Hi there,
The news calls for near gale-force winds and a week of rain...welcome to Wimbledon!
Well, despite the British heavens reminding the traveling tennis troupes where they are, at 2:30 p.m. Roger Federer and Teimuraz Gabashvili, a Russian making his Wimbledon debut, took the court. After a short warm-up, and a few spare drops of rain, the reigning champ zipped off his snowy white track pants and stepped forward to claim his first, of potentially seven, victims. Due to the chilly climate, the Swiss wore a v-neck sweater with a gold crest that resembles royal but is Nike.
With the home crowd's disappointment in Scot Andy Murray's wrist injury keeping him from competition, all hopes are on Tim Henman's 15th bid at The Championships. The U.K. is fielding seven gentlemen and five ladies in the singles competitions. The United States' chances are higher in numbers with 15 men and 11 women in the main draw for singles, with the best chances going to third-seeded Andy Roddick on the men's side, and 7th-seeded Serena Williams in the ladies' draw. Bob and Mike Bryan are here to defend the doubles championship.
All eyes will be on the grass court action, but the International Tennis Federation is working on getting feet on courts.
Keep reading... |
| ITF launches effort to grow tennis globally |
 The International Tennis Federation, backed by governing bodies on the recreational and pro sides of the sport, have launched "Tennis...Play and Stay" to attract new players and hook them.
The unique approach scales the game to starter players so they can achieve success quickly. A smaller court, lighter balls and different sized racquets are appropriated for the size or age of the new player.
"Our research proved that, on the whole, although tennis did an okay job at attracting players, it wasn't so good at retaining them," explains James Newman of ITF Development. "The response from nations, the professional tours and manufacturers so far has been very positive."
In fact, Brazil and Israel launched the program more than one month before the official kick-off on June 20. The ATP and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour have been filming player endorsements for the program over the last several weeks.
The U.S. Tennis Association plans to adapt the program for implementation in its introductory curriculum.
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| Five Questions with...Rene Stauffer |
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Rene Stauffer is a Swiss sports journalist who started covering Roger Federer in 1996 when the now 10-time Grand Slam champion was 15 years old. The English translations of his unauthorized biography officially debuts on this first day of Wimbledon.
Q. How cooperative was Roger Federer with you toward writing the book? I have done a lot of interviews with Roger over the years and asked him basically all the questions I ever had. Roger gave me the green light for this book, but he did not want to put out his official biography as of now.
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| Latest Research: Racquet sales are up |
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 From the Tennis Industry Association
Research on Q1 sales shows that the largest growth category among racquets is super premium sticks. Sales increased 32.1 percent in dollars and 22 percent in units compared to the first quarter of 2006. Also, sales of youth racquets were up 17.6 percent in dollars and 14.6 percent in units over 2006. The Tennis Industry Association is the #1 source for tennis research. You can join for as little as $100.
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