(Pro Tennis) Summer Vacation
Wimbledon ended July 5th and since then most of the top ten men and women have gone their separate ways for their mid summer “vacation.” On the men’s side, the top four men, i.e. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are not scheduled to compete until the Canadian Open in Montreal the week of August 8th. Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro are scheduled to play next week at the Tour stop in Washington, DC.
During this four to five week break, players usually hang up the rackets briefly and maybe fulfill some off-court commitments while getting a little rest and relaxation to rejuvenate the body and mind! Then it’s back to the courts for a couple weeks of intense practices, as well as off-court training on the track and in the gym. The players need these mid-season practice weeks to build up their fitness, work on a few kinks in their games and gear up for the final Grand Slam of the year at the 2009 U.S. Open, which begins August 31st. At the same time, the extended breaks by the top players present opportunities for players further down the ranking ladder to not only collect some extra dough, but also earn additional ranking points and possibly even a title. There are no top tier tournaments during the weeks of July 6th, 13th and 20th. Nontheless, the men’s events do feature total prize money between $500,000 and $1.5 million and the list of champions includes Nikolay Davydenko, Jeremy Chardy, Robin Soderling and Americans, Rajeev Ram and Robby Ginepri.
On the women’s side, there were six tournaments over the past three weeks, each with $220,000 in total prize money. The champions include Hungarian, Agnes Szavay winning in Budapest, Italian Flavia Penetta winning in Palermo, as well as Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Sybille Bammer, Andrea Petkovic and Dinara Safina. Current World Number One, Dinara Safina, did surprise a few people by playing a smaller tournament in Slovenia last week winning the title 7-5 in the third set of the Final. Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova also played a few World Team Tennis matches in July in the United States, but they are not competing in their first tournament until this week at the Tour stop at Stanford University along with fellow top tenners Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic. The next five weeks will offer a sneak peek at which players are rounding into form after the summer “pause” and (re)gaining their confidence prior to the 2009 U.S. Open... Stay tuned…
On the women’s side, there were six tournaments over the past three weeks, each with $220,000 in total prize money. The champions include Hungarian, Agnes Szavay winning in Budapest, Italian Flavia Penetta winning in Palermo, as well as Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Sybille Bammer, Andrea Petkovic and Dinara Safina. Current World Number One, Dinara Safina, did surprise a few people by playing a smaller tournament in Slovenia last week winning the title 7-5 in the third set of the Final. Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova also played a few World Team Tennis matches in July in the United States, but they are not competing in their first tournament until this week at the Tour stop at Stanford University along with fellow top tenners Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic. The next five weeks will offer a sneak peek at which players are rounding into form after the summer “pause” and (re)gaining their confidence prior to the 2009 U.S. Open... Stay tuned…
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