The Friday Five: Grace Us With Your (non) Presence

By Maud Watson

Yet Another Ban – Czech player Ivo Minar was slapped with an eight-month ban by the ITF for testing positive for a banned substance he claims he ingested through a food supplement. The ITF has also ruled his results from Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Gstaad will all be disqualified. I can’t fault the ITF for their actions, as this is an open and shut doping case. That said, as a fan, I find it confusing when a player like Minar gets eight months for ingesting a tainted food substance, Richard Gasquet gets two months for a positive cocaine test, and Martina Hingis gets two years for a positive cocaine test. Maybe it’s time for the ITF to review the system going into 2010.

Grace Us With Your (non) Presence – I recently read where the Japanese lineswoman who called the foot fault heard round the world at the 2009 US Open will not be officiating at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships. Conflicting sources claim she has been asked not to make the trip to Doha, while others state she has declined the invitation to come. My sympathies are with this lineswoman, especially if she’s been asked not to come officiate.  Granted, her foot fault call was shaky, but she earned the right to officiate that semifinal match and was doing her job. Serena Williams was by far the more disgraceful of the two, and if there’s any justice, Serena Williams will be asked not to make the trip to Melbourne.

Henin Headed Down Under – It didn’t come as a surprise when former world No. 1 Justine Henin was granted a wildcard into this year’s Australian Open, but it was still great to hear. Her exciting all-around game and rivalries with her fellow competitors is something the WTA Tour desperately needs at the moment. Here’s hoping she equals the feat of Kim Clijsters and wins her first major tournament back and generates some real buzz about women’s tennis.

Diggin’ Deep – It’s been a recipe for disaster for the Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament directors. Before the tournament had even started, Roger Federer and Andy Murray announced their withdrawals. Since then, there have been a total of seven retirements due to injury, including the likes of Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro, and Gael Monfils. While organizers and fans alike undoubtedly would have preferred these pullouts be avoided, you have to tip your hat to the depth of talent in the men’s game right now. Eleven of the world’s top 20 reached the round of 16, with six of them advancing to the quarters, including four who are in the top 10. So long as this trend of depth continues, there will always be plenty of scintillating tennis to be played.

Seasonal Depression – Once again, some of the biggest names in the game are crying out for the tennis season to be shortened to allow for a longer off season. I agree that the tennis calendar needs to be tweaked, but I think the players also have to do more to help their case. Just the other day I read where both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be playing a winner-take-all $25,000 exhibition event in Abu Dhabi that starts on December 31. Given, this may be their only warm-up prior to the Aussie Open, but if some of these players want a longer off season, why not play one of the later warm-ups going into the Australian Open? Additionally, some players play exhibitions early in the off-season, or worse yet, during a week in the middle of the season when they might normally have taken the time off. So long as some of the top names continue to play small exhibitions during their “off” time, I think it’s tough ask to go to any tournament director and tell them the tournament they’ve invested so much time and effort into to produce a world-class event attended by thousands is going to be cut from the calendar.