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Post by Brinyi on Dec 6, 2004 6:00:58 GMT -5
Patricia Wartusch (hubba hubba) has announced her retirement at 26yo, due to back problems and lack of motivation. She says she plans to serve as Barbara Schett's coach at the 2005 AO, in what will be the final tournament of Schett's career.
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Post by freudo on Dec 6, 2004 8:07:09 GMT -5
byeee wartuchie and a good life to you...the coaching the next retiring player might make a new dance  |
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Post by Grarliner on Dec 8, 2004 16:42:47 GMT -5
'bout time. Pat always sucked!
And it's about time for Babsi too! Of course, you know she'll make a run to the QF now.
And hey ... what of Conchita Martinez? She hasan't played since her listless performance at the Open.
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Post by The Chloe on Dec 8, 2004 19:41:46 GMT -5
Martinez is gearing up for another comeback to the top 20!
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Post by leena on Dec 8, 2004 20:33:30 GMT -5
Wartusch comes back to coach for 1 match. Good job.
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Post by Brinyi on Dec 21, 2004 15:36:40 GMT -5
Hmmmm, from Charles Bricker: Alex Bogomolov, the 21-year-old from south Miami, was quietly married to onetime tennis glamour player Ashley Harkleroad in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 4. They'll live in Georgia. It was a marriage they were intent on since early in the year, though many advised them they were too young and that it would hold back their tennis careers. That won't be a problem for Harkleroad, 19. She has quit the WTA Tour.  |
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Post by Lee on Dec 21, 2004 15:49:29 GMT -5
Hmmmm, from Charles Bricker: Alex Bogomolov, the 21-year-old from south Miami, was quietly married to onetime tennis glamour player Ashley Harkleroad in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 4. They'll live in Georgia. It was a marriage they were intent on since early in the year, though many advised them they were too young and that it would hold back their tennis careers. That won't be a problem for Harkleroad, 19. She has quit the WTA Tour. |
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 2, 2005 16:38:48 GMT -5
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 2, 2005 17:10:04 GMT -5
According to some Bogomolov fans currently in AUS, Harkleroad has just quit for this year so she can settle their home in the US (and presumably follow him around).
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 2, 2005 21:41:19 GMT -5
Doha qualies
- (8)A Delic (USA) d (4)A Bogomolov Jr. (USA) 64 62 -
/me thinks the wrong player retired
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 2, 2005 21:49:16 GMT -5
Doha qualies - (8)A Delic (USA) d (4)A Bogomolov Jr. (USA) 64 62 - /me thinks the wrong player retired /me respectfully disagrees. |
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 2, 2005 21:53:40 GMT -5
/me respectfully disagrees. /me points out that as badly as Harkleroad blows, she did reach top 50 when still a teenager. /me thinks Bogomolov fails to reach top 50 in his wildest dreams |
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 3, 2005 15:07:10 GMT -5
/me points out that as badly as Harkleroad blows, she did reach top 50 when still a teenager. /me thinks Bogomolov fails to reach top 50 in his wildest dreams /me points out no matter what her results, Hackleroad blows! |
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 4, 2005 7:38:47 GMT -5
/me points out no matter what her results, Hackleroad blows! /me cannot dispute this point |
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Post by leena on Jan 4, 2005 22:54:12 GMT -5
I hope Ashley hasn't retired... because when she actually gave a darn, she can be a Top 40 talent.
I doubt Ashley returns though... reports from her embarassing challenger loss to Cory Ann Avants said that Ashley played very half-ass, and just wanted to leave. And even admitted that she's not a good win anymore.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 9, 2005 0:24:10 GMT -5
Sydney qualifying Second Round Ivo Minar (CZE) d. Alex Bogomolov (USA) 6-1 6-3  |
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Post by vaiva on Jan 10, 2005 11:38:05 GMT -5
What does it have to do with the topic? I think there are some sad news for our Brininjo: Acc. to Alek from wtahell.com: Åsa Svensson retired and will be coaching Johanna Larsson, Nadja Roma, Michaela Johansson, Sousan Massi & Mari Andersson. She's now working for Swedish Tennis Federation. Seems she won't be playing any pro tournaments again. Still will get hopefully a confirmation from her tomorrow or at least from Swedish Tennis Fed... might only play some little events but still seems things won't be the same more: www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=4710297&postcount=1 |
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 10, 2005 11:48:16 GMT -5
Thank you Vaiva -- I have never been a big Svensson fan, but she is Swedish and she has the Å. By the way, I am a Mari Andersson fan, she is the Asian Swede!
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 20, 2005 10:33:12 GMT -5
Bye Babsi!
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 20, 2005 17:11:47 GMT -5
 Babsi sez "Bye Sickens!" |
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Post by Grarliner on Jan 22, 2005 1:02:50 GMT -5
Babsi sez "Bye Sickens!" All I ask for is a little recognition!  |
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Post by Jasper on Jan 22, 2005 11:35:33 GMT -5
No! She's still got mixed. |
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 22, 2005 14:52:46 GMT -5
From Bob Larson:
Early Departure
Following yesterday's loss to Daniela Hantuchova, we say our first major farewell of 2005, bidding adieu to one of the stalwarts of late Nineties tennis, Barbara Schett.
Schett has been almost invisible for the last couple of years, probably because she isn't as fast or fit as she used to be. But she spent much of 1999, and part of 2000, in the Top Ten, and was also Top Ten in doubles. Enough to justify a feature, anyway.
Schett, who turns 29 in March, first started playing in 1990, and played her first WTA event in 1991, though she didn't turn pro until 1992. She experienced the usual slow climb: She finally hit the Top 100 in late 1994. But it wasn't until 1996 that she really started to move. Until that time, she had played six Slam main draws, and never won a match. But she made the fourth found of the 1996 Australian Open, won matches also at Wimbledon and the U. S. Open, posted her first Top Ten win by beating Magdalena Maleeva at Amelia Island, and picked up her first title at Palermo.
The result was a rankings breakthrough. Having ended 1995 at #83, she shot up to #38, the first of six straight years she would finish in the Top 50. 1997 was about the same -- she ended the year at #38 again, after winning her second title at Maria Lankowitz in her native Austria.
In 1998, even though she didn't win any titles, she clearly improved her results, reaching two finals and ending the season at #23. But 1999 was the really big year. She went 12-4 at Slams, making the fourth round at the Australian Open, the third at Roland Garros, the fourth at Wimbledon, and the quarterfinal at the U. S. Open. She made her one and only Tier I final at Moscow. And, most important of all, she started beating top players regularly. She had four Top Ten victories that year (Martinez and Sanchez-Vicario at Sydney, Sanchez-Vicario at the Australian Open, and Novotna at Hamburg); she posted 11 wins over Top 20 players. She qualified for her one and only year-end championships, reaching the quarterfinal before losing to Venus Williams.
She ended the year with a record of 46-23. Small wonder that she hit a career high of #7, ending the year at #8.
Sadly, she hit the wall that year as far as singles was concerned. She would win one more title (Klagenfurt 2000), but her Slam results slipped a little (7-4 in 2000, 10-4 in 2001, 5-4 in 2002). She fell to #23 in 2000, #21 in 2002, #40 in 2002, and on down from there.
Which is not to say she didn't get in a few more big wins. She had only one Top Ten victory in 2000 (#7 Tauziat at Moscow), but who can forget her victory over then-#2 Venus Williams at Roland Garros 2001? She also beat #8 Justine Henin at Moscow. She had one last big win in 2002, beating Kim Clijsters at the Canadian Open.
2003 was when things really went bad. From Hobart to Warsaw, she compiled a nine match losing streak. In the whole year, she only three times won more than one match in an event, and ended up playing occasional qualifying by year-end. Her record at the WTA level was only 15-24. 2004 was worse; though she didn't have any such long losing streaks, she ended the season at 13-18 and struggling to stay in the Top 100. Not too surprising that she decided last October that it was time to retire.
Despite that, her 348 career wins were #54 all-time at the end of 2004. She retires with a career record of 349-279 and a winning percentage of 55.6%.
Even after her singles started to fall off, she remained something of a force in doubles. She won her first title in 1996 at Palermo with Janette Husarova (meaning that she won her first singles and doubles titles at the same event, and in her first final in each case). She defended the title in 1997, this time playing with Silvia Farina Elia, with whom she would play frequently throughout her career. They also won Auckland 1999. In 1998, she earned her first title with Patty Schnyder, her most regular partner of all, and the one with whom she played her final doubles matches. They won Hamburg in 1998, Paris in 2003, and Paris in 2004, as well as reaching the U. S. Open semifinal last year. In terms of doubles rankings, Schett's peak came in 2001 when she hit #8 playing mostly with Anke Huber -- though her best results were probably the Sydney title and Australian Open quarterfinal with Anna Kournikova. We'd have to judge 2004 her best doubles year, though; apart from the results with Schnyder, she won Budapest with Mandula and Stockholm with Molik and ended the year at #19.
Her other career doubles title came at Hamburg 2002, with Martina Hingis; it was the last title (singles or doubles) of Hingis's career, and they won even though Hingis was playing on painkillers and ruined ligaments.
Schett also had a fairly down-to-earth attitude. Despite a lot of attention from photographers -- one year, with Anna Kournikova out and Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchova not yet on anyone's minds, she was the chief target of the Wimbledon tabloids -- she said she liked being ranked around #10: It was comfortable, it paid well, and you didn't get too much attention.
In the end, Schett earned nearly three million dollars in her career. Not Hall of Fame numbers, obviously, but from 1998 to 2002, she was definitely someone you wanted to see in someone else's draw....
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 29, 2005 10:55:04 GMT -5
From the Herald Sun:
"Davenport, who was unable to hold her concentration when her first major title in five years was within her grasp against Serena Williams at Melbourne Park yesterday, is unlikely to play the French Open or Wimbledon, tennis sources say.
The Californian, 28, is understood to view the American hardcourts tournaments in March and April as an ideal setting to leave the game at a time when she could still be ranked No.1. "
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 29, 2005 18:31:20 GMT -5
"I doubt I'll be back in Australia, because I think this will be my last year. I can't say I'm 100% sure, but I think so. I haven't decided when I willleave. I'd like to play the clay courts, where I think I can play better. But H have to prepare myself physically to win matches.
"I came close to not starting the season. When you're not enjoying it, like at the end of 2004, it's frustrating. But the people around me encouraged me. Especially Gabriel Urpí, who worked with me for 2 weeks and is with me here."
-- C. Martínez
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Post by Tennislurker on Feb 2, 2005 1:54:58 GMT -5
DONT LEAVE US CONCHI!  |
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Post by Grarliner on Feb 5, 2005 1:06:00 GMT -5
She has a pretty decent shot at a title this week. Was her last title really Berlin 2000?
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Post by Grarliner on Feb 6, 2005 17:22:31 GMT -5
It's now Pattaya 2005!
GO CONCHITA GO!
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Post by Grarliner on Feb 17, 2005 5:14:12 GMT -5
Callens shall end it all in Hasselt in September.
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Post by Brinyi on Feb 17, 2005 6:22:29 GMT -5
Callens shall end it all in Hasselt in September. Thank you, Vix. I like Els, but it's time, I suppose. |
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Gugaaaaaaaaa 
Marcos Baghdatis 
