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Groth to gain Australian citizenship

Just two months ago, the Australian Senate had paved the way to fast track Groth’s application for citizenship by reducing the residency requirements for applicants “who engage in activities that are of benefit to Australia” such as foreign-born athletes.

Groth took her Australian citizenship test on November 9. She passed the test with flying colours, answering 19 of the 20 questions correctly.

Surgery ends Groth’s season

“I am obviously disappointed to see my season end like this. However, surgery went well and I am already moving my foot and trying to walk gingerly. I am scheduled to be back in time for the new season and already look forward to competing during the Australian summer.”

Australia to relax citizenship laws for athletes

European baseball growing “at fastest pace”

(May 12) Participation and interest in baseball is growing at its fastest pace ever in Europe, according to research by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).

According to the IBAF, over 40 players from at least nine European countries (England, Portugal, Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and France) are currently playing in the North American major and minor leagues, the highest number ever.

The IBAF also asserts that in initial reports from Little League baseball - which is working with the European Baseball Confederation (CEB) - show an increase in enrolment of over 10 per cent for boys and girls playing Little League baseball across the continent.

“The efforts that our federations are making to grow the sport at the grassroots level, as well as all the time our partners are putting in to help us tell our story, are being positively reflected in our growth globally,” said IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller.

“We are especially pleased with the growth that we are seeing in Europe leading up to this September’s World Cup. It is a very exciting time to be involved in the sport.”

The 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup from 9-27 September will be held in seven different European countries.

Audi agrees to NY Yankees sponsorship deal

(March 24) German carmaker Audi has agreed to a new three-year deal to become the official luxury vehicle of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) team.
Under the deal, Audi will also be the name sponsor of a new membership-only viewing location and restaurant at the new Yankee Stadium – the Audi Yankees Club. The Audi logo will be displayed on the entrance doors to the club, on the exterior façade of the section of the stadium containing the club, and on napkins, brochures and screens within the stadium. Audi will also be displaying vehicles on the Babe Ruth Plaza outside the stadium on selected dates.
Michael J. Tusiani, Yankees senior vice president of corporate sales and sponsorships, said, "For the first time in the category, this fully-integrated relationship includes a premium entitlement area, signage, hospitality and marketplace activation rights.”

Reports says tennis is fastest growing sport in US

(March 20) According to US trade group the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, participation in tennis in the US grew 43 per cent between 2000 and 2008.
Growth in 2008 alone was 9.6 per cent. Tennis was only one of six sports to increase participation by more than 40 per cent. Sports which suffered a decline in participation in the same period included baseball, ice hockey, gymnastics and football.
The SGMA reported that sales of youth tennis racquets increased 88 per cent between 2003 and 2008, with sales of adult racquets increasing 30 per cent.
In December, research agency the Taylor Research Group reported that tennis participation in the US reached a 15-year record high of 27 million players in 2008.

Groenefeld second fastest server of all-time

(December 1) ITMS Sports client Anna-Lena Groenefeld has put a final exclamation point behind her stunningly successful comeback to the WTA Tour. With an 128 mph serve at the US Open in New York she recorded the second fastest serve in women’s professional tennis of all-time. As confirmed by the WTA Tour on Friday, Groenefelds mark was bested only by seven-time Grand Slam Champion Venus Williams, who fired serves of 129 mph speed in both the 2007 US Open as well as the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Top 15 Fastest Servers - all-time

Gajdosova is ITF’s featured player of the month

(November 11) ITMS Sports client Jarmila Gajdosova is the International Tennis Federation’s featured player of the months as released on the ITF website today. The 21-year old from Melbourne wrapped up a nearly perfect October with a runner-up finish at the Tokyo Ariake International Ladies Open after previously capturing two ITF titles in Taipei and Traralgon, Australia.

Gajdosova (WTA 98), who became a member of Tennis Australia’s AIS program at the end of 2007, is the second ITMS Sports player to be featured on the ITF website this year. In June, Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld posted a perfect 15-0 match record on her way to becoming the ITF’s featured player of the month.

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MLB International globalises World Series

(October 23) Major League Baseball (MLB) International is broadcasting this year’s World Series in 13 languages to 229 countries and territories around the world. Nearly one million United States Armed Forces personnel across the globe are also able to catch the action between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays via the Armed Forces Network. MLB International’s agreement also provides coverage for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Along with MLB International’s broadcast of the World Series, there will be eight foreign broadcasters on hand to call the games lives including television and radio broadcasters from the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Singapore and Venezuela. Fox Sports International and ESPN International will also cover the games from both sites.

“With nearly a third of Major League Baseball players on MLB club rosters born outside of the United States, there is tremendous interest around the world in Major League Baseball, especially during the World Series,” said Paul Archey, senior vice-president of international business operations for Major League Baseball. “We are proud that we are able to showcase the Fall Classic to such a diverse international audience, as well as to the brave men and women of the United States and Canadian Armed Forces serving around the world.”

Chase Utley homered and Cole Hamels pitched seven strong innings to lead the Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Rays in Game One of the World Series on Wednesday. Tampa Bay will look to get on level terms when Game Two gets underway tonight.

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Baseball World Cup to come to Germany

(September 4) The baseball world cup 2009 will partially be played in Germany. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) confirmed the selection of Regensburg as one of five hosts for the preliminary group stage games along with Barcelona, Moscow, Prague and Stockholm.

Regensburg, home of Germany’s largest baseball arena, will play host to the games of group E, featuring Germany, China, Venezuela and defending World Champion USA.

The 2009 baseball world cup will be held September 9 – 27 in seven European countries. Preliminary group stage games will be played in Spain, Russia, Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic, with semi-final and final round games taking place in the Netherlands and Italy.

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Three German players signed to pro contracts by MLB teams

(September 10) Major League Baseball announced last week that through the close of the third annual MLB International European Baseball Academy on Aug. 30, seven Academy participants have signed professional contracts with six different MLB Organizations.

MLB said that the seven players, all of whom are among Europe's best talent, hail from five countries, including three players from Germany and one each from Denmark, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. It reported that in total, 18 MLBI European Baseball Academy alumni have signed professional contracts with MLB clubs since the birth of the program.

Newly-elected International Baseball Federation (IBAF) President Harvey Schiller was encouraged by the report, saying that the sustained growth of baseball in Europe is not only a sign of the positive contributions MLB is making in baseball internationally, but also a reaffirmation that baseball communities are strengthening in countries that are still relatively new to the sport.

“Congratulations to these outstanding athletes and to all those who have helped them achieve this level of success,” said Schiller. “The success of these players will certainly motivate thousands of young athletes across Europe in their love of the game of baseball.”

This report from MLB comes as the IBAF and the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) usher in the 2007 European Championship/Olympic Qualifier, which kicked off on Friday in Barcelona. The Championships will not only crown the top team in Europe, but it will also qualify the first place team for the Olympic Games next year in Beijing.

On the heels of a successful Olympic Games test event in Beijing last month and the latest in a number of positive reports out of the MLBI Academy, Schiller is pleased with how the landscape of international baseball is shaping-up heading into the 2008 Olympic Games.

“This is truly an indication of the successful global growth of baseball,” Schiller said.

The 2007 European Championship/Olympic Qualifier will run from Sept. 7-16, 2007. Please visit www.eurobaseball2007.com for more details. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held from Aug. 8-24, 2008.

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Gajdosova wins WTT Rookie of the Year honors

(July 30) Jarmila Gajdosova was named the World TeamTennis Rookie of the Year as the most outstanding WTT female rookie of the 2007 season.

The Kansas City Explorers had picked up Gajdosova with their first round pick in the WTT Player draft and Gajdosova never disappointed. She finished the season ranked No. 2 in women's singles and often proved to be the backbone for the Exporers.

In home games Explorers coach Brent Haygarth would use the 20-year old as the team’s ace closer putting Gajdosova in as the last match to seal the deal for the Explorers.

It took an injury in the last set of the last match against the Sacramento Capitals to finally stop Gajdosova and spoil her team’s hopes of making the playoffs. Up 2-1 on veteran Elena Likhovtseva and with the team score tied at 17-17, Gajdosova ran forward to retrieve a drop shot when she twisted her knee and fell in noticeable pain. The diagnosis revealed she had torn her meniscus.

The news that she has been awarded the WTT Rookie of the Year award helped cheer Gajdosova up the next day. A congratulatory call from Billie Jean King, the tennis legend and WTT co-founder, reached Gajdosova at Dickson-Diveley Midwest Orthopedic Clinic just as she was getting the results of the MRI.

Other award winners were Mark Knowles (Male MVP) and Tamarine Tanasugarn of the Sacramento Capitals (Female MVP), Jesse Witten of the New York Sportimes (Male Rookie of the Year) and Springfield's John-Laffnie de Jager (Coach of the Year).

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Teenagers to open Germany Japan Fed Cup tie

(July 13) More than just the threatened typhoon Man-Yi occupied the thoughts of the Japanese and German Fed Cup teams who gathered for the draw ceremony at the Toyota Castle Hotel this morning.

The teams were honored by the presence of His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino of Japan, an avid tennis player, who showed his support of the competition team by participating in the draw ceremony, conducted by Referee Jane Harvey from Great Britain.

First up on Saturday will be Japan’s Erika Takao, 19 years old and making her Fed Cup debut, against 19-year-old Tatjana Malek, playing her third Fed Cup tie for Germany. The second match will feature 17-year-old Ayumi Morita, playing in her second tie, against 19-year-old Angelique Kerber, also making her first appearance in this competition. On Sunday, Takao will face Kerber while Morita will take on Malek. In the fifth doubles rubber, Rika Fujiwara and Tomoko Yonemura will take on Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Andrea Petrovic. Fujiwara and Groenefeld have considerable Fed Cup experience and, at 25 and 22 respectively, are solid anchors for their young squads.

Each team was asked about the other by the media in the post-draw press conferences and, while first hand knowledge about their opponents was thin on the ground, the players from both teams expected this tie to be a difficult one and each promised to play her very best.

There is a lot at stake here this weekend as the winner will secure a place in the elite 2008 Fed Cup World Group while the loser will compete in World Group II next year.

The industrial city of Toyota, about an hour east of Japan’s fourth largest city of Nagoya, is hosting the 2007 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Play-off match between Japan and Germany. The city is justly proud of the brand new Sky Hall Toyota, a nearly 5,000 seat multi-purpose stadium, where the tie will be held.

This is the seventh meeting between the two nations with Germany leading the series 5-1. Although Japan has only posted one win, their 1996 victory over a Steffi Graf-led German team is one of the most celebrated ties in Fed Cup history. Held at Ariake Park in Tokyo, Kimiko Date handed the world No. 1 Graf a 7-6, 3-6, 12-10 defeat in the third rubber to give Japan a 2-1 lead. Japan went on to win when Kyoko Nagatsuka and Ai Sugiyama defeated Graf and Anke Huber 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Fed Cup semifinals for the first and only time. Germany has a better overall record in Fed Cup, winning the title twice and reaching the final four other times but their last very successful year was in 1992.

The absence of Sugiyama and her teammates Akiko Morigami and Aiko Nakamura has loomed over this tie but the Japanese captain Minoru Ueda insists he is looking forward, not back: “After losing to France in the quarterfinals, we have been working towards this tie. We have new members and we are looking towards the future. While this team hasn’t had the chance until now to play on the international stage, they will work very hard to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Ueda’s views were echoed by his players who are hoping not just for a winning result but also for great home support. Takao promised to “fight as hard as I can. I hope that the fans support me,” while Morita, who made her debut against France, added, “I have been looking forward to a home tie. The Germans are a strong team, ranking above us, but we will work very hard in front of our supporters. I will do my very best.”

The Japanese team also praised the court, saying it was a bit fast and to their advantage.

Germany’s Barbara Rittner, with 11 years of Fed Cup experience as a player and three years as a captain, was very respectful of the Japanese team, even without their top three. “The whole tie changed by the numbers but numbers don’t mean much in Fed Cup. We play the team that is here and they will have the crowd behind them. It will be tough; they will take their chances.”

“We have had a good practice week so far,” added Rittner. “We are here to win and get back in the World Group. There will be very tough matches and the Japanese will fight to the end. We will as well.”

“We are a great team,” said Groenefeld who summed up the perspective of the German side. “We have had fun this week, great fun, and we are looking at a very tough match. We hope to be the winner in the end with the same fun we had the last time.”

This is a fifth tie for both captains with Rittner posting a 3-2 and Ueda a 2-3 win-loss record. In first round Fed Cup action this year, Japan lost to France 5-0 while Germany defeated Croatia 4-1.

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Smashnova’s last hurrah could be historic moment for Israel’s Fed Cup team

(July 13) Israel's Fed Cup team faces the most important tie in its history this weekend.

The team plays Austria for a place among the world's top eight tennis nations.

For years Israel's women's tennis leaned heavily on Anna Smashnova, but the veteran will be in the shadows tomorrow and Sunday, as Israel faces Austria in a Fed Cup World Group playoff in Linz.

For years Smashnova, who holds the international record for the most ties played in Fed Cup competition, 73, carried Israel almost single-handedly, with Tzipi Obziler providing the backup.

Obziler has since become an important part of the team and in the past three years she has been joined by Shahar Peer, who in the past year was the driving force as Israel made it into World Group II.

Israel's leading women's tennis player for over a decade, Smashnova didn't play when Israel beat Canada earlier this year to earn the playoff tie with Austria and decided to close out her distinguished tournament career at Wimbledon two weeks ago.

In Linz, Smashnova will be providing support for her teammates and of late she has also been working with 17-year-old Julia Glushko.

Israel had hoped to be drawn at home, where it can count on the fanatic support of the crowd at the Ramat Hasharon Tennis Center, but instead it was a draw away and against the team it didn't want to face.

Austria plays on a clay court surface and features two players in their prime.

Sybille Bammer is ranked 24th in the world. The 27-year-old is a late bloomer who won her first WTA title at Pattaya this season, 10 years after turning pro. She is the only mother on the WTA tour.

Tamira Paszek became the youngest player to win a WTA title last year when, at 16, she won the Portoroz tournament in Slovenia.

Making up the team are Yvonne Meusburger, ranked 83rd in the world, and Melanie Klaffner, ranked 639.

Bammer and Paszek are both powerful baseline players, who do well on fast hard courts. Bammer made the third round at Wimbledon, while Paszek went as far as the last 16.

Also playing for a place among the world's top eight are Belgium andChina; Japan and Germany; Spain and Czech Republic.

This weekend also sees the World Group semifinals with the U.S. hosting Russia and France taking on Italy.

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Farewell Anna Smashnova

(June 28) She was the last of the great scramblers.

We don't mean that there aren't some very fast players out there. Anyone who faces Jelena Jankovic, or faced Kim Clijsters, knows that full well. But Jankovic, and Clijsters, and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario before them combined great speed with the ability to hit winners when they had an opening. If someone asks you to name players who won solely with speed, perhaps the only recent name that would spring to mind is Amanda Coetzer.

There were others. Tatiana Panova, for one. But, in recent years, none has stood above Anna Smashnova. She wasn't a big threat at Slams -- she was basically a live practice partner for her opponents at Wimbledon, and even at Roland Garros, someone would eventually overwhelm her. She rarely even tried to play doubles -- she was too easy to lob, and even at the baseline, players at the net were too likely to blister a ball past her. On fast surfaces -- grass, carpet, even indoor hardcourt -- she would be overwhelmed.

But she won a total of twelve titles, mostly on clay with some on (mostly slow) hardcourt: Tashkent 1999, Knokke-Heist 2000, Auckland 2002, Canberra 2002, Vienna 2002, Shanghai 2002, Sopot 2003, Helsinki 2003, Modena 2005, Budapest 2005, Budapest 2006.

What's more, she won all twelve of those without losing a final. It was not until her very last final appearance, at Forest Hills last year, that she lost on the last day of an event (to Meghann Shaughnessy).

She turns 31 shortly after Wimbledon. She's been through a lot in her life, being born in Minsk in what is now Belarus and ending up in Israel. She married her coach, then watched it fall apart. She came back to win those last few titles. If that isn't grit, what is?

She never made the Top Ten, but she did spend about a month at #15 in 2003. She spent a couple of years in the Top Twenty, starting in mid-2002 and staying there most of the time until August 2004. She was in the year-end Top Fifty in 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005; she didn't fall below #50 to stay until after last year's U. S. Open.

Since Forest Hills, she has played only Slams, with no wins at all in that time. She almost didn't get into Wimbledon, because her ranking has fallen so low. But she did get in. That means she has played every Slam since Roland Garros 1998 (inclusive) -- 38 consecutive Slams, the longest active streak on the Tour. In total, she played 49 Slam main draws. She also set a record for Fed Cup service. She has been playing pro matches since 1990. There are a lot of miles on those legs of hers. Surely she deserves the rest.

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French Open prizes reach gender parity

(March 19) The French Open will award equal prize money to male and female players throughout the tournament, falling in line with the three other Grand Slam tournaments.

Roland Garros officials have said they will follow the lead of Wimbledon and pay equal prize money throughout the tournament to men and women.

Until this year, Wimbledon had refused to change its stance of offering female players less prize money throughout but now both the All England Club and the Paris tournament organisers are to offer the same pay packets for all rounds.

The French Open opted to alter the prize money offered to the tournament winners but there remained a discrepancy for players knocked out earlier in the competition.

The US Open and the Australian Open both already offer equal pay.

WTA chief executive Larry Scott commended the decision, saying it "closes one chapter in the history of tennis and opens an exciting new one that will positively impact opportunities for women".

Equalizing the pay will increase the total purse to $20.34 million -- a 7.2 percent increase from last year and a record at the tournament, which runs May 27-June 10. The men's and women's singles winners will each receive $1.33 million.

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World baseball turns to Schiller to get back into Olympics

(March 2) World baseball turned to Harvey Schiller to get the sport back into the Olympic Games.

Schiller was elected president of the International Baseball Federation on Friday, defeating Reynaldo Gonzalez of Cuba 58-29 to fill the unexpired term of Aldo Notari of Italy, who died last year.

Schiller, a former head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Turner Sports and YankeeNets, will lead the effort to restore baseball and softball to the Olympic program. The sports are being dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games and they hope to persuade the International Olympic Committee to put them on the 2016 schedule.

"We have to make sure that the tournament here in Beijing is very successful because the eyes of the IOC members are going to be on softball as well as baseball,'' Schiller said.

Olympic officials have complained that baseball doesn't send its best players to the Olympics - Major League Baseball permits only minor leaguers to go.

"Hopefully we can gather up representatives of the best players,'' Schiller said. "To ask that entire teams turn over is asking too much. But I think we can have a good representation.''

IOC officials also want baseball to toughen rules against performance-enhancing drugs.

"We need to make sure the sport is clean for all of our competitions,'' Schiller said. "I think we can work hand in hand with them (MLB) to ensure that the players who are part of the pool and selected comply with the WADA rules.''

Baseball was kicked out of the 2012 London Olympics in July 2005 in a 54-50 vote by the IOC and softball fell one short vote of remaining - a 52-52 vote with one abstention. When another vote was held in February 2006, baseball lost 46-42 and softball was defeated 47-43.

"I do not believe that there is a European bias,'' Schiller said. "I think there are a lot of European members. It is important that we demonstrate to everyone the worldwide interest in the sport of baseball. To 30 or more of the members here, it's the primary sport in their country.''

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Yankee Stadium named host to 2008 All-Star Game

(February 1) It will be a fitting sign-off to the venue which closes at the end of the 2008 season.

George Steinbrenner, the team's long time principal owner said: “It is always a great honour for a team's home stadium to serve as host for the All-Star Game, and the Yankees are proud and delighted to have been selected for the honor in 2008.

“It will be one of many historic moments in the 2008 season as we say goodbye to a great facility.”

The new Yankee Stadium, to be built across the street from the existing venue, is slated to open in 2009.

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