by Mad Professah


Reuters

Tennis player Serena Williams arrives at the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party in West Hollywood, California March 7, 2010.

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Serena won her 3rd career Laureus World Sports Award in Dubai on Wednesday after she was named Laureus Sportswoman of the Year for 2009, 7 years after she won her first. In 2007, she won the Laureus Comeback Award, bringing her total to three, the most won by a female. Only Roger Federer, who has four, has won more. Federer was up for Sportsman of the Year for 2009 but lost to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won his second Laureus Award. Kim Clijsters won the Laureus Comeback Award.

Serena said:

"I am just so delighted to win this Award, but very disappointed I cannot be in Abu Dhabi to say thank you in person. It's my third Laureus Award which is amazing and I would like to say thank you to all the Academy Members who voted for me and to the world's media who nominated me. Last year had its ups and downs, so to get this support is fantastic.

"As a tennis player you look at the amazing names of the Academy Members - like John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker and Monica Seles - who have won so many Grand Slams and they know what it takes to do that. There is nothing better in sport than being acknowledged by the people that you looked up to when you were a young player.

"The Laureus Awards have been a constant reflection of my career, winning in 2003 and 2007, and I think I was also nominated four more times. I know only Roger Federer has more Awards, so it would be cool to catch him up.

"I've had a few injury problems over the years, so it's been great to get back to the top and be World No 1 again. It's going to be an interesting year with Justine Henin back, but I'm playing well and it was great to win in Australia, and I still want to win every tournament I play. It's going to be a very exciting 2010."

Congratulations, Serena!

Getty

Samantha Stosur of Australia speaks to Cari Champion of the Tennis Channel at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour All Access Hour during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2010 in Indian Wells, California.

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I have been planting, planting, planting, my birth mother is visiting till Sunday, my best friend till Wednesday of next week, I've still got to do taxes, and then there's this other thing occupying my time that I need to focus on. More on that on my other blog sometime soon.

I'm going to let this blog take care of itself (mostly) until tennis comes on television this weekend.

I haven't even looked at the draws but I'll make these predictions anyway:

Roger Federer and Justine Henin will win.

See you when I see you.

Reuters

John Isner took Novak Djokovic, arguably the third best clay court player in the world last year, to five sets on clay in Serbia.

I'm going to say that again:

John Isner took Novak Djokovic, arguably the third best clay court player in the world last year, to five sets on clay in Serbia.

Make of the American's game whatever you will, but that was some effort.

Apparently, Venus Williams was tweeting about her nerves. If one believes Justin Gimelstob, President Obama was watching the match.

Whatever the case, Isner spilled his blood and guts all over the place. Made a temperamental Djoke earn it.

All this after pinch hitting for Mike Bryan in doubles the day before and getting the win to give himself a chance to do it again in singles.

Who knows what would have happened had Isner been fresh for the crucial singles rubber, but what did happen was fantabulous. One of our guests who doesn't even watch tennis couldn't avert her eyes in the match's final game.

I think this new American team has a foundation upon which to build a competitive team.

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Reuters

David Nalbandian plays Davis Cup ties like no other. Just when you thought it was safe to write him off once again....

Injured a few weeks back, he kept Argentina in the tie against Sweden in Sweden by winning the doubles rubber with Horacio Zeballos and then clinches the tie with a four-set win in the live fifth.

Most Valuable Player.

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Complete Davis Cup results.

AP

Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova holds her trophy after defeating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the final tennis match of the women's singles at the Monterrey Open in Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, March 7, 2010.

SERBIA defeats USA 3-2
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (clay – indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Viktor Troicki (SRB) d John Isner (USA) 76(4) 67(5) 75 64
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d Sam Querrey (USA) 62 76(4) 26 63
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan/John Isner (USA) d Janko Tipsarevic/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 76(8) 57 76(8) 63
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. John Isner (USA) 75 36 63 67(6) 64
Sam Querrey (USA) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 75 62

SPAIN defeats SWITZERLAND 4-1
Venue: Plaza de Toros de la Ribera, Logrono, Spain (clay – indoors)


AP


Reuters


Reuters

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 36 64 36 75 63
David Ferrer (ESP) d Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 62 76(5) 61
Marcel Granollers/Tommy Robredo (ESP) d Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 76(8) 62 46 64
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 62 64 60
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) d. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 61 63

FRANCE defeats GERMANY 4-1
Venue: Palais des Sports, Toulon, France (hard - indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Gael Monfils (FRA) d Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 76(5)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d Benjamin Becker (GER) 63 62 67(2) 63
Julien Benneteau/Michael Llodra (FRA) d Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 16 75
Simon Greul (GER) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 46 62 1-0 ret.
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Benjamin Becker (GER) 62 75

RUSSIA defeats INDIA 3-2
Venue: Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow, Russia (hard – indoors)


Reuters

Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) d Somdev Devvarman (IND) 67(6) 76(4) 63 64
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d Rohan Bopanna (IND) 64 62 63
Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes (IND) d Teimuraz Gabashvili/Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 62 62
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. Somdev Devvarman (IND) 62 61 63
Rohan Bopanna (IND) d. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 76(5) 64

ARGENTINA defeats SWEDEN 3-2
Venue: Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden (hard – indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Robin Soderling (SWE) d Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 61 76(0) 75
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d Joachim Johansson (SWE) 57 63 75 64
David Nalbandian/Horacio Zeballos (ARG) d Robert Lindstedt/Robin Soderling (SWE) 62 76(4) 76(5)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 75 76(5) 75
David Nalbandian (ARG) d. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 75 63 46 64


CROATIA defeats ECUADOR 5-0
Venue: Gradska Sportska Dvorana, Varazdin, Croatia (hard – indoors)


AP

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 62 57 67(2) 63 64
Marin Cilic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 64 63 63
Marin Cilic/Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti/Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 76(3) 63 75
Antonio Veic (CRO) d. Julio-Cesar Campozano (ECU) 64 76(4)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) d. Ivan Endara (ECU) 61 63

CHILE defeats ISRAEL 4-1
Venue: Enjoy Tennis Center, Coquimbo, Chile (clay – outdoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 46 62 62 64
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 26 63 64 64
Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) d. Jorge Aguilar/Paul Capdeville (CHI) 67(5) 76(9) 26 61 60
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 64 64 63
Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 76(3) 61

CZECH REPUBLIC defeats BELGIUM 4-1
Venue: Expodroom, Bree, Belgium (clay – indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Olivier Rochus (BEL) 63 60 64
Radek Stepanek (CZE) d Xavier Malisse (BEL) 62 64 76(3)
Radek Stepanek/Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Steve Darcis/Olivier Rochus (BEL) 76(0) 60 63
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Jan Hajek (CZE) 76(6) 16 64
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 16 76(3) 75

LOS ANGELES -- Tennis great Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, have listed their newly built compound in Lake Sherwood for $25 million.

The gated contemporary north of Los Angeles sits on 20 hilltop acres with 360-degree views, a north-south tennis court and a swimming pool. The more than 13,000-square-foot main house has a combined theater and game room. Including the 1,200-square-foot guesthouse and the 2,000-square-foot detached gym, the property has seven bedrooms and 11 1/2 bathrooms.

(...)

The couple offered no reason for selling, but Sampras does have an impressive real estate record, having sold a Beverly Hills mansion in 2008 for $23 million as well as other homes in Los Angeles' Benedict Canyon and Beverly Hills since 2003, according to Los Angeles Times reports.

Nice work if you can get it.

Agustin Calleri, center, who announced his retirement from tennis after elimination from the first round of Wimbledon last June, is honored in a career celebration at the Copa Telmex in Argentina yesterday. The other tennis players in attendance are, from left to right, Juan Mónaco, José Acasuso, Mariano Zabaleta, and Juan Ignacio Chela. I'm not sure who the first two men are, but I would imagine the man on the far left is tournament director and former Top-10 player Martin Jaite.

Rafael Vélez

Agnes Szavay of Hungary strikes a backhand against Germany's Julia Goerges in the first found of the Monterrey Open, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 in Monterrey, México.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Singles - Second Round
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 62 63
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (7) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 62 63
Vania King (USA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 63 63
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) d. Patricia Mayr (AUT) 64 63

Singles - First Round
(2/WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Lourdes Domínguez Lino (ESP) 63 76(6)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(2) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Medina Garrigues/Shaughnessy (ESP/USA) 62 76(3)
Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) d. Domínguez Lino/Parra Santonja (ESP/ESP) 76(0) 75

Doubles - First Round
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (4) Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) 64 62

Tuesday, March, 3, 2010

Singles - First Round
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. (1/WC) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 64 64
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (Q) Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 61 62
(4/WC) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 63
(5) Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 36 63
Sara Errani (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 62 63
Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 36 62 61
Polona Hercog (SLO) d. (Q) Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 62 64
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 62 64
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 61
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 76(5) 64
Patricia Mayr (AUT) d. (Q) Olga Savchuk (UKR) 76(5) 60

Doubles - First Round
(1) Groenefeld/King (GER/USA) d. Gullickson/Krajicek (USA/NED) 61 62
Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) d. (WC) Védy/Washington (FRA/USA) 64 64
Pavlyuchenkova/Zakopalova (RUS/CZE) d. Kondratieva/Lefèvre (RUS/FRA) 61 63
Medina Garrigues/Shaughnessy (ESP/USA) d. Bratchikova/Woerle (RUS/GER) 63 67(2) 12-10

"So the Tennis Hall of Fame, with its selections today, is trying to reorient our thinking on the matter. The days of the top singles players also regularly playing doubles are over, probably forever. But that doesn't mean doubles is without merit. It's not a coincidence or from lack of effort that the best singles players, when they do play doubles, almost never walk away with the trophy (Williams sisters excepted). You don't need the athleticism that the singles game requires, but your technical and strategic skills must be well-honed."--Douglas Perry

AP

Ivo Karlovic observed his 31st birthday yesterday, but he didn't have much to celebrate. Ernests Gulbis, all potential and inconsistency, brought out his best tennis and slayed the giant 6-2, 6-3 to win his first ATP title on his first try at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

It wasn't as close as the score.

All week, Gulbis' talent was on full display. In the final, he frustrated the Croat with return winners off first serves, unreturnable bombs of his own, cannonball passing shots, and drop shots out of nowhere. Dr. Ivo faced such of barrage, he was found slicing his backhand into the court right in front of his feet more times than he cared to count.

Ever since he tore Tommy Robredo a new one at the 2007 US Open in a performance that earned him a Gonad and a whole lot of expectant fans, the inconsistent and temperamental Latvian has been on a mission of mediocrity. He had trouble winning two matches in a row for much of last year, but he comes out this week and takes his first title without dropping a set. The first man from Latvia to win an ATP title.

“Everything what I do now is first time for my country,” he said after the match. “Of course it’s great. I hope it’s positive. I hope much more players will start to practise in Latvia. It’s good for tennis in Latvia. They see that a guy from Latvia also can make it and win an ATP World Tour event.”

Maybe it's the new Afro, but Gulbis looks as though he may be ready for his close up.

Let's see what he brings to Indian Wells.