Apparently I am not the only one getting tired of hearing Serena Williams’ whining about money and WTA rules, and making wrong decisions about her health. Kamakshi Tandon also questions her decision of playing while injured and putting all the blame on WTA for its fines and punishments.

Kamakshi writes:

For a player at Williams’ level, pulling out of Madrid would mean a $75,000 fine, plus giving up the $400,000 in bonus money the WTA awards to top players for playing all four mandatory events. But Williams had already forfeited the bonus when she pulled out of the mandatory BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, so the only financial cost of pulling out of Madrid would have been the fine, which is relatively modest given her $2 million earnings to date this season.

Still, the recently cost-conscious Williams sees even $75,000 as steep. “I’m remodeling a house,” she said. “Seventy-five thousand dollars — I don’t know about to anyone else, but that’s a lot of money to me. That’s like my whole furniture bill — some stairs, rugs, that can go a long way. In this economy, I’m not in a position to just write out $75,000 checks. Are you?”

Keep in mind that Serena has made 14 million dollars last year alone. Her decision to risk her health just to save $75,000 is not very wise in terms of her professional career, AND it even doesn’t make a business sense. If she stays healthy she can  be on the tour for many years to come. And as long as she is playing tennis and she is in the public eye, it means she will keep depositing more money in her bank account. Much more than $75,000.

Kamakshi’s full article is here.

I was expecting this news, but still it is sad to learn that my Nalby will be out for the rest of the season. You can get more information about his injury and upcoming surgery from his official site davidnalbandian.com. It is not a secret that I am a crazy David Nalbandian fan. And I have never had a chance to see him play live:-( But this year I thought would be THE Year. We were planning to go to Roland Garros to see him, and now I don’t have another favorite for who I feel I am ready to travel to Paris. Good Luck David with the surgery and the recovery. Tennis Info Blog will miss you!

By the way, does anybody know what happened to David Nalbandian’s fan site davidnalbandian.net?

Tatiana Golovin surely likes what Anastasia Myskina is doing with her post-tennis career. Sidelined with a hip injury, the French tennis player of Russian origin (something that the Russian press never forgets to mention) will work as a TV commentator for the France Télévisions during the Roland Garros. That’s a good news for me! Since Eurosport is not broadcasting Roland Garros in my area, I can only watch it on French channels. Given my limited knowledge of French, it becomes quite important who covers the event. The last year’s commentators were quite boring (though still not as boring as the ones working for Eurosport). When you don’t understand the language, it becomes quite important to listen to commentators who are colorful and emotionally unrestrained:-) Let’s say…like…the Spanish commentators. Once, I somehow started watching Rafa’s match on Spanish television (I think it was during the Olympics), oh, man, the coverage was HOT! There was not a single hint or attempt to appear fair and balanced. They were sweating and moaning alongside with Rafa, and screaming after each beautiful shot. Quite an experience, I must say:-)

Tati is not the only one with TV career dreams. In an interview with the Russian media,  Elena Dementieva has also mentioned that she is planning to study journalism after retiring from tennis, so that she can work for television.

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To celebrate Maria Sharapova’s  partnership  with Cole Haan, a very exclusive party was held at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Guests included heartthrob Josh Hartnett, up and coming heartthrob Kellan Lutz as well as Jason Lewis, Kerry Washington, Lily Collins and Eve. Maria left the event with her rumored boyfriend Charlie Ebersol.

Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old from Belarus, defeated world number one Serena Williams 6-3 6-1 to win the Sony Ericsson Open. In  post-match interview Azarenka explained why so many Eastern European women have done so well in tennis of late: “I would say it’s I think it’s just the mentality. Like the Russians, a lot of us, we didn’t have many things when we were growing up. It’s just the hunger for playing and just wanting to do better and get as many opportunities as you can to be better in your life.”

The New York Times had an article about U.S. tennis losing ground in developing players. Here is an interesting statistics from that article.  “Of the top 100 ranked players on the WTA Tour as of March 23, only four were American, and two were in the top 10, the Williams sisters, Serena (No. 1) and Venus (No. 6). (The other two were No. 37 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and No. 85 Jill Craybas.) By contrast, 14 Russian women were ranked among the top 100, including 10 in the top 50 and five among the top 10.”

If you believe these photos and the celebrity gossip sites, actress Camilla Belle (Maria Sharapova’s good friend), is Fernando Verdasco’s new girlfriend. The two were spotted at the recent ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California. Camilla was also in Fernando’s box when he played his quarter final against Roger Federer.  Verdasco until very recently was dating Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic.

Watch BMP Paribas Open (Indian Wells Masters) tennis live online free.

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After announcing on his website that he and his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec are expecting their first child this summer, Roger Federer was quick to state that becoming a father will not affect his  tennis mind set:

“I think in a way I always had the dream that once I became No. 1 in the world if I have a child I hope I have it early enough so he can see me playing. So this is very exciting.

I think it’s not going to really disturb my mind-set on tennis a whole lot. I’ve always made sure that my schedule is (arranged with time to) get away from tennis a little but and then come back when I’m ready to play again.

If it does something to me, I think it’s going to motivate me to play for a long time.

For me, this is not a massive shock. But when it does happen (and) your girlfriend-wife is pregnant, it definitely changes your mind-set. All of a sudden you’re hoping everything goes well, whereas before you’re just joking about it. From that respect, I’m excited that the baby comes out healthy and everything goes OK. Other than that, it’s just happiness. And all the people around me, all the people I talk to, everybody is like, ‘Wow, it’s such great news.’

It’s a nice time. And yeah, the baby is due in summer. Summer is a big word, yeah. I’m not going to say anymore.”

(Photo: AFP)

After months and years of speculations, Roger Federer announced today on his website that her long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec is pregnant.

“I also have some really awesome news to share with all of you: Mirka and I are excited to let you know that we will be parents this summer! Mirka is pregnant and we are so happy to be starting a family together. This is a dream come true for us.  We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well.”

Congratulations!

(TIB: Thank you Isabel for the tip off)