The Curious Cases Of Stolen Points

by MadProfessah


AFP

Another Williams Slam match, another curious incident in which the African American champion is robbed of a point. Curious coincidence. Notice the pattern:

2003: In a semifinal match at Roland Garros , Justine Henin raises her hand to say she's not ready, Serena serves a fault and the referee refuses to give Serena a first serve. Serena complains and the crowd completely turns against her. Serena wins the game, but loses the match.

2004: Umpire Marina Alves calls a point CLEARLY inside the line (on the far side of the court) OUT and awarding the point to Jennifer Capriati in the US Open semifinal match against Serena. Serena loses the match. The clamor for electronic line calling grows and becomes standard within 3 years.

2004: in a 2nd round match against Karolina Sprem at Wimbledon the umpire called the SCORE incorrectly, awarding Venus' opponent a point she did not earn. Venus loses the match.
2009: in a 3rd round match against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Serena nailed a ball at her opponent at the net on breakpoint down which clearly hit the Spaniard's right arm (in multiple replays) and then her racquet, to go over the net. The umpire awards the point and game to Serena's opponent, over Serena's protests. Serena wins the match.

These are just the curious incidents that I remember off the top of my head.

Do people REALLY THINK this has nothing to do with race? Why does this not happen to any other American players? Why is it just Williams sisters, and more often than not Serena especially?

What do YOU think?

Face Of The Day

Getty

A picture taken on February 20, 2008 shows Israel's Shahar Pe'er during her tennis match against France's Virginie Razzano on the third day of the Qatar Open WTA tournament in Doha. The future of the Dubai Open may be at risk after Peer was prevented from competing in the event which started on February 15, 2009. The world number 48 from Israel has been denied a visa into the Gulf state, bringing a strongly worded statement from the Women's Tennis Association. The blocking is a surprise because Pe'er was given a visa to play in the Qatar Open last year, a visit which was a considerable success both in tennis and diplomatic terms.

::

In her own words:

I welcome the decision just announced by the United Arab Emirates and the Dubai tournament to reverse a stance that until now has prevented Israeli athletes from competing in the UAE. This is a great victory for the principle that all athletes should be treated equally and without discrimination, regardless of gender, religion, race or nationality. It is also a victory for sport as a whole, and the power of sport to bring people together.

It is still very unfortunate that due to the decision of the Dubai tournament and the UAE, I could not participate in the tournament this year. This has hurt me significantly both personally and professionally. However I am very happy for Andy Ram, who will be able to compete next week in Dubai. I hope and believe that from this day forward, athletes from all over the world will be able to compete in the UAE and anywhere else in the world without discrimination of any kind. I personally look forward to competing in Dubai next year.

This has been a very difficult period for me, and I want to thank the many thousands of fans and organizations all over the world that made this breakthrough possible, including the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and my fellow players. All of them have supported me these past days, weeks and months. It is truly humbling and also inspiring to know how many of us feel strongly and are willing to do all that we can to break down barriers of discrimination.

Quote For The Day

"The tournament should automatically lose the right to exist. I know that carries unbelievable financial and political ramifications, and sometimes you have to be willing to live in a two-faced environment. But if this tournament is going to send out invitations and only ask who they want, if that's the way they want it to be, then they're an exhibition."--Pam Shriver

Read the whole Bonnie D. Ford article at ESPN. The gloves are off.

When Politics Meets Tennis (Updated)

Meets politics, it can look something like this:

Israel's Andy Ram will be granted a visa to play in next week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a spokesman for U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner [pictured] said today.

The United Arab Emirates denied Israel's Shahar Peer a visa to play in the women's Dubai tournament this week. Congressman Weiner, who represents New York, had scheduled a press conference today to press the ATP to cancel its event if Ram was denied a visa. But the UAE's ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, assured Weiner that Ram will be issued a visa to play next week, according to a Reuters report.

"Ms. Shahar Peer is a victim of politics over sportsmanship," Weiner said in a statement.

The UAE does not have diplomatic ties with Israel and routinely denies visas to Israelis. Last February, Peer became the first Israeli to play a Gulf Arab region event when she played the Qatar Open and said then she received a "warm welcome" from the tournament. However, the UAE denied the Israeli doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Ram, the 2008 Australian Open doubles champions, entry to play Dubai last year citing security concerns.

So I guess now the top ATP players don't have to stick out their necks, do they?

UPDATE: Turns out the congressman may have jumped the gun, if this account is to be believed.

Contrary to Bloomberg’s report today, the United Arab Emirates government has not issued any formal playing papers to Israeli Andy Ram – yet. Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York may, in fact, be correct and have inside info. But he might also have popped off too soon. Several parties intimately involved in the Ram-Dubai drama told me Wednesday that no official word on Ram's visa allowing him to compete in Dubai next week had been granted.

ATP spokesman Kris Dent (uncharacteristically) did not return my emails or calls seeking comment. But two other well-placed sources inside and outside the men’s tour with knowledge of the situation old me that the issue was still pending. Ram’s lawyer, Amit Naor, also confirmed that no deal had been struck. “The only thing I know is that the ATP is putting a lot of pressure,” Naor said by telephone Wednesday. “The rest is guessing.”

Because Ram was born in Uruguay, I wondered if he could get around the controversy by using a different passport. Some Israelis with dual citizenship have been able to travel to Dubai. But Naor told me that Ram doesn’t carry that passport and isn’t even sure if it’s valid. He said it was a non-issue and if the doubles specialist enters Dubai it will be on his Israeli passport.

Meantime, a showdown looms. Several of the tour’s top officials were scheduled to jet off to Dubai in the next 12 hours, among them executive chairman Adam Helfant (talk about baptism by fire), international group CEO Brad Drewett, and board rep Justin Gimelstob. I’m told the ATP has given UAE officials a deadline of Friday afternoon to come to a decision so as not to create the same last-minute chaos that Peer’s rejection did (she was already in the draw).

Across the aisle at the WTA, the continued fallout from Peer’s denial has been swift and severe. Jewish leaders have called for the WTA to punish the UAE and Sweden, fearing more reprisals, will play to an empty stadium when it takes on Israel in Davis Cup next month in Malmo. And if the ATP doesn’t have enough on its plate, ripples from the Stanford fraud case could soon hit the tour.

The Djokovic Open?

Belgrade is going to get an ATP event in the spring.

The talk of the town in sports circles in Belgrade is the news that Family Sport, [sic] company owned by Novak Djokovic’s family, has successfully ended their lobbying in Shanghai over the organization of an ATP tennis event in Serbia’s capital. The countdown to 4 May next year and the clay-court tournament that will be hosted in the Milan Gale Muskatirovic sports centre has already begun.

The ATP tournament that will be played in Belgrade, the licence for which has been taken over from the Dutch Open in Amersfoort, is scheduled for the week between the Rome and Madrid Masters events, while it will coincide with the tournaments in Munich and Estoril. The event’s officials will therefore face a formidable task of attracting the world’s best to Belgrade.

Friendly relationships between Serbia’s number one Novak Djokovic and the world’s tennis A-list could be useful in getting some of the top 10 players of the ATP rankings to appear in Belgrade. Given the fact it will be played on clay, it is expected that a number of Spanish players will be interested in registering. Maybe even Rafael Nadal himself could prepare in Belgrade for the Madrid Masters, but as things are, another Spanish clay-court specialist – Fernando Verdasco – wouldn’t mind spending some extra time in Belgrade.

(Thanks, Moose)

Idle Chit-Chat

by Savannah

Soooo I was going to lead with the Oz Open story and the seemingly increasing possibility of more "Grand Slams" and turn this into a "Heard Around" post but for total shock value you can't top this.

Words fail me. Well no they don't. It's not about Radek Stepanek being hotness challenged either. What would a 29-year-old man want with an 18-year-old girl? Oh I know but as my mother used to always say you've got to get out of the bed sometime. I used to dismiss it as one of her many quirky statements during my teen aged years (and yes the wheel had been invented back then) but now I understand what she meant.

Her parents and the tennis establishments in both Czechoslovakia and the United States invested a lot of time and money in Nicole Vaidisova's tennis career. For her to now decide her be all and end all is Radek must be throwing them for a loop. My other question is why the rush? I don't know how long they've been seeing each other - a tab in Czechoslovakia reported they were a couple but it was a tab so no one took it seriously I suppose.

At age 29, Radek's career is on the downside. Maybe he'll become his wife's coach a la Rainer Hoffman. At least Radek does know something about playing tennis which is more than can be said for Rainer, but I digress. Let's hope an angry father holding a double barreled shot gun (I guess today it would be a Glock semi automatic) isn't part of the wedding party and that Nicole will continue her tennis career sans wailing babe.

Oh, and Nicole, here's a word to add to your vocabulary - "PRENUP!"

In other couples news Chris Evert and Greg Norman confirmed their engagement. No date has been set for the nuptials. Chris also announced she's building a tennis facility in South Africa. Evert Norman Engagement


Roger

Grand Slam Tennis Update
This paragraph appears in an online article by Leo Schlink on the state of the Australian Open. "Bimes" is Christian Bimes head of the French Tennis Federation.

"Roland Garros will not lose its grand slam status, but I'm convinced that if we don't make progress, there will one day be a fifth grand slam event in Asia and possibly a sixth in Europe," Bimes said.

"The losers would be the French Open and Wimbledon. We want to avoid that at any cost."

Well here's a thought. How about rescheduling the French Open and Wimbledon so that their positioning makes sense? Ion Tiriac is putting his money where his mouth is and lobbying big time for Madrid to be upgraded. I doubt the Chinese built their wonderful facitility just for the Olympics. And Middle Eastern money is already a major influence in tennis. Moving Wimbledon and creating a "Road to Wimbledon" or whatever would satisfy those who love grass court tennis by creating an actual grass court season. The clay court season, already established, could remain as it is. Just my very humble opinion.

The article is focused on the Australian Open and Tennis Australia's fears regarding it's status. Interesting read for tennisheads. More Slams?


Serena YEC Madrid 2007

BJK Opens Up
Tennis legend Billie Jean King sat down for an interview with the Sunday Times of London. David Walsh's article reviews Ms King's professional and personal life and includes information about the how and why of her coming out. Ms King also took time to talk about today's WTA and makes the following statement:

We now have the best players we’ve ever had,” says King. “I don’t know why we’re not talking about Justine Henin all the time because, for her size, she’s the greatest athlete we’ve ever seen. I don’t know why she’s not more appreciated – she’s not blonde, she’s not cutesie-wootsie but the way she has evolved as a tennis player is unbelievable. She’s improved so much at the net, she’s much stronger off her forehand, she has turned a terrible serve into something better than adequate and she’s learnt to recover during a match. People need to understand what they are seeing here.

For the full article please read BJK Interview

Wimbledon July 3 2007

Venus Williams Graduates
Since it's well known that most American tennis players don't even have high school diplomas it's nice to see that Venus stuck to it and graduated from fashion school this week. Big ups to Ms Williams.


Venus December 2007 Miami

Miscellaneous Tennis News

From the exhibition season:
Dudi Sela of Israel beat Marat Safin in straight sets at Sankt Polten The match lasted 56 minutes.


The semi's in Argentina look like this:

Nalbandian vs Chela
Monaco vs Moya

More from the shallow end of the pool...
Andy Roddick photographed in the Union Square area of NYC with his girl friend Brooklyn Decker who is still a teenager. Guess his hipster girlfriend didn't tell him that those jeans went out a couple of years ago...


Serena's "A-Ha" Moment
This is a regular feature in "Oprah" magazine.

And then, like proof of being an adult, my first electric bill arrived—$1,500! I couldn't believe it. Suddenly I understood why Daddy was always telling me to turn out the lights. Another time I came home from a tournament and—click! No lights. Our power had been turned off because I hadn't paid the bill on time. There I was, the 1999 U.S. Open champ, sitting alone in my big house in the dark. I was constantly running out of groceries, toiletries, and little things I needed. That's when you realize what it means to be an adult: when you're on your own and you run out of toilet paper.

It took about a year, but eventually my new house started to feel like home. Venus and I did all the decorating, and seven years later, I still love the choices we made, like our window treatments and my classic bedroom furniture. We may have been giddy kids, but it turns out we didn't do anything too crazy. The first night I spent there by myself I was miserable—nothing in the house really seemed like it was mine. Now I don't relax until I put my key in the lock, swing open the front door, and my dogs rush to greet me.

A Ha!

Serena in Moscow 2007


Marat in Moscow 2007

End Notes

David Nalbandian and the Ladies Paris Bercy 2007

What to say about Sania Mirza? This young woman, already under the religious microscope was involved in filming an ad, in a mosque in Hyderabad India. It's reported that some of the film crew, ignoring Muslim sensibilities, entered the building wearing shoes. On top of that no filming, especially of a commercial, was to take place inside the house of worship. Sania, sweetie, is ya stoopid? An apology was hastily released but the damage was done. It was pointed out that her closest advisors are Hindu but she was born and raised a Muslim and should have made sure everything was properly arranged. Sania, handle your business. Sania Sparks Relgious Row

There's a thread on TAT where tennisheads discussed the top five WTA tennis stories of 2007. Ask two tennisheads opinions on things tennis and you'll get three different points of view.
The original list, posted by Peter Bodo in his blog looked like this:

1. Serena Williams' first quarter.

2. Justine Henin's final three quarters.

3. The Serbian Vitches

4. Williams sisters tag-team move.

5. Introducing Marion Bartoli.

My immediate reaction was "huh?" I thought about if for a while and then came up with my own list.

1. Serena's first quarter

2. Henin's three quarters

3. Sharapova's winning one event in 2007

4. Hingis retirement

5. What Lindsay's triumphant return shows about the (lack of) depth of women's tennis.

Special Mention: Venus Wimbledon win

I don't see how the Maria Sharapova story and the events surrounding Hingis retirement could not make a top five list of stories for the WTA. I know people think I hate Sharapova but I don't really. I don't know her. But I do know what is done for her by the tennis establishment - say what you will but that 2007 US Open draw has to go down in infamy - and that is what I don't like. People are quick to point out that she played the YEC very well but again she had the softer of the draws. I don't think Justine Henin has had as soft draw all year by the way but again I digress. At the end of the year she won exactly one event during the US Open series against a tired opponent. And if Venus hadn't fallen on her sword and bowed out of the YEC Sharapova wouldn't have been there at all.

As for Martina Hingis retiring again under circumstances that make it impossible for the truth to ever come out just imagine if Venus Williams or Serena Williams had tested postitive for cocaine. It would be the top story of the year not only in tennis but in sports. Marion Jones fall would have nothing on a Venus/Serena drug story. And that is why it's a big deal. It seems everyone, the WTA and Ms Hingis, got what they wanted from how things worked out. Martina's fans will be able to say it was never proved and hope to see her make the Hall of Fame. The ITF and the WTA will also be able to say they enforced their rules and got a druggie out of the game. And whether you like her or not Martina was the last of the pre Big Babe tennis players and deserved the induction ceremony that was in her future.

Some now want to add the Nicole Vaidisova situation to the top WTA stories of 2007. It deserves mention only because she was set to be a golden girl. I respect Nicole a lot, especially after she lost to Serena in Melbourne at the beginning of the year and refused to get caught up in a media created frenzy about lights shining in her eyes. She also has game. We have a lot of stories of teen tennis players cracking under the pressure to do well and I wonder if this is her way of dealing with it? Bernard Tomic, all of fifteen, is being hyped by Tennis Australia as the next big thing on the ATP circuit. His father/coach is already comparing him to Roger Federer in precociousness and making his training regime sound like Rafa's. The kid has been quoted as saying he doesn't mind not having a life he loves tennis so much. I know some think tennis players reading is an oxymoron but young Tomic's camp should read that New York Times piece on Donald Young from this past summer and look at Bjorn Borg's life long and hard. You have to be a kid sometime. It's better to do it while age wise you're still a kid and not wait until your late twenties to get angry about not having had a life and proceed to have one.

As for Lindsay's triumphant return to the tour I'm sure the WTA just wishes she would go away. She's playing more in 2008. Let's see how she does before hauling her up on a pedestal folks. She's already caused Jelena Jankovic to have a meltdown so 2008 should be fun.

I've put more best of 2007 pics in this post. I'll end with a fave of those who are into tennis slash from Wimbledon 2007.

Of Fifth Slams and the USTA

by Savannah

Lisa Raymond on Women’s Tennis in the United States
Lisa has written a thought provoking article about why the United States isn’t producing female players able to compete at the highest levels in her sport. I think that between us, Craig and I have talked about every issue she raises. It’s just nice to see your opinion validated by someone on the “inside”. The article is excerpted below.

Trouble on the home front
Where are all the young American women prospects?

So what's going on? Why is it that the biggest, most powerful, most affluent country of them all can't seem to produce the champions that these other smaller, much poorer countries can? Russia, Serbia and the Czech Republic are just a few of the countries producing young players at a rapid rate.
(…)
Sure, we could sit back and point fingers at the decision-makers at the USTA and the hierarchy of tennis in America. We could toss around questions such as, are they hiring the right people? The right coaches? Is it a sound structure? Is their system the blueprint for success or more along the lines of disaster? Maybe they can be held accountable to a degree. But where this issue begins is with the young player and the environment in which she is brought up.

Junior players in Russia or Serbia are willing to sacrifice everything in order to taste success, to get out and find a better life for themselves and their families. They don't know any differently. American juniors lose a match or have a bad practice and they can jump into their BMWs and head home to finish playing Halo 3 on their brand-new Xbox 360.
(…)
So what's the solution? Can hunger and desire be something that is taught? From my experience, the answer is no. Sure, everyone wants to be the next Justine Henin, but are you really willing to do the work, make the sacrifices and give up some of life's guilty pleasures in order to achieve such greatness?

When I posted about two very young up and coming American girls from the Florida area a few months back one of the mothers commented on the BMW approach to American tennis and how she had to fight to make sure her daughter understood that she belonged in that environment whether her parents drove a C class or a Honda.

I think Lisa lets the USTA off the hook here. She does talk in the article about the USTA programs in the inner cities and how much it costs to play the sport of tennis but what she doesn’t talk about are the unique problems faced by a player not to the manor born. Donald Young was pushed into playing on the pro level way before he was ready mentally because of financial reasons. He’s backtracked and seems to be doing just fine on the Challenger level building up ranking points and skill. It just makes me appreciate what Richard Williams and Oracene Price did with their daughters keeping them off the pro circuit despite whatever hardships they faced for as long as they could.

But the problem is not just racial; it is, as Lisa says, class more than anything else in the States. When Sam Querrey can state on the record that he loves driving his mother’s Porsche more than anything I think he makes Lisa’s argument for her. He is talented. He could be a hope for American tennis. But hey, lose, and I drive Mom’s Porsche and have fun. No big deal.

But the “manor” attitude is not limited to the players. It’s part of the mindset of the USTA. And that is where the problem really is. When you read about how the decision was made to make the United States a hard court nation simply to stop the progress of players from South America you have to wonder what other decisions are made based on class/ethnic/racial bias. These are not easy issues to discuss but they need to be raised in a public forum like Sports Illustrated.

Some tennis heads talked about this situation at least three years ago but no one wanted to hear it and called us “racists” for raising it. With Lisa Raymond talking about a five to ten year drought before another American woman will be able to make a big splash the pressure will be on juniors like Asia Muhammad and Madison Brengle both of whom seem 3-4 years away.
Lisa Raymond on Tennis


Ion Tiriac and the Fifth Slam
Why a Fifth Slam?
(We’ll forget for now that the term “Grand Slam” refers to a home run hit when the bases are full in baseball and gives the home run hitter's team four runs.)

To argue why Madrid could host a Grand Slam, the Romanian, 68, lists three points.

The first is that tennis should allow free competition.

"What I am still not satisfied about is the fact that they do not let tournaments compete. I want to compete. Tomorrow I go and ask how much are prizes at Roland Garros. Fifteen million? I go and put down 15 million, but I want to be at the points level of Roland Garros, not at the level of a '1,000.' Let me compete! But the Grand Slams will not let me compete. And neither will the ATP."

The second point of this former tennis player, former coach, former manager, former Romanian Olympic Committee chairman, businessman and banker is that Grand Slam tournaments have reached their limits.

"Unfortunately I don't think that (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy is going to let them build in the Bois de Boulogne to expand, because they already took a lot from the woods. And also they no longer have the (Olympic) Games, that the English took," Tiriac describes the challenges for Roland Garros.

London too faces obstacles.

"You cannot allow that, when you have 200 countries watching on television, the explanation is 'this is London when it rains.' Sport is no longer what is was, it is different from 20 years ago."

And Madrid is the city that according to Tiriac, incarnates more than any other this "new sport," the city that can go beyond the limits of Paris and London. The Magic Box, the fantastic tennis complex that French architect Dominique Perrault designed in the Spanish capital, is his third point.

"Madrid has a very great future, and it is going to have facilities like no other tournament. There is no other which can close three courts in five minutes and keep playing despite the rain," Tiriac stresses.

He notes he has ruled out the Asian option that he contemplated a couple of years ago.

A Fifth Slam?

Wimbledon is the Crown Jewel of tennis isn’t it? How dare Tiriac suggest that any other city, especially Madrid, supplant it? Please note that my tongue is very much in my cheek right now. After the fiasco that was Wimbledon 2007 I’m glad someone has decided to challenge the Grand Poobah’s in London. Not much may come of it but Tiriac has tons of money. Let’s see what happens.

Challenger News
Donald Young will face Robert Kendrick in the Final at Calabasas in the United States Sunday.

Guillermo Coria is rumored to be taking a wild card into Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Gasto Gaudio withdrew.

Not enough players to have a qualifying round in the Rimouski, Canada Challenger. John Isner will be the top seed.


Madrid Masters Television
Good coverage all week except for doubles. It can be expensive to purchase the season pass but it is possible to buy day passes. A day pass might be what a fan would want once you hit the quarters semi's and final for any TMS event. The best on line subscription is still provided by Wimbledon though.

Other Sports
A lot of sports fans will be watching the Formula 1 event in Brazil today where Louis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso's year long soap opera will play it's final act. No lesser racing legend than Jackie Steward commented on it this week. Rafa has commented on it. It's a shame these two greats couldn't find some middle ground. Alonso is said to be going back to Renault next year while Hamilton stays with McLaren.

Pictures of the Week

Elena channeling her inner Bond Girl



The Nadal Men


Uncle Rafael, Father Sebastian, Rafa, Uncle Toni, Miguel Angel

Serena's World View

Tuesday Tirade: Where's the (Asian) Tennis?

Players attend the player's party during day two of the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships on October 2, 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. From left: Venus Williams, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Sania Mirza, Lleyton Hewitt.

It's the post-US Open who's-playing-where-and-who-really-cares-about-tennis time of the year. Most casual fans in the States don't know anything about the Asian swing, as they watch the baseball season get hot, the football season start to simmer, and maybe, just maybe, look forward to the first Slam of the 2008 season halfway around the world in Australia. What are the season ending championships to these fans? The Davis Cup finals? Surely you jest.

But tennisheads know that indoor tennis (with a few outdoor events thrown in) rules the Asia and parts of Europe. Players who want to qualify for their tours' All-Star games are burning the candle at both ends to rack up points, while those who've already qualified are resting in order to peak at the right time.

We've been told that tennis is beginning to boom in Asia. The Chinese players are looking forward to hosting Olympic tennis in Beijing. The Masters Cup will be played in Shanghai for another few years. Korea has just qualified for the Davis Cup World Group for the first time in decades.

But those of us Stateside that would like to see coverage of the China Open or the Thailand Open or this week's AIG Japan Open Championships, a joint ATP-WTA event with a decent field, will have to settle for buffering Internet feeds because we won't get any television coverage of events east of Moscow this fall. Not even on The Tennis Channel.

What's up with that? If US fans are going to be exposed to more players from the Far East, why can't the networks get on the ball and send some commentators to Asia to cover the sport? Surely we'll watch matches on tape delay if you don't think we'll stay up through the night to watch them live.

The tennis season isn't over. Let's get these Asian events on the tube. And let's not wait until Shanghai to do it.