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(September 5, 2009 - Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images North America)
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Austrian tennis player Daniel Koellerer became the first player banned for life for match-fixing, losing his appeal at sport’s highest court on Friday.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the challenge to a ban imposed by the Tennis Integrity Unit created by the professional tours and international governing body.
Koellerer allegedly “made invitations to other tennis players to fix matches on five occasions,” the court said in a statement. “The panel ruled that the tennis governing bodies had met their burden of proof.”
However, the court decided Koellerer should not pay a $100,000 fine previously ordered.
“The player did not benefit financially from any of the charges for which he has been found liable,” according to the panel of three arbitrators.
Koellerer was the first player banned for life for attempted corruption after being found guilty of violations from October 2009 to July 2010.
He challenged his expulsion at a two-day CAS hearing held last November. The court upheld his ban, “acknowledging that the sanction was sufficiently high enough to reflect the seriousness of the corruption offences.”
Koellerer’s ranking peaked at No. 55 in October 2009.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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This is how I always remember Fernando Gonzalez, as he made a memorable run to the Australian Open final in 2007.
It was then that he stopped aging. This was his peak. Congrats on a great career.. let’s hope for a few more rounds in Miami.
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The Top 50 Tennis Blogs
Presented by VeteransBenefitsGIBill.com, your guide to Post 9/11 GI Bill Military Education Benefits.
When it comes to sports that are both challenging and social, it’s hard to beat tennis. Played as singles or doubles, this traditional court game provides a fantastic work out and also a great opportunity to socialize.
Tennis is about pushing yourself to the next level of tennis expertise and finessing your serve and return skills as you go along. It’s by no means an easy sport, but the rewarding feeling of progressing to the next level makes it more than worth the effort.
A wealth of tennis information and tips on how to improve your tennis game can be found online. Tennis players tend to be very passionate about their sport, and are keen to pass their knowledge on to other players.
Our team at VeteransBenefitsGIBill has rounded up some of the very best tennis blogs that serve as excellent resources for tennis advice, knowledge and the latest news and updates on the professional world of tennis.
These blogs will inform you on how to improve your game and strokes as well where the best tennis clubs are located. You can even use these sites to connect with tennis players to play future games with.
We are happy to award badges to each of our bloggers that made the list, and we encourage you to share our list of blogs with others who are interested in this exciting sport.
Congratulations to the bloggers that have made the list and have fun on the courts!
Tennis on Tennis has been Awarded as one of the Top 50 Tennis Blogs of 2012
For the full list of great tennis sites that are a part of this list please visit http://www.veteransbenefitsgibill.com/top-tennis-blogs/
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FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, written and directed by Gerda Stevenson.
New York, New York – February 29, 2012 - 59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Glasgow-based Communicado Theatre Company to the Scotland Week celebrations with the US premiere of FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, written and directed by Gerda Stevenson.
FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY begins performances on Wednesday, April 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 22. Press opening is Tuesday, April 10 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Please note: the performances on Saturday, April 7 are at 4 PM and 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues).
Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members).
To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Comedy and tragedy collide in FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, a “taut and punchy” (The Independent) new play about bereavement and war on three levels: man versus wife, nation against nation, and Scotland’s golden boy versus the Swiss master at Wimbledon. From a claustrophobic flat in Scotland to the Swiss Alps via Afghanistan we follow Flo and Jimmy on a painful, and at times farcical journey, complete with war-paint and saxophones.
FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY was short listed for the London Fringe Theatre Writing Award in 2010 when it premiered at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. It subsequently went on to the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it played the Assembly Hall.
The cast features Gerda Stevenson as Flo and Dave Anderson as Jimmy. Young Scottish jazz sensation Ben Bryden (Le Poisson Rouge, The Iridium) plays saxophone live onstage.
Gerda Stevenson (writer/director/actor) trained at RADA and has worked for over 30 years on stage, television, radio and film throughout Britain and abroad. Federer Versus Murray was first produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow, and was short listed for the London Festival Fringe Theatre Writing Award, 2010. Gerda writes regularly for radio – most recently The Apple Tree (BBC Radio 4), starring Juliet Stevenson. She has dramatized many major Scottish novels for BBC Radio 4′s Classic Serial, including Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song and Sir Walter Scott’s epic The Heart of Midlothian (in which she played the heroine Jeanie Deans). Gerda can be heard regularly on the ‘wireless’ in BBC Radio 4′s hugely popular Paul Temple Series, playing the role of Steve – the hero’s feisty wife. She has been nominated twice for the Critic’s Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for her performances as Nancy in Frozen and The Lasses, O. Film and TV appearances include Blue Black Permanent (BAFTA Best Film Actress Award), Braveheart, The Boyhood of John Muir (PBS, USA), Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat, Taggart and The Bill. Gerda has directed for opera, film, radio and theatre, including plays by Rona Munro, Peter Arnott, and Jackie Kay. Her poetry and prose have been published widely in literary magazines and anthologies.
via: TalkinBroadway.com
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Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will take on World No. 7 Tomas Berdych for a place in the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open. It has been a fairly manageable draw for both players, but the real challenge begins now.
A year ago Nadal was the ruling figure on the Men’s tour. He had, after all, just completed one of the better seasons in recent history. However, his health prevented him from advancing past the quarterfinal stage of the 2011 Australian Open, where he lost to David Ferrer. Though Nadal managed to win three titles after that, including French Open title, 2011 would be considered an off year.
2011 would instead be remembered for the surge of Novak Djokovic. Djokovic beat Nadal in six finals in 2011 and sent Nadal back to Spain to re-evaluate his game, in an effort to beat Djokovic.
On the other side of the net will be Czech Tomas Berdych. He has won six ATP World Tour titles in his career. He achieved a career high ranking of World No. 6 in 2010. Berdych comes into the quarterfinal after a bit of controversy stemming from his 4th round match against Nicolas Almagro. Berdych refused to shake hands at the net, following their match. This was in response to what he felt was an unnecessary attempt to hit Berdych with the ball, while at net. I fully expect the crowd to not only place their loyalties with Nadal, but also make sure Berdych hears them doing so.
In head-to-head, Nadal leads 10-3. However, this match could be tighter then many expect. I expect Nadal to come through in 4 sets, but I also wouldn’t be surprised with an upset. Had Berdych not acted so foolishly in the previous round, I would have picked him to win.
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AFP PHOTO / PAUL CROCK
World No. 3 Roger Federer takes on Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the first of two quarterfinal matches on Tuesday in Melbourne. The two have met nine times previously, with their most notable battle in the 2009 US Open final, which was won by del Potro. The Argentine prevented Federer from winning sixth consecutive US Open title, and also announced himself as a serious contender.
It has been a pretty straight forward draw for both players to this point. Federer started against Alex Kudryavtsev, and moved into the third round after he was given a walkover by Andreas Beck. He faced big serving Ivo Karlovic and then local favorite Bernard Tomic. Federer has not dropped a set to this point. It is Federer’s 31st consecutive quarterfinal appearance, and he will be playing in his 1,000th ATP level match. He has won 1,999 sets to this point in his career. Federer brings along a 23 match winning streak into this match.
Del Potro had to beat Adrian Mannarino in the opening round and then followed that up with easy victories against Blaz Kavcic, Yen-hsun Lu and Philipp Kohlschreiber en route to the quarterfinals.
Del Potro was forced to miss the entire 2010 season due to a wrist injury, but has battled his way back to the top 10 in the world. Del Potro is still considered a dark-horse, however, any player would be foolish to think that way.
Last year, Del Potro claimed two ATP World Tour titles and also earned the ATP comeback player of the year award. He also led his country to Davis Cup final.
This will be the tenth meeting between the two, with Federer leading 9-2 in the head-to-head. In their last meeting Federer beat the Argentine in the second-round of the Cincinnati ATP Masters, in straight sets.
I expect this to be a tightly contested match up. With the current form that Federer has been showing since his US Open loss to Djokovic, he should be able to come through. Federer in four.
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Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, in the same half of a Grand Slam singles draw for the first time since 2005, are well on their way to a potential semifinal matchup at the Australian Open.
Neither Federer or Nadal have dropped a set, although Federer enjoyed a walkover win in the second round. The longtime rivals played back-to-back matches at Rod Laver Arena on Friday afternoon, something that doesn’t usually happen until the semis. Nadal showed no problems of his recent knee concerns, while moving briskly around the court in a 6-2 6-4 6-2 win over qualifier Lukas Lacko.
Federer followed in a tricky third round match up, by defeating Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (6) 7-5 6-3, saving a set point in the tiebreaker with a surprising lob from in close to the net over the 6-foot-10 Croatian. Federer will play Australian teenager Bernard Tomic on Sunday in the round of 16.
“He gave me a second serve and gave me a slight chance,” Federer said. “Might have had a little bit of a lucky volley. …”
“It was unlucky … one in a 100 that I’m going to lose that point,” Karlovic said. “I didn’t really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different, but that’s life.”
Nadal had few problems in his match against Lacko. His main concern is the durability of his knee, after he felt a sharp pain while sitting in his chair in his hotel on the weekend.
Nadal says “the knee is fine … being in the fourth round without losing a set, it’s fantastic news.”
Nadal will next meet Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who defeated No. 16 John Isner 6-3 6-7 (3) 6-4 6-7 (0) 6-1.
It is the first time in the Open Era that no American men have reached the fourth round at the Australian Open. The last American to win the Australian Open was Andre Agassi in 2003, his third win in four years at Melbourne Park.
“It’s very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16 … very disappointing, not a good effort from the Americans,” Isner said. “We’ve got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around.”
No. 7 Tomas Berdych beat No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-1 and will next play No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat 21st-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-4.
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3), 11th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 and Tomic defeated 13th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 4-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3. Del Potro plays Kohlschreiber in the fourth round.
Defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray, who has lost in the final at Melbourne Park the last two years, play their third-round matches Saturday, with a Djokovic-Murray replay only possible in the semis.
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By now we have all seen the above video. It was interesting to find out that Baghdatis is no longer sponsored by Tecnifibre, who chose not to renew his deal following the 2011 season.
“Our contract with Marcos ended with the end of this year 2011 and we recently decide[d] not to extend it,” Said a spokesman, Sebastien Grimaud. “Our relations [have] weakened the last few months and we were not 100% sure he could represent Tecnifibre state of mind any longer.”
That is a unique way to express your dislike over a breakup.
Quote courtesy of Jeff Bercovici, Forbes Staff
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY: FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2012
Matches to Watch:
Rafael Nadal vs Lukas Lacko – Not before 11:00am Rod Laver Arena (4:00pm PST)
Roger Federer vs Ivo Karlovic – Not Before 11:00am Rod Laver Arena 2nd on (4:00pm PST)
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs Bernard Tomic – Not Before 7:00pm Rod Laver Arena 1st on (12:00am PST)
John Isner vs Feliciano Lopez – Not before 11:00pm Hisense 3rd on (4:00pm PST)
Tomas Berdych vs Kevin Anderson – Not before 11:00pm Margaret Court Arena 3rd on (4:00pm PST)
Australian Open 2012 Day 5
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