Tennis Updates: February 25, 2013

So not a lot of really tennis news, but more tennis gossip this week. Caroline Wozniacki denied rumors that she was going to get married to her boyfriend soon. But you know, she probably will later; they seem to get along really well. Andy Murray bought a hotel near his home in Scotland just because he had the money and felt like owning a hotel. Also, the huge tennis academy, IMG Bolletieri seems to be up for sale. That's a big deal since former and futur stars have trained there. Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Ryan Harrison all train or trained there. It's estimated to earn more than $2 billion in earnings if sold. IMG is huge outside of sports too, so it's kind of a huge deal for everyone. They recently had signed a deal with Barclays that lasted about 3 years, but not really a clear indicator about who would buy the huge organization. Anyway, Roger Federer, who is almost to his 32nd birthday, tells paparazzi that he will be playing less tournaments this year to spend time with his family, but will be practicing more. He's always been a hard worker (despite many beliefs) but he says he will work even harder this year. I'm always worried that will take a toll on his body since 32 is pretty old for tennis. The young professional tennis players are 16, 17 years old. They will outlast him on court, so he will have to find other ways to win, either through skill or power (which I doubt, he's never been that type of player). Hope everything goes well for him. He da best.

Tennis Updates: February 21, 2013

I read an interesting article today about Rebecca Marino, a woman's professional tennis player, who just  retired from the tour at age 22. She was ranked as high as 38 in the world just two years ago with a powerful game much like Venus Williams', but decided to bid farewell to the game today. She cited that she was suffering from depression and did not have the "passion or enjoyment" to bring her game to new heights. Also she called out the cyber bullies who would make fun of her on Twitter, commenting maliciously on her results and looks. Some people told her to die, to go to hell and worse things. She suffered from depression as well. Fans would berate her after losing a match and constantly make fun of her. I feel bad for her. I know most people can usually brush off things like that, but some people really do take those words for face value. Cyber-bullying was a huge problem for a little while; I remember seeing it in the news all the time. Kids would kill themselves because of bullies, people would suffer from depression from insults from strangers. It's really not right, but it's the world we live in. I'm glad she made the decision to leave tennis because she needs to get to a spot where she is happy. Tennis is the happy place for her, so she should leave it. I hope she recovers from her depression and starts seeing the better sides of people.

Tennis Update: February 18, 2013

Rafael Nadal has won his first tournament since coming back after a 7-month hiatus. Which is great for him. I'm so excited. Yay. Woo. Awesome. Great. Wonderful. Stellar work.
Also Federer lost to Benneteau in a shocker with a score like 7-6, 6-3 or something like that. I hope Federer just had an offday, he's my favorite and I don't want him losing like that all the time. After I looked at his record last year (which was good, I think he lost like 7 matches), I still felt like he lost too much. Am I being too greedy? Probably. Anyway, I'm exhausted right now and not in the mood to write this, but I will try.
Oh, but Serena Williams has temporarily taken the #1 rank in the world, but Azarenka could regain it this week if she wins the title in Dubai. She is currently the only undefeated player in the top 10 of the WTA. She recently squeaked out a match against Williams in Qatar. It's pretty amazing how she's managing all this. Serena is known for beating everyone, but she always loses to Azarenka. It's probably her youth and really really competitive spirit. She deserves most of what she wins.

Tennis News and Updates: February 8, 2013

Well even though Nadal is back on tour (and doing well), he's been talking about more serious stuff, like doping. Again. In Spain, there has been something called "Operation Puerto" where Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes was found as the mastermind of a network of doping. A small number of cyclists has been named or found guilty by blood tests, but there are certainly more. Rafa wants all the cyclists to be named to clear the air on Spanish sports. He says "We need to clean everything up. I believe this doctor has worked with foreign athletes but because he is Spanish it is Spanish sport that is being prejudiced." Doping seems to be becoming a more and more relevant issue, which is not a good thing. I've said this before, but if sports continues this way, soon the people competing will barely be human.
Another thing about Rafa, he is doing well in Chile, but his aim right now is not to win. He just wants his knees to feel good. He says it's actually logical for him to lose right now and he's waiting to get back into shape for the clay court season. He's seeking his 8th French Open Victory.
Also in Davis Cup, Spain has lost to Canada, with a depleted team missing their top 4 players. It's a shame. Spain was last years Davis Cup champions.

This is random, but David Nalbandian is trying to unite his Argentinian team to do well in the Davis Cup. He's one of my favorite players on tour even if he did kick a line judge and everything. He probably has the best technical strokes and is the most underachieving player I've ever seen. I really wish he could do a little better because he has so much talent.

Tennis Update: February 4, 2013

Davis Cup has the spotlight in tennis now. USA played Brazil and there were some controversies. John Isner complained about the noise the Brazilian bench was making during their head-to-head in Florida. He was saying they would say nasty things from the bench, but the Brazilian coach said those words had no effect on the outcome on the match. I think tennis players should be able to filter out things like that; that's why they are professional! But still, saying things like that during a toss or during play is actually against the rules, so the ref should have done something about it. It's just kind of nasty that would happen. John Isner said it didn't affect him, but obviously it did because he wouldn't be complaining about it. So whatever.
Nadal has brought a lot of attention to the small Chile tournament. It sold out on Thursday because of his presence. This is completely different to last year, where it took them a year to sell all their tickets. It's the Nadal Effect. Top players usually don't have an incentive to go to small, no-name tournaments, so those tournaments never get attention or funding. It's only when big players go to these tournaments do they get any attention. But for some of the lower-ranking players, they must be really pissed that Nadal is ruining their chances at winning an ATP level tournament. Oh well.