Passing shots

Dinara Safina appears to have withdrawn from the French Open.

Li Na recently told an interviewer, in response to a question about her fame, that if she were a man, she would be the most famous athlete in China. She added that women will never achieve that type of equality, not just in China, but throughout the world. You said it, Big Sister.

Li, by the way, has changed coaches. Her husband, Jiang Shan will stop coaching her. Instead, Li has hired Michael Mortensen, who is captain of the Danish Fed Cup team. 

Timea Bacsinszky recently had surgery on her left foot, so she'll be out for a while.

Tom Perrotta thanks Tennis Channel for its "relentless coverage" of the clay court season. That would be "relentless coverage of the ATP clay court season."

Speaking of coverage...Tennis TV has dropped its separate WTA/ATP packages, and customers will now have to buy a package that includes both tours. This means customers will pay almost twice as much to get matches they perhaps do not want to watch. (I always bought just the WTA package, but that was only because I didn't want to tempt myself with the combined package.) The good part is that Tennis TV offers excellent customer service and way better commentary than anything we see on television in the USA.

I'm in the mood to complain

Actually, I'm frequently in that mood, given the culture of the tour and the state of broadcasting. But here are some things that are getting to me right now:

1. Why--no matter what browser you use--is it excruciatingly difficult to do a head-to-head or player search on the tour site?

2. Why is Tennis TV still so inconsistent with Firefox?

3. Why does Blogger not address any of the significantly irritating problems that exist with the new post editor? I couldn't get a staff member to reply even one time in the help group.

4. Is the SuperFans blogging staff going for irony, or is the site really geared to adolescent girls circa 1995?

5. Why has the tour stopped selling logo gear? The old stock--what little there was of it--has been depleted, and nothing new is offered. I suppose that now, there won't be anything until the "Sony Ericsson" is removed.

Miscellany

Venus Williams has still not made a decision about playing in the Fed Cup semifinal the last weekend in April. “I don't think [USA captain Mary Joe Fernandez] wants to talk to me about Fed Cup right now," Williams said. "Wouldn't be the best answer right now. I think she has been smart enough not ask me about Fed Cup." Miami finalist Williams said she wants to see how she feels physically following playing every round of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Chris Oddo writes about the disappearance of the one-handed backhand in women's tennis.

What becomes of top-ranked junior players?

Andrea Petkovic had to withdraw from Marbella because of hay fever.

Something I should have mentioned earlier: Tennis TV has enhanced its interface to permit the viewing of a small desktop screen. Also added is a section wherein one can view ball placement.

The Heroes Among Us program is again open for nominations.

Good news for viewers in the U.S.

The BNP Paribas Open will be broadcast on Tennis Channel this year, rather than being not broadcast on the Fox Sports Network. For the past couple of years, many local FSN affiliates (including my own) opted to show very little of the tournament, and what they did show tended to be taped.

Of course, if you have Tennis TV, you can watch the tournament on your computer, and get better commentators.

Commentary on commentary

I generally enjoy the commentators on Tennis TV much more than any other commentators. This week in Dubai, the commentary has been enjoyable, but I do have to wonder where Annabel Croft got the idea that Victoria Azarenka has a history of mental toughness on the court. I don't say this to pick on Croft; hers is only the latest in a constant string of comments made by commentators (but usually not on Tennis TV) who must be watching a different tour than I watch.

And why one of Tennis TV's people chose to do a running commentary on how much liquid Snezana Jankovic was consuming and when her allegedly consequential trips to the restroom took place remains a mystery. Not only was it irrelevant--it was tasteless.

Switching over to Tennis Channel for a moment: Tennis caps off to Katrina Adams for calling expert movement a "weapon."

More problems with Tennis TV

Yesterday, a new problem popped up with Tennis TV. I began to hear everything twice--not ordinary feedback ("back...back...back") but entire sentences. Every sentence uttered by the commentators is repeated, and every sentence uttered by the chair umpire is repeated I hear the ball hit twice, also.

This is where it gets interesting: I have the problem on three different computers, using two different browsers and three different wireless connections--one at home, and two at work sites. Cache is cleared on all browsers, and everything is up to date on all three computers.

When I power-cycled my cable modem at home, the problem went away--for about half an hour. Then it came back, and I haven't been able to get rid of it. Because they cannot replicate the problem, the Tennis TV techs appear not very interested in trying to fix it.

I'm hoping that this is one of those things that just goes away as suddenly as it appeared, but--in the meantime--is anyone else experiencing this odd problem?

Tennis TV is on my nerves

Let me begin by saying I am very glad that Tennis TV exists. I now get to see matches I would not otherwise get to see, and I get to see matches when I am in places where there is no television. For example, today I had to see my doctor, and she was fitting me in where she could, so I knew there would be a long wait. I took my netbook, used earplugs in the waiting room, then moved into the exam room, where I got to see quite a bit of the Haynes-Pennetta match. When my doctor came in, she got to see some of it, too. I was able to watch a recent final while I was in the lobby of my office, waiting to have furniture delivered. In that regard, I really like Tennis TV.

But I don't like everything about it. I don't like that the technical staff was not able to fix my problem with choppy video (it was fixed, but not by Tennis TV, who should have had more suggestions for me). I don't like that the techical staff never responded to my second email requesting help. I don't like that you have to go through a veritable maze every time you try to log on. You have to log on at least twice to see anything.

And I don't like the newest Tennis TV development--the appearance of very intrusive ads that pop up, of all places, on top of the logon screen, making it even harder than usual to log on. And as soon as you get rid of one and think you can log on (for the first time), another one pops up. Such intrusion is inappropriate on a free site, much less a site that charges a fee.

Miscellany

Ana Ivanovic is now being coached by Craig Kardon. Kardon has worked with Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce, and Jennifer Capriati.

The tour site has a nice piece on Julie Coin, who is playing in Memphis this week.

I continue to not like the dress style, but I am quite fond of the shade of orange worn by Jelena Jankovic during the Open GDF SUEZ.

The Billie Jean King Cup, which will be played in Madison Square Garden, will be broadcast live on HBO, 7:30 p.m., EST, on Monday, March 2.

Jarmilla Gajdosova was recently married to ATP player Sam Groth.

Laura Robson is now ranked number 2 in the world among junior girls.

Tennis TV is working out pretty well for me. I had some problems with it--and I still have a few--but I have straightened out much of the difficulty, and can now enjoy watching (when I'm not working--work really gets in the way of my tennis viewing) matches I would not ordinarily get to see. I bought a WTA pass only; I was afraid that if I bought the ATP pass, too, I wouldn't do anything but watch tennis in my spare time. I already drag a netbook around with me to check scores. Now--sometimes--I can even sneak a peek at a match while I'm typing or waiting.