Tennis – Fun Facts

• Lawn Tennis: The game of tennis as it is played today comes from Great Britain, where it originated as lawn tennis in the mid-1800’s.
• Wimbledon: In 1884 the Ladies’ Singles at Wimbledon was inaugurated, and from a field of 13 players Maud Watson became the champion.
• Tennis Balls: A new tennis ball should weigh two ounces.
• Bouncing Balls: When dropped from a height of 100 inches onto concrete, a new tennis ball should bounce about 55 inches.
• Grand Slam Titles: Margaret Smith Court holds the record with 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
• Record Holder: Martina Navratilova holds the record for most career singles and doubles titles with over 325.
• 1884/1885: Ladies’ singles tennis competition was added to Wimbledon in 1884. Maud Watson won in both 1884 and 1885.
• Lottie Dod: Lottie Dod won the women’s Wimbledon Championship five times between 1887 and 1893.
• 1897: The first Women’s French Tennis Championship is held.
• Ball Boys & Girls: There are more than 200 ball boys and girls used to fetch tennis balls during Wimbledon.
• Lawn Mower: Wimbledon is the only major tennis tournament still played on grass. The lawn there is cut every day.
• Tennis Dresses: The first women to play in the Wimbledon tournament wore full length dresses.
• Australian Open: Martina Hingis was the youngest Australian Open Women’s Single Champion (16 years, three months) in 1997.
• Wimbledon Wood: A wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.
• Equal Pay: In 2007, the men’s and women’s singles winners at Wimbledon each received £700,000. It was the first year that women got as much prize money as men.
• Wimbledon Winner: May Sutton of the United States became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women’s singles title.
• Love Match: Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi were the first married couple to have won both the men’s and women’s singles Wimbledon Championships.

Roland Garros 2009: Women’s Final

The two best players on clay this season are Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova and they will meet in the 2009 Roland Garros final tomorrow.  The all-Russian final should be a classic match, kinda like an all-Williams final.

No. 1 seed Safina, in pursuit of a maiden grand slam title, has had a bit of a shaky week but that did not stop her beating Slovakian teenager Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-3 in the semis.

On the other hand,  No. 7 Kuznetsova was able to beat Serena Williams in one of the best matches of the year in the quarterfinals: 7-6(3) 5-7 7-5 and despite showing some mental weakness in her semifinal against Samantha Stosurm Kuznetsova  was again able to gut out a win 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 in a match that went on for almost two and a half hours. Can she make it three in a row?

Both Russians are closely matched physically, with huge serves, excellent forehands and backhands as well as exquisite movement on clay. Kuznetsova may be the more talented, but tennis is at least 50% mental, and by getting to #1 in the world, Safina has demonstrated the mental toughness required.

The Russian duo had been the favorites to reach the final before the start of the claycourt major and, after playing in Paris for 12 days, they set up the first all-Russian final at Roland Garros since 2004.

Since becoming world number one in April, Safina has swept to a 20-1 record on clay. Her one loss was to Kuznetsova. Head to head Safina leads their rivalry 8 to 5, although they are tied 4-4 in matches on clay and 1-1 at matches on clay at Roland Garros.

Will Safina keep her edge and win her first major title on Saturday in Paris? If she does triumph, it will also give her family a unique place in the record books. With her brother Marat owning two major trophies, a win on Saturday for Safina will mark the first time a brother and sister have captured grand slam singles titles.

Watch to find out!

Saturday, June 6, 2009
Women’s Final – NBC – 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST) (LIVE)

Update:  Kuznetsova’s wait for a second Grand Slam title is over. The Russian won the 2009 French Open title, emerging victorious 6-4 6-2 in a 75-minute contest.

ANTA reveals French Open dress for Jankovic

Earlier this year, leading Chinese sportswear brand, ANTA, announced it had secured one of the biggest deals in women’s tennis by signing Jelena Jankovic to exclusively wear their sports apparel, shoes and accessories world-wide.

With the French Open getting underway, here’s the ANTA dress JJ will be wearing as she goes for her first major at Roland Garros. The blue color should pop nicely against the backdrop of red clay.

Look for a possible quarterfinal match in Paris between No. 4 Elena Dementieva vs. No. 5 Jelena Jankovic. You can check the Women’s Singles Main Draw here.

Coinciding with the French Open, the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival is taking place and JJ attended the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS 2009 benefit at the Hotel du Cap.

For more JJ photos in Cannes, check out Great Tennis Photos

Ivanovic wins French Open for first grand slam success

June 7, 2008 – A new French Open era dawned yesterday as Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic mesmerised Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 to win her maiden grand slam title. Her triumph confirmed her status as the new No 1 in women’s tennis.

Since Henin announced her retirement 24 days ago, Ivanovic had been tipped as the Belgian’s heir apparent.

Yesterday, she proved that the Roland Garros crown was a perfect fit. Aptly, Henin was on hand to mark the changing of the guard by handing over the trophy.

“As a kid when I used to go by bike to practice, I used to dream of this… it’s just been amazing,” Ivanovic, the first woman representing Serbia to win a major title, told the crowd.

Kudos to the new Queen of Clay!

French Open: Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic move on

June 3, 2008 – A Serbian player is guaranteed in Saturday’s women’s French Open final, after Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic both advanced today to the semis.

It is also certain that Maria Sharapova will lose her world No 1 ranking on Monday morning, although it’s not clear yet whether it will be Ivanovic, Jankovic or Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova who will replace her at the top of the tennis tree.

In the top half of the draw, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva will today contest an all-Russian quarter-final, with the winner to play either Svetlana Kuznetsova or Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Who do you think will win?

Serena out of French Open

May 30, 2008 – An inconsistent performance from 2002 champion Serena Williams saw her crash out in the third round of the Fench Open. Serena  shanked overheads, hit wild volleys and squandered six break points. The result: a stunning loss to Slovenian No. 27 seed Katrinia Srebotnik, 6-4, 6-4.

This was Williams’ earliest exit in nine visits to Roland Garros and guarantees a first-time women’s champion. Williams, who won the French Open in 2002, was the lone former champion to enter the draw.

Ivanovic, Sharapova & Williams sisters advance at French Open

May 28, 2008 – High winds and a grand slam debutante almost blew out the top women’s seed, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova struggled with her serve at the French Open, hitting 17 double-faults and barely managing to defeat 103rd-ranked Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 Wednesday in the first round.

Sharapova landed only 64 percent of her first serves in the match on center court, where she is trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the clay-court major. Her 19-year-old opponent came within two points of winning at 5-4 in the third set, but Sharapova won the next two with strong serves to hold. At 6-6, Sharapova regained control by breaking serve for the first time in the final set, returning a second serve with a big forehand that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Then, serving for the match, Sharapova double-faulted one final time, but took the next three points to end it. Rodina was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the first qualifying round at the Australian Open this year.

Rain delays over the first three days of the tournament gave way to strong wind on Day 4, when organizers hoped to cut through a huge backlog of matches.

In other early round matches, fifth-seeded Serena Williams, the only former champion in the women’s field, won the final four games to defeat Mathilde Johansson of France 6-2, 7-5 and advance to the third round. Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic had a convincing win to also advance to the third round. Last year’s French Open finalist easily beat Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-2. Fresh off her victory in Rome, third seed Jelena Jankovic took a while to find her form, but managed to push through Romania’s Monica Niculescu 7-6, 6-2. Also struggling, 2002 finalist and No 8 seed Venus Williams  had to sweat profusely in a 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over Israel’s Tzipora Obziler.

Tennis Shocker: #1 Justine Henin bows out on top

May 14, 2008 – Justine Henin retired from tennis today, an abrupt ending to an incredibly  successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked No. 1. Henin hanging it up is truly a huge loss for the game. With her retirement, Maria Sharapova will assume the No. 1 ranking.

The 25-year-old Belgian made the surprising announcement at a news conference, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. Henin has won that clay-court major championship four times, including each of the past three years.

To say we’re floored is putting it mildly. For Henin to retire is one thing.  To retire right before the French Open, which has been her most successful event, is simply shocking. Many will speculate that she’s walking away from the game because of a less than stellar start to the season. To suggest she’s retiring because she’s a sore loser is disrespectful. If she feels she’s done enough and wants new challenges then all power to her. An athlete has the right to walk away when she feels the time is right.

Henin has been the dominant player in women’s tennis since winning her first title at Roland Garros in 2003, finishing as the year-end No. 1 three times. Her seven Grand Slams in that span compare to a total of five for the Williams sisters. There was an all-or-nothing quality to her game. At 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds, Henin has always been a small girl in a big girls’ game and known for her fighting spirit, resolve, grit, tenacity and determination. Her departure creates a seemingly irreplacable hole in women’s tennis.

According to an AP report, “Justine Henin will be remembered as one of the all-time great champions in women’s tennis, and a woman who made up for her lack of size with a will to win and fighting spirit that was second to none,” WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said. “It is rare that an athlete leaves at the very top of her game in this day and age, but Justine has always played by her own rules, in the very best sense of those words.”

Allez Justine.

Henin has sights set on Wimbledon

World number one tennis player Justine Henin and her coach Carlos Rodriguez plan to make a few changes to her game in preparation for Wimbledon.

The best women’s player in the world has always claimed she would prefer another French Open title over winning Wimbledon – the one major title in tennis that has so far eluded her. But both player and coach revealed tactical and psychological changes will be made in order to take the final step for glory at the All England Club. 

(Daily Mail article)

A Grand Slam

When talking sports, we always hear the expression Grand Slam, or Grand Slam champions, or the players with the most Grand Slam titles.  In baseball or softball, a Grand Slam is a home run with the bases loaded. But what exactly is a Grand Slam in other sports?

Generally speaking, a Grand Slam is winning all of the prestigious tournaments in a single year. The expression Grand Slam, initially used to describe the winning of the tennis major events, was later incorporated by other sports, notably golf, to describe a similar accomplishment.

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