The injury list for the US Open is growing by the day, so it is going to be a very interesting tournament. The only top male player not on the list is Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic – Shoulder and general fatigue. Has had some issues with patella tendinitis this season
Rafael Nadal – Large burn blisters on fingers and left foot
Andy Murray – Sore arm
Mardy Fish – Heel
Tomas Berdych – Shoulder
Robin Soderling – Wrist – he has announced he will travel to NYC
Jo Wilfried Tsonga – Arm. Ultrasound showed no muscle tear after he withdrew in Montreal.
Andy Roddick – Recently pulled out of Montreal with an oblique but played in Cincinnati.
Milos Raonic – Recovering from hip surgery
David Ferrer – Recovering from hairline fracture in left hand
Tommy Robredo – Withdrawn – Ongoing groin issues
Sam Querrey – Withdrawn – Recovering from elbow surgery (spurs)
Juan Carlos Ferrero – Recovering from multiple injuries
The new WTA Tour rankings are out and here is what has changed after the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The complete top ten according to the August 15 rankings is below:
1. Caroline Wozniacki
2. Vera Zvonareva
3. Kim Clijsters
4. Victoria Azarenka
5. Na Li
6. Petra Kvitova
7. Maria Sharapova
8. Francesca Schiavone
9. Marion Bartoli
10. Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams won the Rogers Cup in Toronto and she is now 31st in the world rankings.
This week is the Cincinnati tournament in which we will see Serena Williams possibly play Samanthat Stosur in the second round.
Here are some pics of what dress Serena is going to wear at this year’s US Open.
I’m guessing the blue one is for night matches and the pink one is for day matches since Serena wore a darker shaded dress for night matches in her last appearance at the US Open. Can’t wait to see it on the tennis court!
Former World No. 1 Serena Williams defeated Marion Bartoli for her first title since her comeback after a long year of injuries and illnesses. The American eased past the Frenchwoman after coming from behind in the first set, and earning the Bank of the West Classic title on Sunday with a score of 7-5 6-1.
“You can see the growth in her game, and also she’s such a nice person. Thank you for being sweet. That’s really nice.”, Serena said about Marion at the trophy presentation.
Going into the tournament, Williams was No. 169 in the world, but after beating top players such as Sharapova and Bartoli, her ranking has lifted to No. 79 in the world.
“I hated those triple digits. Now I’ve got to get to single digits.”, Serena said, chuckling, about her ranking.
Anastasia Rodionova gets a very big tennis lesson after her 6-0 6-0 loss to Serena Williams at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. It is very rare that you see a 6-0 6-0 loss in professional tennis and its quite sad for Rodionova.
6 aces
100% first serve points won (17/17)
82% second serve return points won
Faced no break points
83% service points won
71% total points won
6-0, 6-0
47 minutes
The only thing I didnt like about the win is that Serena looked very cocky and even being a smart-ass at times.
Currently ranked number five in the world, Maria Sharapova sat down at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic to talk about how her career has turned out, what difficulties she faced during her life, and what she thinks of the events that happen in between tournaments.
At age four, her father Yuri gave her a tennis racquet and she doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing tennis. She has never wanted to leave the sport behind once she stepped into adulthood and she never hated the sport ever since she started playing.
“There is no reason to and although you have difficult moments, it’s a pretty good gig and we are fortunate to do what we do,” Sharapova said at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic, where she is the second seed. “You have your moments of frustrations growing up when your friends can catch the 10 p.m. movie and you have to catch the 6-7 p.m. movie even though you want to go with them, but you can’t because you have to wake up and practice. But it’s worth it when you lift the trophies and receive the texts and emails and well wishes.”
“Even though I’m constantly thinking of wanting to win and improving, when I’m at home I’m really happy and settled into my life,” she said. “I don’t feel like I need to go to a red carpet event for people to see me and notice me and I don’t feel my career is in the hands of someone who can put me on the cover of a magazine. I think those are really big worries that [other] people have and it’s tough to live like that. I’m fortunate my career is driven from something I created with my own hands, whether I win or lose. That’s what keeps me sane.”
As the second seeded player at Stanford, Maria has an opportunity to meet Serena Williams in the quarters. But she should also watch out for defending champ and top seeded Victoria Azarenka who wants to give herself a title as her birthday gift this Sunday. The only way for Maria to stop her is beat her in the final, if they do meet.
Anastasia Rodionova is the player who will have to take on Serena Williams in the first round at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. Rodionova has struggled previously with Williams, so it will be interesting to see if she can get the upperhand in this clash.
Williams has been struggling for form lately and needs to get some important match wins under her belt before heading to the US Open in the coming months.
It seemed to be all laughs between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis at last nights WTT event. However, it was not so long ago when they were not the best of friends.
Serena Williams will be using her protected ranking to enter the US Open 2011 in a few months time. This was officially announced by the USTA yesterday.
Only the top 105-ranked players in the world are granted direct entry into the draw and Serena’s ranking is currently at 172 in the world.
I really hope she can get in a lot of training in the next month or so and be fully fit and ready to go for the US Open 2011.
It seems like Serena Williams will need either a wild card or use her protected ranking to be able to play at the US Open 2011. Serena’s ranking is currently 175 in the world and this would mean that she might get into qualify with this ranking.
If a player is out with an injury for more than six month they can receive a protected ranking. Thus, when they return to tour they can use this ranking to get into tournaments they were previously playing. When Serena received her protected ranking she was the world number 1.
It was all glamour at the Pre-Wimbledon Party of 2011. The women stars of the game got dressed up and this year it was particuarly interesting with each of the players wearing an outfit that was designed by a British designer. Let’s take a look at some of the girls who headlined the show.
Jelena Jankovic wore a Vivienne Westwood dress
Ana Ivanovic wore a Matthew Williamson dress
Maria Sharapova wore an all Alexander McQueen ensemble.
Serena Williams wore a Burberry gown.
Betanie Mattek-Sands surprised everyone with a dress made by one of Lady Gaga’s designers
Caroline Wozniacki wore a Stella McCartney dress and who also designs her on-court dresses as well.
Other players who were at the party include Li Na (wore Giles Deacon); Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (wore David Koma); Andrea Petkovic (wore Richard Nicoll); Heather Watson (wore Mulberry); and Laura Robson (wore Temperley). Nicholas Kirkwood provided shoes for the occasion.
Serena Williams is scheduled to make her return to professional tennis today. Williams will compete in the Eastbourne tournament and is amazingly happy to be back playing tennis after her illness layoff.
Expect both Williams sisters to be strong contenders again at this years Wimbledon that starts next week.
Serena Williams has been off the court since her run at Wimbledon but this week has made some headlines on the social network site Twitter. She reportedly put up the picture and took it down just after an hour because of some negative comments. Some say she put up the picture as a message to the man who stalked her a couple of months ago, but no one really gets why she would do that.
Anyway, here is the link on youtube.com if you want to see the picture:
Hope you come back to the court soon, Serena! (But not in lingerie)
It has been reported that Serena Williams’ stalker has been arrested in Florida. Patenema Ouedraogo, 40, was arrested near Williams’ home in Palm Beach Gardens and charged with stalking and cyber-stalking.
Williams’ attorney said a restraining order had been sought against Ouedraogo, but he could not be found so it was never served.
Ouedraogo had reportedly tried to approach Williams four times since October, including on April 15 when he showed up to a radio station in Hollywood, Florida where she was appearing.
Ouedraogo’s bond has been set at $25,000 and a judge ordered him to stay at least 500 feet (152 metres) away from Williams.
It seems as though things are going from bad to worse for Serena Williams at the moment. Only a few days ago her cast was remove from her right foot, but now its been reported that she underwent emergency surgery after suffering a blood clot in her lungs.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has announced that Serena Williams has officially withdrawn from the 2011 tournament.
Williams has cited a foot injury for the withdrawal. It is the 2nd consecutive Grand Slam tournament that Williams will miss, and the loss of 2000 ranking points will cost her her place in the top 10 rankings.
She said she had additional surgery last month and couldn’t risk returning before the injury had properly healed.
“As I recently learned, pushing myself back into my intense training too early only caused me further injury and damage,” Williams said. “While I desperately want to be back on the court and competing in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, it is imperative for my health that I continue to work with my doctors to ensure my foot heals properly.
“This decision, though heavy on my heart, is the right one. I am praying for a healthy recovery and I promise my Aussie fans and my fans around the world that I will be back better than ever as soon as I can be.”
