Tennis Players

Taylor Townsend has both confidence and charm. The 16-year-old can smile when she talks about some hubbub caused last year at the U.S. Open when it was publicly suggested the teenager might be too chubby. Since the suggestion was made by the United States Tennis Assn., which offers funding and coaching help to top athletes, the criticism carried more, um, weight. But Townsend has gone on her tennis way, which is to hit big ground strokes and use USTA coaches and trainers to keep making her better.

Taylor Townsend has both confidence and charm. The 16-year-old can smile when she talks about some hubbub caused last year at the U.S. Open when it was publicly suggested the teenager might be too chubby. Since the suggestion was made by the United States Tennis Assn., which offers funding and coaching help to top athletes, the criticism carried more, um, weight. But Townsend has gone on her tennis way, which is to hit big ground strokes and use USTA coaches and trainers to keep making her better.

When athletes are having a good game they often talk about things moving in slow motion. A study out of Purdue University finds that altered perceptions may be somewhat universal and tied to performance. The study, published recently in the journal Perception , tried out various scenarios on tennis players and on people who played a version of the old-school video game Pong. In the tennis experiment 36 male and female tennis students at various levels were tested on their perception of ball speed.

Caroline Wozniacki knows well the perils of dating a famous athlete. She has been the girlfriend of golfer Rory McIlroy for more than a year and the spotlight of fame isn't always a plus. For example last week, when McIlroy quit in the middle of a golf tournament in Florida, and Wozniacki was upset in the first round of a tennis tournament in Malaysia, it was decided by some that it was romantic heartache that caused the corresponding events. "We've been in the media spotlight so long that I've gotten used to that part of it," Wozniacki said Wednesday.

Have you read about the tennis players in Moorpark? All 300 of them in a city with a population of about 28,000! They want the other 27,000-plus of us to build eight to 12 tennis courts at a cost of $300,000 to $500,000. That's a lot of money and it doesn't even mention maintenance. I personally don't think the city has an obligation to do anything that benefits so few at such a cost to so many, especially in a time when we are wondering where we will get the money for important things like police and fire protection.

Venus Williams gathered in another big trophy Saturday, defeating Virginia Razzano to win the $2-million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates. It was her 40th title, a wonderful feat, but if justice is the guide that it should be, this was a title nobody should have won. In fact, not a single match should have been contested at the Dubai tournament last week.

Wheelchair tennis players from throughout the state will compete against non-wheelchair users in the fourth annual Hot Wheels Invitational Tennis Tournament this weekend. The event will be at Pierpont Racquet Club, 500 Sanjon Road, from noon to 6 p.m. today and Sunday. While the registration deadline for players has already passed, anyone can come and watch either day, event organizers said.

ROME -- The ATP suspended Italians Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali on Saturday for making bets -- some as little as $7 -- on tennis matches involving other players. The Italian tennis federation denounced the penalties by the governing body as an "injustice," and the players said they have been made scapegoats. Starace, ranked 31st, was suspended for six weeks and fined $30,000, the Italian federation said. Bracciali, ranked 258th, was banned for three months and fined $20,000.

So what if Ivan Lendl pulled out of the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament at the last minute two years ago? So what if he did it again last week? When the $425,000 Grand Prix event begins Monday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, three of its top four players--Lendl, Pat Cash and Aaron Krickstein--will have pulled out, leaving only one player, Andre Agassi, ranked in the top 21 in the field of 32. So what does that make this Volvo tournament? Will it be a who wins?/who cares?

Chile's Fernando Gonzalez was hit in the head by a plastic bottle of mineral water thrown by a fan after a victory in a Davis Cup doubles match against Venezuela on Sunday. Gonzalez, 14th in the world in the ATP Tour rankings, said he felt faint after being hit but went on to defeat Jose Antonio de Armas in a singles match later Sunday. "Fortunately, it was just a big fright. I felt dizzy at the start but nothing more," Gonzalez said.

Maria Sharapova considers the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells a hometown tournament. The Russian tennis pro has a home in Manhattan Beach, her parents have a home in Topanga Canyon and she even has a favorite Italian restaurant in Southern California, La Sosta Enoteca in Hermosa Beach. And so it makes Sharapova happy that she will be seeded second to Victoria Azarenka when the women's tournament begins Wednesday. Men's main draw play begins Friday. "I like this tournament because the people come to watch the tennis," Sharapova said.

Serena Williams will return to the top of the women's world tennis rankings after the Qatar Open, where she defeated former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, in Friday quarterfinals. When the new rankings are released Monday, the 31-year-old Williams will become the oldest top-ranked women's tennis player in history when she surpasses Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Williams last held the top ranking in October 2010. Previously, Chris Evert was the oldest to hold the No. 1 ranking when she was 30 in 1985.

Gussy Moran, who gained both international fame and notoriety by wearing a short skirt and lace panties in the 1949 Wimbledon tennis tournament and who lived a life of celebrity for many years, died Wednesday night in her small Los Angeles apartment in the shadow of Paramount Studios. She was 89. According to a friend, Lovey Jurgens, Moran suffered from colon cancer and had been home about a week after an 11-day stay at Good Samaritan Hospital. Moran was born Sept. 8, 1923, and grew up in a Victorian home on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica that still stands.

A pop-up salon at the U.S. Open helps keep tennis players looking their best. NYC stylist Julien Farel is in his sixth year offering trims, braids, updos, mani-pedis and more to the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Elena Vesnina. And occasionally shearing some hapless court VIP who has lost a bet. [The Cut] Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour has hosted a series of fund-raisers for President Obama's reelection campaign here in the States. Now she's reportedly going international with plans to hold fund-raising dinners in London and Paris in conjunction with fashion weeks in those cities this fall.

NEW YORK — This might be the year to expect some surprises at the U.S. Open. Play in the year's final tennis major begins Monday at 8 a.m. PDT, with defending women's champion Samantha Stosur getting the honor of opening on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Petra Martic of Croatia. And the first men on Ashe court will be third-seeded Andy Murray, the newly crowned Olympic champion, and Alex Bogomolov Jr., who once played as an American and now represents Russia. This summer has been jam-packed with the insertion of the Olympics into the short space between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

LONDON -- Just when you think Roger Federer has climbed his last peak in tennis, he clips on the crampons and heads for the top of Everest. Friday, in the men's Olympic tennis semifinals, the air got pretty thin where the world's No. 1 player went. He reached yet another pinnacle of drama and success. After 4 hours and 26 minutes of superb serving and shot-making, a record for a three-set match in men's singles in the modern era, Federer had outlasted Argentina's  Juan Martin del Potro.

NEW YORK — This might be the year to expect some surprises at the U.S. Open. Play in the year's final tennis major begins Monday at 8 a.m. PDT, with defending women's champion Samantha Stosur getting the honor of opening on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Petra Martic of Croatia. And the first men on Ashe court will be third-seeded Andy Murray, the newly crowned Olympic champion, and Alex Bogomolov Jr., who once played as an American and now represents Russia. This summer has been jam-packed with the insertion of the Olympics into the short space between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Two Orange County tennis players were eliminated Thursday in the quarterfinals of the boys' 18s division at the Easter Bowl Tennis Championships. David Roditi of San Clemente was defeated by Jason Thompson of Salem, Ore., the fifth-seeded player in the tournament, 7-5, 6-3. Thompson nearly blew a 5-2 lead in the first set before holding on. Nirav Patel of Owensboro, Ky., beat last year's 16s champion, Adam Peterson of Orange, 6-0, 7-5.

LONDON — The current king and queen of tennis were up bright and early here Wednesday. No leisurely breakfast, no lingering over a second cup of coffee. Roger Federer was out on Court 1, Serena Williams on Centre Court. What an idea. Olympic tennis at Wimbledon. It was noon — that's the crack of dawn for marquee tennis players — and the fans who had taken a second mortgage on their homes to purchase tickets were scurrying to seats so they wouldn't miss the day's big show.

Steve Johnson accomplished more in his four years at USC than any tennis player in NCAA history. He was a part of four team national championships, won two individual titles and set the record for most consecutive victories, with 72. However, there is one aspect of the sport he never quite discovered with the Trojans. He never learned how to lose. "It's definitely going to be different," Johnson said of a professional career in which losing is a harsh reality for even the greatest players.