Doha: Not with a bang but a whimper.

 
So it ends like this. There will be no final shootout for the top spot between Serena and Safina. Dina made life easier for all of us by quitting her opening match against JJ after 13 minutes, citing a a lower back injury.
“My body just gave up, and I couldn’t handle the pain anymore.”
Back pains are a [...]

Picspam: Catwoman and the Reject Bridesmaids of the WTA

Is it time for Doha already? The WTA year-end championships gets underway this week over in Woop Woop, as the players glammed for the draw ceremony. 
By “glammed up”, I mean they all went through their gloryboxes and practiced the aisle walk.
 

 

 
In times like these, I miss having Maria Sharapova in the top 8. She can [...]

Beijing/Tokyo: Sayonara Dinara.

Yes Dina, I’m a terrible person:
 

 
Cheers erupted on Centre Court in Beijing as Zhang Shuai (not to be confused with Peng Shuai) took out the “Real World No 1″ Dinara Safina 75 76.
Zhang, ranked 226 in the world, has never won a match in the second round of a main draw [...]

Picspam: Wer-com to Beijing!

The big names are arriving in China ahead of the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters, which make for fabulous photo-ops. 
 

 
Must admit, Djoko’s got this whole “unshaven devilish smile” thing down to a tee. 
 

 

 
Dinara, on the other hand, wouldn’t recognize the devil if he came and told her she wasn’t the real World [...]

Tokyo: Just retire for 2 years, okay?

The headlines read “Safina stunned by Toyko loss”, “Ivanovic upset by Safarova“. Unfortunately it was just one of those cliches that journalists like to fall back on when they run out of worthwhile things to say.
There was nothin stunning or upsetting about Safina or Ivanovic losing first round. 
 

 
Self-professedly, I’m not an Ivanovic-fan, but cheering against her [...]

Picspam: I don’t know where do start…

There are so many things wrong with this. So many. 
 

 
It’s best just to keep focused on the face… 
 

 
The WTA premier tournament in Tokyo starts next week, with most of the top gals arriving in the city. Maria Sharapova, being the commercial magnet that she is, handled pre-tournament practice and a little night out in town for [...]

USO Day 6: Black Saturday.

There was something wild and burning in NYC today, leaving many of the top seeds singed, scorched or flat-out cremated. 
 

 
Black Saturday got off to an ominous start as Roger Federer, seemingly in control of the first set serving at 4-2 40-0, lost serve with a string of forehand errors and a double fault.
From then on, [...]

USO Day 2: Oh we got that disco. D-I-S-C-O.

All Masha Fierce needed was a pair of silver heels to boogey to her heart’s content. Not a fan of the randomness of this dress, nor do I like the silver bandana. But you can’t go too wrong with black. 
 

 
You can go wrong however, with vomit coloured outfits.
Exhibit A:
 

 
I hate Stella. She’s the definition of [...]

Cincy Finales: Matches from hell.

Given how much I liked each of the semifinalists in Cincy, I thought I was in for a weekend of funky tennis. 
Instead, it was a weekend of mental midgets, who played such gloriously bad tennis that it was actually good.
And the most important thing? JJ won. Dootsie painted her nails black in honour of her [...]

Cincy Tidbits: the Kimpossible Run Ends.

Getty Images
 
(1) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. (WC) Kim Clijsters (BEL) 62 75
A part of me is relieved to see Kimmie lose to Dinara. Don’t get me wrong – I want Clijsters to have a successful comeback, but can you imagine the embarrassment for the WTA if a player who hasn’t played for two years comes back and straightaway beats [...]