Miscellany

Ana Ivanovic, who won the Rogers Cup in 2006, will have to qualify to get into the main draw this year.

Former world number 10 Nicole Vaidisova has married ATP star Radek Stepanek. Vaidisova retired from professional tennis earlier this year.

Serena Williams' agent describes her client as "a fast healer," and says that Williams is hoping to play in the U.S. Open.

Martina Navratilova will receive the Eugene L. Scott Award during the 2010 U.S. Open. The award, sponsored by the International Tennis Hall of Fame, "honors an individual who consistently embodies Gene’s commitment to communicating honestly and critically about the game, and who has had a significant impact on the world of tennis." Scott was the founder and publisher of Tennis Week.

Steve Flink did an interview with Nancy Richey that is well worth reading.

Nicole Vaidisova retires from pro tennis

Nicole Vaidisova has retired from professional tennis. The 20-year-old from the Czech Republic, who, at one time, was known for her on-court temper tantrums, fell down the rankings some time ago. Despite playing in challengers and occasional qualifying rounds and main-draw first rounds, the once-heralded Vaidisova was not able to regain her former place in the pro tennis heirarchy. Indeed, she was not able to gain any place at all.

Last year, an associate of the Czech player's told the press it was her firm belief that Vaidisova simply had no competitive drive at all. I accepted this statement as the most likely explanation for Vaidisova's fall from the top. Hailed as prodigy, she had considerable talent, but a fragile mentality.

Vaidisova turned pro in 2003. She won six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour career singles titles, and was ranked as high as number 7 in the world. In 2006, she reached the semifinals of the French Open, and in 2007, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. She got to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon twice, and generally did quite well at the majors, beginning in 2005.

For a few years, it looked as though Nicole Vaidisova was on her way to being a truly big name in women's tennis, but it just didn't happen for her. Of course, given her age and the popularity of comebacks, we could certainly see her again.

Vaidisova turns 21 next month. In July, she will marry ATP star Radek Stepanek.

Miscellany

Wild cards into the main draw of Indian Wells have gone to the following players: Justine Henin, Alicia Molik, Eleni Daniilidou, Tamira Paszek, Alja Tomljanovic, Christina McHale, Alexa Glatch, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Martina Hingis is getting married to Andreas Bieri, an attorney from Zurich. Hingis used to be engaged to ATP player Radek Stepanek, who is also getting married--to tour player Nicole Vaidisova.

The Orange Bowl may leave Key Biscayne and return to Miami Beach.

Tennis Australia is involved in some controversy at the moment.

Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf will all be involved in the Indian Wells "Hit for Haiti" exhibition. (via On the Baseline)

Vaidisova loses in 1st round of Louisiana challenger

Qualifier Heather Watson defeated Nicole Vaidisova 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 today in the first round of the 25k ITF tournament in Hammond, La. High winds and rain caused the tournament to get off to a slow start, but the first round has been completed.

I'll be attending the event later in the week and will report more.

Vaidisova falls in first round of Stanford qualifying

Nicole Vaidisova was eliminated from Bank of the West Classic qualifying today in the first round. She was defeated 6-2, 6-1 by Stacey Tan, who had a wild card into the qualifying competition.

Also going out were 4th qualifying seed Jill Craybas, 7th seed Elena Baltacha, and wild card Mallory Cecil, who won the 2009 NCAA singles title.

Miscellany

Here is a photo retrospective of Nathalie Dechy's career.

Li Na may have to skip the U.S. Open Series because of her knee.

Nicole Vaidisova is now ranked number 140 in the world.

Here is some new Lacoste clothing.

Olga Pouchkova has been fined for her role in the WWT debacle that took place last week.

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.

Dokic and Larcher de Brito both out of Indian Wells

Jelena Dokic told us, after the Australian Open, that she thought she would have a letdown. Somehow, I don't think most of us thought it would occur in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, but it did. Jill Craybas defeated wild card Dokic 6-4, 6-2. Dokic double-faulted eight times, which didn't help.

Michelle Larcher de Brito saved two match points in her contest with Urszula Radwanska, only to have Radwanska win the match on de Brito's serve. Once again, de Brito got herself through qualifying, only to lose in the first round.

Another losing wild card was Michaella Krajicek, who was defeated by Nicole Vaidisova. Vaidisova will face Alona Bondarenko in the second round.

Remember Vaidisova?

Nicole Vaidisova--yesterday's phenom, today's world number 80--has always been a head case. Of course, she has a lot of company in that department, as far as the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour goes. But it is past the time that her age can be used as the reason for her mental lapses and temper tantrums. Vaidisova, who showed great promise at age 15, did not turn out to be Chris Evert or Martina Hingis. Rather, she turned out to be streaky, temperamental, and given to meltdowns at important moments.

The 19-year-old Czech player split with coach David Felgate earlier this year, will not play in challenger tournaments, according to a Globe and Mail feature by Tom Tebbutt. Tebbutt reports that a source close to Vaidisova says of her: "She basically cannot compete. And there's a difference between that and trying. The minute things go wrong, she can't handle it. There's a complete irrationality about her when that starts to happen on court."

This is an important year for Vaidisova--the year that she either gets it together or disappears from the top 100.

Phenom flashback

What's next for Victoria Azarenka?

Not that many years ago, all eyes were on a fifteen-year-old named Nicole Vaidisova. She could hit the ball hard and she had some talent. Many people expected great things from her, but now her name is barely mentioned; she is number 65 in the world. We were also watching the very talented Lucie Safarova, who turned out to be streakier than a kindergarten drawing, and is now number 50 in the world.

A couple of years ago, we watched some more players with great interest: Tamira Paszek, Agnieszka Radwanska and Agnes Szavay. Some of us also had our eyes on Caroline Wozniacki and Alize Cornet. Paszek has had her share of problems, and is currently ranked number 70. Szavay has been going out in the first round at most tournaments for several months now; her current ranking of 29 may soon look good if she doesn't change something soon.

The others have done better. Cornet, perhaps the most watchable of all of them, is number 11 in the world, but shows signs of significant mental weakness. She is still young, and can overcome that. If she does, I think she can have a very nice career. World number 12 Wozniacki, like Cornet, is a fiery player who has impressed many of us. She, too, should have a very nice career.

World number 10 Radwanska is a little harder to read. Radwanska is a very fine court thinker who can hit deadly accurate groundstrokes. But she tends to fold when she faces players who give her a lot of variety, such as Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo. Radwanska will have to learn how to handle these players (though--sadly--there are not many of them) if she is to improve.

That leaves Azarenka. For a time, Azarenka got into finals and lost them. She did that four times, in fact. Then she won Brisbane, and now she seems like a different player; now she has belief. Her performance at the Australian Open, unfortunately terminated by illness, was excellent. She just won Memphis, and did so by handily defeating Wozniacki.

Any of the above-named women could still break through in a big way, and it wouldn't surprise me. Players do things in their own time. But right now, the one who looks more and more like the real thing every day is Azarenka.

First round exits--business as usual

Nicole Vaidisova was defeated in the first round in Paris today by Emelie Loit, 6-1, 6-4. Yesterday, Agnes Szavay was defeated 7-6, 6-2 by Li Na. There is certainly no shame in being defeated by Li, but it was Li's return to the tour, which might have given Szavay a bit of an edge. (On the other hand, Li returned last year from months off and won a tournament right away.)

I have always thought that Vaidisova was mentally fragile, like so many other talented players on the tour, and I can't say that her lack of success surprises me that much. There is a lot of pressure on a so-called phenom, anyway. Look at Tamira Paszek, for example. Oh, wait--you can't look at her--she went out in the first round in Pattaya City, defeated 6-3, 6-4 by World Team Tennis star Yaroslava Shvedova.

On a brighter note, Karolina Sprem, who fought pretty hard to become a qualifier in Paris, won her first round in straight sets against the talented Petra Kvitova.

Sounding like a broken record here...

But Agnes Szavay is out in the first round again, this time in Hobart. She was defeated by Anne Keothavong, 6-3, 7-5. Szavay was seeded fifth. Nicole Vaidisova went out in the first round, too, defeated Mara Santangelo, 6-1, 6-1.

Also getting eliminated was 6th seed Aleksandra Wozniak, who lost in three tight sets to Urzula Radwanska. Radwanska saved seven match points on her way to victory.

Dushevina upsets Vaidisova in Moscow

It's down to "'Fill in the blank' upsets Vaidisova" now, isn't it? This is just a terrible season for a player who has shown so much promise in the past. My guess is that Vaidisova will be glad when 2008 is over, and she can have a clean slate.

Vera Dushevina (on her birthday) def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

Vaidisova out in first round in Stuttgart

Probably to no one's surprise, Nicole Vaidisova has been eliminated early from competition in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She was defeated, 6-1, 6-2, by Li Na. It is, of course, no shame to be defeated by Li. Now that Li is entering tournaments without a seed, she is probably the most dangerous floater on the tour. But this was more than a defeat--it was a runover--and there have been so many other early defeats for Vaidisova.

I have never found Nicole Vaidisova to be an especially interesting player. That view is subjective, of course, and part of my indifference toward her has to do with her attitudes about women's roles on the tour. But what really bothers me most about her--from a strictly-tennis standpoint--is that I have not seen her develop mental strength to match her obvious tennis talent. Vaidisova has always been somewhat of a hot-head, and like pre-Berlin Safina, this trait has gotten in her way (I'm not convinced it gets in everyone's way--some hot-heads can use their anger well on court).

I haven't seen Nicole Vaidisova play in a while, so I really don't know what is going on with her. But she is having such a disappointing season. She is still quite young, so she has time to get her head together and start fresh.

Cornet does it again

Alize Cornet took Nicole Vaidisova out of the first round of the 2008 Olympics, and tonight, she took her out of the first round of Pilot Pen Tennis, 6-3, 7-6. Cornet was a bit shaky in her attempt to win the tiebreak, but she finally managed to prevail.

Vaidisova falls to Sugiyama, and Domachowska has one of her good days

Number 16 seed Nicole Vaidisova, who is definitely not having a good season, became yet another victim of resurgent veteran Ai Sugiyama in Montreal today. The former top 10 player defeated Vaidisova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Los Angeles semifinalist Bethanie Mattek lost to one of the most inconsistent players on the tour--Marta Domachowska. Domachowska has a lot of talent, but she can't seem to bring it to the court very often. She did today, though, defeating Mattek, 7-5, 6-2. Domachowska's next opponent will be none other than Maria Sharapova.

Vera Zvonareva, who had an excellent early season and looked as though she might make a big mark this year, has had problems lately. Today in Montreal, she was defeated by a player who appears to be on the upswing again--Virginie Razzano. Razzano had a great late 2007, but has not looked as good this year. Lately, however, she has shown signs of gaining momentum again. She won the match, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6.

Schnyder and Vaidisova both out of L.A.

Yesterday, it was Daniela Hantuchova who was upset, by Olga Govortsova, in the second round of the East West Bank Classic. Today, Patty Schnyder and Nicole Vaidisova were also upset in the second round, by Ai Sugiyama and wild card Bethanie Mattek, respectively.

Meanwhile, the lucky losers have been more than lucky. Melinda Czink defeated Olga Savchuk (who defeated Gisela Dulko) in the second round, and Melanie South defeated the talented young Czech player, Petra Kvitova.

Flavia Pennetta has defeated Tamira Paszek, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Sugiyama def. Schnyder, 6-4, 7-5
Mattek def. Vaidisova, 6-4, 6-0
Czink def. Savchuk, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
South def. Kvitova, 6-4, 6-2

Zheng makes history

Today, Zheng Jie became the first Chinese woman in history to get to the semifinals of a major tennis tournament. She defeated Nicole Vaidisova, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in the quarterfinal I enjoyed the most today (though I did not see every moment of it). I was not surprised that Zheng won. She has used her wild card to great advantage, and taken out not only the world's number 1 player, but also the number 15 seed, Agnes Szavay. Her draw has been difficult, and she has held up well, playing her excellent grass court game very steadily, and hanging in during bad patches.

Vaidisova, for her part, is not the most mentally tough player around. She has talent, but she can fold under pressure. It was a bit surprising, in fact, to see her not fold during her round of 16 third set against Anna Chakvetadze; however, one then remembers that Chakvetadze is even more mentally fragile than Vaidisova.

Zheng's next opponent is Serena Williams. If Zheng does not succomb to nerves the way Tamarine Tanasugarn did today, that could be an entertaining semifinal match.

Wimbledon day 7--the upsets continue

Nicole Vaidisova came from behind to defeat Anna Chakvetadze at Wimbledon today

Anna Chakvetadze's meltdown in her Wimbledon round of 16 match against Nicole Vaidisova was as tragic as anything in sports that you could call tragic (which is actually nothing, but this was pretty bad). Chakvetadze played a brilliant first set, with a service game--first and second serves--that would be the envy of any player on the tour. She also played a very clean set, disguised her shots beautifully, and used the court savvy that got her to the top 10.

In the second set, Vaidisova became more focused, and made it harder for Chakvetadze to make points. This should not have really bothered Chakvetadze that much, considering the level at which she was playing, but we are talking about Anna Chakvetadze here. Vaidisova took control and even handed her opponent a bagel in the tiebreak. One of the commentators said he expected Vaidisova to surge ahead in the second set, then wilt a bit, and we would see Chakvetadze take over again. That is exactly what I expected.

What actually occurred was that Chakvetadze went to pieces. We used to see Chakvetadze do this a long time ago, but--despite being perennially inconsistent--she had gotten more of a grip on herself. But since the traumatic event that occurred in her life in December, Chakvetadze has not been able to do much of anything. She continued her decline in the third set until near the end, when some switch was turned on in her head, and she began to be competitive again. When Vaidisova was serving at 4-2, I thought Chakvetadze would break her, but she didn't. She did hold, though, and managed to bring Vaidisova's next game to deuce. She had a great opportunity to get a break point, too, but she blew it, and in another moment, Vaidisova won the match, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.

A few days ago, Chakvetadze told the press that she was no longer troubled by the violent break-in that occurred at her house the end of last year. Perhaps she said that so she would not sound like she was making an excuse for her problems. Always a bit fragile, Chakvetadze is now in really bad shape, and it is hard to believe that her current state is not a result of the terrible thing that happened to her and her family six months ago.

Meanwhile, the trainers worked overtime in the match between Jelena Jankovic and Tamarine Tanasugarn. Jankovic's knee was giving her trouble again, and Tanasugarn complained about her back. It looked like a walk-in clinic out there. It also looked like a disaster for Jankovic, who was never in control of the match. Tanasugarn, for her part, stayed steady and let her grass skills glide her to a straight set victory--6-3, 6-2.

So the number 8 seed and the number 2 seed went out, but that wasn't the end of it. Wild card Zheng Jie, who removd top seed Ana Ivanovic from the tournament, defeated number 15 seed Agnes Szavay, 6-3, 6-4. I didn't see any of this match, but Zheng's grass skills are considerable, so it was not a total surprise.

Later, number 14 seed Agnieszka Radwanska took advantage of a mentally fragile (imagine that) Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the fourth seed went out, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

Nicole Vaidisova: Here today, gone...today

I wasn't suprised to see Iveta Benesova take Nicole Vaidisova out in the first round of the French Open--I kind of expected her to. Back in the day, Benesova could play some decent tennis. Her career took a bad tumble, but this season, she has worked her way back to a better place. The 15th-seeded Vaidisova, on the other hand, has become more fragile as the days go by. Always a high-risk player, Vaidisova's game can get messy and her mentality can go awry rather easily.

Vaidisova was the first seed to leave, and--sadly--she was followed by Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano. Razzano had a wonderful season last year, and is having a poor one this year. The 24th seed was defeated by Klara Zakopalova, who--like Benesova--is from the Czech Republic.

Benesova def. Vaidisova, 7-6, 6-1
Zakopalova def. Razzano, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2