Tennis Viewer's Articles – April 2009 Archive (12)

Bad news for Goran Ivanisevic fans out there. The former Wimbledon champion from Croatia was forced to pull out of this week’s Legends Championships Tennis Tournament at the Ritz-Carlton in Grand Cayman due to a lingering knee injury.



“I am very disappointed not to be able to play in the Cayman Islands due to the longer than expected recovery time necessary after my knee operation,” Ivanisevic said.



“I was looking forward playing in a first-class event on a dream island. I… Continue

Nine-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one Monica Seles revealed in her latest memoir that amidst all the successes she achieved in tennis, she still had her fair share of struggles and depression.



Her book titled “Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self” chronicles the tennis star’s humble beginnings, triumphs at the height of her tennis career, the attack in Germany that still haunts her to this day and her struggle with diet and depression when she was away from… Continue

The nominees of this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards have been announced and as expected, most of the players that got the nod were those who performed well at the Beijing Olympics held last year.



“This has been a great year for sport and the Academy are going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners. This is always the case in an Olympics year, but we have has some very strong performances from the non-Olympic sports. I congratulate all the nominees,”… Continue

Toni Layton, the former lesbian lover of tennis great Martina Navratilova, is reportedly threatening to expose the 9-time Wimbledon singles champion’s “skeletons” if she does not get a favorable financial settlement based on their eight-year long relationship. This development was first published at the New York Post’s Page Six.



Layton, who left her husband to have a relationship with the tennis great, had been negotiating for a settlement with Navratilova’s attorneys but only got… Continue

After Serena Williams announced her withdrawal from the Family Circle Cup this week, it became inevitable that she’ll be stepping down from the top spot in next week’s WTA rankings. As the defending champion of the claycourt event, the American is set to lose significant ranking points thus making it possible for Russian world number two Dinara Safina to take over.



Safina will become the second player from her nation to achieve this feat. The first one was Maria Sharapova, who held… Continue

People Magazine confirmed through a reliable source that 26-year old American tennis superstar Andy Roddick and 21-year old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker will tie the knot this weekend in Austin, Texas - where the world no. 6 is based.



The source also revealed that prenuptial festivities have already taken place, including a bachelorette party for Decker and her bridesmaids which took place last weekend in the model’s native North Carolina.



Roddick, on… Continue

The nominees, location and date of this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards will be revealed tomorrow (April 16). The tenth edition of this internationally recognized sporting awards will be a tough one for the jurors considering that there were a lot of triumphs last year, most notably at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.



Only one player was confirmed as a nominee so far and he’s none other than World Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko for the Laureus World Comeback Award.



“I… Continue

Among ATP World Tour players, world number three Serbian Novak Djokovic has the best percentage when it comes to challenging calls which require the Hawkeye video replay system. Not sure if this distinction is something to be proud of, Djokovic humbly said during the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami that it doesn’t necessarily mean that he has the eye of a “falcon or something.”



ATP also revealed that women players have more sucesses in video challenges than men (36 % versus 35… Continue

Serbian player Jelena Jankovic just got a needed boost in the upcoming major claycourt tournaments after winning the inaugural Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain.The current world number four defeated Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in three tight sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-3).



Jankovic started this season as the world number one but her dismal performance during the past few months saw her ranking fall to number four.



“I know I have not been playing well the last three… Continue

Danish player Caroline Wozniacki claimed her fourth career WTA title on Sunday after she defeated Canadian player Aleksandra Wozniak at The MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra, Florida in two sets (6-1, 6-2).



Wozniacki is now just less than 300 points away from making a debut in the world’s top 10. As the tournament second seed, the world no. 12 avoided a clash with top seed Nadia Petrova of Russia after the latter was dispatched by Wozniak in the semifinals.



This… Continue

Family Circle Cup (WTA)



Defending champion Serena Williams opted to skip the event after suffering from a leg injury incurred during the Sony Ericsson Open final in Miami. The world number one did commit to take part in promotional events organized by tournament officials. Russian Elena Dementieva replaced Williams as tournament top seed.



Here’s the list of seeded players:



[1] Elena Dementieva

[2] Venus Williams

[3] Vera Zvonareva

[4] Nadia… Continue

World number two Roger Federer sent out a short yet meaningful message to his fans during the weekend, announcing that he married his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in an intimate ceremony at his hometown of Basel in Switzerland. The couple announced last month that they are expecting their first child.



Here’s his message posted on his website:



Dear Fans



Earlier today, in my hometown of Basel, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family, Mirka… Continue