Jankovic Breezes to Semifinals in Charleston

#3 seed Jelena has blitzed her way into the semi-finals without losing a set at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.  With a new coach, and what she calls a new attitude, the Serb now faces her toughest test in world #1 and top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

"I've just been to two tournaments so far with Andrei (new coach Andrei Pavel), and things are going real well so far," says a confident Jankovic.  "He believes in me and that means a lot."

Jankovic, the 2007 champ easily disposed of American Christina McHale in the quarters and all her attention now is on Wozniacki. 

“She runs a lot of balls down. She really doesn’t give you any free points, so you really have to work hard and really have to earn everything.”

Jankovic is 4-1 lifetime against Wozniacki, but Wozniacki won the last meeting earlier this year in Dubai.  The pair has never met on clay.  Many have noticed that Jankovic has spent a great deal of time on the practice courts this week.  Pavel has been working on her being more aggressive with the forehand and it appears to be paying off.

"I’m feeling good," Jankovic said. "My game is getting better and better."

I have a feeling it will have to be good come 1 pm Saturday against Wozniacki.

Butler Cheerleaders Relax By the Pool at Final Four

One of the most underrated factors at this year's Final Four is the Butler Cheerleaders.

Not only does the basketball team from this small school of about 4,000 keep up on the court with the likes of Big East, Big 10 and SEC teams, they keep up in the cheerleading department as well.

One of the local Indiana stations covering the goings on at the Final Four did a feature on the cheer squad in Houston.  Looks like they are enjoying the Houston weather as they are spending most of their time relaxing at the pool.  By the looks of the pool, they sure don't get the luxurious accommodations that the basketball teams get.  Can you say Motel 6?

Where in the World, and I Mean World, is the LPGA Tour?

I think the broadcaster Harry Doyle said it best in the movie Major League when he announced, "In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't."  This could be said of this year's LPGA Tour. 

A tour of young and talented female golfers might largely be ignored this year and there is plenty of blame to go around.

With only 13 events on American soil this year and one of the not even offering prize money, LPGA players like Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel better get their passports and visas ready because they are going to racking up some serious frequent flyer miles if they want to play as many tournaments as possible in 2011.

What once was a tour of 30+ events criss-crossing America now takes the players to such places as Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Guangzhou China and Kuala Lumpur.  In fact, while the men's tour tees off in Hawaii each January, the LPGA tees off this week in Chonburi, Thailand with a 12-hour time difference for fans here in the States.

What has happened to the LPGA?  Tour organizers on the record say they dont want to look back, only ahead.  Ok, so let's try and look ahead and see what can be done to "fix" the LPGA Tour and allow golf fans and sports fans in general to see how ell these ladies can play.

The LPGA has become boring.  This is what I hear many fans say.  The players have become too robotic and there aren't enough personalities to promote what is goo about the sport.  We need more Christina Kim's.

Who are these players?  Last year, it took until the end of May before a player with a name Americans could pronounce won an event.  The Korean and Japanese players are great and very talented, but for the LPGA to come back we need a huge American star.

Sponsors.  The reason many of the American events evaporated is lack of sponsors.  The downturn in the economy hurt every sport, but it hit the LPGA extremely hard.  Once you lose these sponsors, it's almost impossible to get them back, so Commissioner Mike Whan is going to have to get out there and sell his tour to potential new sponsors.  That's easier said than done with a limited schedule and hoards of international players now dominating the Americans.

TV.  Most LPGA events are on television, but nobody knows which network, what time and how long the coverage is going to last.  Make sure golf fans know when the television coverage will be on, and don't put it up against a PGA event featuring Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  Carve out your own time slot and stick to it.

Let her play.  Last in 2010, one of the bright young stars of women's golf, Alexis Thompson was told she couldn't play more than a handful of events in 2011 because she is too young.  I don't care of a 2-year old can hit a drive 275 yards, if they are good enough to compete, and Alexis is, let her play now and as much as she wants.

Market your attractive players.  I have to say, the LPGA has tried to do this.  When you turn into first and second round coverage, you will likely see Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Christie Kerr.  They are some of the more attractive players on the tour and we see a lot of them.  Almost too much, we see them all the time and we get a little sick of them after a while.  Mix it up and let us see some of the the other up and coming players once in a while.

Promote, promote, promote.  The LPGA needs to put it's players out there so the public can get to know them.  I don't know what it's going to take, Natalie Gulbis did a stint on The Apprentice, but more needs to be done.  A reality show, more meet and greets, maybe a fantasy camp where you can go and play with these girls. Maybe some tournaments need to be started with 50 LPGA players and 50 guys who aren't good enough for the PGA Tour.  A "Battle of the Sexes series of events in the off season.  I'm just throwing ideas out there.

There is a lot to chew on here, but looking at the downward spiral the LPGA is on, there is a lot to fix.  This tour has been around for almost 60 years, if they want to make another 60 they need to make adjustments.  I'd like to hear your comments.  E-mail:  rclimpert@yahoo.com