Category: Tennis (Page 16 of 27)

      Ranking the 50 highest-earning athletes

      July 1, 2009 /

      SI.com compiled a ranking of the 50 highest-earning American athletes and discovered that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are at the top of the list.

      1. Tiger Woods
      Pro Golf
      Last Year’s Rank: 1
      Salary/Winnings: $7,737,626
      Endorsements: $92,000,000
      Total: $99,737,626

      Tiger sacrificed millions in appearance fees during his year off to recover from knee surgery, but replaced his lucrative Buick deal — voided by mutual consent — with a new one from AT&T.

      2. Phil Mickelson
      Pro Golf
      Last Year’s Rank: 2
      Salary/Winnings: $6,350,356
      Endorsements: $46,600,000
      Total: $52,950,356

      Like Tiger, Phil no longer counts on a car-maker in his endorsement portfolio. (Ford chose not to re-sign him.) He still has lucrative deals with Rolex, Callaway, Exxon, Barclay’s and KPMG.

      3. LeBron James
      Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
      Last Year’s Rank: 3
      Salary/Winnings: $14,410,581
      Endorsements: $28,000,000
      Total: $42,410,581

      LeBron has one more season left under his deal before he can opt out. If Cleveland doesn’t show it’s Finals-worthy by next spring, expect the Knicks to come in with a huge offer.

      4. Alex Rodriguez
      New York Yankees (MLB)
      Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
      Salary/Winnings: $33,000,000
      Endorsements: $6,000,000
      Total: $39,000,000

      We’re in the middle of A-Rod’s peak earning power in his middle-loaded, 10-year megadeal: He’ll make another $33 million in 2010 and then gradually decrease to a “normal” $20 million by ’17.

      No. 5 Shaquille O’Neal
      Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
      Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
      Salary/Winnings: $20,000,000
      Endorsements: $15,000,000
      Total: $35,000,000

      The Big Bargaining Chip? Regardless of his trade to Cleveland, Shaq is in the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed while with Miami. It’s the largest expiring deal in the NBA.

      No. 10 Peyton Manning
      Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
      Last Year’s Rank: 9
      Salary/Winnings: $14,500,000
      Endorsements: $13,000,000
      Total: $27,000,000

      NFL’s top endorser has distributed $500,000 in grants in ’09 through his PayBack Foundation to charities in Indianapolis, near his alma mater (Tennessee) and his hometown, New Orleans.

      It’s amazing that the highest paid NFL player (Peyton Manning) barely cracked the top 10. Granted, the NFL only has a 17-game regular season, but you’d think that for what football players put their bodies through every season that they would make more than baseball players, golfers and basketball players.

      Although he is pitching well this season despite his overall numbers, seeing Zito’s name on this list at No. 26 makes me shudder. He’s the third best pitcher (maybe fourth depending on how high you value Randy Johnson) on his own club, yet he’s the 26th highest-earning American athlete. Still, it should be noted that Zito donates $400 for every strikeout that he throws to the Strikeouts for Troops charity that he created to help hospitals treat soldiers that are wounded in military operations. In fact, as the article notes, a lot of the guys on this list give thousands of dollars to charities every year and that shouldn’t be overlooked.

      General Sports, Golf, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer, Tennis

      Venus, Serena advance to quarterfinals

      June 29, 2009 /

      Via ESPN…

      Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon when opponent Ana Ivanovic retired Monday one game into the second set.

      Second-seeded Serena Williams also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Daniela Hantuchova, losing just two points on her first serve and breaking Hantuchova five times to complete the win in 56 minutes.

      But what we’re wondering is…who’s hotter?

      (Gratuitous photos and poll after the jump.)

      Continue reading »

      Tennis, Women

      How will Nadal’s recent injuries affect Wimbledon?

      June 20, 2009 /

      When this year’s Wimbledon kicks off in two days, tennis’ best player will be absent. Yes, ladies and gentleman, 78th-ranked Potito Starace of Italy has decided he is in no condition to defend his honor this time around.

      Obviously, the man I’m really talking about is Rafael Nadal, who becomes only the second men’s champion in 35 years to decline to defend his Wimbledon title. After losing exhibition matches earlier this week to Lleyton Hewitt and Stanislas Wawrinka, Nadal decided his knees were too damaged to put up a worthy performance at the only grass-court Grand Slam. But the truth is his knees have been damaged for a while. When Nadal lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Robin Soderling (a capable player, but one who had never before even been a to Grand Slam quarterfinal), tennis fans knew there was something wrong with the gifted Spaniard. The fact that Soderling was later defeated by Federer in straight sets in the finals further added to the speculation.

      Of course, this leave’s the door wide open for Roger Federer to not only capture a record-setting 15th career Grand Slam, but also reclaim the No.1 ranking, which he previously held for 237 weeks. I’m expecting Federer to win at Wimbledon, particularly because he is well-rested and prefers grass over any surface. Fed’s previously won the tournament fives times, almost taking his sixth last year before losing to Nadal.

      Many knew this would happen, that Nadal’s all-or-nothing style of play would eventually catch up with him. We just never knew when. Still, while a partially battered Nadal might be able to beat a completely healthy Federer, nobody on the ATP should get the best of Federer if he plays like he did at the French Open. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, and Fernando Verdasco all have a chance at going deep into the tournament, but as far as making the finals goes, I’d put my money on Murray. He won the last grass-court tournament at the Queen’s Club and seems to handle that surface well. The guy gets better tournament by tournament and lost last year in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Without Nadal, the most exciting finals we can hope for at this point is Murray vs. Federer.

      Tennis

      Murray wins at Queen’s Club

      June 14, 2009 /

      murray

      After a poor showing at the French Open, the UK’s best tennis player, Andy Murray, beat American James Blake at the Queen’s Club to capture his first grass-court title. This victory is important to Murray who is a true contender at the upcoming Wimbledon, which is the only grass-court Grand Slam.

      The top-seeded Murray became the first British player to win the tournament since Bunny Austin in 1938, who then went on to become the last Briton to reach the Wimbledon final.
      Murray took an early lead Sunday with a break in the third game, but Blake immediately leveled with a forehand winner down the line. Both players then easily held serve until 5-5, when Blake missed a forehand on break point.

      The second set was equally competitive until Murray broke for a decisive 4-3 lead when a fierce return forced Blake to net a backhand volley.

      It seems like only yesterday that Roger Federer captured his first French Open Grand Slam, beating Robin Soderling in straight sets in the final. Nevertheless, Wimbledon is right around the corner as it kicks off June 22nd and concludes on July 5th.

      Players such as Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, and James Blake were expected to have promising years, but all have trailed off since their performances at the Australian Open. Out of the top-ranked players, I would say Murray has the best shot against Nadal and Federer. He’s fared excellently against them in the past, but is always missing that extra something in a Grand Slam final. Maybe he’ll have his day at this year’s Wimbledon.

      Tennis

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