Wimbledon

Former World No. 1 Dinara Safina and Americans Taylor Dent and Donald Young have been granted wild cards into the Pilot Pen tennis tournament, it was announced today by Anne Worcester, tournament director. Safina has struggled throughout much of 2010 with a back injury and is currently ranked 70th. She achieved the No. 1 rank in 2009 with three singles titles and reaching the finals of the Australian and French Opens and the Wimbledon semifinals.  

Politicians everywhere are known for riding on the back of other people's success, but nowhere is this more obvious than in statements made by some officials after recent international successes by Taiwanese athletes. Just days after tennis player Lu Yen-hsun () made it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon — the furthest any Taiwanese player has gone in a Grand Slam singles competition — the Taipei City Government announced that it would build a massive tennis center that meets international standards by 2014. With Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng (), the hangers-on didn't even wait that long.

The government treats athletes like trash.   -Sports Affairs Council

 

If Andy Murray really is favourite for the US Open - a peculiarly British perspective - he is keeping his buoyancy in check. He does think, however, that the main threat to his ambitions of winning his first grand slam, Roger Federer, "has lost a little bit", and that's as close as the Scot has ever come to criticising the former World No1. Murray on Tuesday night tip-toed through a minefield of leading questions before beginning his final tune-up for Flushing Meadows, but even the most diplomatic ...

He's always very tough to beat   -Andy Murray

 

Dokic's hot streak came too late to win her the US Open wildcard, which has instead gone to Sydney's Sophie Ferguson. Tennis Australia's nomination for the main-draw place, available through its reciprocal grand slam arrangement, was not announced until yesterday - shortly after Carsten Ball was revealed as the men's recipient - but had to be lodged by July 19. The previous week, Dokic was ranked 125th compared with Ferguson at No. 111.  

tinyurl.com Dinara Safina in Madrid who is world No. 1. Not only this, Wozniaki has registered a series of wins against Elena Dementieva (the Olympic gold-medalist) this year. Quite surprisingly, Wozniacki boosted from 64th to this current world rank since 2008.  

They played seven matches in seven days last week, each falling one win short of the USTA Girls' 18s National Championship. They flew clear across the country Monday from sunny San Diego to sunnier South Florida. And on opening day at the US Open Wild Card Playoff, they faced high temperatures and higher-ranked opponents.

I wasn’t expecting to play here, but I guess my endurance was good enough   -Greg Ouellette

 

As a 20-something year old that frequents department stores like Zara , Forever21 , and H&M – along with the occasional click and shop on Gilt Groupe – my perception of HSN was that it was for fanatical deal hunters who lack style. But after watching just 30 minutes of Serena Williams sell her signature statement designs on the 24-hour television home shopping network , I can admit that I was wrong. The tennis pro lured me in not only with her luxurious handbags , ballet flats, and cardigans ...

For me it's a really great way to be intimate with the customer again. So, now I'm in their living room talking to them...and it makes it easier for us to watch things that are easier for us to do in this environment than they would be in a store   -Lisa Price