Open Court
SHOW #9
Russia
November's edition of Open Court is a Russian special, hosted from Moscow, where the annual Kremlin Cup is being held. The country's boom in tennis has been largely attributed to the Former President Boris Yeltsin, who was a big fan of the game. When he came to power the country had less than two hundred courts - 20 years later Russia has won seven Grand Slams, two Davis Cups, four Fed Cups and hosted two ATP world tour events.
We meet the highest ranking Russian player, Nikolay Davydenko, and also the highest ranking female player, Vera Zvonareva, number four in the world. The program also catches up with the Safin family, who are all key players in the tennis world in one respect or another. The majority of Russia's top players have all trained at one club - the Spartak club, where the Safin family have played a key role since the 1970s. Marat and Dinara Safin have both reached number one in the world rankings, guided by their father as manager and mother as coach.
Presenter Pat Cash pays a visit to the home of Marat, who as well as being world number one, was also a renowned party boy and gives Open Court a tour of Moscow's hot spots. Marat now focuses on his role as an official for the Russian Tennis Federation.
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