Miscellany

Serena Williams reports that her foot surgery was performed to repair a torn tendon which had caused her toe to droop. She had twelve stitches on one toe, and six on another. The world number one was injured by broken glass while she was in a restaurant in Munich. She had planned to return to the tour in Tokyo, but now she is doubtful for that tournament.

Once again, Nick Bollettieri's name is not included among nominees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Regardless of whether you like the Bollettieri style, he does create champions.

I'm not sure how much longer I can cope with hearing, ad nauseum, the following phrases:
"Cinderella run"
"at the end of the day"
"close out" (as annoying as all extraneous adverb use, e.a., "print out," "head up," etc.)
"young lady"
"going to be a tough match"
"America's hope" (or even worse, "America's next hope"--what does even mean?)

I am completely taken with Alona Bondarenko's tennis dress.

The College Sports Council has jumped on the ridiculous "Blame Title IX" bandwagon. Fortunately, both the NCAA and the Women's Sports Foundation have come forward, utilizing those pesky facts that always get in the way of a good Title IX attack.

A (mostly) good read about Schiavone

I rarely read anything on Sports Illustrated's website because I'm not too interested in a sports publication that runs a swimsuit issue. However, a search engine took me to an interesting editorial by Bruce Jenkins, who talks about both the artistry and emotion of our new French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone. Jenkins makes a case (and I couldn't agree more) that Schiavone's victory should be remembered as a great moment in women's tennis.

There is an odd quotation in the editorial, from Ted Robinson, who said "I had always watched Schiavone, but I'd never met her, and I thought her kind of a dour presence." Which Francesca Schiavone has he been watching all these years? Certainly not the one I've been watching.

A better quotation is one that comes directly from Jenkins: "The WTA's marketing people may have been visiting the shrimp tray, but a lot of important people noticed."

He goes on to say: "Maybe I'm well past the corner of Reasonable and Cash Cow, but I would market the hell out of Francesca Schiavone. You hear so much talk about how young girls had better make it big in tennis by the time they're 16, or it's all over, and it's complete nonsense. This was a victory for maturity, reaching the heights of glory at your physical peak"

Well said.

Not so well said, however, was Jenkins' use of that tired noun "tomboy" to describe Schiavone as a child, not to mention the use of "mannish" to describe her game. An athletic female child is not "like a boy"--she's just an active, athletic girl. And a game of strength and variety is not the game of a man--it's the game of someone like Schiavone.

Miscellaneous

Chelsey Gullickson, sister of Carly, has won the 2010 NCAA women's singles championship. Gullickson, a sophomore at the University of Georgia, is the third woman from her school to win the title.

Martina Navratilova, with partner Jana Novotna, is into the second round of the French Open's Women's Legends doubles competition. Navratilova and Novotna defeated Mary Joe Fernandez and Conchita Martinez. Navratilova is also working as a commentator for Tennis Channel, and--in her spare time--receiving breast cancer radiation treatment in Paris. Also winning their first round were Iva Majoli and and Nathalie Tauziet, who defeated Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld says that her goal is to be able to play at Wimbledon.

Saying that women who manage homes and take care of children "don't work" is a common insult made to thousands of women; it's a shame that it's repeated by Chris Evert in the June issue of Tennis. Evert is at least "fair" in her put-downs, though. In the same article in which she says that a lot of women in the 70s "didn't work," she goes on to take a sideways swipe at women who do work outside the home and utilize the tennis club as "something to occupy a child's time." Fathers, of course, get a pass. I have complained in the past about this magazine's ongoing (sometimes really nasty) sexist content, as well as content that has been both homophobic and ageist (the latter in an issue "dedicated" to older people). Publisher Evert needs to do some clean-up, starting with herself, and outgoing editor-in-chief James Martin also bears some of the responsibility. (For those who may be wondering: The magazine arrives in our mailbox because of a USTA membership; I would not otherwise spend my money on it.)

When the new rankings come out, Serena and Venus Williams will be ranked number 1 in doubles.

Top junior girls seed Monica Puig is out of the French Open in the quarterfinals. Puig was defeated 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 by Silvia Njiric.

And this is the player who's promoting gender equality?

"Some of the tennis girls, they’re sluts. They go with every guy and make such a bad name for themselves--and you don’t want to be known for stuff like that. You want to be more discreet."

Thank you, Laura Robson, for using your considerable public platform to perpetuate the tired patriarchal sexual double standard. Are you also going to give us a lecture on the "tennis guys" who "go with every girl" and are therefore "sluts"?

I didn't think so. And even if you did, that would still be a a boldly judgmental take on the personal preferences of others.

Robson is very young, and one is tempted to say that--when she is older--she will realize what a sexist remark she made. But the odds against such a realization are overwhelming because when it comes to the sexual double standard--nothing has changed since the 1950s. A U.S. study done a few years revealed that  university women who even asked men out were considered "sluts." Robson is a product of her culture, and her culture--like mine--is always ready to label as a "slut" a woman who dares to make sexual choices that men are permitted to make with no fuss.

Robson, with her ready wit, is generally a breath of fresh air. But if she is going to promote gender equality and female empowerment, then she needs to help create a non-sexist culture for girls, not attack them because they don't meet an oppressive cultural standard designed to keep women from making choices about their own lives.

Quote of the day

"Li and Jheng are both married and in their late 20s. Calling them 'the Chinese girls' is maybe not so appropriate."

Jon Wertheim

Serena Williams defends Australian Open championship

In the middle of the Justine Henin's second Australian Open championship set against defending champion Serena Williams, I leaned over to get a look at her feet. You see, I thought she might have borrowed Melanie Oudin's shoes, so strongly did her belief click at that moment. Henin, who has made up her mind that her "second career" will be one of attacking--rather than her signature defending--tennis, was setting up most of her shots just right against Williams, but was then failing to execute them because of repeated unforced errors.

To make matters worse, she continued to struggle with her serve. By sheer force of will and talent, she took four games off of Williams in the first set. Then, serving at 2-3 in the second set, she faced a break point. Williams failed to convert, and that was when the switch got turned on in Henin. Suddenly, her game plan began to work because her shots became fluid and deadly accurate. She held for 3-all, then immediately broke Williams, held at love, then broke her again at love to take the set 6-3. Going into the third set, Henin continued to roll until a fifteen-point win streak ended. She continued to create break points throughout that set, but by this time, Williams had elevated her serve--and her whole game--to the point that she took back the momentum and never let it go.

That is, of course, vintage Serena. Ask Victoria Azarenka, or any number of other players who have gone on a roll against her, only to find that the now 12-time major champion almost always finds a way to regain her dominance. Williams' serve, of course, has a lot to do with this ability, but the rest of her game also becomes spot-on, once she has confidently placed the big serve.

At one point in the third set, Williams hit was she thought was an ace. Henin challenged it, and it did turn out to be a fault. No problem--Williams then hit a real ace on the second serve. That is the type of thing Henin--whose serve continues to be way too shaky--was up against. Williams won the third set 6-2, fell onto her back, then got up to receive her fifth Australian Open trophy.

There is no denying that Henin is back, and that the new attacking game is going to benefit her. (It will be interesting see if she puts it on big display during the clay season, when she doesn't really need it.) Like so many other players, though, she needs to do something about her service game. Williams is not the only good returner on the tour, and Henin will continue to run into trouble, despite her extreme talent, if she does not do something about her serve. I do like this new Henin at the net, however. Her coach has been pushing her for years to go to the net more, and it appears she has finally heeded his advice.

Williams, unfortunately, once again explained her third-set momentum by telling the press she had to "man up." Will someone please explain to Serena Williams that finding a way to be tough and brave is not a male quality? A woman of Williams' stature continually contributing to the ubiquitous sexism of professional sports makes it even more difficult for women and girls to be recognized as athletes--and people--on their own terms.

Serena Williams continues to play either superior tennis or tennis that takes her through until she can play superior tennis. At this point, the only real question about her future is how well her body will hold up. On the other hand, she appeared at the Australian Open championship match wrapped and bandaged to the hilt, and--though pushed to three sets--won the title.

Williams has now won more Australian Open singles titles than any other woman in the Open Era.

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.

Allaster chosen to head Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

This is hardly "news," in that most of us assumed it would happen, but the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has named Stacey Allaster as the new chairwoman and CEO of the tour. (Only the equality-minded tour, of course, refers to her as a chairman).

Allaster has been president of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour since 2006. She was chosen for her new position as a result of an international search.

I'm sure many of us have a list of concerns we'd love to hand to Allaster. Here's hoping someone who matters will have such a list and that Allaster will take it seriously.

Zvonareva goes to Indian Wells final

A few days ago, when asked, I said I thought Vera Zvonareva had an edge over Victoria Azarenka should they meet in the semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open. Then I saw Zvonareva play against Caroline Wozniacki, and Azarenka play against Dinara Safina, and I gave the edge to Azarenka.

They fooled me today. Zvonareva did not in any way resemble the player who defeated Wozniacki in that mess of a quarterfinal match, and Azarenka did not in any way resemble the player who took out the number 1 seed. It was all Zvonareva from the first ball that was struck. She could have served a bit better, but it didn't matter: She played a smart, relatively clean game, and dispensed of Azarenka in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Azarenka had numerous opportunities to break Zvonareva, but instead, she behaved like the head case she sometimes is.

When Azarenka finally won a final, after mentally wilting in several previous ones, I thought she would become mentally tougher, and she did. But perhaps the occasion got to her today. She had taken out the top seed, she was playing as an about-to-be member of the top 10, and--perhaps most important--she was playing someone she had never defeated.

I think Azarenka will mature and continue to overcome her mental fragility. In the meantime, Zvonareva has become one of the most impressive players on the tour. For those of us who always knew she had it in her, it is a real pleasure to see her become such a threat.

I watched the match on the Fox Sports Network, and was tempted to turn the sound off. The commentators were chronically inaccurate in reporting various items, and the inaccurate commentary was riddled with sexism. The payoff at the end, however, was a nice interview with the charming Zvonareva.

Zvonareva, the 4th seed, will meet either defending champion Ana Ivanovic or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final. Zvonareva has never played Pavlyuchenkova, and she is 3-4 against Ivanovic overall, and 2-3 against her on hard courts. Last year, Ivanovic defeated Zvonareva in straight sets in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.

Miscellany

Jelena Jankovic has replaced Maria Sharapova in the draw for the Open GDF SUEZ in Paris.

Australia and New Zealand have gone to the final of the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone World Group I playoff. Australia posted a 3-0 win over Taiwan, and New Zealand defeated Indonesia 2-1. The winner of the final will move to the World Group II playoff.

Tennis Channel has some very funny footage of 15-year-old Maria Sharapova in its feature, "Their Game Before Fame." However, the host comments that--if tennis doesn't work out for Maria--she can always become a "cameraman." Because in order to operate a camera, obviously, you have to be male.

Steve Tignor says of Dinara Safina: "She’s also developing an intriguing, if unfortunate, persona as a terminal second-fiddle: Younger sister to a star, French Open finalist, Olympic silver medalist, Aussie Open finalist. Her current ranking fits her to a T for the moment..."

Steffi Graf and her husband, Andre Agassi, have become investors and spokespeople for the London-based online ticket sales company, Viagogo Ltd.

Still crazy after all these years

Last year, after she lost to Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, then-defending champion Serena Williams told the press she just "went crazy" during the match. When she arrived in Melbourne this year, she said in a press conference: "One year I went crazy. A couple of years ago I went completely crazy."

She went crazy again in her 2009 Australian Open quarterfinal, too--but in a good way. Still not serving well, and still not acting like Serena Williams the champion, she lost the first set, 5-7, to an in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova. Then there was a half-hour break while the roof was finally put in place. In the second set, Williams was down 3-5, and broke Kuznetsova when she served for the match. Williams then held, then broke Kuznetsova again, and went on to take the set, 7-5. In the third set, Williams found her serve again and dominated, winning it 6-1.

Of course, there is talk about whether Kuznetsova would have won if there had not been a long roof break. Who knows? Tennis is filled with "what if?"s such as this. One notable thing about this match was that Kuznetsova did not go into choke mode; she was simply outplayed by a force called Serena.

Of the three women who are expert at coming back from behind at the last moment--Williams, Dinara Safina and Jelena Dokic--two are still standing.

Unfortunately, Williams punctuated her win by telling an interviewer: "I told myself I need to man up or go home." Williams, of all people, should know that maleness does not equal courage. "Man up," the latest version of "has balls," perpetuates the myth that one--even a female one--must embrace maleness in order to be strong and brave.

This and that

I've already mentioned Jelena Jankovic's Australian Open dress (like the color, don't like the cut). Venus looks great in her yellow dress, and Dementieva--as always--looks good in orange. My favorite dress so far is Chakvetadze's, but, alas, we won't be seeing it anymore. Serena Williams wore a totally different outfit for her third round match. I liked the gray-patterned dress, per se, but I think it is a bit busy for Serena. 

Note to Martina Navratilova: Even Patrick McEnroe says "no woman's land" (though he acts like he should get some type of Cady Stanton award for doing so), and he doesn't call the women "guys," either. Come on, Navratilova--there are no men on the court.

Tennis Channel's latest promo for Chris Evert has a voice-over that says Evert is "currently married" to Australian golfer Greg Norman. Ouch.

Speaking of Tennis Channel--Gabriela Sabatini is number 3 in the countdown of the "Five Greatest One-Slam Wonders." No one else from the women's tour was included in the top five or among the honorable mentions, though I imagine Jana Novotna was under consideration.

I really feel the absence of both Maria Sharapova and Katarina Srebotnik from this Australian Open. It would be nice to have Bethanie Mattek there, too, but she recently married and decided to take a little break.

ESPN commentators heard Dinara Safina's request that her name be pronounced correctly, and they are doing a good job of pronouncing it. Now, if they could just get around to correctly pronouncing some of the other names...

USTA picks another woman-as-man to be its leader

Lucy S. Garvin has been chosen as the USTA's Chairman of the Board and President. Like her predecessor, she is referred to as a man, which is a bit confusing, since she is a woman. The USTA is not only confused about gender, but also about ethnicity; if you have ever filled out a membership application, then you know that the organization does not realize that Hispanic people are Caucasian. Perhaps the USTA will eventually join the 21st Century.

Some things never change

In almost the same breath, the eternally sexist Tracy Austin referred to Venus and Serena Williams as "guys," then as "young ladies."

Memo to commentators

To John McEnroe, Justin Gimelstob and Rennae Stubbs: They are not (with very few exceptions) girls.

To Ted Robinson: They are not young girls.

To Martina Navratilova and Chris Fowler: They are not guys.

To all of you: Would it really kill you to learn how to pronounce their names? I mean, isn't saying their names what you do for a living?

"Girls" and "men"

"Girls talking to girls and men talking to men, but neither one of them communicating with each other."

That's an assessment of the sad state of affairs of male-female communication. Only the sadder state of affairs is that the author, Serena Williams, refers to females as children and to males as adults. It's bad enough that men do that--women really need to stop doing it. It is especially disappointing to see an accomplished, assertive woman like Williams do it.

Tennis media continues with the disgusting questions--this one is beyond the pale

This was an interview question posed to Ana Ivanovic after her Australian Open semifinal victory:

May I ask you, when you talk in Serbian, do you always talk like that, the way you talk in English, all breathless? Especially when you talk to your boyfriend, do you talk like that?

We can all put down money that the reporter will not be reprimanded in any way. It is unfortunate that Ivanovic did not put him in his place.

Memo to Chris Fowler

Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic are not guys, either. They, too, are women.

And Hantuchova does not say that she does not enjoy the fashion part of her life; she says that she enjoys it very much. So please stop with the "Hantuchova says one thing and does another" routine. (Unfortunately, Hantuchova is enjoying fashion in a way that is certainly disappointing to me--there is a new tour photo of her standing in a Versace store wearing a fur-trimmed coat.)

Carrillo promotes feminism on the tour--sort of

Commentator Mary Carill0 went on a worthy rant during the Australian Open Williams-Domachowska round of 16 match, about how few players on the tour are willing to speak up about important issues, especially issues that affect the status of women. She cited the refusal of such stars as Graf, Seles and Henin to ever speak out, and she praised the Williams sisters, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova for speaking out--especially Venus Williams.

Amen to all that, but it is especially ironic--and not in a good way--if, when one is talking about feminist issues, one calls Venus Williams a "statesman" and a "spokesman."

Justin Gimelstob: The next Dick Enberg?

Tennis commentator and recently retired ATP player Justin Gimelstob has some sexist views, which makes him--well, a lot like all the other commentators. His "sympathy" for tour players because they had to sweat in front of "glamorous" dates and wives pretty much said it all.

Now that he has a television audience, however, Gimelstob is able to do more damage. Over the weekend, he made personal comments about Maria Kirilenko's body to Maria Kirilenko, and he made several comments about both her body and Daniela Hantuchova's body. On one occasion, his fellow commentator jokingly gave him a "time-out," but we know from our experience with Dick Engerg that no real time-out will ever be given.