 New Rule Impacts Sanctioned Tournaments for Youngest Players
Ages 10 and Younger; Tennis Now “Sized Right” For Kids
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) today announced that on January 1, 2012 the rules of tennis officially will be changed and require that 10 and Under Tennis tournaments be played utilizing smaller, lighter racquets and lower-bouncing balls on smaller courts. The change was adopted by the USTA in the summer of 2010.
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 Noted tennis agent Ken Meyerson, who represented Andy Roddick, Chris Evert and Justine Henin, died in his sleep Wednesday night. He was 48.
Meyerson passed away Wednesday night at his home in Florida, according to a statement by his agency, Lagardere Unlimited. The cause of death is thought to be a heart attack.
Meyerson was president of Lagardere's tennis division. Before that, he worked at the BEST agency. As news of his death spread, Meyerson was being honored by a number of agents and players, including American players Mardy Fish and John Isner. He was a fixture on the tour for the past 20 years and was fiercly loyal to his clients. And the same could easily be said in return.
Roddick, who was his hallmark client, tweeted: "I love you and miss you. I will be forever grateful for your faith & loyalty. You will forever be my brother. As always 'thanks Meyerson."' Their's was a very close relationship and Meyerson could regularly be found in Roddick's player's box at the major events.
Meyerson is survived by his wife, Claudia, and daughters Charlotte and Emily.
Funeral arrangements have been set for Sunday.
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By Alix Ramsay
 For the moment, there is not a cloud in Novak Djokovic’s sky; he is the champion of New York, of Wimbledon and of Melbourne. He is the undisputed No.1 and he has now won 64 of 66 matches this year. The man has a right to feel invincible.
Over the course of a brutal four hours and 10 minutes on Monday night, he beat Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 to win is first US Open title (there may be more to come). It was a victory of nerve, resilience, stamina and sheer brute force. But it may also have been a turning point in the Serb’s brilliant season.
By the time it was over, Djokovic was exhausted and he was hurting. His back was giving him gyp and, for the first time this year, Nadal was threatening to challenge him.
In five previous meetings since the start of the season – all in finals – Nadal had looked unsure, uncertain and confused. The man Nadal had beaten with spectacular regularity in the past had got his number; he had beaten the Spaniard on the clay courts of Europe (and who would have imagined that 12 months ago?), he had beaten him on the grass of SW19, the tournament Nadal holds most dear, and he had muscled the Majorcan out of the top spot in the rankings. In short, Djokovic had locked Nadal in a neat, wee cage and thrown away the key.
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By Alix Ramsay
 Serena Williams was all smiles once it was over but for a set of her 6-2, 6-3 thrashing by Sam Stosur, she had been at her snarling, fuming, bullying worst. The overwhelming favourite as the tournament began, she had been overwhelmed by the power and precision of Stosur’s shot making. And she had been undone by her own temper.
Still nowhere near her best after more than a year of illness and injury – she had still won back-to-back titles over the summer, mind you – she was everyone’s pick to clatter Stosur in the final. The champion in Serena will out no matter how unfit or under-prepared she is but this aura of invincibility had not reckoned for Stosur having one the best days of her life.
Mentally fragile under pressure, the Australian has spent a career of not quite making it. She reached the French Open final last year but once she got there, she was not the same, confident player she had been in all the other rounds. This time, she came out of the blocks like a sprinter and save for a minor hiccup as Williams went ballistic at the umpire, she never looked back.
The trouble started at the start of the second set. Williams was being run ragged by her opponent and seemed to have no answer to Stosur’s game plan. A set down and now facing break point, she was also serving like a plank and making errors to a band playing. But when she hit what she thought was a clean winner, she got a little ahead of herself. Before the point was dead and just as Stosur was getting her racquet to the ball, she screamed “come on!”. That was clearly unfair and the umpire, Eva Asderaki, called Williams over and explained that the point had been awarded to the Australian. With it went the game.
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