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Murray tennis centre plan rejected

Murray tennis centre plan rejected

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015
Tayside and Central Scotland

Murray tennis centre plan near Dunblane rejected

  • 8 December 2015
  • From the section Tayside and Central Scotland
Park of Keir development Image copyright Park of Keir
Image caption The development was being promoted by Judy Murray, mother of tennis players Andy and Jamie

Councillors in Stirling have rejected plans for a controversial sports and housing development near Dunblane.

The greenbelt development was being promoted by Judy Murray in the face of strong local opposition.

Planning officers at the council had earlier recommended that the Park of Keir application be refused.

Councillors said they had decided to reject the bid after carefully considering the arguments for and against the project.

The proposed development, between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, would have included tennis and golf facilities along with a visitor centre and museum, all set in a new country park.

The plans also included luxury homes to help pay for the scheme.

But planning officers said the application should be refused because it was sited on greenbelt land.

They also said there was not enough affordable housing proposed and added the residential element was contrary to Scottish planning policy, because residents would have to travel for basic amenities and services.

The scheme had received high-profile support from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and golfer Colin Montgomerie.

‘Wrong location’

However, campaigners said the loss of greenbelt land to the development was too high a price to pay. There were more than 1,000 objections to the scheme and only 45 in support.

Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green Party councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, spoke against the proposal at Tuesday morning’s hearing on the plans.

Following the decision, Mr Ruskell said: “I’m delighted that this proposal has been rejected. It would have been totally wrong to rip up our democratically-agreed local plan to make room for executive housing on this treasured greenbelt area.

“For over 25 years, local communities have fought against development at Park of Keir. Judy Murray had a good idea but it was in completely the wrong location – I’m sure that sporting legacy can be secured elsewhere.”

Ms Murray said on Friday that she wanted to leave a legacy to the success of her two sons, tennis players Andy and Jamie Murray.

A spokeswoman for Stirling Council said: “Having carefully considered and discussed extensively all the arguments for and against this proposal, Stirling Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel has today refused the application for a development at Park of Keir.”

More on this story

  • Sir Alex Ferguson plea over new Dunblane sports centre
    4 December 2015

Related Internet links

  • Park of Keir

  • Stirling Council

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Sharapova & Friends Set To Shine In LA

Sharapova & Friends Set To Shine In LA

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Maria Sharapova and a host of other tennis players and celebrities are set to light up Los Angeles this coming weekend at Maria Sharapova & Friends, presented by Porsche.

Three of the WTA’s brightest young stars – Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Laura Robson – will join Sharapova at the event, as will ATP stars Kei Nishikori, Jack Sock, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang. Comedy stars Chelsea Handler and Will Arnett will partner with the pros in mixed doubles.

“It’s been a long-term goal of mine to host my own tennis event and bring professional tennis back to Los Angeles,” Sharapova said of the event, which will take place at the UCLA Tennis Center. “I want to thank my great partner Porsche for believing in this project from the beginning, along with the players, entertainers and sponsors that are supporting Maria Sharapova & Friends. I hope the fans enjoy the highly competitive tennis, comedy and entertainment, and walk away having had a great weekend.”

The line-up for Saturday, December 12 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Roddick & Robson vs Chang & Keys)
Men’s Singles (Roddick vs Chang)
Women’s Singles (Sharapova vs Keys)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Will Arnett vs Roddick & Chelsea Handler)

The line-up for Sunday, December 13 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Nishikori vs Robson & Sock)
Women’s Singles (Keys vs Stephens)
Men’s Singles (Nishikori vs Sock)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Chelsea Handler vs Sock & TBD)

Tennis Channel coverage begins live at 2pm PT/5pm ET both days – check out their TV schedule here.

Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from the event will go towards the Maria Sharapova Foundation, which raises money for underprivileged kids around the world. Read more about the foundation here.

And come back to wtatennis.com this weekend for coverage from Maria Sharapova & Friends!

Maria Sharapova

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Top 100 Quotes Of 2015: Part 1

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

Top 100 Quotes Of 2015: Part 1

ATP World Tour Season In Review: Quotebook

ATPWorldTour.com looks back on the year in the words of those who made it all happen. Here’s the wit, the wisdom (and some occasional wackiness) from today’s top players, our Top 100 Quotes of 2015. Our first installment, Nos. 1-50:

1. “It’s the best year of my life, no question about it.” — Novak Djokovic

2. “Once you find that peace, that place of peace and quiet, harmony and confidence, that’s when you start playing your best.” — Roger Federer

3. “You don’t play someone’s reputation.” — John Millman on the prospect of facing Roger Federer in Brisbane

4. “I’m always sort of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘That’s who I have to compare myself to: to myself.’” — Milos Raonic

5. “My brother is telling me that ‘Anything is Pospisil’ is trending on Twitter. That’s always nice to hear.” — Vasek Pospisil

6. “I feel more comfortable living in Japan. They have much better food.” — Kei Nishikori

7. “It’s important to know your limitations as a player so you don’t pull off shots that are totally stupid.” — Roger Federer

8. “I like all the surfaces, to be honest. I don’t discriminate any of them.” — Grigor Dimitrov

9. “Pressure is part of what we do. It’s always present.” — Novak Djokovic

10. “I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn’t a prodigy. I’m a late-bloomer. Whatever happens, I’m proud of what I’ve done.” — John Isner

11. “I was assured that it’s gluten-free, it’s not processed, completely organic and natural and I could eat it.” — Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic on the Centre Court grass at the All England Club

12. “Nobody had ever touched a tennis racquet in my family, so it was a sign of destiny. God and life have arranged things for me to play this sport.” — Novak Djokovic

13. “Was the guy from One Direction here?” — Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Queen’s Club

14. “One thing I do have is guts. I will go for it. My whole life is about perseverance, just trying to find a way to succeed. Sometimes the chips are against you; sometimes they fool you.” — Leander Paes

15. “Scared? I don’t like this word. I don’t like to say we have fear. There are moments when it’s more difficult than others when we are looking for solutions, but we are not scared. We are not afraid.” — Gael Monfils

16. “From when you walk onto the court, you start every match as equal.” — Andy Murray

17. “It’s this crazy number. It’s just so long and it looks so good, looks so great, so grand and everything. Now we’re on to 2,000, right?” — Roger Federer, who reached the 1,000-win milestone in Brisbane

18. “Twenty-seven titles: Brugnon, Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet — oh là là.” — Pierre-Hughes Herbert on France’s legendary Four Musketeers, who combined for 27 Grand Slam doubles championships

19. “I love the back-against-the-wall situation.” — Lleyton Hewitt

20. “I’ve won much more than I ever dreamed.” — Rafael Nadal

21. “I don’t like revenge. It doesn’t come from positive emotion.” — Novak Djokovic

22. “I won’t be turning into Novak anytime soon.” — John Isner on his return game

23. “I have two lives, and all the problems I might have, I feel like I drop them once I step on to the match court.” — Roger Federer

24. “‘If’ doesn’t exist in sport.” — Rafael Nadal

25. “You go through the pain barrier out there on the court.” — Lleyton Hewitt

26. “Try your best. Fight hard until the last point. That’s all that you can do on the court.” — Tomas Berdych

27. “There are no shortcuts. Play your best tennis, give your heart out and anything can happen.” — Grigor Dimitrov

28. “You cannot shy away from entering the long, grueling points and moving your opponent side to side and him doing the same with you. If you’re scared of that, you won’t go very far.” — Roger Federer

29. “It’s simple: just keep fighting and keep believing; try not to show weakness out there.” — John Isner

30. “Success is being happy. It’s not about winning every single tournament.” — Andy Murray

31. “When you win, when you lose, it’s not because of the racquet. Never. It’s because of yourself.” — Rafael Nadal

32. “Tennis is a funny sport sometimes; you can be up winning, and all of a sudden it can change with one shot.” — Bernard Tomic

33. “I’m not trying to be anyone else. I’m just myself.” — Nick Kyrgios

34. “I’m a country boy. I always wanted to play on the big courts. That was my dream. Now I’m living that dream.” — Sam Groth

35. “Tennis is an extremely difficult sport.” — Andy Murray

36. “In this sport you always can fall down.” — Rafael Nadal

37. “The serve is the only thing you know about yourself when you play tennis. Nobody can touch you when you serve. Nobody can disturb you. You have the ball in hand.” — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

38. “If you enjoy the sport, respect the game, the game will give back to you.” — Bernard Tomic

39. “For me, a finalist trophy is not the same. Everybody knows that.” — Roger Federer

40. “We shouldn’t spend too many words about him. We all know how good he is. He’s the greatest ever.” — Novak Djokovic on Roger Federer

41. “Sometimes you make mistakes, but it’s important to get out of those crisis times as soon as possible.” — Novak Djokovic

42. “Let’s make another 500, you know? Let’s try to chase Roger now.” — Tomas Berdych after winning his 500th career match in Dubai

43. “Every day is a different day. Every day is a chance for me to improve.” — Rafael Nadal

44. “You can lose concentration at any time in a match.  We, as humans, do that all the time, and it’s really about how quickly you can get it back.” — Andy Murray

45. “He does everything the best. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on.” — John Isner on Novak Djokovic

46. “The game is bigger than any athletes we’ve ever had.” — Roger Federer

47. “You are the hunted one.” — Novak Djokovic on life at No. 1

48. “Sometimes your game is not there.” — Grigor Dimitrov

49. “It’s not so simple to just stay in the moment and trust your game and your strength that you can turn it around.” — Roger Federer

50. “I believe in old-school hard work.” — Roger Federer

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Daily Insider: Super Serena

Daily Insider: Super Serena

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

– Serena the Superhero: espnW and Marvel Comics collaborated on this project to turn 25 women into superheroes. Serena Williams is included as Super Galactic Slam.

– Han Xiyun wins the Australian Open wildcard: Han defeated Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-0, on Sunday to win the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff, earning a main draw wildcard at the Australian Open in January.

– Drama defined the 2015 WTA Season: Christopher Clarey for The New York Times takes a closer look at how the 2015 season played out for the women.

“I just thought it was a really good year for women’s tennis,” said Pam Shriver, a former star who is now an ESPN analyst. “A lot of it had to do with Serena, but there were also some other really interesting runs. In a lot of the big events, I thought the women matched the men’s story lines or even bettered them for the first time in many years.”

– Caroline Wozniacki goes Ballin’: First Eugenie Bouchard, now Caroline Wozniacki. Ballers is really picking up the tennis cameos:

– The evolution of on-court coaching: Pat Cash talks to Darren Cahill (Simona Halep), Sam Sumyk (Garbiñe Muguruza) and Rob Steckley (Lucie Safarova) about on-court coaching and how its best optimized for the players.

– Cross-training with Kvitova: Petra Kvitova is doing a little bit of everything to get ready for the 2016 season:

– Calling all Arrested Development fans: Will Arnett will team up with Maria Sharapova at the Maria Sharapova and Friends event this weekend.

– Get them shiny, Nick Kyrgios: Belinda Bencic gets the treatment before a recent IPTL match for the Singapore Slammers.

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Muguruza To Headline Mallorca Debut

Muguruza To Headline Mallorca Debut

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

SANTA PONSA, Spain – Mallorca, a popular holiday destination for tourists all over Europe – and home to former ATP No.1 Rafael Nadal – will now become even more appealing with the staging of the premier edition of the Mallorca Open from the 11th to 19th of June in 2016.

The $250,000 WTA event will be played at the Santa Ponsa Tennis Club in Calvià, where the tennis women will find ideal conditions to prepare for the Wimbledon Championships.

During the recent groundbreaking ceremony on site, World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza said she is convinced that the new tournament on grass will be a perfect fit for her after reaching the 2015 Wimbledon final against Serena Williams.

“It’s always very special to compete in a tournament on home soil. I am very happy to be part of the first edition of the Mallorca Open next year,” said the two-time WTA tournament winner.

Traditionally a hotbed for clay court tennis, Spain will host its first ever grass court tournament as Muguruza aims to be the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon since Conchita Martínez stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova in 1994.

“We are very proud to present a strong players field in the first tournament edition with Garbiñe Muguruza in the lead plus other international top players,” explained Edwin Weindorfer, CEO and founder of e|motion. “This guarantees a highly attractive programme for tourists and residents of the island – especially with the night sessions.” e|motion also hosts an ATP tournament in Stuttgart, the MercedesCup.

“The Santa Ponsa resort venue is a premium destination for our fans and players to experience and enjoy the fast, aggressive and spectacular tennis that is unique to this surface,” said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “I would like to thank our Tournament Promoter, e|motion, for their exceptional efforts in building this new event and also the All England Lawn and Tennis Club and the Community of Calvia for their exceptional support. We look forward to an incredible inaugural event.”

Garbiñe Muguruza

While at the groundbreaking, Muguruza was on hand for photos with Weindorfer, Tournament Ambassador (and uncle to Rafael Nadal) Toni Nadal, and Tournament Director Peer Zebergs (pictured from left to right).

Garbiñe Muguruza

The big news for Muguruza and Mallorca has already grabbed headlines in Spanish press.

Garbiñe Muguruza

All photos courtesy of e | motion.

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Williams, Mirza Make Strides In Manila

Williams, Mirza Make Strides In Manila

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

Top ranked doubles player Sania Mirza continued her winning ways for the Micromax Indian Aces, leading her team to a third straight victory on Monday, this time over the OBI UAE Royals, led by France’s Kristina Mladenovic.

Mirza and Mladenovic went head-to-head to open the match in mixed doubles; after 26 minutes, Mirza and partner Rohan Bopanna proved too much for Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor – two-time mixed doubles champions as a pair – to set the tone with a 6-4 first set win.

Samantha Stosur, herself an accomplished doubles player, stepped in for Mirza to take on Mladenovic in women’s singles, winning 6-3 en route to a five-set shutout for the Aces, who ultimately ended the night with a 30-18 victory.

Next up was World No.1 Serena Williams, who looks to be hitting her stride after a slow start in IPTL. Williams won both of her sets for the Philippine Mavericks over the Legendari Japan Warriors, including a 6-4 set of mixed doubles with Milos Raonic over Pierre-Hughes Herbet and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, and a 6-3 set of women’s singles over Lucic-Baroni immediately after. The Mavericks solidified themselves as second place behind the Aces with a 25-21 win.

Check out some of the best tweets of the night:

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Best Hot Shots From 2015 ATP Challenger Tour

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

Best Hot Shots From 2015 ATP Challenger Tour

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Radwanska: WTA Shot Of The Year

Radwanska: WTA Shot Of The Year

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

There’s a reason Agnieszka Radwanska has the nicknames “The Magician”, “Ninja” and “La Profesora”. It’s simple, she can pull off the most difficult shots in the game with ease.

Agnieszka Radwanska has done it again, she is the winner of the 2015 WTA Shot of the Year. Radwanska took top honors by turning her signature defense into some thrilling offense, culminating with some soft hands at the net – all the third set of the championship match at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in October.

This is Radwanska’s third straight year winning the WTA Shot of the Year. Last year she took top honors with an incredible overhead backhand in Montreal.

Final Results for 2015 WTA Shot of the Year

1. Agnieszka Radwanska: Singapore (42%)
2. Simona Halep: Toronto (34%)
3. Agnieszka Radwanska: Miami (18%)
4. Angelique Kerber: Stuttgart (6%)

Click here to watch all four WTA Shot of the Year finalists

WTA Shot of the Year Winners

2014: Agnieszka Radwanska: Montreal
2013: Agnieszka Radwanska: Miami

How it works:

Each Shot of the Month winner is placed into one of two groups.
The two shots from each group that receive the most votes will then be placed into a final group
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com

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WTA Live Fan Access Best Episodes: No.7

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

In this episode from sunny Miami, Agnieszka Radwanska takes a sweet shot – but this time it’s not one of her tennis court tricks. Find out what it is on this episode of WTA Live Fan Access presented by Xerox.

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