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THE SCOOP: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7
Wimbledon Sistine Chapel
will be roofed
Action on the
courts Down Under; Johansson returns
with win; Puerta nailed for doping
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Tennis' Sistine Chapel is getting
a makeover, but don't expect the roofers at Wimbledon's Center
Court to paint anything similar to Michelangelo's "Fall and
Expulsion from Paradise" on its clear plastic cover.
The All England Club announced plans for a sliding, translucent
roof over the storied Centre Court, the scene of so many epic
battles and seemingly infinite rain delays. Because the club still
needs to get planning permission, the roof won't be in place until
2009. All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said Wimbledon plans
to increase seating capacity by 1,200 to 15,000.
As most lawn lovers know, grass loves light, which is why putting
a roof on is a bit of a risk. However, Wimby officials say that
they will allow more sunlight in during the weeks leading up to
the tournament and added that Centre's grass will play more like
that of the outside courts. That could mean slower.
Given that only one court will be covered, putting a roof over
Centre won't matter a great deal when there some 650 matches played
during the tournament –most of them on the site's other
19 courts. However, the world's TV audience and Wimbledon broadcast
partners will be very satisfied because in five years time, there
will be no more endless replays of McEnroe-Borg.
Action on the courts Down Under
Here are some early observations from the mountain of tournaments
going on the first week of the new year:
From the Hopman Cup: Daniela Hantuchova began the season as badly
as she ended it, as she was crushed by Clijsters 6-1, 6-2 and
also lost to Hungary's Petra Mandula. Look like her new coach,
Harold Solomon, has his work cut out for him.
Johansson returns with win
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
Former Aussie Open champ Thomas
Johansson returned for the first time in 14 months and wiped out
Christophe Rochus 6-1, 6-3.
"I've been looking forward to this match every single day,"
the Swede said. "And to play as well as I did today was a
little bit of a surprise for me as well. It was a little bit strange
to be out there because I was really nervous going into the match
because I knew Christophe doesn't miss much, he's a solid baseliner.
I had to hit the ball as hard as I could all the time to put pressure
on him. Everything (surprised me) – the way I felt the ball
out there, my serve was working really well and especially my
forehand which is a bit of a weakness in my game. Today I saw
the ball as football."
Johansson had a hellish time coming back from his knee injury,
where he had a cut in his quadriceps tendon.
"I had the surgery in February and I was walking on crutches
for six weeks," he said. "Then I had to start with the
training of the knee. One day it was pretty good, then the next
day the pain was unbelievable. You'd call the doctor and say,
'OK, what's wrong now? I can't bend my knee.' And they'd say it
was normal, you just have to give it some time. There were a lot
of days last year when I thought I had no chance to come back."
Andy and Scud in Qatar
Andy Roddick clocked Nikolay Davydenko 6-3,
6-4 in the first round of the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha and
said that he spent much of the last month working on his building
up his biceps.
Ivan Ljubicic upset Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-3 and apparently served
the lights out. "I think [Ljubicic] served unbelievable, I
couldn't do anything. I felt like a goalkeeper all match,"
Massu said.
Defending champ Stefan Koubek upended Mark Philippoussis, whose
shoulder injury apparently isn't too severe. "I just didn't
have the preparation I wanted," the Scud said. "I started
to hit last Monday. My forehand and serve let me down today. I don't
want to take anything away from Stefan. He played great and definitely
earned it."
Upsets in Auckland
Great win by U.S. qualifier Shenay Perry,
who upset Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4, 6-3. Bad loss for American
Laura Granville, who fell to Tathiana Garbin 7-6(2), 6-1.
Puerta nailed for doping
The Armada Argentina received another
blow to its bow when the ATP announced that Mariano Puerta tested
positive for the Class 1 substance clenbuterol during the 2003 tournament
in Vina del Mar, Chile. Puerta, 25, will be sanctioned with an nine-month
suspension commencing from the day that he voluntarily stood down
from competition (October 3, 2003). He also must forfeit 15 singles
ranking points and $5,600 in prize money. Puerta will be eligible
to return to competition after July 1.
Clenbuterol is an anabolic agent that promotes muscle growth. The
tribunal determined that Puerta was prescribed clenbuterol by his
physician to treat an acute asthma attack and that the use had no
performance enhancing benefits. Recall that top Argentine Guillermo
Coria also once received a long doping suspension. |
