[amongsttheleaves]

As if tennis hadn't had enough issues this year - what with matching fixing, doping, sexisim, the ITF wanting to ruin Davis Cup - the WTA now want to ruin the women's game with no-advantage scoring and match tie-breaks.

http://sport360.com/article/tennis/international-tennis/195486/wta-ceo-steve-simon-discusses-tour-calendar-changes-says-matches-need-to-be-shorter/

[Ruthie]

I fear it's all part of the assumption that everyone has the attention span of a gnat these days.  

[Tamaragl]

Has also been announced on twitter that all ATP 500 events will have all singles matches streamed. This is compared to for example Beijing which at the moment only has 3 of the 6 courts on TennisTV and Tokyo which only shows 1 court.

My annual subscription has been extended to next October, from when it would have expired in May. So I guess I get an extra five months.

[amongsttheleaves]

Finally some information about how WTA matches are going to be streamed next year. In addition to announcing their own platform they have exclusive deals with BT Sport - UK - and beIN Sports - Europe and Middle East.

Exit: although it seems that this WTA Networks thing is best described as 'something and nothing' at this stage. If we're lucky we'll get WTA streaming sometime at the beginning of the clay season. I reckon it probably won't be until after RG given how unprepared the WTA seem to have been in acting after the ATP and TTV decided that growing tennis means only growing the ATP. The ATP's attitude has stunk this year. But it isn't the only organisation at fault in this. Did the WTA want to kill itself? Because appointing Steve Simon as your CEO seems to be doing the trick.

[amongsttheleaves]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/milan-to-host-inaugural-next-gen-atp-finals

U21 ATP World Tour Finals, starting from next year.

Sounds pretty interesting! Unfortunately Kyle will be too old, would've been good to see him to take on the other young guns.

No ranking points, just prize money.

Sounds like it could be worth a trip to Milan next year...

[blueberryhill]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/fitness/why-tennis-could-save-your-life-%E2%80%93-but-football-and-running-may-not-help-you-live-longer/ar-AAkW0AK?li=AAdeCd7&ocid=spartandhp

Well we all knew tennis is good for you, not sure watching has the same benefits tho....

[Aileen]

A rather interesting article in the German tabloid Bild about the Djokovic/Becker situation - per Google Translate

Zerstört der Kuschel-Guru das Djokovic-Team?

[Does the Cuddle Guru destroy the Djokovic team?]

In recent weeks and months it has been speculated that Novak Djokovic would be able to end the cooperation with coach Boris Becker. Now everything is quite different: the world number 2 wants to extend with the German, but he hesitates. Becker has a problem with Pepe Imaz, the cuddly guru, who has recently been sitting in the Djokovic box.

Djokovic wants to return to the tennis throne next season. To achieve this goal, he needs an intact team. But teaming up could become a big problem. The reason for this is, in the first place, Pepe Imaz, a spiritual guru who has been sitting in Djokovic's box since the beginning of November. Officially, Imaz has not been part of the team, but the Spaniard plays a not insignificant role in Djokovic's planning. The 42-year-old is to be responsible for the mental area. Becker, on the other hand, is supposed to be the lead in the sporting sector and fitness. So Djokovic's idea.

Becker is obviously not very enthusiastic about the distribution of tasks and has not yet signed the extended contract offer. In contrast to "Sportbild," the German explains that the practices of Imaz are immense. The Spanish guru describes himself as a "divine being of light and love". In his lessons at the tennis academy in Marbella, he is cuddled by two plush bears, which is why he has now called the Cuddle Guru. Too much for Becker, who, according to "SportBild" in the coming season will only sit in the Djokovic box if the influence of Imaz would be smaller.

And Nole's second coach, Marian Vajda - the Slovakian who has been working with Djokovic for over ten years - is apparently not a big Imaz fan. He doubts that the controversial Guru Nole can help the old strength. The world number 2 has to be careful that he does not scrap his entire team, otherwise the deep case might end up threatening.   [otherwise he could end up in the sh*t - my words!]

[tamila]

I noticed that the guru had other players with him and saw Hantucova. I have not seen an improvement in her game. The opposite actually