Elena Dementieva's mother is over her illness (or at least, she is better--Dementieva never said what the illness was) and in attendance in Paris.
Kimiko Date Krumm reports in her Pattaya blog that she still prepares rice balls for herself before every match.
Magdalena Rybarikova upset number 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki in Pattaya City, 6-4, 6-1. Rybarikova has now moved to the semifinals.
Maria Kirilenko has a new coach--her father.
Kirilenko, Tatiano Golovin and Daniela "I want to be noticed for my tennis" Hantuchova appear in the current Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The mythology built up around this practice (and similar ones) is stunning. Kirilenko, Golovin, etc. are free to appear in any publications they wish, but please--doing so does not in any way "promote women's tennis," and people need to stop saying it does. It promotes the revenue of a sexist magazine, and of copyright-stealing websites that cater to one-handed surfers, who then post sexist and misogynistic comments about tour players. Which is is to say--it does the opposite of promoting women's tennis.
Golovin, by the way, is off the map. The last time I saw a photo of her, she was standing outside a nightclub, smoking a cigarette.
Serena Williams has joined the chorus of players who are protesting that the new doping policies are over the top. I think they are, too; they are identical to the rules used to handle prisoners who are on probation and parole. And this is from a doping control organization that has brought us a number of outrageous decisions (a la Kuznetsova, who I wish had sued their asses off) before the new rules even came into effect.
I'll have to go and look up what happened with Kuzy.
ReplyDeleteAgree that the rules are overly invasive not to mention they don't sound as if they add to the efficiency of the previous testing regime. Tennis players don't usually object to rigorous testing but the fact that so many high profile players have objections is quite telling.
What happened to Sveta, Westerly, was that--even though the rules clearly state that players may take OTC cold medicines during an exhibition tournament--she was tested and found "guilty" for having OTC cold medicine in her urine. It was a terrible incident, and the doping control idiots never even apologized to her.
ReplyDeleteI'm not totally convinced that Karatantcheva should have been suspended, either. And they have yet to show how on Earth cocaine is a "performance-enhancing drug," even if Hingis did use it.
Sometimes I agree with you. Sometimes I don't. But on this matter.. well said Diane. 100%
ReplyDeletePS, on the promotion of sexism rather than women's tennis.
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