Doha: the Real No 1. FACT.

 
Serena Willliams, when she’s focused and hungry, is simply something else. Half the problem is of course getting her in that zone.
There was no such problem today. With her leg firmly strapped, I half expected Serena to lose every match in Round Robin once Safina retired. Surprisingly, she’s managed to take advantage of a fully [...]

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 [...]

Doha: The Bland and the Beautiful.

Weary players, half empty stadiums – must be the WTA year-end championships. 
I’m starting to worry about Venus Williams. How many times this year have we seen her win the first set, braincramp in the second, and completely lose control over her game in the third?
And the annoying part is, she could – and should – [...]

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 [...]

Picket Fence Vid: Not enough Federer.

Basically that’s my complaint about everything in the tennis world these days. Guess I can’t talk, since Nole or Murray fans are shortchanged altogether. 
 
The Australian Open 2010 ad: 
 

 
Meh. Funky, spashy blue paint. 
It doesn’t suck. Nor is it the most memorable ad I’ve ever seen.
Next year’s Australian Open, however, is going to [...]

Picspam: A bit of exposure never hurt anyone.

Just when you thought Serena Williams has had enough controversy and exposure by now…
 

 
With the motto of “All nude. Tastefully done”, the ESPN October “Body Issue” featured Serena on one of its 6 covers.
I gotta say, I quite like it.  It’s just a nice, happy photo. But I’ll save you the rant on body-image, self-acceptance, [...]

Serena is goat! Scapegoat.

There’s been considerable rumours floating around that Serena may face a two slam suspension for her “little” outburst. 
Talk about an overkill. Let’s see: she’s received the maximum fine available at a grand slam. She’s been forced to apologize. She was dragged through the mud by the media, only too eager to jump on her actions as [...]

Fashion: Haven’t we seen this before?

If you don’t give two hoots about what players wear, then just scroll past. I like to pretend I’m Anna Wintour sometimes, ya know? 
 
Anyway, you might’ve seen Federer’s blue/white day combo for the Australian Open next year. For the night sessions, he’ll be bringing the Sith Lord back.
 

 
When the time comes, I’ll probably be the [...]

Throat-gate: Closure.

I’ve missed the unfolding of this drama over the past few days because of … umm. *Sniffles* But I must say, I’m a little bit disappointed with the way this whole event has been portrayed and dealt with by both the media and Serena herself. 
 
First, there was the Patrick McEnroe ‘drilling’ during the doubles award [...]

USO Day 13: Back to Bedlam.

It rained cats and dogs over Flushing Meadows today as the tennis world waited around for some actual tennis action and complained about the lack of a roof. And when we finally got to see some tennis, it was blissful bedlam. 
 
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images
 
Conscious of the fact that the way the match ended overshadowed the [...]