Jelena Jankovic is reported to have parted ways with coach Ricardo Sanchez. She apparently intends to play without a coach, at least for now. Of course, we've heard, "I'm firing Sanchez" before....
Alize Cornet said she was "petrified by the stress" of playing in Fed Cup. The Frenchwoman, who has never won a Fed Cup match, also said "The more I play, the more I lose."
Note to Agence France-Presse: Melanie Oudin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands are not "Williams sisters stand-ins." For future reference, we call them "USA Fed Cup team members."
Ana Ivanovic, serving in her capacity as a UNICEF National Ambassador, did more than speech-making when she visited the Municipality of New Belgrade Ceremony Hall to induct fifteen additional schools into the School Without Violence program. Ivanovic observed a role-play exercise among students, guided the students in understanding why they behaved as they did in the exercise, and then took on the role of "victim" in the next role-play. Ivanovic is a strong supporter of the program, and has made several personal donations to support it.
The second Billie Jean King Cup event will be played in Madison Square Garden on March 1. Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Svetlana Kuznetsova will participate in the one-night, single elimination BNP Paribas Showdown for the Cup.
It is my hope that the Williams Sisters never play Fed Cup again. After listening to the Fed Cup captain trash Venus' game during the Australian Open I am wondering why anyone thinks that either sister would want to play for the US. As far as Mary Jo is concerned Venus' game is defective, needs improvement, she has made no changes to her game and she is only effective on grass. Since none of the Fed Cup ties are played on grass then there was no reason for Venus to play. In addition to Serena she is carrying an injury, but even if she was not, I am in total agreement for her not playing Fed Cup. The last time I looked the US does not need either of these women to play and they have said so in more ways than one. They do have a team and as Diane pointed out they are no longer stand ins, they are the legitimate Fed Cup team. Venus and Serena are in the twilight of their careers. Let those who have benefitted most from the largesse of the US tennis establishment support US tennis. I am sick of reading about how these 2 women prefer to go to Super Bowl parties or have a life outside of tennis rather than go play Fed Cup. Whatever. Clearly, people forget just how committed they used to be to Fed Cup, the Olympics or indeed the glory of having an American win a Grand Slam tournament every year. I guess that really does not count.
ReplyDeleteEasily I agree but I dream the post should acquire more info then it has.
ReplyDeleteAnon, the headline of the wire story was something to the effect of "Williams Sisters Stand-Ins Too Strong For France."
ReplyDelete