Kim Clijsters out of Indian Wells with yet another ankle injury

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) – Kim Clijsters announced Tuesday that she has withdrawn from next month's BNP Paribas Open because of an injury to her left ankle.

Clijsters said in a statement that she is disappointed she won't be playing in the tournament, saying she has great memories of Indian Wells.

The Belgian plans to retire at the end of the season. Clijsters has already retired once — in 2007 — but was tempted back in 2009 and has since won three Grand Slam titles.

She won the Australian Open a year ago but the remainder of the season was marred by shoulder, wrist and abdominal injuries. 

A twisted ankle almost curtailed the defense of her Australian Open title last month. Clijsters lost to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.

usatoday.com

Seriously again?!.  Or is this the same ankle she injured at the Australian Open this year?.  Hope she gives it plenty of time to heal properly.  

Otherwise it will cause her problems down the road.  It would be really nice if she was actually able to participate at the French Open this year (most likely her last).

Whitney Houston performing at opening of Arthur Ashe Stadium

You can never have too many Whitney Houston tributes.

In 1997, the late singer performed her hit "One Moment In Time" at the grand opening of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Her rousing vocal capped off an hour-long ceremony that paid tribute to the American tennis hero and celebrated the opening of the $254 million stadium.

Yahoo Sports



I have completely forgotten about this performance.  So powerful and lovely.  Hope you're at peace Whitney :(.

Hingis/Federer mixed Olympic pairing dream definitely over

Roger Federer has ruled out a dream Olympic match-up with Martina Hingis at London 2012.
The six-time Wimbledon champion admits it is a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to play in the Olympics at the All England Club, where he will look to add Olympic gold to his already-impressive CV. 

Federer boasts a record 16 grand slams and is one of only seven men to have won all four majors, but an Olympic singles title has thus far eluded him. He fell to Tomas Berdych in the second round at Athens in 2004, and the quarter-finals to James Blake in Beijing, although he did go on to win doubles gold with Stanislas Wawrinka. 

In what could be his final attempt to seal the career Golden Slam (Federer will turn 31 during this summer's Games), Federer admits it is made all the more special by the location. 

"It's an amazing once in a lifetime experience and may never come again in our lifetimes," Federer told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's a big, big milestone for tennis at the Olympics for all players of my generation. It will be a very, very big and special atmosphere there, I'm really looking forward to it and I hope I can make a big result there." 

Hingis, who won her first grand slam at the age of 15 at Wimbledon with Helena Sukova, won five majors and spent 209 weeks as world No. 1. Though only a year older than Federer, Hingis had won all five of her singles titles before Federer won his first in 2003, and has not played since 2007. However, she has played exhibition doubles at Wimbledon for the past two years, with Anna Kournikova in 2010 and Lindsay Davenport last year. 

But despite rumours that the pair, who won the Hopman Cup for Switzerland in 2001, could be set for an Olympic reunion for the mixed doubles this summer, Federer revealed it was Hingis who turned down his invitation. 

"The only partner I could imagine myself playing with was Martina because she's been such an amazing player from such a young age," Federer said. "She's only one year older than me and in some ways I learnt so much from her about how to play at the highest level for so long. She drove me and inspired me as well. 

"I spoke with Martina on the phone and she said, 'I don't think we should do it, I would love to do it but you should concentrate on the singles and doubles. It would be crazy, I wouldn't do it'. So I said, 'OK, we don't do it, we're both very happy, you're happy in retirement and I'm happy on court'. It was a good conversation, in a way I'm disappointed but it was the smart decision to make." 

ESPN.co.uk

It's really too bad, but I think Martina is completely right (he should concentrate on singles especially).  Would have been awesome to see them play together though.

It's nice to know Martina inspired him (I'm guessing they both have a mutual admiration for one another).  Always nice when a player of Federer's statue reminds people of just how great Martina was.

RIP Whitney Houston

 LOS ANGELES - Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

 CBSNews.com

It is extremely sad to lose another iconic legend so young.  Feels like yesterday that we lost Michael Jackson at 50.  It's another sad day for the music industry. 

Upon hearing the news just like with Michael I thought it was another sick joke at first, my heart dropped when I read the confirmation on CNN (I still don't quite believe it).   

I grew up listening to Whitney throughout my childhood, "The Bodyguard" is still one of my all time favourite soundtracks.

Whatever may have been the reason for the death (which at the time I write this is unknown) there's no denying that her talent and her voice was one of a kind and it will never be matched or forgotten.

RIP Whitney the world will always remember and thank you for all the joy you brought to our lives with your extraordinary voice.  :(.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends especially her young daughter.

"Bittersweet memories, that is all I'm taking with me, so goodbye please don't cry"~I Will Always Love You"- The Bodyguard

I will never be able to sing this lyric without tearing up.

Let the bark be with you

I've never been much of a "Star Wars" fan but this is just freaking awesome!.

Martina Hingis Eurosport Interview

http://uk.video.yahoo.com/yahooeurosport-10104300/ukeurosportnew-10104448/we-like-australian-open-27988498.html

Once again sorry no embed link I hate when websites don't include that.

More Martina Hingis on coaching

MELBOURNE — Show Court 3 was not far from empty on Friday as Yulia Putintseva and Eugenie Bouchard played in the full heat of a Melbourne summer in the semifinals of the Australian Open girls tournament. 

In the third row of the stands, under a broad-brimmed straw hat and without the benefit of a racket, Martina Hingis put both clenched fists together and imitated the backhand stroke that she wished she had just seen from Putintseva. 

Hingis, now 31, did not see many empty seats during her playing career. The ultimate tennis prodigy, she turned pro at 14 after dominating her elders as a junior and won her first major title at age 16 at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest Grand Slam singles champion in the 20th century.

Two months later, she was the youngest No. 1 in tennis history and went on to reach the final of the French Open and win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — all before she turned 17. 

Times, physical demands and training methods have changed. Putintseva — a stocky, deeply tanned Russian who likes to smash rackets as well as forehands — turned 17 earlier this month and is still working and storming her way through the juniors. She lost in the final here to the American Taylor Townsend (and did not go quietly). 

“I enjoy watching the girls, the younger ones,” Hingis said. “It’s not always the easiest; I know how I was at 17 or 18. Sometimes I watch the old videos and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God,’ you know? I wasn’t always the best listener with my mom.” 

Hingis, long coached by her mother, Melanie Molitor, is now the one trying to make her case to teenagers. She is working as a coaching consultant with Putintseva and four other young women in France. 

All have their personal coaches and all are based at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy west of Paris in the suburb of Thiverval-Grignon. The group includes two Russians, including the former U.S. Open junior champion Daria Gavrilova, an American, a Briton and a French player. 

“It’s good because I was multicultural, too, so that helps,” said Hingis, who is Swiss but was born in Kosice in what is now Slovakia. 

Hingis, who married Thibault Hutin of France in December 2010, was the one who initiated the coaching job: approaching the academy’s founder, Patrick Mouratoglou, at the U.S. Open last year.

“I think now I’m ready to do it,” Hingis said. “Before I was more thinking about maybe playing or doing this and that, and now I’m ready more to give, and I love working with the kids, too. I say kids, but I should say young women. They are making their own stand on the tour, playing the juniors and getting into the seniors. I think it’s a very interesting age.” 

Mouratoglou, a Frenchman, has made a habit of hiring star coaches, including Peter Lundgren and Tony Roche, both of whom once worked with Roger Federer and both of whom are no longer affiliated with the academy. But Mouratoglou said he was not seeking to bolster public relations by bringing Hingis on board but rather connecting with a kindred tennis spirit. 

“I understand the question, and why you pose it,” Mouratoglou said. “Martina is the one who came and asked me, so it wasn’t me thinking, ‘Hey, I’ll get someone famous to come coach.’ I always have a goal in my head when I do things. It’s better that way, and when I brought in Tony Roche and Peter Lundgren — who aren’t there anymore, by the way — I had in mind to attract certain players, and I needed the coaches who would correspond to them. Since then, my thinking has evolved, and I don’t want to take that approach anymore.” 

 

“Martina has a conception of tennis that is very close to my own. I have always worked with players to get them inside the court and take the ball early. I think it’s the game of the future. Not necessarily coming to net, if they come to net all the better, but the game of the future is to be able to take time away from the opponent, to cut the trajectories off. 

“It’s what Roger Federer does very well and what Novak Djokovic does very, very well, but 90 percent of the other players are not doing it. But Martina always did this. It’s the way she was taught, the way she learned to play the game.” 

 Both Putintseva and Gavrilova said in interviews that they had been encouraged by Hingis to expand their range since she began training with them late last year. “The trainings with her are really intense,” Gavrilova said. “And we always do something different and are working on many things, and she’s really playing inside the court, so that’s what she wants me to improve.” 

Hingis, in her first major tournament in this role, is one of two former world No. 1’s to join the coaching ranks this season. But unlike Ivan Lendl, now 51 and working with Andy Murray, Hingis is still of an age to be competing at this level. 

One of her primary rivals, Serena Williams, remains a main contender at age 30, and Venus Williams, 31, plans to return to competition this week for the Fed Cup. Kim Clijsters, who will turn 29 this year, just reached the semifinals here.

“They have a different game; they have serves; they have big first shots,” Hingis said. “I was a different player.” 

She said she was not surprised that Serena Williams, in particular, has endured. “The willpower of Serena, nobody can beat that,” she said. “There has not been another player who has the same hunger.” 

Hingis last played on tour more than four years ago after retiring (for the second time) in November 2007 after testing positive for cocaine metabolite at Wimbledon that year. 

It was a trace amount. Hingis declared that she had not ingested cocaine wittingly, declined to engage in an expensive, extended appeal process and chose to retire instead — something she said she was already considering. She was later given a two-year ban that restricted her formal access to tournament sites.

“It wasn’t the greatest way to stop, that’s for sure,” she said. 

In a later case, the French player Richard Gasquet, who tested positive for a trace amount of cocaine, had his suspension cut from two years to two and a half months after the International Tennis Federation ruled on appeal that he had inadvertently ingested the substance.

“They made an example, I guess,” said Hingis, referring to her case. “I just look into the future. You can’t look back. Two years, they passed away, and now the last two years have been great, being back in business and in tennis. This has always been my home.” 

nytimes.com