serena edited twitterBusted Racquet continues its year-end review with a countdown of the 10 most interesting off-court stories of 2011.
10. Bethanie Mattek-Sands starts wearing clothes with tennis balls -- The American, who was briefly ranked No. 1 in the US this summer, teamed up with Lady Gaga's designer to bring some flair to the Wimbledon player's party She showed up in a bright yellow dress affixed with tennis balls, and later showed up to her first-round match at the tournament wearing a white jacket that looked the same.
9. Serena comes under fire for sexy Twitter avatar -- Serena Williams announced early in the year that she was the victim of a stalker. A few weeks later, she posted the picture seen above as her Twitter avatar. Some writers hilariously overreacted, essentially decreeing that Serena's picture hastened the fall of western civilization. We didn't think it was that big a deal. We all know everybody reads Serena's tweets for the articles.
8. Kim Clijsters says she won't attend tournament in Japan because of radiation fears -- It was a move straight out of "PR gaffes 101." After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Clijsters didn't waste much time proclaiming she wouldn't play an October event in Tokyo for fear of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Kim dodged most criticism (imagine if Serena Williams had said that), but her fears were for naught: An injury forced her to miss the tournament anyway.
7. Marion Bartoli and the 175 IQ -- Einstein, Hawking, Edison, Bartoli?
6. Caroline Wozniacki begins dating US Open golf champion Rory McIlroy -- Chris Evert and Greg Norman's divorce left the world without a tennis/golf romance. The void was quickly filled when Wozniacki started seeing the young golf star.
5. Serena bails on tournament to attend Kim Kardashian's "wedding" -- My personal favorite, and one that didn't get much play at the time. After winning two summer tournaments, Serena was victorious in her opening match in Cincinnati and then withdrew from the tournament, citing a foot injury. Her real reason? Wanting to fly to Los Angeles to attend Kim Kardashian's made-for-TV wedding. In pictures released later, Serena looked like the foot was doing fine. Not that I can blame her choice. I mean, you only get a chance to watch Kim Kardashian get married, what, three or four times in a lifetime?
us open rain 114. Justine Henin announces retirement on Facebook -- Yes, that happened this year.
3. Rain cancels two days of play at US Open -- Move over, Wimbledon, the US Open is taking the title of rainiest major. For the fourth-straight year, the men's final of the Open was moved to Monday because of weather delays. Hurricane Irene was supposed to delay the start of the year's final Slam, but the storm moved north in time for play to begin on time. Organizers weren't so lucky in the tourney's second week, when two days of rain canceled the second Tuesday and Wednesday of play, causing tennis chaos in Queens.
2. ESPN outbids NBC for Wimbledon rights -- The cable sports leader won a bidding war to gain exclusive rights to Wimbledon, ending NBC's 43-year affiliation with the event. Other than old-media types fretting about another sports jewel going to cable, viewers shouldn't notice much difference. ESPN does a fine, understated job with its tennis coverage. And, best of all, no more tape delay.
1. Williams sisters' health scares -- In the spring, Serena was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism. She made a quick return to the court and positioned herself nicely at the US Open, only to blow a fuse (again) late in the tournament. Venus played only 11 competitive matches in 2011, citing fatigue. She won one match at the US Open, then withdrew, making the surprising announcement that she was diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that saps a patient's energy.
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