Umpires Leave With More Cash in Their Tennis Bag Than the Tennis Players

Money for NothingSome major athletes have made millions by showcasing their talent in public arenas, leaving matches stuffing loads of cash into their tennis bags. Roger Federer, for instance, is the top paid tennis competitor with about 41.8 million in prize winnings.  Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters have also made a pretty penny  by playing in some of the world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments.  Although the lucky few earn a living that would be hard to spend in a lifetime, the payoff for some athletes is surprisingly small. At Futures tennis events, for example, the players may leave with less than the chair umpires.

The USTA Pro Circuit can easily be compared to the minor leagues of tennis. The circuit is composed of 88 events; “Futures” events with the prize money totaling around $10,000 to $15,000 and “Challenger” events with the total prize money running in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

Recently, in Vero Beach, Fla. there was a $10,000 futures event where Australian player, John-Patrick Smith won the title over Brazilian, Pedro Zerbini. The crowd consisted of more than 300 tennis fans that each paid either $10 or $20 for their seat.

Smith`s prize money … Read more at FryingPanSports

The History of the Grand Slam

Originally applied to golfing tournaments in the 1930s, the term “Grand Slam” was first used for tennis by John Kieran, a newspaper columnist. Today, The Grand Slam refers to the four major tournaments in the sport of tennis. The tournaments are ranked according to world tour ranking, public attention, prize-money, number of players and player field size. The four major grand slam tennis tournaments include Wimbledon, The French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open.

Image courtesy of Shreyans Bhansali, Flickr

The term grand slam is used to indicate that a player has won all the four major tennis tournaments in a single calendar year. For many years, the term grand slam has also been used to refer to the major tournaments themselves.
A Timeline of Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Wins
1938: John Donald Budge (Don Budge), the American tennis champion, won all of the four men’s singles titles
1962 & 1969: Rodney George Laver (Rod Laver), the Australian tennis champion, has won the grand slam twice in his seven years as the world’s top ranking tennis star
1969 – 1971: Margaret Smith Court, the Australian World No.1, won the grand slam three times; once for the Ladies’ singles … Read more at FryingPanSports

Famous Tennis Players: Profile of Andy Roddick

When it comes to American tennis, Andy Roddick has been the lone hope for men’s tennis success on the ATP tour.  American tennis fans have been spoiled over the years with incredible amounts of talent.  After Sampras, Agassi, Connors, and other greats, we’ve become greedy for more quality tennis players.  Roddick has proved a solid player, but he hasn’t been able to live up to these great expectations.  Aside from his single US Open title, Roddick has been unable to capture any other major tournament trophies.  His modus operandi has been consistency over the years, rather than big victories.  Roddick nears the end of a great career where he has been a permanent fixture in the top ten, but his inability to win big titles has been frustrating for both him and the American fans.

The Andy Roddick Tennis Game and Serve

Roddick is among the greatest tennis players famous for their serves.  The Roddick serve was consistently the biggest of his day, often nearing 140 mph.  His serve at 155 mph held the record for fastest until Ivo Karlovic one upped him with a 156 mph one.  Serving has always been a staple of the Roddick game, … Read more at FryingPanSports

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2011

As the tennis season comes to a close, the last big tournament of the year is the special qualification event in London.  The ATP Barclays is unique because the draw is limited to the top eight players in the ATP tour rankings for the year.  This means that we get to witness an event that exhibits the best players who have been performing well all year long.  The draw isn’t like a normal tournament, instead it begins with round robin play that eliminates half the field.  The semi finals and finals are played in a more standard fashion, but the quality of tennis always promises to be incredible.  Players have direct incentive for each match because the  point and prize distribution for the Barclays tennis tournament depends on each individual victory.

Looking Back at the ATP Finals 2010

The tournament last year ended up in a heated final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.  Federer had something to prove after having a less than stellar year, and prove it he did.  He took down Nadal, who was ranked number one at the time, in three fantastic sets.  The Barclays world tour finals is one event that Nadal has never managed … Read more at FryingPanSports

Djokovic Wakes up from 2011 Dream Season

Coming off his incredible win over Nadal in the US Open tennis final, Djokovic was unable to complete his Davis Cup match due to a lingering back injury.  The injury first made an appearance during the final with Nadal.  With only a short rest period between the final and his Davis Cup match, Djokovic was unable to recover properly and retired after losing the the first set.

Novak Djokovic’s 2011 Season

Looking back it has been quite a year for the young Serbian player.  To start off 2011 he notched 41 consecutive wins that led him to hoist his second major Australian Open title, along with a slew of victories at other prestigious events.  He was indeed the man to beat, and for 41 matches no one was able to.

An on form Federer stopped the streak in the semi-final of the French Open at Roland Garros.  Federer played inspired tennis, dismissing the circulating rumors of his demise from the top of men’s tennis.  This was a temporary lull however, as Djokovic returned to form and snatched the Wimbledon championship to add to his list of major titles.

Fast forward to the present.  We have a new US Open … Read more at FryingPanSports

The difference between winning and losing is work ethic and mental toughness.

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What did we learn from the British Open?

Tom Watson gave all of us that are older than dirt and even a few that are older than rock a warm feeling by his outstanding British Open. Watson is almost 60. He fought back several times and came within inches of winning the tournament in regulation. Granted, he missed a makable putt on the 18th green to fall into a playoff and then struggled in overtime. However, his performance along with that of Greg Norman last year at the British point out 2 very important points. First, the British Open requires a lot more patience than strength and more experience than power. But the most important lesson from the Open is this. Younger players in almost all sports win or lose based on work ethic and mental toughness more often than on talent and athleticism.

In general, the work ethic of the current group of golfers is not nearly what it was in the days of Nicholas, Palmer, and Player. The equipment is much better now. The athleticism is at a higher level than in the 60’s through the 80’s. One reason that Tiger Woods has been able to … Read more at FryingPanSports