Made My Day

by Craig Hickman

The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open is now history. Before play was officially underway, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki and Ryan Harrison supported the Greater Miami Tennis and Education Foundation as part of Cliff Drysdale's fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton of Key Biscayne inside the tennis center that bears his name.

Last year, Clijsters and Roddick considered the same event their good luck charms as both went on to win the Sony Ericsson Open. I guess it's true, then, that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. But the defending champions had a great time. Seeing tennis players doing what they love to do without the stress of a match was a beautiful thing.

The Ritz-Carlton of Key Biscayne is more like a palace than a hotel. I couldn't help but thinking we were approaching royalty as we drove into the gated grounds. Perfectly designed and manicured landscaping all around, we finally found the tennis center valet. Once on the courts, I was able to see what Serena Williams once said about green clay being slower and grittier than the crushed red brick used in Europe and South America. It almost looks like gravel. On one of the outside courts, I recognized former Miami runner-up Guillermo Cañas playing a double's match with other members.



The staff at the Ritz-Carlton gave customer service new meaning. Attentive, genuinely nice, they made us feel at home. Perfect weather, live musicians, an open bar, passed hors d'oeuvres, and the chance to test-drive Cadillac's new models would have attracted anyone who wanted to support a worthy cause.

Even with the great atmosphere and fun tennis exhibition, the event highlight came at the end when I approached Drysdale, who'd kept the proceedings efficient and light-hearted with his infectious personality and wit. He's practically a stand up comedian.

"Just in case I never have another opportunity to say this to you, I just wanted to let you know that you are the voice of tennis for me. Didn't matter where I was in the house, if I heard your voice on the television, I knew tennis was on. I enjoy your commentary, your humor, and the personality you bring in the booth is always a perfect foil for your colleagues."

His face lit up more than it naturally does. "Wow. Thank you so much for telling me that. You have made my day," he replied with an outstretched hand. Next thing I knew, he touched the side of my face as though I were his son. He made my day, too.

Michelle, the media relations director who invited us to cover the event, insisted that I pose with Drysdale for a photo. As we posed, I told him of my sister's home in South Africa and JD, who's originally from the Netherlands, asked him if he spoke any Afrikaans, the Dutch dialect spoken by the Nederlanders who settled there centuries ago. Personal connections make every experience more memorable.

The entire event benefited the Greater Miami Tennis and Education Foundation and like last year, kids from the foundation attended the event as ball boys and girls. They earned that privilege based on their report cards, attendance, leadership and other factors. The $13,000 raised will benefit these socially and economically challenged Miami children, will help them learn tennis and valuable life skills by participating in free, affordable GMTEF tennis and education programs throughout the school year, as well as during the summer.

Next year's event promises to be even better.

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Video Highlights

Sony Ericsson Open Week 1 Review

JD Blom for Tennis Panorama News

Kourtin' Karen, owner of Tennis Panorama News has posted her highlights of the first week down in hot, hot Miami. She's included some new photo galleries with previously unpublished photos we shot on- and off-site.

I attended one other charity exhibition in the first week that I haven't gotten around to writing about yet.

Stay tuned.

World No. 1?

by Craig Hickman


AP

Humph.

Moose, over on TAT, asked it best:

So you are #1 in the world. Your prep for the Aussie is an Exo loss to Kim an Exo loss to Vera, a first round loss at Sydney to Domi Cibulkova in straights.

Are you concerned?

Champions For Chile

It was a busy weekend. Didn't keep Andy Roddick from participating in his friend Fernando González's fund raising event to help the earthquake victims in Chile. Gustavo Kuerten and Jim Courier joined them. I'm not sure the event got much coverage, but then again, I was planting all weekend.

Hit For Haiti (Updated With Video)

Roger Federer put it all together. It looks as though all the players had a blast. Here's hoping people get the basic necessities they need as soon as possible to alleviate some of the pain and devastation in the rubble of death that Haiti has become since the earthquake.

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Reuters

Team members Serena Williams of the U.S. and Switzerland's Roger Federer react during the fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010. Proceeds from the event will go to the Haiti earthquake relief fund.


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Serena Williams of the United States of America and Samantha Stosur of Australia and of the Red Team share a laugh during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.


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Andy Roddick of the United States of America and of the Blue Team plays a backhand as team-mate Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

Reuters

Spain's Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters of Belgium play during the fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010. Proceeds from the event will go to the Haiti earthquake relief fund.


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Novak Djokovic of Serbia and of the Red team plays a forehand while sitting on the court during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Kim Clijsters of Belgium and Novak Djokovic of Serbia and of the Red share a laugh during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.


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Bernard Tomic of Australia serves as team-mate Kim Clijsters of Belgium looks on during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

Reuters

Belgium's Kim Clijsters touches the thigh of Rafael Nadal of Spain as Serbia's Novak Djokovic looks on during the fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010. Proceeds from the event will go to the Haiti earthquake relief fund.

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Rafael Nadal of Spain and Andy Roddick of the United States of America and of the Blue Team congratulate each other after a point during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Rafael Nadal of Spain and of the Red team celebrate after a point during the 'Hit For Haiti' charity exhibition match ahead of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

Reuters

Andy Roddick of the U.S. and Spain's Rafael Nadal chase a wayward ball during the fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010. Proceeds from the event will go to the Haiti earthquake relief fund.

Reuters

Andy Roddick of the U.S and Kim Clijsters of Belgium laugh during a fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" for the victims of the Haiti earthquake ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010.


Reuters

Spectators cheer during the fundraising exhibition "Hit for Haiti" ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2010. Proceeds from the event will go to the Haiti earthquake relief fund.

AP

Roger Federer of Switzerland, left, waves to the crowd next to the representatives of Melbourne Haitian community, after an exhibition tennis match in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday Jan. 17, 2010. A series of exhibition games were set up by Federer ahead of the Australian Open to raise funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Face Of The Day

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Russia's 20th ranked Nadia Petrova returns the ball to Belgium's former world No. 1 Justine Henin during their tennis exhibition tournament match at Cairo's Al-Gezira club on December 12, 2009. Henin won 7-6, 6-2.

Faces Of The Day

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Teammate Serena Williams and Sir Elton John share a laugh at the press conference prior to the 17th Annual World Team Tennis Smash Hits benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Baton Rouge area AIDS charities at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on December 8, 2009 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Inaugural Exhibition

As though we need yet another exhibition in the lead up to a Slam:

Nadal, Federer and Murray lead the field for the inaugural Guinot Mary Cohr Masters exhibition. Eight other players including Marat Safin, James Blake, Tommy Haas, Stanislas Wawrinka and the Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Arnaud Clément will join the top-ranked trio for an unusual and original set-up. The team competition will feature the same balls and court conditions as Roland Garros.

(...)

The 12 players will be divided up into two teams of six, Guinot vs. Mary Cohr, coached by internationally renowned captains. Two best-of-three set matches a day from 1:30 p.m. onwards will commence. Each player will play once only during the three-day tournament and the two captains will challenge one another on the Friday just before the presentation of the trophy. Because the stands are nearer the courts than anywhere else, the spectators will get a close-up of the stars in competition.

No Thanks

Reuters

That's what Kim Clijsters said to Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman, when he offered her a wild card to play at the Championships this year.

She's not ready yet. Though she is excited about coming back to professional competition:

“A lot of questions popped into my mind, mostly about rules and regulations, how much I’d need to play, who might I turn to for help, how much at ease I would feel about coming back,” Clijsters said. “I never used to be much of a planner, I took everything pretty much as it came, but now there’s when to eat, when to sleep, when to feed.

“I don’t want to be seen as a powerful woman who is doing anything superhuman, but it is nice to show it is possible to have children and still have a professional sports career. The old-fashioned image is of a mother staying at home to take care of the children, but things are changing. I know there will be a lot of attention because of the career I had and I suppose people are bound to compare. I’m just intrigued as to how much I’ll enjoy it.

“In the 2½ years I have been away, I was married, fell pregnant, my daughter was born, my dad became sick. I didn’t have a chance to miss it. I would not change much of what has happened, I was so happy my dad got to see his grandchild, that was very special. I got to read James Blake’s book [Breaking Back - How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life], which talks so vividly about how he coped with the loss of his father. It was incredible to find out so much more about someone I saw a lot but didn’t really know at all.”

Getty

Clijsters was on the grounds for the exhibition Wimbledon: Celebrations that's on ESPN Classic live now and will re-air tonight on Tennis Channel at 7:00 pm EDT. She'll be featured along with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Tim Henman. They'll be playing for the first time in history under the covered lawns of Centre Court's new retractable roof.

Should be fun.

Faces Of The Day

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Argentina's former tennis champion Gabriela Sabatini approches to embrace Czech-US former tennis champion Martina Navratilova after their charity tennis exhibition, at the Lawn Tennis Club, in Buenos Aires, on March 14, 2009. The exhibition is organized by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation (FAIAM) of Argentina, to raise awareness and funds to search for a cure of the illness.

Five Minutes

That's how long it took for the Wimbledon exhibition featuring Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Tim Henman, and Kim Clijsters to sell out.

All The Rage

The International Herald Tribune looks at women's tennis in Gotham City. And Savannah has posted her pictures.

Tennis Night in Gotham

by Savannah


Getty

Serena wore down Venus in a 6-4, 6-3 victory Monday night, wowing the fans with her impressive power as women’s tennis returned to the Garden after a nine-year absence. Yahoo! Sports

I never quite got why tennis decided not to stage events in the Garden anymore. I remember reading about the end of year WTA championships that were held there, and later in Philadelphia and vowing one day to see the great women players in the flesh. Unfortunately until last night that was an unfulfilled tennis pipe dream.

Savannah's World

Face Of The Day

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Tennis great Billie Jean King listens during a news conference in New York, Monday March 2, 2009. King will see sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, along with Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic face off tonight for the Billie Jean King Cup, a one-night single elimination event at Madison Square Garden, for $1.2 million in prize money.

Presidential Honor

Former President Bill Clinton will pay tribute to Billie Jean King tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Quote For The Day

"Billie Jean King is one of my role models; I think she is a great role model. She is my idol. She transcended tennis and was a role model for women's sports in general and that's what I would like to do and ultimately what I would like my career to be like.

"I think growing up I always watched tennis in Madison Square Garden — the WTA Championships event — as long as I can remember. And I never really thought I would have a chance to play there then and now here I am. I also think this is a great event and I think women’s tennis is the mecca of female sports. Having myself and Venus and Ana and Jelena at Madison Square Garden just shows how amazing tennis is and I’m excited to play in front of these New Yorkers,"--Serena Williams on her Madison Square Garden debut.

Look for Savannah's report on the live action in the coming days.

Big Ticket Item

This news will excite the people:

Steffi Graf and husband Andre Agassi are being lined up for a nostalgic return to Wimbledon to play in exhibition matches which will test conditions under the new Centre Court roof.

Negotiations with the couple are said to be at an advanced stage for the event on May 17 that is hoped to be played before a full house of 15,000.



Graf retired in 1999 while Agassi has been out of the game for two years and the pair spend most of their time at their main home in Las Vegas. The American would face Tim Henman in a singles match while Graf's opponent could be Belgium's former world No 1 Kim Clijsters.

Seeing Red

I didn't write this. I swear. Courtney Walsh of The Australian did.

When Roger Federer was last in Melbourne, he showed he was mortal.

Glandular fever had succeeded where highly rated opponents regularly failed.

Federer, a losing Australian Open semi-finalist to Novak Djokovic, was listless.

While Federer is yet to strike a ball competitively in Australia this year, the spark of old has returned based on his unusually combative appearance at a press conference before today's Kooyong Classic, at which he opens against popular veteran Carlos Moya.

The world No2 sat centre stage among the eight players competing at the tournament and understandably received the majority of questions.

On all bar one topic Federer answered courteously and politely. But not when Scot Andy Murray was mentioned.

The mere mention of the world No4 provokes a competitive response in Federer similar to that from a bull with red rag in sight.

Asked whether he was surprised Murray was rated a favourite for the Open, Federer said: "Who said that?"

Told, by bookmakers -- TAB Sportsbet has Murray listed equal favourite with Federer at $3.50 -- the 13-time Grand Slam winner almost took it as a slight. "Good for him. I mean, it doesn't help him a whole lot," Federer said.

"He started off well, playing well in Doha, finished strong last year, but it still does surprise me the bookies say that, because he has never won a Slam, nor is he defending champion here."

While Federer, who thrashed Murray in the US Open final to move to within one Grand Slam of Pete Sampras's record 14 titles, acknowledges the Scot's improvement, it is clear the world No4 needs to win a Grand Slam before he gains the Swiss champion's respect, regardless of Murray's head-to-head dominance.

"I just think he got used to playing at a high level consistently," Federer said.

"He has put himself into a winning position, but still, winning a Grand Slam is a different animal.

"Not many guys have been able to win Grand Slams in the last years.

"Rafa(el Nadal) won, Marat (Safin) won here a few years ago, but you know, it doesn't happen that easy. They don't come easily."

The three-time Australian champion needed to glance only to either side to emphasise the point.

On one side sat Marcos Baghdatis, who plays Stanislas Wawrinka, the other Fernando Gonzalez, who plays Ivan Ljubicic at Kooyong today.

Both found Federer too formidable a peak in successive Australian Open finals, in 2006 and 2007, and have never reached the same heights again.

"Honestly, I don't feel the whole lot of pressure that I felt at the beginning of my career too much, probably," Federer said.

"I felt pressure when I reached six or seven Grand Slams, and then trying to keep it up, everybody was expecting me to win every single tournament I entered.

"So that has gone away a bit, which has been a relief, actually.

"I love this game and I'm still feeling very motivated."

My lips are sealed.

Avenue Of The Americas

AFP/Getty

Goes through Hong Kong.

Team Americas representatives Gisela Dulko of Argentina (L), Venus Williams of the US (C) and Coco Vandeweghe of the US hold the winners trophy after defeating top seeded Russia during the Hong Kong World Team Challenge on January 10, 2009. Williams crushed Vera Zvonareva in straight sets to seal victory for the Americas over top seeds Russia in the Hong Kong World Team Challenge. Williams dominated from the start of the match, winning 6-2, 6-2 to give her team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five gold group final. It followed a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win for Gisela Dulko over Anna Chakvetadze after the Americas and Russia were tied at 1-1 overnight.

I like the notion of the Americas comprising a team in this exhibition event.

Photo Of The Week

AP

Tennis star Serena Williams reaches to return volley during a tennis clinic with Andy Roddick and members of the Boys and Girls Club, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, at the Colonial Life Area in Columbia, S.C. The tennis stars were on hand for a fundraiser to benefit The Addy Roddick Foundation which helps neglected, abused, at-risk and seriously ill children.