Marat Safin is officially playing his final tournament on the ATP tour and will retire afterward. In spite of his recent comments about Andre Agassi’s crystal meth use, Safin has a prety good reputation in the tennis world. Have you not heard what he said? Here’s the highlight referring to Andre – ‘He feels guilty? So let him just give back his titles, money, his Grand Slams,’ said Safin. ‘He should go all the way. The ATP has a bank account, he can refund if he wants to.”

Marat Safin retires after 12 years playing pro

The Russian is retiring from his tennis career at the BNP Paribas Masters where he has a good run of  it in the past decade. Safin has won the title three times, in 2000, 2002, 2004 and finished runner-up on his debut in 1999. IN fact, his latest win improves Safin to a 24-4 record here.The streak might end shortly as Safin plays Juan Martin Del Potro, US Open champion, in the next round.

“The tennis I’m playing at the moment is not the best of my career. I always came here to win, but this time, frankly, I don’t think I can do that. I’ll just try to finish on a high note and say goodbye to everybody,” said Safin.

Safin, ranked 65th will face Del Potro for the first time. “The way he’s playing right now, I don’t think I have a chance,” confessed Safin. “But I’m going to try. Why not? If I’m going to serve well and he’s not going to be at his best, I have a chance. At the end of the day, I don’t think I’m going to be the winner. I’m going to make a decent match, that’s for sure.”

Wow Marat, you think you would have a little more confidence in your tennis game than that…. Oh wait, you have no confidence and that’s why you’re retiring. Do you think Safin should have kept playing or did he stay in the sport to long?

Here’s a gerat quote I remember from old Marat Safin – “No, she’s not. Two women is too much for me.”
– Marat Safin, when asked if his mother was in Melbourne in addition to his sister.

Here’s a great Youtube video of him kissing the line lady after hitting her with a tennis ball at the HopMan cup.  He was a good sport I must say and will be missed!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiOsvbQDVUc

Andre Agassi admits in a new book, “I hate Tennis” by Sports Illustrated, that he used crystal meth during his tennis career.  He also lied to tennis authorities about taking any drugs. He says it happened at the height of his success.   This and other drug abuse tales might be a result of how tennis players are trying to cope with their rigorous sport. Major sports headlines are frequently filled with drug abuse incidents either steroids, meth, cocaine, or alcohol and the ever constant problem.

Andre Agassi cries after admitting to crystal meth use

The first tidbits from his autobiography have rocketed through tennis like a 135-mile-an-hour serve. He hated the sport, hated doing something that his father had shoved down his throat. He rebelled, he sought escape, maybe even self-ruin. One day in 1997, so his story goes, he escaped with crystal methamphetamine, and liked it enough to do it again and again and again. Then he lied when the first dirty drug tests came back. This is how a career nearly ends up flushed down the toilet.

 His weak alibi — something about accidentally drinking a spiked can of soda pop — was believed at the time, of course. He was the innocent Andre Agassi.  Many tennis fans will disappointed by Agassi’s story but hopefully this could be the door opening to more players coming forward.   Do you think Agassi should have awards and accolades from his past pulled from by the ITA?  I don’t think he should, crystal meth is not a performance enhancing drug like steroids?  What do you think?

Here’s a video highlighting the whole issue with Crystal Meth.

Here is the quick list of tennis injuries that have happened in 2009 and what tournament it occured at:

Tennis injuries - is the season to long?

• Roger Federer (fatigue) – after US Open taking a break
• Rafael Nadal (knee, stomach) – US Open
• Andy Roddick (knee injury) – Shanghai Masters – “I think it’s ridiculous to think that you have a professional sport that doesn’t have a legitimate offseason to rest, get healthy, and then train,”
• Andy Murray (wrist injury) – Japan Open
• Venus Williams (knee injury) – US Open
• Serena Williams (thigh injury) - Miami Masters Final - recent quote “It’s just really hard to see how my body is going to be after Doha, (Qatar) — if I am going to be walking or if I am going to be in a wheelchair.”)
• Gael Monfils (back injury) – Shanghai Masters
• Stanislas Wawrinka (abdominal pains) – Shanghai Masters
• Juan Martin del Potro (wrist problem) – Shanghai Masters
• Tommy Haas (injured right shoulder) – Shanghai Masters
• Jose Acasuso (knee) – “”
• Mischa Zverev (wrist)

Notice how their are few women on the list.  They play the best of 3, not 5 sets like men, thus they do nothave the high injury rate.

Even Novak Djokovic has a last word on the tennis injury subject.  `”We will work on doing something that is comfortable to both the players and the tournaments,” Djokovic said. `”The tournaments still understand their job and their obligations better than we understand their job — and vice versa. But the players now are more united than ever. We have to make a compromise. The bottom line is that you don’t want to have injured players. The schedule, in my opinion, is too long, but we have to go step by step and try to solve it.”

Nadal had a beautiful quote about how tennis injuries are so common lately – “When you put the body all the time at the limit, it is difficult. It’s the same as Formula 1. They have the the best cars in the world, but at the same time these cars are broken more than your car. That’s the reason, because the car is always at the limit. So we are the same.”

What do you think the solution is? Is this just a bad stroke of luck?

Is divorce the only way for this celebrity couple to settle their differences?

Chris Evert & Greg Norman getting Divorced?

Last week, Norman announced in a statement that he had separated from his wife of 15 months, tennis legend Chris Evert. And that came just a few days after Norman had surgery on his right shoulder.

This week Greg Norman has flown to San Francisco to captain the International team in the Presidents Cup.  Cris Evert is home in Florida, where a photo was  snapped a shot of the tennis legend’s unadorned ring finger, just 15 months after the couple laid out $2 million for a wedding ceremony.

That’s chump change compared to the $103 million it cost Greg Norman to divorce his wife of over a quarter of a century, Laura Andrassy. She’s definately proving that no one laughs a last laugh harder than a ditched ex, telling the Sydney Sunday Telegraph:

“They say opposites attract. Here were two people very much alike — high profile and narcissistic people — and that would make a relationship difficult . . . Both he and Chris are adults and they were supposed to know what they were doing, but they were in the throes of lust and weren’t thinking . . . But being with Chris is what Greg wanted. Well, he got it.”

A British tabloid, The Mirror, says Evert wasn’t happy about moving into Norman’s Jupiter Island estate, where he had lived with Andrassy. If true, we can understand that. When living in a $60 million Florida mansion, you want to be the one who picked out the wall paper, right?

Here’s a great video of a number of tennis couples that have happened over the years.  I think you will enjoy:

Here’s a quick summary of all the couples mentioned in the video:

The Song is “Algo Mas” by La Quinta Estacion.

In order:
Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec
Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters
Lleyton Hewitt
Kim Clijsters
Feliciano Lopez
Pete Sampras
Justine Henin
Martina Hingis and Radek Stepanek
Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova
Tomas Berdych and Lucie Safarova
Nicholas Kiefer
Simone Bolleli
Novak Djokovic
Venus Williams
Patty Schnyder
Gael Monfils and Dominika Cibulkova
Dominika Cibulkova and Jurgen Melzer
Gael Monfils
Lindsay Davenport
Igor Andreev and Maria Kirilenko
Carlos Moya and Flavia Pannetta
Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf
Nikolay Davydenko
Mardy Fish
Boris Becker
Tim Henman
Ivan Ljubicic
Guillermo Coria
Anna Kournikova
Serena Williams
Jelena Jankovic
Marcos Baghdatis
Arnaud Clement
Gaston Gaudio
Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal
Dudi Sela
Marat Safin
Xavier Malisse
Juan Monaco
Fernando Gonzalez and Gisela Dulko
Tatiana Golovin
Alex Corretja
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco and Ana Ivanovic
Marc Gicquel
Michael Llodra
Filipo Volandri
Tommy Haas
Steve Darcis
Guillermo Canas
Andy Roddick
Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors

Who are your current favorite tennis couples?  Who is married now that you think won’t make it?  My favorite couple has to be Andre Agassi & Steffi Graf!!

OK, Justine did not say this about Kim Clijsters but we all know it must have inspired her to “unretire” from the sport. Justine Henin’s proclamation this past Tuesday that she’s coming back after almost 1.5 years adds to the surging number of high-profile but temporary retirements in the game of tennis. Of course, she really does think she can win the next Wimbledon, I’m sure.  I doubt the picture below will happen again..do you agree?

Justine Henin being cocky & Kim Clijsters sad in 2003

In the last six years, three other former female No. 1s besides Henin—Martina Hingis (foot injury), Kim Clijsters (pregnancy/burnout) and Lindsay Davenport (pregnancy) — announced they were done and then subsequently unretired. Each enjoyed success in their comebacks, including Clijsters’ phenomenal run to the U.S. Open title this month as an unranked wild card in just her third tournament back.

Some wonder if the concept of quitting has been misrepresented — or at least, should be re-examined. “I’m tired of them announcing retirement when what they are really doing is leaving the tour for a period of time,” ESPN commentator and former tour star Pam Shriver said.

Of course we had a feeling she was coming back last week when I read about this. “Ms. Henin was the world’s top player when she retired in 2008. Ken Meyerson, her longtime agent, said he expects her back. “I’ve heard enough rumblings from Justine and her camp to think this is going to happen.”

In Justine Henin’s case, she must have had a perception that there’s a lack of talent at the top and is convinced that she can take advantage of it.

The way things are going, there’s probably no better time for Henin to win Wimbledon, which is the only Grand Slam title missing from her major collection.

Do you think Henin has a chance to win Wimbledon or will she just fall flat?

Tennis star Serena Williams and hip-hop artist Kanye West have something in common.  In the words of Bon Qui Qui, they were both “rude”.

That’s the kind of out-sized sense of self-importance that landed this unlikely pair, tennis player Serena Williams and musician Kanye West in a shared spotlight this week. Their outbursts sparked a pitched debate over the nation’s sinking morals, the presumed decline of civility, the lingering racism in our supposedly post-racial society.

Kanye West grabs mic frmo Taylor Swift - MTV awards 2009

But a week riding the roller coaster of excuses, judgments and apologies has led me to a more optimistic place. There was musical genius Kanye West — with his dark glasses and edgy haircut — muscling in on waif-like Taylor Swift in the middle of her thank-you speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her country music innocence upended by his Bon qui-qui rudeness.

Bon Qui Qui's rudeness reminds me of Kanye West

And tennis champion Serena Williams looking like a schoolyard bully, stomping toward the line judge — who seemed so tiny in all that rain gear — waving her tennis ball like a hand-grenade and hurling curses, straight outta Compton, it seemed. Here’a quick recap of that moment – Well, according to the line judge, after the foul was called, Serena stepped toward her, shaking the ball, and said “If I could, I would take this f*%#in ball and shove it down your f%#)in throat.” The line judge also said that Serena threatened to kill her (a little far ehhh?). Serena did admit to yelling at the judge but denies saying that she threatened to kill her. Regardless, Serena was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and a point was given to Kim Clijsters, which happened to be match point. …

Serena Williams argues over foot fault with line judge 2009 US Open

We still recognize rudeness. And we responded as we should — with a collective media mockery.  Do you think the media overdid their response to these examples of bad behavior or is it just right?

Can anyone prevent Roger Federer from taking his 6th US Open? He’s just tore up Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of the 2009 US Open & is on course for another US Open title. How many total titles is that, I’ve lost count….

And what a way to do it. Watch this shot, between his legs, already been described as the best shot of his career & arguably the most audacious & best in tennis history:

Roger Federer between legs tennis shot - 2009 US Open

On the next-to-last point of the match, Federer hit what he called the best shot of his life. Djokovic was serving and seemingly in control of the point, standing at the net and watching for his just-hit lob to land out of Federer’s reach.

Except Federer materialized at the baseline just when the lob landed. With his back to the net, Federer swung the racket between his legs – and hit a clean winner past Djokovic. The crowd roared, and Federer’s forehand return winner that followed on match point was anticlimactic.

“On those shots, you just say, ‘Well done, too good.’ What can you do?” Djokovic said. While Federer was still on the court, the point was replayed on the scoreboard video screens at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Federer exclaimed, “That’s unbelievable.” After this exciting win he is now facing Juan Martin del Potro in Monday’s final.

It’s this kind of split second, athletic genius & audacity that sets the champions out from the mere greats. Who would dare attempt a crazy shot like this when the entire match has been so close?  I am linking over the to the entire youtube clip if you want to see this in action.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVQhIEPbM0g

Many are now arguing this could be the best tennis point in history….I disagree.  What do you think was the best tennis point in history?

When someone achieves greatness for such a long time it doesn’t even make headlines anymore.  Fans of the tennis world expect the final of the 2009 US Open to be Federer VS ??????.   They just have to wait for the question marks to be figured out.  In fact this press conference from yesterday proves the point.

“It’s just not easy to win Slams. It’s just that simple,” Federer said before the room roared ith wlaughter. “OK, you might think I have a lot, but I played many matches before where I didn’t win, as well. And semis or finals just doesn’t give you the win yet. It’s a tough road, and you have to finish the deal and it’s a hard thing to do.”

Federer’s eventual undoing of Sweden’s Robin Soderling – heavy winds aside – from last night’s quarterfinal, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6), turned dramatically competitive late but was a good enough exhibit for a small place in the Federer hall of masterpieces. It was Federer’s 12th-straight victory over the 12th-seeded Soderling.

Roger Soderling shakes hands with Roger Federer

Another title in Flushing Meadows would make Federer the first man since Bill Tilden in 1925 to win 6 straight U.S. titles, a comparison Federer called “fantastic” even as he reminded that he never saw Tilden – Tilden died 3 decades before Federer was born.
 

Federer’s march has gone largely unnoticed, as well, but his brilliant tennis will keep all eyes on his game this weekend. One aspect of his genius is his return of serve, notes Doug Robson in a USA Today analysis of men’s tennis trends. The return of serve has become the most important shot in modern men’s tennis, according to the study.

I was also reading yet another comparison between Roger Federer and Tiger Woods that said Tiger Woods was the greater athlete of his sport?  Why? Let’s compare the gap between Woods and Federer and the second-best player in their respective sports.  Woods has won 14 Grand Slam tournaments, and is within reach of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. Federer has 15 Grand Slam singles titles, the best in tennis history.

But let’s check out the record of their rivals. In golf, there’s a group of “2nd best” among Woods’ contemporaries: 4 other players all have won three majors. So that’s a gap of 11 majors between Woods and any of his rivals.

Meanwhile, in tennis, Rafael Nadal is the obvious second-best in the Federer era, and Nadal has won six Grand Slam singles titles — a gap of nine titles behind Federer.  But my conclusion is different that of this “other” author.  THis data proves that Federer is the best player ever WHILE Woods has been great during of lull of other greats in the golf world.  Nadal has made Federer’s success look even more brilliant.  Which player do you think is the greatest?

Tiger Woods & Roger Federer laughing

Melanie Oudin defeats Caroline Wozniacki. Well, at least that’s what the USA fans are cheering for tonight at Arthur Ashe staduim. This little 5′6″ 17 year-old from Marietta, Georgia is getting the attention she deserves for US women’s tennis.

Melanie Oudin pink yellow shoes - 2009 US Open

 Caroline Wozniacki, the first Danish woman to be ranked in the top 10, defeated the last remaining Russian in the field, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, last night in similar fashion to Oudin victories, coming back to win, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3). She will meet Oudin in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

Henin proved that “you don’t have to be tall to win things”. Melanie Oudin, the world No 70, has been beating tall Russians in New York, as she followed up her second-round defeat of Elena Dementieva, the 5ft 11in Olympic champion and world No 4, with a third-round victory over Maria Sharapova, a former world No 1 and US Open champion, who is eight inches taller than her.

Oudin’s lack of height has not been a problem for her so far; in fact, her size must have, in some way, contributed to her turning in such combative, energetic performances on the blue cement.

Melanie Oudin NYC holding wilson racket

Oudin has risen quickly. It was at this summer’s senior Wimbledon tournament that Melanie Oudin first made an impact on the women’s game, as she came through qualifying and then beat Jelena Jankovic, a Serbian former world No 1, to reach the fourth round. When this tournament began, she was already the highest ranked American outside the Williams family. For the second slam in succession, Oudin is into the last 16.

The U.S. Open quarterfinalist was also booted from her Times Square hotel because her reservation was up, Sports Business Journal is reporting. Apparently the 17-year-old didn’t expect to be staying in New York so long.  It looks like she might need to stay in a Holiday Inn express, and then she might win the finals.  What is this girl’s weakness on court?  Do you think she can win the 2009 US Open so young?

Melanie Oudin Wallpaper 2009 US open winner

A little bit after Nadal defeated Gael Monfils on Tuesday night in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open, a spectator came out of the stands and hugged and kissed him his naked chest before being escorted quickly by security guards.

Nadal gets kissed at the 2009 US Open

Although caught off guard, Nadal did not seem to be shaken, in fact he smiled and chuckled after it happened.

Nadal stomach patch US open injury

“For me it wasn’t a problem,” said Nadal, noting that the man spoke in English. “The guy was really nice.”

“He was a great fan,” he said. “He said, ‘I love you,’ and he kissed me.”

Nadal had just removed his shirt (showing his stomach patch) and was preparing for an on-court interview when the man suddenly emerged with a camera to approach him. I’ve included a quick YouTube video showing the highlights of the quick hug, kiss, & run guy.  He actually attacks him about the 57 second mark.

Thirty minutes after the match, the police had a man in custody, and they handcuffed him to the bleachers alongside Court 5 (were they better setas for the match then he had before, who knows?). A USTA spokesman said the incident was being reviewed, as were on-court security procedures.

Tournament spokesman Tim Curry said police arrested the man for interference with a sporting event.

“We’re reviewing what happened and then will determine if we have to make any changes to our on-court security procedures,” Curry said.

The scene reminded me of the French Open final in May, when a fan came out of the stands and tried to greet Roger Federer during play, although that incident was scary. Federer was in the middle of a match and it broke his concentration, requiring a few minutes during play to compose himself.