Mesh Tennis

Rumor is that Bartoli is pissed that they won’t allow her to bring her (step?) dad along…

Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli can refuse playing Fed Cup for France but must take full responsibility for their decision, captain Georges Goven told Reuters on Thursday.

Goven picked former world number one Mauresmo and last year’s Wimbledon finalist Bartoli for the February 2-3 first-round tie against China in Beijing despite the fact that both said they wanted to be left out.

“A captain picks the players he believes are the best to represent their country,” Goven said from the Australian Open. “Now, if they decide not to come, it’s their decision but they must take full responsibility for it.”

Mauresmo had said she would rather concentrate on getting back to her best after injury worries. Bartoli said she would only play if her father and coach, Walter, could come along, which Goven refused.

“They perfectly have the right to decline selection but I have the right to make clear I feel the best players should be selected,” Goven said. “If they don’t come, I will call up other players.”

Alongside Mauresmo and Bartoli, Goven has picked Nathalie Dechy and Virginie Razzano. Alize Cornet and Pauline Parmentier could replace Mauresmo and Bartoli with Tatiana Golovin also an option providing she has recovered from back pain, Goven said.

Goven said he had been informed that Bartoli did not intend to play Fed Cup at all in 2008 which means that, under the rules of the International Tennis Federation, she will not be allowed to enter the Olympics in Beijing.

“She indicated recently that the Olympic did not interest her so not going will not be a problem for her,” Goven said. Reuters

Yuri has now been quoted as saying that if he were such a bad guy, God wouldn’t let Maria win so much.

Not to rain on his delusional parade, but I think I can find many counterexamples to that…

Tracy Austin was also seen talking to him, maybe she’ll share her conversation with us?

On Saturday, as Sharapov paced under the arena eager to find his daughter after her third grand slam tournament victory, he was still reluctant to talk to the “sharks”.

“Can we speak to you for a minute, Yuri?” asked a journalist.

“See, I’m a great guy, a great guy. Why were you talking about the hood?” Sharapov said, hands open.

“How about an interview then?”

“No, no, I don’t talk.”

Sharapova’s coach Joyce was more willing to reveal the battles and the pressure that the camp dealt with after the night that Sharapov took his “assassin” nickname too far. The Age

Hitting a little ball sure makes a lot of dough! Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson, have put their Beverly Hills mansion on the market for a whopping $25 million. The L.A. Times is reporting that the gated 11,000 square foot home has five bedrooms and is equipped with a total of 12 bathrooms. That’s more than two bathrooms per bedroom! That’s a lot of peein’!

Other perks include a detached guesthouse, a gym, a theater, a pool, a putting green and a tennis court. With a house like that, who needs to leave the house? Ever! TMZ

TMZ has apparently caught Serena not writing sad break-up ramblings on her blog:

TMZ caught up with handsome rapper Common outside of Villa Friday night, and in the middle of talking to him, the police interrupted. Damn the man!

Then as Common was leaving, tennis star Serena Williams was spotted in the passenger seat. So that’s where she’s been practicing her smash! TMZ

There’s a video posted at the link.

This article really doesn’t talk about what I saw go on during the men’s final in the various plays boxes. First of all, someone was actually crying. Then security was hauled out several times to “guard” the Djokovic family. Then, a few members of his family left. Much more dramatic than you’ll see in the papers.

In Sunday’s men’s final between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic, there was Didier Tsonga, who had just flown in from France, punching boxer-style right crosses into the air at Rod Laver Arena when his son won the first set.
Interesting, considering his son has a strong resemblance to a young Muhammad Ali.
Earlier, Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, dressed in a white t-shirt with the letter «N» on it, jumped and yelled and screamed in support of his son.
Then he spoke with deputy tournament director Peter Johnston, complaining about overzealous fans sitting behind him and his family, including Djokovic’s two younger brothers. PR Inside

After all the controversy about Sharapova not playing the Fed Cup until it clearly benefits her own agenda (playing for Russia in the Olympics), it looks like her particpation is actually going to happen. Russia seems like a sure winner over Israel.

This morning, Ram, Erlich and Sharapova will land in Israel. While the two Israelis will bear the full brunt of the Israeli media at a festive ceremony organized by the Israel Tennis Association, the Australian Open women’s singles champion will be whisked away through a side exit into a VIP taxi that will bring her to the Daniel Hotel in Herzliya, where Russia’s Fed Cup team is staying ahead of its World Group tie against Israel on Saturday and Sunday.

Shahar Peer, who is scheduled to face Sharapova in the Fed Cup on Sunday, was already in Israel yesterday.

“This will be the first time I play an official match in Israel, and it has been on my mind since Friday,” she said. “Sharapova is in excellent shape right now; I have never seen her play at this level before. I hope that the Israelis will drive her a little crazy, because this is the first time she is playing with her national team.

“We have nothing to lose, not in the first match and not in the second match. I hope to handle the pressure, because I am not used to playing in a full stadium at home. We are going in as the underdog and we will give it our all.” HAARETZ

Hopefully she’ll get on top of this injury easily - last year was such a disaster with her shoulder, and as much as she says she will be a better player in the future, she’ll pay a price if she can’t stop these injuries now.

After winning the Australian Open without the loss of a set, and having beaten three of her top four rivals, Sharapova revealed she had been coping with the discomfort of a cyst on her left wrist.

Following her third Grand Slam win, clinched in a 7-5, 6-3 final win over an uncertain Ana Ivanovic, the tennis pin-up also let reporters in on the depth of her despair last year.

Sharapova said she didn’t know where her next title was coming from until a cortisone injection in September alleviated her shoulder pain.

“At the US Open, I played horrific tennis. You have to believe in yourself,” she said. Courier Mail

Now can she add the French Open to her collection? I’m not seeing it this year, but maybe she’ll be changing her prep more than previous years and stay healthy.

Maria opened the door to this joke, but she may have learned now to be careful with her relationship to the press. You’ve got to figure that she is going to ditch daddy one of these years, no? Life will probably be simpler then.

Joyce revealed the pressure that the camp had had to deal with after the night Sharapov took his “assassin” nickname too far.

While the throat-cutting gesture was dismissed by the WTA as an “innocent joke” about the camouflage print hoodie Sharapov wore, Team Sharapova was not laughing after the media seized on it and Sharapov was publicly damned.

Joyce said the negative attention around that “joke” had upset Sharapova and those around her, who felt a sensational victory had been overshadowed.

“It was tough. Maria was a little bit upset,” Joyce said. “It was a little bit tough because Maria had felt she had played such a great match. All she really wanted to talk about how well she played, and then, obviously, that was one of the major questions. So that night kind of turned into a tough night. It was such innocent, it was kind of a joke and Henin was obviously five minutes off the court. It wasn’t like he had done that to Henin’s face. Henin was gone off the court. It was a joke. Maria had said something about the sweatshirt earlier in the week, saying he looks like an assassin. It was this joke between Maria and him, it turned into this thing, but she’s used to it.

“I think she read one morning that some seal was born to her grunts or something. So you just try to look past all that stuff. Especially in Australia and England, they make a big deal out of a lot of things. Our main concern was after playing so great against Henin, being to able to come back and play a great match. She had a very tough draw … our main concern was the next day to get back down to earth.”

We now know that Sharapova’s feet did touch the ground again after stunning victories over Henin and former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round. Sharapova’s victory in the final was not as convincing, but comprehensive enough - 7-5, 6-3 over Ivanovic, who takes over the world No.2 ranking.

After her win, a tearful Sharapova ran over to grab her father’s hand. He embraced it, giggling, and cried, “Hey baby, hey baby”. So what is Maria and Yuri’s relationship really like?

“They have a great relationship,” said Joyce, who has known Sharapova since she was 10. “A lot of the press tries to make it like … I mean she’s a 20-year-old girl, it’s her father. It’s a typical father/daughter relationship. She spends a lot time in the off-season - he goes skiing - she spends time with her mum.” SMH

Q. What are your thoughts after the match? What are you thinking?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Lot of things. I’m very proud of myself. I’m happy for Novak, because he played unbelievable today. I don’t know if I have to be sad or happy of this final, but I feel great.

Q. What was your feeling coming in? Were you nervous at the start of today’s match?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: No, no, no. I was okay. Like every day. Very relaxed. I don’t know what say. I think Novak played very good today, and it was tough.

When you have a match, you have one player and one opponent, and you don’t know who’s gonna win. At the end, all the time you have a winner. So today was Novak.

Q. Now that you’ve been in the final, how hungry are you to be back in a final again?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: It’s just unbelievable because the crowd was unbelievable. A lot of noise and everything. I had frisson (goosebumps). It was crazy (smiling).

Q. You seemed quite happy about the amount of time he was playing between points. You mentioned it to the umpire. Do you think it’s fair the gap between points?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, sometimes, you know, when you have to return, you are like this (ready). When your opponent take a lot of time, you go for be ready, and after not, and you are like this (back and forth). When he serves, you are not ready because you are like this (back and forth).

It’s very difficult. Between points you have like 25 seconds for play. When it’s 40 seconds, the umpire have to say something, you know.

Q. How does it feel to be in the top 20?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Pretty good (smiling).

Q. Does this give you the confidence now to maybe break into the top 10?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course, of course. Not everybody can beat player who I beat. So I know Richard or Youzhny or Rafael, they are very good player. And beat them, it’s very difficult, and I did it, so…

Of course, I’m confident now.

Q. How good was it having your mom and dad fly over for the match?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: For me it was very important, because one of the dream of my father, it was to come here, and I did it, so it’s good.

Q. It was a dream for him to come here to see you play?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah.

Q. How long has he been speaking about that?

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Since a long time. I don’t know. I cannot say the time. Maybe since I play tennis.