Miscellany

Laura Robson has been granted a wild card into the qualifying rounds for the Australian Open.

The Australian firm of Tab Sportsbet reports that Kim Clijsters is the favorite to win the Open. Odds-wise, she is followed by Serena Williams and Justine Henin.

Dinara Safina talks with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour about her off-season break and about the 2010 season.

Ravi Ubha gives us five women's storylines to watch in 2010.

Note to John McEnroe: Ekaterina Bychkova wasn't punished for doing the right thing (turning down an offer to throw a match); she was punished for doing the wrong thing--failing to report the request. (I also find it interesting that I knew about the reporting rule, but Svetlana Kuznetsova maintains she's never heard of it.)

"We were both a little bit scrappy," Sam Stosur says of her Medibank International first round match against Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta won, 6-3, 6-1.

Miscellany

2010 Brisbane International champion Kim Clijsters has donated her prize money to the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital.

Family Circle Cup individual session tickets go on sale January 15 and are available through Ticketmaster. The tournament is also looking for volunteers, both youth and adult, and there is a special need for adult ball crew members. More information is available at the tournament's website. The tournament will be held April 10-18.

"Women's tennis needs them and we're just lucky that they're among us once again," Maria Sharapova says of Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Svetlana Kuznetsova's official website has disappeared.

Ekaterina Bychkova has been fined $5,000 and banned from playing for 30 days by the Tennis Integrity Unit. Bychkova is charged with failing to report that she was asked to provide inside information and to throw a match.

Miscellany

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at match-fixing, and--specifically--an approach that was made to Ekaterina Bychkova. Almost a year ago, Akiko Morigami clearly said she was approached and asked to throw a match, and then, a few days later, insisted her comments had been "misunderstood." The speed with which the sports media abandoned the Morigami story was right up there in the Jankovic court movement realm.

Robert Radwanski is at it again, this time insisting that the organizers of the Warsaw Open did not treat his daughter fairly.

Vera Zvonareva has been named UNESCO's latest Gender Equality Ambassador.

Jelena Dokic has won one main draw match since the Australian Open. Some people--you know who they are--have mocked her for experiencing sports fatigue syndrome, but that is a nasty state of affairs that depletes just about every part of one's body.

Australian Olivia Rogowska has been added to the French Open wild card list.