McIntyre Tennis

Thursday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

Eight women made their way into the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto today. Here's a look at some of the highlights as we head into the final three days of action.

3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska was up against 14th seed Sloane Stephens in the opening match of the day

Check out the intensity in those eyes!

Radwanska was more consistent however and would prevail 6-1, 7-6.

Kristina Mladenovic was on the practice courts with Jamie Hampton despite being knocked out of the event in the first round. Mladenovic won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon this year with Canadian Daniel Nestor.

Cooling off was key for players today as it was the hottest day of the event so far.

The Williams sisters practicing side-by-side. Venus was ousted by Kirsten Flipkens while Serena was set to play the Belgian later today to try and exact some family revenge.

Venus checking her text messages (?) on a break.

Serena working on her serve.

Serena's long time hitting partner Aleksandar "Sascha" Bajin

Stretching is key, especially when you've been off the tour for over two months with a back injury.

Venus' hitting partner wasn't quite as jacked as Serena's, but he got the job done.

Poor Daniel Nestor. Two hours before the end of the auction and still no bids to hit with one of the greatest doubles players of all time.

Looks like Milos Raonic's big win over Juan Martin Del Potro went straight to his head!

5th seed Sara Errani of Italy does whatever she can to win her match against Alize Cornet, which she does 7-5, 7-6.

I hate when this happens!

Errani freaked out on Cornet at 5-5 in the 2nd set asking, "You always say 'allez', but now you say 'vamos'. Why you say 'vamos'?" Cornet replied, "I always say 'vamos'!"

Dominika Cibulkova stretching after her morning hit.

After Vasek Pospisil, the 2nd best smile of the day.

Daniela Hantuchova practicing ahead of her doubles match

Martina Hingis working on her overhead smash

Potentially the professional tennis player with the most amount of fans. Li Na is absolutely huge in China. She took on Ana Ivanovic on Thursday.

Ivanovic would let a 5-2 third set lead slip and fall to her opponent 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).

Wimbledon champ Marion Bartoli did not bring enough racquets to her match. Had to actually ask her opponent Magdalena Rybarikova if she could borrow hers for a game! Rybarikova was all class and allowed it. She also won the match when Bartoli withdrew due to an ab injury.

Mladenovic is good friends with Bartoli and this was her reaction courtside after she encouraged Bartoli to challenge one of her opponent's shots that was called in. The replay showed that it was in fact out. Nice to have friends, eh?

Serena Williams destroyed Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 6-3 avenging her sister Venus' loss to the Belgian from earlier in the week. Williams hit the practice court after the match as she said she was not happy with her own return game.

Jelena Jankovic sarcastically reacts to a fan's comments (in Serbian) after losing a point to Sorana Cirstea of Romania.

Cirstea, who beat Caroline Wozniacki in 2hrs 56 minutes the night before, gets another huge win. This time 6-3, 6-4 over Jankovic.

Serena Williams in press. The black purse at her feet is actually carrying her dog Chip. No joke.

Dominika Cibulkova celebrates defeating higher ranked Roberta Vinci for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Hingis and Hantuchova would lose their second round doubles match for the second tournament in a row of Hingis' comeback. The pair is gearing up for the U.S. Open.

In the final match of the night, vet Samantha Stosur (one of the fittest players on tour) fell to Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3.

Keep checking back over the final three days of the Rogers Cup for more images and reports. If you're not already, follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates here in Toronto.

Martina Hingis Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame

At the age of 32, Martina Hingis is the fourth youngest player to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, Rhode Island.

Before the ceremony that took place on Saturday July 13^th, Hingis spoke to the crowd about how humbled she was by this honour. She said: “Thanks you tennis. You gave me the world.”

Although Hingis had a relatively short career in tennis, it was a very successful one, which included five grand slam titles – the 1997 Wimbledon and 1997 U.S. Open and the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Australian Opens. Hingis also held the number one ranking for an impressive 209 weeks from 1997-2001 in a battle with Lindsay Davenport.

Announcing her arrival to the world stage at just 12 years old, Hingis wowed the tennis crowds when she won the 1993 French Open junior title. She turned professional just before her 14^th birthday and continued to win several youngest-ever awards.

Recurring injuries forced her into early retirement at just 22, having won nine grand slam doubles titles and a mixed doubles title in addition to her single’s success. She made a comeback four years later, but retired again after testing positive for cocaine.

Carrying on her youngest-ever winning streak, Hingis follows Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32), as the fourth youngest player to be enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Speaking about her inclusion in this prestigious ceremony, she said: "You chose to give me a place here for eternity."

Hingis was born in Czechoslovakia in 1980 and moved to Switzerland when she was seven-years-old, where she was holding a tennis racket before she could walk. Starting so young and working hard as a child provided Hingis the opportunity to reach career highs at a very young age.

It begs the question of whether you are ever too old to start playing tennis, and the implications to starting the sport later than early childhood. What will you need to keep in mind as an older player?

Here are our top five tips for those entering this sport:

Have a goal in mind

If you are keen to learn how to play tennis, and get good at it, you will need to have a clear focus on what you want to achieve. Are you in it to increase your fitness? Looking for something fun to occupy your free time? Or are you invested into becoming a tennis athlete?

Be realistic about the time you can spare and what your first goal will be, so you can have something to work towards as you steadily improve as a player.

Kit yourself out in the correct gear

The old racket you think you might have in the garage will just not do, especially if you want to return serve with any gusto. If you are completely clueless as to which racket to get, then do some research on a few different sites and see if your style of play will require a specific racket.

The next most important item will be your tennis shoes, coming in a range of designs depending on your court usage. Millet Sports offer a wide selection of tennis shoes specifically designed for the range of movement expected in tennis. You will need to tick the three boxes of comfort, support and grip.

Know your limits

Tennis is a very demanding sport, which will highlight any flaws in your fitness. It is high in cardio, especially when playing a match, as well as being hard on your joints. It is vital that you stay as fit as you can be while playing, while still knowing your limitations. If you are prone to back problems then be wary of this while training, giving your body the rest it needs between practices.

View mistakes as part of the learning process

Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you have a few setbacks in training, and you can’t seem to get something right, try to see this as part of your journey to greatness. Setbacks can dull your enthusiasm and stop all progress if you let them, so keep that end goal in sight!

Get your body ready

Warm-ups and cool downs are essential in tennis, as injuries can easily happen if going for a tricky shot, going over on your ankle or trapping a nerve while going for an overhead shot. Your skill and ability in this sport can only be executed if your body is fit and injury free. Try these tennis fitness training exercises from top names such as Rafael Nadal.

 

Drug Problem in Tennis Continues - Odesnik Busted for HGH

By Mike McIntyre

Professional tennis has been smeared once again in the media for doping offenses.

Ranked 98th in the world, American Wayne Odesnik pleaded guilty last week to importing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) into Australia in January of this year. The 24 year old journeyman was stopped by customs with eight vials containing 6 milligrams of the substance.

My first question upon hearing this story was what exactly is HGH? It is a substance that has been used by (some) athletes since the 1970s and was banned in 1989 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Testing for HGH is very difficult and has only become effective during the past decade. It is impervious to urine tests and can only be detected through blood testing that can distinguish between the natural and artificial versions of the substance. Unlike anabolic steroids that build muscle mass, HGH reduces the amount of body fat a person carries as well as providing them with resistance to injury and fatigue. You can see why a tennis player might be tempted to use such a substance, especially one like Odesnik who has been struggling to find his place on tour for years.

My second question in the Odesnik situation was how much HGH was Odesnik carrying on him at the time of his encounter with customs officials? From the research I have done it appears that typical users will take 1-2 International Units (IUs) of the stuff each day. Each milligram of HGH contains 3 IUs. Therefore if Odesnik was stopped with 6 milligrams of HGH, he had 18 IUs with him which would translate into about 9-18 days worth of doses. That would be consistent with the amount of time Odesnik was likely going to be staying in Australia between the tournament in Brisbane and the Australian Open. From this calculation, it is obvious that Odesnik was only carrying enough of the substance for personal use and not to traffic or share with other players.

Now that we have determined the answers to those two preliminary questions, let's see what the reaction was like from Odesnik's co-workers. Fellow American tennis players have been quick to react to the situation and rightly so.

"There's nothing worse than that," Roddick said at the Sony Ericsson Open. "That's just plain cheating, and they should throw him out of tennis. There's just no room for it."

James Blake also weighed in by saying, ""It's the same thing you hear about the criminal next door — he seemed like a nice guy until they found something going on. People look for a way to get ahead, and that's unfortunate. It's something that's frustrating. You want to feel like you're playing on a fair playing field. I'm glad they caught him."

Sam Querrey, offered this reaction, "[Odesnik] messed up there, and he's got to take the consequences,'' he said. "Hopefully he'll learn his lesson. … It's pretty easy to not cheat. I don't know why some guys do. It's pretty easy to put food and water into your body and not inject things.''

In a cut-and-paste statement, the ATP Tour commented by saying, "We are extremely disappointed in the behavior of this individual, which is in no way representative of the sport of tennis."

While most players say that there is not a drug problem within the sport I would have to disagree based on the string of players caught offending within recent memory.

Martina Hingis (cocaine), Guillermo Canas (a dope-masking agent called hydrochlorothiazide), Karol Beck (anabolic steroids), Richard Gasquet (cocaine), Yanina Wickmayer (missed testing), Xavier Malisse (missing testing) have all come under fire for drug-related offenses in recent memory while Andre Agassi admitted to regularly using Crystal Meth during the late 1990s. This list covers Grand Slam winners, child prodigies, journeymen, rising stars - the entire gamut of the men's and women's games.

I still firmly believe that a very high percentage of players are clean, yet these stories happen with enough regularity that they are starting to taint our sport and the perception that the public has towards it.

Even more tarnishing is the amateur-hour manner in which many of these players are dealt with. Agassi's story of accidentally sipping from a friend's spiked soda was accepted at face value. Gasquet's far-fetched fairytale of ingesting a small amount of cocaine from kissing a mystery woman at a Miami night-club is even more preposterous.

The notion that a drug problem has been plaguing the sport is not a new one. During her last appearance at Wimbledon prior to retirement in 2001, France's Nathalie Tauziat had plenty to say about how she viewed the problem.

"I won't name individuals," she said, "but it's clear that doping exists in tennis and needs to be stopped. I have no hard evidence, but all I will say is that you don't have to have a degree in medicine to see that some of the players have transformed themselves almost overnight. It's time people stopped taking us for a bunch of fools. I don't care how much training or gym work you do, there is no way anyone can suddenly become stronger and faster in the space of a couple of months. How is it that some girls disappear for a few weeks, and then return looking totally different?"

So how does the sport of tennis respond adequately to this seemingly growing threat - or are we destined to be constantly dealing with these frequent abuse issues just as cycling and track and field do? That's the tough question that ATP and WTA Tour CEO'S Adam Helfant and Stacy Allastair need to answer.

Certainly the timing of the drug tests needs to be taken into account. Testing for several banned substances, including HGH, need to be done within days of use. Instead of relying on tests taken during the Grand Slam events the International Tennis Federation (ITF) should focus on peak training periods when these drugs are likely being used.

Better co-operation between the ITF and the Court of Arbitration of Sport is also a necessity. While the ITF is responsible for policing the drug policies of the ATP and WTA Tours, the Court of Arbitration of Sport has overturned these decisions on several occasions. These over-rulings only serve (pardon the pun) to make the ITF look unprofessional in their earlier decisions. Let's get both organizations on the same page in terms of their conclusions in order to streamline this process and put an end to the inevitable head-scratching that we are left with when one supersedes the other.

The bottom line here is that professional tennis has hundreds of excellent athletes and officials who are getting their reputation dragged through the mud because of the seemingly growing number of instances of the few players who get caught (and often exonerated). It is time to crack down severely, ridding the sport of these supposed athletes that are tarnishing its reputation and at the same instance make the correct decision the first time around. If players like Canas and Gasquet are innocent, then don't raise suspicions with hasty accusations. If they are guilty then kick them out for good.

I agree with Andy Roddick's assessment of the most recent incident with Odesnik. Send a message and kick this guy out for good. Forget the current two year ban that this blatant cheater faces. Turn the corner and put the doubts and half-way measures aside so that tennis can move forward knowing they are truly doing all that can be done to combat this serious issue.

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The euphoric effects of cocaine have drawn a lot of people to the drug, particularly celebrities and even professional athletes, who can well afford the rather steep street cocaine prices.

Hingis: Comeback Hard, Engagement Easy

From Tennis Week:

Martina Hingis has a new sparkle these days thanks to the diamond engagement ring she's been sporting since fiance Radek Stepanek proposed to her late last year. The 26-year-old Hingis revealed today deciding to return to tennis after a three year layoff required reflection, but accepting Stepanek's marriage proposal was a snap.

"That was my decision to come back, so that was the longer process thinking whether I should commit myself or not," Hingis told the media in Tokyo today in comments published by Reuters. "But with the engagement I only had to stretch out my hand and say 'Yes I'll take it'. It wasn't really my decision. I mean, I was happy that it happened but I think somebody else had to do a little bit more thinking than myself."

Martina Hingis on Her Engagement

From The Australain: Swiss Miss dismisses questions about becoming a missus

MARTINA HINGIS has helped clarify why she is engaged to Radek Stepanek, and in the process managed to break the hearts of many male members of the fourth estate.

Hingis, who is engaged to the world No.20, put a sports reporter on the back foot when queried about the relationship.

"Who else am I going to date, a journalist?" she asked.

Hingis Says Engagement Won't Affect Career

From The Herald Sun: Martina Hingis to stick around

NEWLY engaged Martina Hingis has vowed not to follow Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport into retirement and said her priority remains a strong 2007 to follow her successful comeback season...

"The priorities right now are tennis. There's plenty of time to think about life after tennis," Hingis said yesterday.

"I'll try to keep up with the young girls and play at the highest level. If it's not the case anymore, or I don't want to do it, I'll think about it.

"If you're happy in your private life you are going to do well. You know what you want, I think I'm at that stage right now."

Hingis Confirms Engagement

From the AP: Swiss Miss to soon be a Mrs.: Hingis engaged

Martina Hingis confirmed she became engaged to Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek last month, though she was surprised it had taken so long for people to notice her ring.

“I’m happy,” the former No. 1-ranked Hingis said Friday, showing off a diamond ring. “I was surprised when it was spotted right away (in Australia) because in Switzerland I’ve been walking around for a month and no one’s said anything.”

Philippoussis Confirms Broken Engagement; Stepanek Talks about His Proposal to Hingis

From The Herald Sun: Scud courting romance

Australian star Mark Philippoussis is single again after breaking up with his American fiancee...

Australia's Hopman Cup representative confirmed yesterday he had split from teenage fiancee Alexis Barbara about three months ago.

"I broke up with Alexis after the US Open," Philippoussis said after training in Perth.

"She's concentrating on her modelling and stuff, and I'm concentrating on my tennis."...

Former World No. 8 Stepanek is over the moon about marrying Hingis.

When the Czech proposed to her in Prague's Old Town in November, it was with trepidation. He need not have worried.

"It was was very nice," Stepanek recalled yesterday in Adelaide as triple Australian Open winner Hingis practised on the Gold Coast.

"The proposal was in one of the nicest places in the world, just near the Charles Bridge."

Hingis Engaged to Stepanek

Wow!

From The Herald Sun: Martina Hingis' ace of hearts

TRIPLE Australian Open tennis champion Martina Hingis has won her biggest love match, becoming engaged to Czech player Radek Stepanek...

Hingis, who made a valiant comeback this year to reach a world ranking of seven after three full years off the world tour, remained silent yesterday.

But the 26-year-old Swiss miss wore a diamond ring while practising at Royal Pines yesterday and chatted happily to tour regulars about her engagement.

Hingis showed off the ring to countrywoman Emmanuelle Gagliardi with a beaming smile when they crossed paths on the practice court.

Hingis Her Usual Self in Discussing Comeback

From Tennis.com: Return Winner? Hingis assesses her comeback

“Some players were surprised and others not. The most critics I’ve had were about my physical level and I’ve proved them wrong,” said Hingis in Madrid on Monday. “Besides, I [was] No. 1 for four years for a reason.”

Still, the demands of the tour have taken their toll. “Late in the year, I discovered I was low on iron,” she said. “That happened before Zurich. I’m taking supplements right now.”...