July2013 Newsletter - Asia Tennis News

8/22/2019 July2013 Newsletter - Asia Tennis News

1/21

July 2013 | Asiantennis.com

ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Mr. Eiichi Kawatei Curtains To An Era

On August 3 at the age of 79 years, a

towering personality in the world of

tennis, and especially in Asia, Mr. Eiichi

Kawatei, passed away. Born in AhiyaCity in Japan, he served the AsianTennis Federation for almost 25 years

in various capacities which included the

posts of General Secretary and also the

President.

Mr. Kawatei also served as the VicePresident of The ITF for 9 straight years

and was officially designated an ITF

Honorary Life Vice President.

Dedicated to the Olympic movement,Mr. Eiichi Kawatei adorned the mantle

of Vice President and

Honorary Member of the JapaneseOlympic Committee as also one of the

most active members of the ITF

Olympic Committee. He alone could

achieve the distinction of 6 consecutive

stints as the Technical Delegate for the

Olympics Games beginning from SeoulOlympics in 1998 to Beijing Olympics

in 2008. Mr. Kawatei became the first

personality from Asia to receive the

Hall Of Fames Golden AchievementAward in 2005, a distinction

unmatched up till now.

In addition to his administrative

contributions, Mr. Kawatei was an

active member of the international

tennis media, serving as an

international tennis photographer, as a

tennis commentator on Japanese TV,

and contributing to numerous booksand magazines as a journalist.

Words seem insufficient to express the

personal and professional loss that the

Tennis fraternity would be

experiencing at the moment.

May God embrace the loving soul of

Mr. Eiichi Kawatei and may he rest in

peace. Our hearts are with Nao

Kawatei and his family for the personalloss they have experienced.


2/21

July 2013 | Asiantennis.com 1

ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Mr Anil KhannaPresident ATF & ITF Board of Directors

New ITF Board of

Directors elected at ITF CentenaryAGMThe ITF announced the new ITF Board

of Directors for the period 2013-15 at

the 2013 ITF Annual General Meeting

in Paris, France on Friday 12 July.Mr. Anil Khanna, President Asian

Tennis Federation (Tennis Asia)

was elected to the ITF Board Of

Directors for the Fifth time.Over 300 delegates, partners and staff

attended the ITF Centenary AGM, held

at LHotel du Collectionneur Arc de

Triomphe in Paris, and hosted by the

French Tennis Federation (FFT) under

its President Jean Gachassin. The ITFwas founded in Paris on 1 March 1913.13 candidates have been elected to the

ITF Board of Directors out of which

eight are returning members. The

President of the ITF is elected for a

four-year term, with the current term

ending at the 2015 ITF AGM, hence

there were no presidential election thisyear.

The ITF Board of Directors for 2013-2015 has beenelected at the ITF AGM in Paris

ContentITF AGM- Paris 1

Wimbledon 2013 2

14&U ITF/ATF GSDF Team 4

Chang-LTAT-ITF Juniors G4 5

Knokke Zoute Ladies Open 2013 6Beach Tennis 7

Senior Tennis 8

Rankings 9

Q/A of Tennis 10

Grip Guide 11

Basic Nutrition 15

Technical and Training Structure 17


3/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

WimbledonThe Wimbledon was held from the 23rd

June 6th July 2013, London, United

Kingdom. Asian players who qualified

and were Direct Acceptances to the

main draw of the Wimbledon 2013

were:

Men Singles

In the 3rd round competition between

the 12th seed NISHIKORI, Kei (JPN) and

the 23rd seed SEPPI, Andreas (ITA),

who won over ISTOMIN, Denis (UZB)

in the first round, NISHIKORI, Kei wasupset by SEPPI, Andreas after a long

matches 36 62 67 (4/7) 61 64.

NISHIKORI, Kei (JPN)LU, Yen-Hsun was unable to trouble

the 2nd seed MURRAY, Andy (GBR)

much in the 2nd round. LU, Yen-Hsun

lost to MURRAY, Andy in 3 straight

sets 63 63 75.

WANG, Jimmy (TPE)

played against HAAS, Tommy (GER) inthe 2nd round with the hope to defeat

HAAS, Tommy but WANG, Jimmy

couldnt make it through. He lost to

HAAS, Tommy 63 62 75.

SOEDA, Go (JPN) also lost to

GASQUET, Richard (FRA) in the second

round 60 63 67(5) 63.

Women Singles MD Line Up (Asian)

DATE-KRUMM, Kimiko (JPN) who is

42 years old proved herself yet again

by coming back into the competition

and making it to the 3rd round, but

unfortunately lost to the 1st seed

WILLIAMS, Serena (USA) 62 60.

DATE-KRUMM, Kimiko (JPN)The 6th seed LI, Na was Asian hope in

the Wimbledon. She performed well

and was able to move to the last 8

players in the women singles.

No. Name Nation Seed1 SOEDA,Go JPN (Q)

2 NISHIKORI,Kei JPN [12]

3 WANG,Jimmy TPE (Q)

4 LU,Yen-Hsun TPE

5 ISTOMIN,Denis UZB

No. Name Nation Seed

1 ZHENG, Jie CHN

2 DATE-KRUMM, Kimiko JPN

3 MORITA, Ayumi JPN

4 PENG, Shuai CHN [24]

5 LI, Na CHN [6]

6 DOI, Misaki JPN

7 SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava KAZ

8 VOSKOBOEVA, Galina KAZ (Q)

9 PUTINTSEVA, Yulia KAZ

10 HSIEH, Su-Wei TPE


4/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Unfortunately, she was unable to move

on to the Quarterfinal after she lost toRADWANSKA, Agnieszka (POL) 3

tough setsstraight 76 (5) 46 62.

LI, Na (CHN)Men Doubles

BOPANNA (IND) paired up with

ROGER-VASSELIN (FRA) but lost to the

twins BRYAN brothers (USA) in the

Semi-final with score of 67 (4) 64 63

57 63. PAES (IND) and STEPANEK

(CZE) were defeated by DODIG (CRO)

and MELO (BRA) in the Semi-final with

score of 36 64 61 36 63.

Women DoubleHSIEH Su-wei and PENG Shuai wontheir first Grand Slam title with a 76 (7-

1) 61 victory overthe Australian duo

ASHLEIGH Barty and

CASEY Dellacqua in the womensdoubles final.

Su-wei became the first player from

Taiwan towin a Grand Slam title whilePENG Shuai gave China its first doubles

title at a major in seven years.

Su-wei and PENG Shuai paired up in

2008 and won their first 11 matches in

Bali and Sydney.

We would like to congratulate all the

Asian players who made their way to

the Main Draw as also those who put

up a great show of their talent and

skills, and specially Su-wei and

PENG Shuai who won the ladies

doubles title. (Photography credit KYODO,REUTERS, AP)


1 HUEY PHI [16]

2 RAJA IND (Q)

3 BHUPATHI IND [8]

4 BOPANNA IND [14]

5 QURESHI PAK [5]

6 PAES IND [4]

7 RATIWATANA THA

8 SHARAN IND (Q)

9 ISTOMIN UZB

10 LU TPE

11 RATIWATANA THA


1 AOYAMA JPN

2 DATE-KRUMM JPN

3 CHAN TPE [15]4 HSIEH TPE [8]

5 MIRZA IND [6]

6 MORITA JPN

7 VOSKOBOEVA KAZ [10]

8 TANASUGARN THA

9 PENG CHN [8]

10 ZHENG CHN [13]

11 ZHENG CHN

12 YAN CHN (W)

13 ZHANG CHN


5/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

14&U ITF/ATF GSDF Team to Europe 2013

The project is financed by the Grand

Slam Development Fund. ITF and ATF

selected 9 junior players, to participate

in a training camp and 5 consecutive 14& Under European tournaments during

the months of July and August.

The main purpose of this tour is to take

the talented junior players from the

region to international competitions,and groom them into becomingprofessional tennis players gradually.

Lets follow their journey

All players and coaches reached Paris

on the 4th of July where they were

greeted with nice sunny weather during

the training camp phase. The firsttournament started on the 8th of July

and the tour will culminate on the 10th

Of Aug

ATF wishes all the players and coaches

a great time during the trip and wishthey meet and make new friends.

Date Events

Thursday 4 Jul Arrive in Paris for training camp

5 - 7 Jul Training camp, Paris, France

8 14 Jul BNP Paribas Cup, Stade Francais, Paris, France

15 - 21 Jul Windmill Cup, Velp, Netherlands

22 - 28 Jul Le 13/14 des Hauts-de-Seine, Rueil-Malmaison, France

29 Jul 4 Aug 34 Int. Deutsche Tennismeisterschaft, Cologne, Germany

5 - 11 Aug Lapperre Young Champions Cup, Hasselt, Belgium

5 - 10 Aug World Junior Tennis Finals, Prostejov, Czech Republic *

* (only the selected players)


6/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Chang-LTAT-ITF Juniors G4The tournament was conducted from

1st- 7th July 2013 at The Lawn Tennis

Association of Thailand. A little

distraction came from incessant rains

on the initial days, but was managed

very well so the tournament could

followed the scheduled times.

In Boys singles, the 1st seed YANG,

Shao-Chi (TPE) was upset by PURCELL,Max (AUS) 64, 63 in the 2nd round of

the tournament.

PURCELL, Max passed through to the

finals courtesy a walk over by the 3rd

seed SALWAN, Karan (IND) while the

6th seed LO, Chien Hsun defeated 2nd

seed BATRA, Garvit (IND) in 2 straight

sets 63 75.

LO, Chien Hsun (TPE)In the keenly contested finals, LO,

Chien Hsun won over PURCELL, Max

in straight sets 62 61.

In Girls singles, the top seed HUANG,

En-Pei (TPE) was exited by TSUJI

Kanami (JPN) 60 61 in the semifinals

while THAMCHAIWAT, Bunyawi

(THA) played against her opponent

from Japan MIYADA,

Miho. After the struggling in the 1 set,Bunyawi was able to win against her

rival in three tough sets 46 63 63.

In finals, Bunyawi couldnt maintain

her winning spree allowing TSUJI

Kanami to claim girls singles title.

In Boys Doubles LIN, Wei-De

(TPE) paired up with his compatriot

YANG, Shao-Chi to beat LI, Hei YinAndrew (HKG) and LO, Chien Hsun

(TPE) 62 64.

In Girls Doubles finals, the 1st seed

HUANG, En-Pei (TPE) and Yi-Chi MA

(TPE) claimed the title defeatingTACHIBANA,Ayane (JPN) andTANNO, Rikako (JPN) 62 16 [10-5].


7/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Knokke Zoute Ladies Open 2013The tournament was conducted duringthe week of 15 July in sunny Belgium

on clay courts.

AYUKAWA, Manawho passed throughto the main draw was the only Asianhope in this tournament.In singles semifinal, the 5th seed from

Italy SANESI, Gaia overcame hercompatriot CAREGARO, Martina [3]

with the score of 76(1) 06 63 whileSUGNAUX, Tess (SUI) [6] beat theAsian hopeful AYUKAWA , Mana(JPN) [2] two sets straight with the

score of 75 63 ending Manas pursuit

to play in the finals.In singles final, the 5th seed SANESI,

Gaia (ITA) claimed her title bydefeating the 6th seed SUGNAUX, Tess

(SUI) with a scoreline of63 63.In doubles semifinal, the 3rd seed

AYUKAWA, Mana (JPN) paired upwith ZUUR, Monique (NED) to upset

the 1st seed from NetherlandVAN DEVELDE, Bernice (NED) and VERSTEEG,Kelly (NED) with the score of 6-1 6-3.

Both of AYUKAWA, Mana and ZUUR,

Monique went to the final to playagainst a pair from Belgium LEMMENS,

Elke and OYEN, Sofie who defeatedtheir compatriot DISTELMANS, Steffi

(BEL) and KEMPEN, Magali with the

score of 63 46[10-7].

In double final, AYUKAWA, Mana

(JPN) and ZUUR, Monique (NED)claimed their title after defeating

homegrown LEMMENS, Elke and

OYEN, Sofie with the

score of62 46 [10-8].

Runners up and Winners

AYUKAWA, Mana (JPN) & ZUUR, Monique (NED)


8/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

ITF PRESS RELEASE - 10 July 2013

ITF announces nominations for 2013ITF Beach Tennis World TeamChampionshipThe ITF today announced the

nominations for the 2013 ITF BeachTennis World Team Championship at

Russias National Tennis Centre in

Moscow on 18-21 July. This is only thesecond edition of the event, which is

being held in Moscow for the first three

years as part of an agreement with the

Russian Tennis Federation. Italy will

defend its title, having defeated Brazil

to win the inaugural event in 2012.

The Team Championship is a mixedcompetition in which nations compete

against each other on a knock-out

basis. Each team will be comprised of

two men and two women, with ties

consisting of a mens doubles, womens

doubles and mixed doubles rubber.

TAKAHASHI, TomomiA total of 20 teams will take part in the

2013 championship, an increase of fiveteams on 2012. The nominations

include four former

Davis Cup and Fed Cup players,including Petros Baghdatis and

Christopher Koutrouzas of Cyprus,

Brazilian Joana Cortez and William

Forcellini of San Marino.

The Team Championship has joined

the individual Beach Tennis World

Championships as the flagship events

on the ITF Beach Tennis Tour. Since the

launch of the Tour in 2008, worldwide

participation has continued to groweach year. The 2013 Tour will see

around 150 events held in over 30

countries, while 48 nations are

currently represented in the ITF Beach

Tennis World Rankings.

Japan is one of the team nominationsfrom Asia which will participate in the2013 Beach Tennis World TeamChampionship,Moscow, Russia.

SUSUMU Kawashima & SUSUMU Nakajima

Japan Name

Men: Susumu KawashimaSusumu Nakajima

Women: Tomomi TakahashiKaori Yanase

Captain: Takaaki Sugita


9/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

12. Arosa Senior Open12th Arosa Senior Open was conducted

on 8-11 July 2013 in Switzerland. The

senior tournament separated to age

group from +40 to +75.

At the +50 age group of men singles,

JAIN, Pawan (IND) lost to the 3rd seedDREIFALDT, Hansi (SUI) with the score

of 60 61 in the quarterfinal.In quarterfinal of the +55 of men

singles age group, the 3rd seed from

India BHARDWAJ, Ajeet was defeatedby SCHINDLER, Johannes (SUI) with

the score of 61 60.In men double of +45 age group, the

2nd seed JAIN , Pawan (IND) paired up

with KOHLI, Rakesh (IND) to defeat

1

th

seeds IVAN, Miroslav (CAN) andJANCIAR, Peter (SVK) 6-4 3-6 [10-7]in final.

In men double of +55 age group, a

pair from India BHARDWAJ, Ajeet and

KOHLI, Rakesh (IND) [1] won over

the 2nd seed GRUNDEL, Herbert

(GER) and KURZ, Jurgen (GER) straight

2 sets with the score of 63 76. With

the winning in this

tournament, JAIN, Pawan (IND)became the first Indian Senior player to

be ranked within 50 in veteran tennis

in doubles.

In mix double at +40 age group, BAY,Aniko (SUI) and ANNEN, Thomas(SUI) overcame the 1st seed JAEGER,

Pia (SUI) and JAIN, Pawan (IND)

straight 2 sets with the score of 63 62

in semifinal

Mix double at +55 age group,

OHNHAUSER, Inge

(GER) and BHARDWAJ, Ajeet (IND)

won over Switzerland 60 64.
http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=100104367http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=100104367


10/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Asian Under 14 Rankings as of15 July 2013Boys

Girls

AsianRankings as of 22 July 2013Men

Women

Boys

Girls

Rank Last Name First Name Nation

1 KALEEM Syed Nofil PAK

2 LIM Alberto Jr PHI

3 RAKPUANGCHON Vorachon THA

4 SOMANI Parikshit IND

5 HOSSEN Rubel BAN

6 SENO Jan Godfrey PHI

7 SOU Ming Chun Alan HKG

8 SINHA Nitin Kumar IND9 TASHBULATOV Dostanbek KAZ

10 DAWANI Ali BRN

11 NAGIMETOV Sundet KAZ

12 KIM Jaewoo KOR

13 SAHIBZADA Md Ali PAK

14 ROBERTS Charels THA

15 ADABJOU Amir Mohammad IRI

16 HAMED Aziz YEM

17 ROMUALDEZ Jerome PHI

18 ALI Md. Kawsar BAN

19 CHERUKU Vasisht IND

20 KWON Sion KOR

Rank Last Name First Name Nation

1 NAJAFI DEHAGHI Saba IRI

2 MA Yexin CHN

3 JANG Eun Se KOR

4 MOR Himani IND

5 YADAV Mihika IND

6 BHAT HATANGADI Tanvi IND

7 MANE Snehal IND

7 JONES Meredith PHI

9 JITTAKOAT Yinglak THA

10 LAXME Sha Shafina BAN

11 REN Jiaqi CHN

12 SADEGH VAZIRI Sadaf IRI

13 ISLAM AFRANA Prity BAN

14 DEVI Melati Aurora INA

15 WIJESURIYA Rukshika SRI

16 UMAROVA Kamila UZB

17 ALNAEMI Mubarka QAT

18 SULTANA Rabaka BAN

19 UGARKOVIC Frana CRO

20 LOO Shi Pei MAS

Asian Rank ATP Rank Name Nation

1 11 Nishikori, Kei JPN

2 60 Lu, Yen-Hsun TPE

3 66 Istomin, Denis UZB

4 128 Devvarman, Somdev IND

5 129 Soeda, Go JPN

6 141 Golubev, Andrey KAZ

7 143 Wang, Jimmy TPE

8 153 Sugita, Yuichi JPN

9 170 Ito, Tatsuma JPN

10 171 Zhang, Ze CHN

Asian Rank WTA Rank Name Nation

1 5 Li, Na CHN

2 34 Peng, Shuai CHN

3 51 Morita, Ayumi JPN

4 53 Zheng, Jie CHN

5 65 Date-Krumm, Kimiko JPN

6 66 Shvedova, Yaroslava KAZ

7 89 Voskoboeva, Galina KAZ

8 92 Putintseva, Yulia KAZ

9 105 Doi, Misaki JPN10 109 Zhang, Shuai CHN

Asian Rank ITF Rank Name Nation

1 13 CHUNG, Hyeon KOR

2 23 NISHIOKA, Yoshihito JPN

3 30 HONG, Seong Chan KOR

4 31 KIM, Young Seok KOR

5 33 LEE, Duck Hee KOR

6 38 NAKAGAWA, Naoki JPN

7 49 ONISHI, Ken JPN

8 56 SAITO, Takashi JPN

9 58 ZHENG, Weiqiang CHN10 70 NAGAL, Sumit IND

Asian Rank ITF Rank Name Nation

1 12 HSU, Ching-Wen TPE

2 37 OKUNO, Ayaka JPN

3 43 IP, Katherine HKG

4 47 XU, Shilin CHN

5 54 YAMAMOTO, Hikari JPN

6 58 BUAYAM, Kamonwan THA

7 63 SUN, Ziyue CHN

8 64 DANILINA, Anna KAZ9 65 DAIR, Asiya KAZ

10 69 ADACHI, Mami JPN


11/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Do you know?

Q: I am having an issue with thepartner of the receiver when I serve tothe deuce court. The receiver is in anormal position near the baseline, buthis partner is standing so close to thecenter line that his right arm and racketare actually in the service court that Iam serving into. Is this allowed?A: So long as the receivers partner isntdoing anything other than standingthere, its legit. Rule 26, Case 5, says

that the receivers partner may take

any position on his side of the net.However, if that player is doing

something intended solely to distract,

such as waving his arms, a hindrance

could be claimed under the terms of

the same rule. Then again, how good is

your aim? If your serve hits the

receivers partner on the fly, its your

point under Rule 24, Case 7.

Q: Can a player reach over the net tohit a ball?

A: Only in certain circumstances. Aplayer loses the point if she hits the ball

before it has passed the net. A player's

racquet may pass over the net after

hitting the ball on her own side of the

net. Also, if the ball in play has hit theground and then spun or been blown

back over the net, the player may

reach over the net and to hit the ball.

In any circumstance, a player loses the

point if she or her racquet or anything

she is wearing or carrying touches the

net while the ball is in play.

Q: If the first serve is a fault but then aball from another court rolls onto your

court interrupting the second serve,

does the server resume the second

serve or start again with a first serve

once the wayward ball has been

removed?

A: Whenever a ball from another courtinterrupts play, the whole point is

started over. In this case the server isentitled to another first serve. (ITF rule

23)

Q: If a ball is soft at the end of a point,should the point be replayed?

A: If the ball is soft, not broken, thepoint shall not be replayed.


12/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

GRIP GUIDEThere are various ways to explain how

to find a certain grip, but the simplest

and most reliable is to use the base

knuckle of your index finger as the

main reference point. The diagrams for

each grip show the bottom view of a

racquet handle (where the butt cap is

attached), which has four main sidesand four narrower bevels between the

sides.

CONTINENTAL GRIPThe Continental is the

one grip that you can use

for every shot, but that

hasnt been standard

practice since the days oflong pants and skirts. The

Continental is used

primarily for serves,

volleys, overheads, slices,

and defensive shots. Find the

Continental by putting the base knuckle

of your index finger on bevel No. 1,which puts the V created by your

thumb and forefinger on top of the

handle. Lefties put the knuckle on bevel

No. 4.

PLUS:Hitting with the Continental grip on

the serve and overhead is standard, as

it allows your forearm and wrist to

naturally pronate through contact. This

results in a more explosive and versatile

shot with the least amount of stress on

the arm. Its also the preferred grip on

volleys since it provides a slightly openracquet face for under spin and control.

Since you need quick

hands at net, having the same grip forforehand and backhand volleys is also

crucial. As mentioned, your grip affects

the angle of the racquet face. The more

closed the face, the higher and farther

in front of your body your strike zone

should be for proper contact. Since the

racquet face is relatively square on a

Continental grip, for ground strokes the

strike zone is low and to the side of the

body. Thats why its helpful for

defensive shots, low balls, and wideballs that youre late on.

MINUS:You can hit flat or with slice using the

Continental, but its tough to put

topspin on the ball. That means hittingwith power and keeping the ball in

play requires you to aim the shot just

above net level, leaving you little

margin for error. And without thatsafety spin, returning a ball out of your

strike zone can be difficult. So lack of

consistency is often a problem.

EASTERN FOREHAND GRIPPlace your hand flat against the strings

and slide it down to the grip; put theracquet flat on a table,

close your eyes, and

pick it up; or shake

hands with the racquet.

These are just a few ofthe tricks you can use to

find an Eastern

forehand grip. The

more technical way is

to hold the racquet in a


13/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Continental grip and then turn your

hand clockwise (counterclockwise forlefties), so that

the base knuckle of your index finger

slides over one bevel.

PLUS:This is generally considered the easiest

grip for learning the forehand. Its

versatile, allowing the player to brush

up the back of the ball for topspin or

flatten out the shot for more powerand penetration. Its easy to switch

quickly to other grips from the Eastern,

making it a wise choice for players who

like to come to net.

MINUS:The strike zone is higher and farther

out in front than with the Continental

grip, but its still not a great option for

returning high shots. An Easternforehand can be very powerful and

penetrating, but because it tends to be

a flatter stroke it can also be

inconsistent, making it difficult to

sustain in long rallies. Its not the best

choice for players looking to put a lot

of topspin on their shots and outlast

their opponents.

SEMI-WESTERN FOREHAND GRIPMoving your knuckle

one more bevel

clockwise

(counterclockwise for

lefties) from the Eastern

forehand grip puts youin a semi-Western grip.

This has become aprevalent grip for

power baseliners on

the pro tours, and many teaching prosencourage their students to use it.

PLUS:The semi-Western allows a player to

apply more topspin to the ball than the

Eastern forehand grip, giving the shot

greater safety and control, especially

on lobs and short angles. Still, you can

drive through the ball with this grip to

hit a flat drive for a winner or passing

shot. It also affords a player the optionof taking a bigger swing at the ball

since the topspin will help keep it in

the court. With a strike zone higher

and farther out in front of the body

than the Eastern forehand, its good for

controlling and being aggressive withhigh shots.

MINUS:You can run into trouble returning lowballs. Since the grip naturally closes the

racquet face, forcing you to swing upfrom underneath the ball, it can be

difficult to return lower shots. This,

along with having to make a significant

grip change to get to the Continental

for a volley, is why so many power

baseliners are uncomfortable coming to

net.

WESTERN FOREHAND GRIPFrom a semi-Western grip,

shift your knuckle one

more bevel clockwise

(counterclockwise for

lefties), and youve got a

full Western grip. Looking

down at the racquet, yourknuckle should be on the


14/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

very bottom of the grip. This puts your

palm almost completely under theracquet. Clay-court specialists and

players who hit with heavy topspin

favor this grip.

PLUS:This is an extreme grip that puts a lot

of action on the ball. The positioning

of the wrist forces the racquet to whip

up the back of the ball severely,

generating tremendous topspin. You

can hit the ball well above net leveland it will still drop into the court. The

resulting shot will usually have a high

and explosive bounce, pushing your

opponent behind the baseline. The

strike zone is higher and farther out in

front than all other forehand grips. Theability to handle high balls is what

makes this grip so popular with clay-

courters and juniors.

MINUS:Low balls can be murder. Thats whyprofessionals with this grip generally

dont do well on faster surfaces, where

the ball stays low after the bounce.

Also, you need tremendous racquet-

head speed and wrist strength to

generate adequate pace and spin.

Otherwise, your shots will land short

and your opponents can attack them.For some, its also difficult to flatten

shots out, so putting balls away

becomes a problem. And just as with

the semi- Western, transitioning to net

and hitting an effective first volley is a

major challenge.

EASTERN BACKHAND GRIPFrom a Continental grip, shift your

knuckle one bevel counterclockwise(clockwise for lefties) so that its on the

very top of the grip.

If you drilled a nailthrough that knuckle, it

would go right through

the center of the grip

(just dont try that at

home).PLUS:As with the Eastern

forehand, this is a versatile grip that

provides good stability for the wrist.You can roll the ball for some spin or

hit through it for a more penetratingdrive. Some players can slice with an

Eastern grip, but if not, a subtle grip

change over to the Continental is easy

enough to do. This grip also can be

used for a kick serve, and it makes the

transition to net for volleys a relatively

smooth one.

MINUS:While solid for handling low balls, an

Eastern backhand grip is not ideal for

hitting topspin shots from around the

shoulders. It can be difficult to control

these balls, and many times a player isforced to slice them back defensively.

You see this most often when players

return kick serves that jump up high in

the strike zone.

EXTREME EASTERN OR SEMI-WESTERN BACKHAND GRIPThe backhands answer to theWesternforehand (a reason some refer to this as

a semi-Western backhand), the baseknuckle of your index finger movesone bevel counterclockwise from theEastern backhand (clockwise for lefties).


15/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Its an advanced grip that only stronger

and more accomplished players tend touse.

PLUS:Just as with the

Western forehand

grips, this is a very

popular choice

with clay-court

players. It

naturally closes the

racquet face morethan a regular

Eastern backhand and moves the strike

zone higher and farther out in front of

you, making it more conducive to

handling high balls and returning them

with topspin. Some of the mostpowerful backhands in tennis are held

with this grip.

MINUS:Its limitations are similar to those of the

Western forehand. Its not well-suitedfor low balls, and because its a rather

extreme grip its difficult to make quick

changes for a transition to net. Players

with this grip usually have long,

elaborate swings and prefer the

baseline.

TWO-HANDEDBACKHAND GRIPTheres no doubting

the popularity of this

grip, but there is

some debate about

the ideal way to

position both hands.

One of the mostaccepted ways is to

hold the racquet in

your dominant hand with aContinental grip. Then take your

nondominant hand and put it above

your playing hand in a semi-Western

forehand grip.

PLUS:This is an excellent choice for playerswho arent strong enough to hit a one-

handed backhand. A more compact

stroke than the one-hander, the two-

hander relies on shoulder rotation andan efficient swing to provide power.

Thats why its particularly effective on

the return of serve. Its also good on

low shots, and the extra arm lets you

power through on balls that are at

shoulder level.

MINUS:Because both hands are on the racquet,

the two-hander limits a players reach.So doing anything with wide shots can

be tough, especially since its difficult torotate your upper body when

stretched. Also, two-handers can

become dependent on topspin. Hitting

an effective slice calls for extending

through the shot with a steady front

shoulder. This is unnatural for two-

handers, who are taught to open their

hips and rotate their shoulders. Takingthe nondominant hand off the racquet

to hit the slice or volley is also

troubling for many twohanders; its the

reason why theyre generally not

comfortable at the net.

(Content Credit - Ed McGrogan)Visit Asian Tennis Federation FB Page

http://www.facebook.com/asian.tennis.fed
http://www.facebook.com/asian.tennis.fedhttp://www.facebook.com/asian.tennis.fedhttp://www.facebook.com/asian.tennis.fed


16/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Basic Nutrition for Tennis

A healthy diet and body can clearlycontribute to a players quest to reach

peak performance. In short, whatsgood for health is also generally good

for tennis. A players overall dietary

needs on and off the court are typically

pretty straightforward. Unfortunately,

some players will focus on trying the

latest fad in nutritional supplements,

using the rationale thismust be what

Im missing! With all of thisinformation, nutrition for tennis can

become more than a little confusing.

Dietary strategies should be adjusted

for such factors as a players age,

fitness, level of competition, intensity

of play, environment, time of

competition, duration of play, amount

of time between matches, as well asmany others. From a nutritional

standpoint, preparing for a tournament

match is further challenged by theunpredictability of getting on the court;

a match that is supposed to start at 11

a.m. may not actually begin until 1:30.

This raises questions like, Should that

player now have lunch or not? and

What types of foods should the player

consume during the delay to remain

peaked for competition?

A wealth of comprehensive

information on diet and nutrition asthey relate to a healthy lifestyle can be

readily found from

organizations. Because of this readysupply of information, this competency

will not focus on general nutrition

guidelines to eating for good health,

but instead will look at basic nutrition

principles and other current nutritional

issues as they relate to, and impact,

tennis performance. The following

information on match preparation,

play and recovery is also generally

appropriate for on-court training and

practice; players should thereforeincorporate many of the following

suggestions into their training and

practice routines, as well.

Finally, it is important that players,

parents, coaches and trainers realizethat the effectiveness of any sound

nutrition program is greatly enhanced

when integrated with proper training

methods, periodization and adequaterest.

A Balanced DietA balanced and varied diet should

provide all the necessary nutrients

(carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals,

vitamins, water, etc.) to sufficientlysupport growth and development,

regulate metabolism and bodilyfunctions, maintain normal menstrual

status, and provide adequate energy

during training and competition. Given

the widespread availability of varied

and good nutrient-dense food choices,

it is not difficult to maintain a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, we all

have our favorite foods, and habitual

selection of these items may limit the

intake of important key nutrients. This

way, an adequate and regular intake of


17/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

all the essential nutrients is not just left

to chance.

All tennis players should limit the

known nutritional risk factors that are

associated with health problems and

emphasize those nutritional guidelines

that have been shown to promote

good health.

Energy Balance and Fuel for the BodyPlayers can readily expend a lot ofcalories on the court, especially during

intense competition. In fact, it is not

unreasonable for players to expend

600-800 calories per hour during

competitive recreational singles

play. It is important for players to

balance this caloric loss during play by

consuming enough calories and

ensuring the meals contain all of the

essential nutrients.

Which nutrients provide the most

support for such an expenditure of

energy? Carbohydrates, fats, proteins,

water, vitamins, and minerals all are

important for the tennis player;

however, carbohydrates and fats arethe primary sources of energy for

tennis. Fats are typically used for fuel

during low to moderate intensityexercise. However, as the intensity of

play increases during a match and

energy expenditure goes up, the bodys

emphasis shifts to utilizing more

carbohydrate and proportionately lessfat for fuel. This is because the body

can break down carbohydrates to

supply energy for muscle contraction at

a much faster rate than fat can be

broken down and converted to usable

energy.

The intermittent

nature of tennis play reduces theoverall intensity in a match. In other

words, there is not a continuous high

demand for energy within any specific

muscle group and some recovery can

occur between points. Consequently,

even during intense singles, fat is used

to supply considerable energy

throughout the course of the match.

During the latter part of a tennis match,

protein could become a contributor in

meeting a players energy demands,especially if the pre-match and during-

play dietary carbohydrate intake is

inadequate. This, of course, is

undesirable since it is typically muscle

that is broken down to meet the

increased energy needs of the body.

Players also need to consider that, as

with any vigorous physical activity,

playing tennis produces a considerableamount of body heat, which can cause

a players core body temperature to

rise. Sweating is typically the most

effective and most utilized on-courtmethod for dissipating heat in either

hot or cool weather. This poses a

significant challenge to many tennis

players since the water lost through

sweat must be replaced to avoid

dehydration and impairedperformance. If the fluid lost via sweat

is no properly balanced by fluid intakeon the court, a tennis player may

become dehydrated and overheated,

and likely will experience premature

fatigue and possibly lose the match.

More severely, heat exhaustion, heat

cramps, or even worse, heat stroke

may ultimately ensue.

(Content Credit USTA)


18/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Technical and Training Structureof High Performance Tennis

AcademiesIntroduction: Defining a Tennis

AcademyA Tennis Academy is a center founded

to follow major tennis approaches.

One of the major philosophies

followed by the world known tennisacademies is Competitive Approach.

These academies are basically focused

on working with tournament players of

different age categories. Population

joining the programs of such centers

are basically promising juniors and

under 20 players who are looking for

high quality training in a professional

environment. Players of this handmainly want to develop their playing

standards, improve their ranking or

dare to play at the highest level on

return to their home countries.

Competitive + Social Approach is

another policy followed by a larger

number of tennis academies around the

world. These academies try to offer

programs for competitive as well associal tennis clients. The social sides of

their packages are normally for those

who are looking for high quality

facilities as well as an instructive and

enjoyable tennis experience.

In High Performance Tennis Academies

players are trained mainly on technical,

tactical, physical as well as mental andcompetitive aspects of the game and

join the programs in

short/mid/long term periods. Incountries like Spain that organize a

large number of tennis tournaments for

a variety of levels and age groups,

traveling to regional tournaments is

also a part of the academies services

for players.

A Tennis Academy in Hardware Terms:In hardware terms, a tennis academy isusually a center with tennis courts of

variety surface types for different uses.

Fitness facilities, indoor courts,

swimming pool, classroom, onsite

accommodation, athletic restaurant, etc

are the most common facilities and

spaces in a tennis academy. High

quality teaching-training equipments

like ball machines, training wall, videoanalysis systems, etc. are some of the

other facilities that a quality tennis

academy exploits.

A Tennis Academy in Software Terms:In software terms, a tennis academy is

a center with highly educated and

experienced coaching-technical staff

offering a variety of programs for

different levels and age categories year

round. Short and midterm camps and

clinics with different goals and

definitions as well as organizing or

hosting a few tournaments form the

software basis of tennis academies.

Some years ago, you could find the

structurally defined academies mainlyin tennis leading nations like US, Spain


19/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

Typical Structureof a High

PerformanceTennis Academy

Educated and

Experienced

Coaching StaffInternet

Website

Tournaments

Advertisement

and Marketing

Technical and

Logistical

PersonnelDefined Goals

and Programs

Appropriate

Office

Tennis Courts

Fitness Facilities

and France. Recently, the number of

tennis academies, big or small, isincreasing in South America, North

Africa as well as East and Central Asia.

However top academies are normally

based in tennis legendary nations and

regions because there

are a lot of determining factors existingin such nations or regions of the world

influencing the performance of

academies in that area to be more

professional oriented.

An overview of Programs in HighPerformance Tennis AcademiesIn a High Performance Tennis Academy

with Competitive Approach the

training packages for players are

generally composed of:


20/21


ASIAN TENNIS NEWS

- A daily training session in the morning

(1.30hr - 2.15 hrs)

- A training/competition session in the

afternoon every other day / 2 or 4

days per week (1-2 hrs)

- A daily physical training session

(45mins 1.5 hr)

- Weekly or monthly mental

consultations

- Traveling to tournaments

General Framework of On courtTrainingIn High Performance Tennis Academies

training sessions are generally

concentrated on tactical drills/training

and competitive concepts. Having two

players on one court and the 1/2 or 1/4

coach/player ratio is a guarantee to

provide high quality and well

monitored training.

Common drills practiced in dailytraining sessions of high performancetennis academiesWarm-up and consistency drills:Each training session normally begins

with up to 45 minutes of tennis specific

warm-up (with players having

completed slow jog, half court

exchanges for a few balls, etc.) as well

as some consistency + control drills

focusing on major directions on

backcourt rallies.

Drill 1: Crosscourt FH and BH

Players rally the ball

crosscourt on forehand and thenbackhand sides.

Goal of Drill: As a STABILIZING drill,

players focus on the consistency of

forehand as well as maintaining the

appropriate height and depth on the

backcourt major direction. The

intensity is progressively emphasized. If

any slight technical/movement

refinement is necessary, it's usually been

done in this phase.

Drill Variations: The drill is sometimes

done with players counting the balls

they put in play during the rally (count

to 10/15/20). This variation is mostly

important for junior players to a)

increase their control over the

backcourt play and b) working on therelated skills while playing the game

(GBA).

Drill 2: Down the line FH and BHPlayers rally the ball on one side of the

court. Each one plays one FH and then

one BH in a row and they both try to

keep the ball parallel to the sideline as

much as they can.

Goal of Drill: Again, players focus on

their control over DL direction and try

to adjust the appropriate height and

depth as well as the necessary distance

from BL. The order of playing one FH

followed by one BH guarantees

sufficient movement as well


21/21

ASIAN TENNIS NEWSDrill Variations: To challenge players

for more accuracy on DL, they couldexchange some balls inside the doubles

alley.

Baseline Game drills:Drill 3: Combination of CC and DLforehands and backhandsAfter stabilizing the backcourt strokes

throughsingle

direction ball

exchanges,

one player

plays his FH

and BHs CC

and his

partner tries

to return theballs DL.

Goal of Drill: This combined drill is an

opportunity to work on changing the

direction and exploiting all the court

area as well as working on movement

to different balls and the quality of

recovery in different situations. It puts

the players in different offensive-

neutral (or defensive) situations and

challenges them to make decisions in

accordance.

Drill Variations: 1) As the easiest way to

give players more opportunity to work

on direction change more steadily, one

player can do the drill from one side of

the court and then repeat it from the

other side. 2) Another combination isto ask players to change the direction

after a determined

number of rallies in any direction (e.g.2 or 3) or based on situation (depth,

height or speed of the received ball).

Drill 4: CC backhand + Inside outforehandBoth players rally the ball CC on the

backhand side. Then, on different

situations (receiving a short ball, a high

bouncing ball, a slow ball, etc.) try toput the other player under pressure

through playing a deep forcing or angle

inside out forehand.

Goal of Drill: This drill encourages

players to build up opportunities to

exploit their forehand to win the point

from different court areas.

Drill Variations: As a match simulation

drill, players can also win the point

with an inside in forehand.

Drill 5: Playing the ball to coach at thenet and to partner on the baselineIn this drill player rallies the ball with

coach (on one side of the court at the

net) as well as the other player on

baseline.

Goal of Drill: Player receives the balls

coming from two different distances

which creates variety of speed, height,

bounce, angle and spin. As a result,

player can adapt differentiation and

countering both the net and baseline

player. (To be continued :) (Content Credits:

Amir Borghei ITF Level 3-PTR Professional 5A)

Documents

July2013 Newsletter - Asia Tennis News