Martina Hingis, 29 years old, is not coming back to tennis.

When Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open last month, the state of the WTA tour was dragged into even more scrutiny. Then no. 1 player, Dinara Safina, hasn’t won any Grand Slam title; Serena Williams, now back at no. 1,  is facing a possible suspension because of her cussing brouhaha; former no. 1s Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic can’t go deep in any tournament (until Maria won Tokyo a few weeks later); and Venus Williams doesn’t look like she wants to win unless its Wimbledon. Then, all of a sudden, fresh-from-retirement, new mom Clijsters stole the limelight from them all.

Which then brings to us to Justine Henin, the only tennis player ever to retire while ranked as world no. 1. Henin announced her return to tennis shortly after the U.S. Open, and this is a news that was welcomed by the tennis community with much enthusiasm. This is one player who is poised to be threat to everyone, again.

So when Martina Hingis’ two-year suspension from the sport (due to a cocaine-positive test, which she is still vehemently denying) reaching its end, everyone wants to know if she’s giving tennis another try (she first retired in 2001 due to injury and made a comeback in 2006). Well, she isn’t. Reportedly, she feels that her career is on a downward spiral anyway. She prefers her new life now, donning equestrian apparel and riding her four horses. She (reportedly) recently starred in Britain’s version of Dancing with the Stars.

I haven’t been updating about the last Grand Slam of the year in this blog and now that it’s almost over, I don’t know where to start. What any tennis fan must know, if he hasn’t already heard or seen, is that this year’s U.S. Open is filled with too much drama and unpredictability that I might need dental discounts for having grit my teeth while watching all these crazy matches. Every bit of juicy information, you can find here. Here are a few remarkable events on the ladies draw:

1. Melanie Oudin, a 17-year old from Georgia, “slayed” four big-hitting and bigger-named Russians, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, tournament favorite Elena Dementieva, former no. 1 Maria Sharapova, and Nadia Petrova, before finally succumbing to the occasion and to the eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki during the quarterfinals.

2. Up-and-comer and new tennis IT girl Caroline Wozniacki reached her first Grand Slam final.

3. Serena Williams had a major meltdown during her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters. She cussed at the line judge while pointing her racquet head threateningly. Profanity ensued, plus a fine of a total of $10,500 for Unsportsmalike Conduct and racquet abuse.

4. Most remarkable is Kim Clijster’s fairy tale run, which ends with her holding the trophy. She was an unseeded wildcard, having no ranking points because of her previously retired status. She became the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won at Wimbledon in 1980 and the only second wildcard champion after Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon 2001.

I’m not really very much interested in fashion,  most especially high fashion, but I can definitely appreciate eye-pleasing outfits whether it be on the runway or in the world of sports or in my day-to-day existence. Tennis is arguably one of the most, if not the most, glamorous sports out there. Women’s sporting outfits have evolved into something of a fashion statement and every tournament, eyes are focused on who’s wearing what and who’s wearing what’s hot and what’s not.  It’s not just their dresses (which other sport can use “dress” to describe what its athletes wear?) but also the shoes, the bags, the accessories. Besides the racquet bags, women players sometimes even bring purses or TULA bags. Heck, even the guys do bring man purses sometimes.

There are several blogs that focus on tennis fashion, most notably Tennis Served Fresh. I like browsing their features, especially during the Slams. Of course, the main people to watch when it comes to making fashion statements are Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova. I haven’t seen Masha with a tula bag, but her customized Prince racquet bags have their own flair. I think it is actually these two players, Sharapova first, who started the trend of wearing different outfits for day and night matches at the U.S. Open. Night matches usually call for black tones and day matches are usually complemented by lighter, more playful colors. The U.S. Open, after all, is the flashiest of all the Grand Slam events. I really wish I could go there someday, maybe with a Tula bag around my shoulders as I stomp the U.S. Open grounds.

The best thing about being a tennis player, and I suppose this is true for all top players, is that they get all those stuff for free. Imagine that! I don’t care how many similar pairs of shoes and sets of outfits they get, and that’s not mentioning racquet sponsors, the most envious part of that is that they get them for free! And those are not lightly prized items, mind.

Before the start of the U.S. Open a few weeks from now, I’m reposting an old article here.

Photo credit: Antoine Couvercelle/DPPI/Icon SMI

The late great American writer David Foster Wallace, who wrote the essay “Federer as Religious Experence,”  in the The New York Times had a deep appreciation for tennis, having played competitive junior tennis in his youth. He also wrote the essay “The String Theory” for Esquire magazine in 1996, at the height of the Agassi-Sampras era.

Tennis is a beautiful sport. And not because it is glamorous nor because it is becoming such a platform for fashion that players even don chrome accessories while playing.  The most ardent followers of the game would agree that it is the most beautiful sport there is. Mr. Wallace said as such, and although he also maintained that “Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, he also said that “serious tennis is a kind of art.” And I agree. I cannot put into words the marvel and appreciation I have for tennis as eloquently as Mr. Wallace had written his own; I cannot explain why the popping sound created by a clean strike of the racket strings to a fuzzy yellow ball is like music to my ears, or why watching Roger Federer’s footwork gives me as much delight as watching an entire ballet troupe, but I can tell you that I will never love another sport as much as I love tennis. Take that from an avid badminton player. Take that with a grain of salt and indifference.

It makes me sad that I cannot play the game. But access to watching professional tennis takes away whatever resentment I have. I cannot begin to imagine the kind of dedication and single-mindedness the top-level players have in trying to perfect their craft. I can only gape in front of the TV screen or my computer monitor whenever I see an almost impossible shot or angle, or whenever I realize that these people spend the majority of their time (in truth, the whole of their present lives) training hard to eliminate in their system the one thing that every one of us would like to avoid, no matter what your profession is - committing errors, unforced or otherwise.

Maybe it’s indeed the athletic artistry that compels me to watch tennis as avidly as another would watch a soap opera.  Or maybe it’s what Andre Agassi said – that “there are just so many parallels between tennis and life.” At the end of the day, it’s still just a game. But what a beautiful game this one is.

1. Tennis is a gentleman’s sport. Women’s tennis is another thing, but I’m talking about the fact that you can’t fault the top players of the sport when in comes to conducting themselves in the tennis courts and in public. You have Federer and Nadal, who both seem to be genuinely nice guys. Now, even the initially brash types like Andy Roddick and Andy Murray have seemed to have matured into respectable, well-mannered individuals.  Some may find that boring, but I don’t. Totally out of topic, but this is a proof that transformation is not boring: Roger Federer before (in a tuxedo shirt in 2003) and after (in a fab suit in 2009).

2. The Williams sister are indeed the best of their lot.  This past Wimbledon made me a fan of Venus. She has the game, the spirit, and the mindset of a true champion. Serena, on the other hand, has the game to unnerve her older sister. The women’s doubles event proved the drawing power of the sister. Centre Court was packed, compared with the poorly attended mixed doubles event (or this can be attributed to the very long match that preceded it – the epic Federer-Roddick final).

3. Several up-and-coming women players are promising, but I still miss Justine Henin. Her game was both powerful and beautiful. Her backhand stroke alone was dubbed as the most beautiful stroke tennis has ever seen, and that’s not a light compliment at all.

4. Doubles is an entirely different game from singles. It’s a shame that power ruled over guile and deft hands during the Williams/Williams vs Stosur/Stubbs match. I was still cheering for the underdog.

5. I really thought Mirka will go on labor during the men’s final. Such tension-filled match.

My thoughts, I guess. I’m a bit fickle minded these days, too. Last week, while watching Wimbledon, I decided that I am a Maria Sharapova fan because although she lost that round 2 match against Gisela Dulko, she demonstrated the ferocity and fighting spirit that she is well known for. Come the quarters, I saw Sabine Lisicki, a teenager from Germany that they are now calling “the new Steffi Graf”, and I thought that this one’s very good, too, and is definitely to watch out for. Then it was the semis and Elena Dementieva almost beat Serena Williams on their semifinal match and I was also very much impressed. Well, I think I’ll pick Dementieva to cheer for by August during the U.S. Open. During the men’s semis, on the other hand, I was alternately astounded by some Andy Roddick  shots and then some absolutely brilliant winners from Andy Murray, that even though I was never much a fan of either of them, I watched their match in full and at the edge of my seat, so to speak. Despite my frequent change  of hearts on who to root for this past Wimbledon fortnight, one thing remains – I am giddily anticipating Roger Federer’s win tomorrow. Time to break the records. To me, that’s almost a done deal. I’ll drink some from the shower faucet if I’m proven wrong (*fingers crossed*).

This Monday, all roads will lead to SW19, that southwest London address that houses the hallowed turf of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, for a tournament known worldwide as The Wimbledon Championships – the most important and prestigious tennis major. If you are new to this site, then I’m making my advanced proclamation that Roger Federer will get back his title, his 6th. Color me sad in three weeks if he doesn’t.

Star Sports Asia has been showing the Official Wimbledon films of the past couple of decades and I was fortunate enough to have seen most of them. I still get chills – good chills - whenever I see that Steffi Graf win over Jana Novotna in 1993 (final) or Roger Federer’s historic win over Pete Sampras in 2001 (4th round).  Watching those clips makes me realize how much I have grown to love tennis as a sport, even just as a remote spectator. Andre Agassi once said that tennis has taught him how to deal with life. I, for one, believe that statement. If only I can play the sport regularly, that would be better than taking the best diet pills out there, for sure.

If New York Yankees tickets are what American sports enthusiasts go crazy about, there’s one event on the European side that I am very much looking forward to. Of course, I won’t get to be there in person but just the thought that Wimbledon greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are going to play at Centre Court on SW19 after all these years is a dream come true for any tennis fan. For any tennis fan who don’t hate these two. But why would anyone hate either of them? Geez. So I’m a total fangirl when it comes to the Agassis (Andre by association; Steffi is my tennis hero along with Federer).

The husband-and-wife team will play a doubles match, in front of 15,000 audience members, on May 17, five weeks before the Wimbledon tournament. The event is dubbed as “A Centre Court Celebration” and the opposing team will be composed of Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman. This exhibition will serve as the try out to check the Centre Court playing conditions under the newly constructed roof. 

From AP:  The program will feature a men’s singles, a women’s singles and a mixed doubles match. The matches will be played in a pro-set format — the first to eight games, with a tiebreaker at 8-8.

When not having Disney vacations with their children, the tennis power couple of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are busy designing for their Kreiss furniture line.
(coffee table)

(dining table)

(bed)
 

The majority of the new collection was in black and white because these are Graf’s favorite color combinations. She said, “They are not only visually different but also of distinctly different materials.” Exactly what can be said of the contrast in the iconic couple’s personalities. So distinctly different, yet perfect together.

I didn’t know that sports betting is so prevalent until I’ve heard about the case of the Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko – he became, what they say, tennis’ fall guy when organizers became ”curious” about matches that appeared to have betting patterns. In other words, it seemed suspicious that someone of Davydenko’s caliber (he’s a consistent top 10 player) can lose to someone unranked so early in a tournament and then win the next tournament he enters. Could it be that he’s rigging his own results? He has since been cleared from all charges.

Sports handicapping is the process of predicting the result of a competition, and in the world of sports, tennis is possibly among the least profitable in terms of winnings. But it is a reality; I remember the 2004 movie Wimbledon where James McAvoy (the brother of Paul Bettany’s character) always bets against his brother during tournaments. Well, things like that happen in real life and it may be a source of entertainment for spectators but the athletes should not be a part of it. Imagine if Federer purposely lost that epic Wimbledon final because his girlfriend took a big bet in favor of Nadal? You get the picture.