Miscellany

Katerina Srebotnik will not play in the French Open this year. Srebotnik has suffered with both an Achilles injury and an ankle injury this year.

Nicole Vaidisova (remember Vaidisova?) has failed to qualify for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She was defeated today in the third qualifying round by Yaroslava Shvedova.

Note to Flavia Pennetta: Enjoy your foie gras now--the EU, thank goodness, has finally banned the extraordinarily cruel practice of foie gras production, in spite of France's objections.

Thanks to Zoo Tennis for this story about Penn State tennis coach Dawna Prevette, who appears to be not only abusive, but also unhinged. It puzzles me that she has retained her position; on the other hand, that sort of thing is quite common.

The grand opening of La Caja Magica--home of the new Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open--took place on Thursday. The official opening will occur on May 8.

Sony Ericsson has agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Miami tournament through 2011--the current contract expires after 2010. The struggling company's sponsorship of the WTA extends through next year, and contract renewal talks begin later this year. "We will certainly be requesting more for the same amount of money," a Sony Ericsson spokesman said.

Srebotnik in, Williams out

Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia took Serena Williams out of the French Open today

For fans of Katarina Srebotnik, it is not a shock that today, she triumphed over the woman many thought would win this year's French Open. Srebotnik is one of those players who has multiple skills, but usually not quite enough of them to get to the elite section of a major draw. A crack doubles player, Srebotnik can volley with the best of them, and generally gives top opponents a hard time. In Charleston, she lost to Serena Williams in three tight sets, and one got the impression that if she could get her game up just a notch, she could turn that scoreline around.

She did that today. According to Williams, Srebotnik played like a "top two" player in Paris. Srebotnik will now play the winner of the Emilie Loit-Patty Schnyder match. That sitation has bcome complicated, however, by Schnyder's foot pain, and there is talk that Schnyder may withdraw from the tournament (which would make some of us perfectly miserable).

Srebotnik and Sugiyama win Family Circle Cup

Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova had never before played doubles together, and--ten minutes before the entry deadline expired-they decided, on a whim, to enter the Family Circle Cup. During the course of the tournament, they took out both the number 3 seeds, Peschke and Stubbs, and the number 1 seeds, Black and Huber. The number 2 seeds, Katerina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, proved too much for them, however.

One hopes that the team of Gallovits and Govortsova is here to stay. Gallovits is good at the net, as is Govortsova, if she has time to set up. Govortsova has an impressive forehand down the line, and Gallovits thrills with her lobs. Against Srebotnik and Sugiyama, though, they were neither quick nor clever enough. It was a good final, whose scoreline does not reflect its quality; Gallovits and Govortsova, should they choose to stay together (and why wouldn't they?) have nowhere to go but up.

(Tournament director Robin Reynolds had no excuse for not knowing how to pronounce Govortsova's name, and she also should have known that Srebotnik is from Slovenia, not Slovakia.)

Srebotnik/Sugiyama def. Gallovits/Govortsova, 6-2, 6-2

Are you being served?

We have seen some impressive serving since we arrived at the Family Circle Cup. Marion Bartoli served extremely well against Vera Zvonareva, Katarina Srebotnik served very well against Serena Williams, Gisela Dulko--whose serve was disappointing against Williams--practically put on a service clinic when she played Alicia Molik, and we also saw some very good serving from Tatiana Perebynis.

Family Circle Cup 2nd day of qualifying

One of the many flower boxes on the grounds of the Family Circle Cup

This morning, we had fun watching Vera Zvonareva and Katarina Srebotnik practice together in the main stadium. Zvonareva's backhand slice looked especially good. We also watched Alex Stevenson for a while; yesterday she double-bageled Kumiko IIjima. I watched Agnes Szavay practice, too, and we saw Richard Williams wandering around the grounds.

The weather was cool, sunny and windy today--unusually comfortable for Daniel Island in April.

We came back to the hotel early to see the Amelia Island final. It was interesting to see Dominika Cibulkova suddenly and drastically improve her serve shen she could no longer move freely because of her thigh. There is a definite lesson in there for her. I now think chances are good that she will withdraw from Charleston, though I certainly hope not.

Chakvetadze out in first round in Sydney

Katerina Srebotnik has defeated hot-and-cold Russian star Anna Chakvetadze 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Medibank International tournament in Sydney. Srebotnik held a high first service and first service win percentage throughout the match, and may also have benefited from Chakvetadze's injured left hand.