The Fed Cup kicks off this weekend in Florida at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center and the US team looks very strong. In fact, many say the American team should win with ease. Belgium’s two best players, number one ranked Justine Henin and number four ranked Kim Clijsters won’t be playing and the dynamic Williams sisters are gunning for action.

“I love playing Fed Cup,” said Serena Williams. “I like playing for your country. You’re playing in a team environment. It presents something different for us and that’s really cool.”

The US team includes Venus and Serena Williams as well as doubles pro Lisa Raymond and rising star Vania King. The Belgian team is Kirsten Flipkens, Caroline Maes, Yanina Wickmayer, and Tamaryn Hendler. Hopefully America can exact revenge on Belgium for beating us in last year’s Fed Cup semifinals. The winners of the semifinal round will face either Russia or Spain in the next round this July.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum sports a special exhibit on view now through May 1, 2007, called Mining the Archives. The museum’s collection focuses on the sport of tennis and the players honored therein as well as the history of Newport, Rhode Island, the beautiful town in which the museum is situated.

Mining the Archives develops three primary themes from its archives in this exhibit:

The Newport Casino Theatre (1881 – 1959)
Discoveries from the archives that span 75 years of performances including diaries, scrapbooks, programs, and announcements.

The American Tennis Association: The Early Years
Highlighting the achievements of the pioneers that established the American Tennis Association to give all tennis players an opportunity to compete nationally regardless of race.

Discovering Helen Hull Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs is known as a 1930s tennis star, but her achievements off the courts were special too. Learn about her unique life through her personal artifacts, photos, clippings, and correspondence.

Mining the Archives is made possible by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH), an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For information call 401-849-3990 or visit the Hall of Fame’s official web site at tennisfame.com.

Many sports players develop injuries due to repetitive movements, including golfers and tennis players. Rotor cuff tears, tendinitis, knee cartilage wear, and various other problems occur from a very active sports lifestyle. Various websites and supplements cater to correcting the effects of these hobbies on our bodies and lifestyles.

These bodybuilding forums have many posts and threads on various supplements and ways to treat repetitive stress injuries. These supplements includes various products for sports related injuries. An article posted at this web site indicates how shoulder problems and joint problems occur and some methods and supplements to correct these problems.

We’d like to thank IronMass for pointing out some great forums and threads to help our tennis readers deal with injuries as well as helping to support our blog. We found tons more sports related threads there.

United States Fed Cup Captain Zina Garrison today announced that Lisa Raymond, world No. 1 doubles player, and Vania King, the youngest American ranked in the top 100, will join Serena and Venus Williams on the US team for 2007. America faces Belgium in the quarterfinals round at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Florida on April 21 and 22.

“Vania is a hard-working, young competitor with a lot of heart and Lisa gives us strength in doubles,” said Garrison. “With both Venus and Serena Williams and a home crowd, we look forward to a competitive and, hopefully, a successful match for the US.”

Tickets for this two-day, best-of-five-match series are on sale now, call 888-334-USTA (8782). Tickets are sold as a two-day series or as individual events; prices range from $25 to $225. The Tennis Channel will show live coverage every day at 2:30 p.m. ET.

In an unfortunate accident, Andre Agassi hit his wife Steffi Graf in the face with his racquet at a fundraiser during the U.S. Clay Court Championships. While rallying with another couple, Graf and Agassi were holding hands. When Agassi swung his racquet at one point, he hit Graf in the face on the follow through. A doctor at the stadium gave her three stitches in her lip which was split but her teeth were not damaged. Graf holds 22 Grand Slam titles while Agassi has eight; both are retired and they have two children.

The USTA offers an exciting new resource to help you develop your tennis game–a Digital Video Library of clips of your favorite pros. It can be tough to improve your technique without seeing a new movement executed. Now you can watch 40 of the world’s top players frame by frame and analyze every move including Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. An understanding of how the best players play the game will definitely serve you well in your own game. To access the Digital Video Library, log in to the USTA Player Development web site. This wonderful resource is free to the public.

The ATP announced that select Masters Series events will earn rankings points equal to the Grand Slams beginning in 2009. The ATP call it the Masters 1000 and Hamburg and Monte Carlo are suing the ATP over being omitted from the select group.

The four Grand Slam events–the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open–are now worth twice the points awarded for wins in the ATP’s Masters Series events.

Rankings points may be awarded for Davis Cup wins as well, stay tuned for further developments when the board meets again during the French Open.

Tatiana Golovin defeated top seed Nadia Petrova in straight sets to win her first WTA Tour title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia island, Florida (6-2, 6-1). On the way up, Tati (as she is known on tour) beat Venus Williams also in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals. France’s Golovin was seeded eighth and ranked twentieth in the world.

“It’s the most beautiful day of my career,” said Golovin. “Finally you won one, and I’m really happy for you,” said Petrova.

The Bryan Brothers have just clinched a spot in the Davis Cup semfinals for the United States, bringing the score to 3-1 in this best of five event. In front of a sold-out crowd, the Bryan Brothers defeated Spain’s doubles team Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco (7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)). America will travel to Sweden for the next Davis Cup round on September 21 - 23.

Cañas has won the first successful appeal in the history of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Swiss Federal Tribunal has ordered a new review of the doping case against Cañas.

In 2005 Cañas was at his peak, ranked #8 in the world, when he tested positively for a masking agent. At an ATP tournament, Cañas was given cold medicine by a doctor affiliated with the tournament. He then tested positive for a diuretic that had been banned because it can be used to cloak the presence of other drugs. The diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide, was traced to the cold medicine prescribed by the tournament physician.

Even though Cañas took the diuretic accidentally, CAS arbitrators declared that he was responsible for knowing the ingredients in his medication. According to Cañas’ friend and agent Michael Ducote, “He didn’t sleep for 15 months. He taught himself English so that he could understand the [legal] documents. He wants people to look in his eyes and see he didn’t do it, and stop saying bad things about him. He didn’t want to cheat and he didn’t need to cheat.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency may even revise its code because some member organizations feel the existing process is unfair or impractical. This decision comes at a high point in Cañas’ career, he beat Roger Federer twice this month and is soaring up the rankings.