PTT THAILAND OPEN 2009 : PARADORN RETURNS TO TENNIS AFTER TWO YEARS

Former ninth-ranked Paradorn Srichaphan announced his nearly three-year comeback from injury on Saturday, saying he’ll play doubles at the Thailand Open next week.
The 30-year-old Thai hasn’t played on the ATP Tour since March 2007 because of a wrist injury. He’ll team up with his countryman Danai Udomchoke as a wild-card entry in the tournament, which starts Monday.

“I wanted to come back by using the Thailand Open as my tournament. I’m not fit enough for the singles,” Paradorn said.

Paradorn originally planned a return to the tour last year. He had operations on the wrist in Los Angeles in 2007 and Bangkok this year.

Married to former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, Paradorn spent his free time motorcycling, appearing on Thai sports TV shows and opening an Italian restaurant.
Paradorn has won five career titles, the last one in Nottingham in 2004.

Kimiko date Krumm wins Hansol Korea Open title

After a terrific week playing amazing tennis, Kimiko Date Krumm won the Hansol Korea Open title by upseting Anabel Medina Garriguez 6-3 6-3.
Anabel Medina Garrigues on Sunday afternoon.
Date Krumm started the week with a 63 64 first round win against Lee Ye-Ra. The she beat Alisa Kleybanova 46 76(4) 63 in the second round followed by a 76(3) 46 64 victory against top seed Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals and 36 62 64 against the defending champion, Maria Kirilenko, in the semifinals.
Date Krumm needed to withstand the mental pressure of playing one of the best grinders out there in the final and she did just that, converting the only break point of the opening set and holding onto that momentum in the second set for a 63 63 victory over Medina Garriguez and the trophy.Kimiko who will be 39 years old this week made her comeback to tennis last April, Date Krumm had enjoyed success on the ITF Women’s Circuit but hadn’t broken through again at the Tour level, going 0-8 in main draws losing to none other than Medina Garrigues in the first round, 61 46 64.

Henin Announces Comeback

On May 14, 2008, just weeks before she would have gone for a fourth straight French Open title, Justine Henin dropped a bombshell on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour: she was done. For the first time, a reigning world No.1 retired from the sport. On Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 16 months and one week later - the Belgian announced her comeback.
"I've been able to recharge my batteries, emotionally as well," Henin said on Tuesday. "Subconsciously, [Kim Clijsters winning the US Open] might have had an impact, but it certainly was not the most important reason.
"The fire within burns again. I want to come back in January."
"Justine Henin is one of the great champions in the history of women's tennis, and we, along with millions of her fans around the globe, are thrilled with her announcement today," said Tour CEO Stacey Allaster. "Justine was that rare athlete who decided to step away from the game at the height of her powers, and no doubt she will be a force to be reckoned with from the get go. Her career was marked by so many amazing moments, and a new chapter begins today."
Despite her small frame Henin was one of the most dangerous players ever in the women's game. During the first phase of her Tour career she compiled quite the list of milestones - the following are just a few of them:- Won 41 singles titles and two doubles titles on the Tour.- Won seven Grand Slam titles: one Australian Open (2004), four French Opens (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) and two US Opens (2003, 2007).- Won two season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships (2006, 2007), one Olympic gold (2004) and leading Belgium to its first Fed Cup title (2001).- Finished three seasons ranked No.1 in the world (2003, 2006, 2007).- Spent 117 non-consecutive weeks at No.1, sixth all-time (after Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles).- Became first female athlete to pass $5 million in single season prize money (2007 - $5,429,586).

Jack Kramer - Rest In Peace

Jack Kramer, the first executive director of the ATP and one of the game’s finest players, passed away Saturday night in Los Angeles at 88 years of age. He had been diagnosed with soft tissue cancer in July.

"Jack Kramer was truly one of the greats of the game and was instrumental in the growth and development of the sport in so many ways, both on and off the court,” said ATP Executive Chairman and President Adam Helfant. “He was like a father figure to so many in tennis and his wisdom, enthusiasm and advice will be sadly missed. On behalf of everybody at the ATP I would like to pass on our sincere condolences to his family."
Kramer was a vocal advocate for a more unified tour, and joined with other leading professionals in 1972 to create the Association of Tennis Professionals. As the newly elected Executive Director, one of the initial acts Kramer undertook was the establishment of a computer ranking system – today’s South African Airways ATP Rankings – that provided fair analysis of a player's performance as well as an objective means to determine entries into tournaments.
During his playing career, Kramer was the world’s No. 1 player for a number of years in the 1940s. He won three Grand Slam titles – at the US Championships in 1946-47 and Wimbledon in 1947 – and captured six Grand Slam doubles titles. He also was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup squad that defeated Australia in the 1946-47 finals.
After retiring due to injuries in 1954, Kramer continued his involvement in tennis as a promoter. In addition to devising a Grand Prix – a series of tournaments leading to a Masters Championship featuring the eight best players, held for two decades – he and his family have owned and operated the ATP tournament in his hometown of Los Angeles since the late 1970s. The LA Tennis Open, once called the Jack Kramer Open, is currently run by his son Bob Kramer.
Kramer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968, saw his last tennis match at the LA Tennis Open this past summer, when Pete Sampras and Marat Safin faced off in the Millennium Challenge – a rematch of the 2000 US Open final. Bob Kramer told the Los Angeles Times, “Dad thought Pete was one of the greatest players ever, probably because he played a lot like he did [in a serve-and-volley style]."
Kramer passed away at his home surrounded by his five sons – Bob, David, John, Michael and Ron – and eight grandchildren. His wife, Gloria, died last year.

John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 - September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s. A World Number 1 player for a number of years, he is a possible candidate for the title of the greatest tennis player of all time. He was also, for many years, the leading promoter of the professional tennis tours and a relentless advocate for the establishment of open tennis between amateur and professional players. When the Association of Tennis Professionals was founded in 1972, he was the first executive director and in that role was the leader of an ATP boycott of Wimbledon in 1973. Tall and slim, he was the first world-class player to play a consistent serve-and-volley game, in which he came to the net behind all of his serves, including the second serve. He was particularly known for his powerful serve and forehand, as well as his ability to play "percentage tennis", in which he maximized his efforts on certain points and certain games during the course of a match.

Tennis Gondomar hereby presente is Homage to one of the ALL TIME GREATS!

Clijsters, Williams ready to battle in semifinals

Serena Williams brings her trademark intensity to the women’s semifinals, and opponent Kim Clijsters needs no reminding.
“I’ve seen her play here, and she has that face where she’s like, ‘Okay, I’m here to do business,’’’ Clijsters said.
Williams knows exactly what the Belgian is talking about.
“I see it after in photos,” Williams said. “I’m pretty horrified sometimes. I think, ‘Oh, my God, who is that?’’’
Despite Clijsters’ stellar play since coming out retirement, Williams goes in as the favorite. She’s also expected to clinch a third Grand Slam title this season and 12th overall.
The Williams-Clijsters showdown highlights Friday’s action, weather permitting, with teens Caroline Wozniacki and Yanina Wickmayer facing off in the other semifinal. Wozniacki, Denmark’s darling, and Wickmayer, Clijsters’ fellow Belgian, had never before appeared in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, much less a semifinal.
Williams leads Clijsters 7-1 in their head-to-heads and hasn’t dropped a set through five matches, avoiding the blips that sometimes accompany her early round Grand Slam encounters.
Williams heads the tournament in aces and points won behind her first serve. Ominously for Clijsters, Williams has only been broken in two matches, in the first and third rounds. She stepped up her game as the competition got better, overpowering Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and cruising past surging Italian Flavia Pennetta.
And here’s a stat – Williams’ last defeat in a Grand Slam semifinal came six years ago on the clay at the French Open, her least productive surface.
“It doesn’t mean that you don’t get a chance when you get to play her,” Clijsters, officially a wild card because she has no ranking yet, said. “That’s something I’ve always felt in the past, too. Every player always has a moment in a match where, whether it’s one or two games, they just kind of lose that aggressiveness a little bit or lose focus. It’s up to the other player to kind of feel that and step it up at that time.”
Clijsters, who captured her lone major at the US Open four years ago, has had a few bumps on her road to the semis, beginning in the first round against unpredictable Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. Then in the fourth round, Clijsters fell 6-0 to Serena’s older sister, Venus, in the second set, recovering in the third.
Clijsters, like Williams, enters the clash with a 12-match winning streak in New York. A feel good story thanks to being one of the few moms on tour – and one of the most popular players around – Clijsters had the crowd on her side against Williams.
Her forehand is still big, and the movement still impressive. Williams, too, is coming off a marathon 2 ½ hour doubles semifinal Thursday.
“Seems like she’s even faster than what she was before,” Williams said after eliminating Pennetta. “I was thinking that maybe I should have a baby, and then I’ll come back faster. That was my observation, so I’m thinking about it.”
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2009-09-10/200909101252619630437.html

Kim Clijsters : The Comeback Continues

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Kim Clijsters took one giant step closer to becoming just the third player ever to have a child then win a Grand Slam singles title, upsetting Venus Williams in a see-saw three-setter Sunday to move into the quarterfinals of the US Open. Serena Williams fared far better in her match.
Clijsters, playing her third event back after coming out of retirement in August and a wildcard into her first Grand Slam back, blanked Williams in the first set, 6-0, then received her own 0-6 blanking in the second set before edging the No.3-seeded American in a far tighter decider, 6-4. The match looked headed to go later into the third as Williams held a pair of break points in the final game.
"I felt like we were never playing our best tennis at the same time until the third set," Clijsters said. "I hadn't played one of the Williamses or Sharapova for a while, but I still had a good feeling I could have a chance against these girls. I feel like there's still a lot of improvement, but I feel I'm at a point where if I play well and stay consistent, I can make it tough for the other girls."
Clijsters is trying to become the third mother ever to win a Grand Slam singles title, after Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong.
Williams is now 0-6 in her career after losing the first set at love.
Next up for Clijsters will be No.18 seed Li Na, who eased past No.26 seed Francesca Schiavone, 62 63. Li is the first Chinese player ever to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open. Schiavone had upset Victoria Azarenka.