ustawIrrational commitment to an arbitrary policy defeated common sense on Tuesday when the USTA announced it wouldn't change Serena Williams' seed at the upcoming U.S. Open despite the fact that the three-time champion is the prohibitive favorite to hoist the trophy Sept. 10.

We saw this coming and ranted plenty about it Monday. Click the link to read our thoughts on why it's spineless for the USTA not to make Serena a top seed at the tournament. Read below for some more thoughts.

To recap: Williams returned to tennis in June after missing 11 months while recovering from multiple injuries. After falling from No. 1 following the injury, Serena bottomed out at No. 179 in the rankings. She found her legs in her first two tournaments and then won the next two in which she played, raising her ranking to No. 29 in a span of five weeks.

[Related: See photos of Serena Williams]

USTA officials were doubtlessly pleased that she made it into the top 32 because it got them out of having to decide

djokovic rainNovak Djokovic retired from Sunday's final at the Western & Southern Open down 0-3 in the second set because of a shoulder injury. He didn't seem concerned that the ailment would hurt his chances at next week's U.S. Open.

It was the latest in a rash of mid-match retirements from players with injuries of questionable severity. Tennis.com's Peter Bodo thinks it's becoming an epidemic:

Time was, a player retired during a match not because he didn't want to go on, but because he couldn't go on. Or, in trying to continue, he or she ran risk of incurring a serious, career-ending injury. There's a certain amount of gray area when it comes to determining just how grave or threatening an injury is, but there's little indication that fear of incurring serious damage played much of a role in the decisions by Tsonga [who retired in Montreal to come back fine days later in Cincinnati] and Djokovic. Tsonga would play—and win—just a few days later. Djokovic didn't seem to fret over the state of his

nadal shirtless toni serve

Rafael Nadal's autobiography "Rafa," written with John Carlin, comes out Tuesday. We'll post a comprehensive review later this week and will let you know how you can win a copy of the book here on Busted Racquet. In the meantime, here are the five biggest revelations from the book:

1. Nadal doesn't like animals, especially dogs. "I doubt their intentions," he writes.

2. He doesn't like thunderstorms, sleeping in the dark and ham or cheese.

3. His sister says he's a terrible driver.

4. When he was young, Rafa believed his Uncle Toni had the power to make it stop raining.

5. Nadal spells it "racket" instead of the far-classier "racquet." Strike one, Rafa.

serena williams uso08If the USTA bows to tradition and doesn't break from the rankings to seed the U.S. Open, Serena Williams will be a No. 28 seed when play begins in the Grand Slam next Monday.

Some people would be fine to leave her there. "It's unfair to move her up too high," they say. "She should play where her ranking dictates. Those are the rules."

[Photos: See more of tennis star Serena Williams]

That's utter and complete nonsense. Fine, it's the rules. The arbitrary rules based on an arbitrary rankings system. An arbitrary rankings system, I might add, that says Caroline Wozniacki (one win in three tournaments since Wimbledon) is the best player in the world. An arbitrary rankings system that most people bash every other week of the year. Extenuating circumstances sometimes arise and this qualifies. The No. 1 player in the world takes off 11 months with an injury, falls in the rankings, comes back, wins two straight tournaments on hard courts and enters the year's final Grand Slam as the

djokovic retires cin11"I don't feel 100 percent fit but, you know, it's the finals, I need to find the strength for this match." -- Novak Djokovic, before Sunday's final at the Western & Southern Open.

Novak Djokovic knew he was going to lose his second match of the year long before he retired down 4-6, 0-3 to Andy Murray on Sunday. He said as much in his pre-match interview with CBS.

His fatigue, both mental and physical, was obvious. The evidence of shoulder pain clear from the diminished speed of his first serves. He had been on the ropes in his two previous matches and at times appeared willing to lay down and take a breather before next week's U.S. Open, but Gael Monfils and Tomas Berdych couldn't close those matches and Djokovic managed to squeak into the finals against a rested and determined Murray.

Djokovic never looked comfortable on Sunday. He was broken in the first game of the match and struggled to regain his footing the next time he was on serve. Murray capitalized.

The loss drops Djokovic to

clijsters walk off court tor11

Kim Clijsters won't be defending her back-to-back U.S. Open titles. The four-time Grand Slam champion officially withdrew from the year's final major on Friday after suffering an abdominal injury last week in Toronto.

The 28-year-old Belgian had won the last three Opens she entered, in 2005, 2009 and 2010. Her last loss at the event was in the 2003 final to Justine Henin.

We speculated last week that if Clijsters had to withdraw from the Open it could signal the end of her career.

Clijsters is 28 years old. She had one child already and has spoke of one day having another. When she does, she's done for the sport for good. She'd have a title to defend in Melbourne next winter and the 2012 Olympics in London to look forward to. Will that be enough to draw her back in to the game?

When Roger Federer has talked about London he uses it as a benchmark for the next phase of his career. Clijsters has all but announced that she'll be done after (or soon after) the Games. Of all the big tennis

Earlier this week I made the assertion that Novak Djokovic's game has improved as he's done less silly things like imitating people on the court. This video of Djokovic imiating Maria Sharapova's new Head commercial proves that, as per usual, I have very little idea what I'm talking about.

Highlights:

0:15 -- The Sharapova shoulder shimmy.

0:18 -- He has that fist pump down pat. Roger Federer says he doesn't like to watch tennis when he's not playing it. Novak Djokovic must have to study it to get Sharapova down so well.

0:39 -- Djokovic's eyes during the interview have been making me laugh all morning.

0:58 -- "I'm really happy with the racquet because you have to have a racquet when you're taking your hands, you have to have something that you have trust in, that you feel comfortable with on the court." If Djokovic ever did a Federer parody video, he could use the same line because this is exactly like something Fed would say.

Sharapova's response:

HAHAHA did you see what Novak

gael monfils celebrate cin11

This year's combined men's and women's events at the Western and Southern Open gives the Cincinnati tournament a Grand Slam feel. The eight men's quarterfinalists do too.

Seven of the top eight seeds remain in the tournament. All eight quarterfinalists are ranked inside the top 12. ATP stats guru Greg Sharko says it's the first time since 1999 that the former has happened. The average ranking of the remaining players, 5.75, is the second-lowest since the rankings system began in 1973.

Before play begins on Friday, Busted Racquet looks at the eight remaining competitors:

1. Novak Djokovic -- The world No. 1 has played 74 sets on hard courts this year. He's won 67 of them. If he goes down in Cincinnati, it could be to Roger Federer or Tomas Berdych in the semifinals.

2. Rafael Nadal -- Rafa played a doubles match after his three-hour marathon on Thursday. (He and partner Marc Lopez lost quickly.) This bodes well for Mardy Fish, who could take advantage of a weakened and fatigued Nadal