2013 US Open Week 1 Day 3

by Savannah

In the wake of Victoria Duval's upset of Samantha Stosur Tuesday and the suddenly competent play of Donald Young Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal reports on the phasing out of the USTA Player Development Center in Boca Raton. The Center was based at Chris Evert's Academy. Here's the lede.

After years of watching American tennis sink into the shadows, the U.S. Tennis Association decided in 2008 to make a bold move: It would open its first-ever full-time training academy for top juniors. Under the program, the country's best prospects would be invited to Boca Raton, Fla., to live and train, all expenses paid, with the goal of beating back the onslaught of talent from Europe.

But as the U.S. Open gets under way this week, the future of U.S. tennis is still precarious, with few serious male contenders and only a handful of promising young women in the field. And after six years of rapid turnover among players at the USTA academy and many complaints—including one lawsuit—from players and parents who say the program is too harsh, the USTA has decided to change strategy.

Next year, just three players will live in the academy's dormitory, down from a high of 18 in 2009.

(...)

There is no consensus on the best way to mold young tennis champions: The process is handled differently all over the world. But in interviews, more than a dozen parents, players and coaches who were associated with the USTA's elite program characterized the camp as a stressful place where players were subject to unreasonable expectations and lived in fear of losing scholarships if their results slipped.

"They are almost training these kids like they are running out of time," said Zaza Corinteli, whose son, Luca, left the program last year. "You have a lemon in front of you, you squeeze all the juices out, then you put it in the garbage can. It just feels like there is very little regard."

It's sad to see a program that started with such high hopes and seemingly unlimited potential turn out to have been so wrong for tennis in the United States.

Perrotta is the reporter who broke the story of Taylor Townsend's problems with the USTA last year. He gives an example in his article about the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Academy.

In June 2012, Julia O'Loughlin a former trainee at the academy, filed a lawsuit against the USTA in Palm Beach County, Fla. In a copy of the complaint reviewed by the Journal, O'Loughlin, who was 14 when the alleged problems occurred, alleges that her coaches knew she had a prior eating disorder, but she was put on a restrictive diet anyhow, subjected to daily weigh-ins and told she needed to lose 20 pounds. In November 2011, O'Loughlin alleged in her suit, she was trained "to the point of exhaustion," running 17 miles in two days in addition to her normal routine before being taken to the emergency room with severe dehydration. She was later admitted to a residential treatment center for bulimia for 30 days.

O'Loughlin's lawsuit was dismissed on grounds of improper jurisdiction, because it was filed in Florida rather than in New York, where the USTA is based. That ruling is currently being appealed.

Collette Lewis who writes the Zoo Tennis and has covered Junior and Collegiate tennis for the past eight years and who is responsible for getting me pointed to this article says the following:

I've never supported the USTA's venture into the academy business, feeling the money devoted to the select few in this circumstance could be much more effective if spread out over a substantially larger number of players. I do think the USTA needs a place with temporary housing to optimize the time spent there by those in town for weekly camps, but running a full time academy always felt unnecessary to me. Some players have thrived under in USTA's academy setting, but a significant number have not, and I believe the move away from this centralization experiment is a good one. And while they're making changes, I'd love for the USTA to consider reviving the Junior Davis Cup (and Junior Fed Cup).

That sounds like a good idea Ms Lewis.

And The Rains Came

To my knowledge there is no threat of a hurricane hitting the New York City region in the next few days but Mother Nature is sending in the rain. I'd like to think that the USTA heeded the wishes of the fans about new roofs for Ashe and Armstrong but I think it has more to do with shame. They were the laughing stock of the tennis world and I guess they got sick of it. Just think. If they'd started building the roof at the same time the folks at Wimbledon did the rainy forecast from Sunday to Tuesday wouldn't be an issue. I'm sure some suit at CBS is raking another suit from the USTA over the coals for not remedying the situation sooner. That makes me smile.

At any rate the USTA was not put in the position of having to refund or make good on tickets for yesterday's play since there was tennis available for the night session ticket holders and some matches from the day session played to their conclusion.

What was outstanding yesterday? I'm sorry to admit that I wasn't that interested again.

Day 4

The match that stood out for me was between Bernard Tomic and Daniel Evans. If you've never heard of Evans don't feel bad. No one outside of Britain had heard of him until he knocked Nishikori Kei out of the US Open in the first round. Then of course the ticker tape parade began. All of the British journalists on my Twitter timeline were talking as if he'd discovered how to cure world hunger. They were so happy to see that young Evans is doing well now that he's committed to training and discipline, the things that go with doing well in tennis. It's amusing isn't it that it's news when a player from the US or Britain starts doing what all those people from countries with funny names or from non Northern Europe do to keep themselves at the top of the sport. If they're not doing the drills, the exercises, the diets then what the hell are they doing? Why are the USTA and LTA spending untold sums of money to "develop" these players, none of whom have come close to winning a major in decades.

Anyway back to the match. Tomic came out like a house on fire taking the first set 6-1. After that he seemed to lose interest. Every now and then he'd hit a nice shot or bestir himself to actually chase down a ball or put together a nice sequence of shots. But most of the time he looked bored shitless.


sports.yahoo.com

Evans, with large tattoos on his arms, woke from his slumber and played as well as he needed to defeat Tomic. He didn't light up the court (unless you're British) and he doesn't seem to have anything special. I don't know what was going on with Nishikori but I could've beat Tomic today. Well almost. You know what I mean.

Is Tomic pining for his Dad's presence on court? Don't know. I do know that the player I saw today has no chance of being top ten if he thinks the hustle, the sweat, and the pain that goes with playing top tier tennis is beneath him. It's hard to think you have to do more than show up when you've been told you're the shit ever since you were old enough to hold a racquet to make a shot.

For example when asked about Tomic's bad boy reputation the Australian commentator gave Tomic a pass. He's young. He likes the toys that making money allows him to have. I mean he's young. Seriously. I'm sure Tennis Australia was not happy with his performance today. Meanwhile the LTA is probably having emergency meetings to discuss how getting tough with a player pays dividends. How much do you want to bet that they threatened to take Evans stipend?


sports.yahoo.com

Anyone who reads this space regularly knows that I rarely listen to or watch ESPN coverage. I'm that person who likes to see a match from beginning to end in one sitting. I don't mind being updated on other scores but I don't like being forced to watch someone I could care less about or listen to "neutral" commentators fanboying. It's a quirk I have.

So all day I watched tennis on the USTA App. It's a wonderful thing and gives you live scores as well as live video. A lot of the commentary comes from ITV it seems. Whoever they are (Virgina Wade is one) they're not talking about where someone ate or fawning over a WAG. These comms don't talk during points and keep their focus on the match. Weird right?

I'm getting there. Patience is a virtue.

Anyway after watching the men's match on Ashe I put on ESPNw. the usually sane Darren Cahill was working with the usually sane Chris Fowler. Brad Gilbert was thrown out of the sandbox and was working the sidelines.

Within five minutes of my tuning in everything went to hell. Well at least these three men thought it had. You see the crowd, drunk as they usually are this time of night (the Grey Goose Bar gets tons of action and they're placed strategically around the grounds and of course the beer) and were cheering for Gaël Monfils. As we all know Monfils is a showman and when he knows he can't win a match he begins to do his act. The crowd was eating it up and chanting his name. Fun right? Except that he was playing the United States #1 player John Isner.

I don't know if you've ever watched Isner play. If you look up "servebot" in the dictionary his picture is on top of the pile of American players. Servebot is my new favorite word. I didn't make it up someone else did. It's a quick way to summarize the approach to tennis taken by the USTA, especially it's male players though and as I said Isner is their leader. I'm sure he's a nice man, a good person and treats his mother well. But when it comes to playing tennis you'd get moe excitement from a bump on a log than watching one, two serve. Take a step raise arm serve. Step back to the other side and repeat. Not what a drunken crowd needs to stay engaged.

Well Cahill and his cohorts were upset! Hysterical I tell you about an American crowd cheering for a Frenchman. I mean what loyal patriotic red white and blue American could ever be a fan of someone from another country (Unless he's at the right hand of the Deity of course)?

Their reaction was amazing. They praised some woman who was wearing a Georgia Bull Dogs baseball cap who was chastising the fans in her vicinity for cheering for a foreigner. Brad Gilbert starting raging about how the match should never have been on Armstrong but held in the neatly sanitized confines of Ashe. The fans there would know they were supposed to be urging their fellow American on no matter their state of inebriation. The yahoo's on Armstrong, well, "we" don't accept them as true tennis fans.

The other night when Armstrong rang with the voices of people cheering Victoria Duval there was a kid, a young kid, two rows behind me who, whenever there was a lull (you know, for breathing and other necessities of life) he would shout out his support of Samantha Stosur. No one berated him. No one yelled at him to shut up. He had his favorite and he stuck with her no matter what the crowd was doing. I was surprised to see that he was ten years old at the most.

I'm saying that to say that tennis is an international sport. The USTA, the LTA, Tennis Australia and the FFT all give lip service to that reality but deep down they think that this is still the 1970's when the US, Britain and Australia dominated tennis. If you think I'm exaggerating I read an interview John McEnroe did just before the start of the US Open where he refused to admit that the technology that has made the modern game of tennis possible can't be thrown aside. He really thinks that wooden racquets and the courts that made them effective are coming back. And to think he runs a tennis academy!!

You can find the interview HERE

I have a question for you fans. Does anyone remember how the US Open crowds would cheer Justine Henin when she was playing Serena Williams? No matter who played against Venus Williams the crowd was for her. It was the same when Kim clijsters played against either of the sisters. Do you remember any commentator clutching his or her pearls about it?

Me neither.

Tennis This and That Part 2

by savannah

ITF Names Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic 2012 World Champions



The ITF released it's 2012 Champions list earlier today.



With no possibility of drama on the WTA side there was a lot of chit chat about who would be named the ITF World Champion for the ATP. The ITF didn't go strictly by ranking. It seems to have taken into account overall performance for 2012. If it didn't Serena Williams, who is not the top ranked WTA player, wouldn't have won.

With the ATP it was different. There were people pushing hard for Andy Murray. I thought he deserved it for getting the Grand Slam monkey off his back but Novak Djokovic had the better overall record and I can't argue with his getting the nod.

The win was the third time for Serena and the second for Djokovic.

The other winners are as follows:

Bob and Mike Bryan Men’s Doubles World Champions
Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy become Women’s Doubles World Champions
Filip Peliwo ITF Junior World Champion
Taylor Townsend ITF Junior World Champion
Esther Vergeer ITF Wheelchair World Champion
Stephane Houdet ITF Wheelchair World Champion

Congratulations to all the winners!

Not So Idle Chit Chat

We've all known this for awhile but at least the FFT is aware. Very aware.

Former Top 10 player Henri Leconte tells The Tennis Space that Gael Monfils is “completely lost at the moment and doesn’t know what to do.” The former world No. 7 has been saddled with knee injuries and has seen his ranking drop to No. 77. He only managed to play 29 matches in 2012.

“Maybe he’s going to stop playing tennis, you never know for sure,” Leconte said. “I hope not. He has a strange way of training, thinking about sports, about his life, his entourage, his everything. It’s a nightmare. He doesn’t know where to go ... He’s been lost for two years. It’s a shame, because he’s so talented.”

SOURCE

The minute I read the headline I knew this had to do with Roger Federer and what happened in London. I wasn't wrong.

ROME -- Tennis officials are considering adding third-set tiebreakers at the 2016 Rio Olympics after marathon matches in London this year.

Also, bronze-medal matches could be eliminated to lighten the loads of players entered in multiple events.

ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti tells The Associated Press at the European Olympic Committees meeting in Rome that the matches this year were "very balanced and very long and that ruins the scheduling somewhat."

Roger Federer beat Juan Martin del Potro 3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17 in the London semifinals and was soundly beaten by Andy Murray in straight sets in the gold-medal match.

If bronze-medal matches are eliminated, it would mark a return to handing out two bronzes for each of the semifinal losers, as happened at the 1988 Seoul Games.

via via ESPN

Someone please tell me when I'm supposed to laugh. Then again they say imitation is the highest form of flattery.



Is It January Yet?

There is actually live tennis being played and streamed now. The Australian Open Wild Card playoffs are under way. It's a good chance to put faces to the names we read about on the Challenger Circuit. Of course it means that many of us would have to adjust to Aussie time now instead of late January. But hey, did I mention it's live tennis?

Speaking of Australia Bernard Tomic continues to apply considerable effort off the court managing to force Tennis Australia's hand.

FORMER Davis Cup winner Paul McNamee has blasted Tennis Australia for its "public vilification" of young gun Bernard Tomic, warning it risks alienating the country's best young talent as it did with Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic.

After much speculation, it was confirmed yesterday that Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter would not select Tomic for the February tie against Chinese Taipei.

And TA is also set to cut its support funding for the 20-year-old due to his poor attitude on and off the court.

The news was met with howls of approval from tennis luminaries past and present. Australia's No 1 female player and grand slam winner, Sam Stosur, voiced the thoughts of many when she urged her fellow Gold Coaster to "grow up".

McNamee, however, said he had been left perplexed by the "bludgeoning" approach of the authorities, adamant there had to be better ways to handle these situations.
(...)
"He is 20. Surely there is a better way, but (TA) don't seem to have any other approach . . I believe they have really hurt our Davis Cup team at a time when we aren't exactly enjoying a huge amount of success."
...Tomic's ranking had slipped from 27 to 52, putting him three places behind Marinko Matosevic.

(...)
"It didn't work with Dokic. It didn't work with Philippoussis. It won't work here."

Stosur, who is widely regarded as one of the hardest-working players on the WTA tour, was not as sympathetic to Tomic's plight, suggesting the former junior Wimbledon champion needed to make some tough decisions.

"That's probably the most disappointing thing for a lot of people on the outside - that he's got this unbelievable ability and he's not really using it at the moment," Stosur said.

McNamee wants to go back to the days when bad off court behavior was simply swept under the rug. In the digital age that's simply not going to happen. For the complete article please click the link .

For those who defend Tomic's right to bite the hand that's been feeding him and his family study the careers of contemporary top five players and see what they were up to when they were 20.

Of Paris Masters and WTF

by Savannah

I hope you all got a chance to see the semi final matches in Paris this past weekend. As you know I am not a fan of hard court tennis especially when it's played on super fast courts as Bercy was. Still Gael Monfils vs Roger Federer and Robin Soderling vs Michael Llodra were two of the best men's matches of the year. Both went three sets and both were edge of your seat exciting.

It was stunning to see Gael suck it up and play mature, focused tennis. He left the clowning at home and did not go away mentally when he dropped the second set. Roger Rasheed deserves to be praised for getting his pupil to this point. If this Gael shows up more now we're going to see him winning events instead of going out in the quarters. The match score was 7-6(7), 6-7(1), 7-6(4) for Monfils.

Michael Llodra, his wife and young son in the stands, showed that he is more than a doubles player. His match against Soderling was a war. He had an answer for everything that was being thrown at him faltering only in the home stretch. Still the match score was 6-7(0), 7-5, 7-6(6) for Soderling and that doesn't begin to convey the level of tennis both men played. In fact both matches showed that real tennis can be played on fast hard courts. Of course serving was key but there were some great points played by all four men. When the matches were over Patrick McEnroe tweeted that there should be more matches played on fast hard courts. I think PMac needs to slow his roll. I sat through an Andy Roddick match at the US Open - he was playing Fabrice Santoro - and bored to tears doesn't begin to describe what that match was like for me. There was no such boredom on Saturday.

It's a no brainer why PMac would take such a stance but remember these were four Europeans playing. Andy Roddick crashed and burned early in the event. Hard and grass court tennis can be enjoyable if the participants know how to construct points and engage in strategic play instead of the hit hard and harder play many Americans engage in.

It's unfortunate that Gael came into the Final flat while Soderling continued the level of play he exhibited on Saturday. Monfils was never in the Final but this time it was okay. Tennisheads now know what he can do and look forward to seeing more of it next year.

I didn't see any of the doubles play but still congratulations to the team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi on their victory.

The ATP World Team Finals

Yes I totally resisted the urge to use the abbreviation for World Team Finals. If they're brash enough to use those words they're brash enough to accept that people will call their year end tournament WTF. I'm just sayin'.

Anywho the field was set during the Paris Masters and will include the following players:

1 Rafael Nadal 11,450

2 Roger Federer 7,645

3 Novak Djokovic 5,635

4 Robin Soderling 5,380

5 Andy Murray 5,360

6 Tomas Berdych 3,755

7 David Ferrer 3,735

Qualifies for first time since 2007.

8 Andy Roddick 3,665

Qualifies for eighth straight year

With Andy Murray now ranked #5 the set up for the groups is going to be extremely interesting. The draw will take place on Wednesday November 17.

The WTA Crowns Its 2010 Queen...and Other Things

by Savannah

Kim Clijsters scored a big win for women's tennis by defeating the current WTA number one player Caroline Wozniacki in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. She did it on her own. There were looks to her box and yes, there was probably some coaching but at no time did someone come flying down to the court to scream instructions at her. She came back from walkabout pretty much on her own in the third set. You can argue there shouldn't have been a third set since Kim had a 4-1 lead in the second set but I think she saw herself on the flight home a little too soon. Let's be real here. Wozniacki is talented. At some point she could become worthy of the top ranking. Right now her play is as someone on Twitter said, that of a glorified junior player.

I think what has shaken WTA fans about Elena Dementieva's retirement is that she was made of the same stuff Clijsters is. She won or lost on her own. Her mother Vera sat in the stands and you could read how her daughter was doing on her face. Vera never made a trip to the court. Piotr Wozniacki is there every time you turn around.

That raises the question as to why on court coaching is allowed during the YEC. It's not allowed during Slams and since there were some making the argument that if Wozniacki won it was the equivalent of winning a Slam the question is a valid one. If the YEC is going to be treated as a major then on court coaching should not be allowed. Unfortunately once the Old Guard retires, mostly after the 2012 Olympics, the quality of tennis in the WTA is going to go down drastically. Of course there could be some youngster out there who will be able to step into the very large shoes of those who have gone before them, someone we haven't heard of yet. In the meantime congratulations to Kim Clijsters for her victory.


Christophe Rochus did not go quietly. The older and some would say lesser of the Rochus brothers delivered some body blows to the sport he and his brother played. Some excerpts.

Q: You were the first to denounce doping in tennis. Did it come back to haunt you?

A: "Oh yes! Notably, I received a threatening letter from the ATP that caused me problems later on, but that's not a concern. It's just proof that the system is rotten..."

Q: You saw some "dirty" things regarding that during your career?

A: "Like everyone, I saw some things. For me, it is inconceivable to be able to play five hours in the blazing sun one day, and run like a rabbit the next day."

Q: Do you remember a particular example?

A: "Yes, I remember a match against a guy whose name I won't mention. I won the first set 6-1, very easily. He went to the bathroom and came back to the court completely changed, almost. He led 5-3 in the second set and when I got it back to 5-5, his nose started to bleed. I said at the time that this was pretty weird."
(...)
Q: There were even rumours about Justine Henin when she retired. Do you think they were unfounded?

A: "I heard them just like you did. All I can say is that I was surprised by the fact that she suddenly stopped competing, without apparent reason. A great champion, generally, announces it several months in advance and does a sort of farewell tour..."

Q: We've felt, in the past, that you were irritated by the media aura cast by Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

A: "No. Understand me: I have a lot of admiration for the performances of these two players. What bothers me is that people compare the men's and women's circuits, which have nothing to do with each other. Justine wouldn't beat the No. 500 player on the ATP. It's as if we were comparing men's and women's soccer ..."

Q: To that extent?

A: "With the men, the level is very high from the first round. Even Nadal and Federer can be pushed. With the girls, before the quarterfinals, it's a joke. The level is distressingly weak and the difference between the top 10 and top 100 is enormous."

Q: Yes, at Grand Slams, the prize money is identical..."

A: "Yes, and I'm sorry, but that's not normal. The majority of the players think the way I do, even if they don't say it out loud. In all objectivity, you can't compare the amount of effort necessary to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the men and the women. And I'm not talking just about the matches that are five sets for the men and three sets for the women. Everything is different. All you have to do is look at how easily some players come back after a long break ..."

Q: You're thinking of Kim and Justine?

A: "Not necessarily. Look at the recent performances of Kimiko Date. She stopped for 10 years and she returned to the top at age 40. As if it were nothing. It's a disgrace. That type of story would never happen on the ATP Tour. The failed comeback of Thomas Muster is the best proof."

Enjoy your retirement Christophe.

The Others
There were three ATP tournaments taking place while the women played in Doha.

Mikhail Kukushin made his first main tour final and proceeded to win it. Much was made of his coach being his girlfriend. From the looks of things he could care less. He won.

Gael Monfils won the title at Montpellier.

Jurgen Melzer hoists what has to be the most phallic trophy I've ever seen after his win in the city of Wien, known in the West as Vienna.
Next week the ATP has the stage to itself with tournaments in Valencia and Basel.
Miscellany

I'm not quite sure why these pictures are surfacing now but they're nice. The picture shown above is one of Venus, her sister Lyandrea (sp) and a twelve year old Caroline Wozniacki. The accompanying article says that the picture decorated Caroline's bedroom walls for some time. Proof?

And there you have it folks. I don't really want to get into the why of these pictures. I think most of you who read this blog understand the workings of the various PR machines in tennis.

I'll feature the Doubles winners at Doha and the other tournaments tomorrow.

Monday, Monday

by Savannah

"...can't trust that day..."

One of the great songs given to us by the short lived supergroup known as the Mama's and Papa's.

The Beijing tournament ended today since both of it's singles finals matches were rained out on Sunday. Of course I have no idea what time it is with these twelve hour time differences so if I'm wrong be kind.

Novak Djokovic won his second title of the year defeating Spain's David Ferrer in the men's final.

Bob and Mike Bryan continued their strong second half of the year winning the men's doubles crown.

Newly minted WTA #1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated seemingly perennial brides maid Vera Zvonareva in the women's final.

Olga Govortsova and Chuang Chia-Jung played together for the first time and came away with the title in Beijing.
Meanwhile in Japan the men's tournament had an exciting conclusion.

Rafael Nadal won his seventh tournament of the year defeating Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Eric Butorac and Jean-Julian Rojer won the doubles crown in Tokyo.
Congratulations to all the winners.

Miscellany

Despite photographic evidence of a pretty good sized scar there are those who insist that Serena Williams is faking the seriousness of her injury and are using her attempt to try and play Linz as proof of her, what I don't know. Personally I thought all the ballyhoo about her playing in Linz was just so much hype, an attempt to sell tickets by the WTA. I never expected her to play there and the release saying her attempt to come back to soon aggravated the injury which is still not healed inside rings true. In a tennis world where people believe players have mono because they say so it amazes me that a legitimately injured player gets such a hard time from so called "purists" who think she shouldn't be on track to fulfilling the prophecy her father made about her years ago. I guess haters are going to hate and there's nothing to be done about that. I'm hoping that Serena takes the rest of the year off and comes back strong in January.

I wish the WTA would get rid of on court coaching. I've said this before but I'm more convinced of it's damaging effects after watching the women's final from Beijing. There was Vera Zvonareva playing on her own with quiet support from her coach while everytime Little Miss Sunshine got in trouble you saw her father Piotr chomping at the bit like a horse in the gate waiting for the race to start. It seemed as if he was at her chair before she could finish walking off the court. His first visit resulted in Caroline suddenly able to reel off five straight games and win the first set. His second visit wasn't so productive (or so it would seem), since Vera won the second set. During the third set a suddenly revitalized Caroline was able to break at the beginning and coasted. Does Vera need to be more confident when playing a final? Yes she does. She did better here than in New York but more people saw her in New York and came away with a dismal impression of her.
As for Little Miss Sunshine the hard sell is on. It was as if she were on court by herself since all the commentator could talk about was how much tennis she'd played and all the commitments she has and how at a young age she seems to be balancing her career quite well. There were no graphics of her record against top ten players to mar the event this time and the trips by her father were called "pep talks".
It occurred to me that all that coaching, er, sorry, those pep talks, is why she can't win a major. She needs them. Without them well, just remember Justine Henin when Carlos Rodriguez had no answers for her against Marion Bartoli a couple of years ago at Wimbledon and you get the picture. Some are saying she will not play so many tournaments next year but to me she has to. How else will she stay at the top? There's no way in hell she wins a major if all the Big Babes come back healthy next year. They will out think her on court just like they do now.
I was proud of Bepa today. She lost but she didn't call her coach down to assist her one time. She was trying to work things out for herself and not waiting for Big Daddy to come to her rescue.

End Notes
Tennis Channel made sure all of the tennisheads had to rely on live streams to see the Beijing finals live. I guess they couldn't get the rights for the Monday play. Pity because their coverage has been pretty good for the Asian swing. They are showing the early rounds in Shanghai, something American tennis fans usually never get to see. I got to see Fernando Verdasco lose to Thiemo de Bakker and Juan Monaco play Florent Serra as well as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's return to the tour.
Thank goodness both tours will be returning to Europe. The time difference is much more manageable.

A Question of Ranking and Rumors

by Savannah

Rumors are swirling about Venus Williams possibly announcing her retirement today. At this time nothing is confirmed. According to a Russian friend of mine there is an article in the Italian newspaper Il Corriere dello Sport that was referenced on a Russian sports website. The article does not appear on the Il Corriere's website. Venus was photographed this week on crutches and finally released a statement saying that she has been ordered to keep weight off of her knee and that therefore she will not be playing anymore in 2010. Does this mean she has had knee surgery? We won't know unless we see post op proof - a scar of some kind - on her knee. Venus has said more than once this year that she is not retiring. If the situation changes I'll update.

Meanwhile Serena Williams, seen on the beach in Miami, was reported early this morning to have been spotted in Linz, Austria. Soon after that the tournament organizers announced that she will indeed begin her come back at their event. People are saying that Serena decided to come back after losing her number one ranking but the official website for Linz posted a players list with the number one seed blank. Never ever seen that before.

I don't think Serena is foolish enough to jeopardize her career by coming back too soon. I'm sure all eyes will be on her play but I don't expect much. Practicing is not playing.

Simply the Best?

As I'm sure everyone and their brother knows by now Caroline Wozniacki will be ranked number one on Monday. Due to the way ranking is determined in the WTA (see below) she is indeed the number one player at this time. In an age where being consistent trumps being the best I don't think Ms Wozniacki will be the last slamless wonder to sit atop the WTA rankings.

An enterprising fan posted the above screen cap showing the stats from today's match. Yes Petra Kvitova had a high UFE count but the new World #1 could only manage to hit three winners. Three.
The American tennis establishment is especially happy about this turn of events since Wozniacki trains at the fabled Adidas center run by Gil Reyes, former fitness coach/trainer for Andre Agassi in Las Vegas. Brad Gilbert, on Twitter, said that tennis is about winning and that is what Wozniacki has been doing. He admits that her record against the top players is poor but as the saying goes you can only play who's in front of you. It helps when you play every tournament known to the Gods and man too I'd say. I believe her win/loss record against the top players is 13/24 admitting I could be off a little either way. But oh yeah, she's consistent. She's made one Grand Slam semi and one final.

Gilbert also said that he's sure that Wozniacki will win a Slam "soon". I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict it'll be the U.S. Open with the Australian coming in second.

It's going to be interesting to see how the press handles Sunshine's ascension to the throne. The same Russian friend cited above feels that Dinara Safina was broken by the constant pressure from the press, and fans, to win a major to justify her ranking. I don't see it that way - if you're ranked number one you have to deal with the close scrutiny the ranking brings. I do hope that Wozniacki gets the same treatment Dinara and Jelena Jankovic got but somehow I don't think she will. Why? She has close ties to the Axis as I call it here (The USTA, The Australian Tennis establisment and the LTA) through the above mentioned Las Vegas facility. Darren Cahill, ESPN announcer and one of the Grand Poobah's of Australian Tennis, is associated with the facility. Stacy Allaster, head of the WTA, is known to be a big fan of Caroline. I think we're going to have consistency rammed down our throats, the same way it was when Dinara was on top of the heap.

Someone posted that the debate about who got the worse of the Federer/Nadal era may now be clear and that it was the WTA. I couldn't agree more.

Meanwhile read the following and see how you feel and why the Tweeter who posted the above may have hit the nail on the head.

The WTA Ranking System - Can It Be Fixed?

The WTA ranking system is once again being called into question. Is this, the solution?

FIXING THE SYSTEM

Although we’re probably beyond the point of hoping that quality points and an averaging system will be reintroduced to the rankings, the WTA system could definitely do with a little tweaking and streamlining to better represent player performance and make it easier for fans to follow. A wise step would be to rank the women according to the ATP World Tour system.

Men’s rankings throughout the ages have not always been so well respected. The old “Best 14 system”, which counted the players’ best 14 results from various events in the past 12 months regardless of the level of tournament, allowed Chilean Marcelo Rios to reach No. 1 in March 1998 having never won a major title. In May 1999, Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov ascended to the top spot after six consecutive first-round losses. But since the ATP Tour debuted its current system in the early 2000s (it has been altered in minor ways since then but remains essentially the same), there have been few arguments. The current Top 4—Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray—are indeed the best four players on the planet in the past year.

Using the ATP system as a guide for ranking female players, two things improve. One is points distribution. Male and female Grand Slam winners each receive 2000 points. But the WTA Tour awards finalists 1400 points, while the ATP Tour gives the equivalent player only 1200. Female semifinalists are awarded 900 points, but male semifinalists receive 720. And down the line it goes. The same applies for Masters events—the points are halved, but the same difference in point ratio and structure exists. Dinara Safina was able to reach No. 1 after reaching two Grand Slam finals in 2009. Under the men’s system she would have had 400 points less in her total, and may not have hit top spot without actually clinching a major title.

The second improvement is the type of tournaments counted in the rankings. To yield a points total under the ATP system, players must include their results from Grand Slams, the year-end Tour Championships, the nine Masters 1000 tournaments (except Monte Carlo) and a small handful of their best results from lesser 500 and 250 events. The significant majority of events being included are majors and Masters—the most prestigious events. Chasing points at smaller events becomes a less effective strategy, and players are rewarded for good performances on the biggest stages.

THE RESULTS

I ranked the Top 16 female players according to this system. Players ranking points were accumulated over the past 12 months through their results at the four Grand Slams, Tour Championships in Doha and the top nine Premier events—a combination of the “Mandatory” and “Five” events—in Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid, Cincinnati, Canada, Tokyo and Beijing. This equated to the group of nine “Masters” events on the men’s tour. The rankings also included their best five results at other events—the smaller Premier level events were given ATP 500 status, and International events were treated as ATP 250s.

Although there was surprisingly little change to the order of the top 16, there were enough differences to justify railing against the current system:

Serena Williams remained atop the rankings, but increased her lead over Wozniacki to 1500 points (compared with the 1,000 that separates them now). There would be far less chance for Wozniacki to overtake Williams until at least after next year’s Australian Open. And that’s only if Williams doesn’t play. Under the WTA system, the Dane could reach No. 1 by year’s end.

Clijsters moved from No. 5 to No. 3, ahead of both Venus Williams and Zvonareva. She sits just 200 points behind Wozniacki, and unlike the Dane, has no points to defend between now and year’s end. Being ranked No. 2 or 3 paints a more realistic picture of Clijsters’ stellar season.

Francesca Schiavone swapped places with Sam Stosur, ranking No. 7 ahead of the Aussie’s No. 8. Most people would agree that Stosur has had the better year, but this is a great example of how the ATP system rewards winning major titles. And that’s what has separated Schiavone from Stosur in 2010.

Maria Sharapova rose three places to No. 12, her superior performances in several Masters-level events helping her leapfrog several players.

You be the judge.

Miscellany
Joan Rivers, who is still pee your pants funny, has coined a new expression she uses on her weekly "Fashion Police" show on E!. I'm going use it and say to Gael Monfils. Make it stop.

I.Just.Can't.

Paris in the Spring - RG Day 5

by Savannah

DRAMA Takes Over the WTA

Did someone at the WTA consult with WWE folks and decide the way to make people watch their matches is to have it's players deliver verbal smack downs to each other? Today the barbs are flying hot and heavy. Here's a sample.

Q. This is going back a little bit, but you lost to Jelena in Madrid. I was wondering when you heard about that fist pump imitation she did after the match and just what your reaction was.
ANA IVANOVIC: You know, it's very, very hard for me to comment on that, you know. You know how they say: Sport doesn't build character. It shows it. Yeah, it's very hard for me to say.

Q. So apparently Ana was talking about what happened in Madrid after the match with you and the fist pump. You want to talk about, you know, your version of that? I know it was a big win for you, but why you decided...

JELENA JANKOVIC: What was her version?

Q. Well, she basically said that, you know, sports reveals character. That's what she was saying.

JELENA JANKOVIC: For me, you know, I don't need really to comment on that, you know. I don't think it's a right time to comment on this kind of thing.

But for me, as a player, it's ‑‑ every player has their way of, you know, motivating themselves and pumping themselves up, you know, if you win a point or you didn't win a point. But I don't think it's nice to put it, you know, the fist in their face. That's what can be a little irritating. That's the only ‑‑ but all the players, they do, you know, different kind of gestures, you know, with their hands.

But, you know, it's a little bit ‑‑ when you do that in the player's face, and especially after not winning a point after your opponent missed an easy ball, I don't think it's ‑‑ I don't think that's fair play.

Then there's this. The word "gross" in French means fat.

Notorious French interviewer Marc Olivier Fogiel has provoked outrage in France, following comments he made this morning on Europe 1 radio programme.

While another host was live on air reading out a biographical article about Marion, Fogiel, his microphone open, was overheard saying "Elle est grosse Marion Bartoli", translated as, "She is gross Marion Bartoli" - a blatantly derisory remark understood clearly enough in French and in English.

Walter Bartoli is understood to be extrememly angry and seeking to have it out with Fogiel on a French news station this evening.

Fogiel was previously embroiled in an incident over a racial slur, and two years running was voted the most disliked and unfriendly interviewer in France.

And this doozie. The link is in Russian.

Rausa Islanova on the split between her daughter Dinara Safina and Željko Krajan.

" Being a coach myself I can say that Krajan's coaching has produced almost zero result. I couldn't step it in because Dinara has got good results, (but) it had been based on her (previous)collaboration with her former coaches. Željko just listened to her and realized what were the things Dinara hadn't worked on with other coaches. Perhaps he used to say her something that she as a girl was pleased to hear. But the work that was to be done hasn't been done.

During this 2 years he hasn't make it better, he only made the shortcomings of her game worse. (Gaston) Etlis had arrived to Paris 2 days before the French Open started, Hernan Gumi had helped her before that. Anyway, problems can not be solved quickly and Dinara understands that.

It should be said that she did get to the Number #1 ranking and three Grand Slam finals. Anastasia Myskina said something very similar yesterday and also accused Kimiko Date Krumm of faking injury to throw Dinara off.

Finally there's this exchange reported by the Polish Press. The link is in Polish.

Robert Radwanski counted all errors of his daughter. Discretely, silently - hardly anyone heard it. Unfortunately Aga outbursted and started the polemic. She began: "Shut up, go home with all your mathematics, get out!" afterwards it got worse: "You're still counting? Fuck off! Do you understand? Fuck off!"

I wonder if they'll hand out popcorn before pressers and matches going forward?

Tennis News

There was tennis played today despite all the rain. Maybe some players would've preferred that their matches be postponed to tomorrow.
Alisa Kleybanova handed Ana Ivanovic a bagel.
Yaroslava Shvedova sent Agniezska Radwanska packing.
Jarmila Groth defeated injured Kimiko Date Krumm.
Anastasia Rodionova defeated Vera Zvonareva. The Tournament Director and the WTA must as thrilled as the French fans.

Gael Monfils threw away a two set lead to Fabio Fognini losing 9-7 in the darkness delayed fifth set of their match. Gael needs to decide if he wants to play tennis or continue to showboat.

End Notes

With all of the filmed footage available to ESPN of players from all over the world the casual American tennis fan has to be forgiven for thinking that the tennis world consists of Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova (I know she's Russian but that is downplayed on ESPN), John Isner, and Venus Williams especially if she's wearing that black lace thingy. After showing Andy Roddick and Venus Williams matches ad nauseum the commentators got to drool over the Monogram to close things out.

The American sports establishment has finally gotten the message that the rest of the world could care less about football and baseball and is now actively promoting the World Cup. Maybe in another few years the American tennis establishment will start to promote tennis as a world sport and not focus just on Americans who play "those people".

Lights Out

by Savannah

For those who haven't seen it here is a YouTube of the fifth set of the match between Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini. About seventeen seconds in you see the actual situation on the court not the television enhanced version.

Paris In the Spring - RG Day 4

by Savannah

Why is anyone shocked that Taylor Dent served as a door mat for someone who can really play on clay? I'm stunned he even made it to the second round. The United States tennis establishment is determined to shove serve and volley down the throats of the rest of the world where it is rightly seen as a tactic during a match and not the sole strategy.

The announcer on ESPN3 calling the Aravane Rezai vs Angelique Kerber match said that the way Rezai plays reminds him of American trained female players. He's not totally wrong.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga complained bitterly during his post match presser today about his scheduling request not being granted.

Q. So you didn't want to play on Sunday? So you're surprised, I suppose. You're French No. 1, we're in France, this is a French tournament and an important one. Were you surprised? Did it get on your nerves to be imposed to play on a Sunday?

JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I expected this question, to tell you what I think about this. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed because I was playing on a Sunday. I had asked not to play on a Sunday, absolutely, because I had practiced in such a way that I thought I wanted to play on a Monday or Tuesday, to be totally fit.
But they imposed it on me. I had to play on a Sunday. I have to accept the rules. This is the game and this is it.
Now, if you're world No. 80 and you're not that important in the hierarchy, if I can say, loads of things are imposed on you in this case. What really bothered me is that, you know, if you look at Murray, if he decides on a day or hour at Wimbledon, nobody's going to impose anything on him.
For Federer in his country it's the same. In the U.S. I suppose it's the tame thing for the best American players. I think that Lleyton probably plays in the sun during the Australian Open because he loves the sun and other opponents don't like the sun. He wants to play in the sun.
Today we're in France. I'm French. I'm French No. 1. I would have thought it was legitimate for me to be listened to, that I would be given a choice. They should listen to me when I wanted to play or start.
But I accepted the rules, and that's all. I'm disappointed. That's true, because I expected a bit more from the organization and the rest, but this is the way it is. I mean, had I lost on Sunday because I was not feeling good, then many people would have been disappointed. This would have been a bit silly, I think.
But it wasn't the case, so I'm here, and I'm fit. I'm ready to play. This story will continue, and that's the end of the story.

Q. Is it a lesson for you? Will it not change your behavior vis a vis number of top managers to be firmer and to behave like someone who's got nerves?

JO WILFRIED TSONGA: No, no, because I'm quite open, and organizer or not, my job is to play tennis. Sometimes there are unforeseen events, so we have to adapt. But what I expected from them is to listen to me a little.
But, you know, sometimes it's this thing here, that thing there. You know, during Davis Cups you don't necessarily play in the towns you would like to play in. I'm French No. 1. I can't really decide when I'm going to start the tournament, which is at home.
So, you know, all these little details which sometimes can be quite annoying, sometimes we complain because we don't have enough good French players, but sometimes we're not given the best conditions. I think it's a bit of a pity.

I read that one of the Russian women made a similar request to the FFT and her request was granted while Tsonga's, along with that of a tired Richard Gasquet's, were not. Bitch on Jo.

The following exchange happened during Dinara Safina's post match presser yesterday. It's being reported by the Russian press.

Q: For how long do you plan to work with your new coach?
A: When you go out with a girl for a few times do you also ask her for how long she plans to date you?

Q: Your today's opponent left tennis for 10 years and then returned. Now she is winning. Maybe you should do that too?
A: Stupid questions you have today... (and left the room)

I would've left after punching the reporter in the face. At least she didn't cut and run like Viktoria Azarenka.

Cat Fight

Rezai on Bartoli: "Marion is a difficult girl....She attacked me many times in the press. "I don't have the same education as the one she has...I have respect for players."

Matches of the Day

No one expects anything from Svetlana Kuznetsova this French Open. Not only is she not expected to compete she was relegated to Court 1 for her match today. Instead of succumbing to expectations Sveta gutted out a three set win over a game Andrea Petkovic who actually served for the match in the second set. Sveta has played two matches and had to come from behind in both of them. I'm not saying she'll repeat as champion but she's not going down without a fight.

There are matches still being played as I post this. It's now going on 9p in Paris. Tomorrow's schedule will be interesting.

“One of the most amazing sights that I could barely see.”
Patrick McEnroe

In the heat of battle men should not be asked to make a decision about whether to stop and continue at a later time. Too much adrenaline and too much testosterone are flowing in their bodies and the thought process is muddled at best.

This is the decision Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini were asked to make during the fifth set of their match. Monflls had been up two sets to none and looked to be cruising when Fognini woke up and leveled the match at two sets all. It was already late and as we all know Roland Garros has no lights. Figuring that common sense would prevail I figured they would stop play at 3-all. I was wrong. Instead an argument broke out and that guy named Drama who is always hanging out in the corner sipping scotch got up and took over. Both men wanted to continue. Fognini's camp was telling him to get off the court but he refused. Monfils was already walking back on court as if to say he was finished talking and it was time to play. Fognini got up in chair ump Carlos Bernardes face and next thing you know he penalized Fognini one point for delay. By this time it was pitch black and both players, pros that they are, were playing on instinct, knowing where the lines are and making sure they kept the ball away from them. For the most part that is. The only light was cast by the scoreboard and to say it was eerie was putting it mildly.

In the end, with the score at five all play was suspended. Monfils, who had been gung-ho to continue from the beginning was cramping and yet managed to play well. Fognini cursed his way off the court. Some are saying Carlos is not going to chair the conclusion of the match tomorrow because he gave Fognini the point penalty. The arguing had gone on for six minutes and it was time to crab or carry the basket. If he doesn't chair the conclusion I hope it's because he has another match to work.

If you're thinking this is a back to the future scenario it is. Last year it was Andy Roddick playing against Gael Monfils and the darkness.

It's going to be exciting to see how this all ends. Monfils was cramping at the end of play.

By the way matches featuring John Isner, Marcos Baghdatis and Andy Murray will also resume tomorrow.

In other news...

Husband and wife tennis players looking to be based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Late last year, soon after Australian husband-and-wife team Jarmila and Sam Groth lost their individual $150,000 scholarships at the Australian Institute of Sport, they received an offer they could not refuse. It was from Gavin Hopper, now involved with a new tennis academy in Turkey. Within months, the Groths, too, will be based in Istanbul.
(...)
Hopper is an experienced coach and trainer, whose clients before he served a 27-month jail term for indecently assaulting a 14-year-old student while a teacher at Wesley College in the 1980s, included Mark Philippoussis and Monica Seles. He also founded an academy on the Gold Coast with former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. More recently, he has been working for the Turkish Tennis Federation and living with his family in Istanbul for several years.

SOURCE

Paul Annacone will not have his contract renewed by the Lawn Tennis Association when it expires in November of this year.

FINALLY!!!

Congratulations to one Ms Nadia Petrova. She is not in the best shape of her life and is mostly thought of as the woman who can't beat Maria Sharapova. But last night she showed what happens to the Sainted One when you take control of a match from her and don't let go. St Kim was reduced to a pouty, racquet throwing (Don't worry about a warning or a fine. Saints aren't subject to the same rules as other mere mortals. Only players like Serena Williams would've gotten a warning) bitch. She had no answer for the barrage of shots that came her way. Nadia had her by the throat and did not let go.

Pam Shriver and Mary Carillo (!) called the match. Let me rephrase that. They talked through the match. One of them pinged the Saint's manager to ask him what was going on. I asked myself isn't that what you two are being paid to do? All we got from them was weeping and gnashing of teeth. This poor soul lifted her eyes to the heavens and pleaded for the clear eyed non biased analysis of Martina Navratilova. She may be a catty bitch when it comes to her opinions but when she is behind the mike she is a professional. During Jelena Jankovic's match she made you see what was wrong with JJ's game. She didn't go on and on about JJ's mother like the ESPN crew does. That was what was needed last night. How did Nadia snatch control of the match from Clijsters? Why did Kim's attempts to take control back in the second set fail? Why has no one else approached Clijsters like this? What does this mean going forward? Instead of answers to questions like these all we got was that Nadia was "in the zone". Pay me what you pay those jokers because I can say stuff like that all day.

On the men's side John Isner found a way to beat Gael Monfils. I didn't see much of that match but I sure heard enough about it and saw the highlights.

I'm sure there is lots of stuff I'm leaving out but I think I'm doing good for someone who went to bed at 8a this morning. Australian time is a bitch.

Idle Chit Chat

by Savannah
Neil Harman posted this on October 5 2009

Speaking in his home country this weekend, Federer said: “People like it still that I am the No 1 or the No 1 again so I have to make a hard decision, the one or the other [either the tour or the Davis Cup] because both together is not working, I feel it myself, it is consuming. If I hadn’t played the Davis Cup I maybe would have gone to Asia, so you see how much energy the Davis Cup takes [out of you]”.

Marat Safin is reported to have said the following about the length of the ATP calandar and those who are now complaining.

"In 2004 we had this discussion in Olympic Games with Roddick about it and they were blaming me that I'm playing too much," said former world number one Safin And I was saying that the season is too long. We should make it shorter. And the guys, they jumped on me, like I was the one who was wrong. So look at all of them -- everybody is falling apart. Everybody is getting injured left and right, and everybody is complaining the season is long. It takes six years to realize that something is wrong? They just have to deal with that, not when they are 21 and ambitious and want to make money. They have to think a little bit with their brains and to make the career a little bit longer."

Tatiana Golovin has hinted that her chances of returning to tennis are slim to none. She is suffering from spondylitis of the back. The L'Equipe article is here.

The Chinese have made no secret about wanting to host a Slam. They'd like to expand the number of Slams from four to five or wrestle the Australian Open from Melbourne and hold an Asian Open in either Beijing or Shanghai. That's why it's amazing to see the lack of butts in the seats especially in Shanghai. I have never seen so many empty seats at an ATP event where all of the top men are playing. It was better today but not by much. If it wasn't for the fangirls and cute kids that are all over the place center court would be dead. I saw some of Ivan Ljubicic's match this morning and that stadium was empty. What gives? I'd think it would be to the Chinese advantage to have as many "seat fillers" as possible.

Czech player Ivo Minar has been suspended eight months for a doping offense. The suspension ends on March 10, 2010. Minar will not protest the sentence.

Andre Agassi on the future of men's tennis.

Agassi said the 22-year-old Murray is the man most likely to be the dominant figure over the next few years. The world No. 3 is still seeking his first Grand Slam title.

“From a talent standpoint, Murray is a person who should win multiple Slams,” Agassi said.

“When I look at his game compared to the other players, he has what it takes to win and to win against anybody on any surface.”

So who was the genius who decided that the Kremlin Cup, one of the WTA's most prestigious end of year events, would be held the week before the YEC at Doha making sure that none of the top Russian women would play? Some of the players mentioned this at the beginning of the year but it's now, when the players list is posted on the official site, that you see how this event has been downgraded. Meanwhile there are two International Series events playing in Linz, Austria and Osaka Japan. I finally saw some pics of the women today so I know this is not a figment of my imagination. I'm still trying to get my head around why the YEC at Doha isn't closing out the year. I'm slow like that.

Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils retired with injury today in Shanghai. Fernando Verdasco, who has put off needed foot surgery to play Davis Cup for Spain, lost his match.

Weekend Round Up

by Savannah

What a surprising weekend of results.


She hasn't gotten all the hype. No one was writing columns about her return to competitive tennis but Kimiko Date-Krumm, by winning Seoul, is the big story of the weekend. She will soon be 39 years old. Congratulations on your achievement Kimiko.

Congratulations also go to Gael Monfils who won at Metz, his first title since 2005. It was good to see him hold himself together mentally and win.

If Shahar Pe'er were a team they'd be screaming to break her up. Shahar, who has had a disastrous 2009 won her second title in a row at Tashkent.

I'm sure most tennisheads had penciled in Juan Monaco to win at Bucharest. Instead Albert Montanes of Spain hoisted the trophy and got a confetti shower. Congratulations to Albert.

Seen Around

by Savannah

The ATP has taken new profile pictures. I kept reading about them but thought they couldn't be that bad. They are. As you look at them please remember that you have not logged on to the "America's Most Wanted" web site or your local post office if it's still open. These are all tennis players.


Robby Ginepri

Tommy Robredo

Robert Kendrick

Gael Monfils

Victor Troicki

Tommy Haas

Sam Querrey

Kevin Kim
I mean really.

This and That

by Savannah

Kim Clijsters returned to the WTA tour last night with a victory over Marion Bartoli in straight sets. Lots of us spent a few fruitless minutes looking for a live stream of her return coming away more than a little frustrated.

I'm not a fan of Kim or her style of play but her return, against a top twenty player, is something I wanted to see. It would've been nice to see how she was hitting, her movement on court as well as how she approached Bartoli who is a tricky player. Instead like everyone else I was reduced to scoreboard watching.

In case you're wondering why fans would look for a live stream when TennisTV isn't starting their coverage until later in the week I'll remind you of a certain small tournament in Warsaw where a certain Siberian made her return to the tour. Were there live streams? You bet your ass there were. I'm just saying. I mean Kim has a huge fan base and they, along with the merely curious like me, would've tuned in to watch. But I'm not in Marketing so I'm just that lone voice crying out in cyberspace.

I should mention in passing that I wonder what it means that Clijsters, away from the tour for two years, had such an easy time with a top twenty player. I could go on and on about the talent gap in the WTA but that would be beating the proverbial dead horse wouldn't it?

Anyway it's back to scoreboard watching a WTA Premier event until later in the week.

The "Butt" Off

Serena Williams and Andy Roddick got into it last week about their Twitter avatars. Serena is seen in a jaunty turquoise sports bra in hers while Andy was in a rather bland head shot.

Andy decided to change his picture. Serena is worried she'll have to change hers to keep up.

From the ATP WTF Files

Apparently Nike has decided to butch up their fuschia shirts. Adding a bloody severed hand to the swoosh is obviously the answer to having men wear fuschia colored shirts. Who the hell is running their design department anyway?

Fans of "Will and Grace" will remember when Will sported this look. The last place I expected to see it was at the Player Fashion Show in Montreal.

It was implied that Will wore his smoking jacket by itself. Thank goodness Novak Djokovic accessorized.

In other men's fashion statements this look was seen on the courts yesterday.

Smiles all around indeed.

Tournament News

From Yahoo Sports

MONTREAL (AP)—Canada’s Frederic Niemeyer, ranked No. 487 and playing his final season of pro tennis, set up a match with Roger Federer by defeating Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 7-5, 6-1 Monday in the first round of the Rogers Cup.

Emphasis is mine. Expect to hear a lot of talk about the twins.

Melanie Oudin lost her opening round match to Ana Ivanovic.
There's no way to judge how Ana is doing unless she makes it to the quarter finals when coverage begins for the WTA Premier event in Cincinnati.

We've been seeing a lot of this from Marat Safin of late but in this case the picture does not tell the entire story.

Gael Monfils dominated the first and third sets of their match to move on to the next round. The second set, which Marat won, featured some of the most beautiful tennis seen on a court this year. Both men played at their best and for awhile it looked as if Marat had decided to draw on the old magic and win over Monfils but it was not to be. Marat will be seen next in Cincinnati where he's been granted a wild card.

End Note

I'll be away for a couple of days attending to some personal business. Craig will make sure you're up to date with the Tennis Follies.