TENNIS in DEPTH.

Rising tennis teen Bernard Tomic will finetune for the Australian Open by playing at the World Tennis Challenge.

Tomic, 17, has agreed to play in the novel World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide next January.

The Adelaide tournament, in which a retired star partners a current player in a teams format, ends only four days before the Australian Open starts in Melbourne.

Tomic will partner Wimbledon champ Pat Cash, who at age 44 is 27 years his senior.

The Tomic–Cash combination will represent Australasia in the Adelaide event, opposed to three teams – the Americas, Europe and the Internationals.

The Americas team features 50-year-old John McEnroe and Robbie Ginepri while French 46-year-old Henri Leconte will play for Europe with an as yet un-named teammate.

World No.14 Radek Stepanek will head the Internationals with a yet to be announced retired player.

Tomic this year became the youngest player in the Open era to win a main draw match at the Australian Open.

Currently ranked 286 in the world, Tomic expects to be given a wildcard into next year’s Australian Open.

“I can’t wait to play in Adelaide … playing alongside some of the greats will be a great learning curve,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“WTC is a fantastic concept and I think it will be great to play with Pat alongside some of the legends of the game.

“I think Adelaide is ideal preparation for the Australian Open.”

The WTC, first held earlier this year, will be held at Adelaide’s Memorial Drive from January 12 to 14.

The format pits the two current players against each other, followed by the past players. The teams then join for a doubles match.

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• Young Tomic debuts in style for Australia.
• Everything is ‘cool’ between Tomic and Hewitt.

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The Family Circle Cup is adding men’s tennis and music to spice up the 2010 event.

Tennis legends John McEnroe and Jim Courier will join Anna Kournikova and a fourth player to be announced in singles and doubles action on April 17, the same day the Cup semifinals are held at the Family Circle Tennis Center.

The Blue Dogs, a Charleston-based rock band, will perform throughout the day and wrap up the festivities with a concert that night in Family Circle Stadium.

The Family Circle Cup will be played April 10-18 on Daniel Island. Maria Sharapova, the former No. 1 player in the world, and 18-year-old American star Melanie Oudin have already committed to play in the tournament.

“We are planning this night of fun and excitement to celebrate a decade of tennis in Charleston,” said Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup tournament manager. “Our patrons have really enjoyed the mixed doubles exhibitions we’ve held in previous years, so we’re bringing some of the most exciting tennis celebrities to Daniel Island for this special evening session to be held during the finals weekend.”

Tickets for the exhibition match and concert will be sold as a standalone ticketed session. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. next Friday through Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone (800) 745-3000, local Publix outlets and at the Family Circle Tennis Center ticket office. Box level seating will be available for $35, terrace level for $25, and grandstand for $15.

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Rising tennis teen Bernard Tomic will finetune for the Australian Open by playing at the World Tennis Challenge.

Tomic, 17, has agreed to play in the novel World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide next January.

The Adelaide tournament, in which a retired star partners a current player in a teams format, ends only four days before the Australian Open starts in Melbourne.

Tomic will partner Wimbledon champ Pat Cash, who at age 44 is 27 years his senior.

The Tomic–Cash combination will represent Australasia in the Adelaide event, opposed to three teams – the Americas, Europe and the Internationals.

The Americas team features 50-year-old John McEnroe and Robbie Ginepri while French 46-year-old Henri Leconte will play for Europe with an as yet un-named teammate.

World No.14 Radek Stepanek will head the Internationals with a yet to be announced retired player.

Tomic this year became the youngest player in the Open era to win a main draw match at the Australian Open.

Currently ranked 286 in the world, Tomic expects to be given a wildcard into next year’s Australian Open.

“I can’t wait to play in Adelaide … playing alongside some of the greats will be a great learning curve,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“WTC is a fantastic concept and I think it will be great to play with Pat alongside some of the legends of the game.

“I think Adelaide is ideal preparation for the Australian Open.”

The WTC, first held earlier this year, will be held at Adelaide’s Memorial Drive from January 12 to 14.

The format pits the two current players against each other, followed by the past players. The teams then join for a doubles match.

Related Posts:

• Tomic and Cash team up for World Tennis Challenge.
• Tomic continues to improve.
• Young Tomic debuts in style for Australia.

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Novak Djokovic is certainly making an impression in New York. Not only has he glided almost unnoticed into the latter stages of the US Open, but his mischievous sense of humour has also won him a legion of fans.

In the early hours of this morning he claimed two more victims. First was the small matter of his fourth-round match against Radek Stepanek. With that taken care of in three straight sets, he turned his attention to a court legend: John McEnroe. (Watch the video clip on the YouTube screen below).

Already known for his humorous impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, the Serb added the Super Brat to his repertoire.

Mimicking the mannerisms and serving style of McEnroe, Djokovic paced the baseline and hurled the ball high into the air before hitting it hard into the net. In mock disgust, he threw his racket to the ground, pointed at the line and screamed at an imaginary umpire, “It was wide!” before the obligatory “You cannot be serious” rant had 10,000 spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium roaring with laughter.

Urged by Djokovic to come and join him, McEnroe sportingly left his position in the commentary box, came down onto the court and took up the gauntlet of playing a couple of points.

The 50-year-old three-time Wimbledon champion did his own impersonation of the 2008 Australian Open champion, bouncing the ball repeatedly low to the court, before swinging a serve out wide and dispatching a deep volley for a winner.

“Johnny Mac made it all happen,” Djokovic said. “It wasn’t easy coming down in jeans and a shirt but he made it all fun.”

“What I’ve done in 2007 with those impersonations and tonight playing with Johnny Mac, I think that’s what the crowd wants, especially in these hours. I think these night matches are very special.”

“Everyone has a different personality. I like to entertain the crowd and that makes me happy in a way as well.

“I didn’t work at [the impression] at all. It just comes if the moment is right. It comes spontaneously and the moment was right now. It was quite funny and the crowd loved it and that was the most important thing.”

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• Djokovic wins despite the rain to repeat as Champion.

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John McEnroe has some encouraging words for this week’s missing Indianapolis top seed Andy Roddick, still healing from a hip flexor injury which forced him to miss his date at the Indianapolis Tennis Center.

Mac, never short of an opinion, played a World Team Tennis match on the West Coast and had some words of wisdom about the state of the Roddick game with the US Open approaching in just over a month and the top American desperate to duplicate his 2003 title success at Flushing Meadows.

McEnroe is particularly pleased with the work done by his own contemporary and one-time friend-coach Larry Stefanki, who came on board to Team Roddick in late 2008.

“Larry was able to get in his head a bit, make him more keenly aware, to point out a few things, such as the fact that he weighed 15 pounds more than he did when he won the Open,” said McEnroe.

“Andy’s a very smart guy, Andy. I think he realized that if he didn’t really get himself in tip top shape, slowly but surely it was going in the wrong direction.”

The change of attitude was brought to fruition as Roddick reached a third Wimbledon final – but his progress was brought to a halt with a third defeat at the game’s top venue to Roger Federer as the Swiss collected a record 15th Grand Slam single crown.

But McEnroe is not despairing over Roddick. “He’s still only 26, it’s not like he’s 60.

“I think he really did what he needed to do. It’s nice to see, you can see in his eyes, the way he acts, you can tell he knows it’s (physical work) paid off. To me he’s more sure of himself and maybe not panicking in certain situations that he may have before against someone who’s pretty easy to panic against, like Roger, or Nadal.

“He also hits the ball harder off the ground than I’ve ever seen him.”

McEnroe, still active on court at age 50, said that Roddick’s game has lifted considerably as a result of his work with Stefanki. “He’s gotten back to what he was before, really penetrating with the forehand.

“But the serve still is obviously the key. The guy just has a monster serve. The fitter you are, the better chance you are going to pull that off.”

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World Team Tennis gets underway soon, and the roster of players has been determined by an annual draft. Eleven teams will play in a series of matches between July 2nd and July 26th. To find out when the teams will be playing near you check the WTT website for the schedule.

There are some familiar faces on the 11 teams, and some newcomers worth a mention.

NY Sportimers include John McEnroe and Ashley Harkleroad.

Newport Beach Breakers have Maria Sharapova on their team.

Philadelphia Freedoms include Andre Agassi, Vevus Williams and Madison Keyes.

St. Louis Aces include both Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova.

Washington Kastles feature Serena Williams.

Boston Lobsters feature Martina Navritalova.

Kansa City Explorers include the popular Bryan Bros.

New York Buzz have a pair of great juniors Alex Domijan and Sloane Stephens.

Sacremento Capitals(defending champions) include Michael Chang and Mark Knowles.

Springfield Lasers include Liezel Huber and Vania King.

If you are a Tennis fan or just a people watcher, these matches will be the highlight of your summer fun. There are usually many unscheduled surprises included that add to the fun, and the players respond with their own antics.

The cause is good, the price is right and the entertainment is second to none. Don’t miss it!

Related Posts:

• Charleston’s Family Circle Cup adding more fun.
• Some past WTA Champions in retrospect.
• 3 Tennis stars among ‘top’ athletes.

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Related Posts:

• Roger and Rafa both in a positive mood…
• Stop whining and play tennis…..
• Has the ’sizzle’ gone from Men’s Tennis?

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