Remember the Tennis Score Tracker iPhone app that I presented three months ago, which helps tennis players, coaches, referees and spectators log tennis scores via their mobile phones? The guys making the app worked hard in the meantime making updates, as well as adding team rosters so that teams of players can be managed for tournaments. Their press release below talks about the update.

Tennis Score Tracker is updated to include teams, events, and team rosters. You can now add multiple teams, followed by multiple events for each team, as well as an event roster based on team members. Event rosters can be copied from previous events for easy management. The screen capture shows the new team roster view with matches won in green, matches lost in red, and matches suspended for later play in yellow.

Keeping score in tennis is very simple using this app. In just a few taps the match timer starts and scoring begins. If playing a tennis match users can set the score mode to game-by-game so that the score is updated during changeovers. If observing a tennis match users can set the score mode to point-by-point, scoring matches in the standard way. Scores can be sent via email or text message, or posted to Facebook. Matches can be suspended for later play if needed. A player roster, with details such as notes and player ratings, integrates with your existing contacts as an option.

Players can be added to any line with duplicates in the event that a player plays more than one match. Team captains may be specified by selecting the hat. Team substitutes may be specified by selecting the dual player icon. In the image on the right you can see that Christopher is selected as a captain, and Patricia is selected as a substitute. Event results can be shared via email.

Locations of tennis matches can be displayed in a map view so that over time users can see where matches were played, and to view previous matches based on location. Locations are displayed during match play based on location name, coordinates as latitude and longitude, or coordinates as degrees, minutes, and seconds, selectable by the user.

Device Requirements:

Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Requires iOS 4.2 or later
4.8 Mb
Languages Supported:

English, French, Japanese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese

Visit the official page of the application for more details or, if you have any questions, feel free to use the comments section below.

Twenty-two-year old Vesna Dolonts has received Serbian citizenship and will now represent Serbia in her tennis career. The Muscovite used to represent Russia. Her mother Ekaterina is Russian, while her father Rastko is Serbian. As I can see in her WTA profile, Dolonts speaks only Russian and English, not Serbian.

Dolonts is currently ranked 169th, which makes her the fourth-ranked Serbian after Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Bojana Jovanovski. Her highest world ranking was No.86, reached in July 2011, while her biggest victory to date is the second round upset of 15th seed and world No.17 Marion Bartoli at the 2011 Australian Open.

Before getting married to Arsen Dolonts in October 2010, Vesna played under the surname Manasieva.

This article is especially dedicated to reader Dusan who wanted me to share this story!

Update: Vesna also changed her last name's English spelling from Dolonts to Dolonc! (source: RIA Novosti, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Dear readers,

Professional tennis coach Florian Meier from OnlineTennisInstruction.com is back to give you another great video tip. This one is a forehand tip. Florian discusses the windshield wiper forehand, which is a very common term in tennis these days. Many recreational players make mistakes in trying to copy this so-called windshield wiper motion from the professional players.

If you enjoy the video and want to see more of Florian’s free video tips go ahead and click on the image below the video where you can sign up for his free newsletter.

Florian's video tips are meant to be actionable and effective in a short period of time and he believes that:

Tennis video instruction is helping tennis players all over the world now get a better idea of what they need to do in order to improve and he is excited to be a part of it.

FOREHAND TIP: THE WINDSHIELD WIPER FOREHAND

If you sign up you will receive Florian's Top 5 video tips straight to your inbox. In the Top 5 video series all four areas of the game are covered. There are tips for:

- Improving your groundstrokes and missing less in the net,
– Developing a better service motion,
– Playing smarter and hitting to the right targets,
– Developing more efficient footwork,
– Improving your mental game.

Florian explains:

I spent the past 10 years of my life coaching and researching how tennis players can improve and what I found is that most players get stuck at a certain level and often remain there for the rest of their tennis career. Usually they lack the right information to take their game to the next level and my goal with OnlineTennisInstruction.com is to close that gap.

OnlineTennisInstruction.com is a website focused on helping tennis players improve their game. Florian also writes about current events in pro tennis on his blog. Visit his website to get more free tennis tips.

Dear readers,

Professional tennis coach Florian Meier from OnlineTennisInstruction.com is back to give you another great video tip.

This tip is on the slice backhand and it can probably help a lot of you improve your slice. Florian says that most players float the slice too much whereas the best players hit it so that it really skids through the court. If you enjoy the video and want to see more of Florian’s free video tips go ahead and click on the image below the video where you can sign up for his newsletter.

Florian's video tips are meant to be actionable and effective in a short period of time and he believes that:

Tennis video instruction is helping tennis players all over the world now get a better idea of what they need to do in order to improve and I am excited to be a part of it.

SLICE BACKHAND TIP

If you sign up you will receive Florian's Top 5 video tips straight to your inbox. In the Top 5 video series all four areas of the game are covered. There are tips for:

- Improving your groundstrokes and missing less in the net,
- Developing a better service motion,
- Playing smarter and hitting to the right targets,
- Developing more efficient footwork,
- Improving your mental game.

Florian explains:

I spent the past 10 years of my life coaching and researching how tennis players can improve and what I found is that most players get stuck at a certain level and often remain there for the rest of their tennis career. Usually they lack the right information to take their game to the next level and my goal with OnlineTennisInstruction.com is to close that gap.

OnlineTennisInstruction.com is a website focused on helping tennis players improve their game. Florian also writes about current events in pro tennis on his blog. Visit his website to get more video tennis tips.

Dear friends, now that the warm-up phase of the season is long gone and the first Grand Slam of the year is history, let's relax a bit by coming back to our childhood pics series.

When the WTA Tour interviewed Romanian prospect Irina-Camelia Begu in April 2011, the 21-year-old wished for a Top 100 ranking. Already in September she reached No.38 and crowned the season with a WTA Newcomer of the Year Award. But how did it all start for this Bucharest resident?

Irina started training tennis at the age of three, with her aunt Aura Wagner. However, tennis was not the only sport of her childhood. She wanted to become a gymnast, but found it very hard, and she also played handball by the age of ten or eleven, when she finally decided to focus on tennis.

The photo above is from Irina's Facebook page. It was taken when she was just four years old, during her first training in Germany. The comment below the pic says:

I was very proud and happy to hold my aunt’s racquet, the person who made me fall in love with this game.

I would like to thank a reader who referred me to this pic of Irina some time ago, but I've lost track of who it was. I'm sorry. Reader, say hello in the comments if you see this!