Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

Good selection!

[ti-amie]

[meganfernandez]

Funny. But Rios did the right thing. Can't let up. Boris got two games anyway.

I don't remember much about Rios. Was his career cut short by injuries?

[ti-amie]

He had and has serious back problems.

[ti-amie]

WTA President Micky Lawler Looks Back On A Year Like No Other
Danielle Rossingh Contributor
SportsMoney


Micky Lawler, who has been president of the WTA tour since 2015, said nobody "was left untouched" by ... [+] GETTY IMAGES

“Unprecedented.”

That’s how Micky Lawler, president of the women’s WTA tennis tour, described 2020, the year everything changed in professional sports.

On March 9, a local outbreak of the coronavirus in the Coachella Valley forced the cancellation of the Indian Wells tournament in California. Professional tennis, which is played for 10 months of the year around the globe, ended up being suspended for five months as the virus raged across the world, leaving scores of tennis players, coaches and their entourages, who mostly work as independent contractors, with no income.

“Just unthinkable a year ago...who could have imagined the challenges that awaited us in 2020?” Lawler, a former language teacher who became one of the first female sports agents, said in an interview via video call from Washington, D.C. “Starting from the fires in Australia, to Covid. When we were in Australia, it became clear that Covid was a much bigger problem then I think people realized.”

My interview with Lawler is the second in a mini-series in which I look back at this extraordinary year with a number of stakeholders in tennis. You can read part one, a double interview with Mark Leschly, chairman and chief executive officer of US-based Universal Tennis, and its president and former WTA chief executive, Anne Worcester, here.

The pandemic forced the first cancellation of the Wimbledon Championships since the Second World War, while the lucrative Asian swing of tennis events in the fall was also halted, including the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China in November. But the US Open was held, behind closed doors, in September, while Roland-Garros was staged late September/early October, having been moved from its original start date in May.

“In light of everything that's happened, I think we can look back on the tennis family and be very proud of the fact that so many tournaments did happen and especially proud of the work that went into putting those tournaments on and and the risks that people took and at their expense for the best of the game,” said Netherlands-born Lawler, who speaks five languages and has over three decades experience in leadership roles in sports and entertainment.

Although the men’s ATP Tour held its season-ending ATP Finals in London in November behind closed doors, the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, with a record $14 million in prize money at stake for the top eight singles and doubles players in the world, was canceled because of the pandemic. Other WTA tournaments in Beijing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Zhenghzhou, Zhuhai and Guangzhou were also scrapped.

When asked if the WTA would be able to absorb the suspension of the WTA Finals, its most lucrative event, Lawler said: “It shouldn't happen more than one year because financially, it's a big hit. Of course, it's a big hit for the tournaments. It's a big hit for the players. We all had to adjust and make some significant sacrifices, so it took all of us working as a team and make personal sacrifices and come together as one, and that's what we did.

“We're trying to give as much financial support as possible, working with prize money corrections and again, adapting and working with what is reasonable and realistic under the circumstances. But nobody is left untouched. Not the players, not the tournaments, nobody. So it's a matter of: we need to replan our lives.”

The WTA earlier this month announced a rebranding, which included a new marketing campaign, logo and most importantly, a closer alignment with the men’s ATP Tour.

“It allows us to come out the other end, rejuvenated,” said Lawler about the overhaul, “but very much aware of the damage in the wake and and the years it is going to take to rebuild.

“It's really difficult to talk about the business of sport when in this country, for example, over a quarter of a million people have lost their lives and there are states where one in 20 people are sick. It's just devastating. So you have to come to terms with that as an individual and as a member of society...And so we have no illusions about when the vaccine comes, and the next day, everything goes back to normal. It's going to take a very long time.”

Lawler is full of admiration for how the WTA players coped with competing in the “new normal.”

“It is extraordinary,” said Lawler. “They traveled when other people didn't, they took chances. And again, everybody banded together. The players have been phenomenal, patient with new technology requirements, patient with the testing. The testing is not easy and painless. It's pretty intrusive and it's aggressive. And they do not complain. They do what they have to do. And it's every few days and sometimes every day. And there is no freedom.

These are young women...and there is a reason why they're among the top of the world at what they do. A star, a very talented musician, a very talented athlete. You can always see there's something very special about these human hearts and souls who get to this level of competition.”

Lawler said she had talked about the pandemic with her mother, who grew up in the Netherlands during the Second World War, when the country was occupied by the Germans for five years.

“My mother said to me, this is, in a way, worse than World War II,” said Lawler. “The difference is that in World War II, people were able to be together and that was our savior. And here people have to be separated. And that's the challenge.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/googleclou ... 44da154887

[ponchi101]

An alright interview, and I know that she added the "in a way" conditional. But: this is not like WWII, and certainly not worse.
And I believe that does not need to be explained.

[Deuce]

An alright interview, and I know that she added the "in a way" conditional. But: this is not like WWII, and certainly not worse.
And I believe that does not need to be explained.

She said that this pandemic is worse than WW2 "in a way". And I'm sure that's true.
It depends where one was during WW2. On North American soil, most people were relatively safe from the guns and bombs, etc. Of course, there were other significant effects of the war - loved ones being called to war - and many not returning home... unemployment... lack of food and other resources, etc.
As to determining what is worse between WW2 and this pandemic, I would definitely defer to those who have lived through both events.

[ti-amie]

Top Five Management Ends Collaboration With Sofia Kenin
31/12/2020

Due to difficulties with the athlete’s environment, Top Five Management has decided not to extend its collaboration with Sofia Kenin.

After joining Top Five Management, the U.S. tennis rising star delivered an outstanding performance during season 2020 – notably winning the Australian Open and reaching the final at the French Open.

Top Five Management wishes Sofia all the best for the future.

https://www.topfivemanagement.net/top-f ... fia-kenin/



When a management agency says "girl bye" that's cold.

[atlpam]

Makes you wonder what Sofia and daddy were asking for.

[ponchi101]

Daddy. Somehow I just don't see her calling any shots.

[mmmm8]

That is a very blunt statement, for a management firm.

[ti-amie]

Michal Samulski @MichalSamulski

Next week’s draw ceremonies (local time)
WTA500 Abu Dhabi - 4 Jan at 7pm
ATP250 Delray Beach - 4 Jan at 3pm
ATP250 Antalya - 5 Jan at 4pm
AO qualies Doha - 9 Jan at 3pm
AO qualies Dubai - 9 Jan at 4pm

[Suliso]

Petra celebrating a new year

[ti-amie]

Jon Wertheim
@jon_wertheim
Here's @CNN piece on @SofiaKenin now with @GSEworldwide
https://app.frame.io/presentations/367e ... b2cd449369

Per a fan this outfit handles Bouchard, Stephens, Fernandez, Sock, Dimitrov, Querry and Bryan Brothers.