Ana Ivanovic, who won the Rogers Cup in 2006, will have to qualify to get into the main draw this year.
Former world number 10 Nicole Vaidisova has married ATP star Radek Stepanek. Vaidisova retired from professional tennis earlier this year.
Serena Williams' agent describes her client as "a fast healer," and says that Williams is hoping to play in the U.S. Open.
Martina Navratilova will receive the Eugene L. Scott Award during the 2010 U.S. Open. The award, sponsored by the International Tennis Hall of Fame, "honors an individual who consistently embodies Gene’s commitment to communicating honestly and critically about the game, and who has had a significant impact on the world of tennis." Scott was the founder and publisher of Tennis Week.
Steve Flink did an interview with Nancy Richey that is well worth reading.
8 comments:
Playing qualifying could do Ana some good. I'm surprised she's not playing some lower level tournaments as that's realistically where her game is right now, at least she'd get some wins for confidence. If her ranking continues to drop she's gonna have no choice but to drop down a level.
It's surprising that Ivanovic's game has sunk to such a new low. I agree with Bex -- it's good that she's being forced to play the qualifying. Maybe this harsh reality will wake her up and make her realize that things are pretty bad.
I agree with both of you. I don't think the Rogers Cup organizers would have done Ana a favor by giving her a wild card.
Rogers Cup totally disrespected a former Champion. If I am Ana, I simply never play there again. There is nothing wrong with playing qualies, and Ana should be playing smaller events and some qualies, but not at a tournament where she has done so much for. Ana won their event (her first tier 1 title), done so much to promote it and "almost saved it" according to their tournament director, yet they have zero appreciation for her. Disgraceful.
EDIT: *But not at a tournament that she has done so much for yet gets nothing in return.
Oh, Ana the players who got wild cards instead of her? Ranked outside the top 100. So there goes the "Ana is playing poorly so doesn't deserve a wild card" argument.
Since I am recovering from surgery I am going to use something I wrote at Tenaciouslytennis.com. To wit: As far as Ana is concerned, I also think that she trying harder than Vaidisova did to get back up in the rankings. Somewhere along the lines, Vaidisova just gave up. Ana still seems to want to try and derives great pleasure when she does win a match. Maybe having to qualify will be a good experience for her. Maybe it will motivate her, maybe it will just make her relax.
I also agree with Bex. She should be playing some ITF events to get back her confidence. THere is no shame in that. Many a good player has had to go on the "minor league" tour to get back to basics. She originally had an injury after winning RG and went down from there. So like others before her who had injuries, she should feel ok about working the kinks out on the ITF circuit or at the International tournament level.
Ivanovic's slide down the rankings highlights just how important consistency is in professional tennis. Moreover, it points to the achievements of the Williams sisters who've managed to play at the highest level for so long.
The Rogers Cup organizers made it clear that a wild card was not given to Ivanovic for a number of reasons, not just because she is "playing poorly."
Post a Comment