While the after-Wimbledon minor clay court tournaments are winding down in Europe and the hard-court season is in full-gear in preparation for the U.S. Open, let's take a closer look at what is happening in and around the ATP and WTA tours.
Following her loss to Lindsay Davenport in the finals of JP Morgan Classic, Serena Williams gave all the credit to Davenport by saying, "Lindsay played a great match." Venus Williams could learn a thing or two from her younger sister about giving credit to others.
She claimed that her sister, Serena, did not even play at 50-percent against young Russian Maria Sharapova in the finals of Wimbledon, or she would have won. Equally, following her loss to Lindsay Davenport in the finals of Bank of the West Tournament, Venus again claimed, this time for herself, that if she would have been completely healthy, she would have "won the match for sure." Dear Venus, you know how that saying goes: "You fool me once, shame on you. You fool me twice, shame on me"?
Marcelo Rios officially retired from professional tennis earlier in July. The word official is the key in this sentence. He was already retired in the eyes of many tennis lovers due to his numerous blunders. English and grass-court fans retired him long ago when he repeatedly refused to play Wimbledon and grass court tournaments citing that, "Grass courts are for cows."
Female fans retired him when he made obscene remarks few years back about the size of a prominent WTA player. Fans who appreciate the notion of "100-percent hustle" retired him when he showed up in the finals of the Australian Open and put forth a dismal effort against Petr Korda and retired of numerous other matches, some questionably, citing various injuries. ATP officials and referees wished him retired for a long time due to his many verbal scuffles with them. Official? It's just a word.
Jelena Dokic finally admitted that she basically has no contact anymore with her psycho dad. The latest page in this soap opera turned when Damir Dokic claimed that Jelena was using performance-enhancing drugs. Jelena said that he was trying to "screw her up, and that is sad." I beg to disagree.
What is pretty sad is that for years everyone knew how unbalanced this guy was, except Jelena herself. She even defended him when he physically assaulted people at Wimbledon one year. Then she followed his every word as he made her switch nationalities like changing wristbands. It's never too late to see the light, but one can't help but ask what planet has Jelena been all this time.
By the way, if Damir is correct about his allegation, Jelena's performance certainly does not show it. Her record stands at 6-14 and is ranked 27th, the lowest since 1999.
The tennis world is congratulating Pam Shriver on her newborn son, Georgie. After all, she deserves applause since she is 42-years-old. Yet, I still feel that I should intervene here. How about a round of hands for her husband, the ex-James Bond, George Lazenby? The guy is 65-years-old, for crying out loud!
I appreciate the efforts of the powers that be in creating what is called the "U.S. Open Series." ESPN pushes the idea, showing nine tournaments on TV, ultimately leading to the U.S. Open. What is the best thing about this concept? Well, most matches are live! Ratings are up in the first two weeks compared to last year. Hopefully, ESPN will learn a lesson and chuck the idea of taped matches away, eliminating the squeezing of matches into a time slot, or the rush by fans to not look at the Internet in fear of seeing the score of a match that will be on the tube later.
What is the worst part? Clearly, the answer is the U.S. Open Series rankings. Who needs an extra set of rankings when we already have two on the men's side? Currently, Nicolas Kiefer is number one in the U.S. Open Series Rankings. Let's get real, how much interest does that name generate around this continent?
Nevertheless, the rest of the season on both tours should be terrific as new rivalries flourish on men's side, and rankings get deeper on the women's side.
Until next time, I am looking forward to enjoying the countless hours of tennis on the tube. I can't wait until the U.S. Open!
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