Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/366594
30 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2014 SUMMER 2014 NEWS ROUND-UP The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals will move to the iconic Caja Magica (Magic Box) arena in Madrid in 2015, at the start of a three-year agreement. The event will be staged on 16 clay courts, including two stadium outdoor show courts, and managed by Madrid Trophy Promotion, organisers of the Mutua Madrid Open joint ATP and WTA tournament. The Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals, the climax of the ITF's official team competitions for players aged 16 and under, have been held in Spain on six previous occasions, most recently in Barcelona in 2012, but 2015 will be the first time they are held in Madrid. This year's event takes place in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in September. "The Caja Magica will provide a spectacular setting MADRID ANNOUNCED AS JUNIOR DAVIS CUP AND FED CUP VENUE to showcase this important team competition for the development of our most talented young players," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. "I am also sure that there will be an added incentive next year for players to qualify for the Finals and compete at one of the major arenas on the professional tennis circuit." Davenport anD vanDierenDonck enter Hall of fame Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and former top-ranked wheelchair player Chantal Vandierendonck were the players inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July. They were joined in the Class of 2014 by legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, tennis industry leader Jane Brown Grimes, and British tennis historian John Barrett. Six-time Grand Slam champion Davenport won 55 singles and 38 doubles titles during her career. At the enshrinement ceremony in Newport she said, "To be up here on this stage and to share it with all the greatness that is up here is overwhelming. I was five years old when I first hit a tennis ball and a racket was put in my hand. I never wanted to learn another sport and I still don't. I loved playing this game." Vandierendonck is the first female wheelchair tennis player and the first Dutch tennis player to be enshrined, becoming the third wheelchair tennis player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame behind Brad Parks and Randy Snow. Vandierendonck was the first ITF Wheelchair Tennis Women's World Champion in 1991 and was World Champion again in 1996 and 1997. She was the world No. 1 women's player for 136 weeks in singles and 107 weeks in doubles, and won five Paralympic medals. SAFINA BOWS OUT Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina formally announced her retirement from tennis at the Madrid tournament in May three years after making her last tour- level appearance there. Safina said she had taken "as much time as I could" to decide whether she could come back from a back injury but had eventually made the decision to retire. The 28-year-old Russian won 12 career titles and appeared in three Grand Slam finals, twice at Roland Garros in 1998 and 1999, and at the Australian Open in 1999. She rose to the No. 1 ranking in April 2009 and was in the top spot for a total of 26 weeks. Representing her country, Safina won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics losing to countrywoman Elena Dementieva in the gold medal match, and helped Russia win Fed Cup by BNP Paribas in 2005. Obituary: Erik kEllEr Erik Keller, longtime Vice President of Swiss Tennis, died in May. Keller also served as chairman of the Swiss Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams and on the Professional Committee of Tennis Europe, and was a longtime delegate at the ITF and Tennis Europe. ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "The strength of our sport is people like Erik Keller. Erik worked tirelessly on behalf of tennis both in Switzerland and for Tennis Europe and we will miss his intelligence and enthusiasm." The Caja Magica