Hendler Hopes to be Back in Action as Roland Garros Nears

Knowles Makes Second Straight early exit
After such a great start to the year, the red clay of Europe has been a challenge for Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupati. They have two straight second round losses and have dropped to No. 3 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race.

However, they remain ahead of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, which is of course all we CAP fans really care about, right? Knowlsey remains 45 points ahead of his former partner thanks to the Bryan Brothers, who were able to fend off Nestor and Zimonjic in the finals of the Rome and Hamburg Masters Series.
For all the latest on Mark, visit his website at http://www.markknowlestennis.com/.

CAPS at the French Open
The French Open begins on Monday, May 26, so be sure to root on your CAPS. If Tammy Hendler's injury is healed, she will be playing the junior event (they expect to make a final determination this weekend). Elena Likhovtseva will be playing doubles, in search of her third grand slam title. Knowlsey has twice been in the final at Roland Garros and is the defending champion.
Check back for all the latest results from Paris!

One Win Away
Former CAP Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is just one win away from her first main draw appearance in a grand slam event. She has won two qualifying rounds, including a surprisingly easy upset over the No. 3 seed Maret Ani, 6-1, 6-4. She will battle fellow Russian Anna Lapushchenkova on Friday for a spot in the main draw. I feel bad for the announcer in that match. "Today, we'll have two Russians looking to get into their first grand slam main draw. Coming up, it'll be (pause, stutter), it'll be... Pavlyuchenkova vs Lapushchenkova??" (Let's just say Gary Gelfand has it easy this year).

It's been a good month for Pavlyuchenkova, who has reached a career high in both singles and doubles.

Tammy Gets Ink in Sac Bee
Check out this short but sweet article from the Sacramento Bee to learn more about CAPS rookie; "Belgian Babe" Tammy Hendler.
Paul Bauman's report: http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/948707.html

The article comes just days after fellow Belgian Justine Henin shocked the tennis world by becoming the first woman to retire while still ranked No.1. After recently struggling through pain, injuries, and a lack of motivation, Henin simply called it quits last week.

I stilll think she should've tried to defend her title at Roland Garros. After all, it is her favorite tournament and perhaps she could've gone out in grand fashion with a with a win. Why not at least give it a shot if you know your going to retire anyway?

CAPS Staffer Gets Big Win
The Farmer family makes the trek to Sacramento from their home in Idaho every summer to work for the CAPS. Jami, one of 10 kids (yes, she has 7 sisters and two brothers!), is a high school freshman who recenlty played Emma Wilander in the first round of the Idaho state tennis tournament.

You might recognize that last name. Emma is the daughter of former world's No. 1 and Hall of Famer Mats Wilander. However, Jami is the niece of CAPS owner and former BYU stallworth Lonnie Nielson. The Wilander intimidation factor was no match for Jami, who won 6-2, 6-1, which, I believe counts as an indirect win for Lonnie over Mats!

Good News for Tennis
I can't tell you how glad I was to hear the news that ESPN will cover the US Open starting in 2009. Finally, a major network gives tennis it's due. Now, it can truly call itself, "The Grand Slam Network."

While on the topic of tennis programming, what is with the Tennis Channel? How many episodes of "No Strings" and "Center Court with Chris Meyers" can they show in a day? And as much as I enjoy watching classic matches, it was nice to see them cover a current, live tournament in the Hamburg Masters Series.

Fan Poll:
* Do you have The Tennis Channel?
* What kind of programming ideas would you pitch to network producers?