Passing shots

Conchita Martinez has been hired by Tennis Australia to give some guidance to some of the players.

Christina McHale, who received a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open main draw, is currently working with USTA coach Jay Gooding.

Surely by now, readers have heard about the Northwestern University computer study that generated the result that Jimmy Connors is the greatest tennis player of all time. Aside from the fact that discussions of who is "the greatest of all time" are ridiculous to begin with, this particular study has another flaw not being talked about: Connors, according to the study, is actually the greatest male player of all time, but the assumption by those who designed the study was that only men could even be considered. Such an assumption once again promotes the false (but very popular, with such players as Tim Henman, John McEnroe, Andy Murray, and John Isner "ranking" WTA players within the ATP) notion that the men's game and the women's game are the same. So please add sexism to the flaws in the study that are being discussed throughout the tennis media. The scientists at Northwestern are, of course, not alone. Members of the sports media constantly talk about the "greatest player of all time" when they are actually referring to the "greatest male player of all time."

bleacher report picks Jennifer Capriati's defeat of Martina Hingis in the 2002 Australian Open final as number 34 in the "The 50 Greatest Comebacks in Sports History." There are three tennis moments in the top 50.

Here are some photos from Maria Sharapova's Tatler photo shoot.

Retired doubles great Virginia Ruano Pascual has been named the new director of the Open Castilla Y Leon Villa de El Espinar. Ruano Pascual won 43 titles, including ten majors.

From Jon Wertheim: "...a recently retired player was telling me that she's observed a rash of eating disorders among her colleagues. 'If I see a player's results suddenly fall, the first thing I assume is that she either has an eating disorder or a complicated relationship with her coach.' She says that if it weren't for eating disorders, the top 20 would look very different."

Miscellany

Sam Stosur has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup. She had already withdrawn from Cincinnati because of pain in her right arm.

The tour has published a brief profile of the great team of Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual. 

Sabine Lisicki and Kim Clijsters have been practicing together in Cincinnati.

Jelena Dokic won the $75k ITF tournament in Vancouver. She defeated Virginie Razzano 6-1, 6-4 in the final.

As of next week, Coco Vandewegh's ranking will rise from 205 to somewhere in the mid-160s.

Ruano Pascual retires from professional tennis

Doubles star Virginia Ruano Pascual announced her retirement from professional tennis yesterday. She will play through the end of this season.

The well-liked Spaniard, who is 36, has enjoyed an outstanding career as a doubles expert on the tour, winning ten majors, most of them with Paola Suarez. Ruano Pascual and Suarez were also the finalists in six majors. Between 2002 and 2004, they reached the finals of nine consecutive majors, and won five of them.

Ruano Pascual won the French Open six times, twice with Anabel Medina Garrigues. She won the U.S. Open three times, and the Australian Open once. She also won the French Open mixed doubles title with Tomas Carbonell in 2001. Ruano Pascual won 32 other tour doubles titles, including one end-of-year championship. Suarez was her partner for most of these victories.

Ruano Pascual also won three singles titles, and she won the Olympic silver medal in doubles in both 2004 and 2008.

I once found myself standing in front of Ruano Pascual in an airport line, and I was struck by how beautiful she was. She and close friend Suarez were wildly popular with fans, not only for their tennis but because of their easygoing, good-humored court demeanor. (I once saw Ruano Pascual receive a warning from a chair umpire because she couldn't stop laughing over something her partner had said to her.)

"Vivi," as she is known to her friends, was honored in Madrid yesteday with a farewell ceremony. She has a place in history as one of the tour's greatest doubles players.

Miscellany

Justine Henin has won another exhibition match, this time in Cairo. She defeated Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-2.

Melanie Oudin defeated Serena Williams 7-5 in an exhibition match in Athens, Georgia.

Naomi Broady has now won three ITF tournaments in three weeks.

Unseeded Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski upset top seed Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the 18s singles final of the 2009 Orange Bowl.

Virginia Ruano Pascual will play doubles with Sania Mirza at the Australian Open.

On the Baseline has an exclusive interview with Martina Hingis.

Ruano Pascual ends outstanding career

Virginia Ruano Pascual, one of the greatest doubles players of the Open era, is retiring. Ruano Pascual, who is 36 years old, holds 42 doubles titles and three singles titles on the tour. Ten of the Spanish player's women's doubles titles are majors, and eight of those were won in partnership with the great Argentine player, Paola Suarez.

Ruano Pascual won the French Open six times. The last two victories, in 2008 and 2009, she shared with countrywoman Anabel Medina Garrigues. Ruano Pascual also has a mixed doubles major title; she and Thomas Carbonell won the French Open in 2000.

Ruano Pascual played on the Spanish Fed Cup team a total of 14 years, and was on the Spanish Olympic team three times. "Vivi," as she is known to fans and friends, always made playing championship doubles look so easy. She and Suarez were known as much for their humor and enthusiasm as they were for their crack doubles skills.

Russians upset number 2 seeds at U.S. Open

French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, seeded 2nd at the U.S. Open, were upset today by the Russian team of Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova. The number 13 seeds won the match in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual saved one match point, but were broken on their serve to give the victory to Kleybanova and Makarova.

Stosur and Bryan upset in Wimbledon mixed doubles

Number 2 mixed doubles seeds Samantha Stosur and Bob Bryan were upset today by 9th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Mark Knowles. Groenefeld and Knowles posted a score of 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. Also upset were 4th seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Kevin Ullyett, who lost to 12th seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Stephen Huss.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual upset in 1st round in Eastbourne

3rd seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual were upset today at the AEGON International by Vera Dushvina and Galina Voskoboeva, 4-6, 7-6, 11-9.

The only other upset occurred in singles qualifying: Top seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was defeated in straight sets in the final qualifying round by Jarmila Groth.

In singles play, Nadia Petrova and Zheng Jie are through to the second round; they defeated Ana Ivanovic and Carla Suarez Navarro, respectively. Sabine Lisicki, one of the tour's top servers, won only three games against Samantha Stosur, another of the tour's top servers. Since she sustained a shoulder injury and then--immediately after--experienced an abdominal illness, Lisicki has not done much of anything, and going out in the first round in Eastbourne does not help her Wimbledon chances.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual defend French Open title

The 2008 French Open women's doubles champions have done it again. Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual defeated Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1 today to win the 2009 French Open. This makes six French Open doubles titles for Ruano Pascual, who now holds a total of ten doubles titles in majors.

In wheelchair doubles, Esther Vergeer and Korie Homan are the 2009 champions. They defeated Annick Sevenans and Aniek van Koot 6-2, 6-3. Vergeer and Homan were the top seeds. Earlier today, Vergeer defeated Homan to win the singles championship.

Black and Huber out of French Open

Today at Roland Garros, the 2008 French Open champions--Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual--defeated the top seeds, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual now go to the final, in which they will play 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina. Azarenka and Vesnina defeated 9th seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 6-3, 7-5.

Black and Huber, the number 1 team in the world, have never won the French Open.

Number 2 seeds win one game in 3rd round

Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai have defeated the Australian Open 2nd seeds, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-0, 6-1 in the third round. The 2008 French Open winners had problems with their service games, achieving a first serve win percentage of only 30.

Spanish team qualifies for Doha

Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual are the second of four teams to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. Cara Black and Liezel Huber have already qualified.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual upset in Zurich first round

French Open winners Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual made an unexpected exit in Zurich today. The 3rd seeds fell to Sorana Cirstea and Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-4.

Also in the first round, the former world number 1 team of Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur was defeated by Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie, 6-3, 7-6. Zheng, of course, usually plays with partner Yan Zi.

Finally, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Agnes Szavay, 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles semifinals set at U.S. Open

Anabel Medina Garrigues used her backhand well in today's U.S. Open doubles quarterfinal

Anabel Medina Garrigues put her wicked backhand on display over and over today in the quarterfinal match she and partner, Virginia Ruano Pascual, played at the U.S. Open against Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. The match was a spirited one, with many momentum changes, some terrific shot-making, and some heart-breaking moments. The quality of play was high from both teams, and there was plenty of variety for the fans. It was Medina Garrigues, however--whose wide runs, followed by sharp backhand cross-court angles--produced most of the thrills. Her partner's shots were nothing to sneeze at, either.

There was a terrible moment for the American team in the third set, when they had a chance to break the Spanish team, even things up and force a tiebreak. Obviously nervous, Spears flubbed two easy volleys, and it was the beginning of the end. But throughout the rest of the match, Spears performed well, as did her steady-serving partner, Kops-Jones.

Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual def. Kops-Jones/Spears, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6.

In the other quarterfinal, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, 6-4, 6-3.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual win Slovenian Open

Top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual have won the Slovenian Open by defeating Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova, 6-4, 6-1. Ruano Pascual is a former world number 1 doubles player. Medina Garrigues is not finished: She plays Sara Errani tomorow for the singles title.

Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual win French Open!

Virginia Ruano Pascual

Anabel Medina Garrigues

Anabel Medina Garrigues and former doubles world number 1 Virginia Ruano Pascual have won the 2008 French Open women's doubles championship. The tenth seeds defeated unseeded Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone in a tight three-set match, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.

This is Ruano Pascual's 40th career doubles title. She won the French Open women's doubles championship four other times, with former main partner (now retired) Paola Suarez, and she and Suarez also won one Australian Open title and three U.S. Open titles. Ruano Pascual also won the 2001 French Open mixed doubles title. This is the third title she has won with Medina Garrigues.

This is clay specialist Medina Garrigues' tenth career doubles title, and her first win at a major.

French Open doubles--the upsets keep coming

Today it was number 4 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung who made an exit in Paris. They were defeated by number 10 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and former world number 1Virginia Ruano Pascual in a very close match--6-7, 7-5, 7-5.

Of the top four seeds, only number 1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber remain.

In the meantime, number 6 seeds Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Peer were also upset, by Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone, 7-6, 7-5.

Top 4 doubles seeds now out

Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual have defeated number 4 seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs, 6-4, 6-1, making the upset sweep complete at the Australian Open. Number 10 seeds Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual (former number 1 in the world) will play unseeded Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko in the semifinals. The other semifinal will feature number 7 seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie versus number 12 seeds Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Peer.