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Becker News + Blog
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Becker Participates in Exhibition in Austria
Last week BB was in Austria participating in an exhibition featuring some of Europe's top current and former players.
Unfortunately the website of the exhibition is only available in German - and it doesn´t include very much information and only a few pictures (you can see them, when you click on “BILDER”). Benni only played one match and lost – he quit playing his second match due to problems with his back – more of a precautionary measure than anything
The advertising slogan of the exhibition was: “the biggest tennis party of the world” and the organizers tried to combine tennis, partying, holidays and of course skiing: Sankt Anton is one of the most famous and favored ski-resorts in Austria (and whole Europe too). Besides the tournament there was a side-event, a symposium of leading, international medical doctors only dealing with sports-injury, as well as a live concert by Yannick Noah.
College Players on Tour
Undergroundtennis.com is a solid new tennis site...Wes Nott, a former top junior player, puts everything together himself. He recently located an interesting article from CollegeTennis.com that highlights highest ranked NCAA veterans on the Tour...BB is #2 behind Harvard's James Blake.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Becker's Management Agency Names New President & CEO
MIAMI, FL -- Luca Appino, former sport marketing director of high-end tennis racquet manufacturer Babolat, has been named President and CEO of Renaissance Tennis Management Ltd. (RTM)."Luca brings a terrific vitality, not to mention a wealth of technical expertise and coaching experience, to our organization," RTM Chairman Richard DeVries said in announcing the appointment. "The fit is outstanding. It's an absolute ace."
RTM, a corporation based in the Bahamas, manages professional tennis players. Its global roster includes Benjamin Becker, the fastest-rising star on the ATP; Lera Solovieva, a 14-year-old sensation sponsored by Nike; Benedikt Dorsch, two-time NCAA individual champion and three-time NCAA player of the year from Baylor University; and Davis Cup players Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, Michael Lammer of Switzerland and Horia Tecau of Romania.
Appino, 43, resides in Lyon, France, with his wife Patrizia and two children Niccolo’ (9) and Letizia (6). His career almost entirely in the tennis business, including a decade as a teaching pro, Appino is credited with signing such stars as Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, Fernando Gonzalez, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova and many others all when they were almost unknown juniors."Luca is very well known and respected in the tennis industry, he will be based in France also because nearly four in five of the world's top players are from Europe, and his presence there underscore our commitment to nurturing tomorrow's superstars also in that part of the world tennis community," said DeVries.
RTM's head coach and director of tennis operations is Tarik Benhabiles. Based in South Florida, he has coached seven players into the Top 20, including Roddick. His most recent prodigy, Becker, defeated Andre Agassi during the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open, in Agassi's final professional match (before losing to Roddick the next day). Becker has risen from 1400 to 56 in less than a year, the fastest rise in ATP history."Combining Luca's management and marketing skills with Tarik's distinctive coaching and motivational style, and positioning them in two of the most important markets in the world, perfectly positions Renaissance Tennis Management as a global leader in career management for the sport's most serious players," DeVries said.
The announcement of Appino's appointment was made in conjunction with the annual Jr. Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Tursunov edges Becker in Ukraine final
From the Waco Tribune:
DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine — Dmitry Tursunov kept his Challenger record intact with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over former Baylor standout Benjamin Becker on Sunday in the finals of the $125,000 Privatbank Open indoor tennis tournament.
Tursunov, who won the BMW Championships at Sunrise, Fla., in his only other Challenger event this year, earned $18,000 for his third overall title of the season. The sixth-year pro, currently ranked 22nd in the world, claimed his first career ATP title at Mumbai, India, in September.
Becker, who also lost to Tursunov in the second round of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis in July, earned $10,600 for his fourth runner-up finish in five Challenger finals this season. The 25-year-old German also receives 63 ATP points, enough to push him to a career-high 58th in the world rankings and insure a spot in the main draw of most of the major tour events throughout 2007.
Becker rocketed from No. 421 in the world in January to the Top 100 after a strong spring and breakthrough performances at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. At Flushing Meadows, he ended the career of former world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round before losing to eventual finalist Andy Roddick. Last month in Tokyo, he reached his first ATP semifinal, losing to top-ranked Roger Federer.
Becker closes his first full year on tour with a 69-29 record, tied with Germany’s Michael Zverev for No. 2 in the world in overall wins behind Federer’s 87."
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