BREAKING: Perry Rogers removed from ATP Board of Directors

Tennis Week is reporting that Perry Rogers, who managed Andre Agassi throughout his career, was voted off the ATP Board of Directors by the players council.

The council is comprised of 10 current players, one former player and a coach and includes President Ivan Ljubicic, vice president James Blake, Thomas Johansson, Olivier Rochus, Paul Goldstein, Davide Sanguinetti, Bob Bryan, Kevin Ullyett, Paradorn Srichaphan, Martin Garcia, alumni David Adams and coach Ricardo Piatti. The vote required at least 7 of the 12 members for it to pass.

An ATP spokesperson confirmed the change on the board saying,

We can confirm that there has been a change to the composition of the ATP Board by action of the Player Council and look forward to working with the new Player Board Representative. We thank Perry Rogers for his dedicated service on the ATP Board.

Rogers was seen as a strong supporter of ATP CEO Etienne de Villiers, who has come under heavy fire by top ballers recently for a number of issues including the heavily packed schedule and the downgrading of Hamburg from Master Series status.

Expect more news to come.

(image via tennisweek.com)

A newfound hairy situation grows, facial fuzz takes over the ATP Tour

Feeling the fuzz: So, I touched on (or is it up?) Fabio Fognini's "Best 'Brows" moment last week and now I've stumbled upon a new kind of hairy situation on the ATP Tour - facial hair. Maybe I'm noticing the trend because I grew out my own facial fuzz recently, but there seems to be an affinity towards furry faces on our tennis ballers - goatees, beards, and everything in between.

The perpetrators include, beginning at left, previous hairy situation offender Jose Acasuso (still working the mullet) Dmitry Tursunov and Rotterdam titlist Michael Llodra.

Dmitry pulls off the sexy + masculine facial fuzz the best while Michael goes the clean-cut route. But, don't ask what's going on with Jose's - at least he's consistently bad, though.

(images via AP + Getty)

+ WEDNESDAY NETCORDS: Lindsay, Kim, Nole vs. Andy, Lleyton bags season...Mario returns, Roger dreams of gold and more

(image courtesy of The Red Joke)

- Boneheaded or brilliant? Former tennis player and coach Ion Tiriac is pushing to make Madrid the location of a 5th Grand Slam tournament.

- Super Mario: Croatia's Mario Ancic is finally making strides on the ATP Tour again after sitting out 6 months with mononucleosis and then recently with a shoulder injury. "Playing matches, waiting for matches to start, warming up for matches, it's new for me this year," said the former top-10 player. "I haven't done much of that at all. You can work as much as you want, but when you come to a tournament, it's a new world."

- Closing shop: Aussie hothead Lleyton Hewitt has ended his '07 campaign early. The former World No. 1 is nursing a chronic ankle issue which he re-injured while preparing for Davis Cup duty last month. Lleyton's manager, David Drysdale, said, "It's not something that we think is going to be an issue in the future. The advice we were given by the specialists was to give him three or four weeks off and then allow another three or four weeks to recuperate, so that's pretty much what we're doing."

- Speaking of the Hewitts, sister Jaslyn has traded in her tennis racquets for dumbells and competitive bodybuilding. According to a recent interview she didn't want to "bulk up like a she-man. I like the athletic feminine look," said Jaslyn. Check out her new look here. We're thinking she's a card-carrying dude now, but that's just our humble opinion. (via TSF)

- Another former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport is singing a different tune than Lleyton and discussing the beginning of her full assault on the tennis world. In an interviw with RadioTennis.com, Lindsay discussed her initial 2008 plans saying, "Right now the plan is to leave for Australia after the first of the year, play a warm-up tournament prior to the Australian Open, then play the Australian Open and then possibly play Fed Cup."

- Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray: how do the old friends stack up against each other?

- The currently retired, but very pregnant, Kim Clijsters can still hit a big ball - baby bump and all. No, seriously....check it out here!

- Roger Federer likes his chances to win the Australian and French Opens next year, but what about the "Golden Slam"? "The Olympic Games is a special year and honestly I don't envision the Golden Slam, but if it's there to take I'll try, but it's a tough schedule," [...] "It's hard to do, almost impossible."

- Sign o' the times: Which astrological sign is the most populated by tennis players? Tennis Diary knows...and they're telling.

THE LOW DOWN: Andy Murray enters Madrid Masters with tail between his legs

Call me 'stupid': Andy Murray is trying to calm the waters after being severely criticized for his match-fixing comments by numerous top players on the ATP Tour, most notably Rafael Nadal. As a result, the Scot retracted his remarks via his website saying they "were taken out of context."

Both players are competing at this week's Madrid Masters, and this provided an opportunity for Andy to speak with Rafa directly. Here's what he had to say:

"I spoke to Rafa," [...] We were joking about it. I explained the whole situation. He understands. He has been around the press a long time and it's easy for them to change words and not report the questions that have been put to you and just put the answers in. He thought that maybe I was annoyed with him because he had called me 'stupid', but it's fine."

Really? It's fine?? We suppose Andy has that British stiff upper lip down pat - because letting someone call you stupid is, uh, stupid.

HOT or NOT: Rafael vs. Novak

Here we have 2 of the hottest players on the ATP tour, and we're not talking about their games. Spain's Rafael Nadal has an incredible body - those arms are sick. Plus, the Spaniard has some serious "junk in the trunk." We think he looks good best when he's giving it his all on the tennis court - and not bad off it either.

Serb Novak Djokovic has powered his way to No. 3 in the world and is pushing for the top. We know he packs some serious heat in his game and otherwise. But the best part: the Djoker has this tendency to always want to take his clothes off - something Down the Line! and some others can truly appreciate!

HOT or NOT: Rafa vs. the Djoker. Tell us!

The ATP's hairy situation hits epidemic proportions

The hairy situation on the ATP tour has now reached epidemic proportions. Latest offender: Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina.

Jonathan Antin, if you're reading this, please help...

(image via Peter Bodo's Tennisworld)

FASHION FIX: Off the tennis court, on to the runway

Some of the ATP tour's finest dropped their tennis racquets and hit the runway in Montreal this week. A number of the top men's players took part in a fashion show during The Rogers Cup at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel on August 5.

Players who worked the runway included Jamie Murray, Marcos Baghdatis, Novak Djokovic, and James Blake.

Though all the guys look great dolled up, we really are speechless about the clothes the Djoker was forced to wear...a true fashion DON'T.

(images courtesy of Getty Images)