TENNIS in DEPTH.

My holiday is close to its end, and at the end of the week the preparations for the rest of the season begin,’ said Nole.

 He looks on the bright side because he’s only 22. He has a lot of time and chance to play better and make greater achievement at Wimbledon in future.

Nole was questioned about the factors that contibute to the performance of all players. He was asked about  Ana and Jelena.

‘Pressures are an integral part of every professional athlete, not only athletes and tennis players, but all the people who live on this planet. Everyone goes through it in their own way, but it is not important how many times you fall, but how many times you stand up.’

Novak mentioned the schedule of tournaments, which is ‘overcrowded’ and difficult, tennis players almost every week travel to different continents and therefore can not stay fresh and give their maximum.

‘I think that we are special people, when it comes to tennis. I don’t blame the people who require high performance, the continuity of our results, because we made the expansion of this sport a few years ago.’

The talk was continued with the questions related to the tournament in Madrid, surely the unforgettable match against Rafa, probably the turning point in the continuation of their careers. Nole thinks that Nadal now feels the bad side of all the physical efforts, that he’s having a hard time, and sincerely hopes that the Spaniard will return quickly to the court.

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World number one Roger Federer’s daughters are less than 48 hours old but bookmakers on Friday had already posted odds on the twins winning Wimbledon.

British bookies Ladbrokes were offering 100-1 for either Charlene Riva or Myla Rose to win the grasscourt title just a day after Federer’s wife Mirka, 31, gave birth to the tots.

The twins, whose Swiss father has won a record 15 grand slam titles, were also 25-1 to claim one of the four slams with all bets based on either doing so before their 25th birthdays.

The girls, who were born at a private clinic in Switzerland on Thursday, are 50-1 to win a grand slam as part of the same doubles team and 200-1 to take the Wimbledon doubles crown.

“The twins certainly come from good tennis stock. If they are half as good as their dad they will still be a potent force on the court,” said Ladbrokes spokesman Nick Weinberg.

American Andy Roddick, who the 27-year-old Federer beat in last month’s Wimbledon final to claim his 15th grand slam, sent a message from his Twitter page about the twins.

It read: “Wimbledon women’s champs in 2029-2040 …. the Federer girls: congrats to the new parents!”

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Dmitry Tursunov saw his run at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships halted at the quarter-final stage by Frank Dancevic.

The top seed had been aiming to reach his third successive final at the tournament, which he won in 2007 at the expense of Dancevic, and things looked promising when the Russian took the opening set.

But Dancevic hit back to claim a 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 victory, his first win over Tursunov in four career meetings.

The Canadian will now face third seed Sam Querrey in the last four. The American overcame seventh-seeded Frenchman Marc Giquel 6-4 7-5.

Qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr saw his challenge ended by American compatriot Robby Ginepri, who recorded a 7-5 6-1 victory.

John Isner completed the semi-final line-up with his hard-fought 7-5 6-7 (2/7) 7-5 win over Wayne Odesnik.

Dancevic, at No. 121 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, was the last direct acceptance into the main draw, just as he was two years ago. “I drove down from Niagara to Detroit to pick up my girlfriend and I said ‘Let’s do it again!’ I got here Thursday thinking I was playing qualies, then I got the good news that I was the last direct acceptance,” Dancevic said. “I am just very happy to be in the semi-finals in Indianapolis once again.”

Against Tursunov, the 24 year old was broken when he served for the second set at 5-3, but he went on to win the tie-break to force a third set, in which he broke the Russian twice, first at 1-1 and again at 4-2.

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A PRODIGY, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a highly gifted child or youth; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration.”

Tennis is a sport in which prodigies periodically emerge like butterflies from a cocoon. Sometimes as young as 5 or 6, and not much bigger than the rackets they wield, destiny’s children swat fuzzy balls around and perform as if they were genetically engineered to win Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

Once identified as prodigies, the select few often are sent away to tennis-intensive learning academies where academic studies are interspersed with hours of on-court instruction. Such sequestering is essential because, as has been demonstrated by the success arc of other youthful wonders, great talent needs to be nurtured ever so carefully, and from an early age.

By any definition, 14-year-old Madison Keys, the newest and youngest member of the Freedoms, is a prodigy. The fledgling professional is 5-10 and possesses a serve that has been clocked at 114 mph, which already puts her in the upper tier of power players on the women’s tour.

Imagine what she might become once she grows into her still-developing body. John Evert has.

“I’m not one of those coaches who will boast about every young protégé that comes along,” said Evert, whose renowned sister, Chris Evert, was the winner of 18 women’s Grand Slam singles titles and unanimously voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995. “If 10 come along and one makes it big, then you look like a genius.

“But I will say that Madison was a very, very good athlete from the time I first saw her [when she was 8]. The thing I liked about her was her mental makeup. Not only was she passionate about playing tennis, but she was having a lot of fun at the same time.”

Evert, who has served as Keys’ coach at the Evert Tennis Academy, in Boca Raton, Fla., for 5-plus years, might have been reluctant to heap too much praise on the kid before her age had reached double-digits. But now that Keys is playing for pay in selected tournaments, and is the youngest player ever in World TeamTennis – she is 17 days younger than Maria Sharapova was when she made her WTT debut – Evert is willing to venture an opinion as to just how bright a future awaits his prize pupil.

“I identify talent for IMG [the management company that has Keys under contract],” Evert said. “I’ve seen a lot of these young girls coming up the ranks. I managed Mary Joe Fernandez and Jennifer Capriati. I think Capriati was as good or better than anyone at an early age. She had four wins over top 10 players in her first 3 months on the tour.

“If someone says that this or that girl is going to be the No. 1 player in the world someday, your natural tendency is to be a little skeptical. But nothing surprises me about Madison. For her, the sky’s the limit.”

How Keys became involved in tennis makes for an interesting story. It wasn’t so much the sport that attracted her as the flashy outfits being worn by her favorite player, Venus Williams.

“My parents were watching Wimbledon on television and I walked through their room,” said Keys, who was only 4 at the time. “I saw Venus’ outfit and I asked my dad if I could have one. He said, ‘Only if you start playing tennis.’ ”

So it was off to the store for the toddler’s first racket, the beginning of a love affair with the game that has continued to intensify. Little Madison – well, not so little given her growth spurts – first attended a camp at the Evert Tennis Academy when she was 8, at which point another coach told John Evert to check her out.

A year and a half later, Keys’ mother, Christine, packed up Madison and her two younger sisters to relocate from their home in Milan, Ill., outside of Chicago, to Boca Raton. Madison’s father, Rick, an attorney as is Christine, visits whenever possible, and is making arrangements for a permanent move that would reunite the entire family.

Keys made her Women’s Tennis Association debut in April in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where she upset – at least it was an upset on paper – Alla Kudryavtseva, then the 81st-ranked player in the world, 7-5, 6-4.

Keys’ age precludes her from playing a heavy WTA schedule and, besides, Evert frets that too busy a workload would lead to the sort of injuries that prematurely ended the careers of past prodigies Andrea Jaeger and Tracy Austin. But the WTT offers a reasonable alternative to life on the road before Keys is mentally and physically ready.

“It’s going to be a good fit,” Evert said of Keys joining the Freedoms. “Lisa Raymond [of Wayne] is going to be a great mentor. Maybe she’ll teach Madison a couple of tricks of the trade in doubles. And Venus is going to play for the Freedoms, too.”

Being on the same team, at least occasionally, with Venus – whom she has never met or spoken to – is a thrill for Keys, who still likes her role model’s distinctive tennis attire. She also might find herself on the other side of the net when Venus’ sister, Serena, comes in with the Washington Kastles on July 13( a match on the outdoor court at the Plaza in King of Prussia that Madison won!).

Courtesy of Bernard Fernandez.

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Top seed Dinara Safina and defending champion Sara Errani raced into the semi-finals of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open.

World number one Safina, making her first tournament appearance since winning only one game in her Wimbledon semi-final defeat by Venus Williams, eased past Maria Elena Camerin 6-3 6-0 in Portoroz.

Italy’s Errani, the fifth seed, was also an easy winner as she ended the run of Croatian wild card Petra Martic 6-1 6-1.

Errani next faces Stefanie Voegele, who defeated Rossana De Los Rios 6-1 6-1, while Alberta Brianti saw off Camille Pin 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting with Safina in the last four.

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The 2009 US Open will be played August 31 – September 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Both the men’s and women’s US Open singles champions will earn $1.6 million with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money (for a total $2.6 million potential payout) based on their performances in the Olympus US Open Series. The US Open Women’s Singles Championship is presented by JPMorgan Chase.

Leading the entry list is world No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia, who appeared in the final this year at both the Australian Open and French Open. Following Safina on the entry list are No. 2 Serena Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the defending US Open champion who also won in 1999 and 2002; No. 3 Venus Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the 2000 and 2001 US Open champion; No. 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia, the 2004 US Open runner-up; No. 5 Kuznetsova of Russia, the reigning French Open champion; No. 6 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the 2008 US Open runner-up; No. 7 Vera Zvonareva of Russia; No. 8 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus; No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark; and No. 10 Nadia Petrova of Russia.

Other American women who received direct entry into this year’s tournament include No. 71 Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga.; No. 73 Jill Craybas of Huntington Beach, Calif.; No. 81 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix, Ariz.; and No. 86 Varvara Lepchenko of Allentown, Pa. Additionally, Meghann Shaughnessy of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Laura Granville of Chicago used special rankings of No. 61 and No. 84, respectively, to also gain direct entry.

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Pete Sampras will lead the field of champions returning to The Palisades Country Club in Charlotte to compete in the $150,000 Breezeplay Championships at The Palisades, to be held September 24-27.

Joining Sampras to compete on the hard court stadium court at The Palisades will be defending champion Jim Courier, Hall of Famer Mats Wilander and three-time finalist Todd Martin.

Sampras will be competing in Charlotte for a second time after capturing the title in 2007. The seven-time Wimbledon champion and owner of 14 major singles titles won the title in Charlotte two years ago defeating Todd Martin 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match. Earlier this year, Sampras won Outback Champions Series events in Boston and Los Cabos, Mexico. He will be seeking his sixth career Outback Champions Series event in Charlotte after joining the global champions tennis circuit in 2007.

Courier will be seeking his third title in Charlotte after winning titles at The Palisades in 2006, defeating Martin 5-7, 7-6 (6), (10-4 in Champions Tie-Breaker) in the final, and in 2008, defeating Martin again 6-2, 3-6, (10-5 in Champions Tie-Breaker) in the final. Courier, a two-time French and Australian Open champion, currently leads the rankings on the Outback Champions Series with 2000 points, followed by Sampras with 1600 points and John McEnroe with 1300 points.

Wilander will be making his debut in Charlotte in 2009. Like Sampras and Courier, Wilander is a former world No. 1 player and has won three French and Australian Open titles and one U.S. Open singles title.

Martin has played in Charlotte in all three previous editions of the event, reaching the championship match all three times — losing to Courier in 2006 and 2008 and to Sampras in 2007. Martin was a singles finalist at the Australian Open in 1994 and the US Open in 1999.

 The remaining players in the Breezeplay field will be announced at a later date.

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In a joint initiative with the United Nations Development Program, Maria Sharapova has launched a foundation to distribute scholarships among first-year students at Belarusian State University throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. The $3,500 scholarships will be open to Belarus residents attending BSU, who come from areas formally recognized as affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

The Maria Sharapova Foundation scholarships will be distributed to non-fee-paying and fee-paying students, according to the BSU press office. Recipients should actively participate in public, research and volunteer activities, and should have a high average grade in their general education school diplomas. The scholarships can be extended every semester based on reviews of the student’s academic performance. The program is expected to have an initial run of four years, with funds totaling $210,000.

“It has always been my dream of to contribute to the recovery of a region where I have a personal connection,” Sharapova said. “Enabling talented young people to pursue higher education is part of a broader effort to build a brighter future for the region.”

Sharapova’s father and pregnant mother fled Homyel, a town 80 miles north of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, shortly after the accident in April 1986. She was born in a Siberian city months later.

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