WTA news

Australia's Molik crashes out of Sydney tennis tournament

12 hours ago - AFP

SYDNEY (AFP) — Local favourite Alicia Molik crashed out of the Sydney International tennis tournament on Sunday, dealing a blow to her preparations for the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

Molik, a former world number eight who earned a wild card entry here, failed to overcome the steady play of Czech Lucie Safarova, who won the first-round encounter in two tiebreak sets, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (12/10).

Molik, who beat Safarova at the Hopman Cup just nine days ago, had her moments but failed to convert on the key points.

"Some days I play great in patches, often some days I'll be feeling the same as I did a couple of years ago but it's just a little bit patchy at the moment," said Molik, who won this tournament in 2005.

"It's just a matter of playing at a higher level on a more consistent basis.

"I don't feel like I'm far from it -- it's maintaining it and not having these ebbs and flows that I'm having in a few matches."

Molik was forced off the tour in 2005 after an ear infection threw off her ability to balance. She finished 2007 ranked at number 58.

She was joined on the sidelines by fellow wild cards Nicole Pratt of Australia and Nadia Petrova of Russia.

Australian tennis officials were criticised for giving a wild card to Pratt, who at 34 is likely nearing the end of her career.

She did little to prove the critics wrong, losing quickly to France's Virginie Razzano, 6-2, 6-1.

Petrova lost in straight sets to Austria's Sybille Bammer, 7-5, 6-3.

France's Amelie Mauresmo and China's Li Na have withdrawn from the Sydney event, a key tune-up ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on January 14.

Mauresmo cited an injury to her right adductor while Li, who captured the Australian women's hardcourt title on the Gold Coast on Saturday, complained of a problem with her right knee.

http://www.teamwta.com/content/view/487/49/

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Clijsters gives birth to first childBrussels,
Belgium (Sports Network) - Kim Clijsters, who retired from the WTA Tour
last year, gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Clijsters and her American basketball player husband Brian
Lynch named the child Jada, who, according to her Web site, weighed in at 6.69
pounds.

Clijsters retired from tennis nine months ago, at which time she stated that
she wanted to start a family. The former Belgian star married Lynch, who plays
professionally in Belgium, last July.

The popular Clijsters won 34 career singles titles and reached No. 1 in
2003, becoming the first-ever Belgian to do so. She captured one Grand Slam
championship -- the 2005 U.S. Open -- and also lost in finals at the 2001 and
2003 French Open, the 2003 U.S. Open and 2004 Australian Open.

jgw wrote:http://www.teamwta.com/content/view/487/49/

You like Cornet??

Francesca Sciavone v Justine Henin......

Whooooooooo-pi-di-dooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

7-6 7-6




Forza la leonessa!!!!!!!!!

it was a great match jimmy :D

forza francescaaaaaaaaa
commooooooooon

Women’s tour CEO Larry Scott reacts to Richard Williams’ remarks on racism
Mar 20, 10:49 pm EDT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—WTA head Larry Scott said Thursday that he strongly disagrees with comments made by Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus, regarding racism on the women’s tour.

Saying he was disappointed by Williams’ recent remarks during an interview in India, Scott said in a statement: “The Tour has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism, and I have previously let Mr. Williams know that he should let me know if he ever had evidence of racist comments or acts in women’s professional tennis.”

While his daughters were playing earlier this month in Bangladore, India, where Venus reached the quarterfinals and Serena won the title, Williams told the Deccan Herald, “Well, I’m black and I’m prejudiced, very prejudiced. People are prejudiced in tennis. I don’t think Venus or Serena was ever accepted by tennis. They never will be.”

He said the media treated his daughters unfairly, that it was “the worst media job that they have done on any human being in the world,” and that if he were Serena and Venus, he would have quit playing.

“But if you get some little white no-good trasher in America like Tracy Austin or Chris Evert, who cannot hit the ball, they (the media) will claim this is great,” he said.

Scott said, “Champions like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin have done so much to help build women’s tennis to where it is today, and it is regrettable that anyone would criticize them in this manner.”

The Williams sisters haven’t played at Indian Wells since 2001. They were booed after Venus pulled out of a semifinal match against her sister, citing knee tendinitis. Serena went on to win the title, but was booed during and after the championship match.



http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-wta-richardwilliamsremarks&prov=ap&type=lgns

I agree 20% with him about media and acceptance, but he is a racist too.
Last year when there was that Don Imus scandal, I heard that he (Imus) used to comment like that about Serena as well, judging her by her built and race.
Cannelle, Is that true? I thought maybe you know more than I do, since it happened long time ago and you are 99

But seriously, their father is doing them damage same as Dokic's father ruined her career few years ago, with racist remarks as well.
I'm waiting for Mr. Sharapov to step up next, since he seems like such a nice guy

I think it is about time America settles this race issue once and for all...then, all other countries that are influenced by USA will just accept the pattern

My advice- they should love more and fight less, cause love sees no colours!

"Yes we can!"

Sad news

April 9, 2008

Daniela Klemenschits Succumbs to Cancer


© Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

SALZBURG, Austria - It was a sad day for the tennis world on Wednesday, as Daniela Klemenschits - who, along with twin sister Sandra Klemenschits, was diagnosed with a rare form of abdominal stomach cancer last January - passed away.

Last summer, the Klemenschits sisters made a plea for financial help as their treatment was becoming more and more expensive. The tennis world came together, beginning with ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stars like Justine Henin, Roger Federer, Amélie Mauresmo, Marat Safin, Martina Hingis, Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Steffi Graf donating items for an auction on sonyericssonwtatour.com that raised $10,000. Players donated $50,000 out of their pockets and the Tour matched the auction earnings for a total of $70,000.

Unfortunately, the illness proved too much for 25-year-old Daniela, whose cancer was more advanced than Sandra's. On Wednesday night in Amelia Island, there was a moment of silence in memoriam prior to the night match between Lindsay Davenport and Jill Craybas.

The Klemenschits sisters are perhaps best-known for reaching the Istanbul final in 2005 and the Stockholm and Budapest semifinals later that year; they were an impressive force on the ITF Women's Circuit as well, winning 20 titles together.

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2175

Must be even more awful when you're one of twins.

April 29, 2008
Baby Joy For Myskina

MOSCOW, Russia - Russian tennis pioneer Anastasia Myskina, who has been out of action on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for nearly a year now, became a first-time mother on Monday, April 28, 2008.

After missing most of last season with a left foot injury, Myskina announced she was pregnant, and on Monday afternoon in Moscow she gave birth to a son, Zhenya. She has not made any announcements on whether or not she will return to the Tour.

Although there has been strong Russian talent prior to this decade, most of the country's first big breakthroughs can be attributed to Myskina. The Muscovite, who turns 27 this summer, became the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title at the French Open in 2004, defeating Elena Dementieva in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final. She was also the first Russian to break into the Top 5 since the inception of computer rankings in 1975 (she went all the way to No.2, which has only been surpassed by Maria Sharapova, and equalled by Svetlana Kuznetsova).

Myskina has 10 career Tour singles titles, including Roland Garros in 2004 and two Tier Is at Moscow in 2003 and 2004. She also holds five Tour doubles titles, including one Tier I trophy at Moscow in 2004 (with Vera Zvonareva). She was also a member of Russia's first victorious Fed Cup teams, in 2004 and 2005.

CONGRATS!!

Fatigued Henin to clarify future


World number one Justine Henin could be set to announce her retirement, according to Belgian media reports.

The Belgian Tennis Federation said she will discuss her career and future at a Wednesday news conference at 1500 BST.

The winner of seven Grand Slam singles titles recently talked at length about plans for her retirement, but would not specify when she planned to quit.

Henin, 25, wrote on her website last week that she had been training without any problems and was injury free.

The Belgian pulled out of this week's Italian Open citing fatigue, with the WTA fining her £10,000 ($20,000) for late withdrawal, and has been beaten four times in the past four months.

One Flemish newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad, states that the Belgian will announce her immediate retirement from the game.

The Vers l'Avenir newspaper group's internet site said the Olympic champion plans to retire either now, after trying to defend her Roland Garros title this month, or even after the Beijing Olympics in August.

But another newspaper, La Derniere Heure, suggested she would simply be taking time out for several months.

The Belgian suffered a shock defeat by Russia's Dinara Safina in the third round of the German Open last week.

Henin, who has won the last three French Opens, was playing only her second match after a month off with a knee injury and lost 5-7 6-3 6-1.

The women's tour launched a multi-million dollar "Superhero" marketing campaign in Rome on Tuesday featuring all the top players - except Henin.

"It cost a fortune and surely the sponsors would want the world number one involved if she was still intending to play," said BBC Radio Five Live tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend.

Speaking in Berlin just before the German Open, Henin revealed that she had been looking beyond her career in professional tennis.

"I'm young in life, but starting to get old on the tour," she said. "I'm growing up and I need different things.

"Even physically I don't recover as well as I did when I was 20. That's normal.

"Now I've been playing tennis for 20 years and it's been my whole life but as a woman, as you get older, you need to think about the future."

That's a a shock I guess Amélie is next

Now that Henin is out, I am worried that Amelie will be next.
I was secretly hoping for another rematch between the two!

Henin's coach Carlos Rodriguez said tennis fans would remember the diminutive Belgian for the way she conducted herself as much as for her triumphs on court.

Players' reactions to Justine's retirement

"I was surprised like everybody.She never expressed some kind of burn out before that.I'm asking to myself why she doesn't take a break.It's true that with the way she is - she invested a lot in her game, plays with a lot of heart but also with crispation and fear - it's understandable to burn out at one time.She lost a lot of energy, and because she won everything, she surely doesn't want to make all these efforts anymore.
What I'll remember first about her, will be her fighting spirit and her will to not accept the defeat.She proved herself, with her height and her style, that a player can win all these tournaments without serving at 200km/h.It's very rare on the tour actrually.She was an importanty opponent for me personnally.I won my two slams against her in 2006.She was someone special in my career.I didn't think that she would retire before me, that's for sure.It'll be strange not to see her on tour anymore.But it doesn't give me the idea of retiring now.I have still the will to play".
__________________

From CNN on Justine's retirement -

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/tennis/05/14/henin.retires.ap/index.html

I'm not particularly a fan after the AO final in 2006
but I have to say that this is a sad sad day for tennis.
All the best to Justine. I hope she is happy and content with her
decision.

(Note what she said about Wimbledon).

Roby67 wrote:Players' reactions to Justine's retirement

"I was surprised like everybody.She never expressed some kind of burn out before that.I'm asking to myself why she doesn't take a break.It's true that with the way she is - she invested a lot in her game, plays with a lot of heart but also with crispation and fear - it's understandable to burn out at one time.She lost a lot of energy, and because she won everything, she surely doesn't want to make all these efforts anymore.
What I'll remember first about her, will be her fighting spirit and her will to not accept the defeat.She proved herself, with her height and her style, that a player can win all these tournaments without serving at 200km/h.It's very rare on the tour actrually.She was an importanty opponent for me personnally.I won my two slams against her in 2006.She was someone special in my career.I didn't think that she would retire before me, that's for sure.It'll be strange not to see her on tour anymore.But it doesn't give me the idea of retiring now.I have still the will to play".
__________________

Thank you for posting Amelie's reaction. I was going to post it in French and use the online translator, but it did not look like this at all. I think that translator site likes to be play tricks on me.

So, she will not retire right at this moment. I am happy with this news.
Some more reactions from other players:http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=342268

I was surprised when I heard that she had scheduled a press conference to announch "something". It seems like she had a few bad matches and BENG retires, but no doubt that she had been thinking about it for a long time.

Oh well players come and go, but it was always a pleasure to see her play.

Two parts.
Don't get confused by the language in the beginning, it's in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9S0_ps1PAM part one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uGeSndObHc part two

babyb wrote:Two parts.
Don't get confused by the language in the beginning, it's in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9S0_ps1PAM part one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uGeSndObHc part two

I can't watch it,my PC crashes when I open it

What are the most interesting things she said? Appart from "Allez"

sunny wrote:

What are the most interesting things she said? Appart from "Allez"

The biggest regret/disappointment in career- Wimbledon 2006

She was basically reviving her career, while watching some of her old matches.
Never mentioned AO 06
Had some sweet words for Carlos etc,

Is it true that Ame is not playing the Olympics?

yvonne wrote:Is it true that Ame is not playing the Olympics?

Yeah...Mrs Pierce had an urge to play

Tennis authorities looking into Wozniacki match

By CHRIS LEHOURITES, AP Sports Writer


LONDON (AP)—Tennis authorities are looking into a WTA Tour match involving U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki that apparently sparked bettors to pile money on her opponent when she was on the verge of losing in straight sets.

Wozniacki, a 19-year-old Dane ranked sixth in the world, retired from the first-round match at the Luxembourg Open with a hamstring injury on Wednesday while leading Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 7-5, 5-0.

Wozniacki’s father, Piotr, told his daughter at 3-0 in the second set to retire before winning because her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round. His comments, apparently spoken in his native Polish, were picked up by microphones and heard by viewers watching the match on the Internet.
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“I went onto the court and said to her: ‘Caro, it does not matter whether it’s going to be 5-0, 4-1 or 3-2. You can not play the next round, so you shouldn’t take the risk,”’ Piotr Wozniacki said Thursday on Danish radio. “I’m very proud of Caroline, because she stopped the fight and gave her opponent a chance.”

The father’s comments during the match led to a surge in online bets for Kremer to win.

The governing bodies of tennis created a Tennis Integrity Unit last year to combat gambling and match-fixing.

“We’re just looking into everything that happened in this match,” WTA spokesman Neil Robinson said, adding that he believed the information would go to the integrity unit. “I would think that would be the way it would go. They are aware of it.”

The Tennis Integrity Unit does not comment on cases, and neither would Betfair, an online gambling site that works closely with tennis authorities.

“Under the terms of our memorandum of understanding with sporting bodies worldwide, it is up to the sporting authorities to comment,” Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin said. “However, it is reasonable to assume that in high-profile cases like this, correspondence has been made.”

Betfair, however, said it did not have any concerns about the match at this stage, and that the money won or lost was not unusual.

In Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, Wozniacki professed her innocence.

“So, people bet on my matches. Some win, others lose. I just know that I am clean. It is most important to me,” Wozniacki said. “And if anyone is in doubt about my injury, I can both produce scan from the hospital and a report from the tournament physiotherapist.”

Although it appears unlikely that Wozniacki conspired to fix the match, she could still be fined for “lack of effort” according to International Tennis Federation statutes.

In 2007, Betfair voided all bets on a match involving Nikolay Davydenko because of suspicious gambling patterns. The Russian withdrew against Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set of a match in Poland, citing a foot injury. Both players were cleared of any wrongdoing after an ATP investigation.

Since the Davydenko match, other players have said they have been approached by outsiders trying to influence a match, and still more have been fined or suspended for gambling on matches.

Also, Davydenko was fined $2,000 for lack of effort after a loss that same year at the St. Petersburg Open, but the charge was dropped after the Russian won an appeal.