Tennis players come from all over the world, and hence the pronunciation of their names is often a difficult and confusing task. The following video is therefore a precious reference, as native speakers read aloud the names of players from their countries.

Here you can see a list of the names in order. (via Forty Deuce)

Dave Seminara wrote a great story about an astonishing historic rally between two women's tennis players, and I will share some facts from his article here on Women's Tennis Blog.

Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner played the longest rally in the history of professional tennis, which included 643 shots and was played when Hepner had a set point in the second set tiebreak, which lasted 1 hour and 47 minutes on its own. Can you believe it?

After the 29-minute long rally Nelson went for a winner and won the point. She was also the winner of the match, after 6 hours and 31 minutes of play. Final score was 6-4 7-6(11). Not surprisingly, the marathon was the longest match in tennis history for nearly twenty years, and is still the longest match completed on a single day.

When the rally was over, Nelson collapsed with cramps in her legs. Bizarrely, the chair umpire called a time-violation warning, but Nelson collected herself and continued the match.

You must be wondering how in the world that rally lasted so long. Nelson explains: "We were both pretty much standing on the baseline lobbing."

And imagine this: Had Hepner won the rally, the match would have been taken to the third set, and I don't want to even imagine where that would have led.

The match was played on September 24, 1984, in the first round of the $50,000 Virginia Slims-sponsored Ginny tournament at the Raintree Swim and Racquet Club in Richmond. Nelson and Hepner were ranked No. 93 and No. 172 in the world.

Davin Shoemaker, 38, has been appointed the new President of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

The native of Otawa, Canada, joined the Tour in 2004 as General Counsel, and less than two years later he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Shoemaker added the title of Head of Asia-Pacific region and relocated to the Tour’s Beijing headquarters in July 2008.

In addition to continuing to oversee the Tour's Asian operations, Shoemaker will be responsible for the overall day-to-day operations and business affairs of the Tour; tournament and player relations; strategic expansion of the sport in key growth markets; international TV and digital media rights distribution; and the Tour's year-end Championships.

In his new role as President, Shoemaker will relocate by end of year to the Tour’s corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida and report to Stacey Allaster, who was recently appointed Chairman and CEO of the Tour. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Billie Jean King, the founder of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, was among 16 global luminaries to receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House.

The Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, is awarded to those who make an especially significant contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Here’s what Barack Obama said in reference to Billie Jean King:

We honor… what she did to broaden the reach of the game, to change how women athletes and women everywhere view themselves, and to give everyone – including my two daughters – a chance to compete both on the court and in life.

(source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

After becoming pregnant, France's Nathalie Dechy has retired from tennis at the age of 30 in order to dedicate herself to family life.

In her 15-year-long career Dechy won one WTA singles title, Gold Coast in 2003, and three Grand Slam doubles titles: 2006 US Open with Vera Zvonareva, 2007 US Open with Dinara Safina, and mixed doubles with Andy Ram at the 2007 French Open.

Dechy’s best showing in Grand Slam singles was a semifinal at the 2005 Australian Open.

Dechy's her highest career ranking in singles came in January 2006 when she was 11th, while in doubles she was ranked as high as No.8 in May 2007. (source: Reuters, photo: pato_garza)