Sports Then and Now

Is it the end of the line for Amelie Mauresmo?

Headlines whispered earlier this week that Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo was considering retirement from tennis. At the age of 30, it may seem that Mauresmo has been around forever. She has, in fact, been playing tennis professionally for 16 years.

According to Peter Scrivener’s BBC report, Mauresmo stated “Since the U.S. Open, I’ve been trying to practice but I can’t seem to find the desire to come back to competition…I don’t want to rush or force things. I will take some time to think before making a decision regarding the remainder of my career.”

It is not the first time that Mauresmo has used the press to announce her intention or a change in her life.

Although it raised a few eyebrows and created a stir in the locker room, Mauresmo’s admission in 1999 that she is a lesbian brought another kind of pressure to bear on the young woman—then aged 19.

The fact that Martina Hingis called her “half a man” and Lindsay Davenport actually stated that she felt Mauresmo played like a man were remarks dismissed by the young Frenchwoman. She felt that coming out enabled her to be successful on the tennis court—this according to Kathy Beige, About.com.

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Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open just 18 months after having a baby and one month after returning from retirement.

The U.S. Open is over and the new women’s power rankings reflect the impact of that tournament, as some players are eliminated from the power rankings and others emerge…

1. Kim Clijsters

US Open [Winner] Toronto [R3], Cincinnati [Quarterfinals]. Total Points: 2087

Kim Clijsters made her way back to the top of the women’s game by capitalizing on her natural strengths and enhancing them with hard work and dedication.  Her years on tour have already given her steely resolve.  She knows exactly what she wants out of tennis and she is determined to make the most of the time she has left to play the game.

What made her great initially will keep her great today.  We suspect Clijsters will become a fixture at the top of the women’s game.

The unfortunate ending to her semifinal contest with Serena Williams did nothing to lessen her victory over teenager Caroline Wozniacki during the U.S. Open Final in 2009.

Last Power Ranking: Not Ranked.  ATP Ranking: 19

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Kim Clijsters has made a surprising run to the U.S. Open Finals.

Start spreading the news.  For the second year in a row the script for the finals at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York has to be re-written.  Oh, for the money to put a roof over our heads…it would seem reasonable insurance against pesky and obstinate mother nature.

Think of all the confusion and lost revenue caused by this year’s two-day rain delay.  It must drive the tournament organizers to abstraction.

Regardless – Sunday in New York promises to present some eye-popping, riveting men’s semifinal contests with number one Roger Federer vs. number four Novak Djokovic in one and Rafael, soon to be number 2 again, Nadal vs. number 5 Juan Martin del Potro in the other.

Add to that the final between surprising finalist Kim Clijsters and number nine seed Caroline Wozniacki and you have a smorgasbord of potential tennis classics ready for the big stage.
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Serena Williams

JA’s Commentary about Women’s Tennis

You want to hear the truth, don’t you?  You don’t want somebody to pull the wool over your eyes or lead you down the garden path? So, that is what I am going to do—tell you the honest-to-God, unvarnished truth.

The bottom line is that often being a woman sucks—which is perhaps the most precise word to use in this circumstance even with its unfavorable historical connotations. Frankly, it emphasizes the cold hard realities of being a woman in this day and age—in any day and age.

Women scramble to reach this detrimental rung on the ladder of life, finding that inevitably they must take one step more or laugh one decibel louder or be a smidge brighter because being number two means you must try harder and bounce back faster—if you wish to compete and be taken seriously.

A case in point—this week the women’s matches at the U.S. Open have been, for the most part, totally more engaging than the men’s matches.  The women have generated more excitement and more controversy.  Because of this, the world has tuned in to watch them.

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Helen Wills Moody

Few women’s tennis players have enjoyed greater success in Grand Slam championships than this week’s Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week.

Between 1923 and 1938, Helen Wills Moody was victorious in 19 of the 24 major tournaments in which she participated. Except for two defaults due to an appendectomy in 1926, she reached the finals of every Grand Slam tournament in which she participated.

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Is Maria Sharapova what the women's tennis game needs?

Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova is the perfect solution to the dilemma in the women’s game today.  The tour has never stabilized since Justine Henin stepped down in May of 2008.  Henin held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 117 weeks.

With Henin’s abrupt departure, Maria Sharapova assumed the No. 1 ranking for three weeks prior to the 2008 French Open; then Ana Ivanovic held it for nine weeks after winning the French Open for the first time.

Unfortunately, Ivanovic could not keep it and Jelena Jankovic captured it for one week; then, Ivanovic took back the No. 1 ranking for another three weeks, only to lose it when Serena Williams took over and held it for four weeks after winning the U.S. Open.  Finally, Jelena Jankovic recaptured the No. 1 spot and held it for another 17 weeks.

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