6-4 while losing only five points on serve, the seven-time grand slam winner reached a second-set tiebreaker against the Belgian before she suddenly wobbled on serve to start a slide to defeat.

Back-to-back double faults handed second seed Clijsters a big edge in the tiebreak and Williams never recovered after losing all four points on her serve to drop the decider 7-2.

"Obviously in the tiebreak I wasn't able to play as well as I wanted," the American third seed said. "I had too many errors, and she played some good tennis. I just wish I could have played the bigger points a little better."

Williams said the wind bothered her during her serves in the tiebreaker, but added: "Regardless, I've got to get it in and start the point.

"It's extremely disappointing not to be able to win this match today."

After winning her previous five matches in straight sets, and carrying the Williams family banner alone in the absence of her injured younger sister Serena, Venus had hoped this might be her return to Flushing Meadows glory.

"I may have lost the match, but that's just this match. There will be others," she said.

"I feel like as long as I'm striking the ball well, I'm gonna keep playing. At this point I'm striking the ball well, so there is no end in sight at the moment."

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



Just the one bet yesterday, it was a stage 1 bet and it was a winner. I caught a little bit of Woz/Vera at the start of the second set but was out most of the night so missed the rest and the whole of the Venus match.

I had a feeling Woz was a little short, I was expecting around 1.6 but thought she would still win regardless so it was a bit of a shock to see Bepa win in 2.

No surprise to see Kim end Venus' run, she is top class on hard court and should have enough to beat Bepa in the final.

My balance is now up to £463.58. Progress but slow progress with the low amount of selections each day.

Russia may struggle to replace golden generation...

From Reuters...

When Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won grand slam singles titles in 2004, the women's tour was awash with talk that a long period of Russian dominance was in store.

In the 26 grand slams since Myskina won the French Open, Russia has been represented in 15 of the 25 women's finals and captured five more titles along the way.

When the US Open began, Russia still had 16 women inside the world's top 100 and 11 of the year's titles on the women's tour have been won by Russian women.

But their presence at the very top appears to be dwindling with Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, in her first US Open semifinal, the only Russian woman in the top 10.

That compares to a high-point of seven at the end of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. Even in May of this year, five were in the top 10 but injuries and loss of form have seen things change.

Olga Morozova, who reached two grand slam finals as a player and was a leading coach in the former Soviet Union and in Britain, said part of the problem was cyclical.

"I think on the girls' side it was a golden generation with (Anna) Kournikova and all these girls who are still playing now," Morozova said. "To find these kind of girls again in these kind of numbers will be difficult."

Morozova believes the current crop of female players in Russia have talent but perhaps lack the belief and the desire to make it to the very top.

"(Maria) Kirilenko, Alisa Kleybanova, they are good but they are not tough enough to take the weight being on top of their shoulders," Morozova said.

"I think (young Russian players) are really satisfied with what they get. They win a tournament and they get $60 000, it's a good living and I think they are happy with this."

Morozova said Russia still has a big pool of talented youngsters but the standard of coaching and the convenience of the facilities did not match those elsewhere, particularly in Europe.

According to Morozova, the club system that brought through the likes of Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina and others has largely disappeared.

But she did offer a glimmer of hope for the current crop of Russian girls, with world number 22 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova perhaps the best of the lot.

"If Pavlyuchenkova will get herself in good condition there is something there," she said. "She is very talented, she is strong, she is big, she has a good serve.

"I think she is capable but she just has to work hard and has to do what (Caroline) Wozniacki (the US Open number one seed) has done."

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Just the one selection again yesterday, like the day before and gladly another winning bet. It's topped the bank up again and the balance stands at £461.28 after starting with £100 on July 7th.

Still very few selections each day and I can't wait for the next tournaments to start now to get a decent amount of bets on for once!

The Civil Rights of Tennis...

This is a decent report from World Tennis Magazine written by Cynthia Lum.

Wow, had a wonderful free morning. Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils was the only match I was really interested in and they were scheduled second match on after 1 PM. I’d been wanting to see the exhibit at the International Center for Photography, so took this opportunity to have a nice leisurely look at their current exhibit, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights ”

The exhibit deals with the way the media, through photography, film, and television, can influence and play a role in shaping history and culture in modern society.

As you enter, there is a film clip of celebrated African American photographer, Gordon Parks, loading film in his camera. He considered his camera his “Weapon of Choice,” an empowering tool to be used to influence social change.

In the section on black sports hero’s and how these positive images in popular magazines helped instill racial pride to a group of people who had been the subjects of discrimination, and degrading stereotypes, there is a wonderful interview with Althea Gibson from a 1957 Sports Illustrated where she appeared on the cover.

Powerful and sometime disturbing photos of the of the leaders of the civil rights movement, are stark reminders of where we were just 50 years ago.

The film clip of Malcolm X being interviewed and asked about his last name was great. There are also clips from famous entertainers, including Nat King Cole, The Supremes and a host of others.

I find this exhibit especially relevant right now when intolerance is once again rearing it’s ugly head in the USA.

Next stop was lunch under the shade of huge trees in Bryant Park, entertained by life piano music. This is truly wonderful. I love the reader’s area, where there are books, magazine, and newspapers to to peruse.

I arrived at the site, around 2 PM and prepared to shoot the Djokovic-Monfils match. Walking through the press room, still carrying visions of the civil rights movement in my head, I am reminded of the internationality of our sport. People from around the world, working together.

As I sat in the photo pit, I kept thinking how great it is to have the privilege of participating in an event with no social barriers, the only measure being how well you train, and compete. There was Monfils, a Frenchman with Caribbean heritage, playing against a Serbian, who incidentally, speaks five languages fluently.

Novak is also hosting children of the 911 victims at the Open. Coming from a war torn country himself, he wanted to reach out to these young people. He said he is not talking to them about the past he just wants to give them a special experience.

“We’re trying to enjoy. We’re young. They’re young. They’re trying to enjoy their life, and they came to tennis,” he said. “So this is the positive message. We don’t want to, you know, get back in the past. What already happened, happened. It’s life.”

A famous Serbian tennis star, giving American children a special day. This is a perfect example of how the tennis tour can and show the world that people of all completions, can help one another and make this a better place for everyone.

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Just the one bet yesterday, a stage 2 and a winning one. The balance is now up to £456.78. I caught the end of the Vera match and a bit of the Monfils match but missed the rest due to work. I always think Monfils could do that little bit better if he didn't try the crazy entertaining shots and just try to win. I missed all of Woz/Cib and Federer's match but they won in straight sets and I'm not even sure how troubled they were.

Four Favourites Yesterday...

I had a dilemma at the start of yesterdays matches and had to make a decision that could have been vital for the bank. Both Youzhny and Querrey met criteria for me to continue with a stage 3 bet and usually I would go with whatever match is first.

Due to the small amount of matches at the moment I considered backing Querrey as the stage 3 and Youzhny starting with a stage 1 as Sam was higher odds by quite a bit and the risk would be much smaller.

I had a good think but just felt more confident by risking more on Youzhny to make the stage 3 bet. Robredo had only got through his last two matches by his opponents retiring and had never gone further than the 4th Round here before.

Thank fully it paid off as Youzhny won in 4 and the small stage 1 bet on Querrey was a loss. Phew.

Venus and Nando were both stage 2 bet qualifying matches to cleared up two outstanding sequences and it finished a good day with the balance now up to £451.97.

It's even slower progress for the rest of this week with less matches by the day and the bank will surely grow quicker when the smaller tournaments are on and there are 3 or 4 tournaments during the same week where plenty of ATP and WTA matches are available to bet on should they qualify.

Mats Wilander Q&A...

By Vicky Hodges, Telegraph.

Juan Martin Del Potro beat Rafael Nadal and then Roger Federer to win last year’s US Open. Can you see another player outside the world top four repeating the feat this year?

I think the only one that could do that would be Robin Soderling. He has been in two finals already, and he has beaten Nadal on clay, he has also threatened Federer last year at Wimbledon and the US Open in the past. So despite him being outside the top four I think he’s the only one that could actually win it.

Are you surprised Andy Murray is yet to win a maiden grand slam?

I’m not surprised at all, he’s not good enough to win a grand slam yet at least what he’s shown so far he’s not good enough. He is improving but he’s not anywhere near to being the finished product and he’s not anywhere close to being as good as he can become, and he’s not close to being the player he will become either - that’s my point of view. He will become a better player every year he plays as long as he can stay motivated.

Federer believes he still has a few more grand slam titles in him. Would you bet against him?

I think he has more titles still in him, as long as he’s willing to change his game slightly which he’s doing right now, trying to be more aggressive and shorten the points. As long as he’s open to the idea of evolution in his game then definitely, he knows he’s not perfect and it’s all about the process of change.

Do you think the women’s game gets an unfair press? How can it be strengthened further to draw the viewers/spectators?

I think the women’s game is stuck in a position whereby we need a couple more players that need to step up their game, the bar has been raised very high by the Williams sisters and I think that there are some players such as Kuzetsova and Sharapova who need to up their game and challenge the Williams sisters, then I think the ball can start rolling again in the women’s game again. I think players are relying too much on maintaining their game instead of focusing on improvement. Take Nadal he’s won eight majors and he’s by no means the finished product and will continue to improve. Your game stalls when you assume you’re the finished product.

Do you still hit every ball when you’re watching the games from inside the TV studio?

Yes I hit every ball, absolutely. Every ball, it makes for a very tiring watch!

Any on-air gaffes you’d care to forget but are willing to share with us?

I’m never really aware of mistakes I’ve made when I’m commentating or on TV, I’m sure they happen sometimes and I guess it makes for a more interesting experience!

If you could turn back the clock would you change anything about your tennis career?

No absolutely not, I don’t have any regrets about anything I’ve done in my life I learn from my mistakes and without mistakes I wouldn’t be where I am today.

How do you think you would’ve fared against Federer/Nadal in your prime?

All I can say his thank god I’m not 25 years old!

What’s been your tennis highlight of 2010?

The match between Soderling and Federer in the quarter-finals of the French Open. It was a brilliant match very attractive for both the viewers and commentary. Federer saying that he was happy to lose like that, admitting he was beaten by the better man on the day, and that he couldn’t play any better. It was a memorable moment. I think these are defining moments for Federer and of 2010.

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A loss with the first bet of the day and a feeling of another big losing day came over me. Luckily the other bets were all winners so it finished with a minimal profit for the day.

I still think it will take beyond this week to claw back recent losses purely because of the low amount of matches but I'll try and see if I can find a match that matches criteria for a later stage bet and if I'm confident enough then I'll go for it.

Hewitt to lead Australia against Belgium...

from hindustantimes.com

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt will spearhead Australia's bid against Belgium in the Davis Cup World Group playoff in Cairns later this month, Tennis Australia said on Monday. Hewitt heads the Australian team which also includes Carsten Ball, Peter Luczak and Paul Hanley. "We are
confident that we have a good strong team capable of winning our way back into the World Group," team captain John Fitzgerald said.

"We have been building toward this tie all year and will be well and truly ready to go by the time we hit Cairns."

Hewitt, who was bounced out of the current US Open by Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the opening round, is looking for a new coach after splitting with Nathan Healy.

The winner of the World Group playoff in Cairns in north Queensland on September 17-19 will be in the competition's elite for next year.

The Australian Davis Cup team defeated Japan 5-0 in the Asia Oceania Group tie in May to progress to the World Group playoff.

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A loss yesterday, the biggest for a while but still only a small percentage of the bank. I don't think I am going to enjoy the rest of the US Open now betting wise as there are less and less matches each day meaning less selections, with maybe just a few bets each day and probably a day or two with no bets it's going to be frustrating after a losing day, especially if there are more losing days this week.

A little profit...

I've been out playing football Saturday and this morning so very quick update now. A little profit yesterday on a mix and match day.

High school tennis players double as refs — honestly...

By Ray Brewer, Lasvegassun.

Jeremy Mann remembers watching the tennis ball fly toward the back line.

The ball had such spin and velocity that Mann couldn’t tell if his opponent’s shot landed in or out of play. So, the Palo Verde High tennis player did what he considered the right thing: He called the shot in to give his rival a point.

But this wasn’t your typical point.

It was match point of a crucial doubles match during the state finals last fall against Coronado High School. Mann easily could have ruled the shot out of bounds, likely not heard any complaints and given his team a point.

Instead, the Coronado doubles team rallied to beat Mann and his partner, taking a crucial point in what was a back-and-forth final. Palo Verde eventually prevailed 10-8 for its fourth state championship in the past six years.

As for Mann, win or lose, he’s happy with his decision.

“You don’t have time to think whether you are making a bad decision,” said Mann, a 17-year-old senior. “It’s a split-second decision. That shot was probably out, but it was too close to call. You have to be honest ... There is nothing worse than a cheater.”

Like the championship, all Nevada high school tennis matches are played without an umpire or linesmen. That puts the onus on the players to call their own lines — and athletes typically put the integrity of the sport ahead of their desire to win.

It’s easier said than done, with plenty of opportunity for conflict. But coaches and players report few problems with this long-standing tradition. Players calling their own lines is the practice on the junior circuit of the U.S. Tennis Association, a more competitive league several high school players participate in when the prep season ends.

“There aren’t too many sports in high school where there isn’t a referee,” Palo Verde coach Zach Brandt said. “But it’s never been a big issue. The children have been real good at solving their own problems.”

Forty Southern Nevada schools have about three matches weekly for their boys and girls teams during the two-month season. Most of the schools’ tennis complexes have eight courts, meaning more than 150 officials would be needed multiple afternoons each week.

That would be more than a typical Friday night of high school football or basketball, and something a majority of the tennis players agree isn’t necessary. A certain integrity is associated with tennis in which players take pride in the honesty of calling their own lines.

“It’s pretty standard what we ask the children to do. It’s not rocket science,” said Ray Mathis, the Clark County School District’s executive director of instructional support and student activities.

“It’s kind of an honest sport like golf where children learn the honor of good play, sportsmanship and following the rules.”

If a shot is close, like Mann’s, the golden rule is to always give your opponent the point. Most of the calls are verbal, and some players also raise their index fingers to signal a shot is out, or hold their hand open to signal the ball is in.

Players are taught to be patient during the heat of the match. The first time they think they have been cheated, the unwritten rule is to say nothing. If it happens again, they call over their coach.

In worse-case scenarios, the coach from each team will be called in to monitor the match. Coaches say that happens once or twice a year.

At the regional and state tournaments, where the intensity in an otherwise laid-back sport is at its peak, three or four volunteers from the tennis community roam from court to court, officiating if requested.

Bishop Gorman coach Craig Witcher has been an instructor at local clubs for almost 20 years. Formerly the men’s coach at UNLV, Witcher said teaching students the value of making a correct call starts at a young age.

“The integrity of the game and the code of the game become second nature,” he said. “It’s part of your life if you are a tennis player.”

Gorman and Palo Verde played Thursday in one of the more competitive matches of the season. The two Summerlin-area schools have one of the biggest prep sports rivalries in which the competition — no matter the sport — is likely intense.

Still, you didn’t see anyone from either side break the sport’s unwritten rule of integrity.

“I just really hate it when people cheat,” said Kyle Del Rosario, a Gorman senior who took second in state singles last year. “People who do that take away the fun. Why waste your time playing?”

But for the most part, “our children do an outstanding job,” Mathis said.

High school sports, as proved each afternoon on the tennis court, is more than winning or losing. It’s about helping build a foundation for later in life.

“Not being honest when calling your own lines is like cheating on a test,” Mann said. “You can’t feel good about yourself if you do well.”

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Phew, a good day in the end and a nice boost for the bank. It got a bit hairy at one point but a couple of wins came in and then I knew at worst I could only lose a few pounds.

Instead the system pulled out winner after winner (a nice habit it's developing) and it boosted the bank to £435.65. For a long time now it has never risked more than around 15% and that has only been on the odd occasion so I have been thinking about upping the target to 1% per sequence instead of 0.5%.

This would mean maybe breaking down a sequence or two a stage earlier but the amount of early winning bets at double the target could be potentially mind blowing to the bank and although it's not as simple as thinking like this because it doesn't work like that I have been thinking "double the target, double the profit" and that could mean doubling the bank every two weeks!!!!!!

I don't think it would be that simple as some sequences would have to be broken down earlier meaning that those losses would be recovered over a longer time whereas at the moment it would be recovered right away.

It's something for me to think about anyway and I may start by doing a few sequences at the higher target to see how it goes. Worst case is a loss builds up and I break it down to recover over time to it's worth trying I think.

Why all the secrecy? Tennis badly needs more injury transparency...

This is a part of a great report into injuries written by Andrew Lawrence @ Sports Illustrated.

Typically when an athlete gets injured, a familiar routine unfolds: the injury is named, the severity articulated and the prescription detailed.

Such routines keep people from drawing their own wild conclusions. The exception, of course, is tennis, where players fall ill and drop out of sight without immediate explanation -- and that leads to long, meandering games of telephone.

The game got especially intense on Wednesday afternoon, when 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus collapsed on the court 30 minutes into her second-round match with Argentina's Gisela Dulko at the Grandstand. Playing in triple-digit temperatures, she was helped into a wheelchair, carted off the court and vanished without a trace into a whirlwind of intrigue. Was it heat stroke? Was she hospitalized? Was she conscious?

The answers were vague and streamed in slowly. In a statement, tournament referee Brian Earley said Azarenka had "headache-like symptoms" and was taken to a nearby hospital for "diagnostic testing" (what is she, a Chevy Malibu?) before adding that "out of respect to her privacy, we can not give any more details."

Much later, Azarenka issued her own statement that filled in some blanks: She fell on her arms and head in a warm-up run before her match. She was examined by a medical team and cleared to play, but struggled to compete through a headache and dizziness. Laboring to stay upright and see, she tumbled onto the court. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a mild concussion.

It's the kind of explanation that is de rigueur in other sports and disseminated with lightning speed. When Giants quarterback Eli Manning suffered his gory head injury during the team's preseason opener against the Jets last month, the injury's particulars -- including how it was treated -- were widely known within minutes. When center Andrew Bynum went under the knife last season, insight abounded about the procedure and his projected timetable for return.

But in tennis, sagas like Azarenka's play out like serial dramas. If the sport were serious about accelerating the flow of information and sharpening accuracy, it would adopt a system more like the NFL's or the NBA's and provide year-round health updates on all of its players. But that would require a cooperative spirit, and tennis -- a skein of disparate interests -- is hardly a tightly wound operation.

Also, there's a belief that a tennis injury wire would encourage gambling, an issue that had become particularly acute in recent years. But tennis is no more at risk than any other sport. If anything, it would level the playing field between the bettors who scout tournaments to harvest first-hand injury information and those who don't.

And then there's the competitive advantage on the court. Disclosing injuries has long been a sign of weakness in sports, and tennis is no different. But there's a difference between keeping bumps and bruises secret and playing with a major illness -- like mononucleosis. That's something Roger Federer did for most of 2008 and Andy Roddick did for some of this year.

Neither player revealed he had the illness until it could help justify poor on-court results. Though Roddick declined to use mono as an excuse for his second-round loss to Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic on Wednesday night, Roddick's resignation in defeat suggests a realization that he wasn't at full strength. "I'm gonna get some rest tomorrow," he said afterward.

Overall...

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andrew_lawrence/09/03/tennis.injuries/index.html#ixzz0yRi3J9wu

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It started yesterday with a few losses and I thought it was going to result in another loss but it turned it around and finished with a few wins to make a slight profit for the day.

There wasn't many selections for the second day running, just 12 yesterday and I hope it picks up as it usually does better when there are more selections. I can't remember if it generally has less picks during Grand Slams as I missed most of Wimbledon when I re-started and I think I was doing the football scalping during FO so not really concentrating on the results of this as much.

I suppose we will see in the coming days if the amount of selections picks up or not.



EDIT: Update and this could be a very good or a very bad day. I have been placing some of the bets and it could be a big chunk of the bank gone should there be a few losers but if they all win then a big boost after a few losing days. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

McEnroe Starts Academy...

Academy To Open On Randall's Island After US Open

John McEnroe wants a hand in reviving American tennis. He wants to do it his way.

The John McEnroe Tennis Academy opens Sept. 13, the day after the U.S. Open.

The academy will be on Randall's Island, a strip of land between Manhattan and Queens.

McEnroe wants it to be a place where young players can develop without leaving home and moving to a boarding school and tennis academy.

McEnroe's brother, Mark, is involved in the academy. Meanwhile, Patrick McEnroe works with USTA on player development.

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I was very close to posting yesterday morning that I had a bad feeling today was going to be a loss and low and behold it was. This is even before I look at the matches that qualify, perhaps I have a sixth sense!

There were only 14 selections from the day which was a bit of a surprise to me as there were many more matches on but they just didn't meet the criteria. It was only a small loss, not even 2% of the bank and I think today will be better by making it back and a bit more.

Some more short price faves getting turned over once again in Berdych, Roddick and Bartoli that I remember off the top of my head. There are proving to be a decent amount of shocks but some people must be losing pretty big if they are lumping on these "sure bets".

McEnroe: Murray can win US Open...

John McEnroe believes Andy Murray is one of just three players who can win the US Open – but admits Roger Federer still holds the upper hand.

Murray was finally due to begin his bid for a first Grand Slam title against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko today, with Federer having already cruised into the second round on Monday evening.

World number one Rafael Nadal is the other player McEnroe thinks can lift the title on September 12, but he and Murray will have to do it the hard way after being placed in the same half of the draw, the other half to Federer.

“Federer is not going to have to deal with both of them, which is good for him,” McEnroe said. “How much will Rafa and Andy beat up on each other in the semis?

“I would be very surprised if one of those guys did not win it. Andy can absolutely win it – if it doesn’t happen this year, maybe next year.”

Murray recently sacked coach Miles Maclagan and went on to defeat Nadal and Federer in consecutive matches to defend his Masters series title in Toronto.

And McEnroe added on BBC Radio Five Live: “The difference with Andy is his willingness to go after the ball, to be more aggressive.

“This is something he may have been thinking about for a while.

“I think it was time maybe. Maclagan did a good job, like (Mark) Petchey before him and now it’s time for the next step. It seems like a good thing to try.”

Murray and Lacko have never played each other on tour before, but world number 71 Lacko has recorded some impressive wins this year, including victories over Marcos Baghdatis in the first round of Wimbledon and former world number one Lleyton Hewitt in Atlanta.

However, he lost 6-2 6-2 6-2 to Nadal in the second round of the Australian Open in January – where Murray lost in the final to Federer – and the British number one will be hoping for a similarly one-sided victory to get out of the scorching early-afternoon sun as soon as possible.

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There were a big handful of strong favourites that got dumped out yesterday including Baghdatis, Gulbis, Na Li, Chakvetadze, Petrova, Safarova and Shvedova. I wasn't on many of them as they didn't come up as selections and I ended the day with a tiny profit of £3.45 from 26 selections.

Not great but better than a loss so can't complain. Still so many matches each day so there is sure to be lot's of selections for later on today and let's see if the bank can keep growing.