Wimbledon Update: A Really Long Medical Timeout And Boring Women's Tennis

After calling a MTO before the start of the tiebreak, Nadal was able to run like a rabbit through the entire tiebreak (which he won.)

This year's Wimbledon is providing some great men's tennis--and a pathetic excuse for women's pro tennis.

MEN'S MEDICAL TIME OUT

Does anyone know the correct times for a medical time out in pro tennis? If so, please send. Nadal called for a MTO before the start of the first set tie break and it seemed to take an eternity. Someone please enlighten us...

Note: At least the chair umpire had the courage to call a time violation warning on Nadal for taking too long between points. Big surprise.

WOMEN'S UPDATE

Its hard to find words to describe the women's tournament this year. Here are a few thoughts: boring, pathetic, overweight, starless, and useless. Here are the match-ups for tomorrow:

Dominika Cibulkova vs Maria Sharapova

Sabine Lisicki vs Marion Bartoli

Tamira Paszek vs Victoria Azarenka

Petra Kvitova vs Tsvetana Pironkova

Since I don't recognize most of these the most thrilling thing I can find to say is that we have four "ovas" in the quarters. Yuk.

Congratulations To A Well Deserving Young Champion

RORY MCILROY

2011 US Open Golf Champion

Rory McIlroy broke all kinds of records in winning the US Open Golf Championship yesterday. An exciting new face on the golf scene and a young man with integrity, manners, and a sense of history.

Perhaps it would behoove some of our young tennis players to emulate his example...

Thank Goodness The Williams Sisters Are Back!

Its no secret that the women's pro tour is sick and needs help--and that help may have come in the form of the Williams sisters return at Wimbledon. Whether you love or despise the Williams sisters, you have to admit that they give excitement to the game. And excitement is what the women's tour sure needs these days...

Here is an excerpt for a major news source that pretty well sums it up:

But the biggest curiosity, at least at the outset, is: How will the Williams sisters do?

“It will be interesting to see how they come back. I think it’s interesting for the tour. It’s a good story,” Federer said Saturday. “It’s been an up-and-down, bumpy road for the women’s tour as of late. But we’ll see now how it goes here with the sisters back in the game.”

Part of the interest stems from wondering how much longer they’ll be around. Venus turned 31 on Friday; Serena will be 30 in September.

“Whenever they enter a Grand Slam tournament, it’s double the excitement and double the intrigue, I think, that they bring to the sport. They just bring a different level of tennis also, as far as the power and the emotional content,” said ESPN2 analyst Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam titles.

“It would be monumental in my mind if Serena pulled off a win,” Evert added. “I personally don’t know how it’s humanly possible for someone to take a year off like that and have gone through what she’s been through physically with her ailments and … it would almost shock me if she did. But knowing Serena and the way she’s come back before, you can never count her out.”

Are Texas Officials Really The Best?

There seems to be some discussion around America about which state has the best officials--and I think the resounding answer is TEXAS!

Here are some of the reasons that Texas officials are the best:

1. We have hundreds of officials in Texas and very very few complaints.

2. We have the best Chair Academy for officials in the nation.

3. We have the most number of officials schools of any section in America and thus, are the best trained officials.

4. Other than a few minor spats here and there, we get along really well with each other.

5. We are a group of officials open to innovation and change. Just look at all the changes that have instituted in the last three years.

6. We just know we are the best and glad of it...

Unlike some officials from states north of the Red River, we are not given to insulting players, fans, and parents and are certainly not given to taking each other to court...

Pictured below is a photograph of what some might rightly say are the Three Stooges at birth. I guess we would have to go north of the Red River to discover the truth.

Enjoy...

Sights & Sounds From Summer Tennis

Note found in locker after missing a baseline call.

Picture of Lee Ann Bain's wedding cake from the wedding she told noone about.

Picture of Randy's retirement home in Oregon.

Picture of three officials from Oklahoma. Guess who they are...

Sign posted outside one of the officials rooms at the US Open.

Comment from one of the trainees at the Chair Academy after Bruce Avery gave her an evaluation.

Words of wisdom to have a long life as an official.

Taking a little break after a summer tournament.

Be sure to protect me when I do my first service line.

Go on out there and officiate! It won't be that bad...

Myron Krueger's new truck he bought to go see Mitch win at the US Open.

Tom Wright's new bbq pit for Junior College Nationals.

Guys who were hurrying to watch their wives play at the Sectional Playoffs.

That's what happens when you're picking up flowers after the national anthem.

I'm so glad Randy made them provide lunch!

At least we won the battle...

They didn't tell me that ZAT mothers would be that mean...

If I look pretty do you think I can do lines at Wimbledon?

I saw you taking a break when you were supposed to be on duty.

Keep your mouth shut when you see one of the officials at the NCAA's screw up a call.

Headed down to Baylor to protect Matt Knoll.

Just practicing my line calls.

I told you that ball was out!

Don't you know anything about being a chair official?

I lost my head when the pressure got to be too much.

Summer Tennis Camps

Listed below is a list and sites for the various tennis camps sponsored by our Texas universities. If you know of any other camps, please send in their contact information and they will be listed.

Baylor University: www.baylor.edu/tenniscamp

University of Texas: www.longhornstenniscamp.com

UT Dallas: https://ezpay.utdallas.edu/C20239_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?

University of North Texas: www.ussportscamps.com/tennis/nike/university-of-north-texas-nike-tennis-camp/

Texas Tech Women: http://www.texastech.com/camps/text-camps.html

Out On A Limb--Things I Would Like To See Happen

Just jumping out on a limb with a few random thoughts.

Since it is summer time and everyone is busy relaxing around the pool and watching the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA title, I thought it was time to stir the pot a bit... Its always fun to stimulate your thinking (and opinions) so here we go.

Here are some things I would like to see happen in our officiating world:

1. Put the officials schools curriculum online for those who have been officials for more than two years. Fashion it along the same format as the defensive driving courses that we have all taken and that require a full six hours. Of course, I would probably limit the officials course to three hours at the most.

2. Email any new rule changes to all officials. After all, we can all read.

3. Require new officials to attend the format that we currently have for our officials schools.

4. Open a chat room for all those older officials that like to share their war stories and let them go at it. It would also be a good place to talk about different officiating scenarios.

5. Require only tournament directors attendance at the Texas Section TD/Referee Workshops. The same material is already taught to our referees in the referee school.

6. Have a state-wide pay scale of $20/hour for the referee and $18/hour for the umpires--and of course, with lunch/supper provided for all officials.

7. If #6 does not happen, then there should be a gasoline surcharge added to every officials paycheck. I would recommend $10/day.

8. Have a once a year convention of all officials in one of Texas' major cities--or at one of the good beach cities. We could have different speakers and workshops--and tons of time to eat out and fellowship together. Of course, we recommend that the Texas Section pay the expenses of the speakers and the convention site. The Officials Committee could meet during the convention instead of having two separate meetings a year. Think of the money they could save...

9. Require all sanctioned tournaments to submit a balance sheet within a week's time of their tournament's completion. This would bring some financial accountability to an out of control situation and perhaps lower some of the entry fees.

10. Pursue a study to offer low cost insurance and retirement plans for officials. I think it would be worth studying and maybe come up with a good plan.

11. Put some teeth into local and state wide officials grievance committees. We tolerate violations and ineptness all too often and its time to police our own.

These are just some random thoughts that I'm sure some of you will love and some of you will hate. At least it gets us talking and thinking... Have fun!

Officials Needed For US Open Qualifier Tournament

Apply now to be a linesperson on June 24th.

Susan Wertenberger has sent out a request for 15 line officials for the Semi-finals of the US Open Qualifier tournament on June 24th. The tournament will be held at the Arlington Tennis Center and the pay is $100.00.

If you are interested, please respond directly to Susan at 817 235 5988 or susan.wert10s@gmail.com

Please remember that applying does not necessarily mean acceptance but you will be notified as soon as possible.

There will also be a line clinic held at Colleyville Heritage High School on Wednesday, June 15, at 7:00 p.m. for those who are interested.

New Addition To The Blog

In order to share more information and opportunities with our readers we are adding an "ad section" to the blog. You can see all the pertinent information on the top right side of the blog and by clicking on the selected option you can find a wealth of information.

We hope you find this helpful and informative.

More Information About Tournament Director/Referee Workshops

Here is the latest information from the Texas Section office about the TD/Referee workshops:

USTA Texas Section Tournament Director’s Workshop Information

We are gearing up for the annual Tournament Director’s Workshop and look forward to seeing everyone soon. Remember the workshop is mandatory annually for a tournament director or referee of a junior sanctioned tournament, and the workshop is mandatory every two years for a tournament director or referee of an adult, senior or super senior tournament.

If you would like to attend the Austin, Texas workshop on Sunday, August 28th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, please click on the following link and register online. The deadline for this workshop is end of day August 15th. There will be a $3.55 processing charge for this registration.

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=981463

If you would like to attend the Dallas, Texas workshop sponsored by the DPTA on Monday, September 26th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, please click on the following link and register online. The deadline for this workshop is end of day September 15th. There will be a $3.55 processing charge for this registration. When you check-in at this workshop a $20 check made payable to the DPTA will be due.

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=982795

Congratulations To Our American French Open Doubles Finalists

Shane Vinsant (far left) & Mitch Krueger (2nd from left)

2011 FRENCH OPEN FINALISTS

Special congratulations to Mitch Krueger (Aledo, Texas) and Shane Vinsant (Keller, Texas) for getting to the finals of the French Open Boys Doubles Championships. The boys lost a hard fought doubles final to Robert Baena and Andres Martinavarr of Spain. The scores were 5-7, 7-6, 10-5.

The boys now move on to Wimbledon and we wish them the very best as they pursue even more titles.

Of course the proud parents are Myron and Marla Krueger and Dave and Cheryl Vinsant.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Mitch Krueger & Shane Vinsant at the French Open

Shane & Mitch in action in their semi-finals match.

That's what my Mother always taught me and now I see it coming true in the tennis world...

Mitch Krueger and Shane Vinsant are playing for the French Open Junior Doubles crown tomorrow after winning their semi-finals match 6-2, 6-2 today. Both young men are the sons of tennis officials so you can see the benefit that a good family background has on a tennis player.

Proud parents of Mitch Krueger are Myron and Marla Krueger and Shane's parents are Dave and Cheryl Vinsant.