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Martina Navratilova, Esther Vergeer Featured In Upcoming Film WINNING To Premiere Sept. 8 In New York

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NEW YORK – Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova and four-time Paralympic tennis singles Gold Medalist Esther Vergeer are two of the five legendary athletes featured in the upcoming documentary movie WINNING that will have its World Theatrical Premiere in New York City on Friday, September 8.

WINNING is the compelling and inspiring story of the journeys of Navratilova and Vergeer, golf great Jack Nicklaus, Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci and track and field star Edwin Moses and how they achieved and maintained greatness at the highest level of sport. The film features candid interviews and archival footage of each athlete’s most exciting championship moments, as well as unique “behind-the-scenes” access to their lives on and off the field of play. The film portrays through the words of these all-time greats what kind of mind-set, passion and dedication are needed to become a champion and to remain on top for decades.

The movie will premiere on Friday, September 8 at the Cinepolis Chelsea at 260 West 23rd St. in New York City where it will have a limited run for the following week with four to five screenings per day. Tickets can be purchased in advance here: http://bit.ly/WINSept8

The film is produced and directed by Jacqueline Joseph, the former head of The Arthur Ashe Foundation and Executive Producer for IBM’s first-ever  Official Grand Slam tennis tournament websites at the US Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open. A trailer for the film can be seen here: http://bit.ly/WINFILMTrailer)

“WINNING is a film that shines a spotlight on five of the greatest athletes in sports history,” said Joseph. “The revealing stories that these athletes share in WINNING speak to everyone, young and old, on the court and outside the lines… because as they say, ‘sports is a metaphor for life.’”

In WINNING, these iconic athletes reminisce about the highs and lows of their careers and share a unique and intimate window into their lives. The film features rare archival footage of the athletes’ childhoods, as well as some of their most memorable and historic moments at the Olympics, Wimbledon, The Masters, US Open, British Open and The Paralympics.

The film also features interviews with the athletes’ families, coaches, agents and competitors including Olympic Gold Medalists Bart Conner and Derrick Adkins, track and field Olympians Benn Fields and Herb Douglas, tennis star Pam Shriver, legendary coaches Sven Groeneveld and Robert Lansdorp, Duke University Professor of Sports Psychology Greg Dale, Barbara Nicklaus, Jana Navratilova and former Olympic gymnastics coach Paul Ziert.

Navratilova is the most prolific winner of tennis titles in the professional era of tennis. She holds the records for the most singles (167) and doubles titles (177) won by a professional tennis player. She won 18 major singles titles, a record 31 major women’s doubles titles and 10 mixed doubles titles, including her final title at the age of 49 at the U.S. Open. She ranked as the No. 1 player in the world for a total of 332 weeks in singles and a record 237 weeks in doubles. The 2017 U.S. Open marks the 30th anniversary of her becoming the last player to sweep the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at a major championship.

Vergeer has been described as the most dominant athlete in professional sports, losing only 25 matches in her 17-year career in wheelchair tennis. She won 42 Grand Slam tournaments, 22 year-end championships and seven Paralympic gold medals, including four in singles. She was the No. 1 player in the world from 1999 to her retirement in 2013, not losing a match in 10 years, winning the last 470 matches she played.

Nicklaus is regarded as the greatest golfer to ever play the game, winning a record 18 professional major titles, including a record six Masters titles, a record-tying four U.S. Open titles and a record-tying five PGA Championships. Equally as impressive is that Nicklaus finished as the runner-up at 19 other major championships while winning 73 career PGA Tour titles.

Comaneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 during her famous performance at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. She earned a total of seven perfect 10s in Montreal en route to winning three gold medals for Romania. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, she won two more gold medals, concluding her career with nine total Olympic medals and four World Championship medals.

Moses won gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals and 122 consecutive races, setting the world record in the event four times.

More information on the film can be found at www.thewinningfilm.com and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thewinningfilm and Twitter at www.twitter.com/thewinningfilm and Instagram at www.instagram.com/thewinningfilm.

Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova

Rafael Nadal's Mixed Bag; WTA Re-evaluates Rule — The Friday Five

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By Maud Watson

Mixed Bag

Rafael Nadal made his return to tennis last week in Chile, and his comeback left mixed results as to where exactly he is with his game. He moved relatively well, tracking down drop shots and hustling to chase lobs, but he also got wrong-footed more than we’re used to seeing. Up until the singles and doubles finals, he was able to shake off the nerves and rust to routinely dismiss the opposition, but it was the kind of opposition that even a subpar Rafa always dismisses in the early rounds of any tournament. The fact that he reached the finals of both events after a 7-month layoff was something to be proud of, but his loss in the singles final likely did further damage to his clay court aura. Zeballos, who had a great record in clay court challengers coming in, deserves his due. He played the match of his life and handled the bigger moments better, but Zeballos was still the heavy underdog in that final. The Argentine had never won a singles title, had never been ranked inside the Top 40 or even won 40 career singles matches at the main tour level. This marked a stunning loss for Nadal that just goes to show there’s no substitute for match play. But, all in all, it was a good showing by the Spaniard. Plus, the great thing about tennis is there’s always next week. A good showing in Brazil should wipe away any bad memories from Chile and move him one step closer to being ready for the European clay court swing.

Inspirational Legend

On Tuesday, the sport of wheelchair tennis said good-bye to one of its greatest competitors and ambassadors as Esther Vergeer decided to call it a career. The Dutch woman lost the use of her legs at the tender age of 8 due to a surgery to repair blood vessels around her spine. Instead of getting down about her situation, however, she began to playing wheelchair sports, and eventually wheelchair tennis. Her prowess on the court has made her the greatest to play that sport, and the numbers speak for themselves. Ranked No. 1 from 1999 until the end of her career, she amassed 21 singles and 23 doubles major titles, 4 singles and 3 doubles gold medals at the Paralympics, 148 career singles titles and 136 in doubles. She won 470 consecutive matches over the course of the last decade, with her last loss coming in January, 2003. Her ability to generate these phenomenal statistics has helped put her sport on the map, and she’ll be greatly missed. Hearty congratulations on such an accomplished career are in order, as well as a big thank you to Vergeer for demonstrating that even the bleakest situations can be turned into something positive.

Rule Review

The 2013 Australian Open may be over, but the remnants of the infamous medical time out taken by Azarenka has forced the WTA to take a harder look at the medical timeout rule to ensure it cannot be used for gamesmanship. It’s refreshing that the WTA is reviewing the rule to right potential future wrongs, but this is something that should have been done some time ago. It shouldn’t have to wait for a situation like what we saw in Melbourne to occur before action is taken. Hopefully the ATP will learn from the WTA and not wait until things hit the fan before conducting a similar review of the rule on its books. After all, neither tour, nor the governing body of the majors, the ITF, is going to be able to completely eradicate the possibility of gamesmanship occurring under the rules for a medical timeout, but it’s about time they devise a plan to at least curb it.

Broken Record

Nadal made further headlines this week when he voiced his displeasure with the ATP and the number of hard court events on the calendar, as well as the stricter reinforcement of the 25-second rule. To be fair, Nadal is not the only one to take issue with the 25-second rule, and he did raise some valid points. But his notion that it will cut down on strategy is bogus, as is the idea that fans want to see a ton of long rallies (serve and volley anyone?). Nadal also needs to realize he’s one of the two biggest reasons for the stricter reinforcement of the rule, with the other being Djokovic, and the Serb has at least admitted to his slowness and has since sped up his overall pace of play. But the issue of the 25-second rule has taken a back seat to Nadal’s crusade against hard courts, and this is one area where Nadal needs to get off his high horse. Hard courts are tougher on the joints, but his rhetoric that essentially blames the ATP for his health issues is off base. Many players from previous generations played a significant number of hard court tournament and yet continue to enjoy competing on the various senior tours. There’s also been talk of the “greying of the field,” with many – despite playing numerous hard court tournaments in prior seasons – producing their best tennis in their mid-to-late 20s. His failure to fully recognize his own part in damaging his knees and insistence that he can’t (or won’t?) change his playing style does him no favors either. Bottom line, like him or hate him, he’s good for the game. His rivalries with the other top players are some of the most compelling in the sport. But if he’s honestly worried about his life post-tennis, he needs to accept that he’s going to have to play a limited schedule, or hang it up completely. This business of misplacing blame has to stop. It only comes off as whining, and he’s going to have a difficult time finding fans, and likely even some fellow players, who are going to sympathize with his plight when the guy can walk away now, financially set for life, and still go down as one of the greatest in history.

Gaining Momentum

In addition to recent comments by Murray, Djokovic and Nadal, Federer also continues to voice ideas to help ensure the sport of tennis is clean. In his most current comments, Federer pushed for biological passports. A biological passport serves as an electronic record for each athlete that collates the biological markers of doping and the results of the athlete’s doping tests. PEDs users could then potentially be caught via detecting variances in their established levels vs. actually identifying an illegal substance. In addition, Federer has advocated the use of blood passports, stating that while some drugs can’t be discovered now, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be in the future. Fear of such a discovery could deter potential cheaters. But like other ideas, the crux of the problem is funding. Federer has suggested the Grand Slams help foot the bill, as keeping the sport clean is in their best interest. Whether the majors will be happy with that line of thinking remains to be seen, but with all of the controversy surrounding PEDs and calls for more action to keep tennis clean, a solution needs to be worked out sooner rather than later.

"Strength and Vulnerability": Esther Vergeer and her Emotional Decision to Retire from Tennis

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By Rick Gleijm

ROTTERDAM (Feb. 12, 2013) — After a ten year winning streak that included 42 Grand Slams and 7 Paralympic titles, 31-year-old Esther Vergeer has retired from the sport of wheelchair tennis, ending one of the most prestigious careers in all of sports.
The Woerden, Netherland native conducted am emotional book presentation and reading of her biography “Esther Vergeer: Strength and Vulnerability” to a room filled with media, family and friends at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament today in Rotterdam.
She began by reading out loud the final chapter of her book, explaining how the decision to retire from wheelchair tennis slowly developed. She was unable to hold back the tears when she came to the concluding paragraph.


“During the Australian Open, where everyone in the wheelchair tennis circuit was playing the first Grand Slam of 2013, I was sitting home on the sofa with Marijn, watching the matches quietly from a distance and at the same time looking at the beautiful snowy landscape in Woerden. It felt wonderful. I made my decision, I quit,” stated Vergeer.
She continued: “I am very proud of my achievements and my titles, and am looking back on my career with a wonderful feeling. Continuing had no added value … It can’t become more beautiful than this.”
Afterwards a short interview with Esther by Dutch anchorwoman Quinty Trustfull, followed by distribution of the first copies to Richard Krajicek and Johan Cruijff. Finally her parent, brother and friend were called on stage, receiving a copy as well.

Roger Federer at Rotterdam Opening Ceremony; Tsonga, Mathieu Ousted

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Roger Federer at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament Opening Ceremony

ROTTERDAM (Feb. 11, 2013) — World No. 2 Roger Federer and Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer took part in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament opening ceremony in Rotterdam today. All suited and dressed up, the two hit some balls on court amid pyrotechnics on center court.
Earlier in the day, defending champion Federer paid a visit to the media for a pre-tournament press conference. “I feel at home in Rotterdam. This is one of the best indoor tournaments in the world with a very strong field and always lots of spectators.” Later in the day he joked about hoping to “win some match this week,” before having a hit with David Goffin and congratulating Benoit Paire on reaching the final in Montpellier last week.
In first round match play, No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was frustrated by and eventually lost in three sets to wildcard Igor Sijsling, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4.
“I’m very happy”, said Sijsling after the match. “This is perhaps my best victory ever. To beat a top-10 player in my own country in front of such an audience. Thank you all.”
In similar fashion, Martin Klizan also took out Paul Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. “I’m very happy with this victory,” beamed Klizan. “It was a tough first round fight. It was fun with many spectators in the stands. I hope I can keep this level.”
(Gallery by Tennis Grandstand photographer Rick Gleijm.)
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Mondays With Bob Greene: Nadal And Ivanovic Win Roland Garros

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STARS
French Open
Men’s Singles: Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0
Women’s Singles: Ana Ivanovic beat Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3
Men’s Doubles: Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna beat Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-2 6-3
Women’s Doubles: Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual beat Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone 2-6 7-5 6-4
Mixed Doubles: Victoria Azarenko and Bob Bryan beat Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic 6-2 7-6 (4)
Boys Singles: Tsung-Hua Yang beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-3 7-6 (5)
Girls Singles: Simona Halep beat Elena Bogdan 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-2
Boys Doubles: Henri Kontinen and Christopher Rungkat beat Jaan-Frederik Brunken and Matt Reid 6-0 6-3
Girls Doubles: Polona Hercoq and Jessica Moore beat Lesley Kerhove and Arantxa Rus 5-7 6-1 1-0 (7)
Under 45 Doubles: Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Stich beat Richard Krajicek and Emilio Sanchez 6-1 7-6 (5)
Over 45 Doubles: Anders Jarryd and John McEnroe beat Mansour Bahrami and Henri Leconte 6-4 7-6 (2)
Men’s Wheelchair Singles: Shingo Kunieda beat Robin Ammerlaan 6-0 7-6 (5)
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles: Shingo Kunieda and Mailkel Scheffers beat Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink 6-2 7-5
Women’s Wheelchair Singles: Esther Vergeer beat Korie Homan 6-2 6-2
Women’s Wheelchair Doubles: Jiske Griffioen and Esther Vergeer beat Korie Homan and Sharon Walraven 6-4 6-4
Other Tournaments
Agustin Calleri beat Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-0 6-3 to win the UniCredit Czech Open 2008 in Prostejov, Czech Republic
Tathiana Garbin won the Tiro A Volo in Rome, Italy, by defeating Yvonne Meusburger 6-4 4-6 7-6 (6)
SAYINGS
“Roger, I’m sorry for the final.” – Rafael Nadal, after destroying Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 to win his fourth straight French Open.
“After a loss like this, you don’t want to play Rafa again tomorrow, that’s for sure.” – Federer.
“Roger’s going to be back, and so will Rafa.” – Bjorn Borg, the only other player to win four consecutive French Open singles titles.
“This was amazing. I think we both played a very nervous match. I’m just so happy to keep my composure at the end.” – Ana Ivanovic, after beating Dinara Safina and winning the French Open women’s title.
“Tennis is an easy sport. You don’t need to change anything when you do things well.” – Rafael Nadal, who has never lost at Roland Garros, winning 28 consecutive matches.
“Not one job is easy out there. I mean, the great thing about being a tennis player is that there are some opportunities that you’re going to get during the year, and it’s really up to you to take those opportunities.” – Maria Sharapova, after a fourth-round loss in Paris.
“If Rafa continues to play the way he plays, it’s just impossible.” – Nicolas Almagro, after winning three games against Nadal, the most lopsided French Open men’s quarterfinal in the Open era.
“I was just, I think, tired, mental and physically. Even though I wanted to, my heart couldn’t and my body couldn’t do it anymore.” – Dinara Safina after the women’s final.
“Those are not drop shots. I don’t know what they are, but those are not drop shots. His balls were not bouncing up at all. They had a spin effect. I’ll ask him to explain to me because I don’t know what those were.” – Gael Monfils, on drop shots hit by Roger Federer in their semifinal.
“Kill myself? No, I will have some dinner and maybe get drunk or do something. I don’t know. Whatever makes me feel better.” – Jelena Jankovic, after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals.
“It was pretty horrible. I felt pretty bad out there.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, after her semifinal loss to Dinara Safina.
“I feel like I’m playing a Russian championship, not Roland Garros.” – Elena Dementieva after beating compatriot Vera Zvonareva to set up a quarterfinal meeting against another Russian, Dinara Safina, who then went on to beat yet another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“I am just mother. Win or lose, it’s my children.” – Raouza Islanova, a famed Russian tennis coach who is the mother of Dinara Safina and Marat Safin.
“I’m not the girl to keep all the emotions I have inside. I guess I have to pay lots of fines because that’s the way I am.” – Dinara Safina.
“If somebody would tell us when we were 12 or 13 when we were practicing that we would play on Suzanne Lenglen in a quarterfinal, I wouldn’t have believed it.” – Ernests Gulbis, after losing to Novak Djokovic, friends since the two trained together at the Niki Pilic academy in Munich, Germany..
“It’s hard to comprehend that a person so young had to die. He accompanied me, challenged me and motivated me over the years.” – Thomas Muster, about fellow Austrian player Horst Skoff.
“He’s the defending champion. … What he achieved back in Athens, winning singles and doubles, maybe it’s never going to happen again.” – Roger Federer, backing defending Olympic champion Nicolas Massu’s bid to gain a wildcard entry to the Beijing Olympics.
“Leander and Mahesh, being true patriots and professionals, have agreed to put in their best effort by pairing up for Beijing Olympics to win a medal for the country.” – India Tennis Association (AITA) secretary Anil Khanna, announcing Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will team up again for the Summer Games.
“He wanted to work with me, a lowly tennis player. He saw something in me that no one else has ever seen, the side that’s classic tennis player with elegance and grace.” – Venus Williams, about photographer Koto Bolofo’s new book, “Venus.”
“I am fulfilling my role as president according to the constitution. I am not interfering in the government at all. These days I play a lot of tennis, go swimming. Sometimes I play a hand of bridge.” – Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
SURGE TO THE TOP
Ana Ivanovic left Roland Garros with her first Grand Slam tournament title and the world number one ranking. The first player from Serbia to reach the top in the rankings, Ivanovic replaced Maria Sharapova as number one when she defeated fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals.
SKIPPING BIRMINGHAM
Defending champion Jelena Jankovic and French Open runner-up Dinara Safina will skip this week’s DFS Classic, a grass-court tournament in Birmingham, England. Jankovic has been bothered by an arm injury, while Safina withdrew because of a bad back.
SOUTH AMERICAN SHUFFLE
Luis Horna of Peru and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay became the first South American team to win a Grand Slam doubles title when they knocked off second-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-2 6-3 at Roland Garros. Horna and Cuevas beat three other seeded teams in the fortnight, including top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals and number seven Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the opening round. The only other South American man to win a Grand Slam doubles title was Ecuador’s Andres Gomez, who captured the U.S. Open in 1986 with Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia and Roland Garros in 1988 with Emilio Sanchez of Spain.
STICKING TOGETHER?
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are setting aside their differences and teaming for the Beijing Olympics. Winners of three Grand Slam titles together, the pair are India’s best shot at a medal in Beijing. The two will play together in two events before and after Wimbledon.
SHORT SCHEDULE
Maria Sharapova will play just one grass court tournament this year: Wimbledon. The 21-year-old Russian said on her web site that she will bypass grass-court warmup events in Birmingham and Eastbourne in order to focus on Wimbledon, a tournament she won in 2004.
STAR-STUDDED DINNER
Justine Henin, who retired just before defending her French Open title, was among those honored at the ITF World Champions Dinner in Paris for finishing the year ranked number one. Henin and Roger Federer were honored as singles champions. Other recipients were doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, junior champions Ricardas Berankis and Urzula Radwanska, and wheelchair champions Shingo Kunieda and Esther Vergeer. The Philippe Chatrier Award, the ITF’s highest accolade, was presented to Neal Fraser, an integral part of Australia’s Davis Cup history. Fraser played on 11 Davis Cup-winning squads, including four as captain, a position he held for 24 years to become the competition’s longest-serving captain.
SPOT IN OLYMPICS GONE
Any chance Tzipi Obziler had to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics ended when fellow Israeli Shahar Peer lost in the quarterfinals of the French Open doubles. Obizer needed Peer to reach the tourney’s final, which would put Peer in the top ten in the rankings. And that would have allowed the two Israelis to have direct entry into the tennis event at Beijing.
SAYS NO WAY
Japan’s Akiko Morigami denied she was told by a coach to throw a doubles match at the French Open. It had been widely reported that she had been asked to deliberately lose the match in order to boost partner Aiko Nakamura’s chances of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. “I am aware of the media reports, and unfortunately my comments were misunderstood,” Morigami said in a statement. On her blog, Morigami said: “I’m sorry for the trouble my remarks have caused.”
SKOFF DIES
Horst Skoff, who won four ATP Tour titles during his career, died in Hamburg, Germany, while on a business trip. He was 39. The Austrian tennis federation said Skoff died of a heart attack, but Skoff’s friend, Arno Puckhofer, said German police have ordered an autopsy to verify the cause of death. Once ranked as high as 18th in the world, Skoff helped lead Austria to the 1990 Davis Cup semifinals along with Thomas Muster. Skoff won the first two sets before losing a five-setter to Michael Chang in the decisive fifth match as the United States won 3-2.
STAR-STUDDED WEDDING
Two former U.S. presidents are expected to be on hand when Chris Evert and golfer Greg Norman are married later this month in the Bahamas. According to news reports, the guest list includes Lleyton Hewitt, Anna Kournikova, Lindsay Davenport, Jim Courier, Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors from the tennis world. Entertainers Chevy Chase, Jon Lovitz, Kenny Loggins, Gwen Stefani, Matt Lauer also will watch the nuptials, alongside ex-Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. Evert and Norman, both 53, will reportedly tie the knot in a dusk ceremony on a private beach at The One And Only Ocean Club Hotel on Paradise Island. An Australian newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph, reported that Norman’s son Gregory will be best man at the wedding.
SO LONG BARRY
Barry Lorge, who had been tennis writer for the Washington Post and sports editor of The San Diego Union, died after a long battle against cancer. He was 60. Lorge’s first Wimbledon was in 1970, right after he had graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science. Since leaving the Union, Lorge operated a public relations firm in San Diego.
SMALL WORLD INDEED
Another way of proving tennis is the number one sport in the world. The semifinalists in all the competitions played at the French Open – including men, women, boys, girls, singles, doubles and wheelchair – represented 32 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe. The senior exhibitions added two more countries: Paraguay and Croatia.
STAYING HOME
France’s top player, Richard Gasquet, will not compete in the Beijing Olympics this summer. Ranked number nine in the world, Gasquet withdrew from the French Open with a knee injury but is scheduled to play at Wimbledon later this month. Also skipping the Summer Games will be Americans Ashley Harkleroad, Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish.
SAHOF AWARDS
The 1950 Davis Cup-winning team has been honored by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Frank Sedgman and John Bromwich headed the squad that beat the United States 4-1 at Forest Hills in New York City, starting a golden era for Australia, which held the Cup for 15 of the next 18 years.
SALES GURU
Scott MacLeod has joined the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour as senior vice president of business development, a new position. MacLeod, who will be based in London, will be responsible for sponsorship sales development, on-line advertising sales and licensing.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Prostejov: Rik De Voest and Lukasz Kubot beat Chris Haggard and Nicolas Tourte 6-2 6-2
Rome: Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska beat Alina Jidkova and Marie-Eve Pelletier 6-3, 6-1
SITES TO SURF
London: www.artoischampionships.com
Halle: www.gerryweber-open.de
Warsaw: www.orangewarsawopen.pl
Birmingham: http://birmingham.lta.org.uk
Barcelona: www.bcnwta.com
Eastbourne: http://eastbourne.lta.org.uk/
‘s-Hertogenbosch: www.ordina-open.nl
Akiko Morigami: www.40love.jp/morigami/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
ATP
$1,125,000 The Artois Championships, London, England, grass
$1,125,000 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass
$670,000 Orange Prokom Open, Warsaw, Poland, clay
WTA TOUR
$200,000 DFS Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain, grass
$145,000 Torneo Barcelona KIA, Barcelona, Spain, clay
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
ATP
$584,000 Ordina Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, grass
$584,000 The Nottingham Open, Nottingham, Great Britain, grass
$125,000 Braunschweig Challenger, Braunschweig, Germany, clay
WTA TOUR
$600,000 International Women’s Open, Eastbourne, Great Britain, grass
$175,000 Ordina Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, grass