SIGHTING: Seles, Davenport, and King gather for March of Dimes award luncheon

Three of tennis' greatest champions attended the March of Dimes 24th Annual Sports Luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Monica Seles was on hand to present The Corporate Leadership Award to Chairman and CEO of IMG Ted Forstmann.


Lindsay Davenport was the recipient of The Sportswoman of the Year Award (strange since she only officially returned to tennis action this fall, but okay) and grabbed a photo-op with the legendary Billie Jean King.


(images via WaldorfAstoria.com, wireimage)

The Women's Sports Foundation hosts 28th Annual Salute to Women in Sports

Last night The Women's Sports Foundation hosted the 28th Annual Salute to Women in Sports in New York City. Founded by philanthropist, activist, and tennis legend Billie Jean King the awards celebrate the achievement of female athletes across all sports. Another tennis legend, Monica Seles, made a special appearance at the ceremony to present the 2007 Sportswomen of the Year Award to softball player Monica Abbott and golfer Lorena Ochoa.

Ice skating champion Michelle Kwan accepted the Billie Jean King Contribution Award for her contributions and commitment to the development of women's sports, and the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team received the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award for exhibiting extraordinary courage, surmountsing adversity, and meaningfully contributing to sports and inspiring others.

Michelle Kwan & Monica Abbott

Other luminaries were on hand to lend their support: singer Sheryl Crow, actress Holly Hunter, and boxer Leila Ali.

+ WEDNESDAY NETCORDS: Justine, Andy, Lindsay, Billie and Elton...Pete vs. Andre, match-fixing update and more

(image courtesy of J R E Y)

- On top of the world: A huge "congrats!" to World No. 1 Justine Henin for clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking (for the third time in her illustrious career) and winning the United States Sports Academy’s Female Athlete of the Month for September. Plus, she's an astonishing 54-4 this season.

- All bets are off? The tennis gods are gathering in London this Friday to hash out all this match-fixing business. In addition Tennis Diary has reported that players' cell phones may be banned from the locker rooms to avoid inside information from leaking to betters. And, Hall-of-Famer Pam Shriver has some choice words for those prone to betting. Can it be stopped? Stay tuned...

- New chief in town: Arlen Kantarian has been newly named CEO, Professional Tennis for the USTA. What does this mean exactly? As part of his new duties, Arlen will oversee the development of a new USTA elite player development program, focused on identifying and developing the next generation of American champions. He will still lead the USTA's Professional Tennis operations, and serve as the lead executive overseeing the USTA's involvement in the professional sport, including the US Open, US Open Series, USTA Pro Tour events, U.S. Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Olympic teams, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

- Music superstar Sir Elton John and long-time friend Billie Jean King will host the 15th annual Advanta WTT Smash Hits, a special night of tennis featuring superstars including Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport and Anna Kournikova. The event, which benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the local charity ActionAIDS, will be held in Philadelphia on Oct. 10. Visit Ticketmaster to purchase tickets to this event and to support AIDS research and charities.

- Getting to know: Stefan Koubek

- If it ain't broke...: In the "What were they thinking?" file, the ATP announced it's 2009 schedule to include the new format of giving tournaments ranking points to determine they're importance (1000 = Master Series level, 500 = Tier II). Is that even correct? We're confused just writing about it...oy...

- Think pink: Daily Racquet has been supporting October's Breast Cancer Awareness month by posting on all things pink and tennis. Check it out!

- Wanna know more about the history of the Lacoste brand? Click here.

- Video vault: Reminisce about the good ol' days of tennis with this great, classic Nike commercial featuring legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi playing an improptu set of tennis in a New York City intersection.