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 For richer or poorerDjokovic, Williams sisters, Kournikova, Blake, Nadal, Tennis Channel Open already sold?By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Agency reports say that the No. 3 player has been made an honorary citizen of the northern, Serb-inhabited Kosovo town of Zvecan, where he is financing the construction of a tennis center (which he calls in part a "family business"). Ironically, the President of the Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo is named Milan Ivanovic, the same surname as Djokovic's close friend Ana, who unlike Novak, has publicly asked for a peaceful solution to the conflict. The US and most of NATO has lined up behind the Albanians while Russia is backing the Serbs. BTW: Indian Wells champ Djokovic was shocked in his opening match in Miami by the big-hitting South African Kevin Anderson. Now all that talk about his frontal assault on Roger Federer's top ranking will dissipate for a while, unless of course, that's how he opens his speech in the town square. The much-put-upon Peter Lundgren, whose dad is sick and who was suspended by the LTA last summer for some incoherent remarks during a coaches' meeting (he was said to be drunk) has resigned as Britain's Davis Cup coach and will be replaced by American Paul Annacone. Ironically, around the same time, US Davis Cup captain Pat McEnroe was named General Manager, USTA Elite Player Development, the same post that Annacone once held. Annacone has fine touch with players, but why, when he's playing such a huge role with LTA's player development, does he have to play assistant to captain John Lloyd. Exactly how many coaches due the Murray boys need? Speaking of which, Andy Murray's US swing was disappointing, with losses to Tommy Haas at IW and Mario Ancic in Miami. With his ability, he's become a bit of a tease. He should be much closer to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the rankings, but he's still stuck just outside of the Top 10. He hasn't figured out what his style is yet, which is troubling. With the clay-court season coming up, he may pull off a few decent wins, but don't expect much from the young Scot until the grass in London turns green again. Back to McEnroe, who will be extremely busy. He'll have to travel between coasts to visit the USTA Training Centers in Boca Raton, Florida, and Carson, Calif. He already had substantial Davis Cup duties and major TV analyst commitments in the summer. Plus, his wife, Broadway actress Melissa Errico, is pregnant again and they already have a young daughter.  Susan Mullane/Camerawork USAPatrick McEnroe, here shown with Zina Garrison, gets a promotion from the USTA. But he's the right man for the job as he has the trust of the driven Arlen Kantarian, the CEO of US Professional Tennis. Plus, PMac is a fine leader, mediator and listener, which is necessary with the massive amount of egos floating around coaching circles. What he and Kantarian need to do is make some more good hires at the centers, so it will be the right men and women doing the talent identification and instructing the more promising kids. Having a "champions advisory board" and "coaches commission" are great ideas, if the board and commission have real, identifiable roles. There are plenty of great coaches in the US, some who are not American natives. For all their warts, Robert Lansdorp and Nick Bollettieri come to mind as men who can brought into the fold at some level. Jimmy Connors is available too, for the right amount of millions. And guess who will be released from his LTA commitment shortly? None other than Brad Gilbert, who will be looking for work. Tracy Austin would also be a fine pick. And why not ask Zina Garrison and Mary Joe Fernandez to do some teaching, too, now that the Williams sisters have bailed on Fed Cup and the US is almost assuredly going to fall easily in Russia. ... BTW: McEnroe also received a year extension as Davis Cup captain, which will make him the longest running captain ever. According to Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena told her they're not [playing Fed Cup] against Russia at the end of this month. Does that mean that Serena, who has only played one Fed Cup match since 2003 - a quick win over Belgium's Caroline Maze last April - isn't eligible for the Olympics? No, it looks like she'll get a pass, but please, I never want to hear the words "I love Fed Cup" again from the younger Williams. She has all but ignored the competition, which is very close to being buried in the public's consciousness due to lack of effort from the star players. The world could see after Serena knocked Sveta Kuznetsova out of the Miami semis that Serena would have a terrific chance to defeat Russia's top clay-court player on any surface, but Serena would rather take a pass, rather than risk her reputation in Moscow. Congratulations to Andy Roddick on his engagement to model Brooklyn Decker. Maybe he and Mardy Fish (who's engaged to model Stacy Gardner) can have a double wedding. I didn't expect the hard-charging Roddick to walk down the alter this early, so he must have met his soul mate. According to the NY Observer, he just bought a Manhattan condo valued at $1.195 million. Decker lives in NYC. Richard Vach and Play Tennis Florida reported that Sony Ericsson Open organizer and founder Butch Buchholz, along with the Saddlebrook resort (where many of the American men live including Fish, the Bryan brothers, John Isner and James Blake), are interested in buying February's Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. But, TennisReporters.net has been told by a source that the Tennis Channel has already sold it to the ATP, which is ready to move it to South Africa. The USTA has tried to step in to stop the bleeding of US events leaving the country, but it may be too late. It's also being said that the ATP will give the Tennis Channel's late February, early March date to Delray Beach, which is now played the week after the Aussie Open. My colleague Bonnie D. Ford of ESPN did a nice piece on Anna Kournikova the other day. It's nice to see one of the women who are partly responsible for the Russian Revolution in women's tennis is so happy with herself. During her last two years on tour, I found Special K to be charming and likeable. But let's call a spade a spade here: Anna quit on her sport and her [on-court] talent. She didn't have the guts to attempt a legitimate comeback, one which could have seen her re-enter the Top 10 and win her first career singles title. I'm not even sure she ever really liked the sport and believe that she only plays now to earn money and keep her public profile up. She says she's at peace with her decisions and I'll buy that at some level, but you can't tell me that the pony-tailed demon who once had her way Monica Seles, Conchita Martinez, Lindsay Davenport and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario at '98 Miami, where she lost to Venus in the final, doesn't regret not making one more push just a little bit. Speaking of women who turn heads, Ana Ivanovic's loss to Davenport at Miami was extremely disappointing after her IW title run. She's still way too inconsistent. Props to Davenport for that win, but then she went down to enigmatic Dinara Safina, who lost to Vera Zvonareva. It's almost time for Lleyton Hewitt to kiss the Top 20 goodbye. He's hurt again, this time from a hip strain sustained at Indian Wells and he lost early at Miami.
Since I'm throwing out props, a pat on the back to my buddy Peter Bodo for re-printing a very legitimate question to James Blake, who proceeded to throw a blow across Pete's broadside. Look, Blake is in a dream world if he thinks that his approach to the game is spot on. Maybe he should watch the tapes of his losses to Rafael Nadal at IW and Miami. Enough with his constant mantras that he has to stay aggressive all the time, or that's he's in great shape, or that he has the greatest team ever invented. He does not have to go on the offense all the time. His selection of the greatest player ever, Roger Federer, doesn't, so why does Blake? Essentially because he doesn't trust his ability to think his way back into matches, which is odd, given that he's a pretty bright guy. HEARST CASTLE V. THE
MISSION Just east about 40 miles or so lays one of my favorite places in the Golden State, the Mission San Miguel Arcangel, which is situated in a poor and dilapidated farming community. The old church was absolutely ravaged by the earthquake of December 2003 and it's still not open to the public, despite a decent size restoration effort. Parts of the grounds are open for viewing, but very little of the 211-year-old building is passable. The outside grounds are going to pot, too, this just an hour's drive from ultra-rich Santa Barbara, which has a gorgeous mission of its own (there are 21 in California) and could probably spare some coinage. It's a sad state of affairs because the Mission San Miguel Arcangel literally oozes with spirituality. I bring this up because (of course) there is a tennis court there, and believe it or not, it's the first time I've noticed it in many trips. It's cracked, weathered, cramped, but somewhat playable and while we were there, our kids watched a mediocre player diligently practicing his technically challenged serves and then pleaded with me to go help him. I declined, instead choosing to do a little hand weeding on my way out. With the vision of Hearst's ostentatious creation still in my head (of course, almost no one plays on his courts anymore and staffers are allowed to swim in the outdoor pool some two hours a year!), I couldn't imagine working on the mission court without feeling terribly conflicted. I still am in some ways, but the next time I head south, I'm going to throw some crack material product in the back of my car and have it for an hour or so. Then it's on to the rose bushes, for some very necessary pruning. © TennisReporters.net 2008
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