Sijsling is currently ranked #436 in the world and Warburg checks in at #155. The two have actually played once before at a Futures tournament in Israel in 2005, where Warburg won in three sets.

Many more players will be coming to the Academy as the season winds down to prepare for the 2009 season. We will keep you updated on who is and isn’t here!

Matache and Monell were down an early break in the beginning of the match, but were able to hold serve after being down a break to stay in the match.

Down 6-7, the Columbians finally broke back to even the score 7-7, and then won two games in a row to clinch the victory, 9-7.

“Eliza and Emilia stayed tough and played smart against very good opponents,” said head coach Ilene Weintraub.

“It is a credit to their hard work and determination to take Columbia Women’s Tennis to the next level that they were able to pull out such a close match in a highly competitive and pressure situation. Today was one of the highlights of my coaching career here so far and I look forward to more days like this in our future.”

Congrats to Emilia and good luck the rest of the year!

Michelle Larcher de Brito featured in Lux Magazine

This is another tough break for Mario. He has been sick off and on all year, and another illness just when he looked like he was starting to play a bit better.

For Nishikori, this is his first ATP semi since he won the title at Delray Beach back in February. He came into the tournament ranked a career high of #77 in the world, and will certainly continue to climb the rankings with this performance. If he gets to #45 in the world, he will become the highest ranked Japanese male in tennis history.

Good luck to Kei in the next round!

This is Kei’s second quarterfinal appearance at an ATP level event this year, with his first coming in Delray Beach where he went on to beat James Blake in the finals.

Nick Bollettieri with Jelena Jankovic, her coach, and Pat Etcheberry

Former NBTA student Jelena Jankovic won her second title in as many weeks in Stuttgart and now has a 213 point lead over Serena Williams in the rankings. She defeated Venus Williams in the semis 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-2 and then best Nadia Petrova in the finals 6-4, 6-3 to capture the Tier II title. Since falling in the finals of the US Open to Serena, Jankovic is 9-1 and has won two titles.

She is playing this week in Moscow, Russia at the Tier I Kremlin Cup and will face either Vera Dushevina or another NBTA alum, Nicole Vaidisova, in the second round.

Sabine Lisicki at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open

It was a good 19th birthday for NBTA student Sabine Lisicki, as she picked up a win in the first round of the Hansol Korea Open in Seoul. Lisicki beat Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-0 in 48 minutes. She broke Dushevina six times and won 100% of the points on her first serve. She will now face either #7 Marina Erakovic or Samantha Stosur in the second round (that match will be played tomorrow).

Lisicki comes into the tournament ranked a career high of #63 in the world and she is playing for the first time since she lost in the second round of the US Open to Alona Bondarenko.

Gastao Elias signs with adidas

Seventeen-year-old tennis standout, Gastao Elias of Portugal, has signed a multi-year endorsement contract with large clothing and shoe manufacturer, adidas International.  The 2007 B18 Eddie Herr Champion and former top-10 junior, Elias is now competing full-time on the men’s ITF and ATP Tours and has already broken into the top 500.  Elias lives and trains full-time at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida where he is part of the Elite Group and works full-time with coach, Ricardo Ycaza.

Elias, who goes by the nickname, “Pepe”, has won events on every surface, is the youngest player in Portuguese history to win a pro tennis event, and is the youngest player in ATP Tour history to play an ATP Main Draw match. He was also Federer’s practice partner for two weeks in Monte Carlo when he was 16 years old, and was voted by the Portuguese public as the first ever Gillette Future Champion, a competition honoring Portugal’s best young male athletes.

Nick Bollettieri with (left to right) Alicia Black, Victoria Duval and Sachia Vickery

The Tennis Channel has come to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy to film for an upcoming show. They videod Nick this morning on-court while he was working with top American junior girls, Sachia Vickery, Victoria Duval and Alicia Black, and then when he worked with American juniors, Devin Britton and Jordan Cox, and Italian junior Giacomo Miccini.

Then, they interviewed Nick one-on-one at the Adult Pool near the Clubhouse. They were also going to interview IPI Director Trevor Moawad, Nutrionist Dr. Sally Parsonage, game on Director Steve Shenbaum, and Performance Specialist Stacey Daniels.

Check out our Flickr page to see all the pictures! Be sure to watch for the show which will be airing at a later date on The Tennis Channel!

Austin Krajicek at the 2007 Junior French Open

It was a great weekend for NBTA students Austin Krajicek, Jordan Cox, Victoria Duval, and Sachia Vickery.

Krajicek and Cox were both playing in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the USTA Boys National Championships and both took home the titles. Krajicek, a freshman at Texas A&M, won the Boys 18s singles title, beating Ryan Thatcher in the finals 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0. With the win, Krajicek receives a main draw wild card into the US Open! Cox beat Denis Kudla 6-1, 7-6(2), 6-3 to capture the Boys 16s singles title and will also receive a main draw wild card into the Junior US Open! Our friends over at ZooTennis have some excellent coverage of the event, including pictures!

Not to be outdone, two of our young American girls also won trophies over the weekend. Victoria Duval won the USTA Girls 14s National Championship in Georgia 6-3, 6-2 over Breaunna Addison. TennisRecruiting.net has some great photos of the tournament, including pictures of Victoria.

Meanwhile, Sachia Vickery was on the USA team that won the World Junior Tennis Championships over Great Britain in the Czech Republic. Vickery, who is only 13-years old, has been on a tear this year. She has won two ITF tournaments and reached the finals of two others. She also won the Easter Bowl, Gator Bowl (over Duval) and a Super Series tournament!! Wow!!

Congratulations to all four of these outstanding tennis players!!