Today's News
Last updated at Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:07:31 GMT
Check out the new Twitter aggregate function below right and in full here. (Still in beta mode.)
Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended by the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) for failing to fulfill the controversial "whereabouts rule" while Malisse was also punished for missing a drugs test.
“He totally lost his head,” Jarryd recalled. “He was ready to lose the match.”
Nilsson had issued McEnroe a warning in the second game of the match for firing a ball in anger at a spectator, so this second outburst cost him a point penalty. He lost his service game moments later; then steamed over to the sideline and smashed several glasses of ice water with a slice backhand that might have otherwise been a penetrating approach shot. He then sat down for a second before springing back up and taking a forehand swipe at the cups, sort of like a bowler attempting to salvage a spare. “They were real glasses, not paper cups,” Nilsson said.
Jarryd sat in stunned silence. “I was a bit in shock, but I didn’t do anything,” he said. “Mac was a big star. I couldn’t very well go up to the umpire and ask him to disqualify John.” Nilsson assessed McEnroe a game penalty, leveling the score at 4-4 in the second set. “He grabbed his bags and was about to walk off the court,” Jarryd said. “He probably thought he was going to be disqualified, but nothing happened,” and the match eventually resumed.
...Roland Garros At Standoff With Paris City Council
Cilic Alive in Basel
...Andy Murray Inks with Adidas
After visiting Roland Garros, Federer will spend some quality time with Gerry Weber (I think he's the guy who invented the barbecue grill; you know, that cheap thing that wobbles like crazy on those aluminum legs and plastic wheels). He'll also swing by Wimbledon to pick up his seventh - or is it 11th, or 15th? - title. You do tend to lose track after a while.
It appears that the lure of corn dogs and beer pong is one that Federer can resist. He's not going anywhere near Indianapolis, but he'll play Toronto, a northern suburb of Detriot, Mich., and Cincinnati (just to rub the noses of those hicks down in Indy a little further into it). He's going to arrive in New York in a litter, wearing a fez, and a Nehru jacket emblazoned with somewhere between 15 and 18 buttons depicting Greek gods (the number depends on how things work out in Melbourne, Paris and London).
...Ysern said he would “probably not” have invited the eight-time Grand Slam champion to the clay-court event for the trophy presentation had he known about the drug use. “If we ask a former champion to do a trophy ceremony, we highly value that image,” Ysern said. “His image is hurt.”
...Without giving away too much, here's what is frustrating: It's not entirely clear what effect this had on his career. Did the meth hamper his training or his tennis in the long term? Did Gil Reyes, the real hero of the book, ever know? What made him quit? Was it hard? Any temptation to backslide? For such an explosive revelation, you wish there had been more context and "follow-up care," as it were. ..."The kids came through,'' said Billie Jean King... "This is the first time we've had a chance to put together a team with two or three [players] the same age. We've always had No. 1s, but we never had that.''
...U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe found himself in a similar situation when he took the helm in 2001... That is the template Fernandez would like to follow in this transitional period for the U.S. women's game. "...we need to do what Patrick did with the younger men and get players who are excited about playing.''
Davidson: I was never a big fan of del Potro, but he proved me wrong. He smoothed up his rough edges. As for Murray, as much as I'd like to see it happen, as wonderfully talented as he is, I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever win a Slam. I'm not 100 percent sure about him and the mental part of the game. He's had these breakdowns.
Because the battle lines are so firmly drawn, I imagine that the FFT knows it won't get what it wants, and has done what any good negotiator would - position his hopes as a second or third option. That is, the FFT may want a retractable roof badly enough to insist that what it really wants is a new stadium, suitable for year-round play. That way, if the stadium idea is shot down, the FFT can appeal to the good nature of its opponents and hope to get approval for the retractable roof as a compromise measure - and the first important step down what the opposition must see as a slippery slope to an imperial expansion of Roland Garros.
...The FFT is also threatening to abandon Roland Garros entirely, should neither of its proposals win approval. In some ways, this would be a logical step despite the inevitable pain and outcry such a break with tradition would trigger.
...Maria Sharapova is dating LA Lakers shooting guard Sasha Vujacic, who nicknamed himself, “The Machine.” Sharapova will soon be off to Chile and Brazil to play exos against Gisela Dulko, but their Argentina stop has been cancelled… ...It wasn’t until the mid-’80s that tennis accepted international standards for drug testing, including out-of-competition testing and sanctions for rule-breakers. But it was too late to deal with a cluster of juiced-up stars. In various books, player memoirs and investigative articles, it has been alleged that Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Vitas Gerulaitas and Pat Cash, winners of a combined total of 20 Grand Slam titles, used cocaine in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. During a comeback in the early ‘90s, Mats Wilander tested positive, along with Karel Novacek, for cocaine, adding Wilander’s seven Grand Slam titles to the legacy of “the coke generation.”
...Tennis Canada hopes to rebuild the press box as part of a $12-million renovation that could begin as soon as after the women’s Rogers Cup event next August.
Between July 2007 and July 2008, 41 percent of all the players polled said they had having suffered at least one injury. Thirteen percent reported two or more injuries — and we are talking here about players between the ages of 10 and 17. Females had 57 percent of the injuries with males having 43 percent. The USTA coaches were not expecting the data to be good, but they were shocked at the figures nonetheless.
..."After a day on clay I am fine," says Higueras, whose long coaching résumé includes a stint with Roger Federer. "After a day on hardcourts I can hardly get out of bed in the morning." OK, so Higueras is in his 50s, but just because young players do not feel the effects so much does not mean that the damage is not being done. There is a growing realization that clay, for both tactical and physical reasons, is a far better surface on which to bring up young players.
"The situation I've been through, that's probably the best thing that has ever happened to me because I've realised what's important to me," he said. "I care about my family and the woman I love, and that's what matters, that they're healthy.
"Too many people care about just buying more and more stuff, I suppose it's about trying to fill a void, but now I know that it's the simple life that makes me happy, that you don't need as much stuff. I'm in a good stage of my life right now. I get up in the morning, and I have a goal, I know what I want to do."
One of his targets over the past few weeks has been to regain some sort of match fitness, after another knee operation. "I've now had six operations on my knees, three on each, so it's even on both sides. My last operation was five months ago, and I'm getting better and stronger each day," he said.
"Our task is to protect the clean athletes and to make sure that these sorts of things don't recur," Howman said by telephone. "And if we didn't take any steps, somebody would be knocking on our door saying, "Well, what are you doing about this?'"
..."The ATP can confirm it has received a letter from WADA," the tour said in a statement e-mailed to the AP on Monday. "When it responds it will do so directly to WADA and not through the media." ...The book is certainly a must-read for any tennis fan. Most of his great rivals get thorough treatment (Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Boris Becker among them). Like Agassi's dad, Mike, who once terrified him by punching out a truck driver and who nearly came to blows with his father-in-law, Peter Graf (Steffi's father), Andre takes some roundhouse punches at the likes of the "egomaniacal" Jimmy Connors and his former coach, "the warden" Nick Bollettieri. Agassi is very respectful of Sampras' game, but steps on his dominant rival's more straightforward personality. And when it comes to Shields, he is less than kind, essentially calling her phony, vacuous, too concerned with her own world and not enough with his.
Though Agassi pleads for understanding of his own case — his militaristic father forced him to play tennis against his will, and he was sent to the tennis "prison" of the Bollettieri Academy (he calls it "Lord of the Flies with forehands") — he's not very sympathetic to others.
...upset with Shields, he says he purposefully tanked his 1996 Australian Open semifinal to Chang to avoid another war with Becker) and about what tennis can teach a person.
...Agassi has an incredible memory for matches, but flubs some history in his book. He recalls, to take one example, when he was disqualified from the San Jose tournament in 1999 (he and Shields had just separated) and appears to come clean, saying in the book that he called a linesman an obscenity for turning him in after he cursed at himself, but that's not really what occurred. He also swore at a lineswoman under his breath (twice in my memory) and also at his opponent, Cecil Mamiit, before being tossed for calling the linesman the same name again. "I'm shocked," Agassi said at the time. "I didn't swear at him, and I can't believe it happened." Ten years later, he's telling a different tale when he could have apologized and come clean, just as he could have for his meth use and received a three-month sentence.
A source close to Agassi offered a third explanation. Inasmuch as Agassi is considering a future in politics, his dalliance with crystal meth qualifies as a "skeleton in the closet," the kind of unflattering tidbit that, if brought to light at an inopportune time, could derail an election. By coming out with the admission now, Agassi preempts any embarrassing "gotcha" scandal and gets to control the message. I have no idea if this true, but it might be worth bearing in mind.
2. As always, the cover-up is worse than the crime. Like many of you, I'm inclined to agree that Agassi's lie/manipulation is more troubling than the recreational drug use. I was also surprised that, for an allegation so explosive and damning, his account was ambiguous at best. Once the ATP learned of a positive test result -- it was for a stimulant, I was told, not for crystal meth per se, as Agassi alleges -- the matter went before an independent panel. (The panel consisted of retired federal judges and other disinterested parties with no tennis background; there were no former players, ATP execs, etc.) Agassi did not testify in person, I was told, but plead his case through his letter and through his representatives. The panel "bought" Agassi's explanation, which we now know was a fraud. Still, the notion the ATP somehow buried the test result or whitewashed Agassi is erroneous. When the World Anti-Doping Agency -- never ones to shy from a publicity grab -- issues a release and demands "the ATP shed light on this allegation," it fuels the confusion.
There are three kinds of autobiographies: tell-nones, tell-somes, and tell-alls. I've learned not to assign a hierarchy of value to them, simply because books are like fingerprints. The kind of book a person chooses to write tells you a good deal about the author. And everyone is different, and has had different experiences and differing levels of comfort with revealing themselves. That's just how it is; every book is, in the sense, already a confession.
...And there's been a surprising lack of credit given to Agassi for getting over that drug experiment as successfully as he did. Like it or not, certain people at certain times in their lives are susceptible to the lure of drugs. Nobody is glorifying it, but anybody who's taken a walk on the dark side and come back out into the sunshine is lucky - and he never, ever forgets. If you scan the comments at my ESPN Agassi post, you'll see one about crystal meth from a guy in Montana. It's harsh, but it frames the awful power of meth addiction pretty accurately.
As the set progressed, Serena started to do the same with her returns, taking them earlier and earlier and leaving Venus with nothing to do but scramble for her life. Venus couldn’t save herself; she started to press and she started to miss. At first glance, watching her pull routine shots wide or rifle them into the net, it appeared that Venus was simply having an off day. But Serena had rattled her and forced to try for more than she normal does. The problem for Venus is that, unlike most of her opponents, Serena is just as good at retrieving as she is, and she’s a better attacker. This is part of the explanation for why their matches have been marked by spotty play; they get to balls that would be winners against other players.
...He hated it so much he ended up winning eight grand slam titles and $31m. Sorry, but you can't win eight grand slam titles if you hate tennis. It's quite hard to do it if you absolutely love tennis. But hate it? Not a chance. You wouldn't get past the Roehampton qualifiers.
...I sympathise with Agassi's ghostwriter. If you write an authentic memoir, people call it boring. If you juice it up, people call it fake. The ultimate author of Open was profoundly lucky that the ATP believed his explanatory letter and threw out the positive dope test. My advice is to do the same to his book.
"I judge him as a tennis player, he was great, a great player, one of the best of all time. From the experiences I have had with him, he's been nice to me. No one wants drugs in sport but everyone makes mistakes."
..."I didn't play in those times [when Agassi failed a test] so I don't know what it was like. There are even cases now where guys get off, with failed tests and contaminations, mistakes, like with the [Richard] Gasquet case. Sometimes things like that happen. People get away with it sometimes but I just don't think drugs in tennis is a big problem like it is in other sports."
..."I didn't play in those times so I don't know what it was like," he continued. "There are even cases now where guys get off, with failed tests and contaminations - mistakes, like with the (Richard) Gasquet case (where the Frenchman's ban for testing positive for cocaine this season was overturned).
"Sometimes things like that happen. People get away with it sometimes but I don't think drugs in tennis is a big problem like it is in other sports."
A: Across the board now, there might be an isolated incident here or there. I don't think it's a regular thing in the sport. I don't think it's anything to be too concerned about.
But people always ask me, ‘[Rafael] Nadal's got to be on the juice.' There's no way the kid's on the juice. He's too good a guy. That's one person people always ask me about because of his energy. I just think he comes from a good background and isn't someone who would have to cheat to be successful.
Q: Do you watch women's tennis?
A: You can ask someone like Kobe [Bryant] if he watches the [WNBA Los Angeles] Sparks. If I have time -- I've got two kids -- to watch something, it's not going to be ladies' tennis. It's going to be basketball or football. Ladies' tennis, there's some great players, but it's not anything I'm interested in.
"I (finally) won a tournament that wasn't a Slam so ha-ha," she said. "Now my losing streak in tournaments that aren't Grand Slams is over."
Once again, Williams got the last laugh over her doubters who continued to wonder whether or not she cared to display her best outside the majors. She hadn't won an event outside of a Slam since April 2008 (the Family Circle Cup) and had said much of this year that her focus was on the big ones, although she assured a skeptical world was still trying at the lesser events. But it sure didn't look so at times, not when she took a slew of losses to more motivated, yet lesser players.
Agassi writes: "One night, Philly asked me to promise him something: 'Don't ever let Paps give you any pills to take.' 'Pills?' 'Next time you go to the nationals and Paps gives you pills, don't take them.'
'He always gives me Exedrin [sic], Philly. He gives me Exedrin before every match, because there's a load of caffeine in each one.' 'Yeah, I know. But the pills I'm talking about are something else. They are really tiny, white and round. Don't swallow them, no matter what happens.'
'Okay, but what kind of pills are they, Philly?' 'Speed'.
And yet, when Agassi's father gave him a "tiny, white, round" pill, he says he swallowed it. Agassi writes: "As predicted by Philly, my father gives me a pill at the national tournament in Chicago. 'Hold out your hand,' he said. 'This will help you. Swallow it.' He puts a pill in my hand. Tiny. White. Round. I swallow it and I feel good. Not much different. A bit more alert."
With drugs, it’s simple. Everybody who posts a positive test is guilty until proved innocent, whatever their alibi. It’s a view I’ve adopted for a number of years, mainly because it saves time. I was vice president of communications for the ATP then and part of the chain of how anti-doping violations and other issues were handled. I was usually informed by the tour’s chief executive officer, Mark Miles, and my task was to prepare a Q&A, anticipating everything the media might ask if a suspension was announced and to include the basic facts about the ATP’s anti-doping policy. Once the Q&A was reviewed and approved by Miles, it was distributed to tour executives in our offices in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Monte Carlo, London and Sydney. This was the script they would use when questioned by the media.
So, it was unusual that I learned about Agassi’s positive test from the executive, who will remain nameless, but I figured I would be hearing from the CEO in short order anyway... But I never heard a word from Miles, from the day I was told until I left the ATP for the Star-Telegram in August of 1998.
...There could be mitigating circumstances, I reasoned. The ATP’s anti-doping policy at the time stipulated that a player was not in violation of the program until he had exhausted all appeals heard by an independent panel — positive test notwithstanding. That was a provision that many players didn’t know and many in the media didn’t accept.
Nowadays, the International Tennis Federation oversees drug testing in tennis, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Because of this potential bombshell, I thought that perhaps the tour decided to tighten the loop and minimize further any chance of a disclosure — even accidentally — of Agassi’s positive test.
...I should have expected it: The first thing Peter wants to see in Nevada isn’t Hoover Dam or the Strip but my father’s ball machine... I’m relieved, however, to see that sport is a universal language, that these two men, both former athletes, know how to use their bodies to communicate, through swings and gestures and grunts.
...My father clicks the dial until the balls are coming almost in twos. I don’t have time to bring back my racket and hit the second ball. Peter scolds me for missing. He takes the racket, pushes me aside. This, he says, is the shot you should have had. You never had this shot. He shows me the famous Stefanie Slice, which he claims to have taught her.
My father is livid. He comes around the net, shouting: That slice is bulls***! If Stefanie had this shot, she would have been better off. He then demonstrates the two-handed backhand he taught me. With this shot, my father says, Stefanie would have won 32 Slams!
...They’re circling, feinting, bobbing and weaving... My father’s eyes are dilated. Peter’s chest is beaded with sweat... They see, however, that I’m not going to let them mix it up, so they go to neutral corners. I turn off the dragon, and we all walk off the court.
At home, Stefanie kisses me and asks how it went. I’ll tell you later, I say, reaching for the tequila.
...It is honest all right, especially the bit about his dishonesty. And let us cut to the quick here. For all that he might have thrown away his entire life when he decided to snort crystal meth, the revelation that he took his time and composed an utterly false account of what he had done to save his skin is the real jolt.
Let the tennis writer who is without sin cast the first stone. None of us is a saint and when I first saw Agassi at 16 in Stratton Mountain, Vermont, in 1986, he did not appear to possess many saintly virtues either. But as his career metamorphosed, as he became the darling of the establishment rather than its dread, he came to be treated by those in the game as a tennis holy man. And that did stick in the craw. Most journalists revered him, I erred on the side of what I hope was honourable scepticism
Ings insisted that the ATP player council — whose president is Roger Federer, the world No 1 — is well aware of and fully supports the statute that the identity of any member declared innocent of a doping offence is never released. Which is why he was astonished to read that a number of players — including Rafael Nadal, Spain’s former world No 1 — have suggested that the ATP may have “covered” for Agassi.
“There is an incredibly high burden of proof required to achieve a successful case and in the vast majority of these, the sport’s position was upheld but there were times when the tribunal found for the athlete.”
He said there was rampant speculation at the time that Agassi was using drugs. "Agassi was viewed by his peers as a user," Mendoza said.
...Gilbert, who went on to coach Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, agreed that tennis’s antidoping program was too lax in the period when Agassi was absolved... “Once I started coaching Roddick and Murray, I did notice that there had been a massive change,” Gilbert said. “They really got a lot stricter about testing the guys, tenfold, and testing guys out of training. Once I was with Roddick, and it was 7 a.m. And the best thing, too, is that the ATP doesn’t do it anymore. It’s all uniform, very structured and much harder to be doing something.”
... “That was a small offense right? He would have been suspended for what, three months?” Gilbert said. “The rest of 1997, he basically played a couple of challengers. It would have been a big thing, but it would still have been a blip on the radar.”
...Those years, which featured a ball machine that Mike dubbed “the Dragon,” are a big part of the reason Agassi claims in the book that he has always secretly “hated” tennis. “There’s another thing I had no clue about,” Gilbert said. The TV flashes highlights from our match. SportsCenter. In my peripheral vision I detect slight movement. I turn to see Baghdatis extending his hand. His face says, We did that. I reach out, take his hand, and we remain this way, holding hands, as the TV flickers with highlights of our savage battle. We relive the match, and then I relive my life.
...The next morning I'm hobbling through the lobby of the Four Seasons when a man steps out of the shadows. He grabs my arm. Quit, he says.
What?
It's my father -- or a ghost of my father. He looks ashen. He looks as if he hasn't slept in weeks. Pops? What are you talking about?
Just quit. Go home. You did it. It's over.
He says he prays for me to retire. He says he can't wait for me to be done, so he won't have to watch me suffer anymore. He won't have to sit through my matches with his heart in his mouth. He won't have to stay up until two in the morning to catch a match from the other side of the world, so he can scout some new wonder boy I might soon have to face. He's sick of the whole miserable thing. He sounds as if -- is it possible?
Yes, I see it in his eyes. I know that look. He hates tennis.
...I spoke with Mark Miles, the ATP's CEO at the time, and it bears mention that the book seems to be a bit sloppy on the procedure. When a player tested positive, the issue was put before an independent panel, made up of former federal judges and the like -- not former players or ATP execs or anything like that. Inasmuch as Agassi was exonerated, it was by the panel not the ATP itself... Both practically and procedurally this makes sense. Still, the notion that "the ATP swept Agassi's positive test under the rug" is wrong-headed. For a $5-million or thereabouts price tag, it was clear Agassi would have to divulge a lot more than just the subtleties of his remarkable ball-striking ability and a few war stories about his tournament triumphs.
...Similarly, Agassi and wife Steffi Graf’s children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle, are currently eight and six years old respectively. It is surely better for this information to be made public now rather than in 10 years when they would be at a much more vulnerable age. Past experience shows, despite individuals such as Boris Becker and others claiming to shocked by Agassi’s drug use and bewildered he would go public about it, that people tend to forgive and forget.
...Andre Agassi’s life story has all the elements of high drama, as people will learn in OPEN, destined to be a best seller. It is to be released on November 9, the day after he appears on CBS’s 60 Minutes, a show that will surely get huge ratings.
But neither woman has any difficulty remembering where the meeting took place. It was during an entry-level professional tournament in 1992 in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. It was considerably less troubled then, a place where Black and her older brothers, Byron and Wayne, were raised to be unlikely tennis stars on four grass courts built by their father.
...Huber, who is married to an American tennis coach, became a United States citizen last year in time to play doubles with Lindsay Davenport at the Olympics. But Black remains deeply committed to her African roots. She might be based in Wimbledon, a short walk from the All England Club. She might be married to an Australian, the trainer Brett Stephens, but Black has maintained her Zimbabwean citizenship and continues to visit often despite the country’s political and economic problems.
She said she sensed incremental change for the better now. “I used to spend half my time on visits trying to find money and trying to exchange money, because it wasn’t legal,” she said. “So all the bare necessities are really coming back and really helping make life much easier there, although there’s still such a long way to go.”
...She ran out of puff against former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic on Friday, losing 6-2, 6-2, only for Azarenka's injury retirement in the final round-robin match to deliver a place in the semi-finals anyway. ''I didn't have anything left,'' Wozniacki said. ''I thought already I was going to lie by the pool tomorrow and relax and start my holidays. But suddenly, yeah, I'm in the semi-finals, so it's a big change.''
The previous night, Wozniacki had hobbled tearfully from the court, but not until she had squeezed out a victory that had seasoned tennis figures nodding in admiration. Wozniacki had spent time in the final game flat on her back as her muscles convulsed excruciatingly. ''I wasn't scared,'' she said later. ''I was just thinking, 'how can I get up from here?' Then I wanted to get help, maybe get a hand, a reach of hands from someone. But I wasn't allowed to, so I kind-of had to find my way up. I have absolutely no idea how I won that match.''
Emotional, too, was her entourage, headed by her father and coach Piotr, a former soccer pro who moved his family from Poland in the late-80s, and mother Anna, a one-time national volleyballer. In the background lurks the adidas machine, which provides access to coaches Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld, as well as Andre Agassi's former trainer Gil Reyes. Wozniacki's work ethic and determination are admirable, her game still developing. I fall onto a chair in the baggage claim area.
Mr Agassi?
Yes. I’m here. So. What now?
Well, there is a process. You’ll need to write a letter to the ATP, admitting your guilt or declaring your innocence.
Uh huh.
Did you know there was a likelihood that this drug was in your system?
Yes. Yes, I knew.
In that case, you’ll need to explain in your letter how the drug got there.
And then?
Your letter will be reviewed by a panel.
And then?
If you knowingly ingested the drug — if you plead guilty — you’ll be disciplined.
How?
He reminds me that tennis has three classes of drug violation. Performance-enhancing drugs, of course, would constitute a Class 1, he says, which would carry a suspension of two years. However, he adds, crystal methylene would seem to be a clear case of Class 2. Recreational drugs.
I say: Meaning?
Three months’ suspension.
My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I’ve achieved, whatever I’ve worked for, might soon mean nothing. Part of my discomfort with tennis has always been a nagging sense that it’s meaningless. Now I’m about to learn the true meaning of meaninglessness. Serves me right.
Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP... The next April I’m in Rome, lying on my hotel bed, resting after a match. The phone rings. It’s my lawyers, they’re on speakerphone. Andre? Can you hear us? Andre?
Yes, I hear you. Go ahead.
Well, the ATP has carefully reviewed your heartfelt assertion of innocence. [We’re] pleased to say that your explanation has been accepted. Your failed test is thrown out. I hang up and stare into space, thinking again and again: New life.
When the two of them played this week, I mentioned to a colleague that I thought Azarenka was doing a good job of controlling of those fierce emotions, which can get the better of her. Right at that moment, she took a ball and drilled into the stands, incurring a warning for ball abuse. A couple minutes later, she broke her racquet on the court, incurring a point penalty that put her down 5-6 in the third set. On the changeover, she looked at the chair umpire, picked up her racquet, and began slamming it into the court, as if to say, “You want to see racquet abuse, I’ll give you racquet abuse.”
“I’d like to know what the specifics of the program were that this could happen,” Dr. Gary I. Wadler, the Chairman of the WADA’s Prohibited List and Methods Sub-Committee, told me Wednesday. “You’re talking about transparency, you’re talking about accountability. This is why the creation of WADA was so significant, to have an independent body to watch what’s going on.”
Before Dr. Wadler became involved with WADA, he sat on ATP tribunals. (He did not serve on ATP tribunals in 1997, and when he served in later years, he never heard cases involving American players.) Given his experience serving on those panels, Dr. Wadler is surprised Agassi’s case could have been so easily dismissed. “I was quite impressed by the seriousness of purpose when I was there,” Dr. Wadler said. “I often said that I wish the critics of anti-doping had been a fly on the wall. We had a doctor, we had a lawyer, we had a laboratory scientist. It was very, very good.”
Leading 30-15, Wozniacki went for an ambitious cross court return and ended up flat on the court writhing in pain.
The Dane was seen in tremendous pain but had exhausted her injury time out and two extra medical attentions which meant she had to get back on her feet and do it all alone.
But she somehow managed to stand up and egged on by her parents and supporters not only survived a crucial break point but also won two huge back-to-back points to seal a memorable win.
“I feel great that I won even under this condition. I have absolutely no idea how I pulled it through, but I’m very happy about it. I’m going to do everything I can to get ready for tomorrow. I will be doing everything what the physiotherapist and doctor say.["] The rapidly-emerging teenager claimed her place in the knockout stages with another determined performance, squeezing through 6-0, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4 and the US Open runner-up is looking the main threat to tournament favourite Serena Williams, providing she can recover from the series thigh injury which almost caused her to retire on the brink of victory.
Zvonareva, who required a medical time-out midway through the second set because of a leg injury showed courage to make a match of it after being whitewashed in an opening set which lasted only 29 minutes – 10 of those being taken up by the first game.
But we are entitled to feel manipulated by the manner in which Agassi's sordid confessions are being dished out -- in tantalizing -- even addictive? -- little doses that will likely have readers, mugs that they are, heading for stores and hungry for more.
Was that taster good? Now buy the whole dose. In the same way that Agassi's assistant Slim cut and readied ''a small pile of powder on the coffee table,'' choice morsels from ''Open: An Autobiography'' -- on sale Nov. 9, folks! -- have been sliced, diced and pushed on us.
...So either counselors have been overdoing their warnings that crank, ice -- call it what you will -- is one of the most addictive and ruinous drugs out there. Or, more likely, it's simply easier to kick the habit when you're rich enough to hire personal trainers to beat you back into shape and not living in misery with no future beyond your next high.
...Tennis has made progress since Agassi's midcareer crisis, increasing the number of tests on top players and the frequency of out-of-competition tests this season, although the ITF has not made numbers available. There's room for improvement, including more testing for EPO and other blood boosters that could aid in recovery between matches over a long, grueling season. But the WADA code, which the ITF signed in 2004, does make it less likely that an Agassi-like scenario would reoccur.
We can choose to believe or dismiss Richard Gasquet's contention that he tested positive for cocaine because of the contaminated lips of a woman he smooched in a Miami nightclub earlier this year. But the troubled young French star at least had to present his lurid evidence in a formal setting instead of simply scrawling his thoughts on a legal pad. He was suspended, albeit briefly, and the term of his suspension could still be extended in a pending ITF and WADA appeal. Finally, Gasquet suffered the humiliation of having his case made public, which may be the biggest deterrent to so-called casual drug use
...Though Becker disclosed in his own memoir that for a time in his career he was reliant on sleeping pills, which he sometimes washed down with whisky, he said he has never used illegal drugs.
...“I’m struggling to get my head around why Andre would want to confess to something so damaging as taking drugs and then getting away with it? Why would he want to be so brutally honest?
"I’m really surprised that he would want to discuss such a private part of his life, to talk about such a bad period in his life. I’m sure this will help to sell his book. He doesn’t need the money, though. He’s a rich man,” Becker said.
“Andre has a very settled life now, a very happy and structured life, and now he has admitted this. I wasn’t pleased when I heard what Andre had admitted to. I’m very sad. That was his problem at that time, but why share it with everyone?” Quite why Agassi, a hugely rich man, should have chosen to reveal he failed a drug test is unclear. Obviously it will sell his book, though he hardly needs the money. Perhaps the story would have come out from another source; perhaps he merely wanted to absolve his conscience.
"I can't comment on any case. I can't even confirm that there was a case involving Andre. And I'm not going to comment on Andre's book. But I can amplify. I've seen the ATP statement and the statement is true. The ATP program was set up to ensure that any decision on any case was decided by a panel, a tribunal. And there were no exceptions to that.
"I don't know if Andre says anything in his book that is incongruous with that," he said, and then made what I thought was a very interesting remark. "Panels have made decisions that have left some people scratching their heads," said Miles.
...Miles recalls that the size and configuration of the panel evolved over the years and, though he couldn't swear to it, he thinks there might have been either two or three panelists in 1997. If the panel had charged Agassi, the results of the test would have been made public, as they have in a number of cases, including two involving high-profile players -- Mats Wilander and Petr Korda.
...“This pain was one of the reasons why I took a break after the US Open. As I was eyeing the number one spot I thought I would fight with my body. I didn’t feel much of the pain during the Beijing and Tokyo tournaments. But here the body just gave up.”
...And Andre himself was touchy. In New York on Aug. 31 as the U.S. Open began, I chatted with the always-benign star. “What a fabulous book, Andre,” I gushed. “So many insights, so revealing, so…”
Suddenly, Andre’s jaw dropped, his face tightened. What’s wrong, I wondered. “Where did you get my book,” he blurted.
Frozen with fear, I struggled to respond: “Your publisher sent it to me. I know the drill. I can’t reveal anything for months. I wouldn’t do anything to harm you.” His face relaxed a bit, he mumbled, “Oh.”
...But nothing happened until after a press conference in Northern California. There —when I again told Andre how much I enjoyed his book — he approached me, smiling, but quite serious, and told me, “Hey, man, it’s going to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.”
...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. Commentator and former pro Mary Carillo hasn't read the book yet, but said she doesn't think anything in it would change her esteem for Agassi's career "or him as a person.''
"It's not a surprise when you look back on his results in 1997, now that we know the environment he put himself in,'' Carillo said. "It would be a much bigger story in this day and age if he had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.''
When the dust settles, it's possible that this tawdry episode will only make Agassi's renaissance look even more impressive in retrospect. But it also should remain a cautionary tale, just one of several included in Agassi's 400-page memoir.
On Tuesday, after losing 6-4, 6-4 to Albert Montanes in Lyon, Santoro, who turns 37 in December, told French reporters, “It’s true, I’ve been thinking about Australia since a Canadian journalist put that idea in my head. But if I’m going to go to Australia in January, that means I can’t go skiing in December, it means I would have to train as I have every winter for the last 20 or 30 years. I don’t like to take tournaments lightly and not be prepared when I get there. Australia is not a tournament you can take lightly.
“I might take a little peek there in January. The record of playing Grand Slam tournaments over four decades is so remarkable that it even makes me want to spend another 45 hours in a plane for the return trip again.”
Jennifer Capriati dabbled with both pot and shoplifting, Martina Hingis tested positive for cocaine. Recreational drugs use has always been a feature of professional tennis. In John McEnroe's book, ‘Serious', he recalled how he was "high" the first time he slept with Tatum O'Neal, his first wife: "The first time Tatum and I made love we were high, and it wasn't as though she was saying, ‘Please let's do drugs'. I was the guilty party also."
But Agassi is adding a footnote to the saddest chapter of his life, one more instance of self-harm from a time when every aspect of his existence was out of control, and he was prey to the low-life hangers-on in which Las Vegas specialises. Andre Agassi has been a very bad boy. But look at the wife, look at the sporting record, look at the charity work, look at the angelic children. Can we let him off?
At that time, in the mid- to late-90s, Agassi was at odds with himself and the world, and maundering around Europe tanking matches left, right and centre. Like all things, he was brilliant at it, missing lines by inches rather than feet, but quite deliberately so. His career was in freefall, and few ever expected him to return. He was the archetypal tennis waster, the winner of three slams who might have done so much more. ...As this passage implies, mental stress isn't the only major reason sports stars suffer more than the rest of us are generally prepared to admit. In his autobiography, Agassi describes the sheer difficulty of getting out bed one morning towards the end of his tennis career. "I'm a young man, relatively speaking. Thirty-six. But I wake as if 96. After two decades of sprinting, stopping on a dime, jumping high and landing hard, my body no longer feels like my body. Consequently, my mind no longer feels like my mind."
It said: "It has always been ATP policy not to comment on anti-doping test results unless and until an anti-doping violation has occurred. Under the tennis anti-doping program it is, and has always been, an independent panel that makes a decision on whether a doping violation has been found. The ATP has always followed this rule and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter."
...You get used to the high – but off the court, when you've nowhere else to go, you tend to reach for a substance or another person that will stimulate you in the way that you want to be stimulated.
Why would a son admit how much he feared his Iranian father -- feared him and hated him since the age of 7? And why -- why! -- would a man admit he wore perhaps the world's only Mohawk toupee?
Why? Because this isn't just any book. This is Agassi's mea culpa -- "Open" (from Knopf, written with Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer) -- and from the beginning, he and Moehringer set out to write the most revealing, literate and toes-stompingly honest sports autobiography in history. From the parts I've been allowed to read, they might have done it.
"I just tell people, this book is honest," says Agassi, who worked with Moehringer for a full year, meeting nearly daily at the Las Vegas house Agassi once lived in with Brooke Shields. "It lives up to the title. It's my life, for better or worse. Get ready, buckle up, and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times."
Fahey says WADA expects the ATP "to shed light on this allegation."
..."Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed.
"There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy.["]
...In the autumn of a year in which he pulled out of the French Open and did not bother to practise for Wimbledon, Agassi is walking through New York's LaGuardia airport when he gets a phone call from a doctor working with the ATP... That would mean a three-month suspension. "My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I've achieved, whatever I've worked for, might soon mean nothing. Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP... I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter. I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: Sincerely.
"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it." The ATP reviewed the case - and threw it out.
["]It’s a cortisone shot to the sub cortex. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful…I’ve never felt such energy. I’m seized by an urge, a desperate longing to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom…When there’s nothing left to clean, I do laundry. All the laundry. I fold every sweater and T-shirt and still I haven’t made a dent in my energy…I could do anything right now, anything, man, anything …I could get in the car and drive to Palm Springs and tee off for 18 holes, then drive home and make lunch and go for a swim. I don’t sleep for two days["] ...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 [be]leaks every day. "Those excerpts contain revelations about Andre's use of crystal meth when he was a tennis player," said Paul Bogaards, director of media relations at Knopf, a division of Random House.
The information was first made public on Tuesday morning via the Twitter feed of Richard Deitsch, a writer for Sports Illustrated.
"FYI: There's an off-the-charts book excerpt from Andre Agassi in the forthcoming SI: He admits to taking crystal meth during his career," said the message, posted at 10:36 a.m. and apparently removed shortly thereafter.
It looked like the examples below for matches involving Shahar Peer against Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter-finals and Peer against Sabine Lisicki in the semi-finals:
PER
and
PER
Obviously, someone thought the better of using the first three letters in Peer’s name.
"Before I won New York I had asked for a wild card to play Bali [Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions], but after my surprise win there, I re-evaluated my schedule with my team. We decided the best preparation for Australia was seven weeks of intensive training after Luxembourg as I can still improve physically. So that meant turning down the wild card in Bali, and out of respect for them, I wouldn't have played in Doha, either. Hopefully if I play well in 2010, I'll rightfully earn my place along with the other girls." “Yeah, people have said a lot of nice things about that,” said Venus in advance of the first of her three group matches tonight. “For me, my whole thing is that we all worked as a team, players and the Tour representatives, to make positive changes in the game and to move forward and be competitive and to stay relevant. So it’s really a team effort, and I’m very happy to be on the team.
“So far so good, for next year I don’t think we have any issues – I’m positive about the situation for next year in Dubai.”
...Kuznetsova, who thrashed a hapless Safina in a tremendously disappointing French Open final in June, said: “I think Dinara deserves to be where she is because she has played so many good events. She’s there because she played in the finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. I’m not going to be the one to say you have to be No 1 winning a slam.
“But I don’t want to judge anybody. I’m doing my own career. I won two grand slams. I’m happy with that. Definitely I’m going to try to become No 1 one day.”
“This year I became number one, there is no Grand Slam. It’s not that I don’t want to win a Grand Slam. But you’re not a robot that you can play a 100% all the time.”
...“Of course, I know this. Some things I’m like this, I’m too open. It’s very bad, I know. Many people don’t even have to say how I feel, I can show them. This thing I have to learn. I think I have improved compared to how I was before. Before, before stepping on the court, I could say already if I have a bad day or good day. This is, of course, something that I have to change myself. Only I can control it, nobody else. Everybody says this. But this is my decision to change it or not. I guess I have to change it.” “There was a time I felt the schedule didn’t suit me, where I wanted to compete a little bit more, get the rhythm and experience. But unfortunately this is how it is.”
Jankovic won just two titles this year, Marbella and Cincinnati. She finished runner up at Tokyo and was a semifinalist at the Paris Indoors. But having made it to this tournament, she is confident of putting up a good show. “This year I struggled not just in the Grand Slam but in other tournaments as well. I haven’t done well at all. But, still I’m in the top eight, which is a huge achievement.
“Many players didn’t even win a tournament while I have won two. I still have a chance to play here and have given myself an opportunity to do well. If I’m here, anything can happen.” lthough his tennis career has flatlined for years, Philippoussis yesterday appointed a US publicist to manage any media inquiries and she promptly and brightly informed us that the Poo is "forging his way to a comeback in professional tennis".
Publicist Paula Rosado has previously worked with F1 driver Michael Schumacher, a true champion. Tennis Australia has not released the voting figures by which Pollard won a 21st year as president. It had been possible the president's casting vote could determine the outcome, but McNamee said he was satisfied with the result. ''I wasn't there for the voting, but I fully accept the outcome,'' he said.
...While McNamee said it was too early to decide if he would again contest the presidency upon Pollard's retirement next year, he felt his campaign had already initiated some change... ''I was certainly encouraged by all the support I had from people like Lleyton Hewitt and JA [John Alexander] and Jason Stoltenberg, who believe there are real issues that need to be addressed. I think it helped stir some people who believe we desperately need to regenerate the sport.'' Serena, 28, and within 155 points of overtaking Dinara Safina as the year-end No. 1, claimed a shift in priorities... ''I want to play more. I want to enter more tournaments, which I think is strange. Even in doubles, I want to play more doubles. I think my career has been really more focused on to tennis,'' said the current Australian Open and Wimbledon titleholder.
''Before, I liked to do a lot of things. Granted, I still definitely do tons of other things, [but] I put more time and effort into tennis now.''
...Venus, who has her own literary ambitions, is yet to read it fully despite apparently having purchased online digital copies and recommended it to anyone who will listen. ''I kind of feel like I'll read it when I'm done [playing],'' she said of Serena's book. ''I don't know why I have that feeling. I've read parts of it, obviously. I kind of feel like I lived it, too, so … I've kind of had the front seat in that car.'' Since the final of Wimbledon in July, Williams has played seven tournaments, reached a single semi-final and in her last two events, in Japan and China, was beaten by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Russian teenager, long before the business end of the week. As a form-guide for surviving against the other seven "best of the best" in 2009 this week, it is not healthy. "I love what I do, so that's a complete up for me," she said. "I get to work outside. My thing is I get to make a living looking good. It's my job to stay fit. It doesn't get better than that." 
US Open semi-finalist Wickmayer, Malisse handed doping bans
- AFP
US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer and her Belgian compatriot Xavier Malisse were on Thursday handed one-year bans for falling foul of doping regulations, the Belga news agency reported.
To This Day, Chair Umpire Has No Answer for McEnroe
- New York Times
Nilsson ignored McEnroe’s barb, and officiously chirped, “Second serve, please.” The overly polite request incensed McEnroe, who screamed, “Answer my question!” He then summoned even more ferocity, shouting, “The question, jerk!”
Agassi Unstrung
- Time magazine
Fans will devour Agassi's juicy revelations about both himself and other tennis luminaries. Thanks to his father, Agassi's childhood was hellish, the backyard court his personal prison. Later, he battled depression, donned a hairpiece, dabbled in drugs and threw a hissy fit after his then girlfriend (now ex-wife) Brooke Shields licked Joey's hand on that episode of Friends. According to Agassi, Boris Becker blows, Pete Sampras is a terrible tipper, and in the Wimbledon locker room John McEnroe once called Agassi's future wife Graf a bitch.
The Hit List
- Matthew Cronin, tennisreporters.net
Agassi Making the Rounds
Andre Agassi is set to do a slew of high level TV shows to promote his new book, while his dad, Mike, who he torches in the book, has been telling Vegas tennis folks that he doesn’t believe that Andre did crystal meth on purpose, even though Andre says he did.
The tournament has plans to expand its over crowded grounds but is facing opposition from Parisian environmentalist, few of whom must visit the next door Bois de Bologne, which could use a few more courts and a few less prostitutes.
Marin Cilic, who still has an outside shot an London, bested Philipp Petzschner in Basel, and was joined in the winners circle by Roger Federer (a 6-3, 6-3 winner Andreas Seppi), Radek Stepanek, Stanislas Wawrinka, Jeremy Chardy and
Richard “We’ve all forgotten about Pamela now that Andre has spilled the beans” Gasquet.
...What this all means is he has chance to work with adidas coaches and compete a little bit with Fernando Verdasco for the attention of Ivanovic, Wozniacki and Cirstea.
Travelin' Man
- Peter Bodo, TennisWorld
This year, there will be no drive-by appearance in Monte Carlo (to hail with all those PR guys from the watch company - tell them I'm out of the office!). Federer will begin his big push to add another French Open bauble to the trophy cas. . . warehouse. . . in Rome. Why Rome? Ever had the pasta in the player lounge there? 'Nuf said. Then it's on to Estoril, Madrid and Roland Garros. Why Estoril? Ever had to work off a week of pasta, available 24/7, for free? 'Nuf said.
Agassi Drug Revelations Hurt Tennis, French Open Boss Says
- Bloomberg
“It’s shocking,” Ysern said in an interview today from Paris. “It is a former champion, and it is not good for the image of the game.”
Agassi's anecdotes shine brightest
- Jon Wertheim, SI.com
I suppose that collateral damage is, necessarily, an unpleasant consequence of writing a brutally honest nonfiction book. Reputations take a hit, myths are exploded, achievements are recast in lesser light. Agassi seldom comes off as petty or a bitter guy simply settling old scores. He backs up most of his assertions. But from Andres Gomez to Boris Becker to Jeff Tarango to sportswriter Mike Lupica to the sensationally self-absorbed Brooke Shields, there's substantial roadkill here.
U.S. Fed Cup leaning on kids again
- Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN
Fernandez, the ESPN analyst who was once a Fed Cup stalwart herself, sounded as if she had a little emotional whiplash Saturday after getting the news. "[Williams] e-mailed me,'' Fernandez said. "She said she feels terrible and wishes she could be there, but she feels like she'd be a burden. I'm watching her play now... We were so excited that she was going to go, but what can you say? It's the end of the year and everybody's hurt.["]
Aussies speak on today's hot topics
- Joel Drucker, ESPN
Woodforde: I'm liking that there are niches in the game for players like Andy Murray who can change the spin and the pace of the ball. [Juan Martin] del Potro mostly bludgeons the ball, but he still has that subtle ability to change paces, position himself in different parts of the court and hit some slices.
Goodbye, Monsieur Garros?
- Peter Bodo, TennisWorld
I haven't seen the blueprints for the new, stand-alone stadium, but I have seen the preliminary drawings for the retractable roof. It will be interesting to see the politics in Paris play out, because the opponents of both proposed renovations are no dummies. While they may not have a problem with the idea of a roof that can be closed in the event of rain, they also know that a retractable roof (and the price tag it will carry) may foretell a shift to a split-session format during Roland Garros. And the neighbors probably don't want to deal with a more or less 24/7 tennis event lasting two weeks. Frankly, the traffic issues that seem inevitable under a two-session program are nothing to scoff at.
Murray, Basel, and the Beast
- Steve Tignor, Tennis.com
Where would be without the much-maligned media beast? It’s relentless, it’s hoggish, it lives on junk food, and it must be fed every day. But my morning was made so much more pleasant because I could spend it contemplating the ramifications of Andy Murray’s new shirt, rather than . . . rather than . . . I don't know what. Let’s see what else the beast has been chewing on lately.
?? Um... you are (part of) the beast.
Andy Murray ignores discomfort to dismiss Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Valencia Open
- Alix Ramsay, The Telegraph
Within four games he was grimacing and clutching his back as the pressures of competition caught him off guard. But it was only a minor and temporary problem and, in between walking like a man with wooden legs, Murray hit winners seemingly at will.
Andy Murray’s fashion sense goes into overdrive with £10m deal with adidas
- Neil Harman, The Times
As Andy Murray strives to break down the barriers between himself and the grand-slam tournament title he so yearns for, it was confirmed last night that he has signed a five-year, £10 million deal with adidas that includes wearing a new tennis shoe called The Barricade.
Leaning Toward London, Maria's New Friend, Bali Picks
- tennisreporters.net
There’s only two spots left in the ATP World Finals and this week’s play means a great deal. Nikolay Davydenko is in Valencia and is the frontrunner to qualify, followed closely by Fernando Verdasco, who could make a huge push this week by winning the title. The problem is that Andy Murray is in the field and appears to be super motivated after seven weeks off or so. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also in the draw and essentially has to win it and then defend his Paris crown.
Has the Rebel Finally Found a Cause?
- Richard Osborn, Inside Tennis
A Short History of Drugs in Tennis
- Michael Mewshaw, Inside Tennis
Inevitably, players branched out to other chemically-charged substances. But since there were no tests, users stood little chance of getting caught, and since omertà operated then just as it does now on the circuit, nobody did much more than gossip about the subject. Journalists who witnessed players doing cocaine, for instance, didn’t feel compelled to report it. My friend, Gene Scott, the late publisher of Tennis Week, always defended this practice, explaining that what a journalist saw in a social setting should remain off limits. By that logic, unless a reporter spotted someone snorting lines at a tournament, he should keep his mouth shut. But then in September ‘80, Yannick Noah broke the silence in an interview with Rock & Folk, the French equivalent of Rolling Stone. While admitting that he smoked hashish, Noah accused other players of using cocaine. What’s more — and in his opinion what was worse — some were popping amphetamines.
Top 10 Agassi Questions
- Bill Simons, Inside Tennis
2) So what else is new? Is it a cop-out to note that Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, John McEnroe and countless other athletes (not to mention a kazillion ordinary folks) have done their thing with drugs?
Finally, some respect for the scribes
- Tom Tebbutt, Globe and Mail blog
Anyone curious about the working conditions of Montreal baseball writers way back in 1969 need only take at look at the current quarters used by reporters covering tennis. They are almost unchanged – and there’s the rub. The old Jarry Park press box is clumsy, cramped and crowded, and in need of a serious makeover.
K-Swiss signs third-ranked U.S. men’s player
- Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal
K-Swiss has signed the No. 3-ranked American men’s tennis player, Sam Querrey, to a seven-figure endorsement deal. Querrey has been with Adidas for the past three years and remains under contract with Adidas through the end of the year, so he will not be wearing K-Swiss until January.
USTA faces hard path to solution as injuries mount
- Richard Evans, Foxsports
When I spent a day at a gathering of top USTA coaches at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton recently, I had the opportunity to study data the USTA had extracted from 861 junior players last year and the findings were alarming.
Mark Philippoussis gets off his knees for The Aegon Masters
- Mark Hodgkinson, The Telegraph
According to Philippoussis, who turns 33 this week, his materialistic days are over.
World Anti-Doping Agency sends letter to ATP over Agassi's drug admission in autobiography
- AP
director general David Howman would not elaborate on what he wrote in the letter sent to the ATP, but he told The Associated Press he hopes it "would bring a considered response."
In his new book, Agassi on journey to find himself
- Matt Cronin, Foxsports
But for those who know him and who covered him over his 17-year career, the most shocking revelation is he consistently lied about his love of the sport, about his true opinions on other players' personalities, about his love for his ex-wife, actress Brooke Shields, about how truthful he was to the press and about how truthful he was even to himself. Time and time again in the book, Agassi recounts episodes where he was saying one thing and thinking another and, in a sense, mocks those who believed what he was saying.
What prompted Andre's revelation?
- Jon Wertheim, SI.com
The second, less cynical explanation: Confessional to begin with, Agassi took this assignment seriously and offered a truthful, witheringly self-critical warts-and-all self-portrait. Though the crystal meth admission got the fanfare, it was hardly the only bit of brutal candor in the book. Everything from his fraught relationship with his dad to the circumstances of his first marriage come in for close and thoughtful scrutiny.
Tell-Nones and Tell-Alls
- Peter Bodo, TennisWorld
Condemn Agassi all you want, but he respected you enough to tell the truth about himself and his time in the game.
The Best at Her Best
- Steve Tignor, Tennis.com
It was a serving clinic from Serena in the end. She finished with no double faults and won an astounding 82 percent of her second-serve points—that’s dominance, and it put an exclamation point, if one were needed, on what raised her above her all of her competition this year.
The Net Post: London is on WTA's radar
- Neil Harman, The Times
There were howls of laughter when the WTA handed out a press release here to say that Elena Dementieva had won the association's Aces award. Surely this could not be the same Elena Dementieva who might have won one grand slam tournament from her 44 attempts if she had a reliable serve? But we had got the wrong end of the stick. The Aces award is for the player who has done most to promote the game off court, with hospital visits, promotional work, autograph signings, etc. Hats off to Miss Dementieva.
Andy Murray refuses to condemn Andre Agassi for drug revelations
- Mark Hodgkinson, The Telegraph
Williams earned close to £1 million for a week's work by the Persian Gulf. Serena was a 6-2, 7-6 winner over her sister Venus, last season's champion, and as she was unbeaten during the group stages she earned the maximum £940,000, which is more than she received for winning this year's Wimbledon title.
Andre Agassi thinks he has been open, but his memoir is best left closed
- The Guardian
To escape the wrath of the ATP – not difficult, it would appear – Agassi claimed to have drunk a spiked soda belonging to his assistant, "Slim", who is at once fingered and not named in the book: a reprieve that allows the 1992 Wimbledon champion to go on with his career while simultaneously hating it, the blame for which, you need to understand, rests with the pushy dad.
Andy Murray surprised by his idol Andre Agassi's crystal meth revelations
- Simon Chambers, The Guardian
"I loved Andre, met him numerous times. He was unbelievably nice to me. I practised with him quite a lot. I guess it's something he has to deal with himself. He's entitled to say whatever he wants and I wish him the best.
Murray feels way back into action
- Paul Newman, The Independent
"My wrist is fine," Murray said yesterday as he prepared for his first match in Valencia, against the Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver. "I've played two matches in about nine weeks since the US Open, so I'll just try and ease my way in. Normally it takes a bit of time to get back into playing your best, but I feel good."
Murray exonerates Agassi over drugs revelation
- PA
"I don't think any of the players expected it but you've just got to move on," the 22-year-old said. "I loved Andre, met him numerous times. He was unbelievably nice to me. I practised with him quite a lot.
Sampras on tennis, life after retirement
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Q: Is it possible there's a player on tour using performance-enhancing drugs?
Serena looks motivated after Sony Ericsson title
- Matt Cronin, Foxsports
After facing down her elder sister Venus 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships on Sunday, Serena Williams offered a coy smile before revealing the significance of an issue that has been bugging her much of the season:
Andre Agassi ‘took speed’ before match
- Mark Hodgkinson, The Telegraph
In a separate development, David Howman, the director general of Wada, told Telegraph Sport that he would be writing to the tennis authorities to ask them to investigate "the possibility of perjury" or "a breach of the law" following Agassi's admission that he explained his positive test result for crystal meth in 1997 by sending the ATP a signed letter claiming he had "unwittingly" taken the drug in a "spiked soda".
Andre Agassi’s lies are crystal clear
- The Times
We have no right to expect Agassi to show our youth how to behave but perhaps he and his publishers might have ensured that extracts of the book couldn’t be used to make him sound like a salesman for crystal meth.
The cover-up was the real story, not Andre Agassi's drug use
- Daily Mail
All those excuses trotted out about positive tests being caused by asthma inhalers, cold remedies, excess vitamins, passive smoking, hair restorers, diet pills and the rest. They’re gone. Had your drink spiked? Not after Agassi, you haven’t. Who’s going to believe you?
After Andre Agassi, how long can tennis go on covering up its drug abuse?
- Daily Mail
Andre Agassi’s positive drug test was well-guarded secret at the ATP
- Pete Alfano, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
A high-ranking ATP executive nodded toward me, indicating he had something to tell me in private. We walked to where we couldn’t be heard and he said words to the effect that we had a major anti-doping violation on our hands... The player was Andre Agassi.
Hey, that should be ATP Tour executive. ;)
Andre Agassi exclusive: I tell myself, you can win this thing with one swing
- The Times
Stefanie tells me her father is coming to Vegas for a visit. Thus, the unavoidable moment has arrived. Our fathers are going to meet. The prospect unnerves us both.
Nothing shocking about Andre Agassi lies
- Neil Harman, The Times
What was he thinking? A carefully designed means of selling a few more copies of his memoir? Even Agassi, who, I have to say, often left me feeling distinctly cold as a person, could not have been that shallow...
ATP backed after Andre Agassi drugs revelations
- Neil Harman, The Times
Ings, now chief executive of Australia’s Sports Anti-Doping Authority, has been startled at the fallout from the revelations from Agassi’s autobiography — serialised in The Times — but defended the sport’s anti-doping record. “The ATP did exactly what was required of it 12 years ago, just as the ITF did what was right in the case of Richard Gasquet earlier this year,” Ings said. “In both cases, the tribunal found for the athlete. It does happen.”
I told you so: tennis critic John Mendoza's stand vindicated
- The Australian
"I didn't say it (in 2002) just because I felt like a bit of notoriety. I said it because there was so much evidence from within the sport that things were right off the rails. "I had been hearing from 1997 that they (ITF and ATP) were burying results, and the WTA wasn't testing at all."
Gilbert Says Agassi’s Admission Does Not Tarnish His Tennis Legacy
- Christopher clarey, New York Times
“Maybe it was me being naïve, but I had no clue,” Gilbert said in a telephone interview Friday from his home in San Rafael, Calif.
Extract - Open: An Autobiography
- Sports Illustrated
And then somehow I beat him, in five furious, agonizing sets. Afterward I'm barely able to stagger up the tunnel and into the locker room before my back gives out. Darren and Gil lift me onto the training table, while Baghdatis's people hoist him onto the table beside me. He's cramping badly. A trainer says the doctors are on the way. He turns on the TV above the table, and everyone clears out, leaving just me and Baghdatis, both of us writhing and groaning in pain.
Agassi's autobiography more than just crystal meth admission
- Jon Wertheim, SI.com
You get accustomed to reading memoirs in which a player tells how tough it was grinding in the third round of Stuttgart or maybe rolls through a top-10 of career highlights. But this one reads like a novel. Andre clearly took this project seriously, using a sizable advance to hire Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer to work with. He released his thoughts on everything from his relationship with his father to assessing contemporary players.
Some thoughts on Agassi's admissions
- Tom Tebbutt, The Globe and Mail
Pete Sampras, Agassi’s long-time rival and a superior champion though not nearly as charismatic a character, likely received no more than $1-million for his book “Champion’s Mind,” published last year. In it, Sampras documented his evolution as a player but there was no mention whatsoever of his love life – nothing about Delaina Mulcahy, the older woman whom he dated for six years beginning shortly after he won the U.S. Open as a 19 year old in 1990, and nothing about Kimberly Williams, the “Father of the Bride,” Hollywood actress who was his girlfriend and watched from the friends seats at Wimbledon when he won his fourth title there in 1997.
Doubles Stars Share a Complex Heritage
- Christopher Clarey, New York Times
Cara Black and Liezel Huber disagree on the particulars of their first meeting on a tennis court. Black remembered clearly that Huber bedeviled her with drop shots galore; Huber is convinced it was the other way around.
Wozniacki leads way as new guard challenges
- Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age
As much as Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters guarantee a welcome retro feel for women's tennis in 2010, and 11-time major winner Serena Williams represents the status quo, there is a youthful new European force emerging, headed by Wozniacki, sixth-ranked Victoria Azarenka and another 20-year-old, world No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska. The trio is part of a friendly gang of tongue-twisters that includes Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, while surprise US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer, German Sabine Lisicki and Russian Alisa Kleybanova have also cracked the top 50 - or in the latter trio's case, the top 25 - before turning 21.
Andre Agassi exclusive: Revealed . . . the drug, the highs, the phone call – then the lies
- The Times
was his job to test my urine sample from a recent tournament. It’s my duty, he says, to inform you that you’ve failed the standard ATP drug test. The urine sample you submitted has been found to contain trace amounts of crystal methylene.
The Week in Questions
- Steve Tignor, Tennis.com
If you could put Azarenka together with Wozniacki, you’d have the next No. 1. Azarenka can hit through the court, but she doesn’t have the feel of her fellow up and comer. And while she’s fiercer and angrier than Wozniacki, the Dane may be tougher mentally—hanging in there is pretty much what she does for a living.
Viewpoint: Time for ATP To Own Up, Too
- Tom Perrotta, Tennis.com
If any of them took drugs to help them do so, they might well have hidden it as easily as Agassi hid his meth use. Agassi’s admission doesn’t just affect his reputation; it casts doubt on the reputations of his fellow players, too. How much could they have gotten away with through simple I-sipped-the-wrong-drink lies? How much were the tour’s supposedly independent panels willing to overlook to spare the game an unwanted scandal? Is there anyone else who tested positive for drugs, recreational or otherwise, who convinced a panel to look the other way?
Tearful Wozniacki hobbles past Zvonareva
- Qatar Gulf News
Wozniacki showed no signs of discomfort in the high-intensity first match against Azarenka, but once she was drawn into another three-setter yesterday, her body started to fall apart.But she refused to give up despite cramps while serving for the match in the 10th game of the third set.
Lack of fan support for Safina a mystery
- Qatar Gulf Times
Dinara Safina may be missing out on a large fan base because many in this part of the world are unaware she is a Muslim or simply don’t care... Perhaps Safina is not media savvy, perhaps it’s because she has described herself as a non-practicing Muslim.
Wozniacki shows her toughness to hold off Zvonareva
- Abu Dhabi National
Wozniacki, who showed resilience to overcome Victoria Azarenka in a three-hour battle the previous night, was in no mood to loosen her grip on the White Group.
WTA Tour's 'roadmap' on right track, players, officials say
- Douglas Robson, USA Today
Overall player withdrawals are down by a third in 2009 compared to the year before, and the most sought-after names are meeting tournament commitments 90% of the time, up from 78% in 2008. In 2006 the tour failed to deliver its promised quota of top-10 players to any of its most important events, a historic and embarrassing low.
Agassi's Drug Revelations Smack of Cynical Ploy
- AP
Should we be surprised that Andre Agassi now tells us, 12 years after the fact, that he snorted crystal meth when his life and tennis were at a low? Absolutely not. You could fill a rehab center with all the top athletes who succumbed over the years to cocaine, weed, alcohol, binge-eating and the rest.
Do Agassi's mistakes tarnish legacy?
- Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN
Back in 1997 when the ATP was in charge of its own anti-doping program, drug testing in sports was a more ineffectual, self-policed system rife with loopholes and ripe for exploitation -- which is exactly what Agassi has admitted to doing. (It's a fair question now to ask whether there are cases involving other ATP players that never came to light.)
Serena Williams lets her tennis do the talking
- Barry Flatman, Times Online
Let’s try and forget the fact she’s a bad loser and hopefully over the next few days rejoice in just how stunning a winner Serena can be.
Boris Becker: I’m struggling to understand why Andre Agassi wanted to confess
- Mark Hodgkinson, The Telegraph
“I’m the last person to throw stones, as there have been some difficult times in my own life, but to hear that he took crystal meth, that certainly puts a whole new light on Andre,” Becker said, “and it’s not a beautiful light.”
Andre Agassi's crystal meth admission is no big surprise
- Steve Bierley, The Guardian
And so Agassi played on, and the next year began to turn his career around, moving from outside the world's top 100 into the top 10. The most shocking aspect of the revelation is that the ATP covered up the whole matter completely. But then the players half own the ATP, a factor that continues to worry those both within and outside the game. As with the nandrolone affair, and the more recent suggestions of match fixing, the ATP waits for the smoke to die down, and then hopes everything will be forgotten.
Agassi and drugs
- Charles Bricker, tennisnews.com
Miles, who left the ATP in 2005 after 15 years as its No. 1 official, was as candid as he felt he could be, but he is honoring retroactive commitments not to comment on specific drug cases that came up during his tenure at the men's tour.
Safina’s Doha bid ends in flood of tears
- Qatar Gulf Times
Serena Williams became the world’s top ranked player after Dinara Safina’s season ended in a flood of tears yesterday when she pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Championships with a lower back injury.
Wozniacki shows her pluck
- Abu Dhabi
National
The Danish teenager fought back from the loss of the most one-sided of opening sets to prevail 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a thrilling battle that spanned three fluctuating hours. Azarenka, the explosive Belarussian, squandered a match point a few minutes before losing her composure and incurring a crucial penalty point for a second code violation that allowed Wozniacki to serve out for the match.
Top guns relishing battles with Belgians
- Abu Dhabi National
Agassi’s Drug Revelation: The Most Stunning Confession In Sports History?
- Bill Simons, Inside Tennis
But just to get an advance copy, I had to (for the first time in 29 years) sign a non-divulgence contract; a seven-clause gag rule saying I would not reveal the contents of the curiously titled book, “Open,” until early November. I agreed, and on Aug. 17, Andre’s four-pound 437-page baby arrived.
Winners: Serena Survives Venus, Wozniacki Comes Back on Azarenka, Safina Done for Year
- tennisreporters.net
"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."
Mailbag: Serena impressive in her own right
- Jon Wertheim, SI.com
Do Agassi's mistakes tarnish legacy?
- Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN
Agassi's former coaches Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill -- both ESPN analysts -- declined comment, saying they thought it was more appropriate that Agassi speak for himself. Agassi's dear friend and longtime trainer Gil Reyes said he would also refrain from any public remarks until after Agassi has had a chance to answer questions.
Santoro reconsidering retirement
- Tom Tebbutt, Globe and Mail website
I did a story on Santoro during this year’s French Open and, noticing that his first Grand Slam had been in 1989, realized that if he continued playing through the 2010 Australian Open he would have competed in Grand Slams in four different decades. A few days later, I saw him near the players restaurant and told him about it.He listened with a certain amount of interest to what I said but did not seen too convinced about going to Australia.
Andre Agassi sparks cries of cover-up
- Neil Harman, The Times
Did the same happen in Agassi’s case? There were cries of cover-up yesterday and although Miles insisted he could not say anything about any specific case, he rejected a suggestion that the ATP did anything on his watch that was not by the book. “There has never been a time when an ATP executive decided the outcome of any doping case,” he said. “Each one of those that took place in my period of office at the ATP was heard by a properly appointed independent panel.”
Andre Agassi ‘would have been pariah over drugs’
- The Times
Andre Agassi: champion, icon, liar and crystal meth user
- Mark Hodgkinson, The Telegraph
Perhaps we should not be so surprised by Agassi's drug use. After all, barely a celebrity memoir reaches the bookshops these days without at least one admission that he or she had used illegal substances. And surely no one still believes that professional tennis players, despite their wealth and status, all live in a shiny, happy world out there on the circuit? "I can't speak about addiction," Agassi told People magazine. "But a lot of people would say that if you're using anything as an escape, you have a problem."
Andre Agassi has been a very bad boy - but can we let him off?
- The Telegraph
No one should condone the consumption of viciously dangerous drugs such as crystal meth, and while confession is admirable, it is less so when associated with book promotion.
Andre Agassi's crystal meth admission is no big surprise
- Steve Bierley, The Guardian
To this extent the fact that he has admitted to taking crystal meth in 1997, when his career and private life were beginning to spiral out of control, is no major surprise. It was part of his dark days before the light burst in.
Why did Andre Agassi hate tennis?
- The Guardian
"I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have." So writes Andre Agassi in his new autobiography, Open, published this week. It is 2006 and one of the world's most feted sports stars has just woken up in a New York hotel room, poised to play his last tournament.
The highs and lows of a tennis superstar
- The Independent
Agassi avoids punishment after lying about drug use
- The Independent
The Independent asked the ATP questions yesterday regarding failed drugs tests by Agassi and other players, and past cover-ups. The governing body issued a confusing statement that threw little light on the matter.
Addictive cravings can destroy top competitors
- The Independent
You get used to the high – but off the court, when you've nowhere else to go, you tend to reach for a substance or another person that will stimulate you in the way that you want to be stimulated.
Agassi confession lengthens shadow of doubt
- Jonathan Overend, BBC
Will we learn in Gasquet's autobiography in 10 years' time that this was all an elaborate wheeze?
Crystal meth, hair weaves and majors
- Rick Reilly, ESPN
If image really is everything, why would Andre Agassi admit in his new book that he used crystal meth? Not once but dozens of times? And why would he admit he lied about it to the Association of Tennis Professionals?
WADA chief wants ATP to explain Agassi drug case
- AP
Agassi writes that the ATP accepted his explanation and dropped the case.
Andre Agassi: I lied to escape a ban for taking hard drugs
- Neil Harman, The Times
Agassi, now 39, relates how he took crystal meth - possession of which carries a maximum five-year jail sentence in the US - in 1997, when his form was falling and he was having doubts about his impending marriage to the actress, Brooke Shields.
Agassi Admits to Using Crystal Meth
- Matthew Cronin, Inside Tennis
Moreover, in ’97 (when he began his infamous “comeback” late in the fall), he tested positive at a tournament and says he was informed by the ATP that he faced public exposure and suspension.
Winners: Azarenka, Dementieva, Serena; Williams to Play Fed Cup; Rude in Interview, the Agassi Meth Revelation
- tennisreporters.net
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.
Andre Agassi admits to using crystal meth in forthcoming autobiography
- New York Daily News
The admission will also appear in excerpts of the book - entitled "Open" - that are scheduled to appear in two magazines, Sports Illustrated and People, later this week.
Women's year to close. . . sort of
- Tom Tebbutt, Globe and Mail blog
The on-screen TV graphics at the WTA Tour event in Luxembourg last week were done with noteworthy discretion. For the point-by-point scoreboard during games, the abbreviated graphic, located in the corner of the screen, used just three letters from the surnames of the players involved.
HAN
LIS
Does Clijsters deserve exemption into year-ender?
- Sandra Harwitt, ESPN
"It's an interesting idea having all the Slam winners at the Championships, but in this case, that would mean denying the eighth player, who played all year, her place," said Clijsters, who e-mailed her thoughts to ESPN.com.
Shahar Peer to Play Tennis in Indonesia
- IsraelNN
The Indonesians reportedly balked, but the World Tennis Federation threatened to cancel the tournament in Bali if Peer was not invited – and she was issued an entry visa into the country, the Federation said.
Doha event is special for Williams
- Abu Dhabi National
She was widely praised for her ambassadorial qualities then and maintained yesterday that the affair had not affected her desire to return to the UAE.
Russians rally to defend Safina’s status
- Abu Dhabi National
A tennis re-enactment of the Cold War broke out in the neutral territory of Qatar yesterday as Russia set up an army of resistance to open hostility from the United States’ leading campaigner Serena Williams.
Jankovic delighted at battling through to reach Qatar
- Abu Dhabi National
The 24-year-old explained: “I got injured in Beijing, where I needed some good results. My hand was swollen. I couldn’t really hold the racket. So my only chance was in Moscow [in the Kremlin Cup] which made it nervous for me. I am really pleased that I did what I had to do.”
Serena, Safina in battle for glory
- Qatar Gulf Times
“I don’t care anymore. They can say whatever they want,” said the 23-year-old. I have been in three Grand Slam finals and I’ve been in two semis. Last year I was winning every tournament and they were asking me why I’m not No. 1.
Danish delight Wozniacki sets her goals high
- Qatar Gulf Times
“Yeah, it was five-nil and I was serving. When I jumped on my leg after my serve, I felt the pain. I tried to serve two more serves, but the pain just worsened. My dad advised me not to take a chance and told me ‘If you cannot continue, you have to stop because you don’t want to ruin this (Doha) tournament.’ I felt I could not continue the next match anyway. So I retired.”
“It was a genuine incident. It’s just regular procedure what WTA have. They are looking into it and I talked to them. I mean, there’s nothing suspicious about the match that way. So there is no big deal about it.”
Jankovic fitter and hungrier for more succes
- Qatar Gulf Times
The Serbian had mix reactions on this season’s schedule for women tennis.
“To be honest, there were times this year where I felt like I wanted to play some more. I felt like I needed some matches because, especially after Wimbledon, I didn’t play for a month, and then I played one tournament in Stanford, and I felt like in order to come into form and be ready for the US Open and some of the big events, I needed to play some matches and get match tough again.’
Venus, Serena not ready for retirement
- Qatar Gulf Times
“Singles is something which I usually expect at the end of the year to be here. But doubles, that’s not something I expect. So it’s definitely exciting,” said Venus, one of the eight-woman field in the singles.
“It was kind of a secret goal of Serena and I to get to the doubles here.”
New publicist for Mark Philippoussis planning comeback
- Sydney Daily Telegraph
WITH a wedding in the pipes for next year, has signed a new publicist - as you do.
A
McNamee breaks silence after his election loss
- Richard Hinds, Sydney Morning Herald
However, McNamee says he was angered by the tone of some of Pollard's public comments about his challenge. ''To say it was a wildcard challenge, as Geoff did even after he won, I thought that was extremely unfair given the means by which I nominated has been part of the constitution for 19 years,'' he said.
Williams duo plan to play on, and on
- Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age
Venus, 29, quipped that she might conceivably continue until the age of 35. ''That could happen,'' said the tournament's defending champion and world No. 7. ''Hopefully, I'll still have talent in my hands and my feet to keep going. It's a privilege and honour to be here. I won't be giving it up and coming back. If I'm gone, I'm gone.''
Relaxed Venus Williams belies her troubled form
- Neil Harman, The Times
The defending champion from the United States was the last of the competitors to sit down and chat yesterday, yet she was the most contented - charming and relaxed - though her form at the end of this year suggested she ought to be a touch troubled.
This site is not responsible for the content of external websites and does not vouch for the accuracy of material excerpted above.
This page is updated Monday-Friday except as noted. Comments, corrections and suggestions may be made via email.
Reuters Headlines
|
'Tweet Spot'
|