Busy day in the tennisphere...
- Soooooo lookie (up) there. If it isn't our old friend, the ex-Worm loving Czech lady baller who retired at the age of 20, Nicole Vaidisova. She was hugely talented, although I always thought her backhand technique was, er, funky. But Vaida had big wins and was on her way up before calling it quits. Then there was the marriage to Radek Stepanek. Let's not relive that one. Apparently she's back to practicing and feeling good: These last couple weeks Im finally able to serve with less pain then i have in over 3 years, it makes me hopeful and happy to see progress after struggling the last couple years with repeated surgeries,rehabs and setbacks..its one step at a time but finally getting a step closer..
- Remember when I mentioned there would likely be more baller-coach partnerships ending? Well...
Sloane Stephens splits with coach Paul Annacone via release from her management company. #wta
— Douglas Robson (@dougrobson) July 23, 2014
Release calls split after 8 months “amicable.” Annacone said they couldn’t get “desired consistency” which caused “doubt” & confusion."
— Douglas Robson (@dougrobson) July 23, 2014
You can read more here. - Speaking of coaching partnerships, Ana Ivanovic, who recently split with Nemanja Kontic, will be working with former baller Dejan Petrovic on a trial basis through the North American hard-court season. Here's an all-black look she posted on Instagram today for a photoshoot in Napa Valley. Innnteresting.
- Ben Rothenberg on what Neil Harman said to him after being busted for plagiarism: “As you can imagine, I’m utterly, utterly shocked by the whole thing. It’s left me numb.” He said he “had no idea of the extent to which I have unfairly used other people’s words.” Um, I'm not even going to go into how lame Neil's explanations are and how disingenuous his remorse feels. He's clearly in deep denial and reaching for any excuse to save face. There was no public apology when he was first confronted with the evidence - only when it was about to go public. What I really want to know is who at the All England Club will be held responsible for trying to keep it all quiet; for allowing the Wimbledon Yearbook to still be sold even though they knew sections were plagiarized; and for still giving Neil media access at Wimbledon this year even after the plagiarism was discovered? Somebody has some explaining to do. A MUST READ OBVI.
- John Tomic is disputing news from IMG Tennis that both parties agreed to end the partnership with his son, Bernie. On July 16, the sports agency tweeted that they "mutually ended" their relationship with Bernie and wished him "great success." Papa Johns was no having any of it. He told Fairfax Media that they had been looking to leave IMG for the last year-and-a-half, but the agency wanted compensation to cover any losses they would incur from losing Bernie. Uh-huh.
- Caroline Wozniacki's dog, Bruno, has its own jersey courtesy of adidas. Because dogs are awesome.
- Andy Murray has been posting a bunch of training photos and videos on his Facebook page (I found the vid below on drills without actually hitting a tennis ball particularly fascinating). You can see Amelie Mauresmo in some of the photos which some believe signifies Muzz's intention on keeping the partnership intact. Perhaps. There hasn't been a formal announcement yet, but according to The Telegraph "the fact that Mauresmo has travelled to Miami, breaking her habit of holidaying in Biarritz in late July, suggests that she is committed to the project over the longer term." Solid reporting, y'all.
UPDATE: According to Matt Cronin of Tennisreporters.net, Sloane has brought on Thomas Hogstedt as coach. He has worked with Maria Sharapova, Li Na, and Caroline Wozniacki among others. Speaking of others, wasn't he just with Daniela Hantuchova at Wimbledon? What happened - was it just for the grass-court season?
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