Serena Pull Out of Fed Cup v. Italy

SATURDAY, OCT. 31 - After Serena Williams edged her sister Venus in a third set tiebreaker in the round robin competition, it looked like Venus, who had lost her previous match to Elena Dementieva, was essentially out of the competition.

But Venus kept plugging and now the defending champion will have a chance to avenge her defeat when they meet in Sunday’s final. On Saturday, Venus survived Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, while Serena pummeled an exhausted Caroline Wozniacki when the Dane pulled out with a stomach injury when trailing 6-4 0-1.


Lum photo Venus tries to solidify her up-and-down year."I wasn't playing great. I think it's hard to play well against a player who's injured and is so nice," Serena said. "I'm going to have to really improve my game against Venus if I want to win."

Wozniacki added, "It was just too much for me to keep playing. "I could either smile or cry, so I chose to smile. There's nothing else you can do. I had a great year. I did all I could. Today I just didn't have any left. I've learned that I'm a huge fighter and impossible is nothing." Well, except for completing the “impossible” semifinal.

Venus became the first player to reach the final after losing two matches in the round robin since Amelie Mauresmo in 2003.

"In the first set I couldn't feel the ball and couldn't seem to get a ball in," said Venus. "But this is my last tournament of the year so I was giving 1,000 percent. It's wonderful to be playing Serena in the final. I'm so excited. It's the way I wanted to end the year."

Jankovic broke serve early in the third set but then was broken three times in a row before Venus won the match with a let cord forehand.

"It's disappointing. I had so many chances. I had a lot of break points in the second set, but then I let everything slip away," said Jankovic.

Serena leads the Williams rivalry 12-10, winning their last three meetings. But there’s no chance of a Williams sweep when they lost 2-6, 6-4. 10-8 in the doubles to Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who will face Cara Black of Liezel Huber, who have already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Somewhat predictably, Serena pulled out of the 2009 Fed Cup Final November 7-8 against Italy and will be replaced by Vania King. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez will now have to play youngsters Melanie Oudin and Alexa Glatch on clay against a far more experienced team. Serena, who could have led the team to victory, is arguably the least committed Fed Cup player in history.

Gilles Simon was knocked out of the ATP Tour Finals when he was defeated 6-7 6-3 7-6 by Michael Llodra in the semis of Lyon. Llodra will play Ivan Ljubicic. Marin Cilic will play local Juergen Melzer in Vienna. Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Marat Safin 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in St. Pete and will play Horacio Zeballos of Argentina. Who?


Sony Ericsson Championships - DAY 5
Semis: Serena v. Wozniacki, Venus v. JJ
FRIDAY, OCT 30 - Maybe in 2010, the WTA should have the players contest best two out of three supertiebreakers. Seriously.

In yet another day in Doha where the coverage was more appropriately devoted to exhaustion and injuries. Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams joined Serena Williams in the semis after Victoria Azarenka suffered a leg injury and also choked up a set and 5-2 against Agnieszka Radwanska and finally retired down 4-1 in the third, giving the Dane passage into the final four.
Like Wozniacki did when she survived severe cramps over Vera Zvonareva, Azarenka's hopes ended in tears.

"I started cramping in the second set but it kept getting worse throughout the match," she said. Wozniacki was on court cheering for Radwanska, whom she is closer to."Usually, I wouldn't cheer for any of them because they're both my friends. But now, in this situation, I think it's normal that I cheer for Radwanska," she said.

Now the red hot and remarkably un-injured Serena will face Wozniacki, who appears physically tapped out. "It's still the hamstring. I also have my stomach iced," she said. "My body is just tired now. I was hoping for a couple more matches here but after this I'm ready for a vacation."

Venus, who has been struggling, will face Jankovic, who hasn’t shown very much this week “I knew that I had to win in order to go to the semi-finals, and if I lost this match I was out of the competition," said Jankovic, who lost to Azarenka and then received a gift from Dinara Safina, who retired after two games. "So it was a lot of pressure. "I didn't know what to expect from Caroline, with all of the things that have happened in the last two days. I just came to really focus on my tennis. I did a good job."

Sony Ericsson Championships - DAY 4
Wounded Warriors
THURSDAY, OCT. 29 - Maybe playing the WTA Championships in Doha wasn’t such a good idea given the consistent 100-degree heat. Whatever the case, a slew of women went to war on Thursday, with Caroline Wozniacki remaining undefeated but leaving the court cramping in tears after her 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 victory of alternate Vera Zvonareva in a White Group match. Then the Russian alternate pulled out with a back injury after needing treatment in the second set for a nosebleed. She’ll be replaced by second reserve Agnieszka Radwanska, who will face Victoria Azarenka, who can still qualify for the semis if she pulls through against the Pole.

Wozniacki may still need to beat Jelena Jankovic to reach the semis, but is still in good shape with two wins. The Dane played the last four points while limping around. "I have absolutely no idea how I pulled it through, but I'm very happy about it," she "I'm gonna do everything I can to get ready for tomorrow.”

Serena Williams continued her remarkable play, winning a virtual dead rubber over Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-4 to become the first player to win three matches and qualify. But the rest of the Maroon Group is in chaos, as Venus, who had lost two three- setters to Dementieva and Serena, pulled through with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. Should Kuznetsova beat Dementieva, they would all have one victory and they would have to go to tiebreakers which includes head to head match-ups, sets and games won. "It feels good to be through because I've never really done well in this round-robin format," said Serena. "Tomorrow I'm going to sleep all day because I've played every day so far here and I'm really tired.”

Lum photo The reactions to Agassi's admissions go from
honesty to "What was he thinking?" Sony Ericsson Championships -
Doha DAY 3
Winners: Serena Survives Venus, Wozniacki Comes Back on Azarenka,
Safina Done for Year; ITF, WADA on Agassi
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28 - So much for a dramatic end to the season based on Serena Williams and Dinara Safina's face-off for No. 1. Safina withdrew from the WTA Championships on Wednesday because of a back injury after only two games into her match against Jelena Jankovic, which gave the top spot to the American, who won the Aussie Open and Wimbledon this year, but has yet to win another title.
Serena then went out and put a cherry on her day by avenging her defeat to her sister Venus at last year’s Championships in a hard-fought 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory.

"It really could have gone either way. At the end of the third set she just started playing great," said Serena, who now owns a 12-10 edge over Venus. "I was just trying to do what I could. I kept saying, 'I want to end this year No.1, so I'd better lift up the level of my game.' "

Safina has been going rapidly down hill since Wimbledon, when she injured her back and couldn’t serve in the semis, when Venus crushed her. The pressure of being a Slam-less No. 1 clearly got to her, and she made a lousy decision to play through the pain during the fall. Now, she may not be able to play the 2010 Aussie Open.

"I've been playing on in pain, on anti-inflammatories, on everything,” said Safina, who has inflammation in her lower back. “But as I was chasing this number one I was fighting with my body. God knows, maybe I should have stopped after the U.S. Open. I was still hoping, but then my body just gave up. And here, I did everything possible to play. I went yesterday to put injections, cortisone, but I could not handle this pain. At this stage my health is more important. Until I recover fully, until my back is recovered and I can feel that I have no pain, no fear, then I'll not play. Definitely there is no surgery. It's just time. This is going to be a very long procedure." Vera Zvonareva, who has also been injured, will play Safina’s last two matches in White Group.

Before Safina went off the court, Caroline Wozniacki came back from two match points down to suppress Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 Azarenka took a 5-3 lead in the third, but the defensive genius Wozniacki kept grinding while Azarenka broke two rackets.

"I just kept fighting," Wozniacki said after the two-hour, 58-minute contest. "The crowd, especially the Danish people here, helped me through this. I knew I had to step it up after the first set, otherwise she would just run over me."

Wozniacki will face Zvonareva on Thursday, followed by a match between Elena Dementieva and Serena, and Venus and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Serena already qualified for the semis with two wins in the Maroon group and if Dementieva takes out Serena, she’ll qualify, too. Azarenka, who beat Jelena Jankovic on Tuesday, still has a shot at the semis if she beat Zvonareva.

As soon as the smoke from “other” work clears, I’ll do a large post on Andre Agassi, but for now, the only thing I can say as it relates to his whole crystal meth phase in 1997 is that it completely changes my opinion of his great comeback in 1998-2000 because I’m not really sure what to believe anymore. I posted this on Twitter, but it’s worth recounting here. In February of 1998, just four months into his comeback, I asked Agassi why he said in 1997 that he was ready to go for the top again and then totally checked out. He said, not laughing, “Last year, I was just kidding.” He apparently was kidding himself and his fan base too. The one thing I would caution everyone who reads the book is that regardless of how fascinating and revealing the tales are, remember that Andre likes to spin things his way and is pretty controlling of his own image. I certainly wouldn’t read the book without a few shakers of salt. Plus in this instance, he’s completely embarrassing the ATP and to some degree, the ITF, by saying that he lied to doping authorities and that they bought his ‘Slim spilled meth into my soda’ story. WADA chief John Fahey told the AP he expects the ATP "to shed light on this allegation" I seriously doubt that.

Here's what the ITF said: "The ITF is surprised and disappointed by the remarks made by Agassi in his biography admitting substance abuse in 1997. Such comments in no way reflect the fact that the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is currently regarded as one of the most rigorous and comprehensive anti-doping programmes in sport. The events in question occurred before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was founded in 1999 and during the formative years of anti-doping in tennis when the programme was managed by individual governing bodies. The ITF first signed the WADA Code in 2004, and the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme undergoes constant review and improvement. In 2006, the ITF assumed responsibility for administration of the anti-doping programme on behalf of the ATP and then, in 2007, also on behalf of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The ITF, Grand Slams, ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour are now unified in their efforts to keep tennis free of drug use, and this should not be overshadowed by an incident that took place over 12 years ago. The statements by Mr. Agassi do, however, provide confirmation that a tough Anti-Doping Programme is needed.”

For more insight on the book, here’s some thoughts by Inside Tennis' Bill Simons, who has written a large article on the book for the next issue, which will hit on Monday.

Question of the Day: Who is more mysterious: Gasquet’s Pamela or Agassi’s Slim?

Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha DAY 2
Winners: Azarenka, Dementieva, Serena; Williams to Play Fed Cup;
Rude in Interview, the Agassi Meth Revelation
TUESDAY, OCT. 27 - Elena Dementieva has a world of trouble against Venus Williams in the past, more than against any other player, but on Tuesday at the WTA Championships in Doha, she managed to scratch her way into the contest with standout defense and was able to take down the seven-time Grand Slam champion 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2.

"I was trying to fight for every point. I was trying to stay positive," Dementieva said after the match. "It was very important to come back and win the tie-break. I think she was a little disappointed in the beginning of the third set and gave me a little bit of an advantage, and I was able to finish the match."
The defending champion Williams wasn’t the only one disappointed with her play, when Victoria Azarenka hit right through Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-3 for her first win at the Championships. Jankovic, who was the event’s last qualifier, can’t seem to find her top level, even against a 20-year-old she hasn’t beaten three straight times.

"I basically gave her everything. I beat myself. That was really unfortunately the case. My game was completely off," said Jankovic, who committed 33 unforced errors. "I would hit one or two balls and then the third one would go everywhere except in the court. I was a shadow of myself."

Playing in the White Group, Jankovic will gave another struggling player, Dinara Safina on Wednesday. "I just have to try to clean my game," she said. "I need to get back to playing good points, hitting the ball, being aggressive, really cutting down all the errors, serve much better, return much better.
Azarenka will face fellow debutant Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday, whom she has beaten twice this year. "I'm glad she gave me the match and she was not in the mood. It worked out pretty well for me.
Venus Williams will get a real treat to stay in the competition on Wednesday when she has to face her sister Serena, who edged Sveta Kuznetsova 7-66 (6), 7-5. Serena avenged her loss to Kuznetsova at Roland Garros and has an opportunity to avenge her loss to Venus at last year’s Championships. Venus said she’d be ready.

"I'm going to come back tomorrow and just improve my game," Williams added. "That's what it's all about in round robin tennis. It's my second time playing round robin. Now I'll see what it's like to be in this kind of competition for real."

In some good news for Fed Cup fans, the USTA and Captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced that Serena will make her first Fed Cup appearance since 2007 and her first in big time tie since 1999 when the U.S. confronts Italy in the final on a red clay in Reggio Calabria November 7-8. Serena will be joined by Liezel Huber, Melanie Oudin and Alexa Glatch. Serena has been under heavy pressure to play for her country since her US Open meltdown, while Venus, who has been hobbled, has put in plenty of time playing the competition and wasn’t relishing the prospect of facing her new nemesis, Flavia Pennetta, on clay, much less Francesca Schiavone, who has played spectacularly well at home.

Fernandez is likely to tab Oudin to play second singles, as Glatch hasn’t had much success on clay. Serena will likely have to do yeoman’s duties if the tie goes five contests, as Fernandez will likely ask her to play doubles with Huber.

Speaking of Serena, she was highly inappropriate in her pre-match interview in Doha with Tracy Austin today. While I understand that she is still smarting from the minor, and I mean very minor, criticisms that Austin threw at her way back when at the Aussie Open, there’s was no reason for her to be so short with her answers, to throw such cold stares and to quickly walk away. Serena is doing herself no favors by acting petulant once again, but at this point, the world might have to accept that she may never grow up.

FYI: The tennis journalist world has been sitting on the info that Andre Agassi used crystal meth during his dark year of 1997 because his book publisher had embargoed the material until November 9. But now that the cat’s out of the bag, there will leaks every day. And yes, I consider the drug a performance enhancer, at least in the short term. Same thing with cocaine.

In a key passage in his book, “Open,”Agassi recalls his first experience doing crystal meth. In addition to revelations about his heavy drinking, Andre admits to snorting crystal meth with a Vegas friend called Slim. MORE

Monfils Married to Disabled List
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 - Is it merely coincidence that seven men have withdrawn from or been knocked out of Shanghai this week? Probably not, but most of the tennis world will concede that Gael Monfils, who was down 6-2, 3-0 to Ivan Ljubicic when he retired because of a back injury, seems to get hurt every other week and the length of the season has little to do with why the young Frenchman can’t keep healthy.

Swiss Stan Wawrinka is another matter, but he did compete last week in Beijing and was likely a little peaked in Shanghai and on Thursday, he quit down 3-6, 7-6, 4-2 to Radek Stepanek with abdominal pains.

Then there’s Tokyo champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose been playing constantly this fall and has a ton of points to defend before the ATP Finals. The big guy went down to another powerballer, Robin Soderling, 6-3, 6-3. Soderling, who is also hoping to qualify for London, is really going to have to grind to extend his season to the final week."I know that if I play well, I have a chance, but this tournament won't decide who's going to play in London," said the Swede, who will face Feliciano Lopez. "There's still a lot of tennis to be played."

Rafa Nadal took care of his Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo again, this time with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. Robredo has absolutely no real weapons to hurt Rafa, or anywhere near the lefty’s grit. "I am playing well," said Nadal, who will play Ljubicic. "But I played two terrible games at the start of the second set so I have to improve in situations like this if I want to beat the top players."

Novak Djokovic, who is rapidly becoming a legend of the ’09 fall, scored a 6-4, 6-2 takedown of German qualifier Rainer Schuettler. Nikolay Davydenko, whose been very solid since July, put a dent in Fernando Gonzalez's London hopes in scoring his sixth win in six meetings over the Chilean 6-3, 7-5. "If he has a second serve, I know I have a 90 percent chance to win the point," said the cocky 28-year-old Russian. Gilles Simon took a 6-3, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych.
In Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki bested Britain’s Katie O’Brien and will face familiar vowel and consonant sounds in the form of Aleksandra Wozniak, one of her many friends who beat Chang Kai-chen 7-5, 7-6(2). Wozniak scored her sole win over “Caro” in Tokyo when a flu bug overtook the USO finalist. Samantha Stosur took out Akiko Morigami 6-1, 6-2 in one of the Japanese vet’s last matches, and US super-veteran Jill Craybas mauled Mathilde Johansson 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.

In Linz, give it up once again to Sony Ericsson Championships’ contender Agi Radwanska, who took down the once formidable and now easy to best Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-5. Another Doha contender, Flavia Pennetta beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Yanina “I’m headed to Bali” Wickmayer also pulled through, as did Ioana Raluca Olaru and Lucie Safarova, who beat the younger and more temperamental Radwanska, Urszula, 6-4, 6-4.

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