Wimbledon 2009
GENERAL INFORMATION
2009 Wimbledon Championships: 22nd June – 5th July
2010 Wimbledon Championships: 21st June – 4th July
2009 ticket and spectator information
2009 DATES
Date
Tuesday 9 June Wild Cards announced
Monday 15 June Qualifying starts
Wednesday 17 June Seedings announced
Thursday 18 June Qualifying ends
Friday 19 June Wimbledon Draw
Monday 22 June Wimbledon 2009 starts
Saturday 4 June Ladies’ Singles Final
Sunday 5 June Men’s Singles Final
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
Play is scheduled to start on Centre and No. 1 Courts at 1pm for the first 11 days of play and at 2pm on finals days. On all other courts play is scheduled to start at midday for at least the first eight days and 11am for junior matches on the middle Saturday and during the second week.
Prize Money Summary:
In 2009, the All England Club will award £12,550,000 in prize money to competitors at The Championships. This is an increase of 6.2% on the 2008 Prize Money (£11.812,000).
The following events will be contested at The Championships
* Gentlemen’s Singles (128 player draw)
* Ladies’ Singles (128 draw)
* Gentlemen’s Doubles (64 draw)
* Ladies’ Doubles (64 draw)
* Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
* Boys’ Singles (64 draw)
* Boys’ Doubles (32 draw)
* Girls’ Singles (64 draw)
* Girls’ Doubles (32 draw)
* Gentlemen’s Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Senior Gentlemen’s Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Ladies’ Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Gentlemen’s Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Nadal to miss Wimbledon?
Rafael Nadal, suffering from tendinitis in both knees, isn’t sure he’ll defend his Wimbledon tennis title this month.
“I’ve been playing with pain in my knees for several months and I can’t go on like this,” Nadal, 23, said in a statement released by his press agent. “I won’t go out on any court, let alone Wimbledon’s Centre Court, to see what happens. If I play, I’ll be at 100 percent.”
The world No. 1 in ATP Tour rankings had tests with Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro in Barcelona yesterday and today before making the announcement. Cotorro said in the statement Nadal will begin light training in two days after being treated with anti-inflammatory pills and physiotherapy.
Nadal said he’ll travel to London six days before Wimbledon starts on June 22 with the aim of playing.
“I’ll give 200 percent to be 100 percent at the most important event in world tennis and the tournament that has always inspired me the most,” Nadal said. “I’ve got two very hard weeks of recuperation ahead of me.”
His withdrawal may help archrival Roger Federer’s chances of winning the grass-court Grand Slam tournament a sixth time in seven years. Nadal beat the 27-year-old Swiss in last year’s final in London. Federer is the even-money favorite for Wimbledon on Ladbrokes.com, meaning a winning 1 pound bet returns 1 pound profit plus the stake. Nadal is 3-1, the same as Briton Andy Murray.
French Run
Federer won his first French Open two days ago, beating Robin Soderling in the final. Nadal lost to the 24-year-old Swede in the fourth round, ending his run of four straight titles at the clay-court event.
The left-hander has won six Grand Slams, including four straight Roland Garros championships before this year, and 36 titles, which puts him 15th on the all-time title leaders list in the Open era. He’d defeated Federer in the last three finals in Paris.
Before losing to Soderling, Nadal had a 44-4 record this year, winning five tournaments. It was his best start since 2005 coming into Paris.
Nadal didn’t mention his knee pain to reporters after the match. According to El Pais newspaper, he turned to his uncle and coach Toni Nadal in the stands at the start of the third set and said, “It hurts, I can’t do it.” Soderling won 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
In November, Nadal withdrew from the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and the Davis Cup final in Argentina because of tendinitis in his knees.
By the first Grand Slam of this year Nadal had recovered from the ailment. He reduced Federer to tears by beating him at the Australia Open final in February.
From: Bloomberg.com - Click for full article.
French Open:
Men’s Tennis:
Men without any Grand Slam singles titles have made Roger Federer work long and hard here for the chance to win his 14th and for the chance to stake a claim to being the greatest tennis player ever.
After Jose Acasuso and Tommy Haas, the latest would-be spoiler at this unpredictable French Open was Juan Martín del Potro, a fast-rising Argentine seven years younger and five inches taller than Federer.
Del Potro, seeded fifth at age 20, frequently made Federer look underpowered and overwhelmed in their semifinal on Friday. But Federer, lunging into the corners, still found a way to solve the big riddle: employing just about every tool on his Swiss army knife of a game to break del Potro’s rhythm, including drop shots in abundance.
After five sets and 3 hours 29 minutes, Federer leaned on the net looking as relieved as he was content after his 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory. Now, his opponents in Sunday’s final will be Robin Soderling of Sweden and Pete Sampras.
Sampras played and won his last tournament at the 2002 United States Open and holds the record with 14 major singles titles.
“It’s always fun to see people try to break records,” said Paul Annacone, Sampras’s longtime coach, in a telephone interview from London on Friday. “Obviously, I didn’t think Pete’s record would be caught so quickly. But Roger has just had such an amazing run. He’s such a class act, and it couldn’t happen to a better guy. I hope it’s a good day Sunday. I hope it’s good tennis, and I’d like to see him hold that trophy up at the end of it.”
Annacone said that view is shared by Sampras, who has become friendly with Federer in retirement through playing exhibitions. “I talked with Pete two weeks ago in L.A., and he said he didn’t think the record would be caught that quickly either, but he said, ‘Roger is a great guy and great player, so hats off if he gets there and passes it because I know how hard it was to do.’ ”
There are some eerie parallels. When Sampras won his 14th major title, his wife, Bridgette Wilson, was pregnant with their first child and watching from the stands in New York. On the verge of his 14th, Federer’s new wife, Mirka Vavrinec, is pregnant with their first child as she watches him in Paris.
“I’m doing great,” Vavrinec said Friday after her husband’s latest five-set escape.
If Federer beats Soderling, he will have accomplished one feat that Sampras never quite managed: a complete set of Grand Slam singles titles. Sampras, despite occasional triumphs on clay elsewhere, advanced to only one semifinal at the French Open and never reached the final.
This will be Federer’s fourth straight final in Paris and the first in which he will not have to worry about Rafael Nadal’s left-handed topspin forehand kicking high to Federer’s one-handed backhand.
“Maybe you’ll miss him, but not me,” Federer said to reporters. “I’ve played him 20 times. It’s nice to play someone else, too. I know that I’ll be playing him plenty more times in the future.”
Without Nadal, Federer might already have won multiple titles in Paris, but without Federer, Nadal might already have won Wimbledon more than once. Playing the game of what-if in tennis is diverting but far from conclusive, which is also true of comparing greatness across eras.
“I think if he wins, you’d have to say Federer’s record is the greatest of the Open era,” said Brad Gilbert, the American commentator and coach. “But the greatest of all time? I really don’t think you can say that. Too much has changed to really compare.”
The Open era began in 1968 and allowed professionals to compete without restrictions in the four Grand Slam tournaments, which had been open only to amateurs, or at least to those who were able to hide their tennis revenue.
In the two decades after World War II, many top amateurs made their names and then quickly turned professional to join barnstorming tours like those run by the American star Jack Kramer. The result was that until 1968 very few players had the opportunity to amass large numbers of Grand Slam singles titles, with Roy Emerson of Australia, who remained amateur, being one of the exceptions by winning 12 over all.
To cite just two examples, Pancho Gonzalez of the United States and Lew Hoad of Australia, who both make many experts’ lists of greatest players, had brief amateur careers. Gonzalez won just two United States Open singles titles; Hoad won four major singles titles.
Women’s Tennis:
Anne Keothavong accepts she will be the butt of some jokes after her humiliating first-round defeat by top seed Dinara Safina.
The British number one failed to win a single game as she was routed 6-0 6-0 in 61 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier, in her debut appearance at Roland Garros.
The Londoner was disappointed she did not take the few opportunities that did come her way but admitted she was soundly beaten by a player in top form.
“I don’t think I was intimidated - I just knew I was capable of playing better tennis,” she said.
“She is the number one player in the world and she can do that to anyone. Unfortunately, it was me today.
“In the end, you have to find ways to laugh about it. I’m sure there will be a few jokes about it but I can take it.
“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. These things happen - you have to move on and forget about it.”
Fellow Brit Melanie South saved four match points before eventually succumbing to 16-year-old Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito in a tense three-set encounter.
South, the British number three, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but ended up losing 0-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 on Court 14 to join Keothavong on the Roland Garros scrapheap.
Kingston-born South has only once qualified for the second round of a grand slam - at Wimbledon in 2006 - but she charged through the 22-minute opening set here, showing no signs of pressure and hitting the ball remarkably well.
De Brito, who is a member of Nick Bollettieri’s academy and tipped for a great future, discovered some form in the second set, which she took at the third time of asking in a nerve-racking tie-break.
Both players were broken regularly in the deciding set as the pressure mounted.
South, number 121 in the world, saved a first match point in the 10th game and three more in the 12th and what proved to be the final game.
On De Brito’s fifth match point, South hit a forehand long to end her hopes of a second-round match with China’s Jie Zheng, the 15th seed.
Katie O’Brien became Britain’s third first-round casualty as she lost in straight sets to Olga Govortsova.
O’Brien, who qualified for the main draw as a lucky loser, was bidding to become the first British female to make the second round at Roland Garros since Clare Wood achieved the feat in 1994.
But the 23-year-old from Yorkshire never had a look in as she was defeated 6-1 6-1 on Court 14.
Venus Williams overcame fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round of the women’s singles.
The five-time Wimbledon champion has never won this tournament - her best effort was when runner-up in 2002 to her sister - and she lost her way a little in the second set before recovering to close out a 6-1 4-6 6-2 victory.
The third seed will face Lucie Safarova in the next round.
Maria Sharapova set up a second-round clash with fellow Russian Nadia Petrova.
Last year’s Australian Open winner has slipped to 102 in the rankings after suffering from a shoulder injury, and she took time to warm to her task on Court One at Roland Garros.
Her opponent Anastasiya Yakamova started much the brighter of the pair and went ahead after securing the first set 6-3.
However, Sharapova quickly moved up a gear and lost just three more games as she closed out the match 6-1 6-2.
13th seed Marion Bartoli recovered from going a set down to beat fellow Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 3-6 6-1 6-3.
14th seed Flavia Pennetta crashed out to Alexa Glatch of the USA 6-1 6-1.
The Italian played flat tennis throughout, sending easy forehands into the net on numerous occassions and deserved to be on the wrong end of a double breadstick.
The 19-year-old Glatch, ranked 116 in the world, has a big serve and sheused it well to out-power Pennetta on Court Two.
She faces Lourdes Dominguez Lino next after the Spaniard beat Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova 6-1 4-6 9-7 in a thriller on Court 10.
Another seed to fall on Monday was Alisa Kleybanova (23), the Russian going down 6-2 4-6 6-1 to Polona Hercog, of Slovenia.
Cohen-Aloro’s defeat added to the reverses suffered on Sunday by five French women, one of them being 16th seed Amelie Mauresmo.
Other home players to be knocked out on Monday were Camille Pin and Stephanie Foretz, to Tamarine Tanasugarn and Kirsten Flipkens respectively.
Aravane Rezai reversed that trend by thrashing Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-2.
