India could be the best in Asia

I'm still saddened by Rendy Lu's lost to Somdev Devvarman in the fourth rubber in last weekend's Davis Cup tie between Taiwan and India.

His fluctuating performance is probably one of the reasons why I don't blog for days.

But to be fair to Rendy, India already knew from the start that they had the extra edge over Taiwan.

With Grand Slam doubles specialists like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, and upcoming tennis star like Somdev Devvarman, they look like a tough team to beat.

Kudos to the Indian Davis Cup team for making it to the third round where they will be meeting Australia who narrowly beat Thailand.

However congrats to Thai no. 1 Danai Udomchoke for his perfect performance in the second and fourth rubbers which saw him beating Australian teenage player Brydan Klein and former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.

The other two countries who made it to the third round tie of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 are Japan and Uzbekistan lead by Kei Nishikori and Denis Istomin respectively.

For complete results, click here.

(Images via udn.com, hindu.com, zimbio.com)

All eyes on Kei Nishikori in Davis Cup tie vs China

Kei Nishikori and Zeng Shao-Xuan will lead the Japanese and Chinese Davis Cup teams respectively in the the second round tie of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1.

The event will be held at Namihaya Dome sub arena in Osaka from Friday to Sunday.

Kei will be joined by Go Soeda, Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki to represent Japan for the matchup against Zeng, Zhang Ze and Wu Di of China.

(Images via nikkansports.co)

Kei Nishikori's official website coming soon!

Finally Kei Nishikori has his official website!

It's still under construction but I already love it's green & black theme!

Rendy Lu's website will also get a major face uplift and will be relaunched soon!

Both websites will be available in English version too!

Esther, thanks for the info!

Updates:
Japanese television station WOWOW signed Kei for a multiple years deal.

Kei will be the official ambassador of WOWOW’s tennis broadcasts at the Grand Slam tournaments.

WOWOW will not only broadcast Kei's results in all the Grand Slam tournaments but also personal interviews with Kei and analysis of his matches.

Here are some photos at the sponsorship signing ceremony.


(Images via keinishikori.com, news.pia.jp)

International debut of the world’s most vibrant tennis court on Monday

Last year Kei Nishikori grabbed the headlines by becoming the first Japanese player to win at Delray Beach in almost 16 years.

But this year Kei will not be back to Delray Beach to defend his title as he'll be heading back to Japan to join his teammates for Davis Cup match against China.

Nevermind that Kei is not here because there's another reason why you should keep an eye on this tennis event.

From next Monday onwards, the world will be introduced to one of the most unique and visual tennis courts right here at Delray Beach!

Describing the tennis courts, yellowtennisball.com said, "Whales, dolphins, swordfish, waves and bubbles are emblazoned on the east and west sidewalls of center court in a palette full of eye-catching colors."

"Doug Hoekzema, Angel Mir, Brandon Opalka, Raphael Rodriguez and Peter Agardy are the visionaries who together in just two days—starting with only a concept—captured the essence and flavor of the waves and marine life to enhance the murals from the on-court wave scenes that first appeared at the 2008 tournament. "

According to the Executive Director of the International Tennis Championships (ITC), John Butler said, “When the world turns on their television or downloads the tournament on-line they will be shocked by the brilliant display of colors and art creatively found on our court backdrops."

“It is simply amazing, a feast for the eyes - which will in no part take away from the players concentration or block their field of play!”

(Via yellowtennisball.com)

Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun is back as Asia's top-ranked ATP player

Rendy Lu has improved his ATP ranking again to no. 57 and overtakes Kei Nishikori as Asia's no. 1 ATP player.

Too bad for Kei, he becomes the biggest mover this week as his ranking dropped from no. 56 to 90!

In the meanwhile, here are some updates about Rendy.

He was at the SAP Open last week.

Although he did not play due to a knee injury, he was invited by the tournament director to attend several functions including an autograph session and meet the fans, participated in Kids' Day and spent the evening with fans (dinner and tennis matches).

Rendy will be playing in Memphis facing Mardy Fish in the first round. Kei will also be making his first appearance here.

Good luck to the both of them!

(Images via SAP Open website, Rendy Lu's official website)

Kei Nishikori making first appearance in Memphis

Kei Nishikori will be competing for the 2009 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships title in February.

In only his second year on the ATP Tour, Nishikori reached the Round of 16 in the US Open and won his first ATP tournament at Delray Beach, where he became the second youngest player to win an ATP title after Lleyton Hewitt in 1998.

Kei with Nick.

At Delray Beach, Nishikori, a qualifier and ranked 244th, defeated fellow Regions Morgan Keegan entrants, Sam Querrey and James Blake in the semifinals and finals, respectively.

After making plenty of noise in 2008, look for Japan’s newest hero to make even more noise in 2009, starting with the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

Kei is joined by Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Mardy Fish, Juan Martin del Potro, American Sam Querrey, Marcos Baghdatis, Tommy Haas, Fernando Gonzales and Igor Andreev in the men's singles draw.

Defending singles champion Steve Darcis also returns, along with last year's finalist Robin Soderling.

(Via rmkchampionships.com; Images via nicktennispicks.com)

Chinese stars Zheng Jie & Peng Shuai shine at Australian Open

Chinese tennis stars Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai shine for Asia on the second day of the Australian Open, but regional hopes were dented as Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn bowed out.

Perhaps Zheng is Asia’s best hopes after her fellow countryman Li Na bowed out of the tournament due to injury.

“It was tough out there, hot and windy, so it wasn’t comfortable but it was a good win,” Zheng said after defeated Camille Pin 6-3, 6-3.

Along with Peng, she joins Japan’s Ai Sugiyama, India’s Sania Mirza and Taiwan’s Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun in the next round.

Also through is Chan Yung-jan, who won an all-Taiwanese battle against Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3, 6-3.

Japan’s Ayumi Morita was a first-round casualty, losing to Germany’s Tatjana Malek 7-6 (4), 6-2 as she joined Nishikori and Tamarine on an early departure.

Peng battled past Italian Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-1 but fellow Chinese Meng Yuan failed to repeat her success last year against Serena Williams who revenged with the score 6-3, 6-2.

There were high expectations for Nishikori but he was unable to overcome Austria’s Jurgen Melzer which resulted him to lost 5-7, 2-6, 1-6.

There were also similar hopes for the experienced Tamarine after her successful at the Wimbledon last year where she reached the quarterfinal. But she lost focus against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, losing in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.

(Via jakartaglobe.com; Images via sports.sina.com, nikkansports.com)

Rendy Lu, Ai Sugiyama & Sania Mirza keep Asian hopes alive

Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama and India's Sania Mirza carried Asian hopes into the Australian Open second round on Monday.

However it was curtains down for comeback queen Kimiko Date Krumm.

In the men's singles, Taiwan's Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun also made it through to the second round with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.

Rendy gets support from his fans at court 18.

With the strong crowd behind her, Sugiyama who is playing her 60th Grand Slam, battled past Canada's Stephanie Dubois 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) to continue her solid start to the season after making the semis in Sydney last week.

Some disturbing scenes from Sugiyama's court.

Thankfully Sugiyama doesn't dress like her supporters.

Ranked 26 here, the 33-year-old said she was encouraged by the start she has had to her 17th season on tour.

"I'm definitely very happy with the start I've had to the year," she said.

"My training has been good and I'm starting to play well.

"I started good today and won the first seven games in a row but then she got her rhythm and started hitting it deeper, and I struggled a bit."

Joining Sugiyama in round two is Sania who has suffered with injuries after a breakthrough 2005 when she reached the US Open fourth round.

Bad girl Sania sticks out her tongue.

Sania's signature move on court.

The 22-year-old went through a surgery on her right wrist in April ruining her 2008 season. She made brief comebacks before bowing out of the Beijing Olympics in tears.

Now she is back, hitting the ball harder than ever and hungry for success.

"It was a great way to begin after such a long break," Sania said after beating Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-4.

"I've not played a match in almost six months now ... I'm just happy to have come through."

Aside from Sugiyama, Mirza and Lu, hopes for regional success lie with China's Zheng Jie and Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan and Hsieh Su-Wei are also in the draw but have been drawn to face each other in the first round on Tuesday.

And of course there are also high expectations for Japan's Kei Nishikori who is scheduled to face Jurgen Melzer in the first round.

(Via channelnewsasia.com; Images via Yahoo! Sports, Rendy Lu's photos by Zahirah)

IMG Academies' top execs fired including Gabriel Jaramillo who discovered Kei Nishikori

Herald Tribune reported a major restructuring is going on at the top of IMG Academies, the world renowned sports training facility.

The deepest impact has come at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy, leaving some of the facility’s founders jobless.

Four top executives were either fired or encouraged to resign since December. They include tennis academy director Gabriel Jaramillo, VPs Ted Meekma and Greg Breunich and CFO Jeff McNeil were asked to leave.

Each man was given severance pay, according to Jaramillo‘s attorney, and signed nondisclosure and no-compete contracts that prohibit them from coaching tennis or speaking publicly about the changes. 


As this makes room for people to move up the corporate ladder, this could also mean there will be some entry level positions available for recent graduates from sports management colleges. IMG officials refused to comment yet.

Meekma and Bruenich started as tennis instructors who worked side-by-side with Bollettieri since the early years of the academy.

Jaramillo also started as an instructor and worked his way to the head of the academy while training dozens of top players, including Agassi, Sharapova and Pete Sampras. He is the guy who spotted the talent in Kei Nishikori when he was in Japan.

In 1987, Bollettieri joined IMG to open the multi-sport academies in west Manatee County, on 300 acres of former tomato fields. IMG now trains thousands of athletes in sports from golf to basketball.

An investment firm, Forstmann Little & Co., acquired IMG — an international sports and entertainment marketing company — in 2004 for $750 million.

Forstmann Little has a history of cutting costs to make its acquisitions more profitable before reselling them.

Hopefully the restructuring process taking place would not affect the players.

(Via heraldtribune.com)

Paul-Henri Mathieu outs Kei Nishikori

Paul-Henri Mathieu has claimed a spot in the semifinals of the Brisbane International with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Japanese Kei Nishikori.

Kei didn't look fine after a medical time out before the 4th game in the second set.

Now Frenchman Mathieu who is the world no. 31 will play against Fernando Verdasco next in the semifinals after the Spaniard beat another Frenchman, Florent Serra.

Earlier this week in, after playing mini tennis with kids in downtown Brisbane, Kei was interviewed by ATP. He discussed about his breakout 2008 season, his 2009 hopes and how he lost five straight sets to Radek Stepanek in practice during the off season.



(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Rising star Kei Nishikori gets Heineken wildcard, advances to second round

Japanese rising star Kei Nishikori who has been granted a wildcard entry for the Heineken Open in Auckland did not disappoint in the first round.

Nishikori defeated Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round where he will meet Tomas Berdych.


According to tournament director Richard Palmer earlier last month,

"It's very exciting to have a player like him (Kei) in the field, especially since he is rated so highly by players and tennis officials around the world as someone who could be in the top-20 by the end of 2009."

(Images by William WestAFP/Getty Images)

Kei Nishikori wins Mark Knowles Celebrity Invitational in Bahamas

Kei Nishikori is back from his knee injury with a win at the Mark Knowles Celebrity Invitational in Bahamas.

He participated along with other pros such as Mark Knowles (of course), Alex Kuznetsov, Xavier Malisse, Hugo Armando, Ryan Sweeting, Don Johnson, Sabine Lisicki, and Michaela Krajicek.

Kei won the Celebrity Pro-Am last weekend by playing against amateur and local Bahamian businessman Jeff Everett.

The event raised over $100,000 for three children’s charities.

Knowles who was born in Nassau launched the first Mark Knowles Celebrity Tennis Invitational in Paradise Island in order to support different Bahamian charities. Andre Agassi and James Blake are among the high profile tennis players who have hit the courts in the past.

(Images by Matt Dunn/Matt Dunn Photography via nicktennispicks.com, thebahamasweekly.com)

What do Anando & Kei-Ai have in common?

Both hot and young couples were caught hugging and kissing on camera (finally!) :D

Ana Ivanovic were seen picking up boyfriend Fernando Verdasco at the airport in Mallorca at night.

I guess they must be heading to Ana's 4.5 million euros villa after that?

Last month, Kei Nishikori and table tennis princess Ai Fukuhara were spotted hugging and kissing in Tokyo. Here's the kissing photo (small inset photo) which was not posted in my previous post.

Back to Ana and Nando, they were spotted training together many times. Hopefully they motivate each other to practice hard and play better in year 2009.

Last weekend Ana went to Ferrol to support Nando at the Master Nacional-Copa del Rey exhibition. However, he didn't make good use of those practice with Ana and lost to Robredo 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.


(Images via menstennisforums.com, tennisforum.com, Women's Tennis Blog)