Biography of Lleyton Hewitt

Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is a professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1 ranked player, from Australia. In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces (hard, clay and grass) and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked number one, at the age of 20.

His career achievements include winning the 2000 US Open men's doubles, the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men's singles, and back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup titles (2001 and 2002). In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put Hewitt in 34th place on its list of the 40 greatest tennis players since 1965. Hewitt is known for his competitiveness and has won most of his matches with fitness, consistency and skilled footwork.

Playing Style
Hewitt is a defensive baseline counterpuncher. He typically likes to stay back towards the baseline during a rally and will usually approach the net only to catch a short reply or drop shot from his opponent. At the 2004 Cincinnati Masters Final, commentator MaliVai Washington said that Hewitt was even more difficult to "ace" than Agassi because he gets more returns in play. Hewitt's tactics typically involve putting difficult service returns in play, consistently chasing down attempted winning shots from his opponent, and waiting for his opponent to make an error.

Although he is known primarily as a baseline defender, Hewitt is a skilled volleyer and is known for having one of the best overhead smashes in the game. His signature shot, however, is the offensive topspin lob, a shot that he executes efficiently off both wings when his opponent approaches the net. US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe and Jim Courier have both described Hewitt's lob as being the best in the world. In Andre Agassi's book "Open", Hewitt is described as one of the best shot selectors in the history of Men's Tennis.

Equipment
Hewitt is currently sponsored by the Japanese sports manufacterer Yonex, with whom he signed a "Head to Toe" deal in late 2005. Yonex provides all of Hewitt's clothing, racquets, shoes and accessories. Hewitt's Yonex shoes (SHT-306) are inscribed with his nickname "Rusty" along with an image of an Australian flag.

As of 7 August 2007, his first appearance with a new racquet at the Montreal Masters, Hewitt used to use the Yonex RQiS 1 Tour. He used to use the Yonex RDS tour 90 Model, but switched to the Yonex RDiS 100 mid in 2009.

Biography of Mikhail Youzhny

Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny born 25 June 1982, in Moscow, USSR (now Russia), is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years.

The highest singles world ranking of his career was number seven, achieved on 18 October 2010.

Playing style and equipment :

Youzhny has a unique backhand, in which he mainly hits one-handed, but also has somewhat of a hybrid reminiscent to that of Björn Borg. Youzhny at times will follow through his backhand with both hands, but with only his right hand on his racket. Even so, many consider his backhand to be his best shot. From both sides, Youzhny hits the ball on the rise, achieving a flatter trajectory. He has a good court sense and often makes use of dropshots.

Youzhny has a reputation for engaging the crowd, subsequently taking inspiration from it to attempt high-risk winners, especially when facing matchpoints. After each big victory Youzhny gives a military style salute to the spectators. He does it by holding the tennis racquet above his head with his left hand and saluting with his right hand. The racquet imitates a hat, since according to Russian military tradition one must wear a hat to give proper salute.

As for his equipment, he wears adidas clothing and Barricade V shoes and uses a Head Youtek Extreme Pro racquet.

Biography of Robin Soderling

Robin Bo Carl Söderling ( born 14 August 1984 in Tibro) is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked #5 in the ATP rankings(26/10/2010). Söderling is best known for reaching successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010.
 
In both tournaments, he defeated the defending champion en route to the final—Rafael Nadal in 2009 (becoming the first and, to date, only player to defeat Nadal at the French Open), and Roger Federer in 2010 (ending Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals).
 
But ironically, it was Federer and Nadal who had beaten Söderling in the 2009 and 2010 French Open finals respectively. He is coached by former world no.2 Magnus Norman. Playing Style and Equipment Söderling's type of game has been described as "brutal". He is known for his competitive drive and powerful game, hitting accurate hard ground strokes.
 
His serve is heavy and precise, capable of generating a speed of over 140 mph. He can overpower most of his opponents and possesses a very good return game. His double-handed backhand is solid and dependable, while the forehand is regarded as one of the most lethal in today's game. Most of his success has come on faster surfaces (hard courts and indoor carpet), although his best Grand Slam results have occurred at the French Open; this is thought to be due to the heavy conditions and slowness of the clay which allow him more time to set up his powerful shots.
 
Many people have praised Söderling for his game, saying he is a Grand Slam contender and stable top tenner, though his mental strength and lack of consistency in his game has been his weakness. But in recent years, his mental toughness has improved considerably and this has raised the consistency of his game; much of this has been attributed to the influence of his current coach, former world #2 and 2000 French Open finalist Magnus Norman. Söderling wears Lotto clothing and uses a Head YOUTEK Radical Midplus racquet.

Anna Kournikova After 7 Years

  

It seems like a long time ago now, but there was a point when Anna Kournikova was most famous for playing tennis. Now the Russian beauty is best known for her swimsuit spreads (another of which appears in this month's issue of Maxim), high-profile relationships and for being the go-to reference for any overhyped athlete with a pretty face, but it wasn't always that way.
 
For a few years, Kournikova was the "hot tennis player" not "the tennis player who's hot." When she made a deep run at Wimbledon in 1997 at the age of 16, it was supposed to be a harbinger of tennis greatness to come. Kournikova was a product of Nick Bolletieri's famed tennis school and had become the youngest winner of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl tournament. She was cute, sure, but there was the expectation that she'd be able to back up the hype that developed because of her looks.

Biography of Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is a former American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most that any male player has achieved, surpassed in 2009 by Roger Federer.
 
He had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Sampras debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final.
 
He was the year-end World No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993–1998), a record for the open era. His seven Wimbledon singles championships is a record shared with William Renshaw. He spent 286 weeks at top of List of ATP number 1 ranked players, the most of any player.
 
His five US Open singles titles is an open-era record shared with former World No. 1 players Jimmy Connors and Federer. Sampras is the last American male to win Wimbledon.

Biography of Andy Roddick

 
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is the top-ranked American player and the only American inside the ATP top 10. As of July 5, 2010, he is ranked World No. 9 by the ATP rankings.
 
He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the finals. Roddick has reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon three times and the US Open once), losing to Roger Federer each time.

Biography of Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic winning his first Grand Slam in Melbourne Australia 2008

Novak Djokovic, born 22 May 1987, is a Serbian professional tennis player, who is currently ranked the World No. 2 on 28/7/2010.

He has won one Grand Slam singles title, the 2008 Australian Open, becoming the first player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events.

He was also the runner-up at the 2007 US Open and a bronze medallist representing Serbia at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition, Djokovic won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and has won five Masters Series tournaments.

The Beautiful Tennis Ace : Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova with nike, canon and prince Born on April 19, 1987 in the city of Nyagan, the Russian tennis sensation Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a fifteen ranked tennis ace from the women’s side.

The former number one Maria has so far captured three Grand Slam trophies all through her career, namely the grass court Grand Slam title back in 2004, the United States Open trophy back in 2006, as well as the hard court Australian Open crown back in 2008.

The right handed Sharapova also ended the Grand Slam 2007 Australian Open tournament as runner up.

Biography of Rafael Nadal

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera, born 3 June 1986 is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 in the world.

Nadal has won eight Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Biography of Andy Murray

Andrew "Andy" Murray ( born 15 May 1987 ) is a Scottish professional tennis player and current British No.1. He is currently ranked No.4 in the world, but was ranked No.2 from 17 August 2009 to 31 August 2009, making him the highest-ranked British male player since Fred Perry.

Murray achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has reached two Grand Slam finals, the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer both times.

Playing Style : Murray is best described as a defensive counter-puncher, his greatest strengths include solid groundstrokes with low error rate, the uncanny ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defence to offence with extraordinary speed which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions.

Early in his career, most of his main tour wins came on hard courts. However, he claimed to prefer clay courts, because of his training in Barcelona as a junior player.

Equipment : Murray is sponsored by Head for his racquets, and uses the new Head Youtek Radical Pro. He wore Fred Perry apparel until late 2009, when he signed a five-year £10m contract with Adidas, which he began wearing at the start of the 2010 season.

Biography of Roger Federer

Roger Federer ( born 8 August 1981 ) is a Swiss professional tennis player. As of 5 July 2010, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

He previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks and 285 total weeks, one week behind record holder Pete Sampras. Considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time, Federer has won a male record 16 Grand Slam singles titles.

He also won the Olympic Gold Medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he is often referred to as The Federer Express or abbreviated to Fed Express, the Swiss Maestro or simply Maestro.