Vaidisova Retires, Will Marry Stepanek in July

What a talent that Stepanek is. On the court and off the court!! Nice shag.

March 16th, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Actually, Nicole’s last match was a 4-6 7-6 (12/10) 7-6 (7/4) loss to 17-year-old US Open Girls’ Singles champion Heather Watson in the first round of ITF Hammond.

To lose a member of my Eternal Fanship at just 20 is devastating, as 20 is still ‘young’ in tennis-terms. Nicole is actually the youngest member of my Eternal Fanship, and has the potential for an amazing career.

Nicole’s huge serve and forehand were – and could be again – two of the biggest weapons I’ve ever seen in women’s tennis. She was also impressively versatile, and had a brilliant ability to improvise. When she reached the semi-finals of the French Open 2006 by beating Amélie Mauresmo and Venus Williams back to back, I thought she was a tremendous fighter with inner belief and inner fire.

With so many players coming back after announcing their retirements – Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Martina Hingis, Kimiko Date Krumm, Alicia Molik – I can only hope that Nicole will join them in the future (perhaps under the name Nicole Štěpánková). Perhaps she needs a long break from tennis right now, but she’s got so many tennis-years ahead of her, and it would be a tragic shame to waste her phenomenal talent forever.

March 16th, 2010 at 6:58 pm

This is so sad. Maybe, she’ll have a change of heart after the wedding. She has a lot of talent but somehow her focus shifted from tennis to romance after her bout with monoand hooking up with the 8worm*. I’m hoping she’ll return and be more fired up than ever, but that will depend on how much of a positive influence Steps will be at that time. Maybe, they’ll board a catamaran and sail towards the sunset with a margarita in each hand. That’s the life baby!!…..

March 16th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

Maybe Stepanek will become a coach to Vaidisova. After all, he can’t play forever! Someone’s going to have to be the bread-winner. Odds are, it’s Vaidisova dusting off the racquets after Stepanek’s decline in singles relegates him to doubles, where let’s face it, he’s no Leander Paes!

March 16th, 2010 at 9:25 pm

this is just sad to say the very least, seeing her chose marriage instead of tennis at the age of 20 and her having so much talent is heart breaking for her fans who have stuck by her. and this to me proves she wasn’t very focused on tennis these past 2 years even with having an injury.

March 16th, 2010 at 9:58 pm

Retirement? In the women’s tour that’s just another way of saying, “I need a break!” Vaidisova will be back next year – she simply has too much talent to just think that was it.

PK

March 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am