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Dinara Safina appears to have withdrawn from the French Open.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.