Bits & Pieces from the World of Tennis: 28th of July 2014 - UBITENNIS

Bits & Pieces from the World of Tennis: 28th of July 2014

By Staff
5 Min Read

TENNIS BITS & PIECES – The Times chief tennis correspondent admits plagiarism. The IPTL is in trouble. Tomljanovic to represent Australia and who is playing where this week. Joshua Bosco

Neil Harman exposed

“The Times” chief tennis correspondent Neil Harman has been suspended by the newspaper after the journalist admitted to plagiarism earlier last week.

Harman, who has worked at The Times for 12 years and started his career 40 years ago, confessed he had used rival journalists’ articles to compile three different issues of the Official Wimbledon Annual. The plagiarism is widespread, as noted by Slate journalist Ben Rothenberg: he reports 52 large passages copied without attribution in the last three Annuals alone.

Harman has now resigned from the International Tennis Writers’ Association (ITWA) and was fired from the All England Club.

IPTL in doubt

The future of the IPTL is now more than ever in doubt after PVP Ventures, the financial backers of the Mumbai franchise, pulled out of the tournament citing a lack of clarity over the financial side of the league.

In addition to PVP Ventures bowing out the league is still missing an official broadcaster and an owner for the Bangkok team. And on top of all, a $3 million pool which was promised to each franchise trough sponsors is yet to be guaranteed.

Tomljanovic becomes Australian

World No.55 Ajla Tomljanovic is planning to become an Australian citizen and will represent her new country at the upcoming US Open, starting on 25th August in Flushing Meadows.

Croatian-born Tomljanovic has been training in the US since she was a teenager and her decision to switch nationality comes just eight months after she started a collaboration with Australian coach David Taylor, who used to work with Sam Stosur.

She will now be able to represent Australia in Grand Slams and other ITF competitions, but she’ll have to wait until she becomes a full Aussie citizen to play for Australia in WTA tournaments.

Who’s playing where

Tennis players begin their shift to the US for the summer hard-court season as three of the four main tournaments this week are played on American soil. Both men and women will be flying to Washington, with some WTA players also heading to Stanford for the Bank of the West Classic while many clay-court specialists will remain in Europe for one more week and will play the ATP 250 in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

The ATP World Tour 500 in Washington will see some of the big names on the tour battle it out for the trophy. The tournament, which will see a different winner from last year as defending champion Juan Martin del Potro is still recovering from his most recent wrist injury, features top names like Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori, John Isner, Richard Gasquet, Kevin Anderson and Ivo Karlovic.

The WTA International tournament plays host to Lucie Safarova, Alize Cornet, Sloane Stephens, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Madison Keys and its two-time defending champion Magdalena Rybarikova who faces a tough first round match against No.2 seed Ekaterina Makarova.

The prestigious Bank of the West Classic in Stanford sees two-times winner Serena Williams head a stellar line-up which includes Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanovic, Carla Suarez Navarro, Andrea Petkovic and defending champion Dominika Cibulkova. 2000 and 2002 winner Venus Williams received a wildcard for the tournament, while Sara Errani and Petra Kvitova withdrew before the start.

Some men are staying in Europe for the last main clay-court tournament of the season in Kitzbuhel, Austria, where defending champion Marcel Granollers will face some tough competition from Philipp Kohlschreiber, Lukas Rosol, Andreas Seppi, Robin Haase and rising star Dominic Thiem in order to retain his 2013 title.

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