1.
Association of Tennis Professionals
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The Association of Tennis Professionals was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Bob Briner, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tour for men. In 1990 the organization was called the ATP Tour, which was renamed in 2001 as just ATP, in 2009 the name was changed again and is now known as the ATP World Tour. It is an evolution of the tour competitions previously known as Grand Prix tennis tournaments, the ATPs global headquarters are in London, United Kingdom. ATP Americas is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, United States, ATP Europe is headquartered in Monaco, and ATP International, the counterpart organization in the womens professional game is the Womens Tennis Association. Started in 1972 by Jack Kramer, Donald Dell, and Cliff Drysdale, it was first managed by Jack Kramer, as Executive Director, Jack Kramer created the professional players rankings system, which started the following year and continues to this day. From 1974 to 1989, the circuit was administered by a sub-committee called the Mens International Professional Tennis Council. It was made up of representatives of the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the ATP requested and got the MIPTC to introduce a drug testing rule, making tennis the first professional sport to institute a drug-testing program. In response the ATP threatened a boycott, stating that if Pilić was not allowed to compete none should, three ATP players, Ilie Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie defied the boycott and were fined by the ATPs disciplinary committee. But the tour was run by the tournament directors and the ITF. This re-organisation also ended a lawsuit with Volvo and Donald Dell, on 19 January 1989 the ATP published the Tour calendar for the inaugural 1990 season. By 1991, the men had their first television package to broadcast 19 tournaments to the world, coming on-line with their first website in 1995, was quickly followed by a multi-year agreement with Mercedes-Benz. Lawsuits in 2008, around virtually the same issues, resulted in a restructured tour, the ATP World Tour comprises ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 series, ATP World Tour 250 series and ATP Challenger Tour. The ATP tour also oversees the ATP Champions Tour for seniors, Grand Slams do not fall under the auspices of the ATP. In these events, however, ranking points are awarded, players and doubles teams with the most ranking points play in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, which, from 2000-2008, was run jointly with the International Tennis Federation. The week-long introductory level Futures tournaments are ITF events and they count towards ATP Entry Ranking, the four-week ITF Satellite tournaments were discontinued in 2007. Grand Slam tournaments are overseen by the ITF and they count towards the players ATP rankings, the Masters 1000 tournaments are Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris. The end-of-year event, the World Tour Finals, moved from Shanghai to London, Hamburg has been displaced by the new clay court event at Madrid, which is a new combined mens and womens tournament
2.
Women's Tennis Association
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The Womens Tennis Association, founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of womens professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the professional game is the Association of Tennis Professionals. Rosie Casals won this first event, the WTAs corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its European headquarters in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing. The Open Era, in professional players are allowed to compete alongside amateurs. The first open tournament was the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth, at the first Open Wimbledon the prize fund difference was 2.5,1 in favour of men. Billie Jean King won £750 for taking the title while Rod Laver won £2,000, the total purses of both competitions were £14,800 for men and £5,680 for women. Confusion also reigned as no one knew how many open tournaments there were supposed to be, the tournaments that did not want to provide prize money eventually faded out of the calendar, including the U. S. Eastern Grass Court circuit with stops at Merion Cricket Club and Essex county club, There were two professional tennis circuits in existence at the start of the Open Era, World Championship Tennis, which was for men only, and the National Tennis League. Ann Jones, Rosie Casals, Françoise Dürr, and Billie Jean King joined NTL, King was paid $40,000 a year, Jones was paid $25,000, and Casals and Durr were paid $20,000 each. The group played established tournaments such as the US Open and Wimbledon, but the group also organised their own tournaments, playing in the south of France for two months. By the 1970s the pay differential had increased, King said Promoters were making more money. Male tennis players were making more money, everybody was making more money except the women. In 1969, ratios of 5,1 in terms of pay between men and women were common at smaller tournaments, by 1970 these figures had increased to up to 12,1. In 1970 Margaret Court won the Grand Slam and received only a $15,000 bonus, the low point in womens pay inequality came before the US Open in 1970. The Pacific Southwest Championships directed by Jack Kramer, had announced a 12,1 ratio in the prize money difference between males and females would win. The tournament would not take place until after the US Open, several female players contacted Gladys Heldman, publisher of World Tennis Magazine, and stated that they wanted to boycott the event. While she advised against it, she created the 1970 Houston Womens Invitation for nine women players
3.
Dubai
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Dubai is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the countrys legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the northern coastline. Dubai will host World Expo 2020, Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s, Dubais economy was based on revenues from trade and, to an extent, oil exploration concessions. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969, Dubais oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low, today, less than 5% of the emirates revenue comes from oil. The emirates Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, Dubai was recently named the best destination for Muslim travellers by Salam Standard. Dubai has recently attracted attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the worlds tallest building, Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the citys largely South Asian and Filipino workforce. As of 2012, Dubai was the 22nd most expensive city in the world, in 2014, Dubais hotel rooms were rated as the second most expensive in the world, after Geneva. Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by U. S. global consulting firm Mercer, Many theories have been proposed as to the origin of the word Dubai. One theory suggests the word was used to describe the souq, another theory states that the name came from a word meaning money, as people from Dubai were commonly believed to be rich due to the thriving trading centre of the location. An Arabic proverb says Daba Dubai, meaning They came with a lot of money, according to Fedel Handhal, a scholar on the UAEs history and culture, the word Dubai may have come from the word daba, referring to the slow flow of Dubai Creek inland. The poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad Obaid traces it to the same word, an inhabitant or native of the city is a Dubaian. Although stone tools have been found at archaeological sites, little is known about the UAEs early inhabitants as only a few settlements have been found. Many ancient towns in the area were trading centres between the Eastern and Western worlds, the remnants of an ancient mangrove swamp, dated at 7000 BC, were discovered during the construction of sewer lines near Dubai Internet City. The area was covered with sand about 5,000 years ago as the coast retreated inland, pre-Islamic ceramics have been found from the 3rd and 4th centuries
4.
Hardcourt
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A hardcourt is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. They are typically made of materials such as asphalt or concrete. Historically, hardwood surfaces were also in use in indoor settings, similar to a basketball court. Tennis hard courts are made of synthetic/acrylic layers on top of a concrete or asphalt foundation and these courts tend to play medium-fast to fast because there is little energy absorption by the court, like in grass courts. The ball tends to bounce high and players are able to apply many types of spin during play, flat balls are favored on hard courts because of the extremely quick play style. Speed of rebound after tennis balls bounce on hard courts is determined by how much sand is in the synthetic/acrylic layer placed on top of the asphalt foundation, more sand will result in a slower bounce due to more friction. Of the Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open and Australian Open currently use hard courts, there are numerous hardcourt maintenance methods which are commonly used to keep these facilities in top condition. Some of these include brushing, pressure washing with a solution and applying chemical treatments to prevent the growth of moss. Anti-slip paint is applied to hardcourts to give better playing qualities which enhance player safety
5.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
6.
Roberto Bautista Agut
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Roberto Bautista Agut is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has won five ATP singles titles at the 2014 Topshelf Open, the 2014 Mercedes Cup, the 2016 ASB Classic, the inaugural 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open, and he is the first Spaniard younger than Rafael Nadal to get inside of the Top 20. As a junior, Bautista Agut compiled a singles record of 41–13. In 2009, Bautista Agut qualified for the ATP500 Tournament in Valencia and he reached his first ATP-level quarterfinal at St. Petersburg in 2012, losing to Fabio Fognini. Bautista Aguts first tournament of 2013, in Chennai, saw him reach his first career ATP final. He defeated world No.6 Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals in three sets and faced world No.9 Janko Tipsarević in the final, to whom he eventually lost after winning the first set. This run saw Bautista Agut reach a singles ranking of world No.51 in March 2013. Bautista Agut began his 2014 campaign in Auckland, where he made the semifinals of the Heineken Open and he lost to third seed, and eventual champion, John Isner after winning the first set. Agut then participated in the Australian Open, Roberto began his campaign with a first-round, straight-sets, victory over unseeded American Tim Smyczek. In the second round he would face a challenge against the world no.5 Juan Martín del Potro. He recorded one of the 2014 Australian Open upsets, beating del Potro in a classic five-setter to record his first win in seven matches against a top 10 player and his campaign ended two rounds later against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, losing in four sets. This was the best Grand Slam performance, of his career to date, Aguts surprising performances earned him a call-up to Spain for their clash with Germany in the Davis Cup. Agut lost both of his rubbers to Philipp Kohlschreiber and Daniel Brands, Germany would go on to win the tie 4–1. In March, Agut participated in the first Masters 1000 event of the year, in the second round he would come up against fourth seed, and big serving Czech, Tomáš Berdych. Agut secured his second top 10 win of the year, winning in three sets after losing the first and his tournament ended in the fourth round with a defeat to Ernests Gulbis. In May, Roberto played in another Masters 1000 tournament which was the Madrid Open, Roberto made it all the way to the tournaments semifinals after beating former top-10 players, Grand Slam semifinalists and current in-form players en route to this stage. In the semifinal, Agut took on world No.1 Rafael Nadal, Nadal mentioned that Agut is a really dangerous opponent, and Agut certainly gave Rafa a run for his money. In the end, the world no.1 was the player in two sets
7.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
8.
Elina Svitolina
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Elina Mykhaylivna Svitolina is a Ukrainian professional tennis player and the current Ukrainian no.1 on the WTA Tour. As of 27 February 2017, she is ranked at a high of world no. 10, making her the highest-ranked female Ukrainian player, turning professional in 2010, Svitolina has won six WTA titles, her biggest coming at the 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships. In 2015, she made her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open where she lost to Ivanovic, in February 2017, Svitolina became the first female Ukranian player to break into the Top 10. Elina Svitolina has said that she thinks of herself as an offensive baseliner and her groundstrokes are very consistent and are hit with moderate-to-big power. Her backhand is probably her stronger side, especially with her backhand down the line and her movement around the court is very good and she is capable of hitting very accurate shots on the run. Svitolinas serve is consistent but isnt exceptionally fast and she has recently been working on improving her serve and it is now starting to improve. Svitolinas weakness is probably her volleying at the net as she has known to struggle with this. However she has good reactions and can accelerate well across the court to deal with short balls, Svitolinas best achievement as a junior is winning the Roland Garros girls event in 2010, beating Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the final. She reached her first professional singles final at the ITF $25,000 tournament in Kharkiv in May 2010, Svitolina also reached the final of the girls singles event at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships where she lost to future Top 10 player Eugenie Bouchard. Svitolina qualified for the 2012 US Open and she was defeated in the first round by 12th seed and eventual quarter-finalist Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Svitolina gained direct entry into the 2013 Australian Open, where she was defeated by fifth seed Angelique Kerber in the first round. She won her first WTA title in at the 2013 Baku Cup by beating Shahar Peer, in doing so, the victory also translated into a jump of 32 spots in the WTA Rankings, landing her at No.49 in the rankings of 29 July 2013. At the 2014 Australian Open, Svitolina defeated two-time Grand Slam champion and she went on to reach the third round, losing to Sloane Stephens in straight sets. She proceeded to reach her first quarterfinal at Premier 5 level, Svitolina began her 2015 season at the 2015 Brisbane International where she reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. At the Australian Open, Svitolina reached the round, and won the first set against world number one. She fell in the round in both Dubai and Doha, losing in tight three set matches to Petra Kvitová and Victoria Azarenka respectively. As the 23rd seed in Indian Wells, she defeated Alison Van Uytvanck and Lucie Šafářová, the following week in Miami, she defeated Bojana Jovanovski, before losing in the third round to the eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova
9.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
10.
Jean-Julien Rojer
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Jean-Julien Rojer is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao. His highest ATP singles ranking is 218th, which he achieved on 15 August 2005, a doubles specialist, his career-high in doubles is World No. 3, which he reached in November 2015 and his former doubles partners include Eric Butorac and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. He currently plays with Horia Tecău of Romania, with whom he is the reigning Wimbledon mens doubles champion and he attended UCLA where he competed for the UCLA Bruins mens tennis team. Jean-Julien Rojer at the Association of Tennis Professionals Jean-Julien Rojer at the International Tennis Federation Jean-Julien Rojer at the Davis Cup
11.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
12.
Chinese Taipei
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Following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was annexed by Japan. The KMT, however, retreated to the occupied Taiwan, thus becoming government in exile, most democratic countries continued to support the Nationalist government while communist nations recognize the Communist government. The ROC needed to come to a conclusion to how it would be referred when there was in the same forum participation by the PRC. The International Olympic Committee, had informally been using in international Olympic activities a number of names to differentiate the ROC from the PRC, Taiwan was used at the Tokyo Games. In 1979, the PRC agreed to participate in IOC activities if the Republic of China was referred to as Chinese Taipei. The Nagoya Resolution sanctioned that the Beijing Olympic Committee would be called the Chinese Olympic Committee, what people refer to as Taiwan is one of several areas or islands and Taiwan alone did not reflect the “territorial extent” of the ROC. Some wines from Kinmen are labeled “made in Kinmen, ” just as some perfume is labeled “made in Paris” and not “made in France. ”Taiwans own government and it regarded the term Chinese Taipei as both acceptably neutral and hopeful of assent from other interested parties. Beijing accepted the position that the ROC Olympic Committee could be named the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. In April 1979, in a session of the IOC, He Zhenliang. However, its anthem, flag and constitutions should be changed correspondingly, the National Olympic Committee of the ROC boycotted the Summer and Winter Games in protest of not being allowed to use the Republic of Chinas official flag and national anthem. The name Chinese Taipei was formally accepted by the Government of the Republic of China in 1981, a flag bearing the emblem of its Olympic Committee against a white background as the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag was confirmed in January 1981. The agreement was signed on March 23 in Lausanne by Shen Chia-ming, the President of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, and Juan Antonio Samaranch, in 1983, the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China was chosen as the anthem of the Chinese Taipei delegation. The Republic of China has competed under this flag and name exclusively at each Games since the 1984 Winter Olympics, as well as at the Paralympics, both the Republic of China and the Peoples Republic of China agree to use the English name Chinese Taipei. This is possible because of the ambiguity of the English word Chinese, since then, and until 1989 the PRC translated Chinese Taipei as Zhongguo Taipei, similar to Zhongguo Hong Kong, connoting that Taipei is a part of the Chinese state. By contrast, the Republic of China government translated it as Zhonghua Taipei in Chinese, in 1981 the former Republic of China Olympic Committee confirmed its acceptance of the Nagoya resolution, but translated Chinese Taipei to Zhonghua Taipei. In 1989, the two Olympic committees signed a pact in Hong Kong, clearly defining the use of Zhonghua Taipei, in Beijing 2008 it followed Japan and preceded the Central African Republic. This ordering was based on the number and order of each teams name in simplified Chinese. Other East Asian nations have also had to make unique translation decisions, in Japan, the PRC is referred to by its official Japanese name Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku, but an English transliteration, Chainīzu Taipei, is used for Chinese Taipei
13.
Chan Hao-ching
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Chan Hao-ching, also named Angel Chan, is a professional tennis player representing Taiwan. She is primarily a doubles specialist, winning 8 WTA and 8 ITF titles in that discipline, at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, Chan reached the final of mixed doubles with Max Mirnyi to reach her first ever grand slam final. She is the sister of fellow professional tennis player Chan Yung-jan. At the beginning of the season she won title at the Shenzhen Open with her sister Chan Yung-jan beating Irina Buryachok and she reached the quarterfinals of Indian Wells Masters with Janette Husárová falling to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. At the Portugal Open she won her title of the year with Kristina Mladenovic defeating Darija Jurak. Chan reached second round of the French Open with Darija Jurak, Chan would then suffer first round losses at both Wimbledon and US Open. Chan also reached finals of Southern California Open with Janette Husárová, at the Wimbledon, Chan reached the final of mixed doubles with Max Mirnyi to reach her first ever grand slam final. Along the way, they defeated defending champions Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets, however, the pair lost to Nenad Zimonjić and Samantha Stosur also in straight sets. Early in the year Chan won the title at the PTT Thailand Open with her sister defeating Shuko Aoyama, cincinnati represents their biggest title yet, their first at the Premier 5 level. They won another title at the Japan Womens Open in Tokyo, hao-Ching and Yung-Jan, have just become the third all-sister pairing ever to qualify for the WTA Finals after the Manuela Maleeva and Katerina Maleeva in 1986 and the Williams sisters in 2009. They reached semifinals losing again to Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza and it was Hao-Chings first appearance at the tournament. She finished 2015 ranked 12th, her best year-end ranking so far, Chan Hao-ching at the Womens Tennis Association Chan Hao-ching at the International Tennis Federation Chan Hao-ching profile on Sportsway
14.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
15.
Yang Zhaoxuan
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Yang Zhaoxuan is a Chinese tennis player. Yang has won one title on the WTA tour, as well as three singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career. On 14 September 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 151, on 26 September 2016, she peaked at world number 54 in the doubles rankings. Yang made her WTA tour debut at the 2014 Shenzhen Open, the pair lost their first round match against third seeds Irina Buryachok and Oksana Kalashnikova. Yang Zhaoxuan at the Womens Tennis Association Yang Zhaoxuan at the International Tennis Federation
16.
ATP World Tour 500 series
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The ATP World Tour 500 series is the fourth highest tier of mens tennis tournament after the four Grand Slam tournaments, ATP World Tour Finals, and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000. The series includes 13 tournaments, with 500 rankings points awarded for the singles champions – which accounts for the name of the series. Tournaments have various draws of 32 and 48 for singles and 16 and 24 for doubles, roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hold the record for most titles apiece, at 17, while Daniel Nestor holds the record for most doubles titles won with 20. ATP World Tour 500 2009-current The following points are awarded to a player who reaches a round of a World Tour 500 event
17.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
18.
Tennis
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Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return, the player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society, the sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis and it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s, two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. Tennis is played by millions of players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Historians believe that the ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France. Louis X of France was a player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, in due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. Because of the accounts of his death, Louis X is historys first tennis player known by name. Another of the enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France. It wasnt until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis, from the French term tenez, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, during the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. This in turn led to the codification of rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls. In 1872, along with two doctors, they founded the worlds first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis, according to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield popularized this game enormously
19.
United Arab Emirates
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In 2013, the UAEs population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates. The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971, the constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by a monarch, together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates, Islam is the official religion of the UAE and Arabic is the official language. The UAEs oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the worlds seventeenth-largest, Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure. The UAEs economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city, nevertheless, the country remains principally reliant on its export of petroleum and natural gas. The UAE is criticised for its rights record, including the specific interpretations of Sharia used in its legal system. The UAEs rising international profile has led analysts to identify it as a regional. It appears the land of the Emirates has been occupied for thousands of years, there is no proof of contact with the outside world at that stage, although in time it developed with civilisations in Mesopotamia and Iran. This contact persisted and became wide-ranging, probably motivated by trade in copper from the Hajar Mountains, in ancient times, Al Hasa was part of Al Bahreyn and adjoined Greater Oman. Sassanid groups were present on the Batinah coast, in 637, Julfar was an important port that was used as a staging post for the Islamic invasion of the Sassanian Empire. The area of the Al Ain/Buraimi Oasis was known as Tuam and was an important trading post for camel routes between the coast and the Arabian interior. The earliest Christian site in the UAE was first discovered in the 1990s, a monastic complex on what is now known as Sir Bani Yas Island. Thought to be Nestorian and built in 600 AD, the church appears to have been abandoned peacefully in 750 AD and it forms a rare physical link to a legacy of Christianity which is thought to have spread across the peninsula from 50 to 350 AD following trade routes. Certainly, by the 5th century, Oman had a bishop named John – the last bishop of Oman being Etienne, in 676 AD. This led to a group of travelling to Medina, converting to Islam and subsequently driving a successful uprising against the unpopular Sassanids. Following the death of Prophet Muhammad, the new Islamic communities south of the Persian Gulf threatened to disintegrate, with insurrections against the Muslim leaders. The Caliph Abu Bakr sent an army from the capital Medina which completed its reconquest of the territory with the battle of Dibba in which 10,000 lives are thought to have been lost
20.
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Emir of Dubai. Since his accession in 2006, after the death of his brother Sheikh Maktoum, he has undertaken reforms in the UAEs government, in 2010 he launched the UAE vision 2021 with the aim of making the UAE one of the best countries in the world by 2021. He is responsible for the growth of Dubai into a city, as well as the launch of a number of major enterprises including Emirates Airline, DP World. Many of these are held by Dubai Holding, a company with multi-diversified businesses and he also drove the construction of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. An equestrian, he is the founder of the Maktoum family-owned Godolphin racing stable and the owner of Darley, in 2012, he rode the horse Madji Du Pont 160 km to take the FEI World Endurance Championship. He is a poet in his native Arabic. His mother was Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan al-Nahyan, daughter of Hamdan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, from the age of four, he was privately tutored in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 1955, he began his education at Al Ahmedia School. At the age of 10, he moved to Al Shaab School, in 1966, with his cousin Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, he attended the Bell Educational Trusts English Language School in the United Kingdom. He subsequently studied at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot and he also travelled to Italy to train as a pilot. When the new nation of the United Arab Emirates was founded on 2 December 1971, a period of uncertainty and instability followed the Union of the United Arab Emirates, including skirmishes between tribes over property straddling new borders. On 24 January 1972, the former ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi led an insurrectionist coup against the ruler. Sheikh Khalid had been killed in the action, leading to the accession of his brother Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi as ruler of Sharjah. In 1973, he was involved in protracted negotiations with the hijackers of JAL404, led by Japanese Red Army member Osamu Maruouka, which landed in Dubai after being hijacked as it departed Schiphol. With more than 50,000 employees in over 100 cities around the globe, the group has real estate, logistics and other investments in the United States, the United Kingdom. The companys investment group operating units include Dubai Group and Dubai International Capital and he was also behind the establishment of government-owned low cost carrier FlyDubai. Through the 1970s, as well as his role as head of Dubai Defence Force and UAE Minister of Defence, the launch budget of the airline was $10 million and its inaugural flight took place on 25 October 1985. Sheikh Mohammed made his uncle, Ahmed bin Saeed chairman of the new company, in 1991, Sheikh Mohammed merged the Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone and Port Rashid to form the Dubai Ports Authority
21.
Roger Federer
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Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No.4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Many players and analysts have called him the greatest tennis player of all time, Federer turned professional in 1998 and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from October 2002 to November 2016. Federer has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in history for a tennis player. In majors, Federer has won seven Wimbledon titles, five Australian Open titles, five US Open titles and he is among the eight men to capture a career Grand Slam. He has reached a record 28 mens singles Grand Slam finals, Federers ATP tournament records include winning a record six ATP World Tour Finals and playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, representing Switzerland, he was a part of the 2014 winning Davis Cup team. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008. Federer was born at the Basel Cantonal Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, Federer has one sibling, his older sister Diana, who is the mother of a set of twins. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenship, Federer was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL dItalia tournament in Rome. Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was ruled unsuitable and was not required to fulfil his military obligation. Instead, he served in the protection force and was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative. He grew up supporting F. C. Basel and the Swiss National Football Team, Federer also credits the range of sports he played as a child—he also played badminton and basketball—for his hand-eye coordination. Federer is married to former Womens Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec and he met her while both were competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury and they were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. In July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose. The Federers had another set of twins in 2014, this time boys whom they named Leo and Lennart, in 2003, he established the Roger Federer Foundation to help disadvantaged children and to promote their access to education and sports. In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, at the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Federer arranged an exhibition involving several top players from the ATP and WTA tour called Rally for Relief
22.
Novak Djokovic
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Novak Djokovic, often referred to by the hypocorism Nole, is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No.2 in mens singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time and he is coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda. Djokovic holds the best match winning rate in Open Era, as of March 2017, Djokovic has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, the fourth most in history, and held the No.1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 223 weeks. In majors, Djokovic has won six Australian Open titles, three Wimbledon titles, two US Open titles and one French Open title, Djokovic stands alone with an all-time record of 30 Masters 1000 series titles. Among other titles, he has won the ATP World Tour Finals five times and was on the Serbian team which won the 2010 Davis Cup and he also won the Bronze medal in mens singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Djokovic is the first Serbian player to be ranked No.1 by the ATP and he is a recipient of the Order of St. Sava, the Order of Karađorđes Star and the Order of the Republika Srpska. Djokovic was born on 22 May 1987 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia, to parents Srđan, novaks father is Montenegrin in origin and his mother is Croatian by background, with Novak considering himself to be Serbian. His two younger brothers, Marko and Djordje, are also tennis players with professional aspirations, a resident in Monte Carlo, Djokovic was coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda from 2006 until Boris Becker took over the role of head coach in December 2013. Djokovic is a fan of languages, speaking Serbian, English, French, German. He met his wife, Jelena Ristić, in high school. On 24 April 2014, Djokovic announced that he and Ristić were expecting their first child and his son Stefan was born in October 2014. Djokovic began playing tennis at the age of four, in the summer of 1993, the six-year-old was spotted by Yugoslav tennis player Jelena Genčić at Mount Kopaonik, where Djokovics parents ran a fast-food parlour. Upon seeing Djokovic play tennis, she stated, This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles, to that end, she contacted Nikola Pilić and in September 1999 the 12-year-old moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. At the age of 14, he began his career, winning European championships in singles, doubles. Djokovic is known for his often humorous off-court impersonations of his fellow players and this became evident to the tennis world after his 2007 US Open quarterfinal win over Carlos Moyá, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. His impersonations have become popular on YouTube. Djokovic did an impression of John McEnroe after his fourth round victory at the 2009 US Open, before playing a brief game with McEnroe. Djokovic is a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church and he is a keen fan of Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade, Italian club A. C. Milan and Portuguese club S. L
23.
Martina Hingis
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Martina Hingis is a Czechoslovak-born Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No.1. In addition, she has won the season-ending WTA Championships two times in singles and three times in doubles and is an Olympic silver medalist, Hingis set a series of youngest-ever records during the mid and late 1990s, including youngest-ever Grand Slam champion and youngest-ever world No.1. In July 2013, Hingis came out of retirement to play the North American hard-court season, after achieving moderate success in 2014 playing with Sabine Lisicki and Flavia Pennetta, she partnered with Sania Mirza in March 2015, together they won three consecutive Grand Slam titles. During her comeback, Hingis also won all four Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments alongside Leander Paes, widely considered an all-time tennis great, Hingis was ranked by Tennis magazine in 2005 as the 8th-greatest female player of the preceding 40 years. She was named one of the 30 Legends of Womens Tennis, Past, Present, in 2013, Hingis was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and was appointed two years later the organizations first ever Global Ambassador. Hingis was born in Košice, Czechoslovakia as Martina Hingisová Molitor, to accomplished tennis players Melanie Molitorová, Molitorová was a professional tennis player who was once ranked tenth among women in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to develop Hingis into a top player as early as pregnancy. Her father was ranked as high as nineteenth in the Czechoslovak tennis rankings, Martina Hingis spent her early childhood growing up in the town of Rožnov. Hingiss parents divorced when she was six, and she and her mother defected from Czechoslovakia in 1987 and her mother remarried to a Swiss man, Andreas Zogg, a computer technician. Martina Hingis acquired Swiss citizenship through naturalization, Hingis began playing tennis when she was two years old and entered her first tournament at age four. In 1993, 12-year-old Hingis became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title, in 1994, she retained her French Open junior title, won the girls singles title at Wimbledon, and reached the final of the US Open. She made her WTA debut in October 1994, two weeks after her 14th birthday and she ended the year ranked World no.87. In 1996, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion of all time and she also won her first professional singles title that year at Filderstadt, Germany. She reached the quarterfinals at the 1996 Australian Open and the singles semifinals of the 1996 US Open. Following her win at Filderstadt, Hingis defeated the reigning Australian Open champion, Hingis then lost to Graf at the year-end WTA Tour Championships final. In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No.1 womens tennis player and she started the year by winning the warm-up tournament in Sydney. She then became the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century by winning the Australian Open at age 16 years and 3 months, in March, she became the youngest top ranked player in history. In July, she became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 by beating Jana Novotná in the final and she then defeated another up-and-coming player, Venus Williams, in the final of the US Open. The only Grand Slam singles title that Hingis failed to win in 1997 was the French Open and she won the Australian Open womens doubles with Natasha Zvereva
24.
Justine Henin
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She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No.1 and was the year-end No.1 in 2003,2006 and 2007. Henin won seven Grand Slam singles titles, winning the French Open in 2003,2005,2006 and 2007, the US Open in 2003 and 2007, at Wimbledon, she was the runner-up in 2001 and 2006. She also won a medal in the womens singles at the 2004 Olympic Games. In total, she won 43 WTA singles titles, Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand as the principal reasons for her success. She retired from tennis on 26 January 2011, due to an elbow injury. In June 2011, she was named one of the 30 Legends of Womens Tennis, Past, Present and she is widely considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. In 2016, she became the first Belgian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Justine Henin was born in Liège. Her father is José Henin, her mother, Françoise Rosière, was a French and she has two brothers and a sister. When Justine was two, her moved to a house in Rochefort, situated next to the local tennis club. Henins mother routinely took the young Henin across the border to France to watch the French Open, Henin saw the 1992 final involving her idol Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Although Graf lost, the experience impressed Henin, since then, Henin idolizes Graf as her role model. In 1995, shortly after her mothers death, Henin met her coach Carlos Rodríguez who guided her career both before her retirement in 2008 and during her 2010 comeback, on 16 November 2002, Henin married Hardenne in the Château de Lavaux-Sainte-Anne, adopting the name Justine Henin-Hardenne. On 4 January 2007, Henin withdrew from forthcoming tournaments in Australia, including the Australian Open, Henin confirmed three weeks later that she had officially separated from her husband. The same year, she reverted to using the name Justine Henin, since March 2011 Henin has been in a relationship with Benoît Bertuzzo, a Belgian cameraman, and secretly married him in March 2015. On 12 September 2012, Henin announced that she was pregnant, Henin, known as Juju to many of her fans, was coached by Carlos Rodríguez of Argentina. In 1997, she won the girls singles title at the French Open. Early in her career, she regularly reached the late rounds of international competitions. She also won her event, the Liege Challenger, in July 2000
25.
Andy Roddick
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Andrew Stephen Andy Roddick is an American former professional tennis player. He became a Grand Slam singles champion, and world number one, despite several more years as one of the worlds best players that would remain his only Grand Slam triumph. He is the most recent North American male player to win a Grand Slam singles event, the most recent to reach the top ranking, and the most recent to claim the year-end world No.1. Roddick reached four other Grand Slam finals, losing to Roger Federer every time, Roddick was ranked in the top 10 for 9 consecutive years between 2002 and 2010, at years end, and won five Masters Series in that period. He is married to Brooklyn Decker, a former Sports Illustrated swimwear model, on August 30,2012, during the 2012 US Open and on his 30th birthday, Roddick announced that he would retire after the tournament. Following a fourth-round defeat by Juan Martín del Potro, Roddick retired from the sport with the aim of focusing on his foundation, in 2015, Roddick played for the Austin Aces in World Team Tennis. This was his eighth season in World Team Tennis and the team he has played for. Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Blanche, a teacher, and Jerry Roddick. Roddick has two brothers, Lawrence and John, who were both promising tennis players at a young age. Roddick played varsity basketball in school alongside his future Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish. During that time period, he trained with Venus and Serena Williams. His tennis idol growing up was Andre Agassi, Roddick considered quitting competitive tennis at the age of 17, when he had a losing streak in the juniors. His coach, Tarik Benhabiles, talked him into giving tennis four more months of undivided attention, Roddick finished as the No.6 junior in the U. S. in 1999, and as the No.1 junior in the world in 2000. He won six world junior titles and seven world junior doubles titles. In March in Miami, in the first round Roddick had his first ATP level victory as he beat World No.41 Fernando Vicente of Spain, 6–4, 6–0. In August in Washington, D. C. he beat World No.30 Fabrice Santoro of France, 4–6, Roddick played the Banana Bowl in the city of São Paulo and won, beating Joachim Johansson in the final. Roddick also won the Australian Junior Open, defeating Mario Ančić in the final, in 2001, Roddick defeated former French Open champion Michael Chang in five sets in the second round of the tournament, despite the fact that clay was Roddicks worst surface. During the following Wimbledon, he showed potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanišević
26.
Elena Dementieva
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Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian tennis player. Dementieva won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She won 16 WTA singles titles, reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open, Dementieva achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 3, which was accomplished on 6 April 2009 and she announced her retirement on 29 October 2010, after her final match at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships. Dementieva ended her career ranked World No.9 and between 2003 and 2010 she only ended one year, in 2007, outside the top 10, Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a teacher—both recreational tennis players. She then moved to the Central Red Army Club with Sergei Pashkov and she was later coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod. She has homes in Monaco, Moscow and Boca Raton, Florida, Dementieva enjoys snowboarding, reading, baseball and traveling. On 16 July 2011, Dementieva married hockey player Maxim Afinogenov in Moscow, the couple welcomed their first child, Veronika, in April 2014. Dementieva played and won her first international tournament, Les Petits As, in 1997, she entered the WTA top 500. She turned professional in 1998 and entered the top 100 in 1999, in 1999, Dementieva represented Russia in the Fed Cup final against the United States, scoring Russias only point when she upset Venus Williams 1–6, 6–3, 7–6, recovering from a 4–1 third set deficit. She played her first Grand Slam main draws, qualifying for the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon and she reached the second round at the Australian Open and French Open, made a first round exit at Wimbledon and reached the third round of the US Open. In 2000, she entered the top 20 by winning more than 40 singles matches for the second straight year and she became the first woman from Russia to reach the US Open semifinals in singles, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Dementieva won the medal, losing to Venus Williams in the gold medal match 6–2. In 2000, Dementieva was named the WTA tours Most Improved Player,2001 was the second straight year in which Dementieva finished in the WTAs top 20. During the year, she became the top-ranked Russian player, a previously held by Anna Kournikova since December 1997. Dementieva, however, suffered an injury in Australia. To keep playing matches, she altered her serve, adding slice, after her shoulder healed, her service motion stayed the same. She had double faulted as many as 19 times in a match and hit 50 mph first, in 2002, Dementieva and her partner Janette Husárová of Slovakia reached the final of the US Open and won the year-ending WTA Tour Championships
27.
Shahar Pe'er
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Shahar Peer is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. Peer has won five singles and three titles on the WTA tour, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF tour in her career. On 31 January 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 11, on 12 May 2008, she peaked at world number 14 in the doubles rankings. Playing for Israel at the Fed Cup, Peer has a record of 39–28. Peers father, Dovik, was born in South Africa in 1955 and he is a computer software specialist and her mother, Aliza, is a homemaker. She began playing tennis at the age of six when she joined her brother Shlomi, at the age of 19, Peer joined the Israeli military, as military service is mandatory in Israel. When not abroad participating in tournaments, she spent her mornings working as an administrative secretary for the Israeli military. Peer began playing tennis competitively when she was six and her first tournament win was in the doubles event with partner Nicole Vaidišová at the Eddie Herr International tournament when she was 12. She also reached the final at that tournament. In 2001, Peer won the Nike Junior Tour International Masters tennis tournament and she also won her age category at the Junior Orange Bowl. In 2002, Peer won in singles at the Bat Yam International and she won the Aamata Cup in Thailand in March 2003. Peers first major victory came at the 2004 Australian Open, where she won the Juniors Championship. She beat her former partner Vaidišová in the final, and became the first Israeli women to win a junior Grand Slam title since Anna Smashnova won the French Open girls singles title in 1990. Peer turned professional in 2004, a year during which she played both the ITF Circuit and the WTA Tour, in 2005, Peer first played the main draw of a Grand Slam event, reaching the third round in both the French Open and the US Open. Peer finished 2005 ranked no.45 in the world, in January 2006 in Canberra, Australia, she lost a marathon semifinal match against Spains Anabel Medina Garrigues that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes. At the time it was one of the ten longest matches in WTA tour history. In May 2006 she beat world no.15 Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany in the semifinals and then world no.2 Anastasia Myskina of Russia. At the 2006 French Open, Peer defeated world no.8 Elena Dementieva of Russia in the round of 32, Peer reached the fourth round of the 2006 US Open, defeating world no.15 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, but later fell to Justine Henin Hardenne
28.
Travel visa
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A visa is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter and temporarily remain within, or to leave that country. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter. In each instance, a visa is subject to permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry. A visa is most commonly a sticker endorsed in the applicants passport or other travel document, some countries do not require visas for short visits. Some countries require that their citizens, as well as foreign travelers, uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty. Some countries – such as those in the Schengen Area – have agreements with other countries allowing each others citizens to travel between them without visas, the World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015. Some countries do not require a visa in some situations, such as a result of reciprocal treaty arrangements, the possession of a visa is not in itself a guarantee of entry into the country that issued it, and a visa can be revoked at any time. A visitor may also be required to undergo and pass security or health checks upon arrival at the border, in Western Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, passports and visas were not generally necessary for moving from one country to another. The relatively high speed and large movements of people traveling by train would have caused bottlenecks if regular passport controls had been used, passports and visas became usually necessary travel documents only since World War I. Long before that, in ancient times, passports and visas were usually the type of travel documents. In the modern world, visas have become separate secondary travel documents and these agencies are authorized by the foreign authority, embassy, or consulate to represent international travelers who are unable or unwilling to travel to the embassy and apply in person. Private visa and passport services collect a fee for verifying customer applications, supporting documents. If there is no embassy or consulate in ones home country, alternatively, in such cases visas may be pre-arranged for pickup on arrival at the border. The issuing authority, usually a branch of the foreign ministry or department. Some countries ask for proof of status, especially for long-term visas, some countries deny such visas to persons with certain illnesses. The exact conditions depend on the country and category of visa, notable examples of countries requiring HIV tests of long-term residents are Russia and Uzbekistan. However, in Uzbekistan, the HIV test requirement is not strictly enforced. Other countries require a medical test which includes an HIV test even for short term tourism visa, for instance Cuban citizens and international exchange students require such a test approved by a medical authority to enter Chilean territory
29.
Venus Williams
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Ranked World No.11 in singles as of January 28,2017, Williams has been ranked World No.1 by the Womens Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks. She first became the World No.1 on February 25,2002, on 10 June 2002, Venus and Serena became the first sisters to hold the No.1 and No.2 spots in the singles rankings, respectively. On 7 June 2010, Venus became co-No,1 in doubles with Serena after they won their 4th consecutive grand slam doubles title at Roland Garros. By virtue of that doubles ascension, Venus became one of seven women to reach No.1 in singles. On 21 June 2010, Venus and Serena again occupied the No.2 and No.1 spots in the singles rankings, astonishingly, this came almost exactly 8 years after first accomplishing this feat. At the time, Venus had just celebrated her 30th birthday and her seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her twelfth on the all-time list, more than any other active female player except sister Serena. She has also won fourteen Grand Slam doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles and her five Wimbledon singles titles ties her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list. Williams is one of four women to have won five or more Wimbledon singles titles in the Open Era, from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments held. She is one of six women in the Open Era to win 200 or more main draw Grand Slam singles matches. As of the 2017 Australian Open, Williams extends her record as the leader, male or female, in Grand Slams played. Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and she and Serena have won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player, male or female. Venus also holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by a male or female tennis player and she is the only tennis player to have won a medal at four separate Olympic Games. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924. With 49 singles titles, Williams is behind only Serena among active players on the WTA Tour and her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest since January 1,2000. She is also one of three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, along with Serena. By winning her 49th career singles title at the 2016 Taiwan Open, Williams became the 5th oldest WTA Tour titlist in the Open Era, Williams has played against her sister in 27 professional matches since 1998, and won 11. They have played against each other in nine Grand Slam singles finals, Venus has 8 runner-up finishes in grand slam singles events with Martina Hingis being the only player other than Serena to beat Venus in a major final at the 1997 US Open. Beginning with the 2002 French Open, they opposed each other in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, on the other side, the pair have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles playing alongside each other and are undefeated in Grand Slam finals
30.
Andy Ram
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Andy Ram is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He is primarily a doubles player and he is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam event. He first won the doubles title at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. He then won the doubles title at the 2007 French Open with Nathalie Dechy. Ram attained his highest doubles ranking of World No.5 in July 2008 and he reached 36 doubles finals and won 20 of them through 2013, mostly with partner Jonathan Erlich, together, they are known in Israel as AndiYoni. His Davis Cup doubles record, as of 2013, was 17-7, in May 2014, he announced his retirement, to take effect after Israels Davis Cup tie in September. In April 2015, Andy Ram, CEO of Pulse Play, announced his new startup - wearable technology, Ram, born in Montevideo, Uruguay, is Jewish. His father Amiram, a professional soccer player for Betar Jerusalem in the 1950s, is Israeli. After his father was injured he was sent to Uruguay on shlihut, and it was there that he met Rams mother and he has an older brother and a younger sister. They moved to Jerusalem when he was five, which is when he began playing tennis and it was tough at the beginning because I couldnt speak the language, and was fighting with people in the kindergarten who didnt understand me, said Ram. My parents decided to send me to the center not long after we arrived. I really enjoyed playing tennis, because when I was six or seven years old and winning tournaments it felt good, from when I was 8 or 10 I knew it was going to be a career for me. Its a tennis life so it wasnt so easy and you have to give up many things. When all my friends were playing outside I had to practice, I didnt go to all the school trips. But I was focused from a young age. I grew up practicing at the Jerusalem tennis center, I spent most of my childhood there, practicing five days a week. I never regretted it and I enjoyed every moment, now I am reaping the rewards. Ram was trained by Ronen Moralli at the Israel Tennis Centers in Jerusalem and my first inspiration was Jo Jo Lizmi, the famous Jerusalem tennis coach, who showed me all the basic techniques
31.
Mahesh Bhupathi
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Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi is an Indian professional tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tournament, with his win at the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2006, he joined the elite group of eight tennis players who have achieved a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. He is also the founder of International Premier Tennis League, Mahesh Bhupathi is known as one of the top doubles players in the 1990s and 2000s. In 1999, Bhupathi won three titles with Leander Paes, including the French Open and Wimbledon. He and Paes became the first doubles team to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the open era, on 26 April of that year, they became the world no.1 doubles team. Bhupathi also won the US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan, in 2006, Bhupathi teamed with Martina Hingis in the Australian Open mixed doubles competition. Entering the tournament unseeded and as wildcards, the pair defeated four seeded opponents along the way. Bhupathi and Hingis defeated the team of Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. It was the mixed doubles Grand Slam for Bhupathi. By winning the Australian Open, Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles, in 2007, Bhupathi and Radek Štěpánek reached the 2007 Australian Open mens doubles events quarterfinals. Bhupathi teamed with Štěpánek at the 2007 French Open to make the semifinals, defeating two-year defending champions Jonas Björkman. The team lost to the eventual champions Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, after Wimbledon, Bhupathi teamed with Pavel Vízner to win the 2007 Canada Masters, defeating the top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan en route. After this victory, he won a tournament in New Haven with Nenad Zimonjić, at the 2007 US Open, he and Zimonjić paired in doubles. After the US Open, the team that beat Bhupathi and Štěpánek in the French Open semifinals, Knowles and Nestor, Bhupathi became Knowles partner, while Zimonjić became Nestors, but back surgery meant he was out until the end of the year. In 2009, Bhupathi and compatriot Sania Mirza won the doubles title at the Australian Open, beating Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram, 6–3, 6–1. The Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of the years final when they were beaten by Sun Tiantian. With this win, Bhupathis count in mixed doubles Grand Slam titles increased to seven, Bhupathi broke up his partnership with Knowles and began playing once again with Max Mirnyi, with whom he played to win the 2002 US Open. In 2011, Bhupathi reunited with former playing partner Leander Paes for the 2011 Australian Open, the team reached the final, but lost 3–6, 4–6 to the Bryan brothers
32.
Liezel Huber
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Liezel Huber is a professional tennis player from the United States, having been a naturalized American citizen since July 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in doubles with partner Cara Black, one with Lisa Raymond. On 12 November 2007, she became the co-World No.1 in doubles with Cara Black, on 19 April 2010, Huber became the sole No.1 for the first time in her career. At age 15, she moved from South Africa to the United States to attend the Van Der Meer Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, Huber has since resided in the U. S. She married Tony Huber, an American, in February 2000, in 2005, she started a foundation, Liezels Cause, to raise money and gather basic supplies to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She competed for the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in doubles, partnering with former World No.1 Lindsay Davenport, at the 2012 London Olympics, she teamed with Lisa Raymond. Together they reached the semi-finals, losing to Hlaváčková and Hradecká of the Czech Republic and they then lost the bronze medal match to Kirilenko and Petrova of Russia. In the mixed doubles she teamed with Bob Bryan but lost in the first round, Liezel Huber is primarily a doubles specialist, having achieved one of the best careers in this discipline. She has won 64 womens doubles titles in her career, of which 53 are on the WTA Tour and 11 on the ITF Womens Circuit. In singles, her greatest result in her career was reaching to the quarterfinals at the tournament in Pattaya City in 2001 and she participated in two Grand Slam singles main draws, losing to Lindsay Davenport in the second round of the 1998 French Open. She lost in the 1999 US Open first round to Raluca Sandu and her highest singles ranking was world no. 131, which she achieved on 29 March 1999 and she enjoyed the majority of her first eight years on tour on the ITF Circuit. Huber has been in the final of all four Grand Slams and she has won a total of five Grand Slam womens doubles titles with three partners in ten finals with four partners, and finished as a titlist in two of her five mixed doubles finals. Huber and her Zimbabwean partner Black made up what many experts regard as one of the greatest womens doubles teams in history between mid-2005. and early 2010. Together, the pair reached seven womens doubles finals, winning four, the duo won a total of 29 titles together on the WTA Tour. The partnership suddenly broke up in April 2010, Huber has also enjoyed success in mixed doubles, winning two titles with American mens doubles legend Bob Bryan, at the 2009 French Open and 2010 US Open. Huber has also enjoyed success in the Fed Cup national competition. She logged a 9–3 record on the South Africa Fed Cup team, with all, Huber is now a major member of the United States Fed Cup team, compiling a 6–2 record in doubles play
33.
Cara Black
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Cara Black is a professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. She is primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA and 11 ITF titles in that discipline, Black has won ten Grand Slam titles in womens doubles and mixed doubles combined. By winning the doubles title at the 2010 Australian Open. Black was born in Harare, Zimbabwe to Donald and Velia Black and her father and older brothers, Wayne and Byron Black, were all professional male tennis players themselves. The siblings all compete mostly in doubles – Wayne was the 2001 US Open and 2005 Australian Open champion and Byron was the 1994 French Open winner, Black partnered with her brother Wayne to win the 2002 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles events. Black has also engaged in partnerships with Irina Selyutina, Elena Likhovtseva, Rennae Stubbs, Liezel Huber. In August 2005, Black announced that she would marry her boyfriend, Australian mental. The couples son Lachlan was born on 26 April 2012 following her break from tennis after Wimbledon 2011, Cara has won five Grand Slam womens doubles titles in her career, Wimbledon 2004,2005, and 2007, Australian Open 2007, and US Open 2008. She reached the 2000 US Open doubles final with Elena Likhovtseva, from 1996 through to 2000, Blacks debut years, she won 8 ITF doubles titles,1 WTA doubles title in Auckland, and 4 ITF singles titles. Her only WTA singles title came at Waikoloa in 2002 and she also won a big ITF doubles tournament in Santa Clara in 1999. In November 2005, Black was runner-up in the WTA Championships doubles title, Australian Samantha Stosur and American Lisa Raymond defeated Australian Rennae Stubbs and Black 6–7, 7–5, 6–4. In 2007 Black came back to partner Liezel Huber and they won the 2007 Australian Open and Wimbledon. The team ended the year as the one team, winning the year-end championships over Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama 5–7. Black represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and she lost to 2nd seeded Jelena Janković from Serbia in the first round on 11 August 2008. She teamed up with Leander Paes from India for the doubles at the US Open, triumphing over Liezel Huber. In 2009 she won five doubles titles leading to the championships in Doha. Black started 2010 strongly by winning two tournaments leading up to the 2010 Australian Open, coming to the slam with an unbeaten record, Black made it to the finals in both the womens doubles and mixed doubles. She and Huber lost the doubles final to Venus and Serena Williams in straight sets, 6–4
34.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
35.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
36.
Fabrice Santoro
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Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. In singles play, Santoro earned six titles, but reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam only once and his career-high ranking of world no.17 belied his impressive record against top ten opposition. He had arguably even greater success in competition, with two Grand Slam doubles titles, one Grand Slam mixed doubles title, and 25 doubles championships overall to his name. Since late 2014, Santoro is a coach of Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky, after having lost in the early rounds of the 1988 Jr French Open and 1988 Jr US Open, Santoro won the 1989 Jr French Open. He also had an appearance in the 1989 Jr US Open. In addition, Santoro won what was, at the time, the record stood until John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, but still remains the French Open record. As a singles player, the 2006 Australian Open was Santoros only Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance. In singles play, Santoro defeated 18 players who were ranked world no, against other former world no.1 players, Santoro is 0–6 against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 0–1 against Ivan Lendl, 0–1 against Rafael Nadal, and 0-2 against Andy Murray. Santoro is famous for his record against Marat Safin, Safin himself has said. He also won the 2005 French Open mixed doubles title with Daniela Hantuchová, Santoro teamed with Michaël Llodra again to win the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, a competition that included the top eight doubles teams in the world. In addition to his doubles prowess, Fabrice is noted for his attitude on court and his vast arsenal of trick shots, making him a crowd favorite. In recognition of Santoros varied and innovative style of play, Pete Sampras has nicknamed him The Magician, Santoro plays with two hands on forehand and backhand, and though he is right-handed, often slices his forehand with his left hand. He attributes this to having used racquets of the same throughout his career. With his participation in the 2008 Australian Open, he broke Andre Agassis record in Grand Slam appearances over his career with a total of 62, at 37, he was the oldest player in the ATP Top 100, being ranked 68 when he entered this last tournament. He lost in the first round of the tournament – to Marin Čilić – ending his professional tennis career and he was the first leader of the ATP Champions Race, winning the first tournament of the year in Doha in the year the race was introduced. According to ATPworldtour. com after the 2010 Australian Open, Santoro has lost more matches than any other professional player. Overall, however, Santoro has won more than half of his matches, Santoro is a big fan of the late French comedian Michel Colucci, better known as Coluche. Santoro has a daughter named Djenae, since 2012, Santoro has featured as part of the television commentary and analysis team for British television channel ITV, at the French Open
37.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
38.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
Roberto Bautista Agut
Elina Svitolina
Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
Chan Hao-ching
Yang Zhaoxuan
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