In preparation for the upcoming European clay court season, including the French Open starting May 24, Serena Williams today arrived at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy/IMG Academies to train with Nick on the campus’ clay courts.

“I’ve known Nick since I was 10 years old,” she said. “He’s always been a great person and a help for my game.”

Williams, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, wants to again find the magic on clay that led her to a French Open singles title in 2002. Meanwhile, the energy on the IMG campus gave her a spark for training.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “We didn’t have anything like when I was growing up. There are going to be some great champions coming out of here in the future.”

Sabine Lisicki

Playing in her first tournament since winning the title in Charleston, Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student, Sabine Lisicki, picked up right where she left off. The 19-year old German (playing in front of her home fans) defeated world #20 Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-3 today in the fist round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She comes into the tournament ranked a career high of #42 in the world and sporting a seven-match winning streak. Lisicki will face Jelena Jankovic for the first time in her career in the second round after Jankovic moved past Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1.

Good luck to Sabine in the next round!

Former Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student, Brad Gilbert, is spending time this week at the Academy as a guest coach. In this role, Gilbert floats from group to group and gets to see every student at the Academy. We are thrilled to have Brad here this week because he brings an energy level that is right up there with Nick’s and his knowledge of the game is unparalleled. He will be coming back throughout the year to help our students and we couldn’t be happier to have him back on campus coaching!

Here are a couple of photos around campus:

EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis Japan Cover

Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Kei Nishikori will be featured on the Japanese version of the new EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis. Joining Kei on the cover in Japan will be current world #1, Rafael Nadal, and past tennis great John McEnroe. In the USA and in other parts of the world, the cover will feature Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and McEnroe.

“I am really excited to featured in EA SPORTS GLANDSLAM TENNIS”, commented Nishikori. “I enjoy representing Japan on the court and the fact that I am now included along with both current & past players in the game is really great. The Grand Slams are tournaments that every Tennis professional wants to win and now through the game everyone will be able to put themselves on the court and experience the excitement & joy of playing as a pro.”

The game will be available this summer on the Nintendo Wii, and then in the fall it will be on the PS3 and the Xbox.

You can find out more information on the game here, and for more info on Kei, click here.

For the first time in five weeks, Japanese tennis sensation, Kei Nishikori, took the court to practice. Nishikori hasn’t played an ATP tournament since Indian Wells and hasn’t practiced due to the arm injury. This morning he was on the red-clay court at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy with his coach Glenn Weiner preparing for the European clay-court season. It was great to see Kei back out on the court, and you could tell by his smile that he is happy to be back!

Here are some photos of his practice (during which Brad Gilbert stopped by for a hello) and if you would like to see more check out our Flickr page:

Yuki Bhambri at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy

Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy students, Yuki Bhambri, won his first ATP Futures tournament over the weekend and he did it without dropping a set. Yuki, who is currently the #1 ranked junior in the world, beat fifth-seeded Vishnu Vardhan 7-6(1), 6-4 to earn the title. For the win, Yuki will receive 25 ATP points which will jump him about 600 spots in the ATP Tour Rankings when they come out next week.

Before leaving for the tournament, Yuki spent a good deal of time training at the NBTA with many of the world’s best players. “This is the biggest step so far in my career. I proved to myself that I could win at this level. I have been matching players ranking between 300 and 400 in training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. I had the confidence that I could win,” said Bhambri, who has been given a direct entry into the next tournament at the same venue.

Congrats to Yuki and good luck in your next tournament!

Victoria Duval with Betsy McCormack and Nick Bollettieri

Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Victoria Duval is now the #1 ranked player in the country in the Girls 14’s rankings! Duval has been training at the NBTA for the last year and has an overall record of 63-14. She was a finalist at the 2008 Orange Bowl and in the last year she has won five different junior tournaments including the USTA National Championships.

We would like to thank Betsy Nagelsen McCormack who has had a big part in her development and Nick would like to thank many of his friends that have helped to support Vicky along the way!

Congratulations to Vicky and we are very excited about her future!!

Michelle Larcher de Brito

Rising 16-year-old Michelle Larcher De Brito is making her Fed Cup debut for Portugal at this week’s Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Zone Group II event in Antalya, Turkey. Six nations are competing in the four-day event bidding for promotion to Group I of the Europe/Africa Zone. Larcher de Brito, who trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, won her match over the top Moroccan player Fatima El Allami 6-4, 7-5 to help Portugal win 3-0.

The Portugese player made an impressive start to her junior career, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2007 Roland Garros Junior Championships at the age of 14 before going on to win the 2007 Orange Bowl. The same year she made her senior tour debut in Miami, becoming the second youngest player in WTA history to win a main draw match.

Larcher De Brito has steadily climbed the WTA rankings in the last two years, reaching a career-high No. 115 in February this year. She reached her first tour quarterfinal in Tashkent in 2008, and making her Grand Slam debut at the 2009 Australian Open, where she reached the second round.

Congrats to Michelle!

Eighteen-year old Lithuanian tennis star, Ricardas (Richard) Berankis, who trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, was working on his game yesterday afternoon in preparation for the European clay-court season. Berankis was the #1 ranked junior in the world back in 2007 and he won the 2007 Junior US Open as well.

Here are some photos from yesterday’s practice and to see more visit our Flickr page:

Team Krajinovic: (L to R) Pablo Mayorga, Chip Brooks, Nick Bollettieri, Filiip Krajinovic, and Red Ayme

Up-and-coming Serbian sensation Filip Krajinovic has been given a wild card into the main draw of the ATP Tournament in Belgrade. This will be the first career ATP main draw event for the 17-year old Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student. Filip has been training at the NBTA for two years and has come a long way. When he first arrived, he had no ITF or ATP points and now he is ranked #521 in the world!

Filip trains daily under the watchful eyes of Nick Bollettieri, Chip Brooks, Red Ayme and Pablo Mayorga. He also works with with the IMG Performance Institute to help him maximize the other aspects of the game. Dr. Sally Parsonage is his nutritionist, Dr. Angus Mugford is his mental conditioning trainer, Kevin Murdoch and Graeme Lauriston are his physical therapists, and Yutaka Nakamura and Dave Langworthy oversee his physical training.

We are all thrilled with Filip’s progress and can’t wait to see him continue his development throughout his career!