C E L E B R I T Y : A N D R E A G A S S I. September Communication and External Relations Department. Enfants prodiges

Transcription

1 C E L E B R I T Y : A N D R E A G A S S I September 2005 Communication and External Relations Department Enfants prodiges The circuit is being overrun by young phenomena such as Nadal and Gasquet, Berdych and Monfils. We take a look at the new talents already aiming at the top spot. 1

2 Cover story Gael Monfils The most talked about enfants prodiges are Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. But behind them there s a whole army of young talents threatening to invade the top end of the world rankings him? First he demolished the ambitions of Hewitt, Roddick and (in part) Safin, inflicting heavy defeats on them. Then, when all seemed set for a calm reign, up pops a young guy from Majorca who s charming off court but lethal on it. Rafael Nadal gave Federer a fright in the final in Miami, which the Swiss won with a mixture of class and good luck, and then beat him in the semi-final in Paris, thus shattering the No. 1 s dream of achieving his career Slam this year (ie. becoming only the sixth player in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in their careers). However, Federer certainly wasn t losing any sleep over this, confident that he could handle a new adversary. The problem arose when he realized that lined up behind Nadal there were several other avid pretenders to his world throne. Nadal is at his heels and is followed, at not too great a distance, by two French lads who are promising spectacular opposition. One is Richard Gasquet, whom we ve been watching ever since the French press called him a gift from New phenom ena Roger Federer is the person most worried by this. No sooner did the Swiss champion see off the likes of Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick than he found himself pursued by a horde of young talents with their sights on him. Someone new emerges every year; first it was Nadal, then Gasquet. You can never relax... His Majesty Roger was heard to complain (tongue in cheek). And who can blame heaven when he was only nine. The other is Gael Monfils, a player stolen from athletics. The one that gets most fans dreaming is Gasquet. His technique should be filmed and sent round all the Post scriptum Federer beats Nadal on the web too; for the moment, clicking on their names in Google produces 797,000 entries for the Swiss and 622,000 for the Spaniard. Way behind Agassi though, with 1,050,000 A new postage stamp has been issued to commemorate Arthur Ashe, the unforgettable black American champion of the 70s 2

3 Young promises The world circuit is bristling with young champions, some already ensconced in the upper echelons, others rapidly approaching. Here are the Top 10 under-20s in the Indesit ATP Entry Ranking. 1 Rafael Nadal Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 2 Born A real phenomenon and Roger Federer s most serious rival for the top spot. He won at this year s Roland Garros and if he improves his serve and volley he ll become very dangerous on all surfaces. 2 Richard Gasquet Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 13 Born Technically the best of the batch, we ll soon be seeing him near the top of the world rankings. Competitive on all surfaces, his backhand is pure orgasm for tennis freaks. 3 Tomas Berdych Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 34 Born Huge potential: powerful, technically complete and with room for physical improvement, especially in his footwork. He s played well on clay as well but is most dangerous on cement and indoor surfaces. 4 Gael Monfils Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 43 Born Awesomely powerful, he s already being called the new Noah in France (but only because of the colour of his skin). He has a terrifying serve, a punishing forehand and is physically intimidating in general. An opponent to avoid on fast surfaces. 5 Stanislas Wawrinka Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 62 Born Switzerland has found a worthy partner for Roger Federer. A hard hitter, he s also fast and will get even better. He plays a fine game but now needs testing at Grand Slam level. 6 Marcos Baghdatis Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 73 Born He won a lot as a junior but few thought he would make it as a pro. He s not exactly a giant and in modern tennis it s difficult make much headway without power on your side. But he s showing it can be done. 7 Nicolas Almagro Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 95 Born A Spanish clay court player but of the new school, so he s not just competent and reliable - he also plays to entertain and goes for every point. If he manages to get a psychological hold of his game, he ll be a very tough nut on clay. 8 Novak Djokovic Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 97 The most recent entry, partly because he s the youngest. He could still be playing junior tournaments but is already chalking up wins on the professional circuit. Has a good game and plenty of room for improvement. 9 Andrew Murray Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 122 With Tim Henman on the way out, Great Britain is pinning its hopes on an 18 year-old Scot who put in an interesting performance at Wimbledon. He s expected to make the world Top 50 before long. 10 Yeu-Tzuoo Wang Indesit ATP Entry Ranking: 126 It was obvious the Chinese would wake up sooner or later. For the moment, their strongest hope is from Taipei: a fast player suited above all to cement. Technically complete, he still needs to develop a knockout stroke. world s tennis schools. His back hand is pure text book stuff, his inventiveness typical of only the greats in this sport. He s the only player, in fact, who can compete with Federer not only in terms of efficacy but style as well. He s maturing slowly but when he s gained enough experience, he s going to be bad news for everyone. The other French phenomenon is quite the reverse. He s no miracle of technique, but lanky and stylistically limited as he may be, he has uncommon power. Physically he could have been competitive in any of a dozen athletics specialities, with legs like springs and a very fast arm that s already ensuring serves at over 200 km/h. The experts are expecting to see him in the Top 10 before long and marketing folk are predicting fabulous contracts for him, given that non-white players are in great demand to stimulate the market. But this is only the leading trio. Behind them are other young talents on the ATP launch pad. First of all Tomas Berdych (20), who beat Federer at the Athens Olympics in Last year he won his first pro title in Palermo and it won t be his last. There aren t many players around who so often leave you standing three metres off the ball. If he spends more time on the athletics track to improve his fleetness of foot, he ll make a good candidate for the Top 10. Further down the ranking we have the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Having won as a junior at Roland Garros, he was automatically compared to Federer, though without justification at this stage. He has a fine game, very aggressive and technically well rounded, and if he continues to develop, Switzerland will be able to mount a serious Davis Cup challenge. Another couple of players to watch are the Serbo-Montenegro Novak Djokovic and the Scottish Andrew Murray. Both could still be playing as juniors but are already winning pro tournaments. Murray, in particular, has produced quite a movement in the UK, where Henman was being measured up for Madame Tussaud s and a replacement figure was needed. And one was duly provided by... Spain, Murray s adopted home. A pupil of the Emilio Sanchez Academy in Barcelona, he s so loth to abandon the Catalonian capital that he s training there with Mark Petchey, a UK federation coach. To make sure he continues to feel a loyal subject of the Queen, the job of technical coach was given to Fred Perry, who (by no mere coincidence) was the last Brit to win at Wimbledon, in Murray hasn t quite made the Top 100 yet but it s only a question of weeks. Under pressure from such promising young players it looks as though the Top 10 is in for a major reshuffle. Another name being mentioned in this context is Donald Young, a 16 year-old from Chicago who McEnroe says will become a No. 1. Federer & Co are in for some hard times. Tennis players are monopolizing the glossy magazines in September: Andy Roddick is on the cover of the famous American magazine Cargo, Marat Safin has seven pages in GQ and Rafael Nadal fans can admire him in the September Vogue. James Blake, on the other hand, captured the attention of the New York Time Magazine 3

4 Internet Tennis on line The web has become an indispensable source of information in the world of sport as well. You can find all you want there tournament info, results, gossip, whatever. To navigate well, the following tips will help. Tennis and the Internet were made for each other. No other sport has a 50 week season, with matches everyday all over the world at every level. So keeping track of the global circuit and ATP stars is not light work. Fans can find all they want, however, on the web, so here s our guide to fishing for info without getting caught up in the net This is the official site of the Players Association, the main portal for professional tennis, providing results, scorecards, rankings, news, exclusive photos and tournament and player statistics. It also features Fantasy Tennis, where you can win some very attractive prizes. It s recently had a graphics restyling to enhance legibility and clarity of content This is the international federation s official site, with links to the Davis Cup, junior tournaments and various national federation sites. The results and head-to-head archives are excellent, especially during the Davis Cup (live scores from all main courts) Straightforward and easy to use, this the site of the American magazine of the same name. Four or five fresh nuggets of news everyday open the home page, plus the occasional scoop. The features are excellent and always laced with tasty tennis titbits The Bible of American sport no less, Sport Illustrated is indispensable during Grand Slams (Wimbledon and the US Open in particular). Jon Wertheim s commentaries are pure gospel Tennis Magazine s site, this American organ is the best place in the world to get info on tennis and related matters. Don t miss Peter Bodo s blog or the technical commentaries by some of the world s best coaches A simple click on tennis on the bar at the top of the page will give you real time results of all ATP tournament matches being played throughout the world, making it an indispensable tool for tracking the sport live ( for the Italian version) The site of Europe s most important sports channel, Eurosport concentrates on practically real-time reporting and comment on the various tournaments. As a news source it s the perfect back-up to the TV channel This is a web-shop where you can order any tennis gear imaginable. An official partner of the ATP, it has an interesting section on products used by tennis champions and comments by fans who have already tried them out The best thing here is the statistics on all the tournaments played in the Open Era (since 1968), in which you can trace all the games by any player who s ever been on the ATP circuit. It has an efficient link system for viewing major games, overall Post scriptum John McEnroe won the senior title in the first edition of the LTU Champions Trophy, beating Aaron Krickstein in the final According to Brad Gilbert, for years considered the best coach on the circuit, the best young prospect around, apart from Nadal, is Tomas Berdych 4

5 rankings and tournament scorecards, making it a very powerful research tool Wittily iconoclastic, this site gives latest news, press conference clips and tough but also generous commentary. Its authors use nicknames for most of the players and specialize in the sort of news fans are most avid for. Not always politically correct Lots of in-depth news from expert tennis journalists. Some pages are pay to use but they often feature scoops and important news This is the web version of what is considered the world s best sports daily. News and results but above all pdf versions of the paper (at a price obviously) You need a holiday but can t release your grip on a tennis racquet? Here is a thorough review of the world s finest resorts with good tennis facilities, a list of tennis oases, with photos and prices This is the official site of the year-end Masters Cup, which will be played in Shanghai for the next three years, making it a window on the Chinese market, destined to become a dominant player in world tennis too in coming years The official site of the most recent Slam tournament. As in the other Slam sites (same address except for the tournament name), the live score button is what gets most clicks. It can also be accessed over a link from usta.com, the American federation s official site If you want a book or a DVD on tennis, the world s biggest online bookshop is the place for you. It has everything and if you live in Europe you can use the French site ( to save shipment charges. Fast, simple and reliable Visit this auction site if you re looking for a vintage racquet, or even recent products. Just go to the sports section and specify tennis and you can bid for a vast assortment of tennis items, sometimes going at ridiculous prices The European tennis federation s site gives all the results of the junior tournaments, news, photos, commentary and a free subscription newsletter Reputed Europe s finest tennis academy, the Sanchez (not far from Barcelona airport) has been preferred by many champions to famous schools across the Atlantic. Run by Emilio Sanchez, a former singles Top 10 and a no 1 doubles; the last champion it reared was Guillermo Coria The site of the eponymous magazine provides various photo features (including colour material) and in-depth commentary. The free of charge archive is excellent. In spring next year a new tournament will be played in Florida and one of the players invited is Pete Sampras; it would be the first time Pistol Pete returns on court since his retirement retirement Roddick has presented his new Babolat tennis shoes. It s a brand I ve been very fond of, said Andy, since they gave me one of their racquets when I was a kid and unheard of 5

6 Celebrity Andre Agassi Slogan Image is everything A Canon ad with Agassi as testimonial Daft things I ve said a lot of daft things in my life. Including that Canon slogan... The past How old do you have to get before people forget about the mistakes in your past? Nightmares I think the worst nightmare, mine and Sampras s, would be to wake up each being the other one Mystery I ve never let any other player really know me. You can t do that with your rivals on court. That s why Sampras and I can never be real friends Academy I hated being at the Bollettieri Academy. But I did understand that the sooner I got good, the sooner I could get out of there. That s why I trained hard Nearly retired If I d lost the Wimbledon final in 92 after already losing two Paris finals, maybe I would have retired. Everyone needed a victory my dad, my coach, my fans. I too had a terrible need to show I was a winner Abandoned In 1995 I played extraordinarily in the American summer tournaments. Then I lost in the final of the US Open to Sampras, again. I ve never felt so alone on a tennis court as that day The best The five best players of all time? Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras Wimbledon Winning at Wimbledon was fantastic. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can compare with that success 1992 Son Since I became a father, I ve looked at things in a different perspective. Let s say that winning or losing on a tennis court is no longer the most important thing in my life 2003 Steffi Graf Being with Steffi is fantastic. It s always fascinating to be able to understand what passes through the mind of an icon of world sport Interests My interest in life is my personal development. Faith in God is the most important part of my life 6 Post scriptum He s the most famous player in the history of tennis and at 35 is still in the world Top 10. A great champion and a great plain speaker... Pete Sampras When I played against Pete in Rome in 1989, I thought: My God, this guy s hopeless!. He couldn t even keep the ball on court. Well, let s just say I was wrong Family matches When I play against Steffi, she always wins. But only because I can t keep my eyes on the ball Slam wins I thought that winning eight Slam titles was a great record. It s tough though when your wife s won New shoes At least we won t be arguing any more about what shoes our kids will wear Agassi commenting on his move from Nike to Adidas, his wife Steffi Graf s sponsor Prison In the six and a half years Agassi was in my Academy, my main task was keeping him out of prison Nick Bollettieri Clock The best thing about tennis is you can t gain advantage and then wait till time s up. It s always up to you to find a solution to Andre Agassi end the match Rivalry Why have I always beaten Andre in the important matches? Because he knows I m better Pete Sampras Coffee Andre moves faster between one point and next than some players do during the point. He would make a perfect testimonial for caffeine Coach Brad Gilbert Impossible comparisons You can t compare Agassi with McEnroe or Borg. With his talent he should never have fallen so low in the rankings Jimmy Connors after Agassi dropped out of the ATP Top 100 Victories and defeats You lost a load of matches you should have won. And I won a lot I should have lost. I think I can help you Brad Gilbert offering to become Agassi s coach Let s bet... Agassi couldn t even beat my mother now. He s finished David Lloyd, captain of the British Davis Cup team, in 1999, when Agassi dropped out of the ATP Top 100 Rebel I don t like it when people support Agassi: he looks like a rebel with that earring, long hair and unkempt beard Ivan Lendl on Agassi s youthful look The best Sampras and Agassi would have destroyed any player from before their time Pancho Gonzalez There are already five players who have topped a million dollars in 2005: Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Safin and Hewitt Andy Roddick heads the aces ranking with 758 but he s behind Ivo Karlovic and Wayne Arthurs in terms of aces per match Federer has won 38 of his 39 matches on hardcourt this year

7 Special Ranking INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 1 Roger Federer (Swi) Age 24 Race points 1, wins/3 defeats The outright dominator of the season, with only one rival anywhere in sight - Rafael Nadal. He doesn t need many more points though to leave the Spaniard definitively behind and close the race in 1 st place for the second year running. 6 Guillermo Coria (Arg) Age 23 - Race points wins/17 defeats Has failed to rise to the occasion in the tournaments that count but has put in excellent performances on average. His main aim now will be to qualify for the Masters Cup. Which won t be easy seeing his poor record in late season indoor tournaments. 2 Rafael Nadal (Spa) Age 19 Race points wins/9 defeats He dominated a couple of clay court tournaments and immediately went on to win the Masters Series in Montreal, his third this season. He s still in there behind King Federer, with maybe a chance pipping him at the post at the end of the year. 7 Marat Safin (Rus) Age 25 Race points wins/11 defeats A knee injury operated in July kept him off court for several weeks and lost him a few places in the Race. Yet he s still one of the favourites in the fast tournaments and a likely player in the Masters Cup in Shanghai. 3 Andy Roddick (USA) Age 23 Race points wins/11 defeats A big win is needed urgently, having lost to Federer, again, in the final of the Cincinnati Masters Series. A more than respectable season lacking only in a major victory to keep up with the lead pair. 8 Gaston Gaudio (Arg) Age 26 Race points wins/14 defeats He won a lot on clay but must still prove himself Top 10 material on cement. If he can chalk up another couple of good results, he can still aim at the Masters Cup. 4 Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) Age 24 Race points wins/8 defeats A consistent performer but, like Roddick, he needs a big win. He bowed out of the semi-final of the Cincinnati Masters Series but still has a chance of making the world podium. 9 Andre Agassi (USA) Age 35 - Race points wins/10 defeats Just when everyone was saying Agassi was finished because of his various ailments, he suddenly made it to the final in the Montreal Masters Series, losing to no less than Rafael Nadal. If he plays a good US Open, he can still hope for his nth Masters Cup qualification. 5 Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) Age 24 - Race points wins/22 defeats This season s big surprise, with extremely high average performances and a very good chance of getting into the final eight for the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai. 10 Mariano Puerta (Arg) 10 Age 26 - Race points wins/15 defeats After reaching the final in Paris he hasn t had another big result, though his quarter final in the Montreal Masters Series was very useful. Making it to Shanghai is beginning to look rather difficult though. 1 Position in INDESIT ATP 2005 Race 1 Position in INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking Robby Ginepri As the old tennis saying goes, you re only as strong as your second ball. Winning over half your points on second serves is no mean feat. Here are the top 10 in this rather special ranking. Second service Player % Matches Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Andy Roddick Mariano Puerta Robby Ginepri Lleyton Hewitt Richard Gasquet Wayne Arrhurs Juan Carlos Ferrero Fernando Gonzalez Double faults Here is the ranking of players with the most double faults per game in the Top 100 of the Indesit ATP 2005 Race. Pos. Player Double faults per game 1 Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) Jean-René Lisnard (Fra) Taylor Dent (USA) Greg Rusdeski (Gbr) Wayne Arthurs (Aus) Joachim Johansson (Swe) Ivo Karlovic (Cro) Mariano Zabaleta (Arg) Fernando Gonzalez (Cil) Karol Beck (Svk) 4.1 Masters Series Ranking With his victory in Cincinatti, Roger Federer became the first player to win four Masters Series in a single season. The Top Masters Series winners are as follows. Player Born Masters Series wins Roger Federer 2005 Indian Wells, Miami, Hamburg, Cincinnati Rafael Nadal 2005 Monte Carlo, Rome, Montreal Roger Federer 2004 Indian Wells, Hamburg, Toronto Andre Agassi 2002 Miami, Rome, Madrid Marcelo Rios 1998 Indian Wells, Miami, Rome Andre Agassi 1995 Miami, Montreal, Cincinnati Thomas Muster 1995 Monte Carlo, Rome, Essen (now Madrid) Pete Sampras 1994 Indian Wells, Miami, Rome And here are the Masters Series career totals. Roger Federer is nearing the top of this ranking too. Player ATP Masters Series wins Andre Agassi 17 Pete Sampras 11 Roger Federer 8 Thomas Muster 8 Michael Chang 7 Boris Becker 5 Jim Courier 5 Gustavo Kuerten 5 Marcelo Rios 5 Marat Safin 5 Seven of the nine Masters Series have so far been played in Detailed below are the points won in them by the Top 10 in the Indesit ATP 2005 Race. Player Masters Series points in 2005 Roger Federer 425 Rafael Nadal 371 Guillermo Coria 195 Andre Agassi 186 Andy Roddick 133 Lleyton Hewitt 116 Nikolay Davydenko 103 Gaston Gaudio 103 Marat Safin 68 Mariano Puerta 51 Roger Federer has won nine titles this year, drawing equal with Rafael Nadal. They re followed by Gaston Gaudio with five and Andy Roddick with four The Bryan brothers and Bjorkman- Mirnyi are mathematically qualified for the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai Rafael Nadal leads three of the four service return rankings; Nicolas Kiefer is on top in the break point table 7

8 SPECIAL US OPEN Andy Roddick One Man Show Tennis was invented in England and then dominated by the US. Till a few seasons ago that is. Since computers have been splurging out world rankings, no nation has produced results comparable to America s. 20 years ago there were 27 Americans in the Top 100, ten years on there were 35. Then the collapse. In 1995 there were 12 and today only 10 and, even more worrying, only four of them are in the Top 50 and of those, alas, two (Andre Agassi and Vince Spadea) are already over 30. Even though there are countries which would be overjoyed to have these statistics, for the States they spell crisis almost, considering the only player they have in the Top 5 and with any chance of winning a Slam tournament is Andy Roddick. Agassi chalked up his 60 th ATP title in Los Angeles but he ll need a miracle to win another Slam. Whereas the States have always been used to having at least a couple of top With Agassi nearing the end of his career, the US is relying on Andy Roddick alone to win the major titles and have a No. 1 again. While the Donald Young phenomenon is maturing. Post scriptum Centre court at Flushing Meadows can seat 23,226 spectators. It s the biggest tennis stadium in the world The youngest ever US Open winner is Pete Sampras, who was only 19 years and 28 days when he won in The oldest winner was Ken Rosewall in 1970 (35 years, 10 months 11 days) 8

9 U S O P E N Andre Agassi won his 60 th ATP title in Los Angeles seeds. Connors and McEnroe in the 70-80s, Sampras and Agassi up till the end of the millennium. Now they re lacking supporting talent as well. Taylor Dent is an unfulfilled promise and there aren t many promising young talents in the pipeline. There was talk of Brendan Evans but only talk and types like James Blake, Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri have become good players but not aces. Roddick has the potential to win anywhere (except on clay) but so far he s had the misfortune of coming up against the Federer phenomenon, who s beaten him so often he must be feeling quite discouraged. The numbers say it all. Looking at the country ranking (which sums the rankings of the top three players in each country) the Usa is well placed, but they ve lost their leadership to Argentina and have Russia and Spain at their heels. In terms of Grand Slams, the haven t won a title since the 2003 US Open and in general they ve been overtaken by European countries. The Davis Cup ranking tells a worse tale. The US The Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York Jimmy Connors won 98 matches at Flushing against 17 defeats. Agassi is third equal with Sampras on 71 wins; second is Ivan Lendl on 73 Roger Federer is still unbeaten in Slam title finals, having won all five played In the Open Era, the record number of wins is held by Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras with five, followed by John McEnroe with four and Ivan Lendl with three 9

10 U S O P E N Hall of Fame Here are all the winners of the US Open in the Open Era (since 1968) 1968 Arthur Ashe (USA) 1969 Rod Laver (Aus) 1970 Ken Rosewall (Aus) 1971 Stan Smtih (USA) 1972 Ilie Nastase (Rom) 1973 John Newcombe (Aus) 1974 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1975 Manuel Orantes (Spa) 1976 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1977 Guillermo Vilas (Arg) 1978 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1979 John McEnroe (USA) 1980 John McEnroe (USA) 1981 John McEnroe (USA) 1982 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1983 Jimmy Connors (USA) 1984 John McEnroe (USA) 1985 Ivan Lendl (Rce) 1986 Ivan Lendl (Rce) 1987 Ivan Lendl (Rce) 1988 Mats Wilander (Swe) 1989 Boris Becker (Ger) 1990 Pete Sampras (USA) 1991 Stefan Edberg (Swe) 1992 Stefan Edberg (Swe) 1993 Pete Sampras (USA) 1994 Andre Agassi (USA) 1995 Pete Sampras (USA) 1996 Pete Sampras (USA) 1997 Patrick Rafter (Aus) 1998 Patrick Rafter (Aus) 1999 Andre Agassi (USA) 2000 Marat Safin (Rus) 2001 Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 2002 Pete Sampras (USA) 2003 Andy Roddick (USA) 2004 Roger Federer (Swi) Donald Donald Young Donald Young The future of American tennis is already down in writing, under the name of Donald Young, 16, from Chicago. After his move to Atlanta to develop his game the experts are saying he ll soon be joining the world s elite. Black and left-handed, he s already been nicknamed the Tiger Woods of tennis and the sponsors are all over him as a potential goldmine. He s already debuted on the professional circuit thanks to the invitations that various US tournament organizers are happy to make him. Whether this has done the enfant prodige any good is debatable. He didn t come close to winning any of his six encounters and there is a risk he ll be burned out prematurely. Which is stoutly denied by his managers and his father Donald Senior. In the meantime, he s turned his back on school and is planning a grand future for himself. I want to win all the Grand Slam tournaments. At least twice though, so no one will think it was luck. He has no lack of confidence. What he needs now is results. has always done very well in the Davis Cup but they re now down in 6 th place and this year were eliminated in the first round (at home!) by Croatia. Coming up with new champions isn t easy. Basketball, baseball and American football cream off the best athletic talents and recruiting for tennis is getting increasingly complicated. A lot of hopes are pinned on Donald Young, a 16 year old from Chicago, who the experts say is the most promising young American for the last ten years. John McEnroe is enthusiastic about him and says he s going to be his heir, not just in terms of resuilts but also style and game. Left-handed and with a strong personality, he undoubtedly has extraordinary technical qualities but it s still a long way from the junior tournaments to the professional ones and it requires very careful management. One institution that isn t suffering is the most important tournament the American federation organizes, the US Open, which can boast of being the most widely followed annual sporting event in the world thanks to the over 600,000 spectators that throng Flushing Meadows for two weeks. It s a flagship event for the Usta, which has built the US Open Series around it, a series of tournaments preceding the US Open and offering the winner of this special ranking a million dollar bonus. This has obviously attracted a lot of significant sponsoring business and above all ensured enviable TV coverage and record audiences. As in other sectors, the US has launched a new model here, which others would do well to imitate. Post scriptum Coverage of the US Open will be extraordinary, as usual. In Europe it will be broadcast live and exclusively by the pan-european satellite channel Eurosport and Eurosport 2, which will show matches from the start of the day-time session till the end of the evening session. Commentators will include various champions from the past. 10

11 Top 10 All-time The US Open is the toughest Slam, being played on the scorching New York hardcourts. The last of the year s Slams is often the one that dramatically upsets the world rankings. No surprise then that the US Open All-Time list is headed by Jimbo Connors. *based on the Indesit ATP Race table. 1 2,091 Jimmy Connors (USA) He won it five times in nine years and played in it till he was 40. This, the best loved player in America, used to say that New Yorkers always love a player who shows guts. 2 1,651 Pete Sampras (USA) He too won it five times, the last time in 2002 when no one was expecting it. He won a famous match against Corretja and thrilled the public in a legendary rally with Agassi which was later used in a TV ad. 3 1,585 Ivan Lendl (Rce) With nine finals in a row, who worries if you only win three? Connors did a hatchet job on him in the earlier finals (calling him a rabbit ), but Lendl got his own back later. 4 1,401 Andre Agassi (USA) He s won it twice and is desperate for a third. He d like to retire after a big win but this is frankly beyond his reach. On the other hand, if anyone s capable of pulling off a tennis miracle, it s probably Andre Agassi. 5 1,380 John McEnroe (USA) A great three in row at the end of the 70s and then in his best ever tennis, in the 1984 final. He often destroyed the ambitions of his rival Bjorn Borg and was greatly loved by the crowds because he was born and bred in New York Bjorn Borg (Swe) He gave it all he had but lost all five of the finals he reached. McEnroe and Connors stopped him time after time, even when the Swedish Bear was playing his best Stefan Edberg (Swe) A mere point behind the idol Borg, Stefan The Beautiful won twice at Flushing and always performed consistently there. He s also ahead of his arch rival Boris Becker in this ranking, which will please him enormously Arthur Ashe (USA) He was the winner of the very first US Open, in 1968, and was also the first black player to win a men s singles title. A great man over and above being a magnificent player, the new centre court was named after him Guillermo Vilas (Arg) He took advantage of the years when the US Open was played at Forest Hills, on clay. He won it in 1977, his best year, when he was practically unbeatable on slow courts Mats Wilander (Swe) A little surprise for a player born on clay but who adapted well to faster surfaces. His success in 1988, against Ivan Lendl in five interminable sets, was extraordinary and made him the world No. 1. Country rankings *sum of first three players in the Indesit ATP Entry Ranking Country Total* 1 Argentina 27 Croat fans chant victory over the USA Davis Cup Ranking Country Points 1 Spain 27,225 Over the years the USA has lost its leadership to Argentina, Spain and Russia. Thanks to recent successes by Agassi and Roddick they ve managed put Spain and Russia behind them again but Argentina is still way ahead. 2 USA 37 3 Russia 37 4 Spain 37 5 Sweden 72 6 Czech Rep France 91 8 Germany Belgium Croatia 137 Things aren t going so well in the Davis Cup. In spite of Andre Agassi s return to the team, the States were eliminated at home by Ljubicic and Ancic s Croatia and thus dropped out of the Top 5 of the ITF ranking. 2 Australia 19,000 3 Russia 17,925 4 Spain 17,375 5 Argentina 13,825 6 USA 13,210 7 Croatia 9,475 8 Slovakia 8, Switzerland 6, Belarus 6, th September a charity auction and a party organized by the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame will be held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York The United States have won the highest number of titles in the Open Era followed by Australia with six For further information, please contact Chiara Pascarella (Indesit Company, chiara.pascarella@indesitcompany.com, tel. +39 (0) ) or Valentina Broglia (Indesit Company, valentina.broglia@indesitcompany.com, tel. +39 (0) ) 11

12 Memorabilia A Marat racquet Marat Safin 12 When I was in top form, I managed in just one season to... break around 40 racquets. Tennis is a stressful sport. You have to let off steam sometimes!