Tennis Chatter: Between the Cups

It's Wednesday in Seattle, which means rain, wind and gray skies all come together for one day of inspiring weather! Needless to say winter is in full force here, but we're lucky not to be in the South, where I can't imagine the devastation the tornado victims are going through right now.

It's been a wacky week in the neighborhood that I live in: last week there was a shooting at a burger joint, then a woman threatening to kill herself on a church roof along with a wondering homeless lady who came into my cafe Monday morning pleading with me to call 911.

I guess living in the city never has it's dull moments, right?

The dull moment that engrossed the tennis world (aka last week) is over for now, as the women have battled it out in round one of Fed Cup and the men are getting set for their own ties this coming weekend.

My friend Erwin over at TSF has put together a little preview (with some visuals, of course) of what he is calling the "Center of his Universe:" the Russia versus Serbia tie.

While Russia-Serbia is promising plenty of good-looking guys and hopefully some good-looking tennis, there are plenty of enjoyable match-ups in the first round of the men's action.

If you missed this juicy story from last week's tie between Israel and Russia, I would check it out. Craig Hickman gives a great play-by-play of how Maria Sharapova pulled a Justine (via the '04 Aussie, not '03 French). It even includes a clip from JuJuBean's disgraceful moment! How spectacular!

For some reason, the YouTube clips have been pulled of the incidents in Israel. Speculations as to why... ?

And while the American men focus on taking care of the Austrians this weekend, Joel Drucker tells us what Andy Roddick needs to focus on in order to once again be a top 5 threat on the ATP Tour.

Tennis Chatter: Lazy Saturday

It's Saturday. And it's very gray in Seattle. And I'm still in bed... with a terrible head ache and a sore throat (no, I didn't go out last night... I have a cold!). I am going to be a man of few words tonight, but I would like to say that my prediction for the Tipsarevic-Federer affair wasn't too far off, right? Okay, that's enough horn-tooting for now.

James Blake saves the American flag with a remarkable come-from-behind win to beat Sebastian Grosjean in the third round. Way to go James! Another five-set win for you.


Meanwhile, the Fed outlasted my favorite Serb, Janko Tipsarevic in five thrilling sets last night as well, showing some of his vulnerability. Roger Federer now faces Tomas Berdych in the fourth round. Here are post-match comments from Tipso:


If you missed this piece by Joel Drucker over at ESPN, check it out. It's the top five women's matches at the Aussie over time, which pits the 2002 final between Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis at the top (which I whole-heartedly agree with).

And I also wanted to put up a better, longer clip of the Andy Roddick rage that occurred a couple nights ago. This is from ESPN, so it might get taken down in the near future. It has Roddick screaming at the umpire, the written text of what he's saying and the always-reliable Cliff Drysdale keeping us updated on what's "really" happening.

Andy Goes AWOL (And Loses)

Andy Roddick got mad last night at the Australian Open. Real mad.

During his five-set loss to German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roddick accused chair umpire Emmanuel Joseph of being an "idiot."

Pardon the poor video quality, but I think you'll enjoy this little clip of madness:

From the Betting Scandal to Pepper Spray

First fixed matches, now this?

If you look closely, you can see the police officer in the background spraying the crowd with pepper spray:


And in case you haven't noticed, Patty Schnyder loves extra-inning matches. The Swiss was again extended the long route at a grand slam, the 13th time she's been involved in a match that's gone past the traditional 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 etc., score in the final set.

This time it was hometown favorite Casey Dellacqua beating the no. 15 seed 4-6 7-5 8-6 in the second round. Dellacqua hit 50 winners during the two=plus hour match and wound up with one more point than Schnyder, 111-110. The last time Schnyder bowed out of a major in such dramatic fashion was at last year's French against Maria Sharapova.

DUD: Down Under Dokic (And Why She's Done)

I'm so done with Jelena Dokic.

Living alone in Seattle has taught me one important lesson: be prepared. Be prepared for bad weather; be prepared when you leave the house for a 12-hour day; be prepared that things might not go the way you hoped they would; be prepared to miss that bus - and be okay with it.

While I respect - and often admire - the comeback athlete, Jelena Dokic's comeback has run its course time and time again. There's a time to say that enough is enough and hang up your string dampeners and grip tape. But it's not because I don't like Jelena, it's because she just hasn't been prepared.

In 2004, Dokic began suffering from a right elbow injury that would eventually contribute to her fall out of the top 100 in the rankings. Now, four years later, the 24-year-old has been knocked down yet again by injury - this time to her ankle - and finds herself in doubtful shape to qualify for the Australian Open.

The Dokic story has always been a little topsy-turvy, with a publicly high-tempered father and a tennis diva attitude to match. After her incredible breakthrough onto the tennis scene at Wimbledon in 1999, when she beat world no. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets on her way to the quarterfinals, Dokic became a regular inside the top 20, and even parked herself comfortable in the top 10 for much of 2002.

But injury and fatigue would get the best of Dokic, and she finished 2006 ranked outside the top 500 for the first time in her career, reduced to playing satellite and challenger tournaments just to make it.

Yet it wasn't because of a lack of talent in Dokic, that was something she always had. Rather, it was Dokic's lack of preparation that has gotten her in trouble. And now, in turn, her career has run its course because of it.

Repeated attempts back onto the WTA Tour over the last three years have been wildly unsuccessful for Jelena. Throughout these trials, Dokic has been said to be out of shape, emotionally unstable on court and constantly battling injury.

Whether or not Jelena has taken the necessary precautions to make a full-fledged return on the tour is something I'm not sure of. But the evidence leads to little preparation, and a more "Let's dive in head first" attitude than anything else.

So now, at 24, it's time for Jelena to take her goals elsewhere. Her tennis script has come to a close.

Bhutto Passes the Torch

The last 24 hours have been rather sad for me. At breakfast yesterday (which occurred around 11:30 a.m.), my dad started talking about "Bhutto this; Bhutto that." I didn't pay much attention, mostly because we had just seen Charlie Wilson's War the night before, a movie which talks about former Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto quite extensively.

But it was a couple minutes before I realized that my dad wasn't talking about the senior Bhutto, but rather his daughter, Benazir. This past fall I had become quite the fan of Benazir Bhutto. I listened to her interview on the BBC upon returning to Pakistan in October and followed the rocky situation there closely in hopes for a better future.

So when the news of her assassination came yesterday, I was in as much shock as the rest of the western world. I cannot imagine the loss and agony that the people of Pakistan feel after seeing the possibility for a new day come January's parliamentary elections.

In tennis terms, there's only one individual who comes close to being the pioneer that Ms. Bhutto was. That individual would be Sania Mirza, the 21-year-old Indian who has made as many headlines for her fashion as her forehand. If there's one positive that can come from Ms. Bhutto's death, it's that young Muslim girls throughout the world will look to her as a heroine, as someone to be emulated.

I've written quite extensively over that last year or so on Mirza. To me, she's a player with all the right ingredients: a strong build, a fierce groundstroke game, a level head on her shoulders and a nation (and world region) cheering her on. In a lot of ways, Mirza is strikingly similar to Bhutto: both raised in upper-class families that encouraged them to do whatever they pleased.

For Sania, the baseline has been her stage to the world as the podium platform was for Bhutto. Mirza's recent signing with adidas shows that the tennis world believes that the youngster is ready for the big time. And as Tennis Served Fresh blogger Erwin put it, it's time for Mirza to step up, as well.

Like Bhutto's self-imposed exile over much of the last decade, Mirza, too, must manage her schedule wisely. A 13-5 run during the summer showed us just how good Mirza can be, but her 0-3 finish to the season also proves that she just hasn't reached the level of global power that she can.

A new year always brings new challenges, new beginnings. No doubt the new year will hold both of those and more for the country of Pakistan, but so too, will it for Sania Mirza. And if she does her job right, the torch won't be dropped, and both the tennis world and the political world can call her a new heroine.

Pasta, Pasta, Penalties

A couple weeks ago, the New York Times did a piece on the flagging country that is Italy. Minus the world's adoration for their food and unique not-so-modern way of life, the small boot on the Mediterranean Sea needs a kick in the ass.

So as tennis suffers through one of the most embarrassing and far-reaching scandals its ever known, two Italians have been thrust into the spotlight for their involvement.

Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali are certainly no household names in America, but their involvement in tennis' betting catastrophe has cost the two men a combined $50,000 and nearly five months off the tour. Italian tennis officials call it "injustice."

Welcome, tennis fans, to the new America.

Following their Davis Cup win earlier this month, the Stateside boys have officials lifted themselves out of the cellar of the tennis world. Yes, the cellar. Who cares that there are two top-ten men in Andy Roddick and James Blake, and that the Bryan brothers are arguable the best doubles team on the tour today. America was in a funk.

But now that funk has been passed on, and while many countries could run and catch the flying piece of embarrassing hardware that such a label might be represented by, Italy has taken the new gold medal: king of crap.

The thing is, it shouldn't be this way. As of late, Italy has experienced something of a tennis renaissance. At year's end, five players are in the top 100 (including Starace) and there are 28 Italian in the top 500.

But, as life and sport go, scandal always overrides achievement.

While a country like Russia may suffer from the centerfold of aforementioned scandal (Nicolay Davydenko), the Russians' ability to boast numerous personalities (Safin, Tursonov, etc.) and produce high-quality tennis exempts them from falling to the depths of tennis hell.

So one question comes about: can tennis (and Italy) escape this sea of ugly with lessons learned? Or will accusations continue to be flung in every direction, fingers thrust at chest after chest and "injustice" claimed with each penalty?

It's hard to say. And as for Italy, their poster boy and a journeyman are rank with wrong doing. Maybe a bath in tomato sauce and some of that pasta will wash them clean? But I highly doubt it.

Still Sad (About Martina)

Ten years ago, Martina Hingis had launched herself to the top of women's tennis. She was a bratty 17-year-old with cat-like quickness and a feline personality to match. She was tennis' ultimate diva arriving at the cusp of the millennium.

For everything that she was, I hated Martina. I thought her game was boring, her attitude disrespectful and her confidence cocky. She epitomized the exact reason I disliked tennis sometimes: arrogance.

But Martina was the best, and above everything else, that's probably why I hated her so. She ruled in '97, and carried her swagger into the '98 and '99 by retaining the world No. 1 ranking, winning two more slams and becoming a dominant force in the doubles game.

Ten years later, however, she's retired a second time - and this one just may be for good.

(Hingis could almost always find a way to win on the court, but finding happiness has been another thing. Photo by anam1973 via flickr.)

No one could have predicted what Hingis would face during the decade after she crashed onto the scene in '97 while winning three of four majors. She was the Queen of Cry at the '99 French, then the Princess of Puff when the Williams sisters arrived with their games of power in the early 2000s.

Martina was always somewhat disinterested in tennis, though her craftiness and passion we just as evident. She was born and bred an athlete, but unsure if that's really what she was supposed to be doing with her life.

But ten years and two retirements down the road, I'm still sad about Martina. I went from hating her, to being indifferent, to wanting her back, loving her return and being frustrated with her lack of results.

Now, I'm just plain sad. Wondering if the woman who looked so comfortable on any spot of a tennis court can figure out where she feels comfortable in life. I hope she does it. She certainly deserves to.

It Won't Stop

It won't stop until the Tours do something about all of this.

But will they ever?

I would argue no, but both chiefs - Scott and de Villiers - have shown that they can take a firm stance on the podium, but what about putting their foot down and really sending a clear and crisp message to players about certain behavior?

Or, as I said yesterday, are we all loving this attention?

SOS: State of (Women's) Sports

I had a disturbing realization while reading the New York Times this morning in my living room, Harvey Araton is absolutely right.

For a bit I felt rather embarrassed for the fact that I, as much as the next fan, always love a little scandal in women's sports. Tennis is chalk full of it over the last five years: the women - and girls - of the tour are able to make things dramatic while the tennis may lack in quality.

So does that make me less of a fan? Because I divulge in the cries of bad over-rules, the cat calls, the scandals - do I not respect women in sport as much as I should?

And, along the same lines, is that why women's tennis has been so successful as an international game? Many have argued that women's tennis is the single most popular women's global sport in the world. And while that fact is encouraging, does that popularity stem from the drama that seems to circle the tour with a constant buzz?

Did Big Babe tennis also bring about Cry Baby tennis? Are these pre-Madonnas so wrapped up in their own worlds that they can't see that they're not just playing a game - that they're professional athletes, too?

Maria Sharapova is the latest example of the glitzy girl: smiling for the cameras and keeping her off-court schedule busy while garnering a global fan base. So is the issue with players like Sharapova, who are well-rounded, out-going individuals? Or is it with someone like Justine Henin, who has thrown all of her petite being into being the best tennis player in the world?

Scandals and drama always take a catalyst, and often times that catalyst can be a single individual. So what sort of individual do we - the fans of women's tennis - want in order to fully enjoy the sport we claim to love?

Or, is it even fair for us to demand a certain type of athlete while enjoying so much of what happens after the end of the point? Are we truly "fans" in the purist sense when we smile a little to ourselves when Serena Williams goes bananas on a chair umpire, or Martina Hingis pouts and cries on her mother's shoulder?

My initial reaction is to say that "it all just comes with the territory." But does it? Are we able to be fans of those points - and just the points - without all the thrills and frills that come separate from them?

I want so badly to be a sincere fan, but my insatiable appetite for such drama no doubt wins out sometimes.

Between athlete and fan, there must be a balance. We must be okay with athletes being people - and, especially, women - and that sport comes with something more than just a game.

I just wish the headlines from Madrid were a little bigger this weekend than those out of the Hingis press conference last week. I fear, however, they won't be.

But does that really disappoint me? I'm still unsure...

Tennis Chatter

The WTA Tour Championships get underway tomorrow, but the women have already been in action, doing a photo shoot for publicity. Check out the video of all the (photography) shots.

Martina Hingis' scandalous retirement announcement has already been made page 2 news, even on tennis-only sites like the Tennis Channel. Are we already over the Swiss Miss and her departure? Perhaps. But Steve Tignor did have some nice thoughts about the former No. 1 in his latest post on TENNIS.com.

How did I miss this awkward picture? Or is this a photo illustration? I'm so confused! Either way, David Nalbandian looks rather uncomfortable.

Erwin is back in action over at TennisServedFresh. As always, the popular Trophy Watch kicks off his Monday.

But wait, Hingis will fight the allegations? Okay...so does that mean she hasn't actually retired? So confused....

Tennis Chatter: Hingis Update, etc.

While I was (not) going to class yesterday and picking up my parents at the airport, Martina Hingis was retiring from professional tennis.

The "breaking news" that I thought surfaced this morning was a nearly a day old - so is the life of a student blogger, right?

Lindsay Davenport - officially un-retired and cocaine free - continued her assault on the women's tennis tour, belting her way into the quarterfinals of Quebec, where she's a wildcard. Two titles in three tries for the California mom? It's looking that way.

Want to hear what Roger Federer had to say after his loss to Nalbandian yesterday? Click here.

Speaking of Hingis, the WTA issued this statement from Larry Scott.

Hingis' full statement can be found on Peter Bodo's TennisWorld.

And the video (for the emotion, not the words):

Breaking News: Hingis Retires

Martina Hingis has announced her retirement from professional tennis for a second time - but this one might be a bit more permanent.

The 27-year-old Swiss player announced that she tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon this year and chose to retire because she does not want to fight a legal battle with the WTA for the ensuing two years.

More of this story as we get details.

Tennis Chatter: Foggy Saturday

It's a foggy Saturday morning and I've already been up for three hours. But things have been slow at the coffee shop, so I get to peruse the internet and catch up on emails and blogging.

Yesterday the "Yikes factor" went up three fold with Nicolay Davydenko's fine from the ATP for "lack of effort". Is this really happening? See what Tennis Planet has to say about how our sport is handling a rather embarrassing scandal.

Speaking of turn-around matches, Andy Murray came back to beat Dmitry Tursonov in three sets in St. Petersburg yesterday. Is Tursonov going to get a fine now too?

Wertheim chats it up about all the goings on in the tennis world.

Things are getting sloppy between Andre Agassi and Target.

Patty Schnyder beat Anna Chakvetadze in Linz today. It took 39 minutes. Ouch.

This Doesn't Look Good...

Yikes. What next?

Kimmy No More

I've officially removed Kim Clijsters' page from my Site roll. Forever I will remain silent about the Belgium Miss unless: A. She returns to professional tennis or, B. She dies.

(Maybe Kim is the one who stole Ellen's dog? AIPT photo.)

RANT: What Scandal?

In case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, tennis is dealing with a gambling scandal right now. But don't worry, no money ever changed and, according to every player and every official, things have just been blown a little out of proportion.

Wait, am I reading this right? Or perhaps I should say 'Am I writing this right?'

The thing is, tennis is taking this serious, or at least as serious as the sport knows how to take anything.

You see, tennis has always been (and maybe always will be) that country club sport. There's been slaps on the wrists and wagging of fingers, but minus a few rather insignificant steroid bans, tennis hasn't had to deal with scandal the way the rest of the sporting world has.

Just this past week, Marion Jones bared he soul (and some tears) for the entire world to witness. She had confessed that she had, indeed, taken steroids, and she was returning her Olympic medals and asking for forgiveness.

But forgiveness for what, Marion? For lying? For cheating? For stealing?

If she's as sorry as she says she is, she wouldn't have ever done any of what she did. You see, sport encourages athletes to cut corners. It asks them to be the best and make it look easy. Winning is everything.

But in life, there's something called respect. And dignity. And legacy.

Marion Jones has tattered all of that. And for what? A couple of gold medals?

Before tennis players, officials, coaches, agents and fans can start running to the press and saying how innocent we all are, about how are sport is 'respectable' and how such activity will 'not be tolerated', maybe we should take a look at who we are and what we stand for?

We let Maria Sharapova march he way through the 2006 US Open with Yuri practically as her side every change over, giving all his words of wisdom.

We let Justine Henin cheat against Serena Williams at the 2003 French Open. And we let Ted Watts and Mariana Alves screw up in front of thousands of fans just to smile at the players minimal interest.

We let Jon McEnroe embarrass himself on the court for decades, Irina Spirlea and Lleyton Hewitt be blatantly racist during matches and Martina Hingis be homophobic during a press conference.

Tennis is far from perfect, but so too, is sport...and, dare I say, the world we live in, too. Yet there has to be a time where we all say, 'Wait a minute, this isn't right.' Instead of doing our best to sweep it under the carpet, forget it all happened and smile when the season ends, so proud of our achieving crooks.

Are they crooks? I certainly hope not, and my gut tells me no. But can we trust our guts? Or should the press, the players and the governing bodies of tennis step up and do a little gut check. Just to be sure.

Tati vs. Mari Feud?

Do Tatiana Golovin and Marion Bartoli hate each other?

So it would seem.

Bartoli, the Wimbledon finalist, recently told reporters in Stanford, CA., that not only did Golovin fail to congratulate her on her success in London, but that the two girls don't even say hi when passing each other in the locker room.

Golovin might be jealous, seeing that the only attention she got at Wimbledon was for her underwear. And that's not much of a compliment when you're a Top 20 player.

Marion Bartoli returns the ball to Venus Williams during her Cinderella run at Wimbledon. (Photo by jonathan 20 via flickr.)

Until recently, Golovin had been the best-known and highest-ranked young French player. However, Bartoli's steady success this year culminated in her brilliant run at Wimbledon, where she took out top seed Justine Henin in the semifinals.

So when will this French feud be settled? The two are both playing at Stanford this week, and could meet in the semifinals. Racquets won't be the only weapons used in that match - the claws might be out too.

A Brief History of Bad Umpires

It seems as though the Sharapova-Schnyder match up yesterday has brought about a couple days worth of history lessons. Not only did the girls continue the 9-7 trend, but so too did the chair umpire continue a trend in the women's game for making poor decisions at key moments in tense moments. All which came at respective majors.

Case One
Maria Sharapova versus Patty Schnyder
4th Round - 2007 French Open
At 7-all in the third, Sharapova led 30-0 serving and vaulted a first serve onto Schnyder's side when the Swiss put her hand up mid-motion, letting her opponent know she was not ready because of crowd noise. But Sharapova would have nothing of it, and neither would the chair judge, Kader Nouni of France, awarding the point to the Russian, and - seemingly - the match.


Case Two
Venus Williams versus Karolina Sprem
2nd Round - 2004 Wimbledon
You all remember 2004, when Venus Williams struggled with Karolina Sprem in the 2nd round of Wimbledon. Sprem had taken the first set and the second was in a tie-break when Ted Watts, chair umpire for the match, called the score 2-2, ignoring a lines woman's call and mistakenly giving Sprem an extra point. The mistake was no doubt embarrassing, but would give Sprem an extra chance to fight back, and, eventually beat Venus 8-6 in the breaker.


Case Three
Jennifer Capriati versus Serena Williams
Quarterfinals - 2004 US Open
It was a couple months later when a weary Serena, remembering the Venus incident, argued with the chair umpire, Sandra de Jenkin, about a ball she overruled on the opposite sideline. Capriati would win the match later in the third, 6-4.


Oh, and I never made the connection that it was indeed Ms. de Jenkin who also made the infamous Henin-pressured overrule during the 2004 Aussie Open final. Jeez Sandra, 0 for 2.