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News and Notes

Aug 25th 2016
Milos Raonic

News from the US Open

With players filtering into New York for the last Slam of the year, news is beginning to surface prior to Monday’s start of play.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has pulled out of the US Open after pulling a pectoral muscle in training. The season is now a wash for the Australian who missed the first three majors due to a shoulder injury.

The US Open will feature the biggest prize in tennis offering $3.5m to its men’s and women’s singles champion. The purse will be $200,000  more than the one offered to the 2015 champions.

Meanwhile, a novel idea surfaced as a fragrance company has produced a limited-edition US Open cologne. The scent smells like new tennis balls and is produced by Demeter Fragrance Library of Great Neck, New York. The company says, “This fragrance commemorates that special time in New York when the greatest tennis players in the world are playing in the US Open. Courtside or not, celebrate your love for tennis, and feel a little closer to the action when you spray on our new Fuzzy Ball cologne!”

Elsewhere, Canadian Milos Raonic visited the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday where he rang the opening bell.

To have the opportunity to ring the bell in such an iconic setting is special, especially because I have interest in finance,” he said. “It was nice to see the setup and the procedure of how the floor works. It was definitely a nice experience to be at the NYSE and, who knows, maybe one day after my tennis career I’ll end up here.”

Milos Raonic

 

Other Tennis News

Rafael Nadal has announced that he will kick off his 2017 season at the Brisbane International in January. It will be the Spaniard’s first appearance in the tournament. Nadal has decided on a different approach in preparation for the 2017 Australian Open.

It’s going to be the first time in my career that I’m going to play in Australia the first week of the season and I’m really excited about it,” he said. “I think this is something I have to do during my career and I think at the same time it’s going to be a great preparation to be in Australia early. Everybody who has been in Brisbane has told me very beautiful things about the tournament and the place so I want to try it.”

Rafael Nadal

Elsewhere, despite the fact that Roger Federer will not play again in 2016, he has still found himself in the news.  The Swiss great has been featured in a Mercedes Benz commercial that has tapped into the comedic side of the multiple grand slam champion.

Watch the video at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=ABbh5iQA5oY

Meanwhile, Federer and Nadal have agreed to team up in the inaugural “Laver Cup” in September of 2017. In a Europe versus the World Ryder Cup-type format, the pair will play for Europe whose captain will be the legendary Bjorn Borg. His former rival, John McEnroe, will captain the world team. Borg hopes to have Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic on his squad while McEnroe is looking to Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Nick Kyrgios and others to make up the world team. Each team will consist of 6 players, with the top-four coming from the rankings post-Wimbledon. The other two players will be captain’s choice. The tournament will be played over 3 days in Prague and the format will consist of 9 singles matches and 3 doubles matches.

Finally, the International Tennis Federation has announced that all provisional suspensions under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program will be publicly announced. The decision was made to protect the reputation of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program and the sport's reputation.

There have been accusations that players have served bans without it being known to the public. The decision is thought to provide more transparency.

photos of Milos Raonic courtesy of tenniscanada.com