Wimbledon miscellany

Rennae Stubbs is blogging from Wimbledon.

Serena Williams working on her curtsy.

Venus Williams is working on her shimmy; her Wimbledon dress was inspired by Tina Turner.

The chief groundsman at Wimbledon says the height of the bounce has changed, but not the speed of the ball.

For the first time in history, Wimbledon has a female chief umpire (via Forty Deuce)

Lindsay Davenport is working as a commentator for the BBC during Wimbledon.

Wimbledon is less than 2 weeks away

The transition from clay to grass always feels so abrupt to me, possibly because I am so attached to the French Open and enjoying savoring everything about it. But Wimbledon activities are already underway:

The wild card playoffs at the All England Lawn Tennis Club were completed yesterday, and today, the four British wild cards were named. Qualifying begins on Monday, June 14, and ends on Thursday, June 17. The seeds is announced on Wednesday, June 16, and the draw takes place on Friday, June 18. Play begins on Monday, June 21.

An addition to the mixed doubles draw this year will be the team of Lindsay Davenport and Bob Bryan (via On the Baseline).

Miscellany

Sorana Cirstea, with Victor Hanescu, will represent Romania in 2010 Hopman Cup competiton.

Mallory Cecil has signed a multi-year representation agreement with Lagardere. Cecil won the NCAA singles championship as a freshman, and was the first ACC player to ever win the NCAA Division 1 singles and the NCAA Division 1 team championships in the same year. She finished 2009 as the top-ranked collegiate player in the U.S., and won both the Honda Sports Award and the ITA Player of the Year award. Cecil was named Duke University Most Valuable Player, and ACC Rookie of the Year. This summer, she decided to leave school and play professional tennis.

The website, MarionBartoli.net, has been discontinued.

Serena Williams and her legal team have not yet decided whether Williams will personally make her case to the ITF regarding the incident which occurred during the U.S. Open.

One more time...Maleness is not synonymous with courage and positive aggression. It was bad enough last year when Serena Williams said she had to "man up." In Tokyo this week, Lindsay Davenport said that Maria Sharapova played "balls-out tennis." (For all the etymology experts out that--yes, it's possible that the term originally had a non-sexual meaning, but its meaning for a long, long time has been related to male anatomy and hormones.) To equate courage and positive aggression with only the male gender is inappropriate in any case, but to do so while talking about a women's sporting event is sexism of the most ridiculous nature.

Dominika Cibulkova has begun playing tennis again.

You can learn some things about Melinda Czink here.

Miscellany

Lindsay Davenport, along with her oh, so misunderstood friend, Justin Gimelstob, will be two of the commentators for Fox Sports Network's coverage of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next month. The Fox Network channel in my area rarely shows tennis, and I can't say that fact is making me especially unhappy in this case.

According to the ARGWUS blog, Robert Radwanski--father and manager of the Radwanska sisters--has declared that his daughters will not play in Dubai next year. A protest against the treatment of Shahar Peer? No--a protest against the treatment of Aga and Urszula: "It's not politics. We just won't play where we are not welcomed. For the organizers of this tournament, if you're not Williams or Sharapova, you're no one. They have let us all emphatically feel it." That's not politics?

Kristie Ahn, a junior who impressed me at the U.S. Open, lost the final today at the SMASH Junior Cup in South Carolina. She was defeated in straight sets by Alison Riske, whose reward is a wild card into qualifying at the Family Circle Cup.

Anne Keothavong has finally made it to the world's top 50, coming in at number 48. So far, two-thirds of those voting in the Eurosport poll have said that Keothavong will not win a tournament this year. Keothavong complains that a lack of professionalism in the LTA has held her back, or--as the always-candid Brit told the BBC: "If I knew what I know now I could've been in the top 50 years ago." I don't have any trouble believing Keothavong. The last time I checked, the LTA was very busy trying to convince girls they could be athletes and still be "feminine."

Speaking of rankings, Kaia Kanepi is now in the top 20 (number 20).

Patty Schnyder's official website has disappeared, though the English version (never as good as the European version) is still online. I hope this is a temporary status. The website for The White Mile is still online, too. The last time Schndyer was interviewed about the book, which was to have been released in Europe July of last year, she said that she and husband/coach Reiner Hoffman became very busy and had not yet figured out how to tie all of the parts of the book together. There are still no excerpts on the website.

Davenport's tennis future changes again

Lindsay Davenport, who retired without an official retirement announcement, then came back and had problems with injuries, recently announced she would compete in the Australian Open. Today, she announced that she is pregnant again, so her tennis career is again "on hold" (her words).

This and that...

Lindsay Davenport has entered the 2009 Australian Open.


On the Baseline's "Players to Watch" series begins with Todd Spiker's comments on Jelena Jankovic. I'm certainly one of the fans who hopes JJ has the best year ever.


And speaking of Queen Chaos, as Todd likes to call her, she will lead team Europe in the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong next month.


Sania Mirza, who always seems to be in some kind of trouble in her home country, is finally getting a little respect there. Mirza has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Dr. M.G.R. University in Chennai.


Jon Wertheim picks Venus Williams as Sony Ericsson WTA Tour player of the pear. His newcomer of the year is Caroline Wozniacki, a player to whom I don't think he paid much attention until recently. His comeback player is Anna-Lena Greoenfeld. Credit to Groenefeld, but my personal choice for that honor is Flavia Pennetta.

Davenport to decide by Dec. 1 whether she will retire (again)

Lindsay Davenport, whose 2008 season was plagued with injuries, is giving herself a couple of more weeks to decide whether she will play in 2009.

I will be very surprised if she decides to continue playing.

Davenport and Morariu to reunite in Doha

But not on the doubles court. The two friends and former doubles partners will be in the broadcast booth for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Morariu will be paired with lead commentator Barry McKay, and they will be assisted by Davenport. Pre- and post-match interviews will be conducted by Tracy Austin. 

What they said--day 1

"I was feeling like I play the wall."

Li Na, on competing against Shahar Peer

"....all my thinking is there in Beijing."

Elena Dementieva

"I mean, honestly the kid has no idea if I've won or lost. He napped through my whole match today in the hotel."

Lindsay Davenport, speaking of her son

You have a chance to be No. 1 at the end of this tournament, and there are several players in the same position. Why doesn't anyone want to keep No. 1 in women's tennis?
"Because Justine is not here anymore."

Elena Dementieva

What's it like for you in New York when you walk through New York? What do you like here?
"I like the street number five."

Li Na

Memo to Lindsay Davenport...

No, we certainly do not "all" still respect our leaders. (In fact, some Americans who were paying attention never respected them at all.)

First, Davenport--who was on the verge of filing suit against Sony Ericsson Tour CEO Larry Scott--tells the world how much she respects him. And now she assures the world that--oh, yes--all Americans continue to respect their leaders.

I want the old Lindsay Davenport back--the one who spoke out, not the pod person who has replaced her. Though I have rarely seen eye to eye with Davenport on important issues ("rarely" being the key word), I have appreciated her candor and her willingness to stand up for herself and for the women on the tour. Now, more and more, she sounds like she's doing an on-court interview in Stepford.

Davenport withdraws from Los Angeles

Lindsay Davenport has withdrawn from the East West Bank Classic. No surprise.

Davenport withdraws from Stanford

Lindsay Davenport's bad knee has caused her to withdraw from the Bank of the West Classic. Since this is a chronic injury, Davenport's hard court season looks a bit shaky.

Quote of the day

What is the diagnois exactly?
"The diagnosis is just an old knee that's played too many tennis hours."

Lindsay Davenport, in an interview with World Team Tennis

Davenport withdraws from Eastbourne

She has injured her right knee.

Lindsay Davenport's math--not as good as her tennis

As part of Tennis Channel's lead-in to Wimbledon, there is a feature in which different players are interviewed about equal prize money at the tournament. Lindsay Davenport explains to us that it is a good thing since "here in America, we're used to equality." The millions of women who make only 77 cents for every dollar American men earn for doing the same job--despite passage of the Equal Pay Act 45 years ago--might argue with that.

Maria Sharapova comments on equal pay, too--and how beneficial it is to "the girls."

At least he mentioned the fathers

I wish Lindsay Davenport--hell, I wish all women--would stop giving interviews about how women balance parenthood and career. No one ever asks men how they do that because the presumption is that they do not have to. The latest is ESPN's Greg Garber's "Davenport finding perfect balance between motherhood and competition." Same old thing. But at least Garber thinks to refer to the ATP fathers' attitudes about competing and having children; that's more than most journalists do.

No Williams sisters in Fed Cup

According to Lindsay Davenport, neither Venus nor Serena Williams will be playing in the Fed Cup semifinal against Russia next month. Also, my understanding is that Dinara Safina may have been chosen as the fourth Russian Fed Cup team member, rather than Elena Dementieva or Vera Zvonareva, as previously announced by the Russian Fed Cup captain. I cannot confirm this, however, so if anyone knows for sure, let me hear.

(Update: I had some misinformation about Olympic and Fed Cup teams--please see correction in the comments section.)

Ana and the Queen

Hitting the deep, laser-like shots that have won her multiple titles, and pinning Ana Ivanovic to the baseline again and again, Lindsay Davenport announced her comeback on the big stage today by defeating Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 at the Sony Ericsson Open. Davenport uncharactistically hit only one ace, but her service game was solid, and she repeatedly took advantage of Ivanovic's second serves.

Davenport will next face Dinara Safina, who beat Sybille Bammer, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Davenport wins everything in Memphis

Lindsay Davenport won the Regions Morgan Keenan Tennis Championships in Memphis without dropping a set, defeating Olga Govortsova, 6-2, 6-1 tonight in the final. She rested for an hour, and then--with partner Lisa Raymond--won the doubles championship, also. Davenport and Raymond defeated Angela Haynes and Mashona Washington, 6-3, 6-1.

Davenport gets it right this time

Lindsay Davenport defeated the spirited Sabine Lisicki--who beat her in Fed Cup competition--7-5, 6-3 tonight in Memphis. After the pair exchanged breaks in the first set, Davenport broke Lisicki at 5-all and went on to win the first set with an ace. She broke Lisicki early in the second set, then broke her again, but Lisicki broke her back when she served for the match at 5-2.

Davenport hit ten aces in the match, and the big-hitting Lisicki hit seven. When I saw Lisicki play in Fed Cup, I saw a player who worked too quickly and took too many unnecessary chances. Such a game can be tamed, however, with maturity, and if an older and wiser Lisicki becomes more strategic and less impulsive, she could be a real factor on the tour.