Jelena not feeling great, not feeling the press either

Jelena Jankovic is back home after her disappointing run at Wimbledon where she lost in the fourth round to Tamarine Tanasugarn. The Serb is currently rehabilitating the knee she hyperextended in her match against Caroline Wozniacki but she isn't happy with the press reports questioning the injury:

For me, it was disappointing to lose but I was more saddened by some of the press reports after the match. I decided to play through the injury, through the pain instead of letting people down by pulling out. I don't expect credit for this but I read some negative reports about the legitimacy of the injury and that was tough to take. I would like to invite these reporters to look at my MRI. I feel frustrated because I think with some people; there is a lack of understanding of what it takes to be tennis professional. Unfortunately, I can't control everything that is written about me and I guess you have to take the good with the bad. I just hope that in the future, some people will try a little harder to find out the facts before jumping to conclusions. I know that there are many people out there supporting me and wishing me well so to those people I say a BIG thank you!

I didn't think your injury was a bluff JJ - it seemed pretty legit to me. I just think you get injured way too much and need to figure out what's going on with your body (or your head).

It seems you're still paying the price for last season's scheduling ridiculousness - get more rest!

(image via Getty)

Dani still not healed, will skip Ordina Open

More bad news for Daniela Hantuchova.

The slender Slovak, who's been dealing with a stress fracture that kept her out of Roland Garros, is still not healed and won't be competing at the Ordina Open as she hoped:

It is very disappointing but after almost two months of being out of competition due to a stress fracture in my foot, I am still not completely recovered and I am sad to announce that I won’t be able to compete at the Ordina Open this year. I really enjoyed playing in s-Hertogenbosch last year and was looking forward to coming back and preparing for Wimbledon. Unfortunately it takes a while to fully recover from such injury and I have to be patient throughout this recovery process. I hope to be ready for competition soon and I wish everyone a great week of tennis and much love to all the fans!

Oh boy. As I've talked about previously, stress fractures suck and have ended a few baller's careers most notably Monica Seles'.

I really do enjoy the pureness of Dani's play though her tendency towards implosion makes me cringe (think: Aussie Open '08 semis people.) Let's hope her recovery continues, though, and she's back soon.

(image via dhantuchova.com)

A-Rod laying low in Manhattan - will we get some street sightings now?

Andy Roddick is laying low in his new Manhattan pad since he was advised by his doctor to pull out of the French Open with shoulder inflammation. A disappointed A-Rod wrote about on his blog saying,

Hey everybody… I am sure by now you have heard the crappy news that I will not be playing at Roland Garros this year. I am very, very disappointed because I was showing better form on clay than I have in the last couple of years leading into it… so I got a general check up on my shoulder with my doctor here in New York and he saw some stuff that he was concerned about…. we had an MRI and it showed that the shoulder was inflamed… this was great/ crappy news all at the same time. There is no tear and long term everything will be as normal.. he just wanted to make sure that I took the proper measures on treating and taking care of it.

Unfortunately for me, that means laying down the sticks for 10 days or so… He said that the structure of my shoulder overall looks great, but that we had to take a long term mindset when making this decision…Obviously I was wrecked by this news, but know that he is right at the same time.

To be fair, I have gone 9 years on tour without anything in the shoulder and this decision will help make sure that I can have nine years more if I wanted to…..I already miss playing and cannot wait to be back and 100 percent healthy for the grass… I will check in with an update in the next 4-5 days…thanks for your support!

Honestly to be quite honest, A-Rod is really lucky he hasn't sustained a shoulder injury with his serve. But not that he's laid down the racquets for a bit, does that mean we'll get some stalkerazzi sitings of A-Rod + Brooklyn around NYC? One can hope!

(image via Getty)

Hantuchova handcuffed by foot injury, may miss Roland Garros

Daniela Hantuchova is still dealing with the nagging stress fracture in her foot which forced her to pull out of recent tournaments. Now it seems the injury may force her to skip Roland Garros, a tourney she loves:

Coming off of Miami and then a match in Amelia Island, all my doctors were shocked that I was able to play through at both events. As you all know, with much disappointment I had to pull from Fed Cup and three Tour events. It has been a very frustrating time to tell you the truth. So here we are… the foot is continuing to be problematic. It was a very bad injury. I had an MRI early last week which confirmed the foot needed more time to heal. Right now I am trying to stay hopeful for Paris. I miss the game so much and Roland Garros is wonderful. And what's not to love about Paris!

If I am able to play, I realize that I will not be prepared as I would like typically moving into a Grand Slam. All I can do is play my best, considering the circumstances, and expect to have a positive experience regardless of the outcome.

I still think this injury is very worrying for Dani because it's the type of injury that can become chronic and shorten careers. It's a shame since she finally made a career-breakthrough earlier this year in Melbourne.

(image via Getty)

Davydenko shows off his modest size...I mean 'side'!

Nikolay Davydenko is the top seed at this week's Hypo Group Tennis International 2008 in Pörtschach, Austria and has offered his blogging skills to the ATP.


The Russian is traveling with the whole clan, including wife Irina, brother and coach Eduard, and Eduad's son Philip, a 15-year old baller himself who lost in qualifying. During their off time, the group decided to do some fishing and hit the spa though the reserved Kolya is not feeling the local tradition of going full monty in a unisex steamroom:

I've been enjoying the spas at the tournament hotel here in Austria, but I must say they do things a lot differently than in Russia. Back at home they separate the men and women, but here not only do men and women take spas together, many of the hotel guests don't have anything on beneath their robes. Which all makes for some interesting sites. At times it's like watching the Playboy channel. Some of the guests don't like the idea of us wearing shorts, but I'm not ready to adopt all the local customs just yet!

Call me conservative, but I am just not ready to bare all at this point. As you can tell in this photograph (which shows Eduard, his wife, Philip and me) we all have something underneath, and that's the way it's going to stay!

Oh Kolya, you're so modest. But it begs the questions: at what point would you be "ready" show off the goods? C'mon, we're all friends here...

(image via ATP)

They're laughing at you Serena...they're all laughing at you

Serena Williams may be getting paranoid in her old (tennis) age or she thinks everything is about her (more likely scenario.)

After her tight 3-set loss to eventual Berlin champion Dinara Safina, ReRe felt the world turning on her, laughing at her misfortune:

It was funny when I lost I was in the locker room and I could hear the entire players lounge really loud like really happy and joyous. Like down goes the champ! Someone beat her!!! It was like a big hoopla.... I just smiled to myself thinking you just wait... just wait......

Ohhh scary ReRe! It sounds like she didn't enjoy that moment but something makes me think she enjoys believing the world is against her and that everyone MUST be enjoying her loss.

Could it be the players were happy for Dinara? No way - that wouldn't be motivating for ReRe and isn't that what the world is all about?

(image via Getty)

Jankovic wants to act and not just on the tennis court

Serena Williams watch out - we have another tennis baller with stars in her eyes.

Jelena Jankovic, who loves all things Hollywood and has performed in videos for her sponsors, has begun taking acting classes though she already brings full drama (and a fully made-up face - shhhh!) on the court. She talks about it on her blog saying,

Monday was so busy for me. Apart from practicing and All-Access Hour which is always scheduled at the beginning of the week, I had an acting class that I took part in. It was so much fun. It is always a good time when you do something to forget a bit about tennis, and relax your mind. It was only an hour long, but I was given several themes and at the beginning they gave me a task to be in certain situations and I really had to use my imagination. After that, I did variety of exercises in order to test me and see my acting potential.

Oh - no worries for you Jelena. You've got acting potential for miles (see image above.)

(image via jj-jelenajankovic.com)

Serena channels Dear Abby...or is it Tyra Banks?

Is Serena Williams the WTA Tour's Dear Abby or Tyra Banks even? Maybe. The 8-time Grand Slammer is espousing relationship advice on her blog to friends and fans alike based, most likely, on her own experiences. Acting, relationship coaching, winning matches on one good leg - is there anything this woman can't do?

Anyway, here's an exchange that we all know ReRe has experience with:

When dating someone whom is either a professional athlete or in the music industry how do you deal with the things that come with that terriotry (i.e rumors, groupies etc.)?

Please see my trust article. On a previous relationship blog. If you don’t trust who you are going out with that maybe something inside is telling you something. Trust is the only way you will get through dating someone that is on the scene like that all the time. Don’t look through phones don’t ask questions that make him feel like you don’t trust him. This will make him want to cheat and or leave. If he loves you than he will not do things to hurt you. Sometimes it’s hard (for the athlete) to have so many women throw themselves at them, and not react. It takes a real man. My advice? Trust him. Give him his space, when he needs it. If you find out that he is cheating on you (and you guys are exclusive) deal with it at that time either let him go or give him another chance. But I will tell you this, men will respect the woman that respects herself. What I mean by that is men will respect you if you don’t allow them to run all over you.

Serena

Did you hear that Common???

(image via Getty)

A-Rod is just like (most) of us, scrubs toilets and moves himself

Andy Roddick is making moves - most likely to his new $1.19 million digs with Brooklyn in Manhattan.

The American blogged about it saying,

The week after Davis Cup was pretty much spent moving. I love my life, because one day I am representing my country in Davis Cup in front of 11,000 fans while closing out the French, and literally the next day, I am vacuuming, moving furniture, scrubbing toilets, and walking things up and down flights of stairs all day ha ha…. it really is a great balance and I am lucky to have it… but seriously, for those of you who have ever moved before, can you believe the amount of crap that is actually needed in a small place to function? That is not even counting the stuff that we want, but really don’t need at all… it’s a fun process though, and was the first time I had done it without help (besides Brooklyn of course) from a moving company of some sort… it ended up being a really fun process!!!

With all that dough, A-Rod moved himself? Okay - that seems ass backwards to me. Besides, scrubbing toitets and moving really sucks.

(image via Getty)

THE LOW DOWN: Sharapova vs. WTA Tour, Part Deux

The intriguing battle royale between Maria Sharapova and the WTA Tour continues...

Doing her best impression of a savvy poitician (Hillary or Barack?), the Russian seems committed to firing up her base through her blog now that she's realized the power and accessibility of new media, even blasting the diva-esque behavior of some executives:

I am sure many of you can tell that I am just a little frustrated with a couple of tour executives who don't ever listen to the players and want to do their own thing. For a sport that has so much potential to grow and get bigger, you would think that the players voice would be important but unfortunately that's not the case. They just do whatever they want and tell us what to do and how to do it. And on top of that walk around like they're the stars.

I have tried to work with them, I have attended numerous amounts of meetings throughout the years, but they just do what they want and threaten to fine me. So since they will not listen to me, I am going to start giving my fans a behind the scenes look at life on tour...let the fun begin! I also want to thank everyone for voting...the number of people voting was way beyond our expectations.

The ballsy Maria is so confident about her stance, she even admits trying to fake a reason for pulling out of Berlin (so as to not get fined):

I got a really bad viral infection with a big fever and that I have to get on antibiotics...how original! I know I'm always against those things, but I kind of had no other choice because I haven't been that sick in a while. Quite ironic, as a few days before that I was trying to come up with some 'excuse' for pulling out of Berlin...

Forcing ballers into lying? Take that WTA Tour! But it seems Maria has one more surprise for us:

There is also one other thing that I am soo excited to report but have to keep my mouth shut...you just have to wait a couple weeks. xx Maria

What could that be - retirement, pregnancy, marrying secret love Nole??? Oh, you're such a tease Masha.

(image via Getty)

THE LOW DOWN: Shady WTA Tour tries to muscle Sharapova, Russian pleads for help

I had no idea the WTA Tour was like something out of The Sopranos or in this case the Russian mob.

Maria "Shriek"apova has lifted the veil on some of the startlingly shady policies by the WTA Tour, and how the Tour is trying to muscle the Russian into paying their mortgage. But the always savvy Maria issued statements on her website and, in an unsual move, asked her fans to give her advice on her forum:

As many of you know, the WTA tour makes many players enter tournaments that they know the players will not be playing. I informed the WTA several months ago that if I played Charleston, I would have to pull out of Berlin. Now they are forcing me to give an injury for the reason why I am pulling out or they will give me an additional fine on top of the 125,000 fine already given to me. I am a very giving person, but I refuse to give anymore of my money to the WTA tour. So I want everyone to know that besides getting sick the past few days, I am healthy and I am looking forward to playing Rome. The good news is that the new road map for next year should solve all these problems.

I want all my fans to know that the WTA Tour is forcing me and several of the other top players to do a 4 hour commercial shoot for WTA Tour marketing materials. They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from LA. I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis. Now the WTA is telling me if I don't do this shoot they will fine me over $300,000. As you can see the WTA Tour loves to fine players. To be honest, I would love to do this and help promote the tour as much as possible, but to force me to do this shoot the day before a tier 1 tournament is just not right. I am interested in what my fans think I should do?

1) Should I just do the shoot?

2) Should I NOT do the shoot and take the fine?

3) Should I NOT do the shoot and take legal action against the WTA?

4) Should I contact the other top players and try to boycott the shoot?

5) Other To voice your opinion go to the forum by clicking here.

Wow! I'd hate to run into the WTA Tour administrators in a dark alley - very scary. What's also very scary? Asking your fans what to do with your money.

(image via Getty)

Sharapova's NYC birthday tour: Barney's, Letterman, + Tag Heuer

Maria "Shriek"apova is finally legal! The now 21-year old blogging Russian is celebrating with a full-fledged NYC tour - spending time with family on Saturday (her actual b-day) and doing some damage with the plastic on Sunday:

Just a quick update as a 21 year old! What a great feeling! To be honest I can't wait for someone to ask me for my ID, haha (as thats the only real perk you get right?)! I am in NY celebrating with my close ones :)...my parents were here yesterday and all my friends are slowly arriving for a big celebration on Tuesday...I'm off to the MOMA, and some shoe shopping at Barney's! Bye!

Last night, the leggy Aussie Open champ, looking stunning in a white flowy blouse, high-waisted black bubble skirt, and ridiculously high heels, visited with a flirty David Letterman who seemed taken by the stylish tennis baller (will Nole be jealous?). They talked birthday parties, clay-court tennis, and even met up for some 2-on-1 tennis with Billy Crystal on a make-shift court.

In case you missed it:



Of course, the big Tag Heuer event for Maria is tonight - do you think she'll show up looking like this?

(image via mariasharapova.com)

VIDEO VAULT: Jankovic heads home, shoots video for Reebok "Your Move" series

Jelena Jankovic is headed home after her disappointing quarterfinal loss to Russian Vera Zvonareva in Charleston. The Serb's game wasn't ready for the clay saying via her blog,

My timing was off and I wasn't moving my feet or sliding very well, and that's especially a problem when you're playing on clay...The next morning I went out there and practiced three hours, doing tennis and movement drills with my coach and sparring partner.

Jelena did have time recently, though, to shoot a video for sponsor Reebok as part of their "Your Move" athlete series. The piece shows the Serb hitting forehands + backhands, even while doing the splits:

Here's some behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot:

(image via AP)

THE LOW DOWN: Venus blogs + clears air about "hiatus"

Venus Williams wants to set the record straight.

It was reported last week that the 6-time Grand Slammer was taking an indefinite hiatus from tennis due to an undisclosed medical reason. But V, who was spotted looking healthy + relaxed with boyfriend Hank Kuehne at the Masters, wants us to know that an over-zealous reporter at Amelia Island took a different spin to her news:

Hello everyone,

I am sure over the past few days you have heard some reports about me taking a “hiatus” from tennis. This could not be further from the truth and I just wanted to provide an update to those of you who are concerned.

The last few months have included a great deal of travel (5 continents in 2 months) and a lot of matches. I am not experiencing an injury (thank goodness) but after the Miami tournament my physio and I agreed that this was a smart time to have some preventative checkups on everything from my knees to my shoulder to my wrist to make sure that everything is in order. This is in preparation for a long summer that begins next month with the pre-French Open events in Europe and will last through the US Open in September. I have learned that caution is key and my goal is to do everything I can to put myself in the best position to do well during this next stretch.

The speculation that arose last week is an unfortunate example of one writer incorrectly spinning a story that took on a life of its own. I agreed to visit the Amelia Island tournament (Bausch and Lomb Championships) last week after my withdrawal to offer my support to the tournament and the WTA(and will do the same in Charleston this week). During my visit, I met with sponsors and fans and participated in a media session. From the media session somehow one of the writers translated my statement that I intend to return to competitive play next month for the French Open as an “indefinite leave of absence”??? While it was great to hear from a lot of old friends that wanted to make sure I was ok, this headline was wrong. To be very clear, I am healthy, I am not on an indefinite leave of absence and I will be back on Tour next month beginning in Rome (May 12).

I love playing tennis more and more each day and have no intentions of sitting on the sidelines and watching on TV!

The upcoming weeks will include my visit to Charleston and the Family Circle Cup tournament for a few days this week. I’ll watch Serena play on Tues night and then back to Florida for practice and training. It will be nice to spend a little time at home and catch up on a variety of things including quality time with my friends and family and of course working on new designs for Eleven spring 09 in fact). Thank you for the support. ttyl, vee

Great news! Why can't more athletes be as proactive and direct as V in their responses? She continues to set the standard for the rest.

(image via Getty)

Jelena the Hollywood player, dines with Woody, Owen + Jennifer Aniston

It seems as though Hollywood is taking a liking to Jelena Jankovic.

Woody Harrelson + Owen Wilson were spotted in the stands on Saturday watching the Serb succumb to Serena Williams in the Miami final. Jelena made mention of the celebrities in the stands during her post-match conference and it looks like the two stars were listening.

According to her blog Jelena, Woody, Owen, + Jennifer Aniston all went out for dinner after the match:

After the final was over, I got to meet actors Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. They were accompanied with their producer since they are making a movie here in Miami. They came to watch the match and they seem to enjoy tennis. All of them invited me to have dinner with them so I accepted the invitation. They are really great individuals and I had a great laugh with them. They are outgoing and very natural which I really liked. I am very communicative and I like when others are like that as well.

And, it seems as though Jelena + Woody became very friendly over dinner. Maybe they'll get to spend time together now that her family is building a home in LA.

(images via jj-jelenajankovic.com)

Rafa as tennis commissioner, takes on doubles rules

Rafael Nadal has been blogging from Miami for TENNIS.com is giving insight into his training, practices, and off-court activities. But the Spaniard had a piece of advice for tennis organizer in his last post:

I have always said I like doubles and I like to play doubles. But I also think that there are some rules nowadays that make us not play as often. It is true it is easier now to play since we can get in the doubles draw with our singles ranking but there are also times that when we have an injury, or we lost in singles and don't want to stay for doubles, only we have to stay and play or we lose ranking points and prize money. Then we play with no motivation and it is kind of ridiculous. They explain that the rule is to avoid that we sign in and then we retire, but in the end I am not sure what's worst, specially for the spectators. I would redo these rules and make them better, to tell you the truth.

I'm on the fence on this one. What do you think? Do you think players should lose ranking points and prize money if they pull out of doubles??

(image via tennis.com)

Tennis fan eager for "private" moment with A-Rod

More blogging ballers: Andy Roddick gave us a peak into his political closet recently and now the newly crowned Dubai champion tells us that a "happy" fan tried to get a peak at something else during his trip to the Memphis tourney:

We went to Ruth Chris after my match against Mardy and there was some of the tennis crowd there from the tournament. I signed a couple of things before I sat down and it wasn’t a big deal….so I am on my way into the bathroom and an overzealous lady-fan who may (definitely) have had a couple of drinks sees me go in and decides to follow. So she sticks her head in the door and asks for an autograph while I am in the middle of it…. I told her I would see her in just a second when I was finished and she said okay and just stood there… it wasn’t until another dude walked in that she realized she had made things a tiny bit weird….

You can't blame a girl for trying!

(image via photobucket)

Serena is a player...and not just the tennis kind

Apparently, Serena "ReRe" Williams likes to play the field on the court as well as off.

According to her latest blog post, the 8-time Grand Slam champ says when you're dating someone, you should keep some spares on the side, or as she so eloquently puts it, you should have "boyfriend insurance":

It is indeed important to have insurance: car insurance, various types of home insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The list goes on and on but has anyone ever thought about having boyfriend insurance? And what exactly is "boyfriend insurance"?

Boyfriend insurance is simple. It's when you are dating someone but you are not sure what the future holds so you also have one or a few "insurance policies" or boys on the side just in case your main squeeze doesn't work out.

This is crazy you may be saying but think about it? Who can afford to live in our society without healthy insurance? It's surely a kiss of death! They won't even look at you in the emergency room with a gunshot wound if you don't have insurance! So, why not protect your personal life?

My friend "Paige" introduced me to the idea of insurance. She was dating a guy who she carelessly started to like and care for deeply when one day he stopped calling her. She was a mess. Nothing to do, her mind could not stop thinking about him. When it suddenly dawned on her "if I had other guys to talk to I wouldn't have this problem".

When her boyfriend did decide to call her she realized she can't put herself through those emotions she needed a back up plan... She needed boyfriend insurance. Just in case something happens, she will be fully covered.

Now she has 3 insurance policies. In case her boyfriend starts acting up she's covered! The best thing about boyfriend insurance is its FREE!!!!!! I think everyone should have at least 2 policies! Why not? If you are young don't sell yourself short! Go out and get yours!!!!!!!

Serena

*Important note- I do not recommend insurance for husbands, wives, fiancés, etc. Also if you are truly in love u should only have one! :)

Beware Common - ReRe has surely taken out some boyfriend insurance on you.

(image via AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Quote of the Day: Jankovic on hygiene

I have been washing my teeth and face with Evian water only.

- Jelena Jankovic on her first visit to India for the Bangalore Open

So much for shattering the image of the spoiled professional athlete. Some PR please?

(women's tennis blog, image via jj-jelenajankovic.com)

THE LOW DOWN: A-Rod leans left, steps out of political closet

Sporting political muscle: Though most athletes tend to either shy away from political speak to focus "on their games", some do actually embrace the moment. The most recent example was, of course, the out-spoken Novak Djokovic and his video support for Serbian unity.

Now, Andy Roddick has cracked open his political closet door - well, almost. In his latest blog entry the former US Open champ, who reached the second round at the Dubai Tennis Championships this week, teases us with left-leaning talk by saying,

The Democratic election has been a lot of fun to follow…. regardless of who one votes for it has been a blast to read about and follow… I am hoping the actual presidential election will be just as much fun!

Frankly, I'm loving the political speak...and the gratuitous belly shot!

(image via HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty Images)