Miscellany

It generally takes a while (well, a long time) for researchers to get around to studying females instead of extrapolating onto us the results of studies using male subjects. Here is a very interesting, and useful, study about female athletes, carbohydrates and proteins.

This is from the New York Times Wimbledon Straight Sets blog, and is a nice tribute to Julie Ditty from her former coach, Geoff MacDonald.

Here is a new profile of Alison Riske (via Zoo Tennis).

Who would play Bethanie Mattek-Sands in a biopic of the Fed Cup star?

Maria Sharapova and Yanina Wickmayer will be doubles partners in Stanford.

USA to meet Czech Republic in Fed Cup semifinal

The USA-Argentina Fed Cup contest went all the way, with the doubles rubber determining who would go to the semifinals. World number 1 Liezel Huber, playing with ITF star Julie Ditty rose to the occasion and defeated Argentina, 6-2, 6-3.

Most of the talent in singles came from Gisela Dulko, who played some of her best tennis to defeat both Melanie Oudin and Jill Craybas. When Dulko's serve is on, she can be a formidable opponent, and her serve was definitely on during this Fed Cup tie. The other main Argentine player was Bettina Jozami, who has an interesting, but flawed, game. She lost to both Craybas and Oudin.

The USA team will play the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The Czech Republic upset Spain, 4-1, with Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova leading the team to victory. The other semifinal will be played between Russia and Italy.

Other final scores in the World Groups:

Serbia def. Japan, 4-1
Ukraine def. Israel, 3-2
Germany def. Switzerland, 3-2
Slovak Republic def. Belgium, 4-1

Patty Schnyder defeated both her doubles partner, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Sabine Lisicki, in her singles matches.

Mattek off of Fed Cup team for February

Bethanie Mattek is not only the highest-ranked American woman not named Williams--she lives just down the road from the site of the U.S.'s upcoming Fed Cup contest with Argentina. All the more pity that she has had to withdraw, citing a hip injury that caused her to miss the Australian Open. She has been replaced by Julie Ditty.

Ditty and Dechy enjoy success in Bell Challenge first round

Julie Ditty, who reached the semifinals of the Bell Challenge last year, made a strong start this year by defeating Urzula Radwanska, 7-6, 6-2, in the first round. Today, veteran (and now doubles specialist) Nathalie Dechy defeated comeback player Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-1. 

Also today, Melinda Czink upset Sabine Lisicki, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Ditty breaks USTA Pro Circuit record

Julie Ditty has broken the USTA Pro Circuit record for titles won, singles and doubles combined. Ditty won both singles and doubles in a recent ITF tournament in Albuquerque, breaking the record for both men and women. She has now won thirty-two USTA Pro Circuit titles.

The 29-year-old Ditty broke into the top 100 last November when she made it to the semifinals in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's Bell Challenge in Quebec City. Ditty has earned almost $153,000 in prize money in 2008.