Busted Racquet wishes you and yours the happiest of Thanksgivings. We'll be back Sunday with coverage of the ATP World Tour final. If you're looking for something to distract you from talking politics with your uncle, check out our two "top 10 of the decade" posts from earlier this week: greatest matches and biggest upsets. 

As the decade winds down, Busted Racquet will celebrate the past 10 years of tennis with various top 10 lists. Today, we at look at the 10 biggest upsets of the 2000s:

10. Tatiana Garbin d. Justine Henin-Hardenne (1), 7-5, 6-4, second round, French Open, 2004

Henin-Hardenne was the defending champ, while Garbin, a clay court specialist, was ranked No. 86 in the world headed into the French. 

9. Agnieszka Radwanska (30) d. Maria Sharapova (2), 6-4, 1-6, 7-2, third round, U.S. Open, 2007

Sharapova's title defense lasted just three rounds before she was bounced by the Polish Radwanska.  

8. Alberto Martin d. Lleyton Hewitt (1), 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4), first round, Australian Open, 2002

This was the first major Hewitt played as the No. 1 player in the world and he ended up falling flat in front of his native Australians.

7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Rafael Nadal (2), 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, semifinals, Australian Open, 2008

Everyone was looking forward to a Nadal-Federer final. Neither made it that far. Federer was dispatched in the semis by eventual winner Novak Djokovic, while Nadal ran into the buzzsaw that was unseeded upstart Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Now Tsonga is a top 10 player, but at the time he was figured to be no match for Nadal. But the Frenchman won with ease, wowing tennis fans with his crisp movement and relentless backhand.

6. Virginia Ruano Pascual d. Martina Hingis (1), 6-4, 6-2, first round, Wimbledon, 2001

In retrospect, it was the beginning of the end for Martina Hingis. She had made it to at least the semifinals of 14 of the last Grand Slams, but after taking off the month in between the French and Wimbledon, the No. 1 seed had nothing in her match against doubles specialist Virginia Ruano Pascual. It wasn't the first first round Wimbledon shock for Hignis. She had a similar early exit in 1999.

5. Jill Crybas d. Serena Williams (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4), third round, Wimbledon, 2005

Serena had played Crybas twice before, dropping just seven games along the way. In a listless Wimbledon showing in '05, though, the former Florida star came out on top of the decorated champ.

4. Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt (1), 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4, first round, Wimbleon, 2003

The 6-foot-ten Karlovic (who would later became a Busted Racquet famous for his "smack that ace" dance) was 203rd ranked qualifier when he bested the defending champion in 2003, which was just the second time in 126 years that the previous year's Wimbledon winner would be ousted in his first match.

3. George Bastl d. Pete Sampras (6), 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, second round, Wimbledon, 2002

By the time Bastl took down the legendary Sampras, the seven-time champ was far along with down-slope of his career. That didn't make the loss any less shocking though. Bastl was a lucky loser (he failed to qualify for Wimbledon and only got in when another player withdrew because of injury) and ranked No. 145 at the time of the win.

2. Roger Federer (15) d. Pete Sampras (1), 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5, fourth round, Wimbledon, 2001

Federer wasn't Federer when he snapped Pistol Pete's remarkable 31-match Wimbledon win-streak. Heck, he was only 19. But in his Centre Court debut, Federer out-paced the four-time defending champ, whose decline was no longer in question. But it's not like Federer came out of nowhere, mind you. He was considered to be the "next big thing" ever since he won the Wimbledon juniors in 1998.

1. Robin Soderling (23) d. Rafael Nadal (1), 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, fourth round, French Open, 2009

It seems less stunning now than it was at the time. Since May Nadal has played sparingly because of his knee injuries and tennis fans are now forced to discuss whether he'll ever come back to form. But we didn't know any of that in May. Nadal was coming off wins in three of the last four majors, plus the Olympics. He had seemingly dethroned Roger Federer four months earlier in Melbourne. He was riding a 25-match win streak on clay. He hadn't dropped a set in the tournament since 2007. The question wasn't whether he'd lose, it was "who the heck is Robin Soderling?" This was easily the biggest upset of the past 10 years and, perhaps, ever.

As the decade winds down, Busted Racquet will celebrate the past 10 years of tennis with various top 10 lists. We get things started today with a look at the 10 best matches of the 2000s.

10. Andre Agassi d. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5, second round, U.S. Open, 2006

It's the match so grippingly detailed in the opening pages of Agassi's autobiography "Open". With Agassi serving at 4-4 in the final set, the pair played an eight deuce game in which the eighth-seeded Baghdatis had four break points. Agassi held, and went on to win. Later, as they laid on the training room waiting for medical attention, Agassi and Baghdatis watched the replay on SportsCenter with their hands clasped together. It was the last match the eight-time Grand Slam champ would ever win.

9. Venus Williams d. Serena Williams, 6-2, 6-4, final, U.S. Open, 2001

The match itself was forgettable. The moment was not. In the eight years since Venus and Serena played in their first Grand Slam final together, it's become easy to take for granted how amazing it is that two sisters meet so frequently to decide major tournaments. In 2001, nobody did. The first all-Williams Grand Slam final was a major event that happened to coincide with the first time the women's final was played in prime-time. It generated huge ratings and was a seismic event for the game, even though the tennis was mediocre, at best.

8. Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14, first round, French Open, 2004

At 6 hours, 33 minutes, it's the longest match in tennis history. Play was suspended for darkness on the first day after four-and-a-half hours. Clement had two match points (one on each day), but Santoro held at 13-14 in the fifth and went on to win three straight games. For his part, Clement didn't care too much about setting a longevity record, saying, "what do I get, a medal?"

7. Goran Ivanisevic d. Patrick Rafter, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2001

In a rare Monday final, the 125th-ranked Ivanisevic bombed it out with No. 3 seed Patrick Rafter. There were big double faults, untimely unforced errors, foot faults and racquet-throwing, but the combination of the different crowd and tense action made it an unforgettable match. John McEnroe called it the greatest Wimbledon final  he's ever been a part of, but I'm starting to realize he says that a lot.  

6. Jennifer Capriati d. Martina Hingis, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, final, Australian Open, 2002

In her third, and final, Grand Slam victory, Capriati continued her storied comeback by besting Hingis in an epic final in Melbourne. After dropping the first set, Capriati went down 0-4 in the second and faced match points at 4-5 and in the tiebreak (four in all). Hingis never recovered from the meltdown (literally -- it was 107 degrees on the court) and lost the third set without much of a fight. Capriati became the first woman since 1962 to win a Grand Slam after facing match point in the final.

5. Roger Federer d. Andy Roddick, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, final, Wimbledon, 2009

Lengthy? Yes. Great? Well, yes ... But not that great. In our rush to celebrate every great sporting event as the "best ever", this match took on epic proportions solely because of its epicosity. (Not a word? It should be.) Though it was close, one never got the sense that Roddick could ever actually win the thing. Federer's serve was so crisp as the match progressed that it would have felt like a miracle if he got broken. Throw in the fact that the two biggest points of the match were won because of horrid Roddick unforced errors and there's your No. 5 ranking. 

4. Venus Williams d. Lindsay Davenport, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2005

Bud Collins described the match thusly:

"More female bang for the bucks had never been seen in this arena. Two ladies in white were red-hot blasters. Witnesses would treasure what they'd watched during a chill, glum afternoon. Their go-for-broke shot-making illuminated the gray sky."

What he said.

3. Justin Henin-Hardenne d. Jennifer Capriati, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4), semifinal, U.S. Open, 2003

Truth be told, we could have added one more Capriati match to this list too (her 2001 French Open win over Kim Clijsters), but this late-night affair earned the vote for best women's match of the decade, even though it was only a semifinal. Capriati, at the tail end of her career, battled it out with the diminutive Belgian for a record three hours and three minutes. She served for the match at 5-4 in both of the final two sets and was two points from victory a whopping 11 times. All night she yelled at umpires, demonstratively celebrated points and exchanged classic rallies with Henin-Hardenne. When it finally ended, at 12:27 a.m., the women could barely make it to the net to shake hands.

2. Pete Sampras d. Andre Agassi, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), quarterfinal, U.S. Open, 2001

Before the fourth set tiebreak, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium gave the two American stars a standing ovation, an appreciation of both the match (nobody broke serve through 52 games) and the greatness of the champions on the court:

1. Rafael Nadal d. Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7, final, Wimbledon, 2008

It was, quite simply, the greatest match of all-time. 

What is this, an edition of Masterpiece Theater? I half expect Rafa to light a pipe, open up one of those oversized, leather-bound Dickens books and begin doing a John Houseman impersonation.

Thank goodness the ATP World Tour Finals begin tomorrow. I don't know how many more of these ridiculous photo ops I could take. (I'm lying, I love these things. How much resentment was there in the room when the photographers say Federer and Nadal in those chairs? And look at del Potro. For as effortless as he and Federer look on the tennis court, they sure seem to be aware of what their hands are doing in this picture. Relax, guys.)

Martin Rogers previews the tournament, which begins tomorrow, in Busted Racquet's Weekly Slice and predicts a Federer victory. That would make Roger just the second man in history to finish the year at No. 1 after losing the ranking during that same year. (Ivan Lendl was the other.) My money is on Andy Murray, who will have the home-court advantage without the pressure that usually accompanies it at Wimbledon. 

Despite being injured for much of the summer and missing Wimbledon, Nadal still has the opportunity to finish the year ahead of the pack by winning the tournament and hoping Federer slips up. Yet as 2009 draws to a close in men's tennis, it is impossible to shake the sense that this year has merely been the appetizer for what could be a spectacular 2010.

Coming into this season, we all eagerly anticipated that the Federer-Nadal rivalry would heat up further, especially with Federer's mononucleosis condition controlled and overcome. However, Nadal's knee problems prevented them from meeting at the French Open and kept the Spaniard out until his return just before the U.S. Open, when he was still way short of full fitness.

If both the big guns can go into the new campaign at their peak, it will pave the way for a superb year.

Also working his way in the mix is Novak Djokovic, who finally seems to have his motivation levels right and at last is poised to challenge the top two on a regular basis. Murray will look to improve on his disappointing performances at the major championships, and Juan Martin del Potro also has the ability to grow upon his U.S. Open triumph.

If all these stars are fit and healthy, then they will push Federer and Nadal to even greater achievements and allow one of modern sport's most intriguing head-to-head matchups to flourish.

Drop shot
Andre Agassi has received confirmation that he will not be censured for his admitted use of crystal meth during his playing career. ATP president Adam Helfant revealed that his organization is powerless to punish Agassi retroactively as he is no longer playing. Instead, he is free to make extra money from the revelations in his autobiography "Open," effectively being rewarded for the lies he told to cover up his drug use in the late 1990s.

Clean winner
The USTA's annual participation survey showed surprisingly buoyant results, revealing more than 30 million active players now in the United States. The figures were up 12 percent from 2008 and also showed increased numbers across all minority groups.

Use your frequent flyer miles
It is a good time of year to be in London. Christmas songs are already blaring from every radio station, and Oxford Street is a great place to snap up some festive gifts. Then there is the small matter of the ATP World Tour Finals, where Federer and Nadal slug it out for the top ranking while Andy Murray tries to please his home crowd.

This week's predictions
ATP World Tour Finals (singles): Roger Federer
ATP World Tour Finals (doubles): Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world.

Love -- The picture of the eight participants in the ATP finale isn't nearly as fun as the picture of the eight participants in the WTA finale. It looks like they're having a contest to see who can look the most uncomfortable in a suit. Congratulations, Juan Martin del Potro (second from left). You win.

15 -- The draw for the round-robin stage of the tournament were released Wednesday. Group A: Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco. Group B: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Robin Soderling. That first group is killer. Maybe that's why del Potro looks so solemn.

30 -- The New York Times Web site features video of an interview with Andre Agassi. Compared to all the other interviews Agassi has given over the past month, it's pretty tame, but kudos to Sam Tanenhaus for asking about the ghostwriter of "Open", J.R. Moehringer. Most of the plaudits for Agassi's autobiography have failed to mention the man who crafted the story.

40 -- Best tennis headline of the week: "Querrey still recovering from one night in Bangkok". 

Game -- Roger Federer thinks his pal Thierry Henry shouldn't be vilified for his handball during France's World Cup qualifying win over Ireland. He also believes replay should be used in soccer. Because, as we all know, Roger Federer loves the use of replay in tennis.

Tennis, everyone?

A study commissioned by the USTA found that 30.1 million Americans laced up their tennis shoes and hit the court in 2009. That's a 12.5 percent increase from 2008 and almost 25 percent more than in 2003, back when Roger Federer was just that guy with the ponytail.

The survey showed participation grew in all age groups under 50 and within all ethnic groups. The biggest increases were among Hispanics, with 32 percent more playing the game. Blacks had a 19 percent increase.

There were 7.1 million newcomers to the sport, a 19.5 percent increase from last year. Regular players, those playing between four and 20 times a year, increased 26 percent this year to 14.8 million.

Looks like McDonald's isn't the only thing that can thrive during a recession. Because though the USTA didn't give any reasons why the game's popularity is rising, it's logical to assume it has something to do with the economic downturn. Springing for a can of Penns and dusting off the ol' racquet is a lot more affordable than plunking down $85 for greens fees or $50 for a lift ticket.

Popularity in professional tennis is rising too. Ratings for Wimbledon, which rapidly declined during this decade, have surged in the past three years. The U.S. Open also did impressive numbers this year, thanks to the successes of Melanie Oudin and the switch from USA to ESPN2.

One if by land, deuce if by sea?

To avoid car traffic in downtown London, players at next week's year-end ATP World Tour Finals will have the option of traveling to the site of the tournament by boat. At last year's event, which was held in Shanghai, players complained about how long it took them to travel to the courts.

This year's tournament is being billed as the largest indoor tennis event of all-time, with 255,000 tickets being sold already. It will be held at the O2 Arena, where Michael Jackson was supposed to play his 50-show comeback tour.

The building is located in the eastern part of London on the banks of the Thames, but the players' hotel is in the central part of the city and driving times because of traffic would be too unpredictable, organizers say. (I mean, we all know what those traffic circles are like in London.)

Players will have the option of getting chauffeured by car to the tournament, but the managing director of the event says that "they'll soon realize the boat is the best way to go." There will be two 62-seat boats in use. The door-to-door trip will take approximately 30 minutes. No word on whether this song will be pumped through the speakers. If not, I'm sure Federer has it on his iPod.

"I'm midway [through my career]. It feels like the second part of my career right now, although I am trying to avoid saying that because the second part sounds like ‘neehhhhrrrrr' [motions straight down]. You can definitely play your greatest tennis until 32 or 33, it's just a matter of how you look at it. I've always been a big believer in looking at the big picture. It's not about, ‘What will we do tomorrow?', it's about, ‘How will my life and tennis look in the next five years?' And I still have the same vision, so that's going to help me."

Federer turned 28 in August so, by his math, he could still be on top of his game through 2014. With 15 Grand Slams already to his credit, could his unspoken goal to top Steffi Graf's all-time modern record of 22 Slams? Graf (whom I now want to call "Stefanie" after reading Andre Agassi's autobiography) had a prime that lasted nine years, but she started winning Slams much earlier in her life than Federer did. For Federer to reach her, he'd probably need to win six of the next 12 and then hope to win another one or two in the twilight of his career.

It sounds daunting, but are you going to put anything past Federer? His last two years at the Slams have been considered disappointments, yet he's still won three of eight.

Like his buddy Tiger Woods, Federer's unprecedented string of success set such unrealistic expectations that mere greatness seems ordinary. When Tiger goes a year without winning a major (like he did in 2009), people ask if his season was a failure. Federer won two this year, but he loses to Del Potro at the U.S. Open and it causes buzzing that his game is on the decline. Can't a guy lose a match every now and then?

Go read the whole interview, it's quite interesting. In it, Federer discusses his love of tennis, why he's friendly with his biggest rival, the crying incident at The Australian Open and that time he smoked meth. Wait, sorry. Scratch that last one, I'm still in Agassi mode. 

Love -- The Daily Mail reports 10 ATP matches from 2009 are under investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unity because of suspect betting patterns. The specific matches (all first-rounders) are not revealed, but no major player is said to be involved. Most of the games under investigation involved big wagers on a weaker player or mid-match bets on players who are down.

15 -- Rafael Nadal did a favor for a fellow Spainiard today. His defeat of Jo-Wilifried Tsonga in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters gave Fernando Verdasco the final spot in the eight-man ATP World Tour Championships, to be played later this month in London. Tsonga and Robin Soderling had been fighting for the eighth and final spot in the year-end tournament. The competitors: Roger Federer,  Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Verdasco.

30 -- Just like it was in the final WTA tournament of the year, the No. 1 ranking will be up grabs in the final ATP tournament of the year. A win by Nadal in Paris would put him only 305 points behind Federer for the No. 1 ranking.

40 -- John Newcombe's mustache, just because.

Game -- The tennis career of Marat Safin ended Wednesday with a loss in Paris to U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. Safin is known best for his temper, carousing, outspokeness and, above all, his underachieving, but the bluster obscures the fact that Safin was pretty damn good, winning two Grand Slams and ascending to No. 1 in 2000. Sure he could have done more, but unlike others who say they have no regrets about unfulfilled promise; when Marat Safin says it, I believe him. 

Much like Busted Racquet, Letterman found Agassi's selection in fake hair to be as surprising as his drug use. But Agassi got in the line of the evening when, while discussing how he used his hair to help him hide his true identity (a constant theme throughout his book), he said, "what better way to hide yourself than wearing a mullet?"

That should be on a fortune cookie.

But, according to the New York Times, despite having worked for weeks on the Agassi story, Couric didn't ask the eight-time Grand Slam champion about his drug use during their original interview. It was only after the story broke and became the biggest news in sports that Couric and her producers thought to question Agassi about it, which they did after flying back out to Las Vegas for a follow-up.

Tim Arango writes in Monday's editions:

Katie Couric of CBS News had been working for weeks on a piece about Mr. Agassi for "60 Minutes," which was scheduled to be shown Sunday night. Ms. Couric and her producers had access to the book and had been in Las Vegas interviewing Mr. Agassi. Apparently, neither Ms. Couric nor her producers decided to ask Mr. Agassi directly about the crystal meth use, although he brought up drug use in general when discussing his depression.

But once the news broke, and the media storm ensued, Ms. Couric went back to Las Vegas on Tuesday to ask Mr. Agassi about it and his take on the public's reaction.

Decisions are a lot easier to make in retrospect, but this one shouldn't have needed to be. Even though Couric and her team interviewed Agassi before the uproar over his drug use began, it should have been completely obvious that the most newsworthy part of his book was the section about the drug use and the subsequent lying to tennis authorities about the failed drug test. 

If you thought the interview was a softball before (as we did), then it becomes slo-pitch softball after this report. Not asking Agassi about the meth would be like interviewing Michael Vick and not asking him about dogfighting. The anchor of a network news program and a team of producers on the most legendary investigative news program in television history shouldn't need to wait for a story to break to know what the story is. 

Here are the five most interesting tidbits:

1. It was a softball interview from Couric, which was probably the whole point in Agassi's people getting her to do the piece in the first place. She didn't press Agassi when he said he couldn't remember how often he used meth (nobody expects him to give an exact number, but she could have asked whether he used every day, twice a day, every weekend, etc.) and let him skate on the lies he told to the ATP about the positive drug test.

2. As we detailed in last Wednesday's edition of Game Point, Agassi's mullet was actually a weave. In the 1990 French Open final in which he had to use bobby pins to keep the piece on, Agassi said he considered his loss a victory because his hair didn't fall off on the court. We also learned that Agassi's hair began falling out when he was 17.

3. Watching video of shirtless Nick Bollettieri intensely watching shirtless Agassi hit balls is the second most hilarious thing in this interview. The first? Jorts.

4. There have been questions about whether Agassi is sincere about owning up to his mistakes or whether his admissions were done because they added some dollars onto his book deal. I've written that I think Agassi's story and remorse are genuine and his response to Couric reading the critical statements of Martina Navratilova only advances this line of thinking. Agassi said:

"That's what you dont wanna hear. When somebody takes a performance inhibitor, a recreational drug, the one thing would is, not that there aren't rules that need to be followed, but along with that would come some compassion ... that maybe this person doesn't need condemnation. Maybe this person could stand a little help. And I had a problem. And there might be many other athletes out there that test positive for recreational drugs that has a problem. So i would ask for some compassion."

5. Watching all of the clips of Agassi winning majors, I have to believe that even though Agassi says he hated tennis, he loved to win tennis tournaments. The joy on his face after the victory at Wimbledon in '92 or at the U.S. Open in '94 is not the look of a man who hates what he's doing. 

Busted Racquet will post its review of "Open" later this week.

What's that old saying? Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend? If that's the case, then Yanina Wickmayer's one-year suspesnsion for thrice failing to report her whereabouts to drug testing officials is a fair and legitimate penalty.

From the Associated Press:

Wickmayer said last month she has had trouble with her password in the computerized system overseen by the World Anti-Doping Agency. She also said registered mail at her home could not be signed off on because she was travelling to WTA tournaments.

Yes, Yanina, you're the only player who travels to tournaments and can't sign for registered mail. And that password excuse sounds like something I'd tell an ex-girlfriend whose emails I haevn't returned. 

Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. If it's the latter, then failing to report her whereabouts to officials three times is the height of stupidity. If she did, was she using illicit substances for recreation or to enhance performance?

The use of PEDs in tennis is almost certainly more widespread than anyone thinks. The game is thought of as "clean", but that's only because tennis has one of the worst drug testing plans in all of sports. As Bill Gifford described in a piece for Slate earlier this year:

The International Tennis Federation's testing program hasn't caught any significant drug cheats because it's practically designed that way. According to the ITF's own statistics, tennis's governing body conducted just over 2,000 drug tests last year. Even if you consider that this covers more than 1,000 ranked players, as well as wheelchair tennis players, it still sounds like a lot of testing. But look more closely, and you'll see some Jaws-size holes in the net.

Consider the timing of the tests. Nearly all of tennis's drug testing was conducted during competitions-major tournaments like the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon. But most doping activity occurs during training, not actual competition.

Sports like cycling and track and field-which have had far worse drug problems than tennis-figured out long ago that it's best to test athletes outside competition. But last year, tennis performed just 91 out-of-competition tests. The International Cycling Union, by contrast, did more than 2,000 such tests.

It's naive to think that the use of PEDs in tennis isn't more widespread than reported. The lax drug testing contributes to this perception, but so does the fact that use of these types of drugs wouldn't be clearly noticeable to fans and those in the tennis community. 

Players won't be bulking up like football and baseball players, so the telltale signs of use, like bigger muscles, increased head size and suspicious jumps in home run totals, aren't there. Wickmayer wouldn't be looking like a member of the 1988 East German women's swim team or seeing her serve speed jump 30 mph.

It's far more likely that a blood doping drug like EPO, which is big in both cycling and track, would be in use. Some have debated this, like Stuart Miller who is the head of anti-doping for the International Tennis Federation. From a New York Times article about drug use in tennis from September:

"You normally see [EPO use] in sports where you are trying to maximize some element of physiological performance, like strength, power, stamina, speed," Miller said. Tennis combines these attributes with strategy and hand-eye coordination. "They're good at all of those things," he said. "But they're not trying to maximize those things." 

The "[insert drug here] won't benefit [insert type of athlete] because [insert specious reasoning]" excuse is as old as PEDs. Remember when people thought sluggers couldn't benefit because steroids don't help hand-eye coordination? Or that pitchers shouldn't be bulky because it would ruin the pitching motion? Getting a little boost or a bit more stamina can always help. It's completely naive to presume otherwise.

Wickmayer either doped or she didn't. If it's the latter, then failing to report her whereabouts to officials three times is the height of stupidity. What's the old saying, "once

A theory put forth by Bill Gifford in that Slate piece suggests that perhaps tennis officials have lax drug testing standards because they don't want the sport to irrevocably tainted by drug speculation like cycling and track have. This isn't to suggest that there's some sort of mass conspiracy to allow players to dope, but there certainly could be a little "out of sight, out of mind" action at work. 

Andre Agassi deserves every bit of the criticism he is receiving for using crystal methamphetamine and misleading authorities to weasel his way out of a positive doping test result. He has added to the growing disillusionment many have with stars who once were admired without hesitation.

However, Agassi does not deserve the criticism from players and outsiders who question his right to open up about the past. Rather, Agassi should be admired for revealing a dark secret he could have taken to his grave.

Athletes are ripped for refusing to address the past (e.g. Mark McGwire), but now also for revealing every painful detail?

Can't have it both ways. Someone should tell that to the players.

"To me it seems terrible," Rafael Nadal said. "Why is he saying this now that he has retired?"

Martina Navratilova's response was even harsher. It was "not as much shock that he did it," she suggested, "as shock he lied about it and didn't own up to it. He's up there with Roger Clemens, as far as I'm concerned. He owned up to it (in the book), but it doesn't help now."

Someone needs to brief Martina. Last time we checked, Mr. Clemens hasn't owned up to, well, anything, and probably never will.

Roger Federer -- who also joined in the criticism -- Nadal and, to some extent, the retired Navratilova depend on the sport's credibility for their livelihood. When that credibility is damaged -- and Agassi definitely left tennis with a black eye -- they are also damaged, and it's never clear what consequences will follow. That scares them.

It shouldn't. Nadal needs to have more faith in the fans. Fans don't assume the whole sport is dirty because of how one player behaved. They don't think it's totally clean, either. No sport is.

The sport will survive. If anything, Agassi's revelations may help tennis and its players. There will be those players in the future, facing pressures only they can understand, who might now avoid making the numerous mistakes he made. That is how we learn, not by keeping the truth hidden.

A player's parents may learn, too, that treating their talented son or daughter the way Agassi's father allegedly did may work in the short term on the court, but could harm them in life more than they could ever imagine.

It doesn't mean we should rush to give Agassi the Pulitzer or forgive his actions. He is no saint for coming clean. But he is no villain, either. He is, when you strip away the talent and packaging, a flawed man who is sharing those flaws.

Fans can appreciate that.

Some may suggest Agassi's reputation will never be the same and that he should have thought about the ramifications before confessing.

Of course he thought about them. Agassi is a bright guy. But it's clear his main motivation was not keeping up his reputation. If he was going to tell his story, he was going to tell it straight. Agassi wasn't interested in providing the sanitized version to ensure future marketability.

Incidentally, athletes generally aren't condemned for selling jeans or deodorant or cars. Why are books different? Books, at least, offer insight and introspection.

Agassi's book and the negative publicity it generated may hurt him, but how Agassi conducted himself on the court once he grew past the juvenile behavior in his teens and early 20s is how he'll be remembered.

For his legendary battles with his top rival, Pete Sampras. He showed class, in victory and defeat. Especially in defeat.

For being the first American since Don Budge to capture all four majors. Not even Sampras accomplished that feat.

For the superb conditioning that allowed him to compete into his mid-30s when many of his peers were long gone from the game.

For the wonderful charity work he has done over the years. He has given away millions, more than the vast majority of athletes. Nobody ever forced him to do that.

That's how Agassi will be remembered. Or should be.

And now for having the courage to deal with the most sensitive subject imaginable -- himself -- and not ignoring the truth, even when the truth is ugly as it often is.

Dr. Leif Ake Nilsson, now 66, was in the chair for McEnroe's match against No. 6 Anders Jarryd and recalls not responding to Johnny Mac because he didn't have an answer to his questions: 

Seminara writes:

"He totally lost his head," Jarryd recalled. "He was ready to lose the match."

Nilsson had issued McEnroe a warning in the second game of the match for firing a ball in anger at a spectator, so this second outburst cost him a point penalty. He lost his service game moments later; then steamed over to the sideline and smashed several glasses of ice water with a slice backhand that might have otherwise been a penetrating approach shot. He then sat down for a second before springing back up and taking a forehand swipe at the cups, sort of like a bowler attempting to salvage a spare.

"They were real glasses, not paper cups," Nilsson said.

McEnroe earned a $2,100 fine and a suspension of 21 days (which was for exceeding a pre-set fine cap, not for the outburst). Nilsson says he's seen McEnroe since then, but the pair have never acknowledged their infamous meeting.

And, no intrepid commenters, this is not at all similar to the Serena Williams incident. McEnroe may have been the pot calling the kettle black when he called Nilsson a jerk but, unlike Serena, Johnny Mac never threatened him with a tennis ball throat-stuffing.

Love -- Be careful, Gael Monfils (right). I'm pretty sure Michael Phelps got in trouble for a similar type of picture. Andre Agassi finds nothing wrong with this though. (Thanks to Down The Line for the heads up.)

15 -- Speaking of Agassi, the meth use drew the headlines, but perhaps the most shocking revelation in his upcoming book is that his famed mullet was actually a hairpiece. It's not shocking that he wore one, but rather that he chose to wear one that looked like this.

Before the 1990 French Open final, Agassi writes, his weave began to fall apart in the shower and he had to send his brother out to find bobby pins to keep it in place. Ahh, just like Rene Lacoste in 1925.

30 -- Maria Sharapova may be dating Los Angeles Lakers backup guard Sasha Vujacic. The two were said to be seen "cuddling" at a U2 concert in Los Angeles. Sharapova had previously been seen with Charlie Ebersol (son of NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol) and Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5. From a product of nepotism to frontman of a wimpy band to a guy best known as Kobe Bryant's valet, what would be the next logical progression? B-list actor? I wonder if Topher Grace is available.

40 -- Tommy Haas has the swine flu. He is reported to be feeling better and attributes his quick recovery to his fine physical form. On a totally unrelated note, here is a list of tournaments Haas has withdrew from in the past three years due to injury: Stockholm (2009), Shanghai (2009), Montreal (2009), Monte Carlo (2008), Indian Wells (2008), Wimbledon (2007), Rome (2007). 

Game -- It's shaping up to be a battle at the top of men's tennis in 2010 between Nike and adidas. Andy Murray will sign with adidas and begin wearing its clothes next year, joining Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Scot had been with the British company Fred Perry since he turned professional and had hoped to stick with them through next year, the 100th anniversary of Perry's birth. But the money (five years, 10 million pounds) was too great to turn down. Now Murray joins adidas, which will hope to see a player wearing a three-striped logo hoisting some trophies in 2010 to make up for this year, when Nike players (Nadal, Federer, del Potro) swept the Grand Slams.

But as the dust settles on the remarkable revelations in Agassi's autobiography, including his use of the drug crystal methamphetamine, the motivation behind the book becomes ever more puzzling.

Agassi fans will vehemently argue that the eight-time Grand Slam champion penned his memoirs to unburden himself after years of secrecy - or even to provide a warning about the dangers of illicit substances.

Yet the controversial aspects of the book have done little for the image of tennis, from his sniping about greats such as Jimmy Connors to the admission of how he hoodwinked ATP authorities after testing positive for drugs.

The timing of the book's release seems to have been designed for maximum impact (and profit). Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it does appear to fly in the face of suggestions that Agassi's intentions here are simply public-spirited.

With an eight-year cutoff period in place, there is no chance of Agassi being stripped of any of his titles or prize money.

For all the good works Agassi has done, the release of this book will not go down as one of his greatest highlights. He deserves to be judged harshly for both the actions which broke the rules of the game and for the comments which damaged it, regardless of how much time has gone by.

Agassi's gain from this exercise will be the success of the book - he doesn't need a free pass from a forgiving tennis public too.

Drop shot

At a time when tennis' hierarchy is under scrutiny, the interminable wait for some action on Serena Williams' U.S. Open outburst rumbles on. As the two-month mark approaches, is it really too much to ask that an appropriate punishment is finally handed down? Williams is at last established as the clear world No.1 after winning in Doha last week, but the saga surrounding her rant at a line judge is leaving a stain on the women's game.

Clean winner

Ivan Ljubicic has endured a torrid few years with injury and patchy play, but he burst back to form in Lyon last week. The big-serving Croat was the only non-Frenchman in the quarterfinals but outlasted Michael Llodra for the championship.

Use your frequent-flyer miles

While the men are slugging it out in chilly Europe for the final spots in the Tour finals, the vacation destination of Bali in Indonesia is the place to be. The Tournament of Champions is an interesting concept - a season-ending event for the group of players just below the elite - and could catch on.

Last week's winners

St. Petersburg Open: Sergiy Stakhovsky
Bank Austria Tennis Trophy, Vienna: Jurgen Melzer
Grand Prix de Tennis, Lyon: Ivan Ljubicic
Sony Ericsson Championships, Doha: Serena Williams

This week's predictions

Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Basel: Roger Federer
Valencia Open: Nikolay Davydenko
Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, Bali: Samantha Stosur

It's been 51 days since Serena Williams threatened an official at the U.S. Open, yet there's still no word from the International Tennis Federation as to whether the 11-time Grand Slam champion will be suspended from any tournaments as a result of the tirade. The WTA's chief executive said three weeks ago that the investigation was "ongoing" and that a decision was expected by the end of the year. Our question: What's taking so long?

This isn't the Warren Commission. There aren't any grassy knolls or magic bullets or vague connections to Frank Sinatra. The lineswoman called a foot fault, Serena yelled, was assessed the point penalty and the match was over. That's it. From start to finish the incident took less than three minutes. Other than talking to Serena, the lineswoman and, perhaps, the chair umpire, what else is there to investigate? It's not like any new information is going to come to light.

With the WTA season completed, it may not seem like a big deal for the ITF to prolong the investigation now. (Even though, as stated above, there's no reason for them to.) But it's better for the organization to make a decision as quickly as possible. As wrong as she was, Serena doesn't deserve to be strung along for three months.

Waiting also could do damage to tournament organizers in Australia. The Open isn't going to see too much of an effect if Serena is suspended since those tickets will sell regardless. But Serena has already committed to a tournament in Sydney the week before. She will be the main selling point and organizers will doubtlessly be marketing the women's tournament around her. If Serena is barred from playing in the major, there's not much chance of her making the trip to Australia for a tune-up event.

Williams was fined $10,000 at the U.S. Open after the outburst, the maximum on-site penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. This current investigation was said to have begun that same night by Bill Babcock, the top administrator for Grand Slam tournaments.

It continues today. If the ITF has any sense, it won't continue much longer.

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world. Today's edition will be Agassi-free.

Love --  The picture above is of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Nuria Llagostera Vives and a bunch of Spanish musicians after the women won the doubles title at the WTA's year-end Sony Ericsson Championships this weekend in Doha. I have no idea what those guys were going to do if Martinez Sanchez and Vives had lost. Maybe a little of this, but with la guitarra instead of el trombón.

15 -- With her win in the singles event at Doha, Serena Williams broke the single-season women's record for prize money, with more than $6.5 million earned in 2009. This reflects both well and poorly on the state of women's tennis. On one hand, Williams has earned more than any man did on tour this year (although that will likely change over the next few weeks since the men's season isn't yet over), a nice change from the past when there was a stark inequality in men's and women's prize money. On the other hand, the fact that Serena was able to best the mark by $1 million despite playing in only 18 tournaments (and not giving it her all in a few of those) says how little competition there was at the top in '09. 

30 -- Ahead of an exhibition he'll play against Todd Martin on Nov. 7, Pete Sampras gave an interview to the Atlanta Journal Constitution in which he discusses the future of American tennis and his thoughts on women's tennis (which come across as sort of sexist), but not a certain double-initialed rival and his use of substances that rhyme with Beth.

40 -- For the first time since his loss to Juan Martin del Potro in the finals of the U.S. Open, Roger Federer took the tennis court today. He won easily over a Belgian qualifier at the Swiss Indoors.

Game -- Alright, I can't get Sampras's thoughts on women's tennis out of my head. Here's the question and his answer:

Q: Do you watch women's tennis?

A: You can ask someone like Kobe [Bryant] if he watches the [WNBA Los Angeles] Sparks. If I have time -- I've got two kids -- to watch something, it's not going to be ladies' tennis. It's going to be basketball or football. Ladies' tennis, there's some great players, but it's not anything I'm interested in.

Is Pete really comparing women's tennis to the WNBA? That's a huge slap in the face. The WNBA is practically unwatchable (and, judging by the ratings, it's literally unwatchable too). Nobody mentions it in the same breath as the NBA. The only similarities are that there's a basket, a ball and hardwood.

Women's tennis, on the other hand, is just as, if not more, popular than men's tennis. They're on equal footing. To compare women's tennis to a fledgling league that hemorraghes money and is kept afloat only because David Stern is too stubborn to pull the plug is insulting ...  but not as insulting as saying "ladies'" tennis. Who's playing the game, Pete, your grandma?

Other than a tangentially interesting item about wife Brooke Shields getting stopped at customs for a narcotics search while arriving in France for the French Open (see below), there were no connections between Agassi and illicit drug use. However, there were many rumors circulating about the root of his problems: 

Doug Smith, USA Today -- July 23, 1997:

"Talk on the pro tour is that banking on an Agassi comeback would be a bad investment, mainly because tennis stopped being a high priority with him after his April marriage to actress Brooke Shields."

Tony Kornheiser, The Washington Post -- July 16, 1997

"Hey, tennis fans, if you can get through this afternoon without passing out from the heat, there's a treat for you tonight: Sadly, it's not rehydration. You get to see Andre "What's My Line?" Agassi.

You remember Andre, don't you?

Just two years ago today he was the No. 1 player in the world. He held that ranking for 30 straight weeks in 1995. Everybody thought his rivalry with Pete Sampras was going to be the heir to Borg-McEnroe.

Now Agassi is a part-time player. He dabbles in tennis the way rich, bored women dabble in pottery, building a studio on the back of the house.

Here's Agassi's complete record this year: 6-6.

We're in July now. Hell-o. Twelve tennis matches in seven months is ludicrous. Greta Van Susteren has played more tennis than Agassi this year. He skipped the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. What happened, did he forget to renew his passport? The official word is that a bad wrist has sidelined him since April. But he lost his first match in four straight tournaments in February and March.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but what the heck is the deal with this guy?"

Geoff Stead, The Sydney Telegraph -- August 27, 1997:

"Former pin-up Andre Agassi has been trashed by fans and fellow players after his walkout from a parade of champions at the US Open.

Agassi abandoned a centre court walk-by by 37 former Open champions because his name was accidentally skipped when the past winners were introduced at a dinner which preceded the event.

'When you've only won three titles, you don't turn your back on great players who have won four times as many,' said one player.

Agassi today responded to the criticism by suggesting there was more to the story - but declined to elaborate.

'There was a very unfortunate situation that arrived to my attention between dinner and the ceremony,' he said.

'There was nobody more disappointed than me not to be there.

'It was a tough call and I had to make it.'"

Andrew Clark, The Financial Post -- July 26, 1997:

Style is everything. That was the motto Andre Agassi extolled a few short years ago when he was one of the top players in men's tennis. Since then, the 27-year-old Agassi has cut his trademark long hair, and it appears almost biblically, lost his edge ...

... His personal life, on the other hand, has been in a state of positive. He married actress Brooke Shields on April 19. When he won the U.S. Open in 1994, their love affair was credited for igniting his game. Now their marriage is being blamed for his sub-standard performance. Word on the street says Brooke is sucking the competitive spirit out of him.

And so, with all this publicity, he is attempting his comeback.

Andre Agassi, after a first round loss to No. 103 Justin Gimelstob in Los Angeles:

"I still feel like I'm getting a lead there and not remembering how to win. It's hard to say I'm encouraged. I had the lead a few times. I just rushed it, maybe, got too aggressive, made some errors that let him back in. It's a tough little hump to get over. [The days of intimidating based upon reputation] is lost. It'll take something to prove -- even to myself -- that I can beat these guys day in day out."

Robin Finn, The New York Times -- July 20, 1997

"He has been No. 1. He has come unstrung. And this week Andre Agassi, 30th in the world rankings but trapped in what he describes as "a vapor lock," is back out on the tennis court. He is learning to crawl again after a two-year spiral from the peak of a profession that continues to daunt and haunt him.

Crawling does not come easily, particularly before a public that finds it hard to believe that such stars would do something so mundane.

'But that's what it feels like,' Agassi said as he hunkered, a tad resignedly, on a sofa in the presidential suite he is sharing with his bride of three months, Brooke Shields. Marriage has been a godsend, but Agassi and the tennis gods are still at odds ...

... 'Believe me, I'm much more at risk of leaving this game when I'm on top than I am when I'm down and out," he said. "I don't like the feeling of being beaten by something.'"

Mitch Sherman, The Washington Times -- July 18, 1997:

Mark Miles, chief executive officer of the ATP Tour, fired back at Andre Agassi yesterday but sympathized with the struggling American, admitting that changes need to be made to make tennis more fan-friendly.

Agassi, after losing a second-round, three-set match to unseeded Doug Flach on Tuesday in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, criticized the tour and took a direct shot at Miles, saying the tour needs 'people running it who know what the hell they're doing.'

Miles, who arrived in Washington yesterday to watch the Legg Mason's third round, attributed Agassi's comments to frustration.

'[Agassi] just came off the court after what was obviously a disappointing loss," Miles said. "That's not to say that he didn't have sincere feelings about us or the issues, but his comments don't really connect to what's happening right now.'"

Stephen Wine, The Sydney Telegraph -- March 24, 1997:

Andre Agassi can be thankful he doesn't need money, because he's not making much playing tennis lately.

The two-time defending champion of the Lipton Championships lost his opening match yesterday to Australia's Scott Draper 7-6 (7-5) 6-1. The defeat was Agassi's fifth in a row, his worst-ever form slump.

Motivation may be a problem for the 26-year-old multi-millionaire, but he denies it.
"I'm not tired," he said. "I'm not through." Still, Agassi's career has become a celebrity tennis tour: one match and on to the next stop ...

... Agassi played as if he were double-parked against Draper, a 22-year-old left-hander ranked 79th. Agassi lost his serve to love in the final game, and the lacklustre performance prompted speculation that he tanked the second set.

'I wish sometimes I believed in myself out there as much as most people believe in my capabilities,' he said.

'I'm second-guessing myself a lot. It's something I'm going to have to get through.'"

Peter Shard, The Sydney Telegraph -- May 25, 1998

As Brooke Shields strode through Nice Airport she looked every inch the Hollywood star.

Dressed in a figure-hugging black outfit and wearing dark glasses, she flashed smiles at photographers and fans.

But the confidence and star quality oozed away as Customs and police officers swooped and searched her luggage -and sent shock waves through Hollywood where she is known as a fervent antidrugs campaigner.

The clean-cut 33-yearold -a fitness fanatic and champion of the crusade against narcotics was stopped as she boarded a Paris-bound plane after spending several days at the Cannes Film Festival. Police have refused to give exact details of what they found.

She was on her way to support former Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi, whom she married in April last year, at the French Open.

All Agassi would say last night was: 'I am on my way out to dinner. Goodbye.'"

Since most of the stories about Agassi's lost year have tended to focus on one especially bad tournament (Washington) and the fact that Agassi played in only one Grand Slam (the U.S. Open), it's easy to get the impression that he sat out most of the year and saw his ranking slip more due to inactivity rather than poor play. It didn't happen that way.

Agassi didn't play a full schedule by any means, but he did manage to play in 14 tournaments and he played pretty miserably, especially in a six-month stretch after Valentine's Day:

Agassi began the year by withdrawing from the Australian Open with an ankle injury, but returned to action in February in San Jose, where he lost in the semifinals to No. 39 Greg Rusedski. Then the wheels came off, as shown in the table above.

Over the next six months Agassi would go 1-8 in ATP Tour matches, a record which included five losses to players ranked below No. 75. He hit rock bottom in July, with two losses to Americans not even ranked in the top one hundred.

But though Agassi's ranking would continue to drop (from No. 33 in Cincinnati to No. 74 the next week and then all the way down to No. 141 by November), his play began improving the week after the loss to Kuerten. (The rankings seemed to be about two months behind Agassi's actual tennis low.)

In Indianapolis the next week, Agassi beat No. 5 Alex Corretja in the round of 16 and then managed to win three matches at the U.S. Open two weeks later, before losing to Patrick Rafter in four sets. It's a testament to his talent that even while in a personal hell, Agassi was able to make an impressive run in the year's biggest tournament.

After taking off for nearly two months following the Open (which is when his ranking hit its low), Agassi returned to play second-tier events on the west coast, winning one and losing another in the finals.

At the start of 1998 he was ranked No. 87. Agassi then lost a five-set thriller to Alberto Berasategui in the fourth round at the Australian Open. He "completed" his comeback two weeks later in San Jose, when he beat No. 1 Pete Sampras in the finals. By the time the U.S. Open rolled around that year, Agassi's ranking was back to No. 8 in the world.

After the jump, see Agassi's rankings odyssey in graph form.To see a bigger version of the chart, click here. 

Roger Federer: "It was a shock when I heard the news. I am disappointed and I hope there are no more such cases in future."

Rafael Nadal: "If the ATP covered for Agassi then I think that's dreadful. If they covered for the player and punished others for doing the same kind of thing then that would seem to me to be a lack of respect for all sportsmen ... Now that he is retired, he comes out and says this? It's a way of senselessly damaging the sport."

Serena Williams: "I don't even know what crystal meth is, so, you know, that's what my reaction to it is ... I haven't read anything about Andre Agassi's book. All I know is I have a book coming out. It's called 'On The Line'". [That's gold. -- ed.]

Venus Williams: "I'm sure his book will sell. But I can't say anything about Andre Agassi's life."

Andy Roddick: "Andre is and always will be my idol. I will judge him on how he has treated me and how he has changed the world for (the) better."

Former coach Nick Bollettieri: "I don't condone what he did - I've made mistakes too, but I've done more good than bad ... Let's look at what Andre has done, he funds a school for 400 kids from the inner-city. I know underneath he's a hell of guy."

U.S. Federation Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez: "It takes a lot of guts and courage to come out and say something that nobody would have really known about. Maybe people can learn from it and not make the same mistakes."

Martina Navratilova: "Shocking. Not as much shock that he did it as shock he lied about it and didn't own up to it. He's up there with Roger Clemens, as far as I'm concerned. He owned up to it (in the book), but it doesn't help now ... Andre lied and got away with it. You can't correct that now. Do you take away a title he wouldn't have won if he had been suspended? He beat some people when he should have been suspended."

After scanning through those, I figured there was no way the 19-year old Wozniacki, who made it all the way to the U.S. Open finals last month, was able to pull out the victory. Shows what I know.

Despite leg cramps that left her in the agony displayed above, Wozniacki gutted out a 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4 victory in a round robin match in Doha. The win puts Wozniacki on the cusp of making the semifinals at the WTA's year-end event.

Wozniacki began cramping at 3-1 in the final set and required two medical timeouts for treatment. At 30-15 in the last game, the Dane collapsed to the court in sobs, but managed to get back up to squeak out a victory over Zvonareva, who made the eight-woman field after Dinara Safina withdrew.

After winning the match, Wozniacki burst into sobs again, but vowed to be ready for her Friday match:

"I have absolutely no idea how I pulled it through, but I'm very happy about it. I'm feeling better now. I got to cool down, getting some massage. ... I'm going to do everything tonight to recover to be ready for tomorrow."

Serena Williams also won Thursday, capping an undefeated march through her round robin schedule. 

"I was brutally honest about myself. I detail my misguided rebellions, my regrettable tantrums, my frustrations and distractions and bad decisions, which in a few instances nearly ended in catastrophe ... I felt that my story was one from which many people could learn."

Other details are slowly emerging ahead of the book's Nov. 9 release date. Most important, it seems that the crystal meth use wasn't an isolated incident. The AP quotes Agassi as writing that he used it "a lot". Instead of being a function of his 1997 slump, it's now becoming apparent that the meth use could have been a cause of it instead.

Agassi also writes of how he "hates" tennis and provides frightening details about his "violent" father, including a recollection of a car ride in which he pointed a gun at another man. He bitterly details how after his win at Wimbledon in 1992, the first thing his father said was, "you had no business losing that fourth set."

Four excerpts will be available in the coming days, with Sports Illustrated, People and The Times of London among the publications who paid for rights to print parts of the book.

So far, the PR blitz is working. When our first post about Agassi was published yesterday, "Open" stood at No. 493 on Amazon.com's bestseller list. As of 9:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, it's at No. 11.

Yet the Andre Agassi story managed to jolt even the most jaded of observers. It's not that Agassi used illegal drugs or that he even lied about it, although combined those facts make for a fascinating tale. No, what was most surprising about this revelation was the frank, realistic way Agassi (and his ghostwriter) wrote of the experience. Here's the excerpt again, from his forthcoming autobiography, "Open":

"Slim is stressed too ... He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell's gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that's the sound you make when you're high ... Make you feel like Superman, dude.

"As if they're coming out of someone else's mouth, I hear these words: You know what? F*** it. Yeah. Let's get high.

"Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed.

"There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy.

"I'm seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds."

The description of the high -- from the regret to the euphoria -- is unlike anything I've read in a celebrity autobiography that isn't about drug addiction. It's real.

Normally when a celebrity in good moral standing writes of drug use it's with pangs of regret and never provides any indication that the experience was remotely enjoyable. That's not to glorify drug use or condone Agassi's actions, but there's a reason people take drugs: In that instant, it makes them feel good. We rarely hear that part of it though, usually people gloss over the details and skip straight to the insincere apology.
Here, for instance, is how Barack Obama wrote of his dalliances into illicit substances in his memoirs "Dreams of My Fathers":

"Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though."

It's candid yes, but not especially informative. When politicians or athletes speak of smoking weed, it's always considered an "experimentation" or a "phase". Some, like Obama, write about it in a straightforward way, but almost never in a probing one. Nobody talks about whether they liked it, or how they sat on the couch and laughed at informercials for three hours or tried to order a pizza but got paranoid that the CIA was listening to the call. For obvious reasons, Michael Phelps never mentioned if he enjoyed that bong hit at the time he took it.

Conversely, Agassi has described his experience truthfully, honestly and insightfully. In a nation where it's amazingly difficult to have real discussions about sensitive topics like race, drugs, politics and class, he's attempted to do so. It will earn him scorn and might cost him a few fans, but it shouldn't.

Andre Agassi is no different today than he was yesterday. He's still an eight-time Grand Slam champion, Olympic gold medalist, philanthropist and father. Those demons have always been there, they're just more out in the open. If you liked and respected Agassi before, there's no reason to change your mind now.

The tennis world's reigning queen of whine lost the first of her round-robin matchesearlier this week to Victoria Azarenka at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships and, in her customary fashion, gave no credit to her opponent:

"I basically gave her everything. I beat myself. That was really unfortunately the case. My game was completely off. I would hit one or two balls and then the third one would go everywhere except in the court. I was a shadow of myself."

Is Jankovic saying she's a shadow of her September self in which she was a shadow of her July self which, in turn, was a shadow of her January self? Because all this division of shadows is making for one faint penumbra.

Jankovic began 2009 ranked No. 1 in the world but has since slipped to No. 8. She failed to advance to the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam tournament and has struggled mightily of late, going just 7-6 in her last 13 matches.

Upon hearing Jankovic's comments about she gave the match away, Azarenka responded:

"I'm glad she gave me the match and she was not in the mood. It worked out pretty well for me."

For the second time this week, that'll be game, set, match, Azarenka.

Tennis legend Andre Agassi reveals in his forthcoming autobiography "Open" that he used crystal meth during his playing career, Paul Bogaards, a spokesman for the book's publisher, confirmed to the New York Daily News on Tuesday.

According to the Daily News, the eight-time Grand Slam champion admits using the illicit drug in 1997, the year he married Brooke Shields and went into a career slump that didn't end until 1999.

After pulling out of that slump, Agassi went on to win five Grand Slams and became only the fifth player to complete the career Slam. He has been heavily involved in charity work since retirement, opening his own charter school and championing educational reform throughout the country.

The information was first released this morning on the Twitter account of SI.com media analyst Richard Deitsch, but was subsequently removed:

"FYI: There's an off-the-charts book excerpt from Andre Agassi in the forthcoming SI: He admits to taking crystal meth during his career."

Both Sports Illustrated and People will run excerpts from the book, which will be released on Nov. 9.

Releasing this admission a week ahead of the book's release is an obvious ploy to generate interest and sell copies, and it's working. Almost all autobiographies are self-serving odes to one's own pursuit of greatness. They're rarely interesting. Agassi's could be different.

He's always been forthcoming with the press about his issues, whether it be his overbearing father, the therapy he underwent while his career was in shambles (the first time) or the true reason he cut his hair. The vulnerable, intense picture on the cover suggests more of the same is inside. (Compare it to the covers of other recent tennis autobiographies that look straight out of a Sears catalog.)

Update: (11:47 p.m. ET) The first excerpts have been released and, wow, are they  explosive. Not only does Agassi admit to using crystal meth, but he describes how he evaded drug testers by lying about his useage.

In the first excerpt Agassi writes about taking the drug at home with an assistant known only as Slim:

"Slim is stressed too ... He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell's gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that's the sound you make when you're high ... Make you feel like Superman, dude.

"As if they're coming out of someone else's mouth, I hear these words: You know what? F*** it. Yeah. Let's get high.

"Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed.

"There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy.

"I'm seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds."

Later on, Agassi writes, he received a call from ATP doctors telling him he'd tested positive for meth.

"My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I've achieved, whatever I've worked for, might soon mean nothing. Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It's filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth.

"I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter. I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: sincerely.

"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it."

The ATP accepted Agassi's version of events and he received no drug suspension.

Check back to Busted Racquet later today for more insight into how this could change Agassi's legacy.

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First serve

The WTA Tour has one storyline right now and it is riding it for all it's worth. The battle for the No. 1 ranking, a phony war that only exists due to a serious flaw in the rating system, is being billed as the headline attraction ahead of this week's season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships.

It seems to matter little that the real gap between Serena Williams and Dinara Safina is a monstrous one, in terms of form and ability to handle big-time tournament pressure. No, all the WTA is concerned with is that its ludicrous formula has Safina ahead of Williams by 155 points going into Doha. That means whoever performs better over the next week will end the year as No.1.

Despite winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and reaching the semifinal of the other two Slams, Williams still can't get officially recognized as the best in the world. She regained top spot a few weeks ago, only for Safina to grab it back thanks to a quirk in the statistics. Safina lost in the first two Slam finals of the year, reached the last four at Wimbledon and looked abysmal before being dumped in the third round at Flushing Meadows.

The furor over the rankings has rumbled on for much of the year, and has stuck in Williams' craw constantly. Yet it might not go away any time soon. Even if Williams wins in Doha to move well clear in the rankings, she has a ton of points to defend at the Australian Open in January and the gap could easily remain tight.

Let's hope that one way or another there will soon be enough points separation between the two players that this ceases to be an issue. The tour needs new talking points, real ones - not those based upon a formulaic anomaly.

Drop shot

London looks set to respond well to winter tennis, with tickets for the ATP Tour finals at the O2 Arena selling fast. However, what should be a thrilling, showpiece event to end the tour year looks set to be decimated by injuries and withdrawals, with several of the top men's players nursing various ailments.

Clean winner

Marcos Baghdatis turned around a difficult year with a remarkable victory in Stockholm last week, defeating Olivier Rochus in the final after being handed a route through when Robin Soderling retired through injury. It was a rare and welcome moment in the spotlight for the former Australian Open finalist, who has spent much of the year scuttling around on the Challenger circuit.

Use your frequent flyer miles

It's off to Qatar this week, where the top eight women of the year go head-to-head in the season-ending championships. No Kim Clijsters unfortunately, given her limited schedule this year, but the Safina-Serena battle provides some interest.

Last week's winners

If Open, Stockholm: Marcos Baghdatis
Kremlin Cup, Moscow: Mikhail Youzhny
BGL Open, Luxembourg: Timea Bacsinsky
Kremlin Cup, Moscow: Francesca Schiavone

This week's predictions

St Petersburg Open, St Petersburg: Victor Hanescu
Bank Austria Tennis Trophy, Vienna: Marin Cilic
Grand Prix de Tennis, Lyon: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Sony Ericsson Championships, Doha: Serena Williams

The top eight ranked women in the world are in Doha this week for the WTA's season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships. Last night they put on their gowns and attended the draw party (each looking particularly lovely, I might add).

Since two of our favorite things are tennis and Project Runway, we thought we'd evaluate the dresses worn by each of the top eight players as if we were Michael Kors. (You can view a bigger picture here.)

From left:

Jelena Jankovic-- "I feel like I'm at a meeting of the Roman Senate. Do you have a match against Cicero tomorrow?

Victoria Azarenka -- "Oh, honey, if that bow means the dress was a gift, you need a give it back.

Caroline Wozniacki -- "Elegant. I love the silhouette. It's very now."

Serena Williams -- "Did you buy that at Eartha Kitt's estate sale?"

Dinara Safina -- "Tastefully done with precision construction. I can see her wearing this out for a night on the town."

Svetlana Kuznetsova -- "Where are your feet? But bonus points for using the Macy's Accesory Wall and bringing along a clutch. Not so sure about the man's watch on the wrist though."

Elena Dementieva -- "Very chic. It compliments a woman's body."

Venus Williams -- "You look like a French maid going to a sock hop."

Michelle Obama was on The Jay Leno Show last week and was asked about the most annoying thing her husband does:

Technically, winning at tennis isn't a bad habit. Winning at tennis while bouncing the ball 600 times is, perhaps. Or winning at tennis while "picking the moment", I suppose, but not winning. That's like saying my biggest fault is my handsomeness or that my pet peeve is rainbows.

We hear plenty about the president's basketball skills, but almost never about his tennis game. Rarely do we hear about any president's tennis game, actually. Usually it's all about golf or biking or even bowling.

Obama isn't the first president to play tennis; Teddy Roosevelt had the White House court installed in 1902 and successors including Warren Harding and Gerald Ford used it frequently.

George H.W. Bush was perhaps our best tennis playing president. His son played a little too, but George W. Bush is better known in the tennis world for a footnote to the 1976 DUI arrest that almost derailed his 2000 presidential campaign. On the night W was arrested, the passenger in his car was former No. 1 and three-time Wimbledon champ John Newcombe. 

Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, a tale of great sportsmanship has instead turned into an investigation of gambling, match-fixing and tennis integrity.

Caroline Wozniacki, a 19-year-old Dane ranked sixth in the world, retired from the first-round match at the Luxembourg Open with a hamstring injury on Wednesday while leading Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 7-5, 5-0.

Wozniacki's father, Piotr, told his daughter at 3-0 in the second set to retire before winning because her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round. His comments, apparently spoken in his native Polish, were picked up by microphones and heard by viewers watching the match on the Internet ...

... The father's comments during the match led to a surge in online bets for Kremer to win.

Wozniacki did a tremendous thing for Kremer by allowing her to advance to the second round in front of her hometown fans. As she explained:

I could possibly have finished the match, but felt there was no way I could get ready for the second round on Thursday, so I chose the sporting way and let her go through. She's also [playing] at home.

For her selfless actions, Wozniacki has earned an investigation from the Tennis Integrity Unit. Because there were a number of bets made after her father's comments were picked up by the microphones, the WTA became concerned that there was something nefarious about Wozniacki's retirement.

The British gambling exchange site Betfair, which allows clients to make mid-match wagers, says it did not have any concerns about the match.

First of all, if Wozniacki was going to fix the match, there are dozens of more effective and less obvious ways to do it rather than retiring up 5-0 in the second set. That'd be like if Tim Donaghy tripped opposing players in the NBA games he bet on.

This also seems like the WTA's way of covering itself for having live microphones in coaching huddles. From the way this story was reported, the bets in question didn't go through until after Piotr Wozniacki's comments were aired live on the Internet. Why not just cut those mics?

In all likelihood, Caroline Wozniacki will be cleared of any wrongdoing, but it's still disappointing that she's set to be investigated for integrity after a gesture which showed how much of it she really has.

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Roger Federer has not been spotted on the ATP Tour since the U.S. Open final – and don't be too surprised if he takes his extended break all the way into the New Year.

The world No. 1 took time off after his defeat to Juan Martin del Potro at Flushing Meadows to rest up and spend time with his young family, yet was expected to return for the Paris Masters and the year-ending ATP Tour finals in London.

However, rumors out of Switzerland have suggested that Federer is considering keeping a low profile until January in order to be fully fresh and ready for 2010.

It would be a controversial move if Federer decided to skip the Tour finals, and one that would likely bring sanctions from the ATP unless he could prove he was injured. Rafael Nadal, then atop the rankings, pulled out last year.

Federer's year has been outstanding but it is understood he has made regaining the Australian Open crown his first priority for next year.

He was devastated to lose to Nadal in this year's final, with his idol Rod Laver looking on. After losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 semifinal, the Swiss feels his preparation for Australia has not been ideal and wants a more structured approach this time around.

Federer remains atop of our power rankings, primarily because most of the leading men have either been out of action or out of form.

Nikolay Davydenko breaks into the list, while Andy Murray and Andy Roddick slip due to inactivity.

Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings

1. (1) Roger Federer - Resting up before the Tour finals

2. (2) Juan Martin del Potro - Targeting a huge 2010

3. (5) Rafael Nadal - Still not back to his pre-injury level

4. (4) Novak Djokovic - Showing solid end-of-year form

5. (3) Andy Murray - Wrist injury is a real concern

6. (NR) Nikolay Davydenko - Superb win in Shanghai

7. (6) Andy Roddick - Ran out of gas at the end of a tough year

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world.

Love -- Two players were arrested in Sweden this weekend upon suspicion of soliciting prostitutes before the Stockholm Open. The unidentified men, who were in the field of 32 at the tournament, were detained while entering a hotel with their new lady-friends.

15 -- Not sure why Martina Hingis deciding to forego a comeback made headlines yesterday. She told Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated the same thing last month. I believe her. I also believe she could easily change her mind six months down the road.

30 -- One player who is coming back is Justine Henin. The former No. 1 announced today that her return will begin at the Brisbane International in January, two weeks before the Australian Open. 

40 -- Marat Safin sat down with Tennis Magazine ahead of his retirement next month. He talks about how his win over Pete Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open was both a gift and a curse.

Game -- Expect to hear a lot about the length of the tennis schedule this off-season and don't be surprised if some players join in the calls for the ATP to shorten the tournament calendar. Players need time to recover from the grueling schedule, get motivated for the coming year and to meet some women whom they won't have to pay to get back to their hotel rooms.

Nikolay Davydenko is experiencing yet another renaissance in his strange career, re-emerging as a force just when it looked as if he was hitting the skids.

Davydenko has spent most of the year in the shadows, plagued by injury and patchy form, and has rarely looked like a top 10 player.

However, he burst into the spotlight in Shanghai last week, clinching his third Masters Series title after knocking off Rafael Nadal in the final.

It offered further proof that Davydenko has the ability to beat the very best when the mood takes him, which appears to be with increasing scarcity.

So often that the Ukrainian-born Russian seems to lack for motivation, like in his tame surrender to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon this year.

Yet every now and then he plays like a world-beater, fighting for every ball and cranking out ground strokes with metronomic accuracy, just like last week.

Davydenko has always played an exhausting schedule, which normally comprises of more tournament appearances than any other top 10 player.

It's widely speculated that is a major reason why he has never gone all the way in a Grand Slam, with four semifinal and five quarterfinal defeats on his record.

The injuries that slowed Davydenko early in 2009 may have actually proven to be a blessing in disguise. If it prompts a rethink and a reduced schedule in future years, the results could be interesting.

Drop shot

Spare a thought for the two players detained by Swedish police on suspicion of soliciting prostitutes ahead of this week's Stockholm Open. In accordance with Swedish law, the players' names have not been made public, but their identities quickly spread around the tennis grapevine. Before long, a locker-room prankster had filled their cubicles with condoms, dirty magazines and a whip.

Clean winner

Hats off to tough Australian Samantha Stosur, who claimed her first main tour title last week in Osaka, 10 years after turning professional. Stosur, a semifinalist at this year's French Open, climbed to No. 13 in the WTA rankings and has the game to reach the top 10 if she can add some consistency.

Use your frequent flyer miles

Pack your winter woolies and head to Moscow this week for a high-quality combined men's and women's event. The Kremlin Cup features an in-form Davydenko as the men's top seed, but he faces another local hero, Marat Safin, in the first round. Three top 10 women are also featured, including Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic.

Last week's winners
ATP Masters, Shanghai: Nikolay Davydenko
Generali Ladies, Linz: Yanina Wickmayer
HP Open, Osaka: Samantha Stosur

This week's predictions
If Open, Stockholm: Robin Soderling
Kremlin Cup, Moscow: Mikhail Youzhny
Kremlin Cup, Moscow: Nadia Petrova
BGL Open, Luxembourg: Kim Clijsters

On the make believe NBC portrayed in the show 30 Rock, a new staple of programming will be Tennis Night in America, featuring a familiar-sounding theme song performed by Jenna Maroney:

There actually was a "Tennis Night in America" last March when the Williams sisters, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic played in a one-night, single elimination event at Madison Square Garden which was televised live on HBO. Sadly, it didn't have as catch an introduction.

With the way NBC is cutting costs and shunning dramatic series, maybe Tennis Night in America isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. Heck, it'd probably get better ratings than Jay Leno. 

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world.

Love -- A spectator at the Shanghai Masters gets all Sleeveface on us during Marat Safin's match against Tomas Berdych. Safin lost in three sets, but looked radiant in the yellow hoodie and accessorized iPhone.

15 -- Andre Agassi says what everyone has been thinking for the past year: the era of Federer-Nadal domination may be coming to a close. For his next prediction, Agassi will go out on a limb and say Barack Obama has a good chance to win the 2008 presidential election.

30 -- Speaking of Nadal, he advanced to the quarterfinals at the injury-plagued Shanghai Masters, along with Novak Djokovic. A number of players, including Gaels Monfils, have retired with injury troubles so far in China, which is concerning given the amount of time still left in the season. On the bright side, at least Nadal is holding up well.

40 -- During his loss to Nadal, Tommy Robredo saluted fans for their support.

Game -- C Note from the blog Forty Deuce was in London this week and took a tour of Wimbledon and filed a great report complete with pictures, snarky comments and a neat story about the orgins of The Championships at Wimbleon. 

The Japanese lineswoman who earned the wrath of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open semifinals will not be part of the officiating team for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championship in Doha later this month. This spares a possible reunion with Williams, who will be playing in the tournament.

A British newspaper reports that the woman, whose name still hasn't been publicly revealed, would have been considered for the prestigious assignment but declined for an unknown reason.

The amateur official became a worldwide figure last month after calling a foot fault that eventually led to Williams' infamous breakdown. But the high marks she earned earlier in the summer would have qualified her to work at the prestigious tour championships, which reward officials based on merit. Some speculate that she declined the invite because she was instructed not to travel to Qatar (by whom, the rumors don't say). The WTA has said the woman declined for family reasons.

Clearly the lineswoman is held in great esteem by colleagues if she was assigned a semifinal match at the U.S. Open and earned an invite to officiate at the eight-play season finale. But let's not forget her terrible decision to call a foot fault violation on Serena in her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters is what started this whole thing. Yes, she didn't deserve to be humiliated and we feel bad for her and family because of this, but she did deserve infamy for making such a match-changing call. (Look at the reaction to similar blown calls made in baseball last week.)

Serena's outburst was so bad that it overshadowed the awfulness of the call that caused it. If Serena had briefly argued before resuming play, the story would have been about the horrible foot fault called by the lineswoman, not the resulting tirade. Serena was set to be the sympathetic figure cast against the villainous lineswoman, but the roles were reversed the instant she dropped that first f-bomb.

Exhausted, injured, unhappy, spent, ailing and absent. No, that's not a list of this writer's current grumbles (I'm not absent), but instead it's a rundown on the condition of the six best tennis players on the planet.

While 2009 has been an exceptional season on the men's tour, with drama and intrigue from start to finish, the leading stars of the game are paying the price for their efforts over the past 11 months.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick are all athletes in superb physical condition, but even they have been ground into the dust by the grueling schedule put together by the cash-hungry ATP.

Roddick and Nadal both spoke out this week about the folly of having a tour that begins at the start of January and ends in early December. Sure enough, a few hours later Roddick was the latest victim of the exhaustion curse, being forced to retire hurt from his opening match in Shanghai.

Federer had already decided to stay away, while Murray continues to nurse a wrist injury.

It is understandable that the ATP wants to show off its talent as much as possible, but by continuing to drag out the season like this it does nothing for the spectacle of the sport.

It is simply impossible for the top men to maintain peak performance without adequate rest, and it is time players' concerns were heard.

At least a month needs to be chopped off the campaign, to make sure that the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, is full of fresh and hungry players, rather than a weary brigade still struggling from the exertions of the previous year.

With its present format, the ATP is digging itself a hole and will have only itself to blame if its showpiece event, the Tour Finals, is populated by a second-rate field after a series of withdrawals.

Drop shot

The future of the Australian Open is again likely to come under scrutiny, after Tennis Australia revealed a record $7 million loss for the past year. Tournament organizers felt it necessary to top up prize money after the Australian dollar's depreciation, but the ongoing difficulties suffered by the national federation will only increase calls for the event to be moved into Asia.

Clean winner

Justine Henin has been given a wildcard into next year's Australian Open as the former No. 1 prepares to make her playing comeback. Asked by Belgian reporters if she could emulate Kim Clijsters by winning her first Slam after returning to action Henin shrugged and said, "Why not?"

Use your frequent flyer miles

Get yourself to Shanghai this week for the latest men's Masters Series event. Novak Djokovic is in fine form, having won in Beijing last week, but expect plenty of upsets as the top men limp toward the end of the season.

Last week's winners

• China Open, Beijing: Novak Djokovic
• Rakuten Japan Open, Tokyo: Jo Wilfried Tsonga
• China Open, Beijing: Svetlana Kuznetsova

This week's predictions

• ATP Masters, Shanghai: Nikolay Davydenko
• Generali Ladies, Linz: Flavia Pennetta
• HP Open, Osaka: Marion Bartoli

To those who say James Blake is a little boring -- um, you're pretty much right. If he were any more dull he'd be Pete Sampras. But he's a good sport with Colbert and plays the straight man (yeah, that's it) to perfection.

We all have ours. Bud Collins still can't say Martina Navratilova's name right. Pam Shriver was annoying during the U.S. Open with her butchering of Yanina Wickmayer (and for many other reasons). And don't even get me started on Gael Monfils (pictured).

Of the major sports, tennis is arguably the most internationally diverse, which makes keeping straight the pronunciations of everyone's name is an endeavor in and of itself. To help, globo.com asked journalists from a dozen countries to correctly pronounce the names of their nation's most well-known players. Click the link, scroll down a bit and enjoy the show.

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world. 

Game -- For her first act as the world's new No. 1 player Serena Williams did her best impersonation of the world's last No. 1 player. In her first match since reclaiming the top spot in the WTA rankings, Williams lost to Nadia Petrova today at the Beijing Open. (Yes, we know that Serena technically won't be No. 1 until the new rankings are released Monday.) And I'm totally kidding about the comparison I made in the first sentence. A true impersonation of Dinara Safina would have consisted of tears, exasperated post-match quotes and a loss to a player ranked lower than No. 150.

15 -- In case you didn't see it yesterday, Serena is on the cover of ESPN The Magazine and is all sorts of naked. I was going to go with "birthday suit" there but since Serena doesn't celebrate birthdays, I'm not sure that would have worked.

30 -- Jelena Dokic's father is going on a hunger strike in prison. Strange, you'd think a man accused of beating his daughter after bad matches and currently imprisoned for threatening an ambassador with a rocket launcher would be less inclined to make such irrational decisions. Damir Dokic is serving a 15-month prison sentence for threatening the Australian ambassador to Serbia. The 50-year old reportedly stated that he would blow up the car of the ambassador after articles appeared in Australian newspapers stating Dokic abused his daughter. A lawyer for Dokic says he has refused food, water or medicine in prison to protest unfair treatment. He's truly a modern day Gandhi.

40 -- Who are the best Twitter users on tour? Tennis.com graded some of the sport's most prolific Tweeters and gave highest marks to Sam Querrey, even though the examples of Querrey's "droll" messages perfectly fit into the stereotype of why people hate Twitter. For instance: "What should I have for dinner" and "football, vma's and entourage today. i'm not leaving the sofa." The VMAs and Entourage? Really? Given his penchant for things that were good in 2005, I'm surprised Querrey isn't more into MySpace.

Love -- After 15 months of marriage, Chris Evert and golf legend Greg Norman have separated.

Is the photo an homage to Farrah Fawcett, perhaps? The left hand, raised knee, upturned head and flowing curls are almost identical to the famous 1970s picture of the Charlie's Angels star. All that's missing is a runaway nipple.

Another similarity between the Serena and Farrah pics: They both look great. Compared to the airbrushed, plastic physique of fellow ESPN cover model Gina Carano (who is apparently an MMA fighter), Serena's natural body is a thing of beauty.

And a final kudos to the photographer, who evidently made certain that Serena's left foot stayed behind the line. Good decision, my friend.

Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier showed a tennis-themed, ready-to-wear spring line for Hermès on Wednesday night in Paris. The collection won rave reviews from critics for its "sporty, jet-set ... preppy looks".

Tennis skirts, dresses and headbands were sent down the runway, which itself was transformed into a grass tennis court for the occasion. The clothes looked like a cross between Helen Willis-Moody and Daisy Buchanan and probably would have thrilled Michael Kors but inspired a catty comment from Nina Garcia.

To keep with the theme, some of the models at the show carried wooden racquets down the runway and tried to rally at the end of the catwalk. Unfortunately, they were reported to have about as much success as Dinara Safina. 

Vindication will arrive at last for Serena Williams next Monday, when the WTA rankings computer finally acknowledges what we've all known for quite some time: that Williams, and no one else - certainly not Dinara Safina - is the best women's player in the world.

Thankfully, once official confirmation of the new top spot arrives, then the jokes, jibes and barbed comments from Williams can finally come to an end.

The demise of Safina has been excruciating to watch and was played out in the full glare of the public spotlight. The Russian deserved her ranking on principle - it is not her fault the way the system is constructed. But in recent weeks and months she has performed more like a player ranked outside the top 50, and every loss made the ranking formula seem more and more flawed.

On current form, there is no way we could include her in the latest edition of the Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings, which has a returning entrant this week in Maria Sharapova. Sharapova has struggled with her serve since coming back from a long injury layoff but was outstanding in Tokyo last week, comfortably taking the title.

Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings

1. Serena Williams (1) - regains top spot on WTA rankings next week.
2. Kim Clijsters (2) - taking a rest after Flushing Meadows triumph.
3. Venus Williams (3) - won't look back on 2009 with fondness.
4. Caroline Wozniacki (4) - dipped in form since U.S. Open.
5. Maria Sharapova (NR) - secured first title since return from injury.
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova (5) - French Open champ needs more consistency.
7. Elena Dementieva (6) - her mixed and unpredictable season rumbles on.
8. Jelena Jankovic (NR) - back to form in Tokyo.

First serve

A medical expert would be needed to confirm exactly where an "upper respiratory infection" reaches, but my guess is that choking is one of the side effects. If so, then Ana Ivanovic has been carrying the condition for more than a year.

Ivanovic cited the illness for her decision to pull out of the rest of the season, claiming it has depleted her of the physical reserves needed to cope with life on tour.

However, what has been blatantly and painfully obvious to the tennis world ever since Ivanovic's 2008 French Open win, is that her problems are not physical, but mental.

The choice to call it quits until next year is a blessed respite from forcing us to witness a talented player tie herself into mental knots each week and lose to players with considerably less talent.

Ivanovic's demise has been ugly, a prime example of failing to cope with the spotlight and pressure of being No. 1.

That is no longer an issue and may not be ever again. Ivanovic's performances have tumbled her to 12th in the rankings and she will fall further thanks to inactivity.

Even so, taking time away is almost certainly the right thing to do. So, too, will it be for Dinara Safina, the stricken world No. 1 who is about to lose her title to Serena Williams and is struggling to get a serve in play, let alone beat anybody.

The WTA Tour is concerned about burnout for its younger players and puts participation restrictions in place to combat it.

A more appropriate gesture might be to make sure the top ranking comes with a health warning - ascend to this position at your peril.

Drop shot

One of the sports world's most glamorous marriages crashed and burned last week, as former tennis star Chris Evert and golf legend Greg Norman split just 15 months after getting married.

Unsurprisingly, Laura Andrassy, Norman's jilted wife of 25 years, was in no mood to be charitable to the parted celebrity couple. "Being with Chris is what Greg wanted," Andrassy said to the Palm Beach Post. "Well, he got it." Ouch.

Clean winner

Maria Sharapova looks headed back to the top 10 after an impressive title win in Tokyo last week, her first since returning from a long injury layoff. This was a long way removed from the out-of-sorts Sharapova that floundered against Melanie Oudin at the U.S. Open and the Russian looks ready to challenge for majors once more.

Use your frequent flyer miles

Beijing is the place to be this week, as tennis returns to the scene of last year's spectacular Olympic Games.

Both the men's and women's tours will be in action - with the ladies event one of the four premier mandatory tournaments that were introduced this year. Rafael Nadal heads the men's draw and will be seeking victory once again - although there is no gold-medal prize this time around.

Last week's winners

Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur: Nikolay Davydenko

PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok: Gilles Simon

Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo: Maria Sharapova

This week's predictions

China Open, Beijing: Novak Djokovic (men), Elena Dementieva (women)

Rakuten Japan Open, Tokyo: Juan Martin del Potro

One week ago we asked whether Dinara Safina was the worst No. 1 player in the history of women's tennis. The discussion was spurred by Safina's first round loss to the 132nd ranked player in the world. At the time, we thought that would be as bad as it could get for the player who has held the top spot for 24 weeks. It didn't take long for Safina to prove us wrong.

Today in Beijing, the Russian became the first No. 1 player ever to lose to a player ranked below No. 200 in the world. Zhang Shuai, a wild card entrant into the Beijing Open and currently ranked No. 226, bested Safina in straight sets for her first ever win in a WTA Tour event.

Mercifully, this loss should bump Safina out of the top spot in the WTA rankings. If Serena Williams wins her match against Ekaterina Makarova tomorrow, she'll reclaim the No. 1 ranking she lost to Safina back in April.

Ever since Safina reached No. 1, critics like myself have called on the WTA Tour to change its rankings system. That was never going to happen with Safina still lodged at the top, since a change that displaced her would be perceived as a direct indictment of the Russian player. But now that Williams is (almost) back to No. 1, a change can take place without any instant repurcussions in the rankings (since an improved system would likely keep Serena at No. 1).

A Grand Slam win is worth twice as many points in the rankings as a regular Tier 1 tournament, despite the fact that Grand Slams are infinitely more important than, say, the Madrid Open. Winning both Rome and Madrid is equal to winning Wimbledon in the eyes of the WTA rankings. That's absurd.

The WTA does this to encourage players to play in the second-tier tournaments and that's a fine goal. But they need to come up with a better incentive that doesn't make a mockery of the rankings system. It's one thing to encourage players to play. It's another to do so at the expense of the credibility of the rankings. I mean, did anyone ever believe Dinara Safina was the No. 1 player in the world? Heck, Dinara Safina didn't even seem to believe it.

If the WTA wants tennis fans to start taking its rankings seriously again, it's time for a massive overhaul. And now that Serena is one win away from being back where she belongs, there will never be a better time to do it.

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world.

Love -- Courtesy the invaluable SI Vault comes a picture of Bobby Riggs posing with five comely cheerleaders prior to the Battle of the Sexes with Billie Jean King. 

15 -- Forty Deuce provides the transcription of a risque interview Flavia Pennetta gave to an Italian magazine in which she dished on doping, recreational drug use, lesbians and her infamous pre-match tryst with Carlos Moya.

30 -- Speaking of recreational drug use, Martina Hingis' two-year suspension for a positive cocaine test lapsed today. Jon Wertheim of SI.com spoke with Hingis about the positive test (a trace amount was found in her system), her all-encompassing ban (she wasn't even allowed into a tennis stadium) and prospects of a comeback (don't count on it).

40 -- Sam Querrey, a favorite of ours at Busted Racquet, is out for the rest of the season following a freak injury in Thailand. Because "freak injury in Thailand" doesn't have the best connotations, we'll continue: Querrey sat down on a glass table to tie his shoes after practicing at the Thailand Open and fell through the pane, cutting his arm. He underwent emergency surgery and will be out four-to-six weeks. 

Game -- Are men's tennis players too civil to each other on and off the court? Tennis Magazine's Steve Tignor thinks so.

Joining Cook at the concert were Tim McGraw, Brian McKnight and the band Daughtry. Even though Cook is as funny as Andre Agassi is coiffed, he managed to be fairly amusing when he and Chris Daughtry performed their rendition of the Growing Pains theme song.  

Agassi spoke about his charter school during the opening ceremony at the U.S. Open last month:

Twenty years ago, when Agassi was a teenager, he was known as a prodigious talent, but many feared his greatness would be overshadowed by the controversies that surrounded him. He tanked sets, brashly criticized opponents, clapped obnoxiously after points and skipped Wimbledon three years in a row to "rest". As he grew up, though, Agassi reinvented himself into an elder statesman of the game.

Now Agassi is reinventing himself again as an education reformer. His goals are ambitious, but so was the idea of creating a successful school that sent 100 percent of its senior class to college. Who knows, Andre Agassi's greatest legacy may yet be written.

This brings up the question, how is Dinara Safina still No. 1? In today's edition of Game Point we'll look into that query and take a look at the history of the top-rated player in women's tennis.

Love -- Safina still holds the top spot because the best tennis player in the world, Serena Williams, gears her season to the Grand Slams and plays poorly (for whatever reason) at the second-tier tournaments. Williams has two wins on the year, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Scattered through the rest of her schedule are bad losses to inferior players like Sybille Bammer, Francesca Schiavone and Klara Zakopalova. Safina has won three tournaments and fared decently at the majors (two finals, one semi and a third round exit at the U.S. Open). She's No. 1 because of this. Is the ranking system flawed? Of course it is. But that doesn't mean it's wrong either. If Serena really wanted to be No. 1, she wouldn't dog it in Rome and Madrid.

15 -- Even though she "deserves" her No. 1 ranking, Safina is still the top-rated player more by default than anything else. How else to explain her 4-6 record against the world's top 10 this year or the six losses she has to players ranked lower than No. 35?

30 -- Since the WTA began computerized rankings in 1975, a total of 18 women have ascended to No. 1 in the world. In chronological order they are: Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina. (Note: Though this is the order in which the players first appeared at No. 1, there has been much shuffling amongst the women in this list. Serena Williams, for instance, has been No. 1 on three occasions, most recently in February.)

40 -- Only three women have ever reached No. 1 before winning a Grand Slam: Clijsters, Jankovic and Safina. Clijsters eventually won two majors, but Jankovic and Safina are still pursuing their first. This begs the question, is Dinara Safina the worst player ever to reach No. 1?

Game -- It's a relative question; being the worst among the 18 best tennis players of the past 35 years is nothing to sneeze at. But because of Safina's struggles it has to be asked. Fortunately for her, she's not. Jelena Jankovic earns the dubious distinction, owing to the fact that she's only made one Grand Slam final in her career, against three for Safina.

Thirteen years after winning her last tournament and retiring from the sport, 38-year old Kimiko Date Krumm became the oldest winner of a WTA Tour event since Billie Jean King.

The Japanese star retired from tennis in 1996 and returned last year. You may remember her as just Kimiko Date (she takes her married name from her husband, German race car driver Michael Krumm). In the mid-90s she was a top 10 player, ascending to a height of No. 4 in 1995 despite her diminutive size. Date Krumm stands just five-foot-four and weighs around 115 pounds, smaller than other "small" players on tour like Justine Henin and Melanie Oudin.

It was on Krumm's suggestion that Date Krumm decided to make a return. After training to play, in an exhibition with Steffi Graf last year, Date Krumm entered ITF circuit events in Japan and eventually moved back to the regular tour where she routinely faces players who weren't yet born when she made her WTA debut in 1989.

Of the comeback, Date Krumm said last year:

"Maybe some people think it's too crazy, but I'm enjoying a lot. For me it's not only for the ranking or always to win the tournament. It's just to enjoy life. Before when I play, after losing it was like everything finished. Now I have more wide views."

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin get headlines for making tennis comebacks, but those were mere sabbaticals compared to Date Krumm, a soon-to-be 39-year old who is older than Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Monica Seles.

Game Point is Busted Racquet's roundup of facts, figures and links about the tennis world.

Twenty-five years ago today, Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner played the longest point and match in the history of professional tennis. With the help of an excellent New York Times article by Dave Seminara, Game Point takes a look at some of the most interesting facts about the lengthy battle:

Love -- On September 24, 1984, Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner played a six-hour-31-minute match at a Virginia Slims sponsored tournament in Richmond, VA. Nelson, who was ranked No. 93 in the world was the eventual victor over the 172nd-ranked Hepner. At the time, it was the longest match in tennis history. (It's still the longest match ever to be played in one day. A 2004 men's French Open match was two minutes longer, but that included a suspension for darkness.)

15 -- In a second set tiebreak, the two had a 643-shot rally that lasted 29 minutes. It's still the longest point ever played in professional tennis. To put the length of the rally in perspective, six of the 16 sets Kim Clijsters played at the U.S. Open were finished faster than it took Nelson and Hepner to play that point.

30 -- How do two players exchange shots without either hitting a winner or error for nearly a half-hour? Nelson, who won the point, recalled that the two stood at the baseline and lobbed for much of the time, while the owner of the racquet club at which the match was played said it was a "battle of wills". As she told reporters after, Nelson finally got the nerve to come to net and attempt a winner.

40 -- The match obviously wasn't televised or recorded, so the only way we specifically know about the 643 shots is because John Packett, a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, started counting the amount of strokes per point after realizing the pair's previous rallies had taken so long. (We marveled last month at the 53-shot rally between Andy Murray and Julien Benneteau. Just watching it is exhausting. Imagine that 12 more times and you can get a sense of what Nelson and Hepner did.)

Game -- The craziest part of the whole tale: Nelson won the match in straight sets. That's right. Amazingly, the 6:31 match was just two sets long. The historic rally came on a set point for Hepner in the second set tiebreak. Had she won, it would have extended the match to a decisive third set and, presumably, a few more hours. 

Until she earns enough official ranking points Henin will enter the draws at events next year unseeded -- and will be the player absolutely no one wants to face in the early rounds.

It surely won't be long before the Belgian former world No. 1 is in the mix at the big events, adding yet another element of intrigue following Kim Clijsters' dramatic return at the U.S. Open.

This means the women's picture is drastically different from 12 months ago. There's an almost entirely new group of players in the top eight, the ones most likely to contend when it matters most.

Where are you, Jelena Jankovic? Where are you, Ana Ivanovic? And where will you be in 12 months time, Dinara Safina, if you continue to impersonate an also-ran?

Serena Williams remains at the top of our list of the most dominant players on tour, but Clijsters goes straight in at No. 2 after her New York triumph.

Likewise, Juan Martin del Potro rises to the second spot on the men's list after securing his first Grand Slam title, though Roger Federer still is clearly at the top.

Previous rankings are in parentheses.

MEN

1.(1) Roger Federer - Heartbreak at Flushing Meadows but still the man to beat

2. (3) Juan Martin del Potro - U.S. Open champ is now the king of hard courts

3. (2) Andy Murray - Disappointing end to such a promising year

4. (6) Novak Djokovic - Has been solid and more motivated since the middle of summer

5. (4) Rafael Nadal - Complicated stomach injury is a genuine concern

6. (5) Andy Roddick - Serving huge but still has holes in his game

7. (NR) Marin Cilic - Gave a glimpse of his potential in New York

8. (NR) Fernando Gonzalez - Has had an impressive and consistent year

WOMEN

1. (1) Serena Williams - Tantrums and tetchiness but still the dominant woman in the game

2. (NR) Kim Clijsters - Glorious return lit up the U.S. Open. Can she sustain it?

3. (4) Venus Williams - Won't have especially fond memories of 2009

4. (NR) Caroline Wozniacki - Could become the next big star thanks to her smart game

5. (6) Svetlana Kuznetsova - Still too much inconsistency and missed a big chance in New York

6. (3) Elena Dementieva - Shocking defeat to Melanie Oudin ruined her U.S. Open

7. (NR) Flavia Pennetta - Capable of beating anyone on her day

8. (NR) Yanina Wickmayer - Expect to hear a lot more about this emerging Belgian

Anyway, it it with full restraint that I inform you, dear Busted Racquet reader, of the following news: Serena Williams has signed an advertising deal with Tampax as part of the brand's "Outsmart Mother Nature" campaign. There is nothing at all humorous about the timing of said deal.

It doesn't look like Serena is outsmarting Mother Nature as much as she's rocketing forehands at her person, but at least that's better than shoving tennis balls down her throat.

This deal was in the works long before Serena's incident at the Open. In fact, the tirade might have actually been a good thing for Proctor and Gamble, as they wanted these ads to "illustrate the brand's commitment to celebrating today's women and empowering them to live life on their own terms every day."

The Tampax press release says:

Williams will be featured in a series of playful, lighthearted advertisements and online videos. In each piece, Williams defeats Tampax's Mother Nature character, who tries to deliver her "monthly gift" in an unsuccessful attempt to throw Williams off her game - on and off the tennis court.

Mother Nature clearly doesn't get ESPN at her place. If she did she'd know the best way to get Serena off her game is to meekly call a foot fault and then misquote her.

The former world No.1, the only player ever to retire while holding the loftiest of rankings, was simply sick of the sport that had given her fame and fortune.

Yet somewhere along the line that bitterness towards tennis faded, and once it had, an itch to return quickly set in. Henin ignored it at first, putting it down to a momentary lapse in resolve, but over time the calling became too strong.

On Tuesday Henin gave the women's game the news it had been waiting for, throwing herself back into the fray and announcing she will be back for next year's opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

According to a source close to Henin, her time off has given her a deeper appreciation for the history of the sport, and her place in it.

"Justine saw Roger Federer reach 15 Slams and the reaction that generated," said the source in a telephone conversation with Yahoo! Sports. "It made her realize it is not just about an endless grind, that there is more meaning behind the game."

However, instead of a numbers game, Henin's main focus in returning will be to complete her career Slam. Having won four French Opens, two U.S. Opens and one Australian title, Wimbledon is all that remains to finish the list.

"That is why she is starting at the beginning of the year," added the source. "She wants to give herself the best possible preparation for the middle of the summer, especially Wimbledon. The plan is for as much grass court practice as possible, even if it interferes with preparation for the French Open."

With Kim Clijsters having completed a fairytale comeback by winning at Flushing Meadows and Serena Williams in the headlines for reasons good and bad, this is an exciting time for women's tennis.

Henin's return adds more of that excitement, plus an extra shot of unpredictability ahead of what promises to be an intriguing 2010.
 
Drop Shot

More worrying times await for fans of Rafael Nadal after the Spanish superstar was forced to withdraw from next week's Thailand Open with a ruptured abdominal muscle. Nadal could be out for up to four weeks and at just 23, his grueling training workload seems to be catching up with his body.

Clean Winner

Roger Federer did his occasional patriotic thing last week, suiting up for Switzerland in its Davis Cup World Group relegation playoff against Italy. Two victories from the world No.1 helped the Swiss to a 3-2 victory - how that country must wish he would commit to a full part in the campaign for at least one season.

Use your frequent flyer miles

It's a pretty quiet week on both tours, with most of the big names still resting after the U.S. Open. The pick of this week's events is in Seoul, South Korea, where the Hansol Open is one of the liveliest and best-organized events on the WTA circuit.

Last week's winners

Davis Cup semifinals: Spain beat Israel 4-1, Czech Republic beat Croatia 4-1.
Bell Challenge, Quebec City: Melinda Czink
International Women's Open, Guangzhou: Shahar Peer

This week's predictions

BCR Open Romania, Bucharest:  Juan Monaco
Open de Moselle, Metz: Ivan Ljubicic
Hansol Korea Open, Seoul: Francesca Schiavone
Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan: Shahar Peer

An op-ed in Sunday's New York Times suggests that tennis players don't challenge enough line calls and it is having an adverse effect on their success on the court. Writes Paul Kedrosky, a senior fellow at a center for economic research:

Professional tennis players are almost certainly losing matches because of their unwillingness to do so.

That's a bold statement to make. Surely Kedrosky has some examples or proof at his disposal to back it up, right?

Nope.

Kedrosky includes some statistics that support his claim that players don't challenge enough, but nothing to sustain his assertion that matches are lost because of this. Some of the key stats: The 29 percent success rate of challenges shows that line judges are frequently incorrect. And the fact that there are only 6.3 challenge per match despite each player getting three incorrect challenges per set indicates that many challenges go to waste (as they don't carry over from set to set).

But those numbers don't at all suggest that players are losing because they aren't challenging enough. There are certainly occasions when a player has lost a point because of a failure to call a challenge, but a match? If Kedrosky had an example of one, I'm sure he'd have mentioned it.

There are only so many calls per match that can be realistically challenged. Extrapolating stats about challenges and asserting that a player would win three more points per match if he challenged more (like Kedrosky does) is as specious as reasoning can get. Players challenge calls they think they can win. Challenging more would only lead to more challenges of calls that they can't win. Thus, the 29 percent success rate would plummet. 

Surely challenging for the sake of challenging can't be beneficial?

Kedrosky sort of addresses that at the end of his piece when he does a complete 180 and states the real reason he thinks players should challenging more often:

So what should players do? Rather than fretting about Federer's fondness for challenges, they should try to out-challenge him. Even challenge recreationally now and then. Sure, it might be embarrassing to challenge on a ball that looked well in, but who cares? The disruption to an opponent's rhythm can be worth it, as can the opportunity to take a short breather after a tough rally. The real challenge is to ignore the giggling critics.

So there you have it. The path to beating Roger Federer lies in making frivolous challenges. 

On the Line wasn't a good title before Serena's infamous tirade. It sounds like a Johnny Cash biography or the name of a reality show about tightwalking. But after Serena was called for the foot fault heard 'round the world, the name becomes as ill-timed as that of the 1980s diet candy Ayds.

The 17-year old American tennis sensation made the talk show rounds yesterday, appearing on Ellen in the morning and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in the evening.

Here's Oudin's appearance on Ellen, which I'm embedding because it's funnier than the clip from Conan. (And, believe me, I'm just as surprised to be writing that statement as you are to be reading it.)

For someone who hasn't had much experience in front of the cameras and dates someone not yet old enough to go to R-rated movies, Oudin appeared remarkably at ease on both shows. She has the game, looks and personality to be a big star. Now, if we could just do something about those sneakers ...

Big names fell, new stars emerged, and worthy yet surprising winners stood tallest when the finals came around.

Here we take a look back at the big winners and losers from an intriguing two weeks in New York.

WINNER: Roger Federer

Federer a winner, really? Absolutely.

The end of Federer's incredible run at the U.S. Open allows us to appreciate the enormity of his achievements here since 2004.

It took a performance from the heavens from Juan Martin del Potro to topple him after 41 straight wins at this tournament.

So many things can get in the way in the life of a pro tennis player. Injuries, loss of form, an off day or an inspired opponent.

Federer conquered all those issues for nearly six years, and it is going to be a long time before we see another era like this in men's tennis.

LOSER: Roger Federer

There can't be many downsides to being the greatest player ever and a genius on the court. However, one of them is a lack of competition, a dearth of players who can push you to new heights.

WINNER: Kim Clijsters

This was the happiest tale of the tournament as newly un-retired Clijsters got going early and rode the momentum all the way to the title. Rarely has there been a more popular winner of a major, with the beaming grin of the Belgian and her 18-month-old daughter Jada lighting up Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night.

LOSER: Serena Williams

Are you surprised? Forget about Monday's long overdue public apology toward a female line judge, Williams still needs to be strongly punished for her disgraceful actions in her semifinal defeat to Clijsters. Everyone's seen the clips by now and they tell their own story - of an incident that did nothing but harm to tennis' reputation.

WINNER: Juan Martin del Potro

Del Potro is not the most surprising major champion there has been, and in retrospect, perhaps we should have seen it coming. After all, the Argentinean's ground-stroke game is perfectly equipped for Flushing Meadows and this tournament. But he had looked so mentally fragile at times in the past that it was impossible to back him. Those mental demons? Well and truly conquered.

LOSER: Andy Roddick

This wasn't as embarrassing an exit for Roddick as the year American Express based a huge ad campaign around him only to see him bomb early.

Even so, the great American hope had big ambitions for the title after reaching the Wimbledon final but ran into an inspired compatriot in giant John Isner.

Roddick showed no imagination, no plan B, and was sent on his way from Queens after a fifth-set tiebreak.

WINNER: Melanie Oudin

New York found itself a tale to gladden the hearts in the first week and rode the coattails of Melanie Oudin all the way to the second Wednesday. The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., brought courage and tenacity to the women's event, knocking off three high-profile Russians, including No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva and former champ Maria Sharapova.

Caroline Wozniacki was too good in the quarterfinal, but Oudin has arrived - just ask the click-happy paparazzi who followed her every move.

LOSER: Andy Murray

Murray fancied his chances here after making the final last year and expected nothing less than a repeat this time around. Instead, he ran into a red hot Marin Cilic in Round 4 and was sent packing in straight sets, while displaying a puzzling lack of verve and motivation.

WINNER: The weather

The elements left their indelible imprint on the latter stages of the tournament, causing severe disruption on Friday and Saturday. Nearly two whole days were lost ensuring there would be a Monday finish.

LOSER: USA men

When John Isner went out to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round, it signaled the first time in the U.S. Open's 128-year history that there would be no American man in the quarterfinal. Sam Querrey and Isner have promising futures, but the fact is that the world has caught up and the days of U.S. dominance are a fading memory.