Tennis Country 2008 Memorable Moments
• January
o Novak Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open and was almost overshadowed by the amazingly exciting play of Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who the electrified crowds in Melbourne• February
o The omni-present international flavor of professional tennis and its ability to cross borders, (i.e. American-trained Japanese talent, Kei Nishikori’s sparkling play in beating James Blake and winning his first ATP title), and bridge historical divides, (i.e. Shahar Peer became the first Israeli woman to play tennis in the Gulf region when she competed in Doha)• March
o Pete Sampras played Roger Federer in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd… Pete led 5-2 in the third set, but couldn’t close out Federer…• April
o Maria Sharapova finally became “legal”, i.e. 21, almost four years after shocking the tennis world by winning Wimbledon at the age of 17… seems like ages ago no?• May
o Tennis goodbyes… Number One ranked Justine Henin walked away from pro tennis to start a new life outside the lines of the tennis court… and Gustavo Kuerten played his final match at Roland Garros… would that his body would have allowed him to play more• June
o Ana Ivanovic captured the French Open… and four-time French Open Champion, Rafael Nadal, received the trophy from fellow four-time Champion, the legendary Bjorn Borg• July
o Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in THE epic Wimbledon final… so far… and Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title... impressive!• August
o Elena Dementieva FINALLY overcame her serving woes and won a major title, i.e. a Gold Medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics, one that really counts in her native Russia. Nadal captured Gold in singles and Federer looked absolutely gleeful in winning the Gold in doubles…• September
o Serena Williams and Roger Federer captured U.S. Open titles – the joy they both showed after winning was telling in how much this particular title meant to these multiple Grand Slam winners• October
o Argentinian tennis stars, David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro, played each other three consecutive weeks• November
o Spain captured the Davis Cup in Argentina… they deserved it…• December
o Novak Djokovic and his family bought an ATP tournament and moved it to Serbia where they will host the first ATP event there in May, 2009
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