Gallerie » the last four seasons due to a pair of shoulder operations and

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - In case you havent noticed, the ATP and WTA tours are in hibernation until January 4 (unless you count that IPTL exo fast-forward tennis stuff goin down in Asia). A plethora of current and former stars lined up for the inaugural season of the exhibition-style International Premier Tennis League, which is directed by Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi, with a motto of Break the Code. Catchy. There are teams in Dubai, Manila, New Delhi and Singapore, featuring the likes of current and/or former world No. 1 studs Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Patrick Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya, and Ana Ivanovic, not to mention one-time world No. 2 Andy Murray. Each team has both past and present stars from the mens and womens tours. Earlier in the week, Djokovic and Federer capped off the India leg of the league with a highly-anticipated clash between the two superstars in front of an electric crowd in New Delhi. The one-set match between the two great rivals ended in a 6-6 tie under the format rules, as Djokovics team, the UAE Royals, came away with a 29-22 victory over Federers team, the Indian Aces. The tourney features five one-set matches between two teams, with the overall score made up of the total number of games won by each side. Im not sure whos following this league outside of the Dubai/Manila/New Delhi/Singapore part of the world, but I know the players that are competing decided that theyd rather make some more money instead of resting for the start of the 2015 ATP and WTA campaigns. What else has been going on in the world of racquets, you say? The legendary Martina Navratilova became the latest former tennis great to join the coaching ranks, as the 58-year-old Hall-of-Famer signed on to coach 2012 Wimbledon runner-up and current world No. 6 star Agnieszka Radwanska. The former world No. 1 Navratilova, who piled up 18 Grand Slam singles titles as a player, said it should be a fun ride (coaching Radwanska, that is). Radwanska and Navratilova joined the recent trend of players hiring former greats as coaches, such as Andy Murray employing Ivan Lendl and then Amelie Mauresmo, Novak Djokovic bringing in Boris Becker, Roger Federer partnering with Stefan Edberg, Marin Cilic working with Goran Ivanisevic, and Kei Nishikori welcoming Michael Chang. Rising American Madison Keys also dove into the former-world-No. 1-star- turned-coach fray by announcing that Lindsay Davenport would work with her in all events stateside, as well as all four Grand Slam events. The 19-year-old Illinois native Keys is arguably the most-promising talent among the Americans, male or female. Shell head into 15 ranked 30th in the world. And bucking the trend is John Isner, who decided he wants to be coached by a former world No. 63. Justin Gimelstob. Hmm. Moving on. Hey, who doesnt like a good media rights deal story? This week the WTA agreed to a ground-breaking media rights contract it says will be worth more than $525 million (the largest in womens sports history) over 10 seasons from 2017 to 2026, with plans to produce all 2,000 or so singles matches on the womens tour each year. The deal will keep the WTAs international television rights with its current broadcast distribution partner, PERFORM, but expand the scope of the relationship. Their current agreement runs from 2013-16. WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster called the new deal a game-changer (of course she did) and said it will give fans more access to the players they want to watch. Under the existing contract with PERFORM, Allaster said only about a third of the singles matches at WTA tournaments were produced for broadcast around the globe. Now the tour and PERFORM are forming WTA Media, which will produce all main- draw matches in singles, along with the semifinals and finals in doubles, at every tour event, plus develop content for the web and magazine shows for TV. On the domestic front, the aforementioned two-time Grand Slam champion Murray recently proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Kim Sears, although he did pop the question on the same day he fired his long-time friend and coach, Dani Vallverdu. Barring an unusual circumstance, Murray will become the third member of the Big Four to get hitched, joining Djokovic and Federer, who are also already fathers at this point. Will Rafael Nadal join the mix any time soon? Happy Tennis! Aaron Barrett Nationals Jersey . Ferguson told Uniteds in-house TV channel on Saturday that he has no immediate plans to walk away from the game, and that he still hungers for more trophies even after 25 years in charge of the club. Jake Noll Nationals Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (4) – He had a strong game Sunday; was very good in tight with big saves on Crosby, Malkin and Neal in-crease. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1207r-andrew-stevenson-jersey-nationals.html . New York (16-9-8) took over first place in the Eastern Conference and has the best record in the league with one game remaining. Houstons five-game unbeaten streak was snapped, and the Dynamo (13-11-9) are sixth in the East with one game remaining. Howie Kendrick Jersey . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first. Austin Voth Nationals Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons.CARACAS, Venezuela - Johan Santana retired six straight batters on Tuesday night in the Venezuelan Winter League, the first outing for the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner since he tore an Achilles tendon last June.Starting for the Magallanes Navigators in a 10-2 victory over the Aragua Tigers, the Venezuela left-hander threw 17 pitches and didnt have any strikeouts in the two-inning outing.Santana, 139-78 in 12 major league seasons, has made just 21 big league appearances in the last four seasons due to a pair of shoulder operations and the foot injury. He tore his left Achilles tendon last June 6 while pitching in extended spring training with the Baltimore Orioles. Santana was struck by a line drive and stumbled while in pursuit of the ball.Santana, who turns 36 in March, hopes to sign with a big leaguue organization.dddddddddddd He won the Cy Youngs for Minnesota in 2004 and 2006.He has not pitched in the major leagues since 2012 with the New York Mets. Santana signed a $137.5 million, six-year contract with New York before the 2008 season and had surgery Sept. 14, 2010, to repair tears in the front and bottom of his left shoulders anterior capsule.He returned to the major leagues on April 5, 2012, and pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history that June 1 against St. Louis, throwing a career-high 134 pitches. He then went 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA and cut his season short because of lower back inflammation.Santana experienced weakness in his pitching shoulder during the following spring training and had surgery on April 2, 2013, for a tear in the capsule in the front of his left shoulder. ' ' '