Passing shots

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro has retired from professional tennis. The Frenchwoman held her highest singles ranking, 61, in 2003.

Simon Reed believes that Petra Kvitova is the real thing.

If Caroline Wozniacki reaches the semifinals in Dubai, she will again be number 1 in the world. Paris champion Petra Kvitova was defeated in the first round today in double tiebreaks by Ayumi Morita, which clears one of Wozniacki's potential obstacles.

Recently retired WTA Tour star Justine Henin is considering undergoing surgery for her elbow. She is going to take a few months to think about it, and hopes to be able to skip the operation.

Pattaya City champion Daniela Hantuchova experienced dizziness during her first-round match against Anna Chakvetadze in Dubai. She and Paris champion Petra Kvitova were both defeated in the first round. Kvitova cited exhaustion and a painful stomach muscle.

There may eventually be night matches at the French Open.

In World Team Tennis, the New York Buzz and the New York Sportimes have merged. The new team will be called the New York Sportimes, and all but two of its matches will be played at Randall's Island in New York City. The other matches will be played in Albany, the home of the New York Buzz.

Some final (really) thoughts on Henin's retirement

I reported on January 26 that seven-time major champion Justine Henin had retired from professional tennis. This was Henin's second time to leave the sport; she also retired suddenly in 2008. At that time, I wrote this and this about her retirement. Now, with my own post-Australian Open fatigue, I will not go on and on about Henin. However, her exit from the sport is big news; for me, however, it was not news to be discussed while we were enjoying the peak of the action in Melbourne.

Justine Henin had one of the most beautiful--and deadly--tennis games I have ever seen. Even though one generally knew what she as going to do, it was still always exciting to watch her do it. Henin also displayed an athleticism that was all the more amazing because of her relatively small size. Her return to the tour, which appeared to be motivated--at least in part--by a desire to win Wimbledon and achieve a career Slam, did not go the way she expected it to go. When she reached the final of the 2010 Australian Open, she generated a lot of talk, of course. But she was beset by injuries and a decrease in mental toughness, and in the end, the pain from her injured elbow forced her off the tour.

I admired Henin in a rather detached way because I had trouble tolerating her high sense of drama about herself and her (seemingly always urgent) feelings, I saw her push the sporting envelope too far too many times, and I couldn't get past her 2006 Australian Open retirement against Amelie Mauresmo. Henin was apparently an acquired taste--and one I did not acquire. But I very much liked watching her play, and I'm always sorry to see someone have to leave the game because of injury. I consider her a great tennis player, and her dominance at the French Open is of historical importance within the sport. Perhaps the saddest thing, from a fan standpoint, is that there is not likely to be anyone else who plays the way she did.

Henin retires from professional tennis

World number 13 Justine Henin has retired from professional tennis. Henin's elbow injury has caused her a lot of pain, and her doctors have advised her to stop playing. This is Henin's second, and presumably final, retirement from the sport. She is 28 years old.

Top players advance to round of 16

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the round of 16 on day 5 of the Australian Open by defeating 29th seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3. Cibulkova upset Wozniacki recently in the second round of the Medibank International in Sydney. The top seed played a clean match, as usual, and made only eleven unforced errors. She looked relaxed and in control throughout the match.

I've seen a lot of tennis press conferences over the years--some of them funny, some of them sullen, some of them angry, some of them consisting of near-silence from the player. But I don't think I've ever seen anything like Wozniacki's post third-round press conference. Intentional or otherwise, it was a send-up--but not a good one---of every press conference Maria Sharapova has ever done. The affect, the mannerisms, the gestures, even the pauses--were all very broad imitations of Sharapova. I have no idea what's going on, but: Whoever took Caroline Wozniacki--please return her.

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Justine Henin in a major for the first time in her career, and improved her overall record against Henin to 3-16. It took Kuznetsova over two hours to get her 6-4, 7-6 victory. In the second set, both players were visibly anxious and were frustrated by unforced errors. Henin, especially--despite moments of wonderful shot-making--was awash in unforced errors (41 for the match), and she double-faulted nine times.

Kuznetsova served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and anyone who was a reasonable guesser figured she was going to get broken. She did. She then broke Henin at 5-all, but was broken back when she served for the match a second time. Henin began the tiebreak with her seventh double fault, and she double-faulted again at 4-3. She saved three match points and had a set point, which she didn't convert, and she double-faulted again at 8-all. Kuznetsova won the tiebreak 10-8. It was a really tense affair, and it was obvious that Henin's greatest post-injury deficit is a mental one.

9th seed Li Na and 8th seed Victoria Azarenka both won their third round matches in straight sets, defeating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Chanelle Scheepers, respectively. Anastasija Sevastova advanced to the round of 16 with a win over Vesna Manasieva.

6th seed Francesca Schiavone cruised 6-0 through her first set against Monica Niculescu, but then lost her focus, as she is sometimes prone to do, and let Niculescu in. Schiavone dug back in, though, and won the second set in a tiebreak. (Note--yet again--to commentators: It isn't "copying Federer" when you've had the shot in your repertoire for your entire career)

USA wins Hopman Cup

The USA, facing an unexpected Belgian team in the final, has won the 2011 Hopman Cup. Justine Henin defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6, 6-3 (the first set lasted 69 minutes) in the women's singles rubber, but John Isner won his singles rubber, and the team of Mattek-Sands and Isner won the mixed doubles competition.

This is the sixth time that team USA has won the Hopman Cup.

Miscellany

Laura Robson, who has been training at the Mouratoglou Academy for a year, has hired Patrick Mouratoglou to be her coach for the 2011 season.

Serena Williams and her crystal-encrusted rehab boot are now being spotted on tennis courts.

Tennis Channel is now airing its Hot Shots of 2010. Look for the feature to be shown several times.

Hopman Cup competition begins on January 1.

Justine Henin reports that it may take months for her elbow to be fully healed.

Olivia Rogowska has been given a wild card into the main draw of the Hobart Inernational tournament. She recently won the Australian Open wild card playoffs in Australia.

Miscellany

Valerie Tetreault has retired. Tetreault, who became a professional tennis player only four years ago, said, in her announcement: "I still have the same passion for my sport I have always had, but I am ready to take on new challenges, all while maintaining a more stable lifestyle." Tetreault, who lives in Canada, will seek a career in communications, and plans to remain involved in tennis.

Martina Navratilova, who had to come down off of Mount Kilimanjaro because of pulmonary edema, was discharged from the hospital on Sunday. 18 of the 27 Laureus fundraisers reached the top of the mountain. Navratilova reports that she is feeling much better.

Agnes Szavay, who sustained a left thigh strain in September, will not be playing in any of the 2011 Australian tournaments, including the Australian Open. Szavay has not yet begun training for the season. She plans to play for the Hungarian Fed Cup team in February.

On Friday, December 10, Martina Hingis married Frenchman Thibault Hutlin in Paris. Hutlin is a showjumper; he and Hingis met earlier this year at a jumping event in St. Tropez. The former tour star, who won five majors, is an experienced competitive equestrian.

Steve Flink's choice for WTA Match of the Year is the Brisbane final between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Clijsters and Henin, by the way, say that they may form a doubles team for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Clijsters named WTA Player of the Year

For the second time in her career, Kim Clijsters has been named WTA Player of the Year. Clijsters defended her U.S. Open title, won the WTA Champioships, and also won titles in Brisbane, Miami and Cincinnati. Clijsters was also the recipient of the Player Service Award.

Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta were named the Doubles Team of the Year. Dulko and Pennetta won seven titles together in 2010.

The remaining awards follow:

Comeback Player of the Year--Justine Henin
Newcomer of the Year--Petra Kvitova
Humanitarian of the Year--Maria Sharapova
Karen Krantzche Sports(wo)manship Award--Elena Dementieva

Once again, the players chose the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart as their favorite premier tournament. The Pattaya Open was chosen as the favorite international tournament.

Miscellany

Matt Cronin says the Williams sisters are headed toward retirement.

Venus Williams says she is hoping to win some titles and has her mind on the Olympic Games. "Serena and I will have to be in the best shape of our lives for London. We have to be machines to play in three events. It's something like fourteen matches in eight days. We had better be ready."

Not surprisingly, Vera Zvonareva was recently presened with Russia's Female Tennis Player of the Year award.

James LaRosa says that Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic are still in the running to win majors, and that Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova are still in the running to attain career slams.

Sania Mirza has made it to both the singles quarterfinals and the mixed doubles quarterfinals at the Asian Games. She defeated Zhang Shuai in the second round.

Edina Gallovits is getting married during the off-season.

Miscellany

Kim Clijsters reports that she is pain-free. Clijsters developed an infection on the bottom of her foot after undergoing a mole-removal procedure.

Justine Henin, by the way, reports that she is also pain-free.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands tells us that the most requested cocktail from her personal bar is a concoction called the Italian Wedding Cake. You can get details in her latest USA Today blog entry.

Coco Vandeweghe says she originally considered playing college basketball, but changed to tennis because she did not really enjoy playing on a team.

Amelie Mauresmo was on hand recently to celebrate Yannick Noah's 50th birthday, and you should check out this cake.

The consequences of injury: an object lesson

Miscellany

Venus Williams has withdrawn from the China Open because of her knee injury.

Retired WTA star Maggie Maleeva recently won the women's singles division of the Bulgarian National Tennis Championships. Maleeva first won the event when she was 13; she is now 35.

Justine Henin will play in the Diamond Games exhibition match in Antwerp in December. She will be joined by Kim Clijsters, Yanina Wickmayer and Francesca Schiavone.

Vera Zvonareva has qualified to play in the WTA Championships in Doha.

Anastasia Pivovarova has an elbow injury and will miss the rest of the 2010 season.

The following players and partners will participate on Hopman Cup teams in January: Alicia Molik (Lleyton Hewitt), Justine Henin (Steve Darcis), Kristina Mladenovic (Gael Monfils), Francesca Schiavone (Potito Starace), Ana Ivanovic (Novak Djokovic), Serena Williams (John Isner), Yaroslava Shvedova (Andrey Golubev). One more team will be announced at a later date.

Henin out for the rest of the season

Justine Henin announced today that she will not play for the remainder of the 2010 season because of the elbow injury she sustained in July. The former world number 1 fell during her quarterfinal match at Wimbledon, and damaged ligaments in her elbow. She expects to begin practicing again in October.

Henin out until September

Justine Henin, who fell onto her arm at Wimbledon during her match against Kim Clijsters, revealed today that she has a partial ligament fracture in her right elbow. Henin has withdrawn from the "Best of Belgium" exhibition, and does not expect to be at the U.S. Open.

Clijsters wins all-Belgian match at Wimbledon

The much-anticipated Wimbledon round of 16 match between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin took place today, and Clisters advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The match, however, did not live up to the expectations of some fans.

Clijsters struggled with her serve in the first set, was error-prone, and was easily broken. During that set, Henin fell and hurt her elbow, and received treatment for the injury at the first opportunity. After losing the first set, the 8th-seeded Clijsters adjusted her game and her serve, and reversed the score to take the second set.

At 4-all in the third, Clijsters broke the 17th seed and then successfully served for the match. She is now 3-0 against Henin since both returned to the tour.

4th seed Jelena Jankovic appeared on the court today with strapping on her thigh. She was having obvious trouble pushing off, and with opponent and 21st seed Vera Zvonareva leading 6-1, 3-0, Jankovic, after checking with a trainer, retired because her lower back had locked. She and partner Chanelle Scheepers gave their opponents, Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, a walkover in doubles.

Li Na defeated 7th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2, marking the first time the 9th seed has beaten Radwanska on a grass court. Tsvetana Pironkova upset 11th seed Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-4. This is the first time that Pironkova has beaten Bartoli; Bartoli has three wins against her, all on hard courts.

Qualifier Kai Kanepi advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Klara Zakopalova.

Two highly anticipated match-ups in Wimbledon round of 16

Today we all take a rest from Wimbledon, and tomorrow we get the entire round of 16. Included in those contests is a match between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. This will be the third time they have met since Henin returned to the tour. Both of their other matches this year were played on hard courts, both were decided by tiebreaks, and both were won by Clijsters. Throughout their careers, Henin has won three of their four matches on grass, including the last two, in 2006. One of those was a Wimbledon semifinal.

The Belgians have played each other a total of 24 times, and each has won twelve matches. Eleven of those matches were finals, of which Henin won seven. And four of those finals were played at majors, where Henin won them all.

Few, if any, would argue that--during their first careers, when the stakes were high--Henin had a mental edge over her countrywoman. Does she still have it, or have Clijsters close 2010 victories gotten into Henin's head? Is one of them a better grass player, and will it matter?

If the much-anticipated match between Henin and Clijsters doesn't interest you much, take heart: Another round of 16 match features Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. They haven't played one another since Williams defeated Sharapova in the 2008 Charleston quarterfinals, and their head-to-head is a lopsided one: Williams has won five or their seven matches. Still, there is interest because one of Sharapova's wins was in the Wimbledon final of 2004. Her other win was also big: She defeated Williams in the final of the 2004 tour Championships. Williams has beaten Sharapova twice at the Australian Open, and one of those times occurred during a final.

Clearly, given their history--and given how much Sharapova has struggled in recent months because of injury, incompetent medical care, and resulting problems with her serve--top seed Williams is the favorite to win this match. A win by Sharapova, at this point, would be quite an upset.

As interesting as these two matches are sure to be, however, there are other round of 16 matches that are well worth watching:

Jelena Jankovic has never played beyond the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Her opponent this year is Vera Zvonareva, who says she is not quite in form yet, but who looked plenty in-form against 15th seed Yanina Wickmayer in the third round. The "something extra" that Jankovic has added  is hitting down-the-line winners with her forehand, as opposed to just using her famous backhand for the shot.

Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na have played each other three times, and Radwanska has won both matches that were played on grass. She is obviously favored in this match, but both women are quietly and skillfully moving through the draw, and Li has obviously lost some of her discomfort with grass play.

Petra Kvitova played some of her best tennis against Victoria Azarenka in the third round, and she also defeated 2008 semifinalist Zheng Jie. Kvitova is a hit-or-miss player, but if she stays calm and swings with some authority against Caroline Wozniacki, she could move Wozniacki out of her comfort zone.

2007 finalist Marion Bartoli plays Tsvetana Pironkova, who is known for pulling big upsets, but who is equally known for displaying mental fragility at big moments. Klara Zakopalova plays qualifier (and former top 20 player) Kaia Kanepi. Both women are playing very good tennis at Wimbledon, and this is most likely going to be a match worth watching.

Finally, Venus Williams plays Jarmilla Groth, who may or may not handle the occasion. If she handles it, she may provide Williams with her best match so far. Groth looks comfortable on the grass. So far, in six sets, she has hit 81 winners, made 55 unforced errors, and been sucessful at the net 70% of the time. She also has an average first serve win percentage of 75. This will be the first meeting between Groth and Williams.

Henin wins Unicef Open

On a windy day in 's-Hertogenbosch, 7th seed Andrea Petkovic was up 6-3, 3-6, 3-0 against wild card and top seed Justine Henin in the Unicef Open. Petkovic has some problems closing big matches, and of course, those problems are going to be magnified when Henin is on the other side of the net. The Belgian walked away with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, and she and Petkovic took home two of the more unusual trophies given on the tour.

Kudryattseva & Rodionova win Unicef Open championship

3rd seeds Alla Kudryattseva and Anastasia Rodionova won the Unicef Open doubles championship in 's-Hertogenbosch today. Kudryattseva and Rodionova defeated 4th seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-3, 10-6. They also eliminated the number 1 seeds in the semifinals.

In singles semifinal action, top seed and wild card Justine Henin defeated 5th seed Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-2, and 7th seed Andrea Petkovic defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

Stosur breaks Henin's 24-match French Open win streak

It was a cold, dark morning in Paris, and Justine Henin had been through a lot--playing in the dark, playing in the rain, stopping, starting, stopping, starting, and facing a fierce challenge from Maria Sharapova. She said, after her round of 16 match against Sam Stosur, that she was nervous, "which is normally not the way I am." Facing Stosur without having a day off, Henin nevertheless won the first set, 6-2. But when the second set began, Stosur went up 3-0. She would win that set 6-1. The third was more of a contest. Stosur broke Henin at 3-all, then Henin broke her back.

When Stosur broke again, it was the beginning of the end. When she served for the match, the Henin backhand smashed balls into the net three times. Stosur, not immune to a case of last-minute jitters, then double-faulted on match point. But that was just a temporary glitch in the round of 16 run of Sam Stosur, who won, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, on her next match point.

Stosur had six break opportunities throughout the match, and converted four of them. She hit 26 winners (to Henin's 14), did quite well at the net, and posted first and second serve win percentages of 66 and 70. The balls were heavy, as they have been for a while now at Roland Garros, and Stosur put a lot of her signature topspin on them, aiming them high to Henin's backhand, taking away one of the Belgian's greatest strengths. It was a smart way to play Henin--regardless of the condition she was in--and it paid off.

Stosur, who is seeded 7th at the tournament, has now won 18 matches on clay this season--the most of any woman on the tour. She will face the number 1 seed, Serena Williams, in the quarterfinals.

Henin defeats Sharapova at French Open

My educated guess is that most tennis fans expected Justine Henin to emerge the victor when she and Maria Sharapova concluded their third round match at the French Open. They would have been correct--but they might not have anticipated that Henin would have to fight so hard in the final set to get the victory. Sharapova--struggling to regain her status on the tour, and known for being vulnerable on clay--put in a performance of which she should be quite proud.

Down 0-2, 0-40, Henin saved four break points, and took over the momentum, only to have it taken back by Sharapova. The wind blew around them, and the cool weather kept the balls heavy, as both women fought to maintain control of the rallies. Henin walked away with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 score, and a round of 16 meeting with 7th seed Sam Stosur.