Safina takes indefinite leave from tennis

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that Dinara Safina had withdrawn from the French Open. Today, she announced that she is taking an indefinite leave from professional tennis. Plagued by back problems, Safina said that "At the moment, I can't do anything tennis-wise. When I can do certain moves without feeling lots of pain, then I would consider resuming my training."

Several months ago, Safina gave some thought to retiring from the sport because of her recurring injury, but decided to stick with it. The former world number 1 (known as "Thrill Ride" on this blog because of string of breathtaking third set comebacks) was a finalist at both the French Open and the Australian Open, and she holds twelve singles titles. Safina's droll wit ("The more you know, the less you sleep") has made her one of the best press conference personalities on the tour.

"I don't know how long my time out is going to last," Safina said. "I don't want to torture myself and my body anymore."

Passing shots

Dinara Safina appears to have withdrawn from the French Open.

Li Na recently told an interviewer, in response to a question about her fame, that if she were a man, she would be the most famous athlete in China. She added that women will never achieve that type of equality, not just in China, but throughout the world. You said it, Big Sister.

Li, by the way, has changed coaches. Her husband, Jiang Shan will stop coaching her. Instead, Li has hired Michael Mortensen, who is captain of the Danish Fed Cup team. 

Timea Bacsinszky recently had surgery on her left foot, so she'll be out for a while.

Tom Perrotta thanks Tennis Channel for its "relentless coverage" of the clay court season. That would be "relentless coverage of the ATP clay court season."

Speaking of coverage...Tennis TV has dropped its separate WTA/ATP packages, and customers will now have to buy a package that includes both tours. This means customers will pay almost twice as much to get matches they perhaps do not want to watch. (I always bought just the WTA package, but that was only because I didn't want to tempt myself with the combined package.) The good part is that Tennis TV offers excellent customer service and way better commentary than anything we see on television in the USA.

Passing shots

Dinara Safina is ill, and had to withdraw from the semifinals in Fes. Alberta Brianti received a walkover, and will play last year's runner-up, Simona Halep, in the final. Safina had not reached a semifinal since August of 2009.

Irina Falconi has won the USTA French Open wild card playoffs. Falconi defeated Julia Boserup 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the final, which was held in Boca Raton, Florida. The other competing players were Beatrice Capra, Lauren Davis, Madison Keys, and Grace Min.

Vikings player Bryant McKinnie, who is trying to drop 20 pounds before returning to the football field, has opted to take tennis lessons from Venus Williams. "She tires you out," the offensive tackle said of his teacher.

Chris Evert expects Caroline Woznaicki to win the 2011 French Open.

Kim Clijsters has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People for 2011. Time's staff apparently discovered that Clijsters had a baby and returned to work. She "juggles" a  career and a family. (Roger Federer is not known to "juggle" his career and family, which makes him, I suppose, a not very extraordinary woman.)

Steve Tignor has begun a series on books about tennis.

Passing shots

Kim Clijsters, already off of the tour for a month because of shoulder and wrist injuries, now has an ankle injury, too. Clijsters hurt her ankle while attending her cousin's wedding. She is walking on crutches, and her French Open participation is now in question. Clijsters had already withdrawn from the Belgian Fed Cup team.

Withdrawing from the Australian Fed Cup team is Jelena Dokic, who cites exhaustion as the reason. Sam Stosur, Australia's lead player, had already announced that she would not play in the upcoming Fed Cup tie.

Irina-Camelia Begu was the runner-up in Marbella  this past week, so you may want to know more about her.

"I dream of being as consistent as Caroline Wozniacki for the whole season, not just clay courts or whatever," Svetlana Kuznetsova told Guy McCrae in Marbella.

Some good news: Dinara Safina's back problem in Marbella was strictly nerve-related, and not serious. Her stress fracture continues to heal nicely.

Francesca Schiavone won an exhibition set 6-4 against Caroline Wozniacki in Monte Carlo.

Venus and Serena Williams are opening a clothing store called "Courture" in Miami.

Back injury forces Safina to retire in Marbella

The lower back problem that kept Dinara Safina off the tour for a long time returned today in Marbella. The former world number 1 had to retire against Victoria Azarenka in the first set of their quarterfinal match. Safina's back injury was originally suspected to be career-threatening, and she had to leave the tour twice because of it. She has since struggled to make a comeback, and was given a wild card to play in Marbella.

Passing shots

The use of Hawk-Eye has been extended at Fed Cup.

I don't call her Thrill Ride for nothing.

The BBC is considering taking Wimbledon off of its broadcasting schedule. Any such change would not occur until 2014.

Thank goodness for Tennis TV, which is now easier than ever to use, and which keeps me from having to watch Tennis Channel with the sound off.

Venus Williams will return to the tour at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

You can get to know Christina McHale here.

Thrill Ride dumps Stosur in the desert

Dinara Safina made it to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open tonight by defeating 4th seed Sam Stosur 7-6, 6-4. Safina played extremely well in the first set, though she wasn't able to exploit opportunities to close the set before it went to a tiebreak. Her failure to close didn't get her down, though; she blew past Stosur 7-2 in that tiebreak. The former world number 1 lost her way in the second set, but kept herself together and--in classic Thrill Ride fashion--eventually came back (and took advantage of an error-prone Stosur). The problematic part is that Safina double-faulted 16 times. Nevertheless, her victory over a top seed at a premier tournament made her obviously happy, and it was a lovely moment.

Maria Sharapova looked an awful lot like herself when she defeated 20th seed Aravane Rezai in straight sets. 22nd seed Alisa Kleybanova upset 13th seed Flavia Pennetta, who had defeated the Russian in their four previous matches. Nadia Petrova ended wild card Christina McHale's run, and 9th seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat her former doubles partner, 24th seed Maria Kirilenko. Also advancing were top seed Caroline Wozniacki (def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez), 8th seed Victoria Azarenka (def. Urszula Radwanska), and Peng Shuai (def. Lucie Hradecka, who served for the match at 5-4 in the third set).

In doubles, 7th seeds Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were upset by Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina in 2nd round play.

Passing shots

Andrea Petkovic, who is blogging from Indian Wells, recently had a 45-minute practice hit with Steffi Graf. Petkovic says she plans to "reinvent" herself.

You can now get to know Rebecca Marino.

News flash! Reuters has learned that Kim Clijsters balances motherhood with a career! Because women, like trained seals, have to "balance" everything.

Dinara Safina considered retiring from professional tennis after the Australian Open.

Getting a beating when you lose a set, getting slapped when you have a bad practice, seeing the father of one of your peers physically assaulted...some of the WTA's drama hasn't been the good kind.

Anna Chakvetadze, who passed out during her second round match in Dubai, retired today in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open because of dizziness.

Dokic wins Malaysian Open

Today in Kuala Lumpur, Jelena Dokic won her first WTA Tour title since 2002. Dokic defeated 5th seed Lucie Safarova 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, after Safarova served for the match in the second set. Dokic, thoughout the tournament, repeatedly came from behind to win, and mastered a series of tiebreaks. She won today's tiebreak 11-9, saving two match points along the way. She also served thirteen aces.

Before she left the tour, Dokic--who was once ranked number 4 in the world--won five titles, including championships in Rome, Tokyo and Moscow. In 2009, she made a dramatic and emotional run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, in which she lost to eventual runner-up Dinara Safina.

Safina, with partner Galina Voskoboeva, won the Malaysian Open doubles championship. Safina and Voskoboeva defeated Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and Jessica Moore 7-5, 2-6, 10-5. Safina has fallen on hard times since she injured her back, so a win for her in doubles--though not as dramatic as Dokic's victory--is nevertheless a small change in fortune. Today's victory is the Russian's first championship doubles win in three years.

Passing shots

Flavia Pennetta is now co-ranked number 1 in the world in doubles, sharing the spot with partner Gisela Dulko, and achieving yet another "first" for Italian players.

Dinara Safina has won her first match since September. She defeated Han Xinyun 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the Malaysian Open. Safina's victory broke a six-match losing streak.

Iveta Benesova is blogging from Monterrey.

Can sportswriters and reporters please stop writing "comeback" when they mean "come back" (the verb)?

Qualifier Anne Kremer, who upset Kimiko Date Krumm in the first round of the Malaysian Open, has advanced to the third round.

Aravane Rezai and Julia Goerges were both upset in the opening round of the Monterrey Open.

Laura Robson reports that she's now bowling with her right arm because her lefty spin created too many gutter balls.

Passing shots

Dinara Safina has hired Davide Sanguinetti to be her coach. Sanguinetti reached a career-high rank of 42 in the ATP.

Olympus has settled the lawsuit filed against the company by the USTA. Olympus will remain a sponsor of the U.S. Open, and will remain the title sponsor of the U.S. Open Series.

There are a number of travel packages available for the Family Circle Cup, which will be played April 2-10.

You can read about Australia's new Learn Earn Legend! program here; it's the lastest initiative of the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

Venus Williams is the service speed leader so far in 2011. She hit a 121.2 mph (195 kph) serve at the Australian Open. Right behind her, not surprisingly, is Lucie Hradecka, who hit a 120. 5 mph (194 kph) serve in Brisbane.

New Zealand and Malaysia both pulled out of Fed Cup competition because they didn't have enough good players to compete. Marina Erakovic and Sacha Jones, New ealand's top players, both have wrist injuries.

Clijsters goes all Petrova on Safina

3rd seed Kim Clijsters, the favorite to win the 2011 Australian Open, gave the crowd a taste of her focus during her first round on the second day of the event. Clijsters defeated 2009 finalist Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-0 in just 44 minutes.

Clijsters knows what it feels like. Last year, she was beaten down 6-0, 6-1 by Nadia Petrova in the third round of the Open.

Prior to the match, as some of us were discussing earlier today, the commentators on ESPN chatted for some time about Safina's history of mental collapses, and need to do something about her mental strength. And while that discussion is relevant, it is simply not the whole story. For one thing, the big collapses occurred only in major finals. Also, the commentators--led by Patrick McEnroe--failed to mention the former number 1's career-threatening back injury that took her off the tour twice, and caused her to miss months of play. (In contrast, the same commentators were telling us every five minutes that Juan Martin Del Potro may struggle because he was out for so long with a wrist injury.)

A memorable match was played between 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska (who Tennis Channel commentators forgot to mention--until the last mintue--has not played since September because of surgery for a stress fracture in her foot) and Kimiko Date Krumm. They each won a set, and the third set was a see-saw of momentum. It was impossible to predict who would win. Date Krumm went up 4-1, but then Radwanska had to take a medical break because her back was bothering her. After that break, Date Krumm was never the same, and it surely didn't help that the usually burning hot Melbourne court temperature was pleasantly cool. Still, it was hard to determine who would prevail, and toward the end, Radwanska inadvertently supplied some first-rate comic relief. Then she won the match, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Ekaterina Makarova upset 19th seed and 2008 finalist Ana Ivanovic, Alicia Molik won an entertaining match against Roberta Vinci, Ayumi Morita upset 27th seed Alexandra Dulgheru, and Jelena Jankovic hit ten aces. Among those saying goodbye were Australians Anastasia Rodionova, Sophie Ferguson and Sally Peers. Melanie Oudin, Patty Schnyder and Auckland champion Greta Arn were also among the defeated on day 2.

Passing shots

Elena Dementieva has accepted the position of vice president of the Russian Tennis Federation, which can be only a good thing for Russian tennis. The recently retired Dementieva was honored on Thursday by President Dmitry Medvedev. (Thanks to Forty Deuce for providing this news.)

Jelena Dokic has hired Glenn Schaap to be her coach.

Maria Sharapova, who recently ended her contract with Prince, will play with a Head racquet this season. She's been playing for a while with a Head racquet with the logo blacked out, so this is hardly a surprise. Sharapova's new endorsement contract is worth $2 million a year.

Kim Clijsters recently repeated her statement that 2011 may be her last full season on the tour.

Recently retired tour member Alina Jidkova was married over the holiday break. Jidkova married Sascha Ghods, who is also her partner in an international fine pearl business.

The January issue of the Russian version of Glamour contains a feature on Vera Zvonareva. You can see some photos here.

Dinara Safina spent part of the off-season in Argentina.

Jarmila Groth is blogging from Brisbane (warning: reading the first post will involve learning about Sam Groth's bleached mohawk).

Safina ends her 2010 season

If you are a fan of Dinara Safina, your worst fears are true: Safina's back injury is bothering her again, and she has decided to stop playing for the season. This is really bad news for the former world number 1, who said: "It has been the worst year of my career, mainly because of my injury that has kept me away from several tournaments and kept me from playing my game of tennis."

Safina's career skyrocketed in 2008 and 2009, but  toward the end of 2009, she began to suffer with the back injury that took her out of the WTA Championships and would cause her to retire from both Brisbane and the 2010 Australian Open. The injury also took her off of the tour for three months in the early part of the season. She returned for the clay season, but had to withdraw from Wimbledon because of her back, which she had been assured was totally healed.

Here's hoping that someone in the rehab world has a solution for the talented and ceaselessly entertaining Russian who is better known on this blog as Thrill Ride. The tour just isn't the same without her.

Schiavone out of New Haven

Dinara Safina, who is working on a comeback, made a good start in New Haven tonight by defeating 3rd seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Thrill Ride, who is in the tournament as a wild card, will next compete against Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-3.

Qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands also advanced. Mattek-Sands defeated Alexandra Dulgheru. And in a match that lasted three hours, lucky loser Dominka Cibulkova defeated Melanie Oudin 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Ivanovic withdraws from New Haven, Safina and Petrova get wild cards

Ana Ivanovic, who injured her ankle in Cincinnati just when she was making a comeback, has withdrawn from the Pilot Pen event in New Haven. In the meantime, wild cards for the event have been given to former world number1 Dinara Safina and world number 21 Nadia Petrova. Elena Dementieva and Sam Stosur also have wild cards into the New Haven event.

The top seed in New Haven is defending champion Caroline Wozniacki. Last year, Wozniacki won a rain-delayed final that was hampered by gusts of high wind.

Qualifying began today; wild cards Coco Vandeweghe and Christina McHale both lost in the first round, and Vania King retired at the end of the second set of her match against Anastasia Rodionova.

"She couldn't really stop herself from winning"

I missed this piece on Dinara Safina when it was published over a week ago; it is worth reading. In it, the former world number 1 explains that she re-injured her back because she returned to the tour too soon (she was gone for so long), and she also explains what now makes her spine vulnerable.

After she re-injured her back, some of you will recall, Safina could not walk for a week. She then did a few weeks of rehab in Argentina. She says she has to make sure that she positions her hips and pelvis correctly, or she has spinal pain. The key, she says, is to make her core stronger through exercise so that she will get the kind of support she needs for her back.

Countrywoman Elena Dementieva suggests that Safina played in too many tournaments, but that "She couldn't really stop herself from winning." Safina says: "...people are starting to lose respect for me, so I have to earn the respect back." She says she knows what she has to do, and she isn't giving up.

Safina advances to 2nd round in San Diego

Whoever thought that would be news?

It is, though, because the former world number 1 has had such a hard time of it since returning (twice) from a serious back injury. But last last night, she defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 7-6 in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open.

Also advancing was Alisa Kleybanova, who defeated Aravane Rezai 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

The battle of the day, however, was fought between Olga Govortsova and Sara Errani. The played for two hours and 45 mintues, broke each other twelve times, and wound up winning the same number of games in a down-to-the-wire determination of the winner.  Errani defeated Govortsova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

Jamie Hampton lost her final qualifying round to Chanelle Scheepers, but became the lucky loser because of Victoria Azarenka's withdrawal. That means she will play Melanie Oudin tonight in the first round.

Date Krumm defeats Safina in first round of Stanford play

The situation wasn't as dramatic this time: It wasn't the French Open, and Kimiko Date Krumm wasn't wincing in pain and forced to move on one leg. The outcome was the same, however. Last night, in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic, Date Krumm defeated the former world number 1 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2.

Safina led 5-4 in the second set, and appeared to be on her way to winning the match. Neither player was serving especially well, but Kimiko Date broke through to force a third set, in which Safina did not hold serve one time.

Safina, who has had serious problems with her back for months, is currently ranked number 35 in the world.

Miscellany

Kim Clijsters defeated Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in the Brussels exhbition match that was supposed to have featured the "Best of Belgium," but was changed when Justine Henin had to withdraw because of an injury. I expected Yanina Wickmayer to be asked to step in, but instead, orgnanizers chose Williams. 35,681 spectators attended the match, the biggest crowd ever to attend a tennis event.

Dinara Safina is back on the court. She and Victoria Azarenka have been given wild cards into the Bank of the West Classic.

Not surprisingly, Maria Sharapova--who has long had a say in her own Nike dress designs--has decided to design tennis clothes for the rest of us.

Tennis Channel will broadcast the men's and women's finals of the U.S. Open National Playoffs. The men's final will be held on July 25, and the women's final will be held on August 1. The winners receive wild cards into U.S. Open qualifying.

The World Team Tennis finals will also take place on July 25.

Melanie Oudin will play in Stanford, San Diego and Cincinatti.

Alona Bondarenko married her coach, Nikolay Dyachok, on Thursday. The wedding reception was held today, and the couple is then off to a honeymoon in Crete.