Dirk Hordorff hired to coach Taiwan Davis Cup team

Taiwan Tennis Association has a new strategy to counter India Davis Cup team in this weekend's Asia/Oceania Zone Group I clash.

Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun's coach, Dirk Hordorff has been invited to train the Taiwan team at the very last minute.

He was at the press conference yesterday together with the entire Taiwan Davis Cup team.


(Image posted by Elvis via menstennisforums.com)

One million baht carrot for Thai Davis Cup team

The Thai Davis Cup team will earn a million baht bonus if they beat Australia in this weekend's Asia/Oceania Zone Group I clash.

The Thai team will be led by Danai Udomchoke with Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana, Kittipong Vachiramanowong and Peerakiat Siriruethaiwattana.

Thanakorn Srichaphan is the team captain while his brother Paradorn, who cannot play because of an injured wrist, will be the assistant coach.

The Australian team is led by Lleyton Hewitt supported by Carsten Ball, Chris Guccione and Brydan Klein.

The winning team will meet either India or Taiwan in May.

Thai team manager Atat Nana said the players were looking forward to the event, especially as doubles pair Sonchat and Sanchai won a doubles title in Australia last week.

The match will be held at the National Tennis Development Centre, Muang Thong Thani from Friday until Sunday.

Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand (LTAT) offers 1,500 free tickets for fans on their website.

(Via Bangkok Post; Image via LTAT website)

Andy Roddick shows kids tennis a tough sport

Andy Roddick is trying to discourage the kids from picking up tennis, huh?

The United States Davis Cup tennis player shows the kids how to hit an oversize ball with an oversize racket during a tennis clinic after a press conference in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday.

Andy and and his teammates will be playing the first round series against Switzerland this Friday in Birmingham.

And talking about kids, I would like to share some photos sent to me by Esther given by the media team at yellowtennisball.com.

These photos were taken by Cecil Wise during Kids' Day at Delray Beach recently. Aren't they cute?


(Images via Yahoo! Sports, Cecil Wise)

It's better safe than sorry

Israeli tennis player Andy Ram said Swedish authorities made a “stupid decision” when they barred fans from the Davis Cup series between the two countries.

Well, Ram, take a look at what had happened to the Sri Lankan cricket team yesterday, and you might want to think twice.

Eight people were killed and seven other wounded in the attack when unidentified gunmen firing at the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab.



In the latest updates, New Zealand Cricket has called off their Pakistan tour scheduled in December.

Now back to tennis, I understand how frustrated Ram, his fellow teammates and the Swedish team were to play the first-round series in Malmo in an empty stadium.

Malmo city officials had to make the hardest decision by keeping the fans away as they couldn’t guarantee security at the 4,000-seat Baltic Hall.

Anti-Israel protests are already expected in Malmo, and about 1,000 police have been called to keep protesters from the arena.

After Sweden, other countries who will be playing Israel could follow suit.

“I think it was a wrong decision. I think it maybe can open the door for other countries to make a stupid decision like this one,” Ram said.

“I think it’s going to be very bad to play without a crowd.”

Harel Levy, another member of Israel’s four-man team, said it was wrong to mix sports and politics.

“We are here to play tennis,” Levy said.

“We are not here to talk about politics or to talk about terror.”

Dudi Sela and Noam Okun are also on the Israeli team.

Sweden are represented by Robert Lindstedt, Simon Aspelin, Bjorn Rehnquist and Daniel Berta. Veteran Thomas Johansson has been practicing with the Swedish team.

“We’re here since Sunday and we saw him (Johansson) play every day, practicing very hard, so he’s going to play,” Sela predicted.

Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion, was disappointed his country won’t get the benefit of a cheering crowd.

“When you play Davis Cup on home turf you want a full house, and we think it’s too bad that there won’t be,” he said.

(Via AP; Images by Drago Prvulovic/AFP/Getty Images via Yahoo! Sports)