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Regina Kulikova beat Sandra Zahlavova 7-6 (6) 6-3 to win the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

SAYING

“The ITF has removed both Mr. Malisse and Ms. Wickmayer from the list of suspended players, and both are eligible to participate with immediate effect.” – The International Tennis Federation (ITF), in a statement.

”It’s the best Christmas present I could imagine.” – Yanina Wickmayer, after having her one-year suspension lifted by the ITF.

“In my heart I was expecting this outcome because I’m innocent. So justice has been done,” – Richard Gasquet, after being cleared of doping charges by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I suspect there could be slight cuts in prize money.” – Sean Ennis, professor of sports marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, on the consequences of money problems in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“I lost faith in the tennis I was playing. I wanted to live a life that is more fruitful, so I turned to other things, such as acting and a full-time job in marketing. I want to do things that will make me happy.” – Vojislava Lukic, who is contemplating an acting career.

SET TO PLAY

Two Belgian players are able to play tennis again after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) lifted their one-year suspensions. US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer immediately accepted a wild-card entry to a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, and is hoping to get one for the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. Xavier Malisse, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2002, also had his one-year suspension lifted. Neither player failed a drug test, and Wickmayer claims she was not properly informed on the online reporting requirements for drug-testing that led to her ban. Wickmayer was banned in November for breaking World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations by failing to report her whereabouts for drug testing three times. WADA’s “whereabouts” rule requires elite athletes to make themselves available for out-of-competition testing for one hour a day, 365 days a year. Under the rules, athletes must give three months’ notice of where and when they can be located for testing. Many athletes have spoken out against the system since it was imposed at the beginning of the year. WADA director general David Howman has said the rule will be reviewed at the end of the year.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

She is ranked 16^th in the world and reached the US Open semifinals in her last Grand Slam tournament, but Yanina Wickmayer will probably have to battle her way through qualifying if she wants to play in the Australian Open in January. The Belgian had her one-year suspension lifted by the International Tennis Federation, but long after entries to the year’s first Grand Slam event had closed. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said it “would be highly unlikely Yanina would get a main draw wild-card” since five of the eight for the women’s draw have already been allocated. “We will have three discretionary wild cards left which we intend to give to Australians,” Tiley said. If that happens, Wickmayer could receive a wild card into the qualifying.

STILL BELIEVED

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) believed Richard Gasquet’s excuse and cleared the Frenchman of a doping charge. The 23-year-old Gasquet said his positive test for cocaine came after he kissed a woman in a Miami nightclub. He was provisionally suspended in May before serving a 2½-month retroactive ban. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wanted Gasquet to serve a two-year ban, but Gasquet appealed to the CAS. Sport’s top court ruled that Gasquet was inadvertently contaminated with a minute trace of the drug as a result of the kiss. “I’m very, very happy this is behind me,” said Gasquet, who has been ranked as high as seventh in the world. “It’s been very tough. I was positive in my head from the beginning because I knew that things would be OK. I’ve always told the truth.”

SCRUTINIZED

Will the money problems suffered by Dubai impact on the big-money tennis events held in the country? That’s the question everyone wants to know. Neighboring Abu Dhabi injected USD $10 billion into Dubai’s battered economy, assuring the emirate would not default. But Sean Ennis, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, said: “There might be strings attached and Abu Dhabi might insist Dubai cuts spending in certain areas, including sports.”

SCREEN PLAY?

Vojislava Lukic has decided not to follow in the footsteps of her Serbian compatriots Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Although she was ranked number one in Europe in the under-14 girls, Lukic now is considering a career in acting. “I’ve done a course in acting back home in Serbia recently and I have been lucky to speak with Miami Vice lead actor Don Johnson, who has promised to ensure I fulfill my dream of acting in Hollywood,” Lukic told Gulf News in Dubai, where she played doubles with Bojana Jovanovski and reached the quarterfinals in her first tournament action since 2008. Lukic played Fed Cup for Serbia in 2007, the same year she played in her only Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, where she lost in the opening round of qualifying. “I was always the number one player in Serbia. However, unfortunately for me, Ana and Jelena have moved on, but I somehow got stuck behind,” Lukic said.

SITE REVISTED

Professional tennis is back in Atlanta after a nine-year hiatus. The ATP said Atlanta will now stage the tournament that has been played in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Atlanta Tennis Championships will be held July 17-25 as the opening event of the Olympus US Open Series. The six-week hard court season leads into the US Open and includes six men’s tournaments and four women’s events. Bill Oakes will serve as the new event’s tournament director. Atlanta had staged the AT&T Challenge and Verizon Tennis Challenge from 1986 to 2001. Former winners include Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.

SHE’S BACK

Kimiko Date Krumm is back on Japan’s Fed Cup team for the first time in 14 years. The 39-year-old Date Krumm returned to the women’s tour following a 12-year retirement and currently is the highest-ranked Japanese on the WTA Tour at number 70. Once ranked as high as number four in the world, Date Krumm will play when Japan competes in the Asia/Oceania Group I play in Kuala Lumpur in February.

STEFFI THE SHOOTER

Steffi Graf is looking at a camera from the other side these days. She has turned her focus from tennis to the viewfinder and published her first photo-reportage recently. Now 40 years old and the mother of two, Graf photographs of children living in slums in the capital of Eritrea, one of the poorest countries in Africa, accompanied an article in the German-language edition of National Geographic Magazine. The article was titled “The Children of Asmara.” In a statement released by her publisher, Graf said that as a teenager she seriously considered becoming a photographer rather than pursuing a career in tennis.

SAFELY IN

Casey Dellacqua has earned a berth in the Australian Open women’s singles main draw. Playing in her first tournament in 10 months following an injury, Dellacqua beat Olivia Rogowska in the playoff final for the berth in the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. The score was 1-6 7-6 (9) 6-3. Dellacqua saved three match points in the second-set tiebreak before beating her 18-year-old opponent.

Another player returning after a layoff, 28-year-old Alicia Molik, failed to earn a wild-card entry into the Australian Open main draw when she lost in the quarterfinals of the wild-card tournament for Australian players. She will now have to rely on a discretionary wild card from Tennis Australia to get into either the main draw or the qualifying.

SPEAKING UP

Former British tennis ace Tim Henman joined in the annual Carols by Candlelight event to raise money for the Pelican Cancer Foundation charity. The son-in-law of Pelican Cancer Foundation Professor Bill Heald, Henman read Advent 1955, a poem by Sir John Betjeman that rails against the commercialization of Christmas. More than 300 people were at St. Michael’s Church in Basing-stoke for the annual event. The Friends of St Michael’s Hospice Committee, who run the event every two years, decided to link up with Pelican Cancer Foundation this year because of their shared work against cancer.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Dubai: Julia Goerges and Oksana Kalashnikova beat Vladimira Uhlirova and Renata Voracova 4-6 6-2 10-8 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Brisbane: www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/

Chennai: www.aircelchennaiopen.org/

Auckland: www.asbclassic.co.nz/

TOURNAMENTS BEGINNING JANUARY 4, 2010

(All money in USD)

ATP

$1,110,250 Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, Doha, Qatar, hard

$484,750 Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia, hard

$450,000 Aircel Chennai Open, Chennai, India, hard