Jimmy Connors charged with Misdemeanor

Jimmy Connors has been charged with a misdemeanor involving an altercation that took place last week before a basketball game between UC Santa Barbara and North Carolina.

Connors was charged Wednesday with disrupting campus activities and refusing to leave a university facility.

An unidentified man tried to pick a fight with Connors and his son before Friday night’s game and police asked him to leave. Jimmy was arrested after he said he wanted to wait for his son to finish watching the game.

Connors is “extremely disappointed and embarrassed” about the incident, his business manager says.

Jimmy Connors Arrested!

BREAKING NEWS

Eight-time Grand Slam champ Jimmy Connors was arrested and taken into custody Friday outside the UC Santa Barbara campus after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area following a confrontation.

Complete story here.

Buzz on the Courts - Week Ending 11-16-08

- Novak Djokovic crushed Nikolay Daveydenko 6-1,
7-5 to take Masters Cup singles title.

- Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic defeat the
Bryan Brothers to capture the Masters Cup doubles title and claim the year end #1 ranking.

- Jonas Bjorkman calls it quits after 17 years on tour. Story here.

- Serbia to host ATP event in 2009. Read more.

Kings of Tennis Tournament

UPDATE: Event has been cancelled!

I know, wrong picture but it's the best I could do.

The “Kings of Tennis” tournament from Nov 14 to 16 is going to be huge and it is definitely on, promises organizer co-chairman Arianna Teoh. “Speculations about the event being cancelled are untrue," she said.

Top players like Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg and Ilie Nastase will represent Europe, while Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Roy Emerson will represent the United States.

The event will also be telecast live to 45 countries and consist of singles and doubles matches.

Count me in. I'll be in front of my TV watching.

Nadal Pulls Out

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing fatigue and the need to prepare for the Davis Cup final. The world’s top-ranked player made the announcement on his Web site, describing his withdrawal as “one of the most difficult decisions in my career.”

Here's what he said:
“It has been a long and difficult year where I managed to obtain great results, both on a professional and on a personal level,” he said. “I have mentioned on various occasions that the tennis calendar has been extremely hard with practically all weeks playing and where it forces players to compete week in, week out, making it impossible for a top level player to be 100 percent” for each event.

Big Willie Seals the Deal

I didn't think either one of these guys would end up in the finals, nor did I think the final four would be Tsonga, Davydenko, Blake and Murray - granted injuries occured. Still, it was actually nice to see someone other than the top 4 win a title.

Jo Willie Tsonga defeated David Nalbanian 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Masters final. Willie started out on fire, breaking Nalbandian in the first game of set #1 and stayed strong to take the first set.

Jo Willie petered out a bit in the 2nd set, committing 3 times as many errors as Nalbandian and Nalbandian was able to break at 4-5 to take it.

Onto the 3rd we go. Tsonga broke early go up. Nalbandian put up a great fight but was never able to get back in the match. By winning his first Master's shield, Tsonga also earns the final spot in the Tennis Master's Cup in Shaghai. He joins Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Davydenko, Roddick and Del Potro.

Federer buys vacation home

Looks like Roger Federer is putting his $40 some-odd million to good use. He has reportedly bought a vacation home in the eastern canton of Graubünden, wherever that is - Switzerland, I guess.

The home is located near the village of Lenzerheide, south of Chur. Roger also has a condominium in Dubai and in March moved to the town of Wollerau.

Wednesday's Aces

Nadal, Federer, Nalbandian, Davydenko, Andy Murray, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Gilles Simon and James Blake all posted wins today in Paris.

With his win today over Igor Andreev, Gilles Simon now has one foot in the door of next week’s Masters Cup in Shanghai, while Wawrinka and Ferrer’s losses put them out of the running. Blake and Tsonga need to reach the final here if they are to overtake Simon.

Stanford Championship in Dallas

Here are some pictures I took at the Stanford Championships in Dallas
this past weekend. If you have the chance to go to one of these, you should. They are smaller venues with small crowds, the players are great and you have plenty of access to get autographs or take pictures with your favorites.

Anna Kournikova was the main draw this weekend. The crowd was fairly small during the 1st match, then near capacity to watch Anna play a set of mixed doubles, yep only one set. She played with Thomas Enquist against some local players no one has ever heard of. After that, everyone left and the crowd was small again for the night matches.

Jim Courier and Thomas Enquist advanced to the finals, each with a 3-0 record.

Buzz on the Courts - Week Ending 10-26-08

- Roger Federer defeats David Nalbandian to take Basel final.

- Robin Soderling captures 3rd career title beating Julien Benneteau to win Lyon.

- Andy Murray wins St. Petersburg title 2nd year in a row.

Michael Chang Marries

Hall of Famer Michael Chang and former Stanford standout Amber Liu were married Saturday, Oct. 18 at Lake Hills Community Church in Laguna Hills, California.

The reception and dinner took place at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point, California.

Boris Becker Makes Outback Champions Series Debut Today in Dallas

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker will make his debut on the Outback Champions Series tennis circuit at The Stanford Championships, to be played October 22-26 on the campus of SMU in Dallas, Texas. Becker will be competing in his first tournament in the United States since he played in the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla., in 1999.

Tickets for the event are available now and can be purchased by calling 877-332-TIXX (8499). Ticket prices start at $12. Full ticket and event information can be found at http://www.championseriestennis.com/.

Agassi and Perry Rogers part ways

Andre Agassi and his longtime agent-manager Perry Rogers have ended their business relationship effectively immediately.

Rogers, who was president of Agassi Enterprises Inc., had served as agent, manager and lawyer to Andre for the past decade-and-a-half overseeing all business and marketing operations of Agassi Enterprises, Inc.

The split seems amicable and looks to revolve around recent business deals that did not pan out. Mixing business and friendship is certainly hard to do - I hope these two can remain friends.

Read the complete article here.

Murray e-Murr-ges Victorious!

Andy Murray celebrates winning the Madrid Masters title with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Gilles Simon. This is Murray's 4th title of 2008 and 2nd Masters shield.

The most exciting part of this tournament was definately the semifinal matches where we saw each player add some much needed depth to the men's game and lay the foundation for an exciting 2009 season.

(Image via Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

Who'd a Thunk it? #1 and #2 out of Madrid.

Murray vs. Simon in Final

























I didn't think Andy Murray would pull this one out but he kept his cool and overcame a lop-sided first set to take Federer in 3. Murray won the match 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Looks like Federer is extremely vulnerable these days. That being said, you can't win everything all the time and maybe not being #1 will take some of the pressure off. He's still the man to beat in my opinion.

Possibly the next PHENOM, Gilles Simon played a brilliant 2nd and 3rd set to get past a tired looking Nadal 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. Simon served for the match at 6-5 but was broken by Nadal to send it to the breaker.

Not too many can hang with the "never-say-die" Nadal but Simon did just that. Match point came when Nadal sent a forehand long which was called good, but overruled by Simon's challenge, clinching the victory. Thank God for Shot Spot!

I'm gonna give the final to Murray but it should be an entertaining matchup.
(AFP /Getty Images)

Andy does the Full Monty

File this one under "I hope it's not true."

Not to be outdone by Raphael Nadal's recent naked butt shot, Andy Roddick joined Elton John at Atlanta's tennis event to fight AIDS (Advanta WTT Smash Hits) and auctioned off what was to be an hour session of private tennis tutoring.

In an attempt to get a higher bid, Andy said he'd take off his shirt during the session. That got the bid up to $11,000! Then, he said he'd do the lesson FULLY nude. That got him a final bid of $15,000 from one female fan.

Seriously, does this give a new meaning to the term "racket and balls."

Becker, Courier and Martin Headline Outback Champions Series in Dallas






The Stanford Championships come to Dallas October 22-26 on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

Boris Becker leads the field, competing in his first tournament in the United States since 1999. Jim Courier, Wayne Ferreira, Karel Novacek, Todd Martin, Thomas Enqvist, Aaron Krickstein and Jimmy Arias round out the field.

Anna Kournikova will also compete in mixed doubles exhibition matches scheduled for Saturday. Tickets for the event are available now and can be purchased by calling 877-332-TIXX (8499). I'll be there - tickets are cheap.

Boris Becker to build Luxury Resort

The Boris Becker Beach Resort and Tennis Academy will be built in the United Arab Emirates on the Al Marjan Island. The sprawling 2.5 million square-foot project offers a rare dual ocean-front advantage, with the estate stretching from one end of isle's shore to the next.

This recreational and residential master-development includes premier holiday homes, world class luxury resort and spa facilities, a five star hotel, and a world-class Tennis Academy.

Becker who holds a 50% partnership in the Academy, and part ownership in the rest of the Resort will play a significant role in the design of the Tennis Academy. The world class structure will feature 6 tennis courts with rebound-ace surfaces.

Nadal Drinking Game

I made up a new drinking game and it’s super simple.

Step 1: Fill a shot glass with your favorite adult beverage. Jack Daniels works good.

Step 2: Drink a shot every time Nadal picks his butt.

Try this tomorrow during the Gasquet match. You’ll be loaded in no time. Bottoms up!

Grand Slam for Children




















Andre Agassi's 13th Annual Grand Slam for Children benefit concert was held at the Wynn casino October 11, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Foundation has focused on serving some of the neediest children in Las Vegas, by building and supporting the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club and other beneficiary organizations for at-risk youth. Now, the Foundation's mission is to transform education across the United States. The event has raised $70 million in it's last 12 years.

The event was attended by Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Donny Osmond, Emeril Lagasse and The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson among others. The event included performances by Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, The Killers, Lifehouse, Ray Romano, David Spade and Natasha Bedingfield.
(Images via Getty)