Mondays With Bob Greene: It's a special place for me

STARS

Nikolay Davydenko beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 to win the Proton Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Maria Sharapova won the Toray Pan Pacific in Tokyo, Japan, when Jelena Jankovic retired while trailing 5-2

Gilles Simon beat Viktor Troicki 7-5 6-3 to win the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok, Thailand

Jelena Dokic beat Eleni Danilidou 6-3 6-1 to win the Vogue Athens Open in Athens, Greece

SAYING

“I guess having to withdraw from Beijing is an appropriate ending to a very disappointing season.” – Ana Ivanovic, who withdrew from the China Open and ended her 2009 season because of an upper respiratory tract infection.

“It’s not an easy moment. I had a lot of chances in the third set but I just let it go. I didn’t play the way I should. I never took her out of her comfort zone. I didn’t do much to help myself.” – Dinara Safina, after losing her opening match in Tokyo to qualifier Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan.

“When my thoughts are on the court, I play at another level. That wasn’t the case in previous matches.” – Jelena Jankovic, after winning her quarterfinal match in Tokyo.

“I feel like I’m starting to get the feeling back of being able to figure things out automatically. Like knowing when you have to be patient and when you have to be aggressive.” – Maria Sharapova, playing in Tokyo.

“The more rounds you play, the tougher it gets. You’ve got to take it one match at a time and not think too far down the road.” – Maria Sharapova, who won the Toray Pan Pacific tournament in Tokyo, Japan, her first title in more than a year.

“I love playing doubles with Venus as we have so much fun on the court. This year we actually decided to put more emphasis on our doubles careers, and going to Doha has been on our mind all season.” – Serena Williams, after she and sister Venus qualified for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships doubles.

“You just be happy for one day. There are going to be many more tough matches.” – Yu Mei-chuan, responding to her daughter, Chang Kai-chen, who called to tell her she had just upset the world’s number one player, Dinara Safina.

“I gradually played better throughout the week, but I was physically exhausted, and it took its toll.” – Mirjana Lucic, a former teen star who lost in the semifinals of an ITF tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.

SHE’S BACK

It’s Tokyo, so it’s no surprise that Maria Sharapova emerged the winner. The Russian captured her first tournament title since returning from a 10-month injury layoff when Jelena Jankovic retired with an arm injury in the opening set of the Toray Pan Pacific final. Sharapova led 5-2 when Jankovic had her right arm examined by the trainer. The Serb, who had begun the match by winning the first two games, returned to the court and lost the first two points of the eighth game before retiring. Sharapova has won four of her 20 WTA Tour titles in Tokyo, including her first tournament as a professional in 2003. “It’s a special place for me,” she said. It was her first title since Amelia Island in April 2008. “These things happen, but I’ll certainly take it,” Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam tournament champion, said after the abbreviated final. “It’s funny to win trophies again after thinking I might never be able to hit a tennis ball again. But I’m back and I’m hungry. I can do better than before and win more Grand Slams.”

SAYONARA

It wasn’t the ending she would have liked, but it was close. Playing in her final tournament, Ai Sugiyama’s career on the women’s tour ended when she and her partner Daniela Hantuchova lost the doubles final at the Toray Pan Pacific in Tokyo, Japan. The duo fell to Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-2. The last of Sugiyama’s record 62 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments resulted in a first-round loss at the US Open this fall. Sugiyama played her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in Tokyo in 1990. Almost exactly 19 years later and in the same city, she played her final match. She retired in the first round of singles due to illness. Wayne Ferreira holds the men’s record for consecutive Grand Slam main draws played with 56.

SPLITSVILLE

Tennis great Chris Evert and golf star Greg Norman have separated after just 15 months of marriage. In making the announcement, neither said whether they planned to divorce. The two were married June 28, 2008, in the Bahamas. A month later, Norman was nine holes away from becoming golf’s oldest major champion at age 53 when he led the British Open, eventually winding up tied for third. In a statement, the couple said: “We will remain friends and supportive of one another’s family.” They also requested privacy for them and their families.

SLAMMIN’ SISTERS

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams will take their doubles act to the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time. The duo became the second team to qualify for the October 27-November 1 competition in Doha, Qatar. Cara Black and Liezel Huber are already in the elite four-team event. The world’s top eight singles players also will compete, and Serena has already qualified along with Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Caroline Wozniacki. This year, the Williams sisters won the doubles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, as well as the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA. Overall, Venus and Serena have won 10 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, the third-most successful Grand Slam partnership behind Martina Navratilova/Pam Shriver and Gigi Fernandez/Natasha Zvereva. The Williams sisters’ only defeat this year came in the French Open quarterfinals to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova.

SWISS MISS

Could Martina Hingis be the next former world number one player to return to the WTA Tour? Kim Clijsters ended a nearly two-year retirement by coming back and winning the US Open. Then another Belgium star, Justine Henin, announced she was ending her retirement. Hingis has not announced her future plans, but her two-year ban for failing a drug test is over and there are no other legal hurdles standing in her way to return. Of course, Hingis – who became the youngest Grand Slam tournament winner in the 20^th century when, at the age of 16 years, 3 months, 26 days she captured the 1997 Australian Open – is now 29 years old.

SEEKING HELP

The world’s top players have battled for the trophy and the big payday in Hong Kong. Now the tournament is asking the government for help – a USD $700,000 bailout actually. Tournament organizers are seeking help from the government after its main sponsor withdrew support for the exhibition event. “It’s unfortunate, but like many other companies, the JB Group has also been caught up in the financial tsunami,” tournament director Terry Catton told the South China Morning Post, referring to the Indian diamond group which pulled out as title sponsor. The Women’s Champions Challenge is not part of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but top players such as Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters have all participated in the Australian Open warm-up event. Catton said the tournament would continue “whatever happens.”

SIDELINED

Young American Sam Querrey will be sidelined for at least four to six weeks after he suffered a freak accident in Bangkok, Thailand. After practicing for the Thailand Open, the 21-year-old Querrey sat on a glass table and fell through. The glass slashed his right forearm and required emergency surgery. The right-hander from Thousand Oaks, California, is ranked 25^th in the world.

SUSPICIOUS MOVE?

An anti-doping committee will question US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer because she failed to report her whereabouts three times over the past 18 months. Rudi Kuyi, Wickmayer’s spokesman, said the young Belgian star did not miss a doping control, but conceded she may not have fulfilled all the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which requires players to tell their whereabouts at all times for out-of-competition testing.

SWEET RETURNS

While everyone’s talking about the top women who are coming out of retirement, two men rejoined the ATP tour. Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan ended a nearly three-year absence from the tour by playing doubles at the PTT Thailand Open with countryman Danai Umdomchoke. It wasn’t successful, however, as the Thai pair lost their opening match. At the Proton Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sweden’s Joachim Johansson upset Lleyton Hewitt in his first match back before suffering a relatively tight three-set loss to Richard Gasquet.

SWAMPED

Organizers of the Toray Pan Pacific Open must have wondered what hit them as their top players were quickly hustled out of the tournament. Top-ranked and defending champion Dinara Safina was serving for the match when she double-faulted to give up a break. Before long, Safina had suffered yet another defeat, this time to Chang Kai-chen, an 18-year-old qualifier from Taiwan. Safina was followed out of the tournament by Venus Williams, who lost in straight sets to Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova. Also ousted on the same day were French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and local favorite Ai Sugiyama, who announced she is retiring after 17 years on the tour.

SORRY FOR WINNING

Leave it Kimiko Date Krumm. The Japanese veteran apologized for fibbing after she won her first WTA Tour title in 13 years and following a 12-year retirement. Her fib? When she returned to the tour, she warned that no one should expect a Rocky-style comeback. After winning the Korea Open the day before she turned 39, she decided to apologize. “I didn’t mean to tell fibs,” she said. “I just knew playing on the WTA Tour after a 12-year blank wouldn’t be a walk in the park. I didn’t know how far I could go. Then I started to get a hunger for winning again so I put my housewife duties on hold as tennis was my biggest priority. My husband understands.”

SHOUTING FOR JOY

Jelena Dokic crushed local favorite Eleni Danilidou 6-3 6-1 to win the Vogue Athens Open. Once ranked fourth in the world, Dokic had her best week since her remarkable and emotional run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January. At the French Open this past spring, Dokic was a set and a break up against fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva when she hurt her back and spent the next three months on the sidelines. Since suffering a first-round loss at the US Open, Dokic has been playing on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit.

SEMI CLOSE

Remember Mirjana Lucic? Well, the past week wasn’t as bright for Lucic, another former teen star. She ran out of steam in the semifinals of the Lexus of Las Vegas Open in Las Vegas, Nevada, and lost to unseeded Aniko Kapros of Hungary 6-3 5-7 6-4. A native of Croatia, the 27-year-old Lucic gave up tennis for almost five years. She’s had a rocky road this year, with victories coming few and far between. Not so, however, in Las Vegas. She had to qualify for the main draw by winning three matches. Then, playing with a heavily taped right thigh, Lucic reached the semifinals of the USD $50,000 tournament with three more wins, two of which went the three-set distance. Lucic was ranked as high as 32^nd in the world, but that was 11 years ago.

SIDELINED

A wrist injury caused Andy Murray to withdraw from the Japan Open. Murray suffered the injury at the US Open, and then aggravated the problem while playing for Britain in its Davis Cup tie against Poland. Earlier, Roger Federer pulled out of the tournament, citing fatigue.

STOPPED

An upper respiratory infection has caused Ana Ivanovic to withdraw from the China Open. The 21-year-old Serbian said her body was “quite fragile” after a combination of too much training and not enough recuperation. Ivanovic won the French Open in 2008 and has reached two other Grand Slam tournament finals, Roland Garros in 2007 and the Australian Open in 2008. But she reached only one tournament final this year, losing to Vera Zvonareva at Indian Wells, California, USA, in March. She has posted a record of 24-13 in 2009, and in a statement said it has been a very disappointing season. She reached the round of 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon, but was upset in the first round of the US Open. Ivanovic blamed the series of minor ailments that have bothered her recently on being “over-trained” in the early part of the year. “Instead of being patient and accepting that my best form was almost impossible due to physical limitations, I was always over-thinking things and I never dealt with it very well,” she said. “If I had dealt better with these setbacks, I would have had a lot more success.”

SPANISH STALWART

Having recovered from an abdominal injury, Rafael Nadal says he is available to play for Spain in its Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic. Nadal said medical tests he underwent in Barcelona, Spain, show his stomach muscle has healed. He has not played since losing in the semifinals of the US Open to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro. The Davis Cup final will be held December 4-6 in Spain.

SENIOR STOPPER

Former Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis is returning to London. The Australian will compete in the AEGON Masters Tennis, which will be held December 1-6 at Royal Albert Hall. Also in the lineup for the season-ending event with Philippoussis will be Goran Ivanesvic, Pat Rafter and Stefan Edberg. The other players will be announced later. Philippoussis beat Andre Agassi on his way to the 2003 Wimbledon final where he lost to Roger Federer.

STREET TENNIS

Street tennis has resulted in Tennis Canada being honored at Toronto City Hall. Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki played a match on busy Yonge Street in August to highlight the Rogers Cup tournament. The stunt, one of three global events this past summer in honor of Sony Ericsson, has been showed worldwide on CNN, the BBC, Eurosport and several Canadian media outlets. Michael S. Downey, president and CEO of Tennis Canada, thanked the City Council for allowing the stunt, which was watched by approximately 1,000 onlookers and 50 members of the media.

SELECTED

There are five finalists remaining in the running for the 2009 Heroes Among Us Program. The five – Tony Brock, Ella Brown-Hughes, Soniti Marathe, Jill Massie-Braun and Maureen Rankne – were selected by a panel that included Venus Williams, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour chairman and CEO Stacy Allaster, and S. Gulser Corat, UNESCO director of the Division for Gender Equality. The winner of the Heroes Among Us program will be selected by fan voting. Brock is director of the Safe Passage Tennis Program for underprivileged boys and girls ages 8-18. Born-Hughes provides training and education to the homeless. Marathe has been a high school teacher in India for over 20 years and operates a children’s library in her home. Massie-Braun is an advocate for children and families living with autism. Rankine, diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder called Myasthenia Gravis, has started three non-profit tennis groups: Tennis Against Breast Cancer, the Montego Bay Tennis Program and the Association lf Minority Tennis Pros.

SPOTLIGHT ON SERENA

Serena Williams is featured in the inaugural “Body Issue” of ESPN The Magazine. Featuring nearly 80 athletes from a variety of sports, the magazine says the issue honors athletes of diverse shapes, sizes, genders and races within the boundaries of taste and frontiers of creativity. Other athletes pictured include shot putters Adam Nelson and Michelle Carter, NASCAR driver Ken Schrader, and golfers Sandra Gal, Anna Grzebien and Christina Kim.

STEADY DOES IT

After upsetting the world’s number one player, Dinara Safina, Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan called home to tell her mother about her second-round victory at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Her mother, a fish store attendant, had her feet firmly planted on the ground. “You just be happy for one day,” Yu Mei-chuan cautioned, reminding her daughter that there were more matches to be played. Chang’s father travels to tournaments with his daughter, leaving his wife to run the shop. The mother has never seen her daughter play abroad in person. “I hope I can travel with my husband and daughter together to watch her play in a big international tennis tournament,” Yu said. A few more victories over top players could ensure they all will be able to travel together.

SCHWARTZ INDUCTED

Alan G. Schwartz, a former president of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), is the sole 2009 inductee into the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. Schwartz built Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago, Illinois, USA, where he pioneered the four-inch baseline, indirect court lighting and cushioned playing surfaces. He also co-authored the National Tennis Rating Program, the sport’s standard for rating players. Midtown became the anchor club for Schwartz’s 45-club Tennis Corporation of America (TCA). And Schwartz wrote the USTA’s eight-word mission statement: “To Promote and Develop the Growth of Tennis.”

SITTING ON THE BOARD

The wife of the late Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Moutossamy-Ashe, is one of 10 new members of the board of directors of the International Tennis Hall of Museum. The new directors were elected at the Hall of Fame’s annual meeting held in New York City. Besides Moutossamy-Ashe, who is a photographer, other new members include Robert L. Bunnen Jr., founder of Bunnen Financial Management LLC; Juan Carlos Cappello, chairman and managing partner of Contemporanea LLC; Carlos Fleming, executive vice president at IMG; Dianne E. Hayes, director of global entertainment and sports marketing for Reebok International Ltd.; Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau; E. Ramone Segree, vice president for institutional advancement and foundation executive director for CUNY/LaGuardia Community College; Lee Sessions, a financial sector executive and returning board member; Vinayak Singh, president of International Strategy & Investment Group (ISI); and Lady Marion Weatherstone. In addition, Bill Phillips was named a Life Trustee.

SUPER

Thanks to a huge pledge during a benefit concert, nearly USD $8 million was raised to support Andre Agassi’s public charter school in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The biggest chunk came from a pledge of USD $7.5 million over five years from the Engelstad Family Foundation. Officials say that money will be used to establish a campaign to try to raise student funding in Nevada. The school, which has children from kindergarten through high school, has about 600 students and graduated its first high school senior class this year. The concert featured among others country musician Tim McGraw, R&B singer Brian McKnight and rock band Daughtry. Agassi was honored at this year’s US Open for his work with the school.

STEP CLOSER

Amanda Avedissian of Bristol, Rhode Island, and Louis Desmarteaux of Hull, Massachusetts, won the women’s and men’s titles to move one step closer to representing the United States as a member of Team USA at the World Finals of the Kia Amateur Australian Open, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, in January. Avedissian is a teaching professional at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Avedissian and Desmarteaux advance to the US Finals to be held November 5-8 in Atlanta, Georgia, where they will compete against the winners of three other qualifying events being held around the country.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Tokyo: Alisa Kleybanova and Francesca Schiavone beat Ai Sugiyama and Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-2

Bangkok: Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Mischa Zverev 7-6 (4) 6-3

Athens: Eleni Danilidou and Jasmin Woehr beat Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin 6-2 5-7 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Kuala Lumpur: Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski beat Igor Kunitsyn and Jaroslav Levinsky 6-2 6-1

SITES TO SURF

Beijing: www.chinaopen.cn/

Tokyo: http://rakutenopen.rakuten.co.jp/en/index.html

Mons: www.ethiastro;phy.be/fr/news

Shanghai: www.shanghaimasters1000.com/2009/en/

Linz: www.generali-ladies.at

Osaka: www.hp-open.com/