Tennis Talking Points

SI Staff | Aug 3, 2009

Tennis Talking Points /

Tennis Talking Points

Serena and Venus Williams

<i>Our weekly Friday look at newsmakers in the tennis world.</i><br><br>The chance of the sisters meeting in yet another final were spoiled Friday when Serena lost to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif. Venus, meanwhile, routed Maria Sharapova to reach the semifinals.

Rafael Nadal

Fans looking forward to his anticipated return at the Rogers Cup in Montreal may have to wait a little bit longer. "I have to wait and see how I continue to recover because I've only been back training for a week and a half and you always feel a bit better anemically," Nadal told Televisión Española. "You start with lots of hope, but again, the real test would be to see how I go when I really push my knees and I think that is likely to happen in the upcoming days."

Pete Sampras

The 14-time Grand Slam champion dusted off his shoes for the "Millennium Challenge," an exhibition match against Marat Safin on the opening day of the L.A. Tennis Open at UCLA. It was a rematch of their memorable clash in the 2000 U.S. Open final -- and the outcome was no different, with Safin prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 (tiebreak).

Maria Sharapova

Before losing to Venus, the three-time Grand Slam champion enjoyed more success on the comeback trail this week at the Bank of the West Classic. Sharapova, ranked No. 62, thrashed No. 10-ranked Nadia Petrova in straight sets to crash the quarterfinals.

Anne Keothavong

The British No. 1, who enjoyed a modest breakthrough with her third-round run at last year's U.S. Open, won't get a chance to follow it up this September. The 25-year-old tore her ACL and the meniscus in her left knee during a doubles match at Stanford. The season-ending injury requires surgery.

Roger Federer

A member of his coaching staff told a French newspaper that Federer intends to play in Switzerland's Davis Cup playoff against Italy on Sept. 18-20. The two countries are meeting in Genoa for the chance to remain in the elite 16-team group for next year's title. The U.S. eliminated the Swiss from this year's competition in March, when Federer sat out with a back injury.

Billie Jean King

King's silver case has runneth over for years, with a Grand Slam trophy haul including 12 titles in singles, 16 in doubles and 11 more in mixed doubles. But the longtime champion of gender equity issues can soon add yet another honor to her resume, when President Barack Obama awards King the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the country's highest honor for a civilian -- in an Aug. 12 ceremony.

Alicia Molik

The 28-year-old Aussie, who won seven doubles titles (including the '05 Australian and '07 French Opens), is plotting a comeback to the WTA Tour according to the [i]Herald Sun[/i]. The report indicates Molik, who won bronze at the 2004 Olympics and reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 8 the following year, is planning to focus on doubles.

Published Aug 3, 2009

SI STAFF