News

18/09/11

Just attended Annual PTR Tennis Forum Meeting at Vavassori Tennis Academy - Palazzolo... and Advanced Coaching run by Marco Vecchi - PTR Master Professional - at Circolo Tennis Citta' di Belluno 1949

I participated a week ago to the Annual PTR Tennis Forum at Vavassori Tennis Acadmey... which was, as per tradition, full of interesting speakers… and this weekend I spent at Circolo Tennis Citta’ di Belluno 1949 following the PTR course Advanced Coaching run by Marco Vecchi.

Let me give you just a brief overview of the above mentioned learning experiences…

I will start with the Annual PTR Tennis Forum held at Palazzolo and the guest speaker of the day Ken DeHart...

I have to recognize that while reading his biography, a part of many titles and recognitions he received for dedicating his life to the tennis game, I was impressed by his personal library of 1000 books dedicated to tennis…

Those who have interest to learn more about Ken De Hart can simply google his name and find more on his very interesting blog .

Ken DeHart, PTR & USPTA Master Professional, made several classes that day…

He shared with the Group the lesson split in two main topics: 50 advices for the players, coaches and professionals, and the second topic was focussed on improving the singificance of the practice level on the court…

As is written on his webiste… Ken DeHart brings a “common sense” approach to learning tennis… Using “natural” skills, players quickly grasp the concepts of how to play and enjoy the game of tennis…

and you can immediatly note his enthusiastic and entertaining way of teaching…

Among other he is also recognized as: Motivational speaker, Mental “Tuffness” Coach, USA High Performance Coach, USA Recreational Coach Trainer, PTR National Teacher, Clinician and National Cardio Tennis Trainer.

One part of his lesson was dedicated to Cardio Tennis that he made with Francesco Foschi... I did not have an idea what Cardio Tennis was… and I enjoyed it… but there is a special reason why I enjoyed it that much :)...

I will first insert the picture of how the kids danced with Ken at the Forum… and after the picture I will insert part of the article I wrote in July after this year Smrikva Bowl on how Smrikva Bowl kids danced… I hope you will like the story… ;)

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 was inspired by the above imitacija to add the music and try to see how it looks like… and it looked great and I was very pleased to learn that Cardio Tennis already existed with similar idea and concept… :)

During the meeting also Luigi Bertino, Luigi Casale, Fabrizio Procino and Marco Vecchi presented a TennisDoc software, news in the Tennis U10… and some specific tests…

PTR is always to me a growing experiences and such an experience was also the Annual Forum but it was especially the Advanced Coaching run by Marco Vecchi at Circolo Tennis Citta’ di Belluno 1949.

I like to attend Marco Vecchi’s courses… he was the first teacher that I met joining PTR family… and when I saw in the program that Advanced Coaching was held the week after PTR Annual Meeting I decided that it was an opportunity that I should not miss… and I was right…

Just few words to briefly describe Marco Vecchi... although few words are not sufficient to summarize his experience but it would be of help… Master Professional PTR, International Workshop Leader, International Tester PTR, speaker of the following courses, International Workshop Certification, Advanced Teaching, Mental Toughness…

He holds a Master degree in Sport Psychology… it is author of the book Senior Tennis… editor of the tennis magazine Il Tennis Italiano… and since more than 20 years he cooperates with the Dennis van der Meer Tennis University of Marlengo… and gained experiences, among others, at Vic Braden Tennis College and Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy…

I did not mention all of his experiences… but when Marco speaks he is all the above…

Teaching methods and mental strength are two fields that he is dedicating most of his current attention and the course I followed this week end was focused on teaching methods…

It is called Advanced Coaching and the subjects could be split in two main areas that we’ve gone through: understanding what science tell us about learning possibilities thus you built your teaching method paying attention on that how people learn… and the second area was dedicated to communication…

Very interesting class and once again great hospitality by Pepe Rigamonti that run this nice facility in Belluno!

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.

12/09/11

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

Former 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 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 #291 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 #464 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 #1174 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #410 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #54 on WTA list. Petra’s best raning is current ranking #54 on WTA list in September 2011.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #553 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 #227 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1029 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #484 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #160 on WTA list.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #949 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 #1825 on ATP ranking list. Junior ROLAND GARROS 2011 finalist.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #1893 on ATP ranking list. Junior US OPEN 2011 semifinalist.
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 #1223 on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #514 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #160 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #102 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 #828 on ITF ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #54 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1035 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #813 on WTA ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #289 on ITF ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #157 on ITF ranking list.
Anna MAMALAT, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #565 on ITF 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 #150 on ITF ranking list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #180 on ITF ranking list.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #57 on ITF ranking list.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #25 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #813 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #887 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #148 on ITF ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #656 on WTA list*and is ranked #*27 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 #57 on ITF ranking list.
Filip Kraljevic, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #912 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #118 on ITF ranking list and #825 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 #45 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 #58 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #92 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Sergiu BUCUR, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is ranked #13 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.

GIRLS
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #26 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #22 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 #9 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #126 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 #451 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea TURCU, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #398 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked *#311 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #669 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked *#26 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 #51 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Viktoria KUZMOVA, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is ranked #21 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 #145 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
William BLUMBERG, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#132 in the USA in under 14 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 #98 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 #4 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alex Gee, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #37 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Michaela GORDON, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #4 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Ashley LAHEY, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#57 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 #246 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Claire LIU, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #11 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alexa Butera, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#114 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.

06/09/11

Smrikva Bowl players on Junior US OPEN: George Morgan, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, reached the semifinals

There were several Smrikva Bowl players that I saw competing in the Main Draw of this year Junior US OPEN 2011… actually the exact number is six…

In the following you can read detailed results obtained by the former Smrikva Bowl players on this year Junior US OPEN played in New York… and George Morgan from Great Britain who reached the best result reached the semifinals.

Boys:

George Morgan (UK) – 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up
1st round: George Morgan – Julien Cagnina (BEL) 6:7, 6:4, 6:2
2nd round: George Morgan – Connor Farren (USA) 7:6, 7:6
3rd round: George Morgan – Robin Kern (GER) 6:2, 6:2
Quarterfinals: George Morgan – Adam Pavlasek (CZE) 6:7,6:4,6:4
Semifinals: George Morgan – Oliver Golding (GBR) 0:6, 6:7

Nikola Milojevic (Srb) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation Draw winner
1st round: Nikola Milojevic – Shane Vinsant (USA) 3:6, 6:4, 6:2
2nd round: Nikola Milojevic – Matias Sborowitz (CHI) 6:2, 6:0
3rd round: Nikola Milojevic – Jiri Vesely (CZE) 1:6, 3:6

Robin Kern (Ger) – 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 player
1st round: Robin Kern – Wayne Montgomery (RSA) 6:1, 6:4
2nd round: Robin Kern – JC Aragone (USA) 7:6, 6:3
3rd round: Robin Kern – George Morgan (UK) 2:6, 2:6

Dominic Thiem (Aut) – 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner
1st round: Dominic Thiem – Mitchell Krueger (USA) 2:6, 2:6

Girls:

Donna Vekic (CRO) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player
1st round: Donna Vekic – Christina Makarova (USA) 6:1, 6:2
2nd round: Donna Vekic – Victoria Bosio (ARG) 6:2, 6:3
3rd round: Donna Vekic – Yulia Putintseva (RUS) 0:6, 2:6

Christina Makarova (USA) – 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl 2006 player
1st round: Christina Makarova – Donna Vekic (CRO) 1:6, 2:6

03/09/11

Today we collected grapes and started the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Malvazija collection wine production

Today we collected grapes and started 2012 Smrikve wine production. It is a long day and several people helped us during the collection process. The grapes were yellow colored and of sweet taste… and as per tradition we will do our best to make good wine…

Smrikve Malvazija is thanks to the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors spread in 53 countries and all the continents. Every year we create a limited collection of 200 bottles that represent the gift of our family to the Smrikva Bowl families and to our friends.

Wine and gastronomy are part of a culture and wine bottle that we give to every Smrikva Bowl family is part of our cultural gift that every year we are pleased to make to our guests coming from all around the World.

The wine making is the tradition in Smrikve since 1957…

The wine production is a passion for many Istrian families and my grandfather Mate was a great lower of wine and wine making. The first thing he made in 1957 when he settled in Smrikve was planting the vineyard.

Probably not many Smrikva Bowl readers do know the story how my grandfather agreed to take out a row of vineyard to create the space for the court where today the Smrikva Bowl finals are played.

My father, me and my Uncle continue the wine making tradition in Smrikve…

Several years ago I bought a vineyard close to the vineyard planted by my grandfather and today my father and me are doing our best to get the best from what Malvasia grapes can give.

The first phase of the processing the grapes started today…

We collected the grapes but also separated the juice of the rest to obtain the golden color that usually our Istrian Malvazija (Malmsey) wine has. Now for two days the fermentation will be blocked to allow the wine to start its transformation process cleaner than it is today after the collection.

In Smrikve we produce Istrian Malvazija (Malmsey) and during the Smrikva Bowl we use to give a bottle of wine to every family as a memory to their Smrikva Bowl. Probably one day this bottles might be something special if our kids continue to love tennis game and continue to write the Smrikva Bowl story with their results.

Wine as part of the culture…

In the regions where the wine is produced the wine was always part of the culture of the particular site. Also the wine we produce is part of the Smrikve tradition and this is the reason why we are pleased to give a bottle to every family that come to visit us for the Smrikva Bowl.

There is an old Istrian saying: ”Vino od loze i mliko od koze” and “Kruh je za tilo a vino je za dušu”. The translation from Croatian is difficult because you loose the feel of the language. Goat is the symbol of Istria and the meaning of the first saying would be: ”Wine from the grapevine and milk from the goat” and the meaning of the second would be: “Bread is for the body, wine is for the soul”.

With todays collection as I said we started the process of transforming the grapes into wine for the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 edition of Malvazija.

The main Istrian wines are: Malvazija, Terran, Refosc and Muscatel.

The glory of the Istrian wine dates back to over 2000 years ago…

For those who are not familiar with Istrian wine I am pleased to remined the reader that Istrian wine was considered one of the best in the Roman Empire, around 20 centuries ago, and was preferred by Livia Drusilla, also known as Iulia Augusta, the wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus.

Livia Drusilla’s preferred wine was the Istrian wine Pucinum. Livia is considered one of the most influent women in the beginning of the Roman Empire era. It is not know what wine it was because todays wines were brought in Istria mostly by Venitians.

Todays Istrian Malvazija’s story is related with Serenissima… the Venetian Republic

The story of Istrian Malvazija, cultivated in Istria since the end of the 16th century, is fascinating and it relates to the Venetians.

At the beginning of the 15th century the Venetians occupied Peloponnesus in Greece. In the Peloponnesus region there is a town Monemvassia, also named Malvasia. From this town the Venetians started to import the wine into Venice and the other areas controlled by the Venetian Republic.

This wine was so successful and became so famous all over Europe that Venetians decided to plant huge vineyards on the biggest Greek island, Crete.

Between the 16th and 18th century Malvasia become the most important wine in Europe. In 1570 the Turks conquered Crete and Venetians decided to plant Malvasia vineyards in other areas that had friendly relations with Venice which, at that time, also included Istria.

In end Malvasia is in Istria since the above mentioned period while it is not known the sort of the wine that was preferred by the wife of the Emperor Augustus, Livia Drusilla – Julia Augusta.

Giacomo Casanova in his diary talks about another Istrian sort and another great wine…

Giacomo Casanova visited Vrsar several times and in his diary he describes a good wine Refosc and nice women… That Refosc could be Terran too because if you look at the grapes you will hardly note the difference and today Refosc is mostly cultivated in the Slovenian part of Istria while in other areas the dominant sort is Malvasia.

Another excellent wine can be found around Momjan area made of Muscatel sort.

On Istria from Smrikve you can learn much more…

To learn more about Istrian gastronomy and wine please visit the E-book about Istrian cultural heritage on www.smrikve.com/istria/ named “Istria from Smrikve” or join Discover Istria from Smrikve group on Linked In.

31/08/11

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner and #59 player on WTA list, lost in the second round of the US Open against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, is the best ranked former Smrikva Bowl player on WTA ranking list… currently she holds #59 place on WTA list…

Over the last month she passed the qualifications of the Rogers Cup 2011 in Toronto – Canada and reached the second round of the Main Draw… later on in Cincinnati she played the Main Draw directly and reached the third round while this week she played the US OPEN reaching the second round.

Petra Martic’s road towards the second round of the Main Draw of the US Open 2011 was the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – B.Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 5:7,6:3,6:4
2nd round: Petra Martic – A.Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 4:6,6:4,4:6

The ranking of the players that Petra played is the following:

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) – #71 on WTA list
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) – #16 on WTA list

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

27/08/11

Miomir Kecmanovic - Misa, 14h Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, defeated Samuele Ramazzotti, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 finalist, in the finals of MURSKA SOBOTA 2011, while Inci Ogut, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, semifinalist won the girls draw :)

Few weeks ago Miomir Kecmanovic, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, was in Smrikve enjoying tennis with Miro and the sea with Tanja... preparing for the tournament he had scheduled to play during the summer… and Murska Sobota in Slovenia was on his schedule…

In the finals Miomir Kecmanovic played with Samuele Ramazzotti, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 finalist… the interesting fact is that they played the quarterfinals in 2009 on their Smrikva Bowl… :) at the time Samuele won and today Miomir won…

In addition to that in the semifinals he played Karlo Divkovic, another very strong Smrikva Bowl player, that he met in the finals a month ago…

There were many top Smrikva Bowl players in the Main Draw, on top of Samuele and Karlo mentioned above, that I will recall in the following…

In the girls Main Draw Inci Ogut, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 semifinalist, won the girls finals…

This summer I met in Smrikve Ada Yasemin Boru and Betina Tokac and they both know Inci :)...

I have nice memories of Inci’s game and I was really pleased to see her winning the finals of today…

Detailed results of the Smrikva Bowl players who reached finals on this year MURSKA SOBOTA 2011 are the following:

BOYS:

Miomir KECMANOVIC (Srb) – 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 player
1st round: Miomir Kecmanovic – bye
2nd round: Miomir Kecmanovic – Yan Bondarevskih (Rus) 6:0, 6:3
3rd round: Miomir Kecmanovic- Luka Miklavcic (Slo) 6:0, 6:0
Quarterfinals: Miomir Kecmanovic – Nick Cmager (Slo) 6:0, 6:0
Semifinals: Miomir Kecmanovic – Karlo Divkovic (Cro) 6:3, 6:2
Finals: M.Kecmanovic-Samuele Ramazzotti (Ita) 6:7,6:3,6:1

Samuele RAMAZZOTTI (Cro) – 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 finalist
1st round: Samuele Ramazzotti – bye
2nd round: Samuele Ramazzotti – Robin Vogel (Aut) 6:0, 6:1
3rd round: Samuele Ramazzotti – Raul-Alin Dicu (Rom) 6:1, 6:4
Quarterfinals: Samuele Ramazzotti – Anze Arh (Slo) 6:1, 6:0
Semifinals: Samuele Ramazzotti – Jurij Rodinov (Blr) 6:0, 6:1
Finals: Samuele Ramazzotti- M.Kecmanovic (Srb) 7:3,3:6,1:6

The other Smrikva Bowl players that I recognized in the boys draw are: Karlo Divkovic (semifinals), Tom Asic Kovac (2nd round), Mattia Bellucci (2nd round), Tim Tekavec (1st round), Fran Nincevic (3rd round), Matic Podlipnik (1st round), Renzo Paro (quarterfinals).

GIRLS:

Inci OGUT (Tur) – 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 semifinalist
1st round: Inci Ogut – Nika Albrecht (Slo) 6:0, 6:1
2nd round: Inci Ogut – Anda Pintaric (Cro) 6:2, 6:0
3rd round: Inci Ogut – Veronika Erjavec (Slo) 6:4, 6:1
Quarterfinals: Inci Ogut – Anja Gal (Slo) 6:1, 6:0
Semifinals: Inci Ogut – Alexandra Pillarova (Svk) 6:2, 6:2
Ffinals: Inci Ogut – Viktoriya Rusyaeva (Rus) 6:3, 6:2

The other Smrikva Bowl players that I recognized in the girls draw are: Anja Gal (quarterfinals), Lian Benedejcic (2nd round), Dea Lako (3rd round), Nicole Taylor Pafundi (quarterfinals), Kristina Novak (2nd round), Martina Bokulic (3rd round).

21/08/11

"LA BOTTEGA"... NEW PART OF THE SMRIKVE TENNIS SCHOOL NAME... :)

Just a bit more than two years ago I started to dedicate more and more time in developing the Smrikve Tennis School…

In September 2009 I attended PTR International Certification Workshop… and as the ancient Greek Plato said “the beginning is the most important part of any work”… and Confucius, at the same time, on the other part of the Earth said “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”… :)

both of them are inspiring quotes and my dedication to this little school is driven by the above… many books read, videos, dedicated hours and courses followed are behind… and I am pleased to share a thing I beleive in and that was added to the name of the school…

…it is the story of La Bottega… :)

Smrikve, August 2011

WHY LA BOTTEGA IN THE NAME OF A TENNIS SCHOOL…

During the Renaissance period La Bottega (the art and craft workshop) was the nursery site for the formation of the artists… and was probably the source of the Renaissance itself…

Inside La Bottega we can imagine pupils, still children, that began to take their first steps into the world of art… growing their talent side by side with the greatest artists that later on made history…

La Bottega was managed by a Master who was settting the work commissioned… which, in end, has been completed by students dividing the work according to the abilities…

The work of art was therefore not the result of a single artist but of an entire workshop although the teacher worked personally doing parts to make the work uniform and close to perfection…

The students entered as pupils the workshop to learn the technique and they perfected till they become the experts on their own… All the greatest artists we learn about in schools have grown up in the workshops described above…

The Renaissance workshop was not limited to being a fine school of design (the same as our tennis school is not a simple fine school of tennis) but has served as a cultural center in which the philosophy and scientific knowledge merged with the artistic technique…

The decision to add to the Smrikve Tennis School name the term La Bottega was driven by several elements…

• Smrikve was always envisaged as something more than tennis (library, culture, olive oil and wine,…)

• the fact that in Smrikve we have limited resources we decided to focus on the quality and individual approach…

• talented players we accept during the year for shorter periods of time as guests of our school are linked in to the Smrikva Bowl network and the preference of the accepted players always go to the talents we had opportunity to meet during Smrikva Bowl… traditionally they have good understending of the Smrikve philosophy…

• in end, the same as in La Bottega, in our tennis school the older students (competitors) are trained to help the younger in their growth… thus knoledge sharing at all the levels is another of the pillars of La Bottega philosophy :)…

Miodrag Bozovic

19/08/11

Mattia Bedolo, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, with his family and friends visited Smrikve...

Mattia Bedolo is spending his tennis vacation in Istria with his family and friends… and just few days ago his father Umberto proposed to me to arrange a tennis afternoon in Smrikve for Mattia and his friends thus kids can play a bit and we can see each other…

I did not see Mattia since 2008 and it was a pleasure to see him already a boy :)... and we arranged few hours of tennis for people who enjoy this game…

His sister Camilla is also growing up in tennis… and she remembered Smrikve the same way Mattia remembered it… although she was only five years old the last time she was here…

Mattia was in Smrikve with five other players… her sister Camilla... and his Tennis Club friends Sara, Alessandro and Francesco... he brought also their parents and friends thus there were over 30 people in Smrikve garden that cheered the game :)...

On the picture below you can see all the players that played single matches… and funny doubles… from Mattia’s side I already wrote the names of the players and from Smrikve side we had Silvia, Ari, Max, Leon and Karlo playing…

It was another nice tennis afternoon… :)

17/08/11

JOKA left Smrikve today after her tennis lesson :)... and another last year Smrikva Bowl player, Nico Hornitschek, visited us today with his family and tennis friends from Germany...

Jovana Vukovic – JOKA, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 finalist and 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, departured from Smrikve this morning but before leaving Smrikve she made a tennis lesson to a very young child that just started to learn tennis… I hope it was an inspiring lesson to the young girl…

and I did not ask Joka but maybe this was her first tennis lesson in her life :)...

As I wrote in the title… another Smrikva Bowl players visited Smrikve with his family and friends…

He played, like Joka, last year Smrikva Bowl and is living in Germany… Nico came to Smrikve with several tennis friends… and it was a pleasure to see him several centimetres taller than last year…

There were also two girls with him… Francisca and Kim... and they played doubles with Max and Leon... and also some mixed doubles for points and fun :)...

17/08/11

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, lost in the third round of Cincinnati 2011 (USD 2.050.000 worth tournament) against Vera Zvonareva

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, is the best ranked former Smrikva Bowl player on WTA – #72 on WTA list… and just a week ago she passed the qualifications of the Rogers Cup 2011 in Toronto – Canada and reached the second round of the Main Draw.

This week she passed the qualification in Cincinnati 2011 as follows:

1st round: Petra Martic – Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) 6:2, 6:1
2nd round: Petra Martic – Maria Martinez Sanchez (Esp) 6:4, 6:3

and in the Main Draw she reached the third round as follows:

1st round: Petra Martic – Elena Vesnina (Rus) 3:6, 7:6, 6:0
2nd round: Petra Martic – Bojana Jovanovski (Srb) 6:3, 6:4
3rd round: Petra Martic – Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 2:6, 2:6

The ranking of the players that Petra played is the following:

Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) – #81 on WTA list
Marta Martinez Sanchez (Esp) – #35 on WTA list
Elena Vesnina (Rus) – #43 on WTA list
Bojana Jovanovski (Srb) – #55 on WTA list
Vera Zvonareva (Rus) – #2 on WTA list

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

15/08/11

Jovana Vukovic - JOKA, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 finalist and 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, is visiting Smrikve for few days with her family... this time enjoying more the sea than tennis :)...

Yesterday night JOKA and her family arrived to Smrikve to enjoy a bit of Pula’s sea and relax before continuing their trip towards northern Italy… for me it is always a big pleasure to see her and learn her news…

JOKA’s last time in Smrikve was the end of the May of this year, when also Anastasia Mikheeva was in Smrikve, and she grew up in this few months that appeared to me like I did not see her for a year… also Ari noted how she has grown since she did not see her :)...

12/08/11

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update August 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 #295 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 #588 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 #1421 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #479 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #86 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 #671 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 #230 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1034 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #464 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #162 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 #1445 on ATP ranking list. Junior ROLAND GARROS 2011 finalist.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #1867 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 #1222 on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #519 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #162 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #102 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 #803 on ITF ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #53 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1234 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #886 on WTA ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #274 on ITF ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #159 on ITF ranking list.
Anna MAMALAT, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #539 on ITF 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 #152 on ITF ranking list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #148 on ITF ranking list.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #55 on ITF ranking list.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #24 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #886 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #887 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #144 on ITF ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #705 on WTA list*and is ranked #*26 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 #55 on ITF ranking list.
Filip Kraljevic, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #877 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #118 on ITF ranking list and #823 on WTA ranking list.

Christina MAKAROVA, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #43 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 #52 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #86 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*.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #18 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #4 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #6 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #122 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 #402 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea Turcu, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #421 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked *#208 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #636 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked *#45 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 #43 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Viktoria KUZMOVA, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is ranked #21 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 #198 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
William BLUMBERG, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#356 in the USA in under 12 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

“Little Mo” TEAM
Noah SCHACHTER, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #5 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alex Gee, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #38 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Michaela GORDON, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #7 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Ashley LAHEY, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#58 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

“Little Mo” TEAM
Max Motlagh, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #270 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 *#118 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

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 :)

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 :)