Querrey out at Bangkok after arm injury

Querrey out at Bangkok after arm injury

American Sam Querrey will miss the next four to six weeks of the ATP season after cutting his right forearm in an accident at Bangkok, according to the US Tennis Association.

Querrey, seeded third at the Bangkok event and ranked 25th in the world, suffered the injury after practising for the Thailand Open when he sat on a glass table and fell through it, requiring emergency surgery.

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Serena Williams Adds a Doubles Title and an Apology

Serena and Venus Williams captured their 10th Grand Slam doubles title with a victory over the top-seeded team Monday.
Serena Williams returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday for the first time since her verbal assault of a line judge Saturday night, and finally apologized for her actions.
Williams issued a statement of apology on her Web site before she and her sister Venus defeated Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 6-2, 6-2, to win their 10th Grand Slam doubles title.

Serena Williams said she did not remember what she had said to the line judge during her singles semifinal match against Kim Clijsters. She did, however, apologize to the lineswoman, to Clijsters, to the United States Tennis Association and to the fans.

Williams said she wanted to apologize directly to the lineswoman, but said she did not know how to locate her. “I would like to give her a big old hug,” Williams said.

Williams received the maximum on-site fine, $10,000, for unsportsmanlike conduct, for using threatening language and gestures at the line judge. She was also fined $500 for racket abuse.

She could face additional penalties, including a fine equal to the money she earned at the United States Open ($350,000 for singles and $210,000 for doubles), and a possible suspension from a Grand Slam event.

Bill Babcock, the International Tennis Federation’s executive director for Grand Slam tournaments, has begun an investigation into the incident. There is precedent for suspending Williams from a Grand Slam. In 1995, Jeff Tarango walked off the court at Wimbledon in the middle of a match in protest of a call. He was suspended for the 1996 Wimbledon.

But there could be considerable pressure on the Grand Slam Committee and Babcock, its administrator, to avoid a ban.

No player receives television ratings as consistently high as Serena Williams does; she is immensely popular at the Open and is often a featured player in prime-time matches throughout the two-week tournament.

“Serena’s a great champion,” said Jim Curley, the United States Open tournament director. “She’s one of the most recognized female athletes ever. You always hate to see a marquee player not participating in the U.S. Open for whatever reason, whether it’s injury or what have you. We always want to have all the marquee players here. Sometimes that’s not possible.”

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For del Potro, the Landscape Has Changed

Juan Martín del Potro posed for photographers on top of the Empire State Building on Tuesday.
At some point between the mayhem of Monday night, when he lay crying on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the murmur of Tuesday morning, when he slowly waded through a string of interviews, Juan Martín del Potro remembered to shave.
Gone was the russet beard that had sprouted across his face through two weeks of the United States Open. And gone was the gritty buccaneer look that so perfectly complemented his savage forehand.

In the cool light of day, as he ate some pastry and doodled on a pad, del Potro was just a fresh-faced 20-year-old making sense of his first Grand Slam title.

“I didn’t sleep much,” he said Tuesday morning. “The last two days, it was difficult to relax, to be, I don’t know, quiet. But this is part of the game, this is part of the champions. It’s unusual for me, but I’m learning from this one.”

Over and over, del Potro has watched his final championship point, held his breath as Roger Federer’s backhand sailed long, exhaled as he watched himself collapse into tears. And each time, even though the details exist only in a blur of camera flashes and fans, the flood of emotion comes rushing back.

“When I saw the ball going out, my sensations ...” del Potro said, pausing. “It’s amazing, I can’t explain with words.”

When he called his parents Monday night, they barely got past hello before they all started sobbing into their telephones, overcome by emotion more than the 5,000 miles separating them.

“It was difficult to speak, but they are so happy for me,” del Potro said.

He had asked them to stay in Argentina for the match, leaving only three people in his private box at Ashe on Monday night, but he was scheduled to see them Tuesday night when he flew back home. Once he reaches his hometown, Tandil, a city in the mountains where del Potro has about 150 relatives, he said the party could begin in earnest.

“It’s going to be crazy,” he said.

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Federer Fined $1, 500 for Profanity at U.S. Open

Roger Federer argued a call with chair umpire Jake Garner during the final of the U.S. Open. Federer lost to Juan Martin del Potro.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Federer has been fined $1,500 for using a profanity while arguing with the chair umpire during the U.S. Open final.

CBS microphones picked up the exchange during its live broadcast of the match.

Tournament spokesman Chris Widmaier says Federer is being docked the same amount as two other players -- Vera Zvonareva and Daniel Koellerer -- for audible obscenity.

Widmaier says a total of $31,500 in fines is being collected by the tournament, topped by Serena Williams' $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct. She also was fined $500 for racket abuse.

Daniel Nestor was docked $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct toward a fan.

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Drawing Service Lines in the Sand

Drawing Service Lines in the Sand

Nicole Melch hits the ball over the 5-foot-10 net used in beach tennis during the Women's Pro Finals in Long Beach, N.Y

LONG BEACH, N.Y. — Put him on any other tennis court, clay, grass or hard, and Paul Whitesell would not draw a second look: racket in hand, cap turned backward, synthetic T-shirt, long white socks, pale sneakers.

The only difference is that his shoes are full of sand. Whitesell is a professional beach tennis player.

Ever since he caught his first glimpse of the sport in 2005 at Beach Tennis USA’s inaugural event in Charleston, S.C., Whitesell has been hooked. Like many players who flirted with tennis’s big time, he found in the beach game a way to stay competitive long after his playing career had been hamstrung by injuries.

“I can still play at a high level and not beat up my body as much,” said Whitesell, who recently won the beach tennis national title here with his playing partner, Chris Henderson. “This has been my saving grace.”

The sport is played by two-person teams on a space similar to a beach volleyball court with a 5-foot-10-inch-high net. It preserves most of the rules of tennis with a few modifications for sand and speed. For instance, there is no second serve, no advantage scoring, and a match consists of a single eight-game set.

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