What is the cause of increased professional tennis injuries?

It’s obvious we have a problem in the world of professional tennis.  Imagine if 15% of the star players in soccer, basketball, baseball or football were all injured in one season?  The sponsors of the game would investigate safety issues and see if the season was to demanding.  Even Nadal complained in a recent interview about the ATP schedule citing the toll it has taken on his body. “It’s impossible to play first of January to finish fifth of December,” he said. “It’s impossible to be here playing like what I did the last five years, playing a lot of matches and being all the time 100 percent without problems.” 

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

Serena Williams & Kanye West have something in common

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.

Screaming & grunting to be banned from tennis, really? Sorry Sharapova…

Time magazine and others report that officials at this year’s Wimbledon tournament might crack down on loud screams during play – possibly banning it.

Maria Sharapova Screams while hitting

With new attention brought to it Martina Navratilova’s call for grunting to be deemed cheating, the International Tennis Federation is poised to crack down.The ITF is considering broadening the measures that officials can take in penalizing repeat offenders such as Maria Sharapova. Umpires already can award a point against players if their grunting is deemed to have hindered their opponent. But now the ITF is weighing up whether to include “noise hindrance” in its code of conduct, according to Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper.

Under the new rule, persistent offenders could be

Brother & Sister have achieved #1 tennis ranking, now what?

Dinara Safina yells in victory

Russia’s Dinara Safina has now became the No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player in the world this past Monday, knocking out Serena Williams of the United States. Safina’s brother, Marat Safin, was once the top-ranked men’s player. Thanks to the latest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings Williams fell to No. 2 after 11 straight weeks at the top. We all know WIlliams has been bothered by a leg injury, lost in two recent tournaments, and withdrew from a third.

The 22-year-old Safina, winner of four WTA titles in the past year, is the second Russian to hold the No. 1 ranking. Maria Sharapova, now famous, previously was top-ranked for 17 weeks. Safina has nine WTA titles overall and has placed second in two majors. Definitely not a shabby record to say the least.

“It’s a great honor to reach the No.1 ranking and it is a dream every girl who has ever wanted to play professional tennis shares,” Safina said. “It is even extra special for me since my brother Marat was able to reach the No.1 ranking and I am happy to share this achievement with him.” Of course, Marat didn’t hold the position very long, maybe Safina can do better. Of course Marat would do well well at prison tennis tournaments.

Russian Elena Dementieva is third in the rankings, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is fourth and Venus Williams of United States is No. 5.

Who will be the next woman to take the #1 position and hold it for at least a year. This is how legends are remembered. It’s hard to get to #1 in tennis, but much harder to stay their any length of time. Just ask new daddy Roger Federer or Tiger Woods, they’ve been there and lost that. Who do you think Safina will get sponsored by now that she’s #1. She definitely doesn’t have the “marketing appeal” that the mighty Maria Sharapova had so she probably will not land the massive endorsements.