No place in Amerika is more obsessed with "everything in the freakin' world gotta be about US" than Texas--thus this initiative. I'll tell you from the outset that I'm skeptical of:

1) The concept: WTA fumbled around putting it on the calendar, then taking it off, then putting it back on again. The "tournament site" is not yet operative even now.

2) The location: Efforts to declare the D-FW Metroplex a tennis center, without a proper foundation, have been ongoing for forty years I know of, since the early days of Navratilova, & haven't flown yet.

3) The date: concurrent with New Haven the week before USO?  Mnnn... And yeah, temperatures in Texas this August may exceed Oz's worst.

That said, I'm certainly following developments & might try to attend.

http://texastennisopen.com/

Tournament Info

Professional tennis is heading to America's second largest state for the inaugural Texas Tennis Open. Held in Dallas, one of the biggest cities in the United States, with a population of approximately 1.2 million, this International event runs from August 22 to August 27, the week before the US Open. Given Texas temperatures can soar up to 100 degrees, the tennis at the Hilton Lakes Tennis & Sports Club should be scorching.

Tier:Prize Money: $220,000 Surface: Hard/Outdoors Tournament Director:Chris Giordano

http://local.yahoo.com/info-34099110-lakes-sports-club-grapevine
Lakes Sports Club(817) 410-68281800 State Highway 26, Grapevine, TX 76051 

The Texas Tennis Open is a future professional tennis tournament for women. After some contradictory statements,[1] WTA has made it a late addition to the 2011 WTA Tour. It will be played at the Hilton Lakes Tennis & Sports Club[2] in Grapevine (near Dallas), Texas in the USA. It is scheduled as an International level event in August the same week as the New Haven Open at Yale, the week before the US Open.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Tennis_Open 

Random is the word.  No clue who might consider coming to Texas at that time. That's a major issue in my opinion. I will turn more attention to that after Wimbly.

Chances of Masha I'd think nil -- unless maybe this is hooked up some way with that Dallas exo that never happened...  This is International tier & a top player can only do two of those a year. And if she were gonna do anything in the week before USO, it would be New Haven.

My guess would be the same players who like to play Bogota and/or Monterrey. Not meaning to dis any of that, but pretty much down-list, y'know?

This excursion would only work for me if it fits together with other of my concerns. But because it might, I will research it. 

On second thought: The Dallas country-club cabals certainly have the $$$ to pony up big appearance fees if they are inclined. IMO money would be better spent like that woman did in Indian Harbor FL -- first build up ITF play to the level it should be... but that's not to say someone won't try to force development. Throwing money at something is soooo Dallas...

Hell, the last time tennis was big in Texas, Suzanne Lenglen was still on court!

Not since WWII, anyway. The only courts we had that ordinary people could use were built in WPA days--Depression-era stuff. 

ROKJE...ROKJE IN THE TEXAS-HEAT ...once above 35° she'll drop it...GO Paul

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

You don't see any Russians there, do you?

I ammended above: Gorgeous & Wicky are on both this list & Toronto. I just don't see that. Come from moderate Canadian conditions to this inferno (43°C in Dallas now) then rush back to NYC?

That was modest. Ambiant temps in Dallas topped 45°C yesterday afternoon. Know what that means down on the court?

If this heat wave doesn't break, I expect a lotta "injury cancellations". 

paul_pipkin;309359 wrote:

Okay, they finally have the website up:

http://www.texastennisopen.com/ 

Here's the players they CLAIM. Of course, we know how that goes...  

(Gorgeous & Wicky are on both this list & Toronto. I just don't see that. Come from moderate Canadian conditions to this inferno (43°C in Dallas now) then rush back to NYC?)

Players

The following players are a partial list of those committed to the Texas Tennis Open, etc etc...

Dominika Cibulkova #20 | SVK 

Sorana Cirstea #79 | ROU 

Kimiko Date-Krumm #51 | JPN 

Jelena Dokic #53 | AUS

Gisela Dulko #51 | ARG 

Irina Falconi #102 | USA 

Jarmila Gajdosova #27 | AUS 

Julia Goerges #16 | GER

Bojana Jovanovski #58 | SRB 

Kaia Kanepi #26 | EST 

Johanna Larsson #50 | SWE 

Sabine Lisicki #27 | GER

Bethanie Mattek-Sands #31 | USA 

Melanie Oudin #82 | USA 

Shuai Peng #17 | CHN 

Arantxa Rus #82 | NED

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova #73 | CZE 

Yanina Wickmayer #18 | BEL 

 

I'm considering but gotta make a move soon. I'm also a little hincky about spending days out in this endless heat wave. I'll go far for the tennis babes but I won't die for 'em!  

 

Looks like there WILL be stream: http://www.texastennisopen.com/media 

Broadcast Schedule

(AS OF 5/6/2011)

 




 

As of now, the weather projections show no sign of this heat wave breaking al least though the beginning of the tournament.

The hype is getting nervous--"only" 500 tickets left for final, easy access from air-conditioned hotel rooms. blah, blah...

Now, this Media: TTC coverage is NOT "live"; Semis & Final are all crammed together on Sunday & they are ALL pre-ecorded. http://www.tennischannel.com/schedule/next_week.pdf 

We KNOW that IEC & TennisTv are only gonna show what is being shot for syndication or broadcast otherwise. And Ken Thomas (good dude, actually) typically takes his online RadioTennis.com show to events that GET NO Coverage otherwise.

So go figure: This is way more "iffy" than promoted. I am NOT holding my breath for all those players to even show up.

UPDATE AUG 18: The high pressure dome over Texas remains intact. Ten-day forecast HOPES high temps MAY drop below 38 ºC = 100+ ºF by Friday the 26th, but we've heard this before. High at tournament site this afternoon is 105 ºF. Doesn't look promising. 

It's too late for me now but, believe me, I gave it serious thought. The issue came down to this: I don't have several hundred dollars to blow on the trip, hotel, etc. Logistics would require extensive assistance from friends in the area.

Even if I were willing to parbroil myself in the bleachers, my support personnel would not--in fact be somewhat cranky even at limited exposure.

And I love the babes, but I hate frickin' North Dallas. lol

I may look at the draw & regret it but if it's like 109°F out there--thaz a non-starter for me.

 Dallas - Texas Tennis Open (Actual locality is Grapevine TX)

WTA International -- "World feed" indicates 22 Aug 2011 to 29 Aug 2011 with up to 23 live matches

(Blackout in USA, Russia) -- We will see how promptly the webcasters crack early rounds. IEC Stockholm should come in on the quarterfinals Thursday & TTC will show delayed broadcasts on Sunday.

Be advised the HEAT is a major issue at this new event. High temps well above 38 ºC all week. All play has been rescheduled to afternoon-evening hours:

LSH posts streams for Stadium: http://www.livescorehunter.ro/ 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Indeed--and it looks like WW may be one of several who grab their first round checks & bail ASAP. lol

TEXAS TENNIS OPEN

Dallas, TX, USA
August 21-27, 2011
$220,000/International
Hard/Outdoors

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Singles - First Round
(3) Julia Görges (GER) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 06 64 60
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) d. (7) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 36 64 62
(8) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) d. Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 61 63
Alberta Brianti (ITA) d. (WC) Irina Falconi (USA) 63 62
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 60 63
Johanna Larsson (SWE) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 63 62
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64 64

On Monday, top seed Peng Shuai withdrew without playing.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Singles - First Round
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) d. (4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 46 60 10 ret.
(5) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Sania Mirza (IND) 63 60
(6/WC) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR) 61 63
Elena Baltacha (GBR) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 62 61
(Q) Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) d. Greta Arn (HUN) 62 63
(WC) Melanie Oudin (USA) d. (LL) Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 76 10 ret.

(2) Dominika Cibulkova def Mirjana Lucic 64 60

 Dallas - Texas Tennis Open (Actual locality is Grapevine TX)

WTA International -- "World feed" 22 Aug 2011 to 29 Aug 2011 up to 23 live matches Streams appear to be IEC Stockholm and are really pretty good. TTC will show delayed semis & final broadcasts on Sunday.

Be advised the HEAT is a major issue at this new event. High temps well above 38 ºC all week. All play has been rescheduled to afternoon-evening hours:

LSH posts streams for Stadium: http://www.livescorehunter.ro/ 

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ah know how she do.  Hugs back at her. Ask her if she's ready to join Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας yet. LOL!

You're joking but you're not. I wrote at the beginning: The Dallas country-club cabals certainly have the $$$ to pony up big appearance fees if they are inclined. IMO money would be better spent like that woman did in Indian Harbor FL -- first build up ITF play to the level it should be... but that's not to say someone won't try to force development. Throwing money at something is soooo Dallas... 

And indeed this is a remarkably uncomfortable setup for one pandering to an elite:

Now, that "box seating" is NOT arranged around tables as illustrated--just stacked chairs in groups of eight. Each group marketed to the corporates at $3500 for the week. That would fetch $196K if sold out. In fact, less than half appear occupied, and those only partly. The bare-board bleachers above, that regular people could afford, werfe last night damned near as barren as in the illustration. 

Yeah, the girls grab the money and run (or pretend to limp) to NYC. We will no doubt hear some tweets or remarks on player websites about it. The hype is "world class tennis returns to Texas after 16 years." Dunno what that's about--I was otherwise distracted in 1995...