From the Herald Sun: Molik, McNamee support return
ALICIA Molik and Paul McNamee have welcomed Jelena Dokic's return to Australia.
"I think it's in Jelena's best interests to move back to Australia," Molik said.
"She's spoken about it a lot. I actually bumped into Jelena a number of months ago. We were crossing paths. We had a very good chat at Dubai Airport.
"I think she played some of her best tennis when she played for Australia and I think Australia is a country where it's very easy to make friends. Australians are very good at embracing and especially successful people."
Continue reading "Support for Dokic Return" »
Just as I was beginning to think Jelena Dokic's father had invented the whole story of Jelena returning to Australia, Jelena has said that it's true! Here's hoping it works out for both sides.
From The Australian: Dokic to return without Damir
THE girl will be re-united with the land she loves this weekend wanting never to be parted again.
Jelena Dokic is returning to Australia, the country once wrested from her, in the hope that she can resurrect a tennis career torn apart by a father's flammable personality and his self-defeating desire to run every single shred of her life.
Is it really four years since Damir Dokic, Jelena's controlling father, incomprehensibly accused Tennis Australia of rigging the Open draw against his daughter and dragged the family to Serbia, screaming they would never go back? Is it three years since she was a quarter-finalist at the French Open and reached No.4 in the world? Is it five since a beautiful, blonde 17-year-old became the first Australian woman to reach the Wimbledon semis since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980?
These memories are indelibly etched but when the 22-year-old Dokic steps aboard her flight to Melbourne on Friday, it will be with a heartfelt desire - to be welcomed back with open arms and a clean slate by the country whose nationality she has steadfastly retained...
Continue reading "Dokic Will Return to Australia" »
Andre Agassi makes a cameo appearance in this article about a young woman's recovery from cancer:
...In 1993, Andersen was granted a wish as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A limousine picked her up at her home and whisked her to the airport, where she was flown to Charlotte, N.C. There she met her teen-crush, 23-year-old Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi.
"I was awestruck," Andersen said. "He looked better than on TV," she said, recalling the many hours she watched him from her hospital bed.
And she was enthralled by his long hair, a sharp contrast to her new crop of hair, struggling to make a comeback after chemotherapy.
That day in the locker room, Agassi autographed his winning tennis racket in a qualifying round for the Davis Cup and handed the racket over to Andersen.
"How great is that," she said, beaming.
Continue reading "Agassi's Charity Work" »
From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Jury selection begins in Williams sisters' case
Jury selection got under way Monday for a lawsuit against tennis-playing sisters Venus and Serena Williams. Sixty-one potential jurors remained as of Monday afternoon.
The sisters, along with their father, Richard, are defendants in a suit brought by Women's Sports Zone Inc., which accuses the family of reneging on an agreement that Venus and Serena would perform in a "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match on Dec. 1, 2001.
Continue reading "Lawsuit Against Williams Sisters Begins" »
The Hewitts aren't releasing too much information about the new baby (name - what name?) to protect their exclusive arrangement with Women's Day, but the other Australian papers have ferreted out a few odds and ends.
From the Herald Sun: Healthy $1m girl for Bec, Lleyton
THE nation's much anticipated million dollar baby has arrived as Bec and Lleyton Hewitt welcomed a healthy girl.
She arrived at 1.45am yesterday after a 4 1/2 natural birth at Sydney's Royal North Shore private hospital.
The girl was a surprise for the tennis ace and soap star who had had a "gut feeling" they were having a boy and had settled on the name Cody.
Continue reading "Hewitt Baby Details" »
From ESPN: King reiterates need for activism amongst athletes
Billie Jean King is wired for sound. A cable television crew is tailing her at a charity event, taping a documentary, and it's clear the production won't lack for audio.
King talks as she walks down a concourse of the arena where she and rock icon Elton John are hosting a World Team Tennis benefit for the musician's AIDS foundation. She gestures. She questions. She gives homework.
Have you read this book? Look it up on the web and then we'll talk.
She's dressed comfortably in black warm-ups with one notable accessory: a rubber bracelet stamped with the words "Save Title IX.''
Continue reading "Billie Jean King Still Going Strong" »
Just what the LTA needs - and just when you thought Andy Murray was starting to become more diplomatic.
From The Times: Murray takes swipe at LTA
Murray’s anger that a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) school in Cambridge "ruined my brother for a few years" struck at the heart of why he chose to hone the basics at a training camp in Barcelona. Jamie Murray, his elder brother by 15 months, left Scotland for East Anglia when he was 13 and, according to Andy, returned the worse for the experience...
It should be added that the present performance staff were not responsible for the recruitment of coaches six years ago, but Murray made no bones about where the blame lies for the fact that his brother is a long way behind him in terms of technical development. "My brother is very talented," he said. "He was the No 2 junior in the world when he was 13, then he went down to an LTA school in Cambridge and they ruined him. It was their fault.
"I want him to come back and do well because he is a good guy who works very hard. I think he’s shown he has the talent."...
Continue reading "Murray Blames LTA for His Brother's Failure to Develop as a Tennis Player" »
