2008 NEWS
MARIA ESTHER AND RONALDO, 13 December 2008
It
was a day for Brazilian sporting legends who hail from
Săo Paulo when Maria joined Ronaldo for the
inauguration of the Sportwear Nike Juventus store there
on Saturday.
Olympic gold
medallists long jumper Maurren Maggi and pole vaulter Fabiana Murer plus skater
Fabio Cristiano joined Ronaldo and Maria for the store opening in Pinheiros.
Brazil’s soccer hero, Ronaldo, has recently signed for the
Corinthians soccer club, the second best team in Sao Paulo, but has yet to set a
date for his official return to the sport following a serious knee injury
sustained in February at AC Milan.
“I am only going to return to play when I am ready,” he told
his fans recently. “I hope that my return will be as soon as possible so I can
prove myself on the field and I want to show the world that I am able to
overcome yet another difficult obstacle."
Maria was happy to play a part in the proceedings at the new
Nike store, saying: “It
is always nice to spend time with elite athletes who have trained hard and found
success in their sport. Ronaldo has some work to do to overcome his injury and
get back into shape but this is just another challenge to be overcome and I'm
sure he will just do it!”
MORE TREE PLANTING, 8 December 2008
In
a special ceremony held in a park in
Săo
Paulo, 27 trees were planted today honouring the City’s World and Olympic Champions. There are 27 of them and 17 were present for the planting,
including Maria. The new trees will eventually grow up around the unique
sculpture unveiled on this day.
After a band had played the National Anthem and speeches made
by the Mayor and the Minister of Sport, each sporting star set about planting
their own tree. Maria was then asked to say a few words on behalf of all the
champions present.
“It was a great honour and quite unexpected,” she told her
website. “I told them that on behalf of us all I felt it was the best
thing they could do to help keep the names of those who set the history of the
various sports in the public’s eye. By preserving this memory in green, it is also a very modern
and right thing to do!”
Maria was told that her tree - a Pau Cigarra - promised to grow very tall and
would bloom with pretty blue flowers and a beautiful fragrance.
HARMONIA CLUB CELEBRATIONS, September 2008
The
Sociedade Harmonia de Tęnis in Sao Paulo celebrates its anniversary each year
during the month of September and part of the programme this year included
honouring Maria with a silver tray, glasses and a bottle of Argentine wine
presented by a visiting Argentine delegation of tennis players.
2008 is the 78th year of Harmonia and a wide range
of activities brings all the members together. These ranged from a tournament
and clinics to a gala dinner.
DAVIS CUP FINAL, November 2008
Maria
was back in the commentary box in Rio for the Davis Cup final between Argentina
and Spain held indoors in Mar del Plata from 21-23 November.
“This was the best chance Argentina had to win the Davis Cup
for the first time and they were considered favourites when (Rafael) Nadal
didn’t come,” Maria recalls.
“The Argentines picked the venue, the surface, the balls –
everything to try to disrupt Nadal but when he didn’t show up, it all worked
against them. It was live until the third day, demonstrating how close it was,
but it turned out to be quite dramatic win for Spain when Fernando Verdasco
substituted for David Ferrer to beat Jose Acasuso.
“Acasuso
replaced Juan Martin del Potro and it took Verdasco nearly four hours to beat
him in five sets to seal Spain's third Davis Cup title. It was yet another
triumph for Spain in an incredible year for them, this time without Nadal’s
help.”
THE US OPEN IN NEW YORK, August/September 2008
Almost
immediately the US Open followed the Olympics one week later in New York and
Maria was there.
“The Open is one of the most important events in the calendar
and with the Olympics in Beijing the top players who won through only had a week
to recover,” commented Maria.
“Once again it proved to a great tournament, with wonderful
hospitality provided by the USTA who put on such a good show.
“In the women’s draw there were lots of surprises but the top
four came through in the men’s.
“Andy Murray has always been a great prospect and he is now
turning into a real star. Over the past few months he has matured from a
talented boy into an accomplished man capable of playing great tennis. His great
run was stopped by Roger Federer in the final but he will have learnt from that
experience for the future.
“To see Roger take one Grand Slam this year was a credit to
him as he has struggled with his health and it is tough to stay at the top of
your game when you are not feeling a hundred percent.
“Having said that, most players would have been happy to have
achieved what he did this year despite his patchy form.”
OLYMPICS FROM RIO, July 2008
Maria
covered the whole of The Olympic Games from Beijing for TV Globo based in Rio,
working through the night because of the time difference.
“It was quite an experience for me because we covered lots of
different sports, not only the tennis,” Maria told her website.
“It was incredible to sit alongside the experts in other
sports and I learned a lot about them all. Sport TV and Globo got the best on
the team to comment of their sport and so the standard was very high.
“I was interested to see how well the top players supported
the Olympic Tennis Event. They were all there – the ones not in Beijing were
either injured or ineligible with the exception of Andy Roddick who opted out to
concentrate on playing the US Open, his home Grand Slam.
“Spain has done really well in sports this year, starting with
Rafael Nadal’s win in France, the national team winning the European Cup in
football and then Nadal winning Wimbledon and Olympic Gold.
“It was also great to see how Roger Federer handled his defeat
in the singles, going out to play doubles with Wawrinka as if it was the last
match of his life. He changed overnight from being tired and disappointed to
setting a great example by playing a really great doubles match to win the Gold
medal. It meant so much to him.
“Another great match was the bronze medal match between Novak
Djokovic and James Blake, which Djokovic won.
“In the women’s, it was all about the Russians. Elena
Dementieva took the gold, beating Dinara Safina in three sets in the final,
while Vera Zvonareva took the bronze medal against local favourite Li Na.
“There is a lot of controversy still about whether tennis
should be in the Olympics or not. I for one believe it should and I would have
loved to have experienced playing in it. You only had to look at the players
enjoying the Opening Ceremony to feel they were loving every minute of it!”
WIMBLEDON FROM AFAR, June/July 2008
Maria
couldn’t make it to London for Wimbledon this year due to personal problems,
which was disappointing.
“Wimbledon is a highlight of my year and it is now many years
since I didn’t make it over,” she said.
“You feel you are missing out on all the buzz when you are not
there as the whole tennis world comes together to catch up on everything. It was
unbelievably disappointing but I did get to cover one of the best finals ever.
It will be up there together with the famous Borg v McEnroe final.”
Maria provided her expert commentary on the matches for
audiences of Sport TV in Brazil, which included the magnificent men’s final
between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – one of the all-time great matches.
“It was such a great contest,” recalls Maria. “Two gladiators
fighting to the end in very difficult conditions. It had us all guessing until
the very last point, while the quality of play was quite extraordinary. Because
of the rain delays the match lasted all day and was just completed in time
before it got dark – very dramatic at the end!
“The fact that Rafa finally beat Roger on the grass, winning
Wimbledon for the first time on Federer’s favourite court, was particularly
historic and I was pleased for him although it was a pity that Roger didn’t make
his sixth title in a row… now that would have been unbelievable.
“It could have gone either way and turned out to be a great
result for Nadal. I really admire him because he is the only clay-court
specialist who hasn’t said that grass is for cows and has always wanted to win
on that surface. He was prepared to become very good on grass and deserves his
title on it.”
COSTA DO SAUIPE, February 2008
Maria
was on assignment for TV Globo at the Brazilian Open held at the glamorous
resort on the Costa do Sauipe in the north of Brazil.
She spent the week there staging teaching clinics on court
between her commentaries on the matches and doing PR with the sponsors and their
guests
She also advised the organisers on the celebrations of Guga's
career that coincided with the tournament and Gustavo Kuerten's retirement year.
She said a few words to the Brazilian favourite on court when he was presented
with a cup sporting the country's national colours.
Together with Guga, Maria also planted a tree for the environment as part of a grand
scheme to plant a forest of some 5,000 trees over the coming months at the
resort.
"It was a fun week," said Maria. "Nicolas Almgagro beat
another Spaniard, Carlos Moya, in three long sets in the final but it was really
the festivities surrounding Guga that caught the public's attention. This was
one of many appearances in his retirement year and was particularly enjoyable
for him because he had a lot of friends and his family here with him."
(Photos by Joăo Pires -
FotoJump)
The
Website of Maria Bueno, Tennis Champion
