Kunieda, Homan, Norfolk lift Australian titles
1st February 2010

World No. 1 Shingo Kunieda survived two match points against Stephane Houdet (FRA) on Saturday at Melbourne Park as the three top seeds claimed the men's singles, women's singles and quad singles titles at the Australian Open.

Kunieda faced the biggest threat to his two year winning streak as an uncharacteristically high number of double faults and unforced errors peppered his men's singles final against world No. 2 Houdet, but the Japanese top seed scraped through to clinch his fourth Australian Open title.

The contest opened with two successive deuce games and three successive breaks of serve, with Houdet becoming the first player to hold serve as he led 3-1 after a third deuce game. Kunieda returned in kind to hold his first service game of the match and then broke back to for the loss of one point in the next game.

With both players evenly matched, the first set came down to a tiebreak, which Kunieda went on to take comfortably, 7-2.

Houdet secured the first breakthrough of the second set, winning a fascinating sixth game to move 4-2 ahead and the Frenchman then held his own serve convincingly before converting the first of two set points to level the match as Kunieda's tally of double faults entered double figures.

Houdet had another chance to go a break up in the sixth game of the final set, but could not convert as Kunieda levelled at 3-3 and the Frenchman continued to pressurise his opponent to move within a game of victory at 5-4.

With Kunieda serving to stay in the match he went 15-40 down and his 77 match winning streak looked set to end. However, Kunieda's mental strength helped save both match points and despite serving his 15th double fault of the match two games later, he went on to secure a remarkable victory 76(2) 26 75.

Leander Paes and Cara Black clinch Mix Double titles

The Indo-Zimbabwe pair of Leander Paes and Cara Black has won their second slam title as they oust the unseeded pair of Jaroslav Levinsky and Ekaterina Makarova in Rod Laver arena.

The pair has previously won the 2008 US Open Mixed Doubles title but since then couldn't manage to win another one. CaraBlack was also in the Womens Doubles Final partnering Lizel Huber but sadly they lost to the menacing pair of Williams's sister.

The Paes-Black pair won 7-5, 6-3 in straight sets as they dominated the game from the very first serve. The 36-year old Paes had a great start of the year. He also had a brilliant outing last year winning the two Doubles title partnering Lukáš Dlouhý in French Open and US Open.

Chinese Takeover Down Under

MELBOURNE, Australia - It has been a breakthrough fortnight for China, with both Li Na and Zheng Jie reaching the final four of the Australian Open - the first time two players from China made it that far at a major - in fact, never before had two Chinese even been in the second week of a major at the same time.

The current Chinese national ranking record sits at No.15, which both Li and Zheng have already touched (Li is currently at No.17 though, while Zheng is No.35). Li will become China's first Top 10 player.

Kudla and Ishizu reign at Casablanca Cup
04 January 2010

Japan's Sachie Ishizu along with United State's Denis Kudla won the first Grade A event of 2010 on the ITF Junior Circuit as they picked up titles at the Casablanca Cup, an ideal springboard for the professional tennis tour.

Eddie Herr champion and second seed Kudla, who triumphed in last year's doubles event in Tlalnepantla, enjoyed a magnificent run by beating unseeded Juan Sebastian Gomez of Colombia 76 62 to lift the Mexican trophy, without dropping a single set the entire week. The first set was a tense battle, the two players served well and Kudla had to save a set-point at 6-5 before he claimed the tie-break. The American started the second with a high-quality performance, taking just 17 minutes to end the match. Kudla follows in the footsteps of the two Grade A Casablanca Cup American champions, 2004 Philip Simmonds and 2005 Donald Young.


In the boys' doubles event Xin Gao and Bowen Ouyang (CHN) joined forces and claimed the title over Diego Acosta and Roberto Quiroz or Ecuador.

In the girls singles final, third seed Sachie Ishizu from Tokyo, Japan, recorded an easy 62 60 win against unseeded Monica Puig of Puerto Rico to claim her first Grade A title on the ITF Junior Circuit. In front of a crowd of 1500, 17-year-old Ishizu, clinched victory in just 58 minutes, becoming the first Asian player to lift the Grade A Casablanca Cup trophy.

In the final of the doubles competition Marianne Jodoin (CAN) teamed up with 2009 Orange Bowl Champion Gabriela Dabrowski, where they beat Doroteja Eric (SRB) and Anita Husaric (HUN) in a thrilling three set match, which ended 3-6 6-1 [12-10].

Philippines hosts Regional Level 2 Coaches Course
15 December 2009

Nineteen enthusiastic coaches from the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand attended a Regional Level 2 Advanced Coaches Course which was supported by Olympic Solidarity and the ITF and organized by the Philippines Lawn Tennis Association.

The course which was held in Subic Bay was conducted by Benny Lin (HKG) and Suang Chantra-urai (THA) with the support of ITF Development Officer for Asia, Mr Suresh Menon.

All coaches showed great enthusiasm and worked extremely hard throughout the course as the tutors raised the standard of the course to fulfil the participants' thirst for advanced coaching knowledge.

Lin commented, "This batch of coaches was one of the most talented groups of coaches who in my experience, have ever taken part in a Level 2 course in Asia. With experienced coaches from National Associations, prestigious universities and former ranked players, both the participants and tutors subconsciously pushed this Level 2 course to a higher level."

For Suang Chantra-Urai, it was the first time he had worked as a Level 2 tutor, and he remarked,"One of the best experiences for the tutors was to see how coaches from different countries worked together in harmony as a team by giving unconditional help to each other. The family atmosphere was strongly felt throughout the course among the participants and tutors. The tutors also went that extra mile helping a few participants improve their playing and coaching skills after the classes were finished."

Menon added, "Subic was the perfect place to host this Level 2 course. With its warm weather and nice facilities mixed with the kindness of Filipino people, Subic will surely will be missed by all the participants when they go back home. Our thanks must also go to the Philippine Tennis Association for their efforts in organising this regional course."

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