News

11/08/11

Daria Solovijeva - Dasha from Russia and Ada Yasemin Boru from Turkey, two talented girls, spent some tennis time in Smrikve...

Daria Solovijeva – Dasha from Russia spent two weeks of training in Smrikve with Miro and Ada Yasemin Boru from Turkey joined her a week ago…

Both girls are competing in the under 12 age groups and are working hard in developing their talent…

Dasha helped me also in gardening and she helped my mother in feeding the animals that lives on our property and she was of big help :)... and the rest of the time while she was not on the court she was at the swimming pool ;)...

During the last days of their stay the following pictures were taken… it was the moment when they were playing for points and here below are Dasha with Ari...

and Leon with Ada... :)

This summer Smrikve we had so many talented kids and it was a pleasure to meet Dasha and Ada… it was also a pleasure to share few tips with them that can help them to further improve the tennis talent they are building and hopefully it will be of help :)

Please visit www.smrikve.com to learn more about Smrikve, Istria from Smrikve, Smrikva Bowl, one of the most important under 10 tennis tournaments in the World, and Villa Smrikve, for your accommodation with swimming pool in Stinjan (Pula – Pola) if you decide to spent your holiday in Istria, Croatia.

10/08/11

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, reached the second round of Rogers Cup 2011 played in Toronto (USD 2.050.000 worth tournament)

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, is the best ranked former Smrikva Bowl player on WTA – #86 on WTA list.

This week she played Rogers Cup 2011 in Toronto – Canada and after playing the qualifications she was able to reach the second round of the Main Draw.

In the Qualifications Petra Martic played the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – Alison RISKE (Usa) 6:3, 6:3
2nd round: Petra Martic – Monica NICULESCU (Rou) 3:6, 6:3, 6:3

In the Main Draw of the Rogers Cup 2011 she played the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – Lucie HRADECKA (Cze) 1:6, 6:4, 6:4
2nd round: Petra Martic – Agnieszka RADWANSKA (Pol) 3:6,3:6

The ranking of the players that Petra played or that will play is the following:

Alison RISKE (Usa) – #117 on WTA list
Monica NICULESCU (Rou) – #59 on WTA list
Lucie HRADECKA (Cze) – #48 on WTA list
Agnieszka RADWANSKA (Pol) – #12 on WTA list

Below is a short video registred at Sony Ericsson Open 2011 of Petra’s second match with Maria Sharapova.

08/08/11

Miomir Kecmanovic - Misa, 14h Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, has been training this week in Smrikve and started to play some training matches before returning home...

Miomir Kecmanovic had been training in Smrikve with Miro this week and started to play some practice matches the last week end and several matches are scheduled for him this week.

Miso – Keca how his family and friends calls him played his last Smrikva Bowl in 2009 and since than every summer with Tanja he comes back to make a bit of summer practice with Miro…

Yesterday he played a training match with Silvia and two days ago with Max...

He is only 12 years old… but being among the best players in Europe in his age group you can be sure that on each ball he will do his best to hit the ball as a pro player…

Since last summer, when I saw him last time, his strokes has increased in speed and precision… he is moving on the court in the proper way and his balls with the spin he can put in each ball can be classified as “hard balls”... in addition to that he can attack the ball from the net till the baseline…

Every ball that is not returning to his side at the proper speed is the ball that he can make a winner of it…

Silvia and Max enjoyed playing with him and I am sure that the other players that are scheduled to play him this week will be honoured to do so :)...

There are little, I would say invisible, parts where Miso can further improve and for sure Miro will give him those hints before he return home… and next year if Miso continues to work the way he does his game will further improve the way a tree grows in the nature and become year after year bigger and bigger, and stronger and stronger… :)

06/08/11

Ajla Tomljanovic - 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up - reached the quarterfinals of USD 100.000 worth tournament played in Vancouver 2011 (Canada)

Ajla Tomljanovic played Smrikva Bowl twice. She was runner up when she was 9 years old in 2002 and ranked 3rd when she was 10 in 2003.

Ajla turned 18 this May and is currently the best ranked Smrikva Bowl player after Petra Martic on WTA ranking list – #165 WTA.

Ajla’s road towards the quarterfinals in USD 100.000 worth tournament played in Vancouver 2011 was the following:

1st round: Ajla Tomljanovic – Alison RISKE (USA) 4:6, 6:3, 7:5
2nd round: A.Tomljanovic – Casey DELLACQUA (AUS) 4:6,6:4,6:2
Quarterfinals: Ajla Tomljanovic -Irina FALCONI (USA) 4:6,1:6

The ranking of the players Ajla played is the following:

Alison RISKE (USA)- #116 WTA
Casey DELLACQUA (AUS) – #310 WTA
Irina FALCONI (USA) – #81 WTA

For those who still did not hava the opportunity to see Ajla I am pleased to embed the following video registered at the end of March of this year…

02/08/11

Srdjan Jakovljevic, a very talented 15 years old tennis player from Novi Sad, is in Smrikve on vacation with his coach Petar Hrncic

There are many talents I’ve been able to see over the years thanks to the Smrikva Bowl… and I see them on weekly basis…

Many former Smrikva Bowl players during the summer find some time to visit Smrikve… and few days ago I had the opportunity to meet another talented boy… he is the same generation as Gianluigi Quinzi... and is growing up with his coach Petar Hrncic in Novi Sad (Serbia)... his name is Srdjan Jakovljevic... for friends Srki :)

Srki is very talented and is spending a lot of quality time in developing his talent… he won many trophies and currently is preparing for the ITF Tournaments…

and as Common Sense teach us… also Srdjan and his coach Petar Hrncic knows “why the early bird gets the worm” :) thus in Smrikve at 6:30 AM they are already on the courts...

Today at 7:00 AM… my student Silvia joined Petar and Srki... and they hit for an hour… it was a nice experience for Silvia and I hope also Srki enjoyed Silvia’s balls…

Later on at 9:00 AM… Srki joined my students Max, Silvia, and Ari and they played for points and was a very nice hour with a lot of nice points :)

Srki is a complete player… with excelent tecnique… extraordinary feeling for the ball and he does all that with smile… a great boy…

Tomorrow morning Max will have the pleasure Silvia had this morning to hit for for an hour with Srki :)...

Really great kids… already athletes… working hard day by day in developing their talents… and for me it is a pleasure to see them playing… and notice how they develop their game towards tennis art… :)

28/07/11

Summer time... time for the visits of Smrikve friends from all around the World :)...

Summer time is a time for vacations for most of the people… it is time to travel and take some rest… and in Smrikve the summer time is a time for quality tennis but also time when you can find a former Smrikva Bowl player on the court or a Smrikva friend in front of our tavern taking a glass of wine because they take the summer opportunity to visit us :)...

Last week Barbara Wyatt, a freelance writer based in the state of Washington, visited Smrikve with her family… she is visiting Croatia and she included Smrikve on her travel itinerary…

To me it was a real pleasure to meet her and her family… and also to read the article she wrote few years ago about Smrikve and “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl…

I also had a pleasure to have Barbara with my students Mia and Ale on a morning class… and we all had fun that morning :)...

Already traditional summer interns Jovan and her sister Milena that started to practice tennis this year came from Milan with their friend Davide... they came to enjoy the sea and tennis… both families are big tennis lovers thus kids and children can share the courts every day side by side :)...

There are several other talents under developement :) that are visiting us in this period… such as Iulia and Daria from Russia… and a former Smrikva Bowl player Miomir Kecmanovic who returned to work with his already friend Miro... as he does every summer…

Yesterday also Betina Tokac, this year 9 years old semifinalist from Turkey, visited Smrikve with her father and other tennis friends… they came to enjoy tennis and sea…

This week the ATP tournament is played in UMAG and several Smrikve tennis school members were yesterday in Umag watching Ivan Ljubicic – Juan Carlos Ferero... and Dolgopolev and Volandri... and today Betina Tokac will go with her friends to UMAG to see how the adult Champions play :)

This week also the sister of this year Smrikva Bowl winner Duje Ajdukovic… Karla Ajdukovic joined our morning classes… she is from Split and is one of the best under 12 girls in Croatia… it is a pleasure to have Karla in the group… people from Split and Dalmatia are sport people and Karla with her father is doing a great tennis talent development…

She attended classes with our summer intern Mia from Sweeden... and Karla’s little Smirkva friend Leon and her new Smrikva friends Ari, Max, Karlo and Silvia... :)... only Leon and Karlo are missing on the picture below because their classes starts at 9 AM, while Mia and Max start practicing already at 7 AM :)...

Yesterday night we were all in Umag... it was a great night… and Max, Karlo and Leon succeeded in hunting almost 3 signutures each of their tennis idols... :)

Also Romy Bitorajac, this year Smrikva Bowl player from Austria, came to say hello few days ago with her father Dario… and she brought to Smrikve the gift you can see on the picture below… it is a wooden tennis racket made in 1907... 104 years old :)....

... and the Golden Smrikva Bowl friend Marco, living currently in Vienna, with his family stopped on a dinner two days ago… he was sailing with his boat from Dalmatia to Trieste… and he stopped in Pula for the night… it was a surprise call… his family spent the evening in Smrikve… and her three daughters enjoyed playing a bit of tennis and we enjoyed a dinner with a special cheese and lovely chat :)

24/07/11

Bogdan Borza and Ana Konjuh, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner ups, were crowned the European under 14 Champions 2011 in Pilzen (Czech Republic)

I was very glad to learn yesterday that two Smrikva Bowl runner ups were crowned the under 14 European Champions 2011 that was played in Pilzen in Czech Republic last week: Bogdan Borza from Romania and Ana Konjuh from Croatia!... both 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 players…

Two former Smrikva Bowl players European Champions :)

There were several other top Smrikva Bowl players that did well on the Championship but let’s me start the article with Romanian Bogdan Borza’s road towards his victory:

1st round: Bogdan Borza – Bye
2nd round: B.Borza – Alvaro LOPEZ SAN MARTIN (Esp) 6:3,6:1
3rd round: Bogdan Borza – Robert CIZEK (Cze) 6:2, 6:4
4th round: Bogdan Borza – Karlo LOZIC (Cro) 6:7, 6:4, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Bogdan Borza – Kenneth RAISMA (Est) 6:1,6:0
Semifinals: Bogdan Borza – Alexander ZVEREV (Ger) 6:2, 6:2
Finals: Bogdan Borza – Nicolae FRUNZA (Rou) 6:4, 6:2

Before introducing Ana Konjuh’s road towards the victory let me give you some insights about my memories on Bogdan Borza during his Smrikva Bowl of two years ago…

Bogdan Alexandru Borza is currently 14 years old player and for sure is among the most talented rising European tennis players.

In 2007 the Smrika Bowl final was played between Bogdan Borza and Sacha Merzetti. That final was one of the most beautiful finals in the Smrikva Bowl history. It was like the final between Nadal and Nadal :). They both had as their idol tennis star Rafael Nadal at the time and they both behaved before the match in a very similar manner Rafael Nadal does.

Bogdan Borza and Sacha Merzetti both at the time had an increadible energy, determination and good technique. It was very funny when one mum wanted to make a compliment to Bogdan and she said to him that he looks like Roger Federer and she said that because really Bogdan had a similar dress, body and also his game style was similar to Federer’s one, but Bogdan answered to that compliment:”No, I am like Nadal”. :)

This was very funny to me :). On the other side, the other finalist, Sacha Merzetti, had the dress similar to Nadal’s one. In end they both wanted to be like Nadal :). It is interesting that this was the second time that this two players played in the finals against each other and the first time in Rome on the Lemon Bowl the winner was Bogdan Borza and later on, on the Smrikva Bowl the winner was Sacha Merzetti but the level of the game was similar.

Bogdan’s father speaks very well Italian so we had the opportunity to speak several times and I was surprised when he told me that Bogdan train by his own playing with older players in his town.

This was increadible for me for the clean tecnique and such a good game that Bogdan has reached in this age group. I keep crossed finghers for Bogdan and hopefully he will continue to further develop his game as he did over the last four years.

Congratulations Bogdan!

Ana Konjuh’s road towards the victory of the European Championship 2011 in Pilzen was the following:

1st round: Ana Konjuh – Bye
2nd round: Ana Konjuh – Tess VAN DINTEREN (Nld) 0:6, 6:3, 7:6
3rd round: Ana Konjuh – Chiara GRIMM (Ch) 6:2, 7:5
4th round: Ana Konjuh – Kateryna SLIUSAR (Ukr) 6:4, 6:1
Quarterfinals: Ana Konjuh – Iryna SHYMANOVICH (Blr) 6:1, 6:1
Semifinals: Ana Konjuh – Miriam KOLODZIEJOVA (Cze) 6:2, 6:3
Finals: Ana Konjuh – Belinda BENCIC (Ch) 6:4, 3:6, 6:1

On the picture above you can see Ana during her Smrikva Bowl when she was 10 years old. Ana is in the middle of the picture :)

With this victory ANA KONJUH BECOME THE FIRST CROATIAN GIRL EVER TO WIN A EUROPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE.

There were several other top Smrikva Bowl girls in the Main Draw in Pilzen such as: Katarina Jokic (3rd round), Bianka Bekefi (4th round), Erika Hendsel (3rd round), Silvia Chinelato (1st round), Belinda Bencic (finals), Nikolina Jovic (1st round), Ivana Jorovic (4th round), Ena Camdzic (2nd round), Nina Potocnik (4th round), Viktoria Kuzmova (2nd round)...

Great girls! :)

I am also pleased to conclude this long article with the article reported on Tennis Europe.org where you can get more in detail the idea of the performances of the two winners Bogdan and Ana!

Tennis Europe Junior Tour
Romania rules at European 14&U Championships

24 July 2011

Having teamed up to win a first ever Copa del Sol title for their country three weeks ago, Bogdan Borza and Nicolae Frunza continued to make history at the European 14 & Under Championships in Pilzen (CZE) as they played the first ever all-Romanian boys’ final at the event.

The previous day, the pair had teamed up to take the doubles title. Seeded #1 and playing with supreme confidence, the pair had little trouble in sweeping to the title, winning all five of their matches in straight sets, including a 6-3 6-1 rout of home hopes Miroslav Chyba & Ondrej Krstev in the final.

In addition to their Copa del Sol and European Doubles wins, the two players have accounted for three Tennis Europe Junior Tour titles already this year (Borza winning in Bucharest and Rakovnik, and Frunza in Svilengrad) and each has claimed two other doubles titles. Going into the final, the pair had met in singles action twice in 2011, with one win apiece, but Borza was in no mood to concede another loss, taking the first set 6-4 before stepping up a gear in the second set to claim it 6-2. Thanks to his win, Borza will become the new European #1 next week, though his team-mate will be close behind.

Second seed Ana Konjuh broke new ground, becoming the first Croatian girl ever to win a European Junior Championships title. After a shaky start to the week, in which she was forced to a final set tiebreak by Tess van Dinteren (NED) in her opening match Konjuh found her form, fighting past three other seeds on her way to the final.

Her rival in the deciding match was Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, a winner of 14 Tennis Europe Junior Tour titles so far in her young career. Konjuh took the first set 6-4, but the experienced Bencic looked to have turned the tide as she levelled the match by taking the second 6-3. Instead it was Konjuh who raised her game in the decider, reeling off six of the last seven games to claim her biggest title yet.

Konjuh has divided her time between the 14 and 16 & Under circuits so far this season, winning singles and doubles at the 16 & Under event in Cakovec as well as the 14 & Under Zagreb title and two Category 1 doubles crowns. She will take over as the new European #1 when the rankings are updated next week. Meanwhile Bencic, who will rise to second, was playing in just her third 14 & Under event of a season in which she has already won her first matches on the professional circuit and reached the 18 & Under Oberentfelden final.

Bencic had been hoping to score a rare double triumph, having already teamed with Chiara Grimm on Saturday to win the doubles title. Seeded #8, the pair fought back from the loss of the first set to beat tenth seeds Raluca Ciufrila & Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania 4-6 6-2 (10-5). The win marked the first time that a Swiss pair has ever won girls doubles title at the European Junior Championships.

A total of 158 players took part in this, the 35th edition of the European 14 & Under Championships. All of the singles finalists automatically qualify to compete at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters in October.

22/07/11

Greetings from Pirot from Jovana and Katarina Trickovic and their trainer Joca... :)

I just received few nice pictures from Pirot… from the Smrikva girls Jovana and Katarina Trickovic that played this year Smrikva Bowl… and I have to say they were very special to me for their attitude and expressed love for the tennis game…

Jovana helped me in several classes during her stay and for the kids to see her positive attitude with a big smile, perfect tecnique and perfect foot work was of great help to my younger students :)...

We all learn mostly via imitation and for my kids to see her during the whole class was of big help to them!

Since they left Smrikve, after their Smrikva Bowl year, several talented kids stayed in Smrikve and were practicing with my competitors… some of their Smrkva Bowl friends from Austria were here, today few players from Milan arrived, few days ago a Smrikva friend from Sweden arrived and started to practice, and different other top players have scheduled their arrivals in the following weeks from various countries…

...I would love to have them in our Smrikve “bottega” for the talents development in these days… but if not this summer I hope they will be again our guests of honour next year for another of my classes to give a little help in the progress of other Smrikva kids as they did this year :)

13/07/11

Nico Schmalzl, Romy Bitorajac and Armina Izic played tennis in Smrikve today :)

Few days ago Dario Bitorajac brought his family to Istria again and he brought with him Nico Schamlzl and his daughter Romy who both played Smrikva Bowl this year… yesterday and today they also visited Smrikve…

Another talented boy arrived with them… his name is Oliver thus for today we arranged practice matches with young Smrikve school members… Leon, Filip and Karlo...

A visit of former Smrikva Bowl players is always a pleasure and today a girl from Tuzla surprised me with her unexpected visit too… she’s name is Armina…

Armina Izic is training with an experienced and quite special coach… a good Smrikva Bowl friend… who in most of his thoughts is very facinating teacher and I was pleased to learn about Armina’s progress over the last year…

Armina brought with her a special gift to Smrikve she made on her own… that I hope at least partially could be seen on the following picture… the painting is really extraordinary :)...

... and before she continued her trip to Rome she just asked if she could hit few balls on Smrikve courts thus a special double was played… Max and Armina played with Leon and Filip... it was a funny friendship doubles that concluded todays working morning in Smrikve :)....

12/07/11

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update July 2011)

Only top Smrikva Bowl players that reached certain results on the professional ranking list are mentioned below and the top Smrikva Bowl players that are still competing in the junior tennis.

IN 1996 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM ISTRIA AND KVARNER (1st Smrikva Bowl)

BOYS
Vilim Visak, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia. Vilim’s best ranking was #612 in March 2006.

IN 1997 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM CROATIA (1997 – 2nd Smrikva Bowl)

GIRLS
Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #281 on WTA list. Ivana’s best ranking was #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

IN 1998 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT (3rd Smrikva Bowl)

1999 – 4th Smrikva Bowl

GIRLS
Astrid Besser, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Italy, her best ranking was #356 on WTA list in March 2009.

2000 – 5th Smrikva Bowl

GIRLS
Tereza MRDEZA, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Croatia, is currently ranked #523 on WTA list and her best ranking was #279 on WTA list in February 2010.

2001 – 6th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Marin Draganja, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #1399 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #606 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #89 on WTA list. Petra’s best raning was #63 on WTA list in April 2010.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #674 on WTA list.

IN 2002 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE A EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

2002 – 7th Smrikva Bowl and 1st”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Javier MARTI, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Spain, is currently ranked #271 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1826 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #499 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #170 on WTA list.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #838 on WTA list.

2003 – 8th Smrikva Bowl and 2nd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Dominic THIEM, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Austria, is ranked #909 on ATP ranking list. Junior ROLAND GARROS 2011 finalist.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #990 on ATP ranking list. Under 18 DUNLOP ORANGE BOWL 2010 winner.
Ciprian PORUMB, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, was ranked #195 on ITF ranking list in March 2010.

GIRLS
Jennifer Ren, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Great Britain, was ranked #1215 on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #531 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #170 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #92 on ITF ranking list.

2004 – 9th Smrikva Bowl and 3rd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Ivan Levar, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #771 on ITF ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #46 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1219 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #923 on WTA ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #262 on ITF ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #179 on ITF ranking list.
Anna MAMALAT, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #533 on WTA ranking list.

IN 2005 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 3 CONTINENTS

2005 – 10th Smrikva Bowl and 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Matteo DONATI, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Italy, is ranked #154 on ITF ranking list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #146 on ITF ranking list.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #74 on ITF ranking list.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #23 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #923 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #876 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #138 on ITF ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #872 on WTA list*and is ranked #*26 on ITF ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Jeffrey Schorsch, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Jose Gracia, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Yale Goldberg, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

Dorothy Tang, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

2006 – 11th Smrikva Bowl and 5th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Gianluigi QUINZI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Italy, is ranked #74 on ITF ranking list.
Filip Kraljevic, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #544 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #132 on ITF ranking list and #838 on WTA ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Daniel Maese, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is still not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Aries Wong, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is still not ranked on ITF ranking list.

Christina MAKAROVA, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #42 on ITF ranking list.
Gabriella Umoquit, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is still not ranked on ITF ranking list.

2007 – 12th Smrikva Bowl and 6th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Sacha MERZETTI, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Italy, is ranked #26 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #2 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #72 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Sergiu BUCUR, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is ranked #10 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.

GIRLS
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #2 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #19 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #8 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #6 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #2 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #184 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

IN 2008 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 5 CONTINENTS AND TURNED INTO A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

2008 – 13th Smrikva Bowl and 7th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Luka PANIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Switzerland, is ranked #374 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea Turcu, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #437 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked *#252 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #572 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked *#33 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*. Under 12 EDDIE HERR INTERNATIONAL 2010 winner.
Maia LUMSDEN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Scotland, is ranked #41 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Viktoria KUZMOVA, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is ranked #16 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Estela Perez Somarriba, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Spain, is still not ranked on under 14 european ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Justin LEE, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #377 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
William BLUMBERG, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#536 in the USA in under 12 cathegory*.

Ingrid NEEL, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #53 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Paulina Ferrari, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #258 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

IN 2009 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 6 NEW COUNTRIES AND 1 NEW CONTINENT THUS REACHED THE TOTAL OF 40 COUNTRIES AND 6 CONTINENTS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2009 – 14th Smrikva Bowl and 8th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Alvaro Regalado Pedrol, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Samuele Ramazzotti, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Karlo SUEVICH, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Slovenia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Alejandro Davidovich, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Katie SWAN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from United Kingdom, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Jovana VUKOVIC – JOKA, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Inci Ogut, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Turkey, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Arianna CAPOGROSSO, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Noah SCHACHTER, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #3 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alex Gee, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #39 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Michaela GORDON, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #8 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Ashley LAHEY, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#52 in the USA in under 12 cathegory*.

IN 2010 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 9 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 49 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2010 – 15th Smrikva Bowl and 9th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Nicola KUHN, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Karlo SUEVICH, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 runner up, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Yshai OLIEL, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Israel, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Andrei Taica Radu, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Jovana VUKOVIC, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Paula Arias Manjon, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 runner up, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Neli SUNJIC, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Kristina NOVAK, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Max Motlagh, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #480 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Claire LIU, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #12 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alexa Butera, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#122 in the USA in under 12 cathegory*.

IN 2011 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 4 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 53 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2011 – 16th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Duje AJDUKOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 winner, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Mihailo POPOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Alejandro Serrano Osoba, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Stipan Madzar, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Olga DANILOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 winner, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Ksenija Tmusic, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Emilija Kojcic, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Betina TOKAC, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Turkey, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

11/07/11

Nicolas Alvarez Varona, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 quarterfinalist, won a TTK tournament in Madrid and qualified for the Master TTK that will be played in September

I am pleased to share the news just received from Spain where four Smrikva Bowl players of this year edition competed: Nicolas Alvarez Varona, Julio Crespo, Miguel Briega Ramos y Daniel Salazar Martinez.

Nicolas Alvarez Varona won the tournament and in the finals he defeated Julio Crespo, in the semifinals he played with Daniel Salazar and in the quarterfinals he played with Miguel Briega…

With this victory Nicolas qualified for the TTK Master that will be played in September.

For those who understand Spanish I am pleased to post the news received and at the end of the article you will find a picture of Julio Crespo and Miguel Briega made in Smrikve few weeks ago :)...

Congratulations boys!

Nicolás Álvarez Varona vencedor del Torneo TTK Madrid-Avantage en categoría Benjamín Masculino

Se impuso en la final al Campeón de Madrid, Julio Crespo.

Nicolás Álvarez Varona, jugador del Club de Tenis El Cid y alumno del Centro de Tecnificación de Tenis de Burgos, se ha impuesto, en la mañana de ayer domingo, en el Torneo TTK Madrid-Avantage,en la categoría Benjamín Masculino. Ha vencido en la final al campeón de Madrid, Julio Crespo, por 4-1 y 4-2.

Nicolás no ha perdido ningún set en los cuatro partidos que ha disputado.

En octavos de final ganó al castellano manchego, Ismael Molina de Toro por 4-1 y 4-0. En cuartos de final al madrileño Miguel Briega Ramos por 4-0 y 4-2. Ya en semifinales se imponía al andaluz Daniel Salazar Martínez Apa por un doble 4-1 y 4-1.

En la final, y en un partido en el que el jugador burgalés jugó todo el tiempo muy concentrado, se impuso por 4-1 y 4-2 al madrileño Julio Crespo Padilla.

Con esa segunda victoria este año en el circuito TTK, Nicolás Álvarez prácticamente asegura su presencia en el Master TTK que se celebrará del 9 al 11 de Septiembre.

10/07/11

Alexei Popyrin, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 Consolation Draw winner, and Arianna Capogrosso, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 semifinalist, are the winners of the 29° EURO TROPHY PORTO SAN GIORGIO 2011 edition played in Italy

EURO TROPHY PORTO SAN GIORGIO in Italy is one of the oldest and most prestigious under 12 tennis tournaments in Europe and is traditionally played in Porto San Giorgio (Marche Region) in central Italy.

Alexei Popyrin, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 Consolation Draw winner, from Australia and Arianna Capogrosso, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 semifinalist, from Italy, are played the finals in Port San Giorgio today and both were crowned the tournament winners…

I am pleased to recall that Alexei and his brother Anthony were the first players to play Smrikva Bowl with Australian passport living in Dubai and were the first Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors in that area… after them several players arrived from Dubai such as Karim Najia and this year very persepctive and still very young Viktor Jovic…

In 2009 Alexei won the Consolation Draw, but in the first draw he played the Main Draw winner from Spain Alvaro Regalado Pedrol…

In the following video you can see Alexei at the time he played Smrikva Bowl, he was 9 years old, and in the video he is rallying with Jim Courier :)

Before I give you the Alexei’s and Arianna’s final results and the road towards their victories I would like to add that Porto San Giorgio is the town were Gianluigi Quinzi, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, and his brother Gianluca Quinzi, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 player started to play tennis…

Their father Luca Quinzi is the president of the Tennis Club Porto San Giorgio who organize the tournament in Porto San Giorgio and this year he was at the Smrikva Bowl with Gianluigi’s younger brother Gianluca…

On the picture below you can see Miro Hrvatin, Luca Quinzi and Franko Skugor on this year Smrikva Bowl edition…

… Luca, Gianluigi, Gianluca and all the Quinzy family are long term Smrikva Bowl friends and this year on his arrival to Smrikve Luca proposed to me to think about the wild cards prize for the 30° EURO TROPHY PORTO SAN GIORGIO 2012 for the next year top ranked Smrikva Bowl players which sounded great to me… and sounds even greater after following Alexei Popyrin and Arianna Capogrosso performances on this year Porto San Giorgio edition…

Alexei’s road towards the victory of the 29° EURO TROPHY PORTO SAN GIORGIO 2011 was the following:

1st round: Alexei Popyrin – Nicola Vidal (Ita) 6:0, 6:2
2nd round: Alexei Popyrin – Antonio Taraborrelli (Ita) 6:2, 6:4
Quarterfinals: Alexei Popyrin – Lenard Soha (Hun) 2:6, 6:2, 6:4
Semifinals: A.Popyrin – Felix Auger Aliassime (Can) 6:7, 6:3, 6:0
Finals: Alexei Popyrin – Artem Dubrivnyy (Rus) 6:3,6:7,7:6

… another player that I would like to recall who reached the semifinals in Porto San Giorgio is Samuele Ramazzotti, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up…

1st round: Samuele Ramazzotti – Francesco Forti (Ita) 6:0, 6:2
2nd round: Samuele Ramazzotti – Nicaise Muamba (Can) 6:1, 6:1
3rd round: Samuele Ramazzotti – Daniil Klimov (Ger) 6:1, 6:2 Quarterfinals: S.Ramazzotti-Timur Chelmodeev (Rus) 3:6,6:0,6:1
Semifinals: S.*Ramazzotti*-Artem Dubrivnyy (Rus) 3:6,6:0,3:6

There were several other Smrikva Bowl players in the Main Draw: Riccardo Perin (2nd round), Moritz Thiem (1st round), Anthony Popyrin (1st round) and Marco Furlanetto (1st round)…

…when Samuele Ramazzotti played Smrikva Bowl he was compared to Novak Djokovic, current #1 player, and this year winner of the most prestigious Grand Slam tournament to the most players – the Wimbledon…

… I am writing the above because Luca Quinzi likes to recall that Goran Ivanisevic won Porto San Giorgio when he was 12 years old boy… yesterday was 9th of July and was celebrated the 10th anniversary of Goran Ivanisevic most important tennis victory… it was the day of his victory of Wimbledon… and I am pleased to recall it because from his victory of Porto San Giorgio till the victory of Wimbledon and his entrance into the legend Goran wrote with his racket a great tennis story and is still the inspiration to many tennis players…

on the other side… in the girls draw Ariana Capogrosso, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 semifinalists, reached the victory of the 29° EURO TROPHY PORTO SAN GIORGIO 2011 as follows:

1st round: Ariana Capogrosso – bye
2nd round: Ariana Capogrosso – Chiara Catini (Ita) 6:2, 6:0
3rd round: Ariana Capogrosso – Ariella Curci (Ita) 6:0, 6:0
Quarterfinals: Ariana Capogrosso – Jaimee Fourlis (Aus) 7:5, 7:5
Semifinals: A.Capogrosso – Polina Golubovskaya (Rus) 6:3, 6:4
Finals: Ariana Capogrosso – Rosanna Maffei (Ita) 6:4, 6:2

There were several other Smrikva Bowl players in the girls Main Draw: Giulia Turconi (3rd round), Neli Sunjic (3rd round), Benedetta Ivaldi (1st round)…

Great results!

07/07/11

Even Smrikva Bowl can dance... :)... pictures are taken from the 16th Smrivka Bowl 2011 Ambassadors nomination cerimony...

This winter I read a book named The Talent Code… greatness isn’t born. It’s grown… written by Daniel Coyle…

This book, and a tennis teacher described by Daniel in his book, inspired me to share with Smrikva Bowl kids participating this year Smrikva Bowl a dance with their rackets…

It was the closing of the Ambassadors nomination cerimony when we took the rackets and dancing all together with smile on our faces we spent nice moments together… the kids were extraordinary in their imitation skills that evening :)…

I am pleased to share with Smrikve community and especially with the 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 players, parents and coaches that were present that day parts of the book that I also talked about on the Smrikva Bowl Forum the day after Ambassadors nomination…

Mr. David Coyle in that book was traveling around the world trying to understand if talents are born or are helped to develop… and also tennis was among the sports he looked at…

In particular David was impressed by results made in Tennis Club Spartak in Moscow… by Larisa Preobrachenskaya… Larisa passed away few years ago but I am pleased to share part of that book with the group because reading that paragraphs and learning about Larisa’s method… that was the inspiration to me to improvise the dance we did that day in Smrikve…

I would be pleased to quote parts of David’s book from the page 80 till the page 83… in my opinnion it is a book worth having in the library for those who like talented kids and for those who are dedicatint their life to develop talents in any field and also in tennis…

That part I am quoting from the book starts with the following:

ABSORB THE WHOLE THING…. This means spending time staring at or listening to the desired skill – the song, the move, the swing – as a singel coherent entity… it basically amounts to absorbing a picture of the skill until you can imagine yourself doing it…

…Some of the most fruitful imitation I saw took place at Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow, a freezing junkpile that has produced a volcano of talent: Anna Kournikova, Marat Safin, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Mikhail Youzhny, and Dmitry Tursunov. All in all, the club produced more top-twenty-ranked women than the United States did from 2005 to 2007, as well as half of the men’s team that won the 2006 Davis Cup, and it’s done all that with one indoor court. When I visited in December 2006, the club resembled a Mad Max movie… An abandoned eighteen-wheeler was parked out front. Walking up, I could see shapes moving behind clouded plastic windows, but I did’t hear that distintive thwacking of tennis racquets and balls. When I walked i, the reason become evident: they were swinging all right. But they weren’t using balls.

At Spartak it’s called imitatsiya – rellying in slow motion with an imaginary ball. All Spartak’s players do it, from the five-year-olds to the pros. Their coach, a twinkly, weathered seventy-seven-years-old woman named Larisa Preobrachenskaya, roamed the court like a garage mechanic tunint an oversize engine. She grasped arms and piloted small limbs slowly through the stroke. When they finally hit balls – one by one, in a line (there are no private lessons at Spartak), Preobrazhenskaya frequently stopped them in their tracks and had them go through the motion again slowly, then once more. And again. And perhaps one more time.

It looked like a ballet class: a choreography of slow, simple, precise motions with an emphasis on tekhnika – technique. Preobrachenskaya enforced this approach with an iron decree: none of her students was permitted to play in a tournament for the first three years of their study… “If you begin playing without technique, it is big mistake. Big, big mistake!”

I hope you enjoyed David’s words and to end this article I would like to put a video and dedicate it to Andjela Skrobonja’s father who enjoyed our performance the same way we enjoyed it by doing it… :)

03/07/11

Novak Djokovic - the Wimbledon Champion - donated last year signed Sergio Tacchini t-shirts and caps to the 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 finalists... the story about t-shirts and the news about some top young Smrikva girls :)... and George Morgan!

Novak Djokovic is today the Wimbledon Champion and from tomorrow the #1 tennis player in the World… his funs are spread all over the World… and today he defeated Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon finals… another tennis legend and behaviour example for the generations to come…

Few years ago Nole started to play with Sergio Tacchini and this Italian brand, with whom several tennis legends used to play, was for several years Smrikva Bowl sportswear friend…

Last year Smrikva Bowl finalists received Nole’s signed t-shirts and caps thanks to the Golden Honorary Smrikva Bowl member Zdravec :)…

My wish is that the signed t-shirts and caps may inspire them to do better and better in tennis… and in life!…

Nole and Rafa are still writing their tennis stories and there are many Smrikva Bowl kids that, inspired by these two Champions, are dreaming and following their paths…

I like Nole and Rafa as players and as examples for sportsmanship conduct…

Yesterday when Nole become #1 player in the World and today when he won Wimbledon I recalled words of my friend Luca Appino…

Luca shared with me a thought after Nole defeated in Canada in August 2007: Andy Roddick (#3 player at the time), Rafael Nadal (#2 player at the time) and Roger Federer (#1 player at the time)… that Nole might be a future # 1…

Luca was right several times… He was right in his tennis career while he was working with Babolat for signing contracts with four future #1 players in the World… Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Safina and Clijster… and one of the tennis and life books I do prefer is his book describing Rafael Nadal as Champion…

Nole become the Champion by playing the Champion today… and for years Nole was acting as Champion and Rafa was doing the same… their attitude is an attitude of the Champions but also an attitude of hard workers… thus if they keep being the Champions there will be more matches to measure their strength and I am sure they both know that new players are working day by day to try to reach them on the top of the World…

I am glad for Nole, and for our finalist Nicolas Kuhn and Karlo Suevich that their t-shirts and caps are even more special with Nole’s victory of today!…

Few days ago, after the Smrikva Bowl finals,… I received several messages and pictures from the former Smrikva Bowl players and I am pleased to share just few pictures with girls who keep working hard to make their dreams become real…

The following few photos are from the “Queenswood International” tournament that has recently taken place in Hertfordshire, England.

On the first picture I recognized Neli Sunjic, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 semifinalist, and Katie Swan, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner…

At “Queenswood International” there were 8 boys and girls teams competing – two from GB, Scotland, Croatia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Bulgaria with three players in each team… and Croatian and Great Britain girls team reached the finals…

…and when I looked at the picture of the Croatian and GB team I noted that all the girls are Smrikva Bowl girls :)…

In the British team… a part of Katie Swan there was Anastasia Mikheeva who several weeks ago was in Smrikve preparing for the clay court tournament… and the other girl was Georgina Axon… I remember that Katie Swan asked Georgina to give her the trophy when she won her Smrikva Bowl… and today they are together part of their National team :)…

…while the girl wearing the Croatian dress with Neli Sunjic is Ana Biskic… another Smrikva Bowl girl…

Anastasia was recently in Smrikve and was funny to her to see Katie’s photo in the club… All the girls are today good friends too and have been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Summer Cup in the Netherlands in July.

Another impressive news I received from Romania… where Andreea Rosca keeps having A GOOD YEAR…

This year Andreea was able to defeat several top 12 years old girls such as Sofya Zhuk from Russia, Kristina Miletic from Serbia, also Smrikva Bowl player, and Georgina Axon from UK that I mentioned above…

She made 19 consecutive wins in TE U12 tournaments… and she won all the Romanian under 12 years tournaments over the last 12 months, including the winter and summer National Championships and will represent Romania at the forthcoming European championships…

The girls I mentioned above are still very young but they are all working hard for the game they love…

I learned that the Champions of tomorrow are always different from the Champions of today but I do hope that traces left by the Champions such as Nole and Rafa will inspire these kids to write new and nice stories for the generations to come…

At the end of this long article I am pleased to recall that George Morgan, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from UK, won this year Junior Wimbledon doubles with Croatian player Mate Pavic!

In the singles on this year Junior Wimbledon 2011 the best former Smrikva Bowl players were Robin Kern who reached the quarterfinals and Dominic Thiem and Donna Vekic who reached the third round…

26/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 finals and awarding cerimony day... this is the story of the last 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 day :)...

The fifth and last day of the 16th annual it was another day full of emotions that ended with the bath in the Villa Smrikve swimming pool :)…

… over the years former Smrikva Bowl players started to come back to Smrikve and yesterday a big surprise to me was Nicolas Kuhn from Spain, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, and on the finals morning Kristina Novak visit from Slovenia, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 semifinalist…

Last year, on the final registration day, Kristina surprised me with a special tennis hand made bread and today on the picture below you can see this year Kristina’s surprise… a big heart :)…

The finals are very special moment since the Smrikva Bowl foundation… it is likely the first experience for most Smrikva Bowl players to play with the assistance of the ball boys…

Every year we do our best to set the Smrikve theatre stage for the new actors… and work of lot of people is required to allow them to show their best tennis ability on the Smrikve red clay theatre stage… :)

The 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 first act actors were Olga Danilovic and Ksenija Tmusic from Serbia…

Last year a big Smrikva Bowl friend Luca Appino made a comment that there are two tournaments where the players walk on the court with the bag assistants… the first one is named Wimbledon and the second one is named Smrikva Bowl :)

I already compared Olga Danilovic’s style to Suzanne Langlen :)… and the following one is another one where Olga fly with her racket… :)

This year for the first time I understood the honour of being ball boys on Smrikva Bowl finals…

When I asked Nemanja Malesevic to help the young kids on the net… in ten minutes there were: Daniela, Miguel, Kristina, Andjela, Ksenija, Olga, Sara, Katarina, Jovana, Anja, Ivan, David, Chiara and Paulina ready to be on the net…

… every year I am honoured and surprised to learn how wonderful Smrikva kids are :)

Ksenija Tmusic played great tennis and in some strokes she remind me Jovana Vukovic – JOKA… but Olga was better… and she won with the final result of 6:1, 6:2

On the picture below you can see the tennis shoes Ana Ivanovic donated to the 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 edition… and I decided to put this picture just to help to explain the number of talented kids I saw this year on Smrikva Bowl coming from Ana’s country of origin…

Olga Danilovic, Ksenija Tmusic, Emilija Kojcic, Jovana Trickovic and Mihailo Popovic took 5 out of 16 Smrikva Bowl trophies… it is for sure the result of Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic results over the last years…

In addition to that… I would like to remind the more than tennis part too :)… on September 17th, 2007 Ana Ivanovic has been officially named the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Ambassador. On that day, in relation with the nomination, Ana said “This is a great honour for me to be invited to be UNICEF Ambassador. I love children, and I relish this opportunity to help them in some small way.”

With her gifts Ana showed that she loves children and this way she also helps Smirkva Bowl development “in some small way”.

“Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can…” Nelson Mandela said :)

Since 1996 the main Smrikva Bowl prize was the bicycle… Olga won the first one and the winner of the second bicycle was decided in the second act of the 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 edition… the boys finals :)…

The main actors of the second act were: Duje Ajdukovic from Split and Mihailo Popovic from Belgrade…

Split is the native town of Goran Ivanisevic, Niki Pilic, Franulovic, Mario Ancic… and Belgrade is the native town of Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic…

… the ball boys were ready for the big game… :)…

I hope you can get an idea of Mihailo Popovic’s tecnique by looking at the picture below… you can not see the way he toss the ball or the way his arm move because it is a picture but I can tell you that the coordination of his movements are effortless… and in his attitude it is a nice boy… :)

Duje like to hit the ball… it is a big runner… strong beckhend… extreeme forehand… and big fighter :)…

…both finalist’s parents are sport people and their kids are their reflection…

I noted when Duje received the first ball from the ball boy he said “thanks” to the ball boy… and this reminded me Andre Agassi’s school and their Code of Respect :)…

The essence of good discipline is respect.
Respect for authority and respect for others.
Respect for self and respect for rules.
It is an attitude that begins at home,
Is reinforce at school,
And is applied throughout life.

… and this year Duje won 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 edition with the score 6:4, 7:5… it was THE GREAT FINAL… and on the picture below you can see the moment of joy after the last Mihailo’s ball went out…

Olga was the first to sign the Smrikva Bowl US Open ball that was donated to Smrikve by Justin Lee…

Since 1999 it is a tradition to sign the US Open ball.. the first one was brought by me from New York and the second one is Justin Lee donation :)

Duje’s name is just nearby Olga’s one… :)

…the picture below will be added to the wall where the names of other 30 Smrikva Bowl winners are exhibited…

They won the bikes… they won Ana’s gifts… they won some new frieds as each Smrikva Bowl player… they also won the one week stage at Mouratoglou Academy in Paris and also the possibility to play with Wilson rackets… :)

… the awarding cerimony started with calling the Smrikva Bowl kids that asked to help in the ball boys duties… :)… among them there were many that received trophies too…

…each one had the option to decide from whom they wanted to receive their trophy… and the first girl I called Sara Paunovic asked Olga Danilovic to do it… :)

Miguel Briega from Spain asked his best Smrikva friend Stefan Gligorov from Malaysia… :)

Emilija Kojcic asked Jovana Trickovic to give her the trophy… and than the girls reminded me that yesterday was Emilija’s birthday thus they all singed a song for Emilija… :)

Olga Danilovic wanted Kristina Novak to be the one who will give her the trophy for her Smrikva Bowl victory :)… the girls are Smrikva friends since last year…

Alejandro Serrano asked Nicolas Kuhn, last year Smrikva Bowl winner, to honour him for his semifinals reached in the Main Draw… :)

Mihailo Popovic surprised me with his requested when he asked Duda, Sasa and Ari to give him the trophy…

I could say that this is Mihailo’s first unofficial fun club :))… because girls wrote his name on the t-shirts and were cheering for him…

I asked him if he knows what he did to those girls to cheer for him and he said that he has no idea… I did not ask the girls but in their eyes was visible that they liked his attitude… :)

in turn… Duje called his first unofficial fun club made of Leon, Stefan and Stipan… and he forgot to call his sister Karla but she is part of the club… and is the girl that with Duje’s father I saw sharing each moment of Duje’s suffering and joy…

the great moment of bike ride for Olga…

and Duje… :)

In end the winners cut the cake with the picture of all the Smrikva Bowl participants… and it was the cake for the victory, players and for Emilija Kojcic’s birthday :)…

The swimming pool was closed during the tournament and after the finals it was the last sharing among friends of this great Smrikva Bowl finals day that Duje, Mihailo, Olga and Ksenija shared with us… :)…

25/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and Results

16^th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and Results

25/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 continued... at 1:00 PM over 90 Smrikva Bowl families and players visited Brioni Islands... and this is the story of the fourth Smrikva Bowl day :)...

The fourth day of the 16th annual it was another long day that ended very late with one of the greatest semifinal matches in the Smrikva Bowl history…

... over the last years the quality of the Smrikva Bowl matches continued to increase and this was another “GOOD YEAR”...

... at 1:00 PM we went to Brioni Islands and… the bus, the boat and train trip should be remembered as something nice… also the elephant said hello to the Smrikva Bowl players and families ;)...

Let me walk you through the day of the boys quarterfinals and semifinals and girls semifinals…

On court #1 the first boys Main Draw quarterfinals was scheduled for 8:30 AM between Duje Ajduković from Croatia and Vanja Dobrnjac from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

Duje played his game and was using most of his ability to create points thus he was the first semifinalist of the day…

Duje is still smaller than most of his competitors on this year Smrikva Bowl and to reach the speed of his balls he is using the forehand grip that very few players used in the history… and it will be nice to follow Duje’s progress of his forehand once he grow up phisically… at this age he is using it perfectly :)

On the court #2 the second quarterfinalists match of the morning was between Alejandro Serrano Osoba from Spain and Nemanja Subanović from Serbia…

I do like a lot both players’ game… in addition to their ability to use rackets I have to point out that they are already tall for their age and they can really hit the ball…

Alejandro was better today and qualified for the quarterfinals and it will play an increadible match in the late afternoon…

I am also glad that our Ambassador Karim Benjamaa from Subotica supported Nemanja Subanovic’s candidacy for this year Smrikva Bowl because it was a nice surprise… I picked up a picture of his serve just to give you an idea of how it already looks like :)... you will note that Nemanja is almost flying ;)

Another complete player was playing on the court #3… it was the thrid quarterfinals match between Mihailo Popović from Serbia and Nicolas Alvarez Varona from Spain…

Mihailo has a very nice tecnique… nice game… and in end he played better than Nicolas yesterday…

On the other hand Nicolas is still training six hours per week which is below the Smrikva Bowl level average…

...the fourth quarterfinals match was played between Stipan Madžar from Croatia and Sergiu Mancioc from Turkey…

Stipan is currently the second best ranked Croatian player on this year Smrikva Bowl and he defeated Sergiu Mancioc with a tight result of 9:8…

I have to note that over the last years the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors’ network from Turkey positively surprised me in terms of quality of the players… after Berfu Cengiz and Inci Ogut that were extraordinary… this year there were two Turkish players playing great tennis during the fourth day of the tournament…

After the Consolation quarterfinals we started to gather at 0:00 PM for the Brioni trip... over 90 people entered the Smrikva Bowl bus that took us to Fazana… the gateway to Brioni Islands :)...

...it reminded me to school trips… a lot of nice people in a bus :)...

...after the bus we entered the boat :)...

... on Brioni the first thing that our guide showed to the kids and parents was the dinossours footprint… :)... o yes… the Brioni Islands was home to dinossours and today many animals lives free on the island as gardeners… there are over 1000 deers that help to keep the grass in order :)...

... you may see in Mihailo’s eyes the attention of the guide… she must be telling some stories that they may learn in the school in the following years… :)

... also the guide we had for english told me this kids are so well educated :)... and I told her… you know this kids are also the kids who are investing a lot of passion in building their tennis talents… :) and she was glad to hear that too…

... than we entered the Brioni train and we made the Island tour… the first great thing for kids, after we saw the museums of the animals that lived on the island and the museum dedicated to President Tito and Mr. Paul Kupelweiser,... was the train trip to Safari :)...

... we saw the animals that were not hiding in the shadow during the hot summer day… and also the elephant before we left Safari came to say hello to Smrikva kids :))....

... it was a nice trip to me… and might help kids to remember their Smrikva Bowl year too :)

The first semifinals of the afternoon were rescheduled from 5:30 PM to 5:45 PM just to allow the players such as Emilija Kojčić that decided to visit the islands to take the shower before the match…

The first semfinals match was played between Ksenija Tmušić and Emilija Kojčić... both girls from Serbia… they played very nice game… and played their best…

In end Ksenija qualified for the finals… but it was nice to see the fathers giving a hug to each other in congratulating their kids for how they played…

In the picture below you may see Emilija…

The second semfinals match was played on the court #2 between Olga Danilovic from Serbia and Betina Tokac from Turkey…

Both girls like to hit the ball with each inch of their still tiny body :)... Olga was better today and she qualified for the finals…

In the boys semfinals Mihailo Popović from Serbia played with Stipan Madžar from Croatia…

They were both on Brioni Islands… and Mihailo felt sick after the boat trip and had to return from the island… in end they played their semifinals and Mihailo qualified for the finals….

The last match of the day was played on the court #1 between Duje Ajduković and Alejandro Serrano Osoba...

It was incredible match… full of deep emotions for both players and for the people who gather to cheer their ability in using tennis rackets…

The match started at 7:30 PM and game after game started to be clear that it will be a long match… we had to turn lights after an hour of the game…

... there were so many match balls that the kids that were having fun on the courts #2 and #3 come close to the fence to hear the silence and the sound of the ball of Duje’s and Alejandro’s match balls…

They ended to play at 9:40 PM… and in end the game ended in a long tie break with Duje’s victory…

As I said at the beginning of the artilce it could be said that this was one of the greatest semifinals I recall in the Smrikva Bowl history…

Today morning the finals will start at 9:00 AM… the girls will play first and will be followed by boys…

24/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and fourth day results...

16^th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and Fourth Day Results

24/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 continued... at 6:00 PM the Smrikva Bowl Forum was held... it is the story of the third Smrikva Bowl day :)...

Third day of the 16th annual it was another long day… it was the nice tennis game day… a lot of nice matches that started with early morning warm up on the courts and concluded at almost 11:00 PM… at 6:00 PM we started with Smrikva Bowl Forum but more important for the kids was barbeque and tennis after the Forum :)...

On court #1 the first girls Main Draw quarterfinals match was scheduled for 9:00 AM among Iva Zelić from Croatia and Ksenija Tmušić from Serbia… both Iva and Ksenija warmed up before the match…

... the perfect Iva’s athletic legwork and perfect strokes did not allowed her to pass into semifinals today…

... in end… Ksenija defeated Iva with the result of 9:7… but more important than result is that Iva didn’t hit the ball today… thus it is likely that we will read a lot about both girls in the future :)...

... on the court #2 Emilija Kojčić from Serbia defeated Snežana Stević from Bosnia and Herzegovina thus qualified for the semifinals of the girls Main Draw…

Emilija is still very tiny and she plays great left hand tennis… and overall is a big fighter :)....

... the third girls Main Draw quarterfinals match was played on the court #3 between Katarina Tričković from Serbia and Betina Tokac from Turkey… and Betina Tokac was better today…

... the last quarterfinals in the girls Main Draw was played between Olga Danilović from Serbia and Oana Smaranda Corneanu and Olga qualified for the semifinals and will play it with Betina Tokac…

...thus this year we will see the semifinals between Olga Danilović and Betina Tokac… and Ksenija Tmušić – Emilija Kojčić... three girls from Serbia and one girl from Turkey…

... in the boys Main Draw the first quarterfinalst was Vanja Dobrinjac from Bosnia and Herzegovina who defeated Peetu Pohjola from Finland…

I already wrote about Peetu’s tecnique… and for sure he is on the right track but Vanja today was better…

... Duje Ajdukovic from Croatia qualified for the quarterfinals by defeating the one year younger player Lovro Suevich also from Croatia…

Duje is the first seeded player and Lovro in turn is the younger brother of the last year finalist Karlo Suevich... it is likely that next year, if Lovro keeps following his brother’s path, may do even more from what he achieved this year…

... also Nemanja Subanović from Serbia qualified for this year Main Draw quarterfinals by defeating Luka Đurđević from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

I do like Nemanja’s game a lot and the way he hits the ball with very relaxed arm…

... another nice match was played between Alejandro Serrano Osoba from Spain and Gianluca Quinzi from Italy…

Yesterday Gianluca defeated Stefan… and Stefan is the player who impressed me in a particular way on this year Smrikva Bowl…

... and today Gianluca played well with very strong and smart Alejandro Serrano… it has to be said that both guys are developing the tennis inteligence in their game… and Gianluca’s brother Gianluigi Quinzi must be proud on his little brother :)

Nicola Alvarez Varona from Spain had to defeated Lancelot Carnello from Sweeden to reach his quarterfinals of the Main Draw…

I met Lancelot last year for the first time and his game progressed during the year… but Nicola was better today and won 9:7… in a hard match…

... the very long match was played between Sergiu Mancioc from Turkey and Daniel Salazar Martinez Apuricio from Spain…

... it was about two hours match… one of the longest matches of the day… with lot of exchanges… and both players were hitting hard… nice game…

... another good match was played between one of the best Croatian player Stipan Madžar and one of the best Spanish players Javier Cueto... and Stipan qualified for the quarterfinals…

it was a very hot day and you may not note it on the faces of the Smrikva Bowl Staff who stand for long hours on the courts with the kids but Mihailo and Nemanja might remember their match also for the weather :)...

and also their parents might remember it for the weather…

If there was a prize for the parents on Smrikva Bowl for watching the match and being an example to the others… it should be given to their parents who watched their match like two school friends nearby the fence cheering together their talented boys… :)

... in end Mihailo Popović from Serbia defeated Nemanja Malešević from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

...it was a nice match… Mihailo is a complete player and Nemanja is a big hitter… and very fast in running towards the net… as I wrote above probably both boys will remember this match also for the very hot weather… :)

Over the years the Smrikva Bowl Consolation Draw became very similar to the Main Draw matches of five to ten years ago and the match between Michele Vianello and Stefan Gligorov was something to enjoy…

Michele Vianello defeated Stefan and the day before also Gianluca Quinzi did it…

...for Stefan Smrikva Bowl was his first clay experience… but in the history of Smrikva Bowl I have never seen such a fast one hand backhand produced by only 30 kilograms of weight…

I wrote about his backhand but it could be said the same for each of his basic strokes…

...and once he starts to hit just 50 to 80 centimetres from the line instead of what he did on Smrikva Bowl trying to hit every time only the line he will not defeat himself on his own if he learns that… ;)

At 6:00 PM we started with the Smrikva Bowl Forum :)

... the idea was envisaged as an informal sharing of views on tennis talent and talent development in general…

I saw it as an opportunity due to an important tennis talents concentration and talents developer we have in Smrikve during the Smrikva Bowl…

Last year Luca Appino, the Golden Honorary Smrikva Bowl Member, was in Smrikve to share his long tennis talents experience with the Smrikva Bowl parents and coaches and this year we connected with him in a phone conference… :)

I am pleased to thanks all the participants and speakers such as… Božo Barun’s father, Romy Bitorajac’s father, Duje Ajdukovic’s father, Adam Neff’s coach, Omer Artsi’s coach, Nicolas Alvarez’s coach and all the people and kids who were present… :)

the day ended with Stefan’s and Jovana’s smile for the camera :)...

and today at 8:30 AM the first quarterfinals matches will start…

23/06/11

16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and third day results...

16^th Smrikva Bowl 2011 Draws and Third Day Results