From Mexico to Monte Carlo; a Note From Belgium too

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Will someone please tell me where the month of April went? It's been awhile, so let's get you up to speed.

Warburg Continues Rise in Ranks
Last week, Sam Warburg went down to Mexico City, where he was the top seed. After a see-saw win in the semifinals over George Bastl, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, Warburg came up short in the title match. With a 6-4, 6-3 victory, Dawid Olejniczak won his second straight futures tournament.

Despite the loss, Warburg reached a career high ranking of 138.

Warburg was also invited by the USTA to compete in a four-man qualifying tournament for the American wildcard spot into the French Open.

From Belgium, With Love
The CAPS newest aquisition Tamryn Hendler has chimed in and written a personal note to all CAPS fans. Here is what she had to say:

To all,
I am sooo excited to part of the world champions in team tennis, and am looking forward to learning from my great teammates and coach. I am 15 year old Tammy Hendler (will be sweet 16 in August) who loves to hit the ball very hard. I was born in South Africa and moved to Florida more than 10 years ago. I have spent many years training at Bollittieiri's where Nick spent hundreds of hours on my tennis over the years. I will never forget at 10 years old, he decided to change my grip... well, I will leave it at that.

My mother is Belgian, hence my nickname "The Belgium Babe." I will be representing Belgium at Fed Cup at the end of the month for the 4th consectutive time. One of my goals is to surpass our captain's (Sabine Applemans) record of "32 ties for Belgium."

Currently I spend a lot of time in a small town in Belgium called Mons, where I am working with the technical director of the French Speaking Federation (AFT) and am making a lot of progress on the technical aspects of my game. (I want the slice and drop shot, but for us girls thats not so easy).

I cant wait for Team Tennis. In the meantime you can follow my progress on my website at http://www.tamarynhendler.be/

With love from Mons,
Tammy

What a sweetheart!

Unfortunately for Hendler, she suffered a torn quadriceps last week in practice, forcing her to pull out of this weekend's Fed Cup match. Although it will be a slow healing injury, Hendler plans to be ready for the CAPS season.

BIG Decision
Former CAP Nicole Vaidisova has parted with long-time coach and stepfather Alex Kodat. After struggling in her last few tournaments, Vaidisova has dropped to No. 17 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

"She lost in the first round of both Indian Wells and Key Biscayne and said she wanted to spend a week away from the game getting her head together," manager Oliver van Lindonk said.

She has turned to David Felgate, who was Tim Henman's coach. Felgate also was recently asked to re-focus Xavier Malisse.

Kodat had been coaching Vaidisova since she began playing at six years old. Now 19, she felt it was time for a change if she wants to reach her goal of becoming the best player in the world.

"She had to make a big decision to part with Alex but she also needed to feel she could maximize her talents with the right coach," van Lindonk added.

The CAPS wish Nicole a Happy 19th Birthday! (today)

Knowles in Monte Carlo
Mark Knowles is back in action this week. He and Mahesh Bhupati are the fourth seed in the Masters Series event in Monte Carlo. The pair got a first round bye and face the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa in round two.