News

01/09/09

Good news from Kristina Miletic, Charlie Broom and Mattia Bedolo

In the last few days I received few nice news from the parents of Kristina, Charlie and Mattia. Let me start in order with each one…

Kristina Miletic is a player from Serbia that played Smrikva Bowl this year and I was very pleased to read in her father’s e-mail that after the Smrikva Bowl experience she got inspired and was able to play four finals in under 12 age group in Serbia obtaining three victories.

I am also glad that some advises my father gave to Kristina’s family in order to improve her court covering is giving results.

At the end of the year Kristina might reach top 5 in the country in under 12 age group that as her father said in his e-mail was not even in their dreams at the beginning of the year :). Great job Kristina! Congratulations.

Charlie Broom is from England and Charlie played Smrikva Bowl last year reaching the quarterfinals.

Unfortunatelly Charlie had a bad injury last year and was for 6 months off the courts and I am pleased to read that he had a full summer of playing and to use his mother’s words: “The main thing is he’s fit, enjoying it fully and training well and touch wood is fully recovered from his injury.” Welcome back Charlie!

Mattia Bedolo is from Italy and he played Smrikva Bowl for the last time last year. Today his father Umberto informed me that Mattia reached the semifinals of the Italian under 11 Championship that allows him to participate in the prestigous Lambertenghi Trophy. Well done Mattia!

Congratulations to all of you!

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.

27/08/09

Petra Martic - 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner - passed all three rounds of qualifications for the US Open Main Draw and the first round of the Main Draw

Petra Martic won the 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 and currently is the best ranked former Smrikva Bowl player on WTA list. Petra is for the moment one of the most promissing Croatian players. She’s current ranking is #137 on WTA list.

US OPEN QUALIFICATIONS:

Petra played qualifications at the US Open and she successfully passed all three rounds by defeating Ksenia Palkina from Kyrgyzstan, Ahn Kristie from the USA and Ksenia Lykina from Russia with the following result:

1st round: Petra Martic – Ksenia Palkina (Kgz) – 6:0, 6:2
2nd round: Petra Martic – Ahn Kristie (USA) – 6:1, 6:2
3rd round: Petra Martic – Ksenia Lykina (Rus) – 6:0, 2:6, 6:1

The ranking of the players:

Ksenia Palkina (Kgz) – #172 WTA list
Ahn Kristie (USA) – #320 WTA list
Ksenia Lykina (Rus) – #211 WTA list

For those who do not know Petra yet please enjoy the video registered in Portoroz at Slovenia Open last year.

US OPEN MAIN DRAW:

In the first round of the US Open Main Draw Petra Martic defeated Severine Bremond Beltrame from France. Severine Bremond Beltrame is currently ranked #97 on WTA list.

In the second round Petra Martic was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, six month older player, currently ranked #8 on WTA list.

1st round: P. Martic – Severine Bremond Beltrame (Fra) 6:4, 6:2
2nd round: Petra Martic – Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 1:6, 0:6

Great experience Petra! Congratulations!

25/08/09

Dylan Bednarczyk from Canada - 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 quarterfinalist - won U12 Canadian Nationals

I am very pleased to share with the Smrikva Bowl comunity the news just received from Dylan’s father Marian about Dylan’s last success in his home country where he has been crowned the Under 12 National Champion.

Dylan Bednarczyk is a very talented left hand Canadian player that played Smrikva Bowl in 2007 when he was 9 years old. He reached the quarterfinals which is an outstanding result for a one year younger player and his victory of the Canadian National Championship confirms his talent.

On www.tenniscanada.ca was reported about Dylan’s victory the following:

Bednarczyk and Gareau Claim U12 Rogers Junior National Titles

August 7, 2009

“Dylan Bednarczyk of London, Ontario and Marianne Gareau of Mount-Royal, Quebec claimed the boys and girls U12 Rogers Junior National titles respectively last week in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

10 year old Bednarczyk captured the first National title of his young career overcoming top seeded Charles Cyrenne, of Rosemere, QC 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Second seeded Bednarczyk defeated Harrison Scott of Calgary 6-1, 6-2 in the quarter finals and Justin Denis-Hill of Dollard-des-Ormeaux 6-3, 6-0 in the semi finals. “It means a lot to win my first National title. I worked really hard, and so I am very proud of myself” said Dylan after the win.

Top seeded Gareau has confirmed her dominance in the U12 division now capturing both the indoor and outdoor titles. She swept the girls side in Mont-Tremblant with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Bianca Parsons of Toronto in the final. She also posted easy wins over Patricia Muamba of Gatineau, QC 6-4, 6-0 and Nikki Carnovale 6-2, 6-2 of Woodbridge, ON. “I am very happy to win the Nationals. I really wanted to win this tournament, it was very important to me. I did my best and I am really happy with the result” Said Gareau.

Both Bednarczyk and Gareau are competing again this week in the U14 Rogers Junior Nationals in Mont-Tremblant.”

Once again congratulations to Dylan for his important victory!

19/08/09

Smrikva Bowl "Link to us" section has been created

The Smrikva Bowl Link to us section was created yesterday.

I am pleased to share the idea of “Link to us” section with the Smrikva Bowl readers.

Today the majority of us use internet services to get information on various issues. In the internet world the website’s Page Rank algorithm is becoming relevant to increase the visibility of a particular website.

The creation of quality network improves the Page Rank and allow to reach with less difficulty people that are interested in a particular subject.

What smrikve.com contain today?

Sport: Smrikva Bowl, children, tennis… but it contains also the information about culture: the Istrian milleniums old cultural heritage is presented in the E-book “Istria from Smrikve”... this are only few connection elements that I can think off on which the Smrikve network could be expanded.

If you place the Smrikva Bowl link on your website such as: personal pages, blog, facebook, your tennis club, or your community… you will contribute to expand the Smrikve network and its visibility.

Thank you for your support of junior tennis whether you are parent, coach, tournament organizer or simply a person who loves tennis game.

16/08/09

Tereza Mrdeza, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, reached another USD 25000 semifinals she played in Moscow in two weeks

Tereza Mrdeza obtained another important result on USD 25000 played in Moscow in only two weeks time. She reached again the semifinals in Russia that has a lot of talented players.

Tereza is from Porec and she won the 5th Smrikva Bowl in year 2000 – nine years ago.

Last week Tereza Mrdeza made quite a huge jump on WTA list and currently is ranked #376 in the World. This week semifinals could ad additional points and she may progress further on tomorrow’s ranking list.

Tereza’s road towards the semifinals was the following:

1st round: Tereza Mrdeza – Ekaterina Pushkareva (Rus) 6:3, 6:1
2nd round: Tereza Mrdeza – Varvara Galanina (Rus) 6:4, 6:3
Quarterfinals: T. Mrdeza – Valeria Savinykh (Rus) 6:4, 4:6, 6:2
Semifinals: Tereza Mrdeza – Ksenia Pervak (Rus) 2:6, 1:6

Current ranking of the players that played with Tereza in Moscow last week are the following:

Ekaterina Pushkareva (Rus) – not ranked WTA
Varvara Galanina (Rus) – # 294 WTA list
Valeria Savinykh (Rus) – # 362 WTA list
Ksenia Pervak (Rus) – # 142 WTA list

Few years ago Tereza had an injury that forced her to stay away from the courts for some time and today she is again doing great – step by step.

Congratulations Tereza!

15/08/09

A nice article about Samuele Ramazzotti - 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up

Just few days ago one of our Smrikve Club member was telling me the that few days ago he saw on tv the interview on a satelite channel made with Samuele Ramazzotti – 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up.

Samuele Ramazzotti is from Marche region in Italy and yesterday a nice article was published on www.ilmascalzone.it and www.anconainforma.it that I am pleased to share with the Smrikve community who understands Italian.

It is an article about Samuele’s performance on the Smrikva Bowl and in the tv show several specialists expressed nice words for Samuele’s current game.

I had the possibility to saw Samuele playing during the Smrikva Bowl and his nick name is not for joke Djokovic :)... few nice strokes can be spot in the following Smrikva Bowl video where part of the finals were recorded, and for those who understand Italian I am pleased to post after the video the article published on the above mentioned websites.

Tennis : Ramazzotti dello Sporting club Moie è secondo in Croazia

Ha 10 anni la promessa del tennis marchigiano Moie…

Palcoscenico Internazionale per Samuele Ramazzotti, il giovanissimo tennista moiarolo che già da alcuni anni si sta mettendo in luce in Italia e non solo.

Classe 1999, atleta del Moie Sporting Club, Samuele si è aggiudicato il secondo posto allo Smrikva Bowl di Pola in Croazia, uno dei più noti e ambiti tornei giovanili in Europa. C’erano 55 giovani tennisti da tutta Europa (selezionati dalle rispettive Federazioni nazionali), ma anche con rappresentanti di Brasile, Australia, Turchia, Giappone e Isole Mauritius.

Quello di Pola, in Istria, è uno dei più importanti banchi di prova per i migliori tennisti Under 10 in Europa, anche perché i Campionati Europei e Mondiali giovanili iniziano soltanto dai 14 anni di età in poi. Dopo un percorso perentorio Ramazzotti (accompagnato dal suo allenatore Luca Latini) ha battuto ai quarti Kecmanovic (numero 1 di categoria in Serbia) ed in semifinale il forte Davidoch: spagnolo di origini russe numero due del team spagnolo. Ma si è dovuto arrendere in finale al numero uno della squadra iberica Pedro Alvaro Regalado, in una gara caratterizzata dal grande pubblico e da una grande attenzione dei media croati al torneo.

Interessante e avvincente l’ultima giornata della manifestazione con le gare tra i vincitori (maschili e femminili) dello Smrikva Bowl ed i pari età giunti in rappresentanza degli Stati Uniti d’America.

Una netta vittoria dell’Europa sugli USA per 7 match a 1, con Ramazzotti vincitore sia di entrambe le gare disputate in singolo contro Alex Lee e Noah Schachter (rispettivamente numero tre e numero uno del team a stelle e strisce), sia del doppio giocato insieme a Regalado sempre contro Lee e Schachter.

14/08/09

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update August 2009)

IN 1996 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM ISTRIA AND KVARNER

1996 – 1st Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Vilim Visak, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #1065 on ATP list. Vilim’s best ranking was #612 in March 2006. Vilim Visak is currently ranked #530 on ATP Doubles Ranking. His best double ranking was #370 in February 2009.

GIRLS
Natali Zuliani, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

IN 1997 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM CROATIA

1997 – 2nd Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Zeljko Peric, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.
Filip Kricka, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 runner up, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

GIRLS
Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #217 on WTA list. Ivana’s best ranking was #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

IN 1998 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

1998 – 3rd Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Filip Kovacic, 3rd Smrikva Bowl 1998 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

GIRLS
Mateja Horvat, 3rd Smrikva Bowl 1998 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player. Her best ranking was around #800 on WTA list.

1999 – 4th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Borko Mudronja, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.
Deni Zmak, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #1158 on ATP list.

GIRLS
Astrid Besser, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Italy, is ranked #462 on WTA list.

2000 – 5th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Adelchi Virgili, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Italy is not ranked.

GIRLS
Tereza MRDEZA, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Croatia, is currently ranked #330 on WTA list.

2001 – 6th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Marin Draganja, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #1829 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #1652 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #135 on WTA list.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #717 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 #664 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1710 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #906 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #522 on WTA list.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #783 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 #472 on ITF ranking list.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #305 on ITF ranking list.
Ciprian Porumb, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, is ranked #462 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Jennifer Ren, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Great Britain, was ranked #978 on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #852 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #522 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #328 on ITF ranking list.
Robert Stineman, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #93 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.

Karen Forman, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #90 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.
Katie Klyczek, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #262 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Ivan Levar, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #171 in under 16 cathegory.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #647 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #562 on ITF ranking list.
Ecaterina Opriou, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Romenia, is ranked #104 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel Polnet, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1724 on ITF ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#618 on ITF ranking list*.
Anna MAMALAT, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1261 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 #11 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gyore Laszlo, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #25 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #14 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #562 on ITF ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #*202 on ITF ranking list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Jeffrey Schorsch, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #286 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Jose Gracia, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #106 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Yale GOLDBERG, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #33 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

Dorothy Tang, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #59 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Gianluigi QUINZI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Italy, is ranked #14 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Filip Kraljevic, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #526 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #20 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Dina PAOCIC, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #140 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Daniel Maese, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1019 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Aries Wong, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #161 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

Christina MAKAROVA, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #22 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.
Gabriella Umoquit, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #452 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Sacha Merzetti, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #286 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Gonzalo Morell, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Sergiu Bucur, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Virginia PENA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Spain, is ranked #500 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #190 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #406 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Katie Dayson, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from UK, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #29 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #2 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #11 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #56 in the USA in under 12 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 too young for under 14 european ranking.
Mihnea Turcu, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Grega Kokalj, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Katarina Jokic, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Maia Lumsden, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Scotland, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Viktoria Kuzmova, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Estela Perez Somarriba, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Justin LEE, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #90 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
William Blumberg, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #220 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

Ingrid NEEL, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #43 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Paulina Ferrari, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #324 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

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, 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 #62 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Alex Gee, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked in under 12 cathegory.

Michaela GORDON, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #255 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.
Ashley LAHEY, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#178 in the USA in under 12 cathegory*.

11/08/09

Press Release on 3rd "Little Mo" International Open 2009

As many Smrikva Bowl players do know in 2002, the Smrikve Tennis Club joined forces with the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation and created the first-ever international competition between the United States and Europe for boys and girls under 10 and named it the “Little Mo”/ Smrikva Bowl. The “Little Mo”/ Smrikva Bowl has become a unique and already traditional meeting of the youngest and most talented players in the World.

Few years ago MCB Tennis Foundation created the Little Mo International Open that is a global tournament open to the players in age groups under 8 – 11 and I am pleased to share with the Smrikva Bowl community the information I received from the Executive Vice President of the MCB Tennis Foundation – Mrs Carol Weyman.

For more details pleased visit their website and below you can find the latest Press Release:

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Club Med
Kate Moeller
[email protected]
twitter.com/clubmedcuisine

Justine Navaja
[email protected]

“Little Mo” International Open
Carol Weyman
(214) 352-7978
[email protected]
www.mcbtennis.org

Club Med Sandpiper to Host Little Mo International 2009 International Tennis Players Ages 8-11 set to Compete in December

(Miami, FL – July 27, 2009) Club Med announced today that it will host The Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation’s annual “Little Mo” International Open at Club Med Sandpiper, in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The tournament runs Tuesday, December 15 through Saturday, December 19, 2009.

Club Med Sandpiper is situated on the Saint Lucie River between Miami and Orlando and features a variety of land and water activities including sailing, volleyball, fitness classes, rollerblading, archery, soccer and flying trapeze. The resort’s children’s clubs engage young travelers from ages four months to 17-years. The property also features tennis and golf academies for amateurs and more experienced players. Club Med Sandpiper features 17 hard tennis courts (eight of which are lit in the evening), four mini courts that cater to younger players, top-of-the-range equipment and both individual and group lessons for adults. For the youngest set, the resort offers Petit Tennis, a unique curriculum for players as young as three and a half years old. Club Med offers 80 resorts worldwide and only one, Club Med Sandpiper, in the United States.

Xavier Mufraggi, CEO Club Med North America comments, “Club Med Sandpiper has a legacy of encouraging our youngest guests to strive for excellence in tennis. As a result it is natural for us to host the Little Mo International, a competition that also encourages youngsters’ interest in the game.”

The inaugural “Little Mo” International Open was first held in 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the “Little Mo”. The tournament is open to any player worldwide, 8 to 11 years of age and represents the premier challenge for youngsters wishing to compete against international players in their age group.

The “Little Mo” tournament is a Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation program that furthers tennis development for youngsters ages 8-11. The “Little Mo” tournament began in Texas thirty years ago. It expanded to a national level in 1998, with the formation of the “Road to the ‘Little Mo’ Nationals” – a nationwide, year-long circuit of fun, competitive tournaments culminating in a United States national champion being crowned in each age division. Over 1,500 players participate in the “Road to the ‘Little Mo’ Nationals”.

The “Little Mo” International Open allows players to develop new international friendships, partake in outstanding competition, learn good sportsmanship and most of all, have fun. No ranking points are given, to avoid putting pressure on such junior players. The winner of each age division will be crowned an International “Little Mo” Champion.

Carol Weyman, Executive Vice-President of the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation said, “we are thrilled the “Little Mo” Internationals will be held at Club Med Sandpiper and we know it will be the ideal setting for international players and parents. Youngsters will have a chance to meet players from other countries, gauge their skills against players their same age, learn good sportsmanship and enjoy the game without the pressure of rankings. We also want to introduce the name Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly and her accomplishments to youngsters worldwide. We hope you will join us in Florida at Club Med for all of the festivities.”

About “Little Mo”

Many champions, including well known player Andy Roddick, have come through the “Little Mo” program in its thirty year history. Roddick won the “Little Mo” event in 1992 at 10 years of age. At that time, he lived in Austin, Texas and the event was for Texas players only. Roddick said, “The ‘Little Mo’ was my first big win!” He continues to be very supportive of the “Little Mo”.

In 1953, a young girl named Maureen Connolly won the Grand Slam of tennis. She was the first woman to ever capture this elusive crown by winning the U.S. Championships, Wimbledon, the Australian Championships and the French Championships. She was only eighteen years old when she accomplished this magnificent feat. From that time on, Maureen was known as the incomparable “Little Mo”.

In July 1954, “Little Mo” injured her leg in a horseback riding accident, which ended her tennis career. She continued to be a major influence in the world of tennis. She married Norman Brinker and they made their home in Dallas.

As one of Dallas’ new residents, “Little Mo” was anxious to promote her beloved game of tennis and in 1968, joined her dear friend, Mrs. Frank (Nancy) Jeffett, to co-found the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation to further junior tennis development. Unfortunately, her tragic death from cancer occurred six months later on the eve of Wimbledon.

Today, the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation continues to benefit countless numbers of boys and girls throughout the country and the world. Mrs. Jeffett has led the foundation for forty years and continues to serve as chairman emeritus together with Cindy Brinker Simmons, president, Brenda Brinker Bottum, vice-president, Elizabeth Jeffett, vice-president, Carol Weyman, executive vice-president, and a capable advisory board.

“Little Mo” was the top ranked woman’s player in the world in the early 1950s, winning Wimbledon in 1952, 1953 and 1954. In 1953, she became the first woman (at age 18) to win the Grand Slam. She remains the youngest player and the only American woman to ever win the Grand Slam. Only five players in the history of tennis have achieved this significant tennis milestone. She won nine successive majors from 1951-1954. “Little Mo” died of cancer in 1969 at the age of 34 in Dallas.

About Club Med

For more information or to make a reservation, call 1-800-ClubMed, visit www.clubmed.us or contact a travel professional. For an insider look at Club Med’s offerings, visit Club Med’s newly launched social media site at ClubMedInsider.com

09/08/09

Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner and former #95 ranked player on WTA list - won USD 25000 Tournament in Monteroni while Tereza Mrdeza, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, reached the semifinals of USD 25000 played in Moscow

Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner and former #95 ranked player on WTA list – won USD 25000 Tournament in Italy in Monteroni. Ivana Lisjak is currently ranked #259 on WTA list.

Ivana’s road towards the victory was the following:
1st round: Ivana Lisjak – Evelyn Mayr (Ita) 6:4, 7:5
2nd round: Ivana Lisjak – Marta Marrero (Esp) 0:6, 6:3, 6:3
Quarterfinals: Ivana Lisjak – Patricia Mayr (Aut) 6:2, 6:1
Semifinals: Ivana Lisjak – Kinnie Laisne (Fra) 7:5, 6:1
Finals: Ivana Lisjak – Claudia Giovine (Ita) 6:4, 6:2

Current ranking of the players defeated by Ivana Lisjak in Italyare the following:

Evelyn Mayr (Ita) – #337 WTA list
Marta Marrero (Esp) – #477 WTA list
Patricia Mayr (Aut) – #80 WTA list
Kinnie Laisne (Fra) – #331 WTA list
Claudia Giovine (Ita) – #511 WTA list

Another Smrikva Bowl winner from Porec (Croatia), Tereza Mrdeza, obtained an important result on USD 25000 played in Moscow.

Tereza Mrdeza, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, reached the semifinals of the tournament played in Russia and from this week she is for the first time ranked top 400 in the World, in particular is #376 on WTA list.

Tereza’s road towards the semifinals was the following:

1st round: Tereza Mrdeza – Varvara Galanina (Rus) 6:0, 6:2
2nd round: Tereza Mrdeza – Anna Arina Marenko (Rus) 7:5, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Tereza Mrdeza – Natalia Orlova (Rus) 7:5, 6:2
Semifinals: Tereza Mrdeza – Ekaterina Ivanova (Rus) 3:6, 1:6

Current ranking of the players that played with Tereza in Moscow are the following:

Varvara Galanina (Rus) – # 287 WTA list
Anna Arina Marenko (Rus) – not ranked WTA
Natalia Orlova (Rus) – # 240 WTA list
Ekaterina Ivanova (Rus) – # 149 WTA list

Congratulations to both Ivana and Tereza for the great week!

07/08/09

14 years of the Smrikva Bowl story through the story of some of its players

Few years ago I wrote a long article about 12 years Smrikva Bowl history. There are two editions more that we played and I thought that would be nice to recall and update the old article.

It is a story about Smrikva Bowl and some of its players that made important results during their editions.

There are many players that impressed me during their partecipation on the Smrikva Bowl. Approximately there are over 1000 players that in 14 years history played Smrikva Bowl. If we count the families, coaches, brother and sister we are probably close to 5000 people spread all around the World. Few years ago I thought that would be nice to put few notes about some of them that I still remember well after many years.

Smrikva Bowl story development…

Until 2001 Smrikva Bowl was limited to Croatia and some nearby countries. From 2002 Smrikva Bowl started to gather top players from Europe and also the organization of “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl started. In the recent years Smrikva Bowl gathered players from all over the World and every year I can see how similar are the kids from all over the World. Today Smrikva Bowl players are spread in 40 countries and 6 continents.

I will start from the very first tournaments. Although I lived in Italy, Spain and the US when I started to organize Smrikva Bowl I tried to come home everytime for the tournament. The only Smrikva Bowl I missed was in 1998 when I was in New York. That year I bought on the US Open the big Willson yellow ball that from 1999 every Smrikva Bowl winner have signed.

Let’s start the story…

1996

1st Smrikva Bowl – the year of ISTRIA and KVARNER

It was 1996 when the Smrikva Bowl story started. That first year we had top players from Istria and Kvarner that partcipated in the tournament that at the time was named Smrikva Cup.

We were lucky to have as the winner Vilim Visak from Mali Losinj. Vilim was a very good junior player and he arrived in March 2006 to #612 ranking on ATP list. He is still in tennis. I remember him as a funny kid. We were joking about something and he told me that he speaks Spanish than I started to speak Spanish and he started to smile. It was a funny situation because he did not expected me to talk to him in Spanish.

Since the first year tha prize for the winners were the mountain bikes and it was interesting to see how the kids ride the bike on the court.

Another specialty that first year was ice-cream. I remember that we bought some very good ice-cream in Milan and put a lot of ice around it to bring it to Pula and to allow kids to taste it. This was the way how Smrikva Bowl story started.

How Smrikva Bowl idea was born?...

Many people ask me how this torunament was born and I have to say that traditionally we had a lot of good very young kids playing on our courts and one of our coaches that enjoyed training kids proposed to me to organize a tournament for kids and I agreed with the idea and joking I told to our coach that we will create the most beautiful event for kids in Europe. It was a joke but year after year started to become reality…

1997

2nd Smrikva Bowl – Smrikva Bowl gathered TOP CROATIAN PLAYERS

The second year in 1997 we had the whole Croatia participating to the Smrikva Bowl. It was a very successfull tournament. We had top players from Croatia and again we were lucky to have that year Ivan Lisjak on the tournament.

Ivana came with her mother from Cakovec and they slept in our apartment, actually in the living room. I still remember that she was playing with the t-shirt Ronzio Oleodinamica and I was very happy for that. Ivana was much above the average level of the other kids. She was really strong.

At the beginning great talents were above the average…

During the first Smrikva Bowls when we gathered only few countries we experienced having players much above the average. Later on when top players from all around the World started to gather started to be almost impossibile to guess the winner of the tournament.

The statistics for the very young players are very poor…

My friend, Luca Appino, that was Marketing Director for many years for Babolat made some statistics for the last decades and according to this statistics only 6% of top juniors that are already 14 to 16 years old get among Top 100 on the professional ATP and WTA lists. This means that the probability that a 10 year old kid get among Top 100 is close to 0%. We were very lucky with Ivana and for a short period of time she was ranked #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

I remember that year that the boys final was beautiful. We had Zeljko Peric from Split and Filip Kricka from Zadar. Two players from Dalmatia. They were both very similar to Goran Ivanisevic. They grew up with Goran as their hero and their game and reactions were like Goran’s one. It was a beatufiull match. They very good as juniors and Filip still play tennis in the United States.

1998

3rd Smrikva Bowl – the only Smrikva Bowl I missed, but I read with pleasure Glas Istre on line version when the article about Smrikva Bowl was posted

In 1998 I was in New York thus I did not have the opportunity to meet the winners of that edition. I know that the winners were Filip Kovacic from Opatija and Mateja Horvat from Cakovec. They were both very good juniors. Mateja was also ranked #800 on WTA list but they are not in tennis any more.

In New York that year I went to the US Open and I bouhgt a big Wilson ball.

Since 1999 every Smrikva Bowl winner has signed that Wilson ball with our wish to the players that one day they might play at the US Open. Hopefully several players that signed the ball will experience that opportunity one day. Ivana Lisjak lived that experience it but she did not signed the ball.

1999

4th Smrikva Bowl – INTERNATIONALIZATION PATH of the
Smrikva Bowl STARTED

In 1999 we started to gather first players from abroad. Smrikva Bowl started to grow internationally. Astrid Besser from Italy was the winner of that edition.

Astrid was already a baby tennis star at the time. She was tall and she was working very hard. I remember that her father was from Germany and the mother from Argentina but they lived in Pistoia in Tuscany.

When Astrid played she already had a sponsor, the clothing group Sasch. Sasch was a new company and I remember when her father told me that they are both young and hopefully will grow together.

Astrid was always smiling and she just came on the Smrikva Bowl after the victory of a tournament she played in Monte Carlo. I saw the pictures from that tournament she played at Monte Carlo Country Club. I also saw the pictures when she was receiving the trophy from a member of Ranieri family.

I was very pleased when Astrid said after the tournament that Smrikva Bowl was the tournament she enjoyed mostly.

Astrid’s best ranking was #356 on WTA in March 2009. Astrid was supposed to come for a week training at the Smrikve Tennis Club few years ago for the preparations for the Internazionali di Roma tournament.

Few times speaking with her father he told me that Astrid would be very pleased to come back one day in Smrikve. One day we might organize a meeting of all former Smrikva Bowl Champions. This was Astrid’s father idea.

Mudronja could be translated into English as wise…

The winner of the boys tournament was Mudronja Borko from Sibenik. He won in the finals against Deni Zmak. They were both good juniors and Deni was ranked #1 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and today he is working to become a professional tennis player. Deni is ranked #1177 on ATP ranking list.

What impressed me most that year was the message that Borko left in our guest book. He wrote like a president of a country would write :). I would like to share with you what he wrote. The words in Croatian are as follows:

“I ja, Borko Mudronja zahvaljujem svima koji su mi omogucili da odigram ovaj turnir. Moja pobjeda na turniru, pehar i bicikla ce ostati zauvijek u mom sjecanju kao najljepsa uspomena. Svim mojim prijateljima koji dolaze poslije mene zelim da odigraju ovaj turnir, da ga osvoje i da dozive ovaj osjecaj kao ja. Puno pozdrava. Pobjednik turnira.”

I would try to translate it but it would not be perfect as the way he wrote it in Croatian:

“Even me, Borko Mudronja, would like to thank all the people that allowed me to play this tournament. My victory, the trophy and the bicycle will forever remain in my memory as the most beautifull one. To all my friends that will come after me I wish them to play this tournament, to win it and to live the same feeling that I feel today. Best wishes. The winner of the tournament”.

I was really impressed how deep can be the thoughts of a 10 year old boy :).

2000

5th Smrikva Bowl – INTERNATIONALIZATION of the SMRIKVA BOWL CONTINUED

In year 2000 we had again another increadible talent from Florence (Italy), Adelchi Virgili, named Bobo. Adelchi was one of the best players we had in the first five years.

The same as Astrid, Adelchi won the tournament in Monte Carlo before I invited him to play Smrikva Bowl. Adelchi’s gradfather was a professional football player that played for Fiorentina that won the Italian Championship in 1955 and 1956.

I remember Adelchi played very well the tournament and his father Alessandro coached him at the time but I remember that he was far away from the court during Adelchi’s game. His brother Augusto and sister Alexia both play tennis.

In few days meeting with the family I captured that the way his father Alessandro was educating them was a nice way. It was an education based on will and hard work. You can be successfull if you work hard. I still remember the nice walk we did on Turulu hill and pizza we had at Pelini restaurant.

Unfortunatelly both Alessandro and Adelchi had some health problems but the will is always strong. I remember that I was reading when he was 11 years old that he defeated various players 15-20 years olders.

Later on he was going very well but since 2004 he started to have phisical problems. After first problems he was forced not to train for 5 months. The back pain problems were mainly due to an error in heavy weights trainings.

The last public news about Bobo dates back in April 2007 when he trained with Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo and about 50 spectators enjoyed that training. Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle, once said for Adelchi:” I consider him a phenomenon since he was 14 years old… unfortunately Bobo has this pain in his back that has blocked his progress… he lost at least two years… now he is 17 years old and there are other good players but Bobo has a strong will… the problems is only to see if he will be able to solve his back pain problems.”

For those who understand Italian I would like to post the message Adelchi’s father left in our guest book that is really nice and I like it every time I read it:

“Mio-caro-GRAD E’ stato un lampo questo torneo che ha illuminato il buio dove spesso brancoliamo noi guide di giovani apprendisti tennisti. L’ospitalita’ della buona gente istriana, il cibo squisito di Maria, l’irruente gentilezza di Dana che ci ha fatto sentire come da sempre a casa nostra, nel cuore un angolo rimarra’ a conservare questo ricordo. E Bobo che alza la Coppa come a “Wimbledon” (ha 5 o 6 anni come hai detto tu!!!), per lui un bel sogno vissuto qui in miniatura. E poi c’e’ Augusto e il sogno continuera’ speriamo anche attraverso questo luogo.
Grazie Mio-caro-grad!”

Few years ago when I was in Florence a gave them a call and Alessandro and Bobo were in Monte Carlo but I met Adelchi’s mother and sister Alexia and it was a very nice afternoon in Tuscany I spent with part of Virgili family.

In year 2000, in girls finals, Tereza Mrdeza from Porec, Croatia, won the 5th Smrikva Bowl. I remember that she played more times Smrikva Bowl and in end she was able to win it.

Tereza is still in tennis and is currently ranked #376 on WTA list. Few years ago during Avenire tournament in Milan Tereza broke her hand and it took her many months to recover from that injury and hopefully her progress in professional tennis will continue.

Tereza’s father is a very big person but when Tereza won the Smrikva Bowl she was not very tall. She was a brilliant junior player and recently she started to approach the professional tennis. Tereza came to visit Smrikve several years ago and we have a tennis room with the photos of the winners and my cousin told me that Tereze looked with a lot of interest the pictures where she was on.

Few years ago I had the opportunity to meet her with her father during the ATP tournament in Umag and now she is already a woman and I still had her in my memory as a child.

2001

6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 the year of PETRA MARTIC

In 2001 we had some very talented finalists and winners. Both winners were from the Goran Ivanisevic’s home town Split. Actually Petra Martic is from Duc near Split and Marin Draganja is from Split. Petra like to specify that she is from Duc and not from Split :).

Marin Draganja is currently ranked #1854 on ATP ranking list but few year he played the finals of Avenire in Milan that is one of the most important under 16 tennis tournaments in the World.

In the Smrikva Bowls finals he defeated Marcan Dino from Rijeka that is also a very good junior player and is currently ranked #1707 on ATP ranking list. This year Marcan Dino played also the quarterfinals at the Junior Wimbledon.

I was very pleased to read few months ago that they won doubles at the Junior Roland Garros in Paris this year. For the moment I would say that this is their best result but in few years time hopefully there will be other nice results to share with the Smrikva Bowl comunity.

Petra Martic is currently ranked #151 on WTA list. I remeber her game was easy and clean. Every movement was so natural without efforts. It is the way Federer and Sampras play tennis. When you look them it seems that everything is so easy. This was the way Petra played when she played Smrikva Bowl. She won in the finals against Indire Akiki. Indire is ranked # 730 on WTA list and she is also doing very well. I remeber that the court for the finals was really beautiful that year with many Pepsi banners.

Few weeks ago I was in Portoroz to meet Luca Appino and Kaia Kanepi. They came to Portoroz for Slovenia Open and also Petra Martic was playing that tournament.

On Sunday, during the launch time, Petra was at the same restaurnat we were thus I had the opportunity to say hello to her. She has a very nice smile. I really hope she will reach soon top 100 and beat the 0% statistics of top under 10 players entering the top 100 in the professional tennis :).

2002

7th Smrikva Bowl – EUROPE started to gather on Smrikva Bowl... and „*Little Mo*“*/SMRIKVA BOWL was CREATED*...

In 2002 we started to have players from many european countries and that year also the 1st”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl* was played in October in Austin (Texas).

Javier Marti from Spain won the boys finals and currently he is ranked #710 on ATP list. He was for several years among the best players in Europe in his age group, second only to Carlos Boluda.

I remember Javier Marti and Ana Alfayate were the first player I had from Spain. A friend of mine promissed me that he will bring me that year top players from Spain and this actually happened.

Javier was increadibly good player. He was very small but with perfect technique and no errors in the game. Similar to Eduardo Nava’s game that played few years ago for the US team the 6th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl.

Javier wonted his bike as trophy in Madrid…

I remember that Javier won that year the bike but he arrived with a plane to Venice and rent a car to come to Pula thus his father had a problem how to take the bike home. At that time Javier’s father that is also named Javier told him if he want to leave or give the bike to someone here in Pula because the shifting of the bike to Madrid will cost more than the value of the bike.

I remeber the face of Javier… he was looking at the bike and he said… but father I won this bike I wont to take it home. In end we put it on the plane and sent it to Madrid. Since that year Javier helped to spread the word and year after year we continue to have top players from Spain.

Jofre Porta, the trainer of Carlos Moya and Nadal, brought few top players to the Smrikva Bowl, trainer of Carlos Boluda, Mariano, also brought few top players and two other Spanish players won Smrikva Bowl in the last few years: Virginia Pena in 2007 and Alvaro Regalado in 2009.

The other finalist of the Smrikva Bowl that year that continues to be good in tennis today is Giaccomo Miccini. Giacomo is from Italy and few years ago he got to do a surgery thus his ranking currently do not reflct his potentional and hopefully we will hear more about him soon. Since he was 11 years old he moved to Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

I remeber when he played the finals that he was acting like Goran Ivanisevic. Ivanisevic is the player that Giacomo prefer. Today Giacomo is over 1.8 meters tall and his serves goes over 200 km/h.

Martina Caregaro won the 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002. She is from Italy and is ranked #802 on WTA list.

Martina was taller compared to the other players. I saw her last time when she was 11 years old when I was invited to see her during the finals of an important tournament in Milan. She was very good player and had a very good and professional coach, Marco Girardini.

Marco helped me a lot in the Smrikva Bowl development. He introduced me to his friends Luca Appino and Claudio Calza that strongly supported Smrikva Bowl development in the last years.

In the finals that year with Martina Caregaro we had 9 years old Ajla Tomljanovic from Croatia. Ajla is today ranked #539 on WTA list and is for sure among the top players in her age group in the World.

Few years ago Ajla moved with her family to the USA and this year she won the doubles of Junior Australian Open. Goran Prpic few years ago said for her that in two years time he would like to see her competing on Senior Roland Garros. Probably very soon this will become reality. This year she already got the wild card for the Indian Wells.

Ajla is a daughter of Ratko Tomljanovic who was the captain of the handball Croatian team that won the gold medal on the Olimpic games in Atlanta in 1996. I remember Ratko as a very nice person. Ajla did a great result arriving in the finals and she qualified to represent Europe in the first “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl.

Javier Marti, Giacomo Miccini, Martina Caregaro and Ajla Tomljanovic were supposed to go in Austin in October to play 1st”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl. I was giving to the kids the airplane tickets and parents had to pay their tickets by themselves. The hosting was organized by the MCB Tennis Foundation and I remember that Javier, Giacomo and Martina were not able to find other sponsors to cover other costs and Ajla and Ema Burgic, that ranked 3rd that year, from Bosnia and Herzegovina accepted to go.

I was very happy and proud on them. We were starting to create the first ever under 10 tennis competition between USA and Europe.

Ajla and Ema were under 10 girls, that went across the Ocean, to play a friendship match with the top US players. Ajla, Ema and their parents allowed this dream to become true thanks to their courage.

Ema Burgic is currently ranked #801 on WTA list. I remember that Ema’s father told me that the Major of the City of Tuzla participated to the party that was made in Ema’s honour.

Ajla was 9 years old and I remember that Ratko told me that the experience in the US was very nice. He sent me a beautiful blanket for a gift that year that his grandmother was doing and is a beautiful artwork. Ajla played also the 8th Smrikva Bowl and ranked 3rd that year. It was a good result but she was very unhappy with the outcome.

Ajla has increadible will and determination and is very likely as Goran Prpic said that she could make it one day.

2003

8th Smrikva Bowl – Smrikva Bowl STARTED TO BECOME AN IMPORTAND under 10 EUROPEAN TENNIS tournament…

The winner of the 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 was Dominic Thiem from Austria. Dominic was smaller compared to the other finalist George Morgan and he played at the moments a defensive game.

Dominic was in Smrikve with his gradfather. Few years ago he came to visit us and I was very pleased for that. I was even more pleased when he brought his other grandson Moritz to play this year Smrikva Bowl.

George Morgan is from Great Britain and is currently ranked #283 on ITF ranking list. He was tall at that time with very good and clean game. Another player that was promissing that year was Ciprian Porumb Junior that ranked 3rd.

Ciprian Porumb is from Romenia and is the son of former Romenian Davis Cup player Ciprian Porumb Senior. Few years ago Ciprian was ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathergory and was the European Champion in under 14 age group. This year Nikola Milojevic from Serbia was the second Smrikva Bowl player to crown him self the European Champion.

Currently, Ciprian is ranked #439 on ITF ranking list. He was very tall boy at the time and also his father is a tall person. His game was very good. He had strong strokes at the time but room for the precision improvement that probably happened in the last years according to the results obtained.

Ciprian is followed by his father and Ovidiu Bodea. Ovidiu is a very nice person and strong supporter of the Smrikva Bowl and every year he and Ciprian Senior helps Smrikva Bowl to gather top players from Romenia. After Ciprian we had Bogdan Borza, Mihnea Turcu and several other promissing young Romenian players.

Jennifer Ren and free drinks…

In 2003 Jennifer Ren from Great Britain won the girls finals. She is currently ranked #999 on WTA list. Jennifer has Asian origin and was very nice and open kid. She was always smiling and it became very famous in Smrikve when I asked her what will she remeber about the Smrikva Bowl and she told me that she will remember that we have a free drinks in Smrikve :). When I was giving them the trophies and the bikes she asked me also if she can say something to the public and I was very happy with the words she said.

That year we had several players from UK that Brian Mc Fadden brought to the Smrikva Bowl thanks to Carol Weyman. I remeber that I took them with a car to the Trieste airport in Italy. The four girls were going with me and when they saw that I will drive them with BMW they said Wooooow it is a BMW :). It was funny.

I remember also that Jennifer was very determined to became tennis player. I read later several articles about her and she received some rewards as the best sports person in the UK. Jennifer has a very good sister too. Her name is Jessica and she is the under 12 Orange Bowl winner.

That year in the finals Jennifer played with Silvia Njiric from Croatia. Silvia Njiric is currently ranked in the top 10 on ITF ranking list and #860 on WTA list. She was very good junior and she went in the USA with Jennifer, Dominic and George to play 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl. I was very happy to read in the newspapers that after several years that Silvia plays tennis she still remember as one of the most beautiful experiences the gift and honour to go to play in the USA the “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl.

This year Silvia played the quarterfinals of both Junior Wimbledon and Roland Garros and hopefully soon we will hear much more about her.

I was pleased to receive this year a photo from Vinicius from Brazil where Silvia won an important ITF under 18 tournament. Vinicius was the first Brazilian player on Smrikva Bowl and before he came to play he already had the opportunity to meet a former Smrikva Bowl runner up.

2004

9th Smrikva Bowl – Smrikva Bowl started to gather NEW CONTINENTS…

2004 was a very special year for the Smrikva Bowl. It was the first time the we hosted in Smrikve the US team and the “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl. It was a beautiful year and we had some very good players.

There is a very special story that is related with that year winner Ivan Levar from Croatia, currently ranked #99 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

Ivan Levar played almost the whole tournament with small tennis shoes…

What happened with Ivan is that he did not tell to his father that he had a small tennis shoes during the tournament. At one moment he started to walk in a very strange way and his father asked him what happened. When they cheked the legs he already had important injuries.

Ivan wanted to continue to play and it was a very painfull for me even to look at his legs. After every match the doctor tried to medicate the injuries. At the end his will was so strong that he defeated in the finals a very strong Miki Jankovic from Serbia.

Miki is another strong player, currently ranked #4 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and #1062 on ITF ranking list. Miki Jankovic is very talented players with very good technique and I was pleased to learn that he currently trains at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris that is also the Smrikva Bowl sponsor since 2008.

Saska Gavrilovska… is still the only 9 year old Smrikva Bowl winner in the Smrikva Bowl history…

Saska Gavrilovska was another surprise that year in the girls draw. It was the first time that a 9 years old player win the Smrikva Bowl. She beat in the finals Ecaterina Opriou from Romenia.

I did not have informations how good she was. She came from Vrsac in Serbia without being at all the favorite player. She started to play and game after game she was winning.

In a very difficult situations she was playing better and better with the smile on her face and I learn that she never give up. At the end she won the tournament. I remember that I saw that she had increadible talent but I was not sure that her parents will be able to support her growth financially.

Few months after the victory on the Smrikva Bowl she found the sponsor from New York that allowed her and her father to go to the Nick Bollettieri Academy. I was really happy for that.

Next year Saska came again to play Smrikva Bowl and she won again. She smiled all the times and than she showed me the photos that she made in the US. I was very happy when I saw her on the tennis courts at Nick Bollettieri’s Academy with Smrikva Bowl t-shirt :).

In 2004 it was also the first time that we hosted “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl in Smrikve and we did everything to make it very special for the players.

Every year we had a very nice players and families from the US and the players from US that played this event are among the top players in their country. Mitchel Polnet is ranked #154 in the USA in under 16 cathegory. Blair Shankle is ranked #13 in the USA in under 16 cathegory and #595 on ITF ranking list. Anna Mamalat is ranked #30 in the USA in under 16 cathegory and #1230 on ITF ranking list. They continue to be very good players.

I keep a very nice memories about those families and also about Emilie Foster, Blair Shankle’s coach, that was there as the US team coach. Blair was increadible strong player and she won both matches. She continue to be very strong and few years ago she became part of the history at the “Little Mo” National Championships, where she became the first player ever to win four consecutive titles.

Shankle’s gift to the “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl…

I received many nice letters from the players and the parents but that time few weeks after the tournament I received a letter from Shankle family. They are really nice family and I thought that they sent me a letter to say thanks. I opened the letter and it was a beautiful letter but they also included in the letter 1.500 USD. That impressed me.

Shankle’s decided to give that money in support of the future “Little Mo” players arriving to the Smrikva Bowl. It was increadible for me because when I left my home when I was 18 years old I had less money than I received as a gift from this family when they tried to say thanks for the event they lived at my home in less than a week.

2005

10th Smrikva Bowl – Smrikva Bowl started to become GLOBAL TOURNAMENT

For the 10th annual we gathered top players from 21 country and 3 continents. That year we also started to plant an Old Olive Tree and this cerimony was really beautiful and continue to be important for us. I particularly appreciated how Roberto Marchigiani, Goldberg and Busby family enjoyed the cerimony.

In 2005 Matteo Donati from Italy won the 10th Smrikva Bowl. Matteo is currently ranked #8 in Europe in under 14 cathegory. Matteo’s game was very similar to Javier Marti’s game. Clean technique and outstanding game.

Gyore Laszlo was also very good, currently ranked #12 in Europe, but a real surprise that year was Gianluigi Quinzi that ranked 3rd.

Gianluigi is from Italy and for years was ranked above his age group. Some of Gianluigi’s results are considered the best resutls in Tennis Europe’s history. Gianluigi trains at Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton. He played 3 times Smrikva Bowl and when I saw him for the first time I was surprised with his phisical constitution. He was already built like an older man and had very good shoots. In 2005 he arrived 3rd but next year he won the tournament.

We used to have every year families that arrive with the players and Gianluigi was in Smrikve with the large family with his small and funny brother and really nice grandparents. The last time also his father Luca Quinzi arrived. It is a very nice family and I really enjoyed meeting them all.

Harry Busby was the 4th player that played the “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl. That year we had 3 boys and 1 girl from the US thus we arranged that 4 Smrikva Bowl boys and 2 girls play the matches. Harry is also a very good player. His parents are extraordinary and Harry had an increadibly strong will and determination in his game. I made some very nice pictures of his hits and also of his family. I was pleased to receive an e-mail few months ago from him asking me to provide him with some contacts in Romania for a tournament his brother is considering to play.

In the girls finals that year Saska Gavrilovska defeated Olga Yanchuk from Ukraine. Olga is ranked #9 in Europe in under 14 cathegory and that final was among the most beautiful girls finals that I have seen on the Smrikva Bowl.

Good pasta for Jose Gracia in Milan’s restaurant…

From the US team I have a very special memory about Jose Gracia that is currently ranked #106 in the USA in under 14 cathegory. It was a very nice time that I spent with his father listening his life story. I remember that his father works as the cooker and he told me that he was flying to the US from Milan and that he would like to allow Jose to taste some of the best pasta restaurant in Milan. I worked for many years in Milan and recommended him to go in the restaurant of my good friend that is located near Scala Opera in the center of Milan. I wrote the adress of the restaurant on our visit card and gave it to him. The next time I was in that restaurant in Milan my friend showed me the visit card that I gave to Mr. Garcia :) thus I am sure they had the opportunity to taste one of the best pasta in Milan.

Yale Goldberg also played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl and is currently ranked #33 in the USA in under 14 cathegory. Goldberg family took the opportunity to visit Croatia and I recieved a beautiful letter from them. I still remember the nice words Yale’s father told me about Olive Tree cerimony and the words used by his mother Jennifer in theri letter.

Nikola Milojevic… will surprise in the future…

Before leaving the year 2005 I have to mention Nikola Milojevic that won the Consolation tournament of that year because Nikola was crowned the European Champion just several weeks ago. Nikola was for a long time been ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 age group and later on in Pilzen he won the European Championship after winning every important tournament in his age group this year such as: Tarbes, Livorno, Porto, etc.

2006

11th Smrikva Bowl – the year of Gianluigi and Eleanor Dean…

In 2006 Gianluigi Quinzi and Eleanor Dean from Great Britain were outperformers.

Eleanor Dean had the same problem with the bike transfer. She lives in Spain and we had an increadible delay in sending the bike to her. she and her parents had really a big patients untill we delivered the bike to her.

Eleanor Dean is a very strong player that currently ranks #26 in Europe in under 14 age group. I have not seen her since she played the tournament but Ariana Rabac and Silvia Brgic had the opportunity to see her on a tournament and they told me she grow up a lot and she’s forhand is increadibly strong.

Elanor lives and trains in Spain at Marco Tennis Academy thus I had the opportunity to meet that year Marco and also Jofre Porta that came with a very talented 9 years old girl, the surprise of the tournament.

Surprise… Virginia Pena and Jofre Porta…

The surprise of that year was the 3rd place for the 9 years old girl from Spain, Virginia Pena, currently ranked #402 in Europe in under 14 age group. She will win the tournament in 2007 against Ana Konjuh ranked today #302 in Europe in under 14 age group.

Ana Konjuh has an older sister that play very good tennis and she could do very well and progress fast if she continue to have the opportunity to trains with her older sister.

Virginia Pena lost in the semifinals against Dina Paocic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was very nice from Dina when she came in 2007 to Smrikve because was on the road for another tournament and the opportunity to meet with Virginia that was playing again Smrikva Bowl that year. Dina is currently ranked #121 in Europe in under 14 age group.

2007

12th Smrikva Bowl – SMRIKVA gathered top player from FIVE CONTINENTS…

In 2007 Virginia Pena won the girls draw and this result is the second best result in the Smrikva Bowl history. It is second only to Saska Gavrilovska result when Saska won two editions in a row: 2004 and 2005.

Gigi is really talented and strong. In Smrikva Bowl Guest Book Virigina signed herself as Gigi. I read that many spanish funs call her Vivi. Jofre Porta was with Gigi and her family in Smrikve during her first Smrikva Bowl. Jofre in his career trained players like Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal. When Gigi won the tournament she was in Smrikve with a coach from Romenia. Virginia has a very nice family.

Both times Gigi stayed with her family at the same apartment and created a special relationship with the owner of the appartment that is a very nice person too. They continue to write to each other and exchange gifts :). Every time I meet the owner of the apartment we exchange with pleasure the news about Gigi :).

I have to recall that this year Gigi won the Mountain Bike on the Smrikva Bowl and after few rounds on the court with the bike she decided to give it as a gift to she’s new friend Ariana Rabac from Pula. It is always complicated to take the bike home from the winners that are coming from far away and Gigi decided to give it as a gift. This was very nice from Gigi’s side.

Nadal against Nadal…

Sacha Merzetti defeated in the finals this year Bogdan Borza from Romania. It was like Nadal against Nadal :). Two players with increadible energy and good technique. We had really outstanding finals this year. Sacha has another brother Nicholas that played again this year Smrikva Bowl.

Sacha and Nicholas also have an older sister that was on the way to became a professional tennis player but she decided to do other in her life. Sacha and Nicholas like to spend every minute of their time on the court. Who knows what will happen in the future but most of this kids have showed a great passion for tennis.

I was very pleased to meet Sacha again this year with his parents and brother. I am also pleased for his victory in France of the OUATT Kids Cup World Finals only few weeks ago.

From the US players that played 6th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl Eduardo Nava was for sure the top performers. He had a similar game to Javier Marti and Matteo Donati that played Smrikva Bowl several years ago. Very clean game with very good technique.

Eduardo’s mother was a professional tennis player and is a very nice person. I heard also that his father won a Olmpic medal. Carol Weyman told me several time that Eduardo is their hope and this year she told me that Noah Schather is another player that they do beleive in. Eduardo is currently ranked #29 in the USA in under 12 cathegory.

2008

13th Smrikva Bowl – Smrikva Bowl gathered top players from 5 CONTINENTS AND TURNED INTO GLOBAL GATHERING…

In 2008 we had top players from Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and for the first time we had players from Australia.

It was also the first time we got Wilson sponsorship contracts as prizes and one week training at prestigous Mouratoglou Academy.

The winner of the boys main draw was Luka Panic from Switzerland but with Croatian origin. He defeated Mihnea Turcu from Romania.

That year we had a beautiful semifinals when Grega Kokalj from Slovenia played with Luka Panic. They both have similar and strong strokes and this year I had the opportunity to meet Grega during the Smrikva Bowl and I was pleased to learn that he was crowned the Slovenian under 12 Champion.

In the girls finals Katarina Jokic from Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Maia Lumsden from Scotland. They both play excellent tennis and this year Katarina was in Smrikve again because his brother Andrej played this year tournament while Maia Lumsden might come next year because his brother Ewen Lumsden should play :).

Among the „Little Mo“ team I have to recall Ingrid Neel and Justin Lee that are both extraordinary. I received a very nice letter from Neel’s father and Lee family keeps updating me on Justin progress.

Ingrid is currently ranked #43 in the USA in under 12 age group while Justin Lee is ranked #90 in under 12 age group.

2009

14th Smrikva Bowl – 5 CONTINENTS GATHERED AGAIN FOR THE SMRIKVA BOWL WITH LATIN AMERICA FOR THE FIRST TIME…

On 7th of July I wrote quite a long letter in memory of this year Smrikva Bowl thus I will recall only few names of this year edition.

We started to create the Smrikva Bowl library…

This year was particular for more elements: it was the year when many brothers and sisters of former players arrived… it was a year when we had six new countries represented: Japan, Brasil, Norway, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Mauritius… it was a year of the one of the strongest nine year old girls ever that I had the opportunity to see playing Smrikva Bowl – Joka… it was the year when we reached the 40 countries and six continents in term of Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors spread all over the year… it was the year when “Istria from Smrikve” was put on line and Smrikva Bowl players started to build the Smrikva Bowl library… it was the year of the threatening weather conditions… it was the year when Sergio Tacchini become the Sponsor and Laura and Maureen from Mouratoglou Academy came to visit us… there are so many different elements to consider this year another small step further… I would say that it was another successful annual.

This year in the boys finals we had a boy from Spain Alvaro Regalado Pedrol and a boy from Italy – Samuele Ramazzotti. Alvaro won the tournament and his determination to win in the game and the polite and friendly attitude outside the court conquered hearts of many spectators.

Katie Swan and Jovana Vukovic – Joka played the girls finals. Katie is from Great Britain and Jovana from Serbia… both very polite and talented girls…

There are many other names, people and moments that are part of my memory and hopefully each player hold the memory of their Smrikva Bowl experience and will continue to help the development of this Smrikva Bowl story that is written by everyday attitude of those who had the opportunity to play this small-big tournament for the youngest…

Thanks to all the players…

Thanks to all the parents, players, coaches and all the Smrikva Bowl friends that were part of this year event.

I tried to describe some of the top players that contributed to create the Smrikva Bowl story and I am pleased that I had the opportunity to meet many nice families that brought their kids from far far away to compete in the Smrikva Bowl.

Nelson Mandela said that “Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument of peace.”

Maybe one day more than one of the mentioned players will have and will be able to use their power to inspire and unite people.

03/08/09

Several Smrikva Bowl players reached the finals of this year OUATT Kids Cup

La Baule Tennis Club in France hosted this year World finals of 2009 OUATT Kids Cup.

Several Smrikva Bowl players that travel from far away to reach Smrikve and Europe decide to take the opportunity to play both Smrikva Bowl and OUATT Kids Cup. OUATT Kids Cup is played in several age groups starting from under 9 till under 16. Every year was played in different place but from this year for several years will be played in La Baule.

On La Baule Tennis Club website I was able to see the finalist and to recognize several Smrikva Bowl players and friends.

In boys under 9 age group the winner of the tournament was the brother of Maia Lumsden, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 finalists, Ewen Lumsden. Ewen is from Scotland and is trained by Toby Smith. I know that Toby is working with him for the next year Smrikva Bowl and the victory on OUATT is great result.

In girls under 9 age group the winner of OUATT Kids Cup 2009 was Lucie Kankova. Lucie is from Prag and she played this year Smrikva Bowl and I expect to see her also next year. Lucie lost to this year Smrikva Bowl winner Jovana Vukovic with the result 9:4. It was her first match thus she played the Consolation Draw and obrtained the Consolation Draw victory. Lucie and Jovana are both 9 years old and will be very interesting to see their progress over the next year.

In the boys under 10 age group Amaury De Beer from Mauritius was the runner up of the tournament. In this year Smrikva Bowl he lost in the third round to another very talented boy: Alejandro Davidovich from Spain who later on reached the semifinals.

In the same age group Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia, this year Smrikva Bowl quarterfinalist, reached the quarterfinals also at this year OUATT Kids Cup.

In the girls under 10 age group Seone Mendez from Australia reached the finals of the tournament. In this year Smrikva Bowl Seone reached the quarterfinals of the Consolation Draw.

In the girls under 11 age group Nina Marjanovic from Serbia reached the semifinals of the tournament in her age group.

In under 12 age group Sacha Merzetti, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner from Italy, won the tournament. Sacha Merzetti was in Smrikve this year with his younger brother Nicolas Merzetti who played Smrikva Bowl and with this victory he confirmed his great talent.

In girls under 12 age group Natsuho Arakawa from Japan obtained the victory. Natsuho was in Smrikve this year before going to France and had the opportunity to train with Ariana Rabac and Silvia Brgic. Natsuho’s younger sister Haruna Arakawa played this year Smrikva Bowl and reached the finals of the Consolation Draw. I can confirm that Natsuho is player with increadible potential.

Congratulations to all the players mentioned above!

01/08/09

Nina Marjanovic, Miomir Kecmanovic and Matic Podlipnik spent some days this summer in Smrikve enjoying the sea and tennis

Few days ago Nina Marjanovic, last year Smrikva Bowl player, and Miomir Kecmanovic, one year younger who played this year Smrikva Bowl, both from Belgrade, left Smrikve and turned home.

During their stay in Smrikve also Matic Podlinpnik, a 9 years old very talented Slovenian player. who is preparing for the next year Smrikva Bowl, came with his coach Tine Pufic to train a little bit in Smrikve. Tine is ZTK Maribor coach dedicated to the kids players .

Miomir Kecmanovic played this year Smrikva Bowl and Nina Marjanovic came to cheers for him. They form a very nice couple and is lovely to watch the way they are friends.

Miomir, also named Misa by the family, is the best player in his age group in Serbia and he reached the quarterfinals on this year Smrikva Bowl, while Nina Marjanovic last year reached the third place of the Consolation Draw. Nina is probably today among the strongest girls in her age group in the World. Since last year Nina progressed strongly.

After the Smrikva Bowl they both went to France to play OUATT and Nina ranked 3rd in her age group while Miomir played the quarterfinals.

After last year Smrikva Bowl Nina had the opportunity to train at Mouratoglou Academy and her game significantly improved over the last year. His father Bora told me that they followed the instructions that were indicated to them in the Academy letter after the training. This was a gift that Patrick Mouratoglou made to Nina and after that experience she improved her game and confidence. Bora like to say that Nina playes boys tennis and her balls are really strong.

Miro was taking care about Nina and Miomir on the courts and Tanja off the courts…

I was pleased when they decided to spent some time in Smrikve and enjoy the summer with our coach Miro Hrvatin and Misa’s aunt Tanja. Tanja was taking care about them off the courts and Miro Hrvatin and Sinisa on the courts.

Smrikve was ideal place to enjoy some sea, to swim and have to opportunity to further improve their game and phisical condition.

We had some very nice moments especially when Nina was catching the rabit in the wood followed from the distance by Miomir. Nina like the animals and also Misa likes them but from the distance… Only Nina is in charge to catch them :)...

Later on when we told them that Pepa, the small pig will have babies, they were waiting every day for Pepa pig to have the babies :). In end small pigs were born just a day before they left.

Very good pizza in Rovinj with Nina, Miomir and Tanja…

We spent also one night smiling in Rovinj. The purpose of our visit to the beautiful Rovinj, that I like to name the Istrian Venice, was to have a good pizza.

I asked Tanja if the kids like pizza and she said: “a lot”, thus we made them a surpirse and I brought them to a very special place in Rovinj.

In end for Nina pizza was important but when she saw all those lovely small shops than shoping started to be more important :)... on the other side Miomir and Tanja enjoyed joking and we smiled all the evening…

Before they left Matic had the opportunity to train a little bit with Miomir. Miro arranged the training for both of them thus Matic had the opportunity to hit with a very strong player thus had the opportunity to feel the level he may expect next year on the Smrikva Bowl.

Tine almost like a father to Matic…

Tine Pufic is such a great trainer and person that take care about the kids he follows that Ariana, the girl that me and my father trains, thought he was Matic’s father. He really knows to take care about kids if he dedicates him self to other kids the way I saw him being dedicated in coaching Matic.

Hopefully we found a Slovenian Toby Smith :). Toby Smith is the Scottish coach dedicated at David Lloyd Academy to the youngest players that historcally is bringing very strong players from Scotland to the Smrikva Bowl every year.

Tine is dedicated to the youngest age group players in ZTK Maribor that is one of the most important tennis centers in Slovenia. We spent some time, over the last days, sharing the common passion for tennis.

Lovely evening spent with Matic, Ariana and Tine at Verudela E&D place…

Matic also hit a little bit with Ariana thus we went out for an icecream all together in a nice place on Verudela named E&D. I spoke in Slovenian with Matic and he was smiling all the time for my pronunciation :).

After the icecream we had also a cake that both Ariana and Matic enjoyed…

I am pleased to share with the community this lovely experience for me, for having the opportunity to spent some more time with Nina, Misa and Matic and learn something more about them, their characters and personalities.

In end I have to say that I like the way they smile.

26/07/09

Nikola Milojevic - the winner of the 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation Draw - is the 2009 European Junior Championships - 14 & Under

I just received a message from Nikola’s father – Tomo that Nikola Milojevic was crowned the European Champion in the under 14 age group.

I am very pleased to congratulate Nikola and his family for all the efforts he and the people that are supporting him and I am glad to share this news with other Smrikva Bowl friends spred all over the World.

Last summer when Nikola visited Smrikve his father made a joke saying that maybe one day the Smrikva Bowl Consolation winner will add strength to the Smrikva Bowl story and actually Nikola after winning Tarbes, Livorno, Maia and Bolton confirmed in Pilzen that he is currently the best European player in his age group thus is writing with his game a beautiful page of the Smrikva Bowl story.

There is only one top Smrikva Bowl player that obtained Nikola’s result and his name is Ciprian Porumb junior. Ciprian Porumb ranked 3rd on the 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 and is the son of the former Romanian Davis Cup player Ciprian Porumb senior. Ciprian was the 2007 European Champion.

I noted already few years ago when he defeated some other top players that Nikola’s progress was outstanding. In 2005 when he played the Smrikva Bowl he broke the strings in the first round and had problems with the racket thus ended up in the Consolation draw.

In the last years, especially since 2004, when Smrikva Bowl started to gather top players from over 20 countries there are more and more players we may hear about in the future.

On the official Tennis Europe website (www.tenniseurope.org) was reported the following:

“Nikola Milojevic justified his top seeding to win the European 14 & Under Championship title with a comprehensive 62 60 win over sixteenth-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund on the final day of play in Pilzen (CZE). Edmund had upset three higher-ranked seeds on his way to the final, but had no answer to the greater power and consistency of the #1.

Milojevic becomes the first Serb ever to win a European Championship title (though compatriot Novak Djokovic won for Yugoslavia in 2001) and consolidates his position as Europe’s #1 player in the age group; a position he is now guaranteed to hold until the end of the year. The title is his fifth of the year, having previously won prestigious Category 1 events in Tarbes, Livorno, Maia and Bolton.”

Nikola’s road toward the victory of the 2009 European Junior Championships was the following:

1st round: Nikola Milojevic – Bye
2nd round: Nikola Milojevic – Andre Biro (Hun) 6:3, 6:2
3rd round: Nikola Milojevic – Goncalo Loureiro (Por) 6:4, 6:3
4th round: Nikola Milojevic – Yuriy Kryvoy (Ukr) 6:3, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Nikola Milojevic – Marin Suica (Cro) 6:4, 7:6
Semifinals: Nikola Milojevic – Marek Routa (Cze) 6:4, 3:6, 6:0
Finals: Nikola Milojevic – Kyle Steven Edmund (Gbr) 6:2, 6:0

There are few other Smrikva Bowl players that did well in the Championship played in the Czech Republic such as the 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner and runner up Matteo Donati and Djere Lazslo that both reached the 4th round, while Marin Suica reached the quarterfinals and played with Nikola.

In the girls draw of the European Championship the best Smrikva Bowl player was Saska Gavrilovska. Saska Gavrilovska was the winner of the 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 and in Pilzen she reached the semifinals where she lost from Tomova.

In under 16 age group of the boys draw George Morgan, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, reached the semifinals while in the girls draw, Jennifer Ren, 8the Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, reached the quarterfinals.

Congratulations to all the top Smrikva Bowl players once again a special greetings to Nikola Milojevic for his victory!

25/07/09

Some videos of the former Smrikva Bowl players. Alexei Popyrin, Ndindi Ndunda, Gianluigi Quinzi, Ajla Tomljanovic, Javier Marti and Petra Martic on you tube

Alexei Popyrin in the following video hit with Jim Courier. Alexei played Smrikva Bowl twice: in 2008 and 2009. The first year he reached the quarterfinals of the Main Draw when he was 9 years old and this year he won the Consolation tournament after meeting in the first the round the winner of the tournament Alvaro Regalado Pedrol.

Ndindi Ndunda played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl 2007 and is currently ranked #11 in the USA in under 12 age group.

Gianluigi Quinzi was the winner of the 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 and the runner up of the 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 edition.

Ajla Tomljanovic was the runner up of the 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 and ranked 3rd on the 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003. Currently is ranked in the Top 10 under 18 in the World.

Javier Marti was the winner of the 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 and currently is ranked #710 on ATP list.

Petra Martic was the winner of the 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 and currently is ranked #151 on WTA list.

24/07/09

Petra Martic - 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner - reached the quarterfinals of USD 220.000 Portoroz SLOVENIA OPEN

Petra Martic from Croatia – 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner – is currently the best ranked Smrikva Bowl WTA player.

Petra is ranked #146 on WTA list and reached the quarterfinals of USD 220.000 Portoroz SLOVENIA OPEN. Last year Petra was also in the quarterfinals of Portoroz SLOVENIA OPEN and this year she obtained the Wild Card from the organizers.

Petra’s road towards the quaterfinals of the Main Draw at Portoroz SLOVENIA OPEN was the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – Kristina BARRIOS (GER) 6:3, 6:4
2nd round: Petra Martic – Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) 6:1, 6:3
Quarterfinals: Petra Martic – Sara ERRANI (ITA) 1:6, 1:6.

The WTA ranking of the defeated players is the following:
Kristina BARRIOS (GER) – # 67 WTA
Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) – # 142 WTA

In the quarterfinals Petra Martic was defeated by Sara Errani from Italy that is currently ranked #38 on WTA list.

23/07/09

Invitation letter from Carol Weyman for the 3rd "Little Mo" International

Little Mo International – is a global tournament organized by Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation. The tournament is played in the USA and is dedicated to age groups under 8 till under 11.

Carol Weyman is the executive director of MCB Tennis Foundation and I am pleased to share with the Smrikva Bowl comunity her letter indicating the new site where the 3rd annual will be held from December 15-19, 2009.

Dear “Little Mo” Players and Parents,

We are so excited to announce our new site for the “Little Mo” Internationals presented by TennisLMS!

The new site will be Club Med Sandpiper in Port Saint Lucie, Florida (east coast of Florida) December 15 – 19, 2009.

(Entry forms are on our website – but haven’t been updated as yet with the new site and date but the form is the same: www.mcbtennis.org)

Players will be coming from all over the world to play so we hope you will plan to attend. The event is open to anyone worldwide – including the USA so please help us spread the word.

The Opening Ceremony will begin Tuesday morning, December 15 with matches to begin after the ceremony and departure should be planned for after 5:00 pm on Saturday, December 19. (If you would like to stay over on Saturday night at Club Med, the room rate will be different. )

We will have the cost of Club Med accommodations, etc. by mid August but we just wanted you to have the site/date on your calendar.

It will be a wonderful time for the family to be in Florida in December – especially at Club Med and all their activities plus Disney World is in nearby Orlando. (West Palm Beach, Florida is the closest airport or Orlando airport is about an hour and half away.)

I look forward to seeing you.

Warmest regards,

Carol

20/07/09

Slovenian Open in Portoroz was an ocassion to see Luca Appino, Kaia Kanepi and Petra Martic...

Yesterday I was in Portoroz with my father to meet my very good friend and very good friend of Smrikve – Luca Appino. Luca came to Portoroz for the Slovenia Open with Kaia Kanepi that is trained by him since the end of the last year.

I was very pleased to meet Luca and his family and also to meet for the first time Kaia Kanepi.

Kaia’s best ranking was #18 WTA list. She is very strong girl that hopefully with her determination and Luca’s guide might aim to enter theTop 10 players in the World in the following years.

She had two small injuries over the last few months thus was not able to train with the intesity she would like but with health and will the target of progressing towards the Top 10 could be reached one day.

Luca Appino is a long term Smrikva Bowl friend and Golden Honorary Smrikva Bowl Member since this title was established and on every ocasion we meet is a plasure to meet him.

Usually UMAG Open was the ocasion to meet each other while he was the Director of Babolat and I am so glad that Portoroz was the unexpected opportunity this year to meet again.

He sent me an SMS that he will be in Portoroz and few days after me and my dad were in the car to spent sime time together.

I also saw Petra Martic after 8 years :)...

After Kaia’s morning training we had launch together nearby the sea and on the table nearby where we’ve been sitting a blond tall girl came with a plate and smile I recognized. This was Petra – Petra Martic.

I was so pleased to see Petra that I asked this young lady if she was Petra, she smiled and said: “Yes… I am Petra”.

Petra Martic won Smrikva Bowl in 2001 and few weeks ago passed the qualification for the Roland Garros and reached the second round of the Main Draw.

Petra is currently the best ranked Smrikva Bowl player and she got the Wild Card for Portoroz mainly because last year she did well in Portoroz and the organizer were pleased to invite her.

The last time I saw her it was in 2001. She was a 10 years old girl and today is 18 years old. She did not recognize me but she remembered Smrikva Bowl.

What I can say is that she has a beautiful smile and her eyes spread a worm and lovelly energy like the sun :) and I would be pleased if she succeed to write a nice tennis story with her game over the years.

Bottle of wines as cultural exchange…

Almost every time me and Luca meet we exchange the bottles of wine. We started to call it the cultural exchange… I give him one bottle of Malvasia that my father and me produce only for the Smrikva Bowl families and Smrikva Bowl friends and he gave me in exchange two bottles of wine from the Piemonte winemaker where he buys the wine for his family.

There are only 200 of Smrikva Bowl bottles in the World and Luca is a person of culture and knowning wines he does know that you should drink Malvasia in year or two years time but he also knows that this bottle with the story of the Smrikva Bowl might become special one day. This are the generations bottles. They are already special for the people that do like Smrikve but one day might be special for many other people.

This time a brought also few things for Kaia and Luca told me that she will be pleased for the bag I prepared for her but that according to him I should give it to her personally :).

When Kaia started to look the things that were in the beg she was smiling and I was very pleased for her smile and she told me that the next time we meet she will bring a small gift for me from her country. Kaia is Estonian.

We had an Estonian player on the Smrikva Bowl and hopefully as Luca said Kaia might help us with some talented young Estonian player to come again to play Smrikva Bowl in the following years.

Luca’s book about Rafa for the Smrikva Bowl Library…

I wrote a month ago about the news that Luca published a book about Rafael Nadal. This year Smrikva Bowl friends are aware that we started to create the Smrikva Bowl Library and Luca yesterday surprised me with a copy of his book that he dedicated to me, to the idea of Smrikve and to the new library.

The book is named: “The World of Rafael Nadal – secrets of his success” – 30 ways to improve your game, by Luca Appino, in collaboration with Toni Nadal

Luca’s background…

Luca Appino was for many years Babolat Director Of Sports Marketing and contributed to built up Babolat from a string company to one of the largest racquet manufacturers in the World.

Luca is credited for signing contracts with players such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Carlos Moya, Nadia Petrova and Aravane Rezzai.

He began his carreer in tennis, as an instructor and later as a coach in Italy. It was in 1998 that he came to work for the head office of Babolat (having previously been a consultant for them on the Italian market). He became their sports marketing director and his task was, among other things, to track down new talents.

He met Rafael Nadal in 1998 when the future number one was aged 12. Luca naturally became very close to Rafa who is today the key Babolat player.

Today, Luca is coaching Kaia Kanepi as I wrote above and the idea of writing a collection of anecdotes chronicling the rise of Rafael Nadal while also giving advice on how to progress occurred to Luca as a natural continuation of his blog on the internet site welovetennis.fr.

Last summer Luca informed me about his book project…

I remember last summer when Luca Appino visited Smrikve with his family he was telling me about the book he was writing on Nadal and I was telling him about the book I was writing about Istria and I was also telling him about the Smrikva Bowl Library idea.

Yesterday we exchanged new ideas and thinking today I am pleased that some ideas that were born few years ago started to get their forms in reality. Hopefully other nice ideas discussed yesterday will take form in the following years…

As I wrote in my last presentation, when I announced that his book was available on line, I am pleased to have the opportunity to exchange opinions with Luca personally, but the idea of this book was born with intention to help people that are dedicating their time to tennis with some tips related with the improvements in their tennis growth.

As Luca said: “Every day people ask for my opinion on what they should or shouldn’t do. In this book I offer a number of keys, notably for parents, who tend to worry about their children. It goes without saying that Rafael Nadal is, and will remain an exception, even if it is possible to glean some simple but extremely effective principles from his experiences…”.

I read the book in one day and I am sure I will come back to it…

It is a book that you read with pleasure and the tips inside of it are like the life stories you can tell kids before they go to sleep or when you want to teach them something… It is also the story you can tell around the fireplace with a glas of wine among sport friends…

You can read a story on every page and than ask your kid that you train what he thinks about the story and later on read Luca’s advice and discuss it with the kid.

In the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors section I describe a little bit the life messages from the Disney cartoon Lion King and the role of Rafiki, the old and wise baboo in the cartoon.

Rafiki in swahili language means friend and reading this book is like getting the tips of what the player should bear in mind.

It is a book about Rafa’s life story that he wrote with with his living and with the effort he invested in his venture.

His success is a consequence of a strong will but also of special people he was surrounded in during his growth that continued to teach him all the best they knew.

Among this very special people are his uncle Toni, his family and Smrikva Bowl friend Luca Appino.

If you buy the book you will find the story of the elephant ride Luca and Rafa made in South Africa when Rafa said: “Luca, if you don’t come with me, I am not going… I feel more at ease with you here, even though I know that if something goes wrong you won’t be able to do a thing about it”... the second part of the conversion is very strong too but I leave it to you to enjoy it with the book…

Every page is a surpries for the reader where you find a short story from Rafa’s life and the life-sport-tennis message you can get from it. Every advice I read was like hearing Luca’s voice when we discuss things.

It is a book about tennis and sport in general but for me is even a little bit more that you will discover reading it. It is about values and about common sense of the people.

Everything around us lives in a delicated equilibrium and with intelligence we should try to understand it and respect it. It is true that every generation face new challanges but there are many examples in the past how the old generations managed and solved particular problems and this is way the knowledge, the human curiosity and will to learn are important.

I am glad that Luca decided to share part of his knowledge with the general public in a form of a book.

Well done Luca!

To order the book please visit www.rafabook.com or click on the book that is placed in the right corner of the Smrikva Bowl main page.

13/07/09

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update July 2009)

IN 1996 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM ISTRIA AND KVARNER

1996 – 1st Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Vilim Visak, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #1037 on ATP list. Vilim’s best ranking was #612 in March 2006. Vilim Visak is currently ranked #570 on ATP Doubles Ranking. His best double ranking was #370 in February 2009.

GIRLS
Natali Zuliani, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

IN 1997 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM CROATIA

1997 – 2nd Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Zeljko Peric, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.
Filip Kricka, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 runner up, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

GIRLS
Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #265 on WTA list. Ivana’s best ranking was #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

IN 1998 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

1998 – 3rd Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Filip Kovacic, 3rd Smrikva Bowl 1998 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.

GIRLS
Mateja Horvat, 3rd Smrikva Bowl 1998 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player. Her best ranking was around #800 on WTA list.

1999 – 4th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Borko Mudronja, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked player.
Deni Zmak, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #1177 on ATP list.

GIRLS
Astrid Besser, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Italy, is ranked #430 on WTA list.

2000 – 5th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Adelchi Virgili, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Italy is not ranked.

GIRLS
Tereza Mrdeza, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Croatia, is currently ranked #466 on WTA list.

2001 – 6th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Marin Draganja, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #1854 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #1707 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #151 on WTA list.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #730 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 #710 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1710 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #802 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #539 on WTA list.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #801 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 #738 on ITF ranking list.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #283 on ITF ranking list.
Ciprian Porumb, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, is ranked #439 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Jennifer Ren, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Great Britain, was ranked #999 on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #860 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #539 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett Egger, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #318 on ITF ranking list.
Robert Stineman, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #93 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Ivan Levar, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #99 in under 16 cathegory.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #4 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #1062 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska Gavrilovska, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #298 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #1093 on ITF ranking list.
Ecaterina Opriou, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Romenia, is ranked #32 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel Polnet, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #154 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #13 in the USA in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #595 on ITF ranking list.
Anna MAMALAT, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1230 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #30 in the USA in under 16 cathegory.

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 #8 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gyore Laszlo, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #12 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #30 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Saska Gavrilovska, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #298 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #1093 on ITF ranking list.
Olga Ianchuk, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #9 in Europe in under 14 cathegory and is ranked #1382 on ITF ranking list.

Dorothy Tang, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #59 in the USA in under 14 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Gianluigi QUINZI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Italy, is ranked #30 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Filip Kraljevic, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #647 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #26 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Dina PAOCIC, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 runner up, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #121 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

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

BOYS
Sacha Merzetti, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #257 in Europe in under 14 cathegory*.
Gonzalo Morell, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Sergiu Bucur, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Virginia PENA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Spain, is ranked #407 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #302 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #355 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Katie Dayson, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from UK, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

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

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

11/07/09

Petra Martic - 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner - lost in the quarterfinals of USD 220000 Budapest GDF Suez Grand Prix

Petra Martic from Croatia – 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner – is currently the best ranked Smrikva Bowl WTA player. Petra Martic is ranked #135 on WTA list and reached the quarterfinals of USD 220000 Budapest GDF Suez Grand Prix.

Petra Martic had to play the Qualifications to enter the Main Draw:

1st round: Petra Martic – Bye
2nd round: Petra Martic – Veronika Chvojkova (CZE) 6:2, 7:6
3rd round: Petra Martic – Lenka Jurikova (SVK) 6:2, 6:4

Petra Martic performance in the Main Draw was the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – Lucie Safarova (CZE) 7:6, 6:0
2nd round: Petra Martic – Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) 6:3, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Petra Martic – Edina Gollovits (ROU) 3:6, 6:7

The WTA ranking of the defeated players is the following:
Veronika Chvojkova (CZE) – # 374 WTA
Lenka Jurikova (SVK) – # 293 WTA
Lucie Safarova (CZE) – # 47 WTA
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) – # 88 WTA

In the quarterfinals Petra Martic lost against Edina Gollovits from Romania that is currently ranked #114 on WTA list.

Congratulations Petra!

07/07/09

Few words about the 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 edition…

Introduction…

I was thinking over the last days that might be nice for the Smrikva Bowl community to write few words about people that were among the actors of this year Smrikva Bowl.

Every year we prepare the Smrikva Bowl stage that is made with a lot of passion and determination to allow new hopes emerging in the World to show their skills… and every year different personalities and different people emerge that make this small tournament something special to all the people that help contributing this event to happen…

Last night I started to read one of Nick Bollettieri’s books and in a paragraph of the preface he wrote…”I have interacted with people from all walks of life. I continue to be disappointed with myself for not having kept a daily diary, something to bolster my memory and prevent inevitable loss of detail that accompanies the passage of time. So before you end up with the same regrets, start keeping a diary today. Diaries become treasures that recall the minutia of an event, those details that make it worth remembering in the first place.”

I would put this words and share it with you just to keep at least some elements of this year story alive that will help other parts of the memories to be easily remembered one day…

Alejandro, Alexei, Anthony and Alex…the first arrivals…

The first players to arrive this year were Alejandro Davidovich from Spain and Alexei and Anthony Popyrin from Dubai. Alexei and Anthony played also last year Smrikva Bowl and for Alejandro it was the first time. Anthony is a younger brother with a very special and nice character. Just few days after their arrival also Alexandre Zavodov from Great Britain arrived. These kids become very close friends during the tournament.

What all of these four kids share is passion for tennis and Russian origin…

Alejandro’s father was the Soviet Union box Champion and almost four decades ago he decide to visit the World. This brought him to live in many different countries of the World and today he’s home is in Spain and is dedicated to the growth of his son.

When I first met him this year I was still working in the garden doing last preparations for the Smrikva Bowl start and he come with the book about Picasso.

From this year each player to enter Smrikva Bowl is pleased to bring with him a book representing the culture of the country he is coming from. He showed me the book and translated to me from Russian the words he dedicated to the tournament. I understood Alejandro’s words in Spanish but his fathers’ words were saying a nice thing. He explained to me that this was only the part I of the book and he said to me that there is also a part II and that he hopes that during his next visit to Smrikve he will bring to me also the part II of it. It was a very nice idea.

What I enjoy on my tournament is to learn little bit more about the stories that are behind the people that come to the tournament and Alejandro’s father had a long story to say.

His son is very talented and started to hold the racket when he was less than three years old and you can feel that when you stay with him on the court. I had the opportunity to do some training sessions with him and every task I gave him to do was made close to the perfection. The way the ball get in touch with his racket reminded me what Maradona can do with the soccer ball.

Alejandro like the animals and especially he become very close friend with our cat… the most frequent question was… Donde esta el gato? Which means where is the cat :)… His father wasn’t happy about it thinking that he is not concentrated enough. He told me the first thing when he wake up in the morning he asks him when will we go the club because he wanted to play with the cat… another funny thing with Alejandro is that every time I asked him “how do you do?” in Spanish… He answered to me “Nada bien” “I am not good at all”… and than he smiled… every time was the same story…

It was funny but the last day before they went home Alex and Alejandro played an exhibition match with some recreational player from our Club. A group of friends that play in our Club where not able to believe that kids of 10 years of age can play such a good tennis and my father told them that the best players in their recreational group would not be able to take a set to them. They did not believe in that and very late that evening they choose two best players from the group and Alex borrowed the shoes to Alejandro and they went on the court. Both Alex and Alejandro won that match and the group of friend kept saying if someone would have told them that story they wouldn’t believe it if they were not there seeing the ability of this kids… and still today they recall that night…

During the match Alejandro played more with the cat than with his opponent… and his opponent said after loosing the set 6:0, I am completely swet and Alejandro plays with the cat, smile and do with me what he wants…

Smrikva Bowl library…

This year we started to build the Smrikva Bowl library and the final registration of the player started on Monday. On Monday the players started to donate their books. It was very nice for me to see what kids and parents have chosen to represent their place of origin. Few players made their own books: Ashley from the US, Novac from Romania, Vinicius from Brasil and Smalley from UK. Some other brought books from their personal libraries. There were very old books with some photos made by the best photographers of the countries in white and black technique… there are books that really allow you to get in touch with their cultures… and every book is dedicated that make it very special…

Ashley and Alex the first “Little Mo” players in Smrikve this year…

This year Ashley Lahey, Alex Gee and Noah’s grandparents were the first representatives from the American team to arrive in Smrikve – the “Little Mo” team. Ashley is growing up in Colorado and in her book I saw her jumping from one stone to the other and every time I saw her in Smrikve I saw that spirit of liberty… every move she does is spreading a sort of liberty and wild west spirit one can feel watching the most beautiful western films… many times I saw her without shoes and this is Ashley… this is her stile… the kid part of the nature…

Alex Gee family is of Chinese origin and I was very pleased one night when his mother prepared the past for dinner. Actually he made it twice and was very taste to me. I like Chinese and Thai food a lot. The second time also Ashley mother made the dressing for the salad and Alex’s mother made another type of pasta and this time the taste of it reminded me the taste of the food I had in New York. Just a little bit of lemon in the salad that we do not use recalled me my stay in the US.

The weather was a big question mark…

Before the tournament started and during the opening ceremony we had clouds all over Smrikve. The temperature was down and the forecasts were bad for the whole week… We had a lot of matches during the Smrikva Bowl and bad weather would have created some problems for the execution of the tournament.

Every year we had a very hot weather during the tournament and this year the weather was excellent for the game but threatening for the tournament execution. Usually is very hot but with the clouds and low temperature kids were in better playing conditions than is usually the case.

The morning of the opening of the tournament also some rain was coming down. We had the ballet dancers ready for the opening and the clouds where still above us. In end we were lucky and all days were nice… only during the match with the United States, on Sunday, we had a rainy match when Noah and Samuele played.

Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors greetings…

Another nice thing is that almost every player that come to the Smrikva Bowl was recommended by a Smrikva Bowl Ambassador to come… thus I receive greetings and news from many people that played this tournament years ago…

Innocenti’s father brought greetings from Virgili family… Miguel, Mariano, Armando and Pasqui brought the greetings from Morell family… Bullanti from Jofre Porta…

It is also nice to see former players on the Smrikva Bowl…This year we had the brother and sisters of three Smrikva Bowl winners participating the tournament… Sacha Merzetti’s brother Nicolas, Katarina Jokic’s brother Andrej and Dominic Thiem’s brother Moritz… there were also players that come just to say hello or the cheer their friends such as Nina Marjanovic and Grega Kokalj… Grega is currently the under 12 Slovenian Champion and Nina has progressed strongly since last year when I saw her for the last time… Her father Bora told me that the stay at Mouratoglou Academy was very important for Nina’s improvement and I am very pleased for that…

Laura and Maureen… a nice visit to Smrikve from Paris…

Since last year Mouratoglou Academy offers a special prize to the Smrikva Bowl winners thanks to Luca Appino Golden Smrikva Bowl Honorary Member – a long term Smrikva Bowl friend.

The Smrikva Bowl winners get one week training at this prestigious Academy. I was very pleased when Laura and Maureen from the Academy joined Smrikva Bowl helping to introduce the Academy opportunities to the kids and their parents.

They were another two lovely person that I had the opportunity to meet this year thanks to the tournament. I also received a nice Patrick’s book on the way how he looks at the profession he elected and is a good book that would be recommended to the players that have started the path of dedicated most of their time to tennis…

It was funny when Moureen told me that just few days ago she would never imagined that she would have visited Croatia… it was nice to hear that… international Maureen and Laura are also lover of good olive oil and I was pleased to share with them the story of the Istrian olive oil…

People from all around the World that gather for few days and create the New York Central Park atmosphere in your garden…

Smrikva Bowl gathers talents from all around the globe…

Year after year there are more and more talented players on the Smrikva Bowl and usually since the first matches you can not be sure for the outcome. Most of this kids meet for the first time and in most of the countries they are the best and they think that they are no other at their level but on the Smrikva Bowl they find out that they are many other on their level growing at most different part of the globe.

The same was this year… I used to compare this kids with excellent wines… their parents, coaches and the kids do all of their best to be the best and they work hard and most of them do what is needed to be done to do well things…

The same you need to do if you want to have a good wine… all year you work hard in the vineyard and do your best but till you do not taste the wine you do not know the outcome of your work…

I think is the same for the coaches that start their first international experiences with their pupils and they do not know how their kid will find them self in such an environment.

Every year I receive the candidacy of the players that on the paper are the best of the best… all of them are talented and with the results in their countries but this is the meeting with other talents that work hard the same as they do… and than once the tournament arrives to the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals you start getting the feeling of the quality of wine you have… and this year I can say that we had another excellent year…

Surprise…

I was very surprised by a Turkish player named Inci Ogut. Berfu Cengiz played last year and I knew her determination and fighting spirit but I was nicely surprised also by Inci. Turkey is not known as a tennis country but Inci’s game is so nice to watch.

Her game style is natural and nice. When she run all over the court keep the smile on her face you can not do other than enjoy what is she offering to the spectators.

She is very smiley and educated girl. I was very pleased when she brought me one night while we were sitting with her father, her Romanian coach to show me the book about her town – Istanbul – the town of traditions, history and the crossroad of civilizations.

The Olive Tree on Brioni Islands dates back into the times of Constantine the Great – the founder of Byzantine Empire and her book contain in her buildings the summary of all the time and civilisations that has passed in these 17 centuries.

Another small step was made with this year Smrikva Bowl…

This year was particular for more elements: it was the year when many brothers and sisters of former players arrived… it was a year when we had six new countries represented: Japan, Brasil, Norway, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Mauritius… it was a year of the one of the strongest nine year old girls ever that I had the opportunity to see playing Smrikva Bowl – Joka… it was the year when we reached the 40 countries and six continents in term of Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors spread all over the year… it was the year when “Istria from Smrikve” was put on line and Smrikva Bowl players started to build the Smrikva Bowl library… it was the year of the threatening weather conditions… it was the year when Sergio Tacchini become the Sponsor and Laura and Maureen from Mouratoglou came to visit us… there are so many different elements to consider this year another small step further…

Rimpei, Arakawa, Vinicius,… some new names…

Rimepi brought me a very nice book from Japan about Japanese traditional architecture… and I did not know that Japanese start to read from what we consider the back of the book and while I was looking for his dedication of the book to Smrikve I asked him to signed and he explained to me that is already signed but I should read properly the book…

Arakawa come with her sister and took the opportunity to prepare with Ariana and Silvia for another important tournament for her.

Vinicious from Brazil is one of the four kids that made his own book for the Smrikve library. It is very nice and it was the first hand made book I received this year. I was really surprised for the effort and love that was invested by the child and parents to create these artworks of the books.

The finals… Alvaro – Samuele… Katie – Jovana…

This year in the boys finals we had a boy from Spain Alvaro Regalado Pedrol and a boy from Italy – Samuele Ramazzotti. Alvaro won the tournament and his determination to win in the game and the polite and friendly attitude outside the court conquered hearts of many spectators.

I spent some time living in Spain and I like the positive attitude of Spanish people. This year Spanish team was very strong with Alvaro, Alex, Alejandro and Angela… all very talented kids… but also the kids and the players that enjoy “la vida”…

Samuele won the Lemon Bowl this year in January and played a very good tournament. Many people call him Djokovic both because of his physical look and because of his game. He played well except in the finals when in my opinion the finals atmosphere overcome his concentration and will to enjoy the game. This is something I learned from the person he calls grandfather…

The day after his tennis with the Americans was strong again. He was hear with his close friends that he call grandparents but as far as I understood these people are only people that give him love and enjoy following him on the tournaments. Their camper was their home during the Smrikva Bowl and I learned more about Samuele thanks to these people…

Katie Swan and Jovana Vukovic- Joka played the girls finals. Katie is from Great Britain and Jovana from Serbia… both very polite girls…

A long way for Jovana to join this year Smrikva Bowl because of her age…

Jovana is 9 years old girl and we have only 100 places available per year for the Smrikva Bowl participants thus the older players that can not participate the following year get preferred.

Before the tournament I received Jovana’s application and explained to the parents that I might not be able to invite her this year but for sure I will take her for the next year.

I tried to explain to them how the candidate selection is made and they kept asking if there was a way for Jovana to participate. They told me that she was very talented and hard working girl and they also told me that is among the best in the country. I tried to explain that the kids on the Smrikva Bowl are from many different countries and very strong thus being one year young may create the difference…

At the time the under 12 Serbian ranking list was showing Jovana out of top 5 in the country and I said to the parents that the other child if they apply that are currently ranked better than Jovana would have the preference for both reasons: their age and the ranking.

They tried to explain that she was stronger than several other player appearing on that list but that she was not playing many tournaments. Than I remembered that one trainer from Cacak asked my parents if I could give a wild card for the winners of a tournament that he would like to establish in Cacak for the best boys and girls in Serbia and I agreed to give that opportunity to his winners thus I suggested to Jovana’s parents to try to play that tournament and if she wins although she is one year younger I would take her in the Smrikva Bowl…

Jovana played that tournament and won by defeating several girls that were in front of her on that ranking list I had on the beginning of the year. Before the Smrikva Bowl started she was ranked #1 in her age group and in one year older age group thus I started to understand that she should be in front of her generation…

Jovana played a very nice tournament and in the finals Katie’s experience and the ability to hold the ball in the game allowed Katie to crown her the 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner. There is a room for Jovana to improve her game, but the game I saw from her this year is for sure one of the strongest 9 years old players that I have ever seen on the Smrikva Bowl.

Stars among the stars…

All these kids are special… I would say 30% special for their game and 70% special for their personalities… from many of them I learned and I can explain every detail but will say at least some elements on how they recall the current shining tennis stars although completely different as personalities…

I can say that Samuele Ramazzotti has some elements that remind the tennis star of Novak Djokovic…

Alvaro Regalado Pedrol has some elements of the tennis star Rafael Nadal… Alvaro is a warrior and this attitude having had the possibility to meet his father Miguel make me think that is the warrior like his father…

Jovana Vukovic – Joka has some elements of the tennis star Rafael Nadal in her forehand and some elements of Ana Ivanovic in her backhand… she is curious girl and I like when children make questions…

Katie Swan is very British in her attitude and game… very polite but she never give up… sometimes running without shoes even if it is raining thus reminded me the Ashley’s freedom style… and sometimes like a Swan in a ballet dance concentrate at every move and every stroke…

Thanks to all the parents, players, coaches and all the Smrikva Bowl friends that were part of this year event.