Tennis-X Preview: WTA Rome, Injuries AboundPosted on May 9, 2004  Serena Williams makes her return to the WTA Tour this week in Rome after over-extending her knee a couple weeks back, but sister Venus takes the week off after twisting her ankle over the weekend in Berlin. World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne is still sidelined by a virus, while Belgian countrywoman Kim Clijsters has already pulled from the French Open with a wrist injury.Welcome to the wonderful world of the WTA Tour, where out-of-control racquet technology has overstressed the bodies of the top players, and the WTA and the ITF are both too passive to be the first to take action. Of the current Top 20 on the WTA Rankings, all but three have pulled from a tournament thus far in 2004 with an injury of some sort. But we digress. Joining Serena among the Top 8 seeds in Rome are Amelie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina, Nadia Petrova, Jennifer Capriati, Elena Dementieva, Ai Sugiyama, and Vera Zvonareva. That's four Russians out of the Top 8 if you're counting, a Russian revolution. The Top 8 seeds receive byes in the WTA's entertainment-killing fashion, so there are only a few exciting first round match-ups in (12)Paola Suarez vs. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga, and Croatia's Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem vs. Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova. If you find that match on a tennis betting site, put the house on Sprem, who was edged in three sets by Venus over the weekend. That Croat is the real deal. Potential Rome semifinals, which is when you'll want to wake up for this one, are (1)Serena vs. (5)Capriati, and (3)Myskina vs. (2)Mauresmo. Former champs in the field are Serena (2002), Jelena Dokic (2001), Mary Pierce (1997), and four-time champ Conchita Martinez (1996-93). |
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