A business trip has gotten the better of me this week, so I apologize for being late on the topic of Justine Henin’s retirement, but it really is the big tennis news of the week. And I was really stunned to learn of it.

Sayonara North America hardcourts. Hello, European clay. For the Americans, it’s a time of anguish, when even such simple matters as making a phone call or ordering dinner exacerbate the tensions of playing on a less than familiar surface.

HE READS BOOKS TOO: Mardy Fish after beating Roger Federer last week in Indian Wells: “Actually when I won that first set I remembered something from James’ (Blake’s) book. It was a quote from [Fish’s former coach] Todd Martin who told him, ‘If you can win one set, you can win two.’ So I stuck […]

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
India’s Davis Cup team is refusing to play unless Leander Paes is ousted as captain…
ADHEREL
The only other player of note in the women’s singles game to hit two-handed off both sides, Marion Bartoli of France reminisced on Monica Seles being her hero after Seles’ recent retirement: “Monica has always been […]

Justine Henin said before her match against Maria Sharapova she needed to up her level, were she to stand a chance against the in-form Russian.

Rafael Nadal will have to beat a third straight Frenchman to reach the Australian Open fourth round…
ADHEREL
Justine Henin has now won her last 31 matches. In case you are wondering, the longest win streak on the WTA is 74 by Martina Navratilova in 1984. Henin will now face qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei…
Mardy Fish […]

Justine Henin has won her last 30 tour matches since losing to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon…
ADHEREL
Serena Williams has now won 25 of her last 26 matches at the Australian Open…
How the hell does the tallest doubles team pairing ever, 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic and 6-foot-9 John Isner, lose to two Argentines in doubles?…
Think Amelia Mauresmo doesn’t […]

For a guy with so much at stake this year – the Olympics, Pete Sampras’s 14 Slams mark, the French Open - Roger Federer’s start to 2008 hasn’t exactly been ideal.

2008 is going to different year for the Swiss star than it was in 2007, 2006 and 2005 for the simple reason that it’s an Olympic year.

With Justine Henin putting up a Roger Federeresque year in 2007, the resurgence of the Williams sisters and the arrival of two instant crowd favorites from Serbia, the WTA is coming off a pretty good year.