Miscellany

Sania Mirza is getting married next month. No, I'm not behind the times...Mirza did break off her engagement to Sohrab Mirza, but now she is marrying Pakistani cricket star Shoaib Malik. Mirza and her husband will live in Dubai.

College of Charleston student Mary Zolga has received a $5,000 scholarship grant from the Family Circle Cup's outreach program. Zolga, a business administration major and member of the women's track and field club, was awarded the grant on the basis of an essay she wrote. The scholarship program, founded in 2002, recognizes female College of Charleston students who make significant contributions in the areas of academics, athletics and community involvement.

New information reveals that 1912 Wimbledon champion Ethel Warneford-Thomson also won eleven badminton championships--five singles and six doubles.

The Fed Cup semifinal between Italy and the Czech Republic will be played in Rome on a clay court. This will be the first time that a Fed Cup competition has taken place at the Foro Italico Stadio "Nicola Pietrangeli."

Ashley Harkleroad will play World Team Tennis for the New York Sportimes this summer.

Miscellany

Dinara Safina has withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami because of continuing problems with her back.

Daniela Hantuchova injured her back in Indian Wells and is on her way to see a doctor for additional treatment. The injury does not appear to be serious, and she hopes to be fine for Miami.

Steve Tignor's March 15 column is all about Yanina Wickmayer.

Tennis Channel has done some new Bag Checks. The Bag Check segment is an entertaining diversion. Look for new ones featuring Sabine Lisicki, Alona Bondarenko and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

I like Carla Suarez Navarro's old-school tennis outfit.

Ashley Harkleroad will play in Miami next week. She has a protected ranking of number 70 in the world. Harkleroad left the tour in October of 2008 to have a baby.

Which reminds me: Kim Clijsters had a baby and returned to the tour. (In case you hadn't heard....)

Miscellany

Ashley Harkleroad has given birth to a boy, and says she may be back on the tour by summer.

Amelie Mauresmo has withdrawn from the tournament in Marbella.

Jelena Dokic's fatigue problem has been diagnosed as sports fatigue syndrome, which is pretty serious stuff, affecting the endocrine and neurological systems. I'm waiting for both her and Serena Williams to withdraw from Charleston.

Speaking of Charleston, 2004 champion Venus Williams says: "I have enjoyed playing in Charleston. The fans are very knowledgeable about tennis and really seem to rally around the event. Over the years, I look forward to returning to markets where the fans are so excited about our sport."

Ana Ivanovic is a possible nominee for the Laureus World Sports Awards, in the category of Breakthrough of the Year. The nominees will be announced April 16.

Pot, meet kettle

"Anna is stunning to look at, but she’s probably a bit damaged from what she’s been through. That’s how she acts--a bit damaged."

Ashley Harkleroad on Kournikova, in her Playboy interview

Harkleroad turns down chance to be on U.S. Olympic team

Ashley Harkleroad has turned down an opportunity to play in the 2008 Olympics because, she says, she wants to concentrate on improving her ranking during the hard court season.

Harkleroad was recently off the tour for a while because of emergency surgery.

Talk about changing your mind

When Ashley Harkleroad returned to the tour, she made a point of saying she was opposed to the marketing of sex on the tour, and she wanted to avoid doing fashion shoots and getting involved in showing her body.

Today, I heard that she has posed for Playboy.

Harkleroad out of Charleston, Fed Cup--Venus out of everything

When Ashley Harkleroad played Virginie Razzano in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open, she experienced some pain that she thought was caused by menstrual cramps. The pain became worse, and an ultrasound revealed that she had a blood-filled cyst on her right ovary. The medical advice she received was that she could keep playing as long as she could tolerate the pain.

It was very bad advice. In the next round, the pain continued, and because it hurt her to drink, Harkleroad took in very little water and became severely dehydrated. She then went back to her hotel and vomited until she became frightenly weak. Her tongue went numb, and she was taken to a hospital in an ambulance. The cyst has burst, there was internal bleeding, her liver function was affected, and she lost a quart of blood. Harkleroad had emergency surgery to remove the ovary, and is healing quickly. She does not say whether she will take legal action against the doctor who gave her the bad advice; she does say that she thinks she ought to have paid closer attention to her symptoms.

Harkleroad will miss both the Family Circle Cup and Fed Cup.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams--who withdrew from Amelia Island because of an undisclosed medical issue, has announced that she is dropping out of the tour for an indefinite period of time. "I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible," she said. Williams has indicated that she wants to play in the French Open and she may also play in some other tournaments. I think it is safe to assume she will withdraw from the Family Circle Cup, which begins next week.

So unpretty

First it was Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber. I didn't see their first set in Indian Wells, but the second was not a pretty sight, with Bartoli losing a 5-1 lead, and Kerber looking like she was trying to figure out a way for Bartoli to win, anyway. I have been watching Kerber for a while and I think she has talent, but that set was painful to watch. Bartoli finally won it, and won the match, 6-3, 7-6.

This evening, it was Maria Sharapova and Alona Bondarenko. Each had moments of brilliance, but the overall match (or at least the first two sets) was fraught with errors and inconsistency. Both players had major service problems, and Bondarenko tended to follow a winner with an error. Sharapova, for her part, had trouble keeping the ball in the court. She finally prevailed, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, after an entertaining final set.

Barry Tompkins, one of the commentators for FSN, talked about Bondarenko's negative body language. Obviously, he has not watched her before. Alona Bondarenko is restrained at her best moments, and somewhat dour at others, but that's just her court personality.

Notable in today's play was Ashley Harkleroad, who took Agnieszka Radwanska to three sets before being defeated, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Wozniacki upsets Kirilenko

The unpredictable Maria Kirilenko was emphatically eliminated from the Pacific Life Open today by the talented Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-0. Wozniacki's serve was definitely on, giving her high first serve percentages and a second service point win record of 80%. She never gave Kirilenko a break point.

Another big winner was Ashley Harkleroad, who beat Lucie Safarova, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. Both women had trouble with their second serves, and each woman double-faulted ten times.

In doubles, sixth-seeded Peng Shuai and Sun Tiantian were upset by Dinara Safina and Elena Vesnina, 4-6, 6-1, 10-4, in the first round. Peng and Sun won the Bangalore Open last week.

Interview with Harkleroad

Ashley Harkleroad speaks frankly about her career and her image in this ESPN interview.

Thanks a lot, Ashley...and what was your name?

Ashley Harkleroad--who is the reason the U.S. will play in the 2008 Fed Cup semifinals--is well aware that she herself may not participate in those matches. When the U.S. plays Russia, it is expected that Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond will be there to play doubles again, and there is apparently some hope that the Williams sisters will be on the team.

Get real. Does anyone really think that both Williams sisters will be healthy and ready to play in Fed Cup? I'm not sure even one of them will be. My guess is that if everyone else is healthy and available and one Williams sister can show up, Laura Granville (who did not play against Germany, despite being on the team) will be cut, and Harkleroad will be on the team. Whether she would actually play, of course, is another question.

If the U.S. plays Russia on a clay surface, should Lindsay Davenport be on the team as a singles player? Stay tuned.

Harkleroad takes the U.S. into Fed Cup semifinals

Ashley Harkleroad, whose return to pro tennis has been less than spectacular, showed what she is capable of today in her 6-4, 7-5 victory over German player Sabine Lisicki. The match, which was rained out yesterday, featured Harkleroad displaying both a cerebral advantage and some impressive defensive play.

Her opponent, if I may borrow a line from Richard O'Brien, is a "wild and untamed thing, ...a bee with a deadly sting." Lisicki hits either brilliant winners or unforced errors--she is all over the place all the time. One assumes that, as she continues her training at the Bollettieri Academy, she will learn patience and self-discipline. When that occurs, her sting will be deadly indeed.

The U.S. will play defending champion Russia in the semifinals.

Exacty how much "personality" does she want?

Responding to USA Today's questions about the impact of the three-year-old U.S. Open Series, "top player" (I'm not sure how USA Today came up with that) Ashley Harkleroad said:

I think tennis in the U.S. is not doing well because people would rather watch football, basketball or baseball. Making people more aware? Not really, I don't think so. Tennis is boring--no personalities anymore. (Andy) Roddick's got a personality, but that's about it. They need to do something different. Something needs to happen.

I agree that people would rather watch football, basketball or baseball. Americans like team sports, and especially testosterone-loaded team sports. But Harkleroad must live in a hole to believe there are no pro tennis personalities. Pro tennis is a veritable stage show of antics, wit, candor, charm, and glamour. Maria Sharapova, Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Marat Safin, Amelie Mauresmo, Sam Stosur, Marcos Baghdatis...come on. Is Francesca Schiavone screaming in Italian and making sexy signals to her boyfriend not enough personality? Is Dmitry Tursunov putting on a tennis skirt and imitating Sharapova not enough personality?

Perhaps Harkleroad believes that American viewers do not care about players who are not American. Where would she ever get a silly idea like that?....

But even if viewers restrict their interest to Americans, we have the Williams sisters, who have added as much personality to tennis as anyone has to any professional sport. And we have Bethanie Mattek, and that's as good as it gets.