Injury Update: Victoria Azarenka and Tommy Robredo

Photo: Reuters

Let's just say that today was not a good day for the tournament director or the ticketed fans at the BNP Paribas Open.  First, Victoria Azarenka retired from her quarter-final match against Caroline Wozniacki due to a hip injury that she sustained in the 3rd game of the opening set after stretching to return a shot.  She took a prolonged medical time out, played two more points, but then retired after consulting with her team.  She also had to withdraw from her upcoming doubles match with partner Maria Kirilenko. 

About 30 minutes later Tommy Robredo pulled out of his quarter-final match giving Juan Martin del Potro a walkover, due to a left abductor injury that happened during his previous match against Sam Querrey. 

Victoria is still slated to play in the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open later this month, but unfortunately, Robredo has pulled out of Miami due to the strain.

Caroline's next opponent will be the winner of Shuai Peng/Maria Sharapova, and Del Potro will play the winner of Rafael Nadal/Ivo Karlovic.

Injury Update: Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters was forced to retire in her 4th round match against Marion Bartoli at the BNP Paribas Open due to a nagging shoulder injury that she has had since the Australian Open, and although the pain isn't constant, and she says she's not too worried about it, she also doesn't want to take unnecessary risks. 

At the end of the Australian Open I was already having some acupuncture from my trainer because I had some pain in that shoulder.  And especially I kept telling him even with the drive volleys that I was hitting, everything that was kind of a little bit higher up, I felt I was struggling with it a little bit . 

Obviously something is not the way it should be at the moment in this area, so I'm gonna have to figure out, gonna have some tests done, and then try to get to it and solve it.

I don't want to be in that position where I'm taking medication to cover the pain and not knowing if it's getting worse during my match.

She still intends to play at the Sony Ericsson Open begining March 21st, but wants to be completely healed for Fed Cup and the clay court season.

Obviously we have Miami, but then after Miami we have Fed Cup, which, you know, I'm taking very seriously.And also obviously the clay court season, which is, you know, a very tough part of the season for the shoulders.  And so, you know, I'm gonna have to make sure that I'm, you know, fully healed until I start playing on that surface.

Serena Williams Hospitalized With Pulmonary Embolism

Updated on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 3:41PM by [OnTheGoTennis]

Photo:  Getty Images

Serena Williams, who has been unable to play tennis due to a foot injury sustained after last year's Wimbledon Championships, is now hospitalized after undergoing emergency treatment for a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) on Monday.  She was spotted going to Cedar-Sinai Medial Center several times last week but was still able to attend Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on Sunday, however on Monday her symptoms worsened. 

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Photos and Video: Rafa Opens School in India

Rafael Nadal is a champion both on and off the court.  After his loss in Shanghai, Rafa traveled to India to be present for the inauguration ceremony for his new school in Andrha Pradesh.  Per his official website: 

The Rafa Nadal Foundation together with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation have celebrated the inauguration of their first school in India, located in the district of Anantapur, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where the Vicente Ferrer Foundation has been working for the past 40 years implementing a development program. Rafa Nadal, accompanied by his mother, Ana Maria and representatives of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation cut the first of what hopefully will be many ribbons.

The aim of this new school is to offer educational, psycho-social, health and nutritional support to more than a hundred children who belong to the poorest communities in the country, such as the ‘dalits’ or untouchables, tribal groups and the so-called disadvantaged castes. Through the implementation of tools such as education and sports (particularly tennis) they plan to integrate all the boys and girls from different castes, ages and places. During the opening ceremony on October 17th, Rafa Nadal played tennis with the students of his new school and looked very happy to have had the chance to do spend some time with them, “I’m really happy to be here visiting the school and meeting the children who will study here. I hope they will like it and I hope this project will help them to get an education and to have all they need. I wish to see those who will study here have a new life when I come back in a few years time”.

Roger Federer named in IMG Betting Scandal

  

According to TMZ, IMG, one of the biggest sports management companies in the world, is being sued by Agate Printing, Inc who claims they were the gambling go-between and provided escorts for IMG CEO Theodore Forstmann.  In the suit, Agate Printing claims that Forstmann bet millions on several of his clients, including Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.  Roger is not being sued by the company, but he allegedly played a part in the betting:

And the suit goes on, alleging tennis star Roger Federer gave Forstmann inside information about a tennis match in which Federer competed. The suit claims in one case Forstmann raised his bet from $10,000 to $40,000 after receiving the inside info from Federer.  We're told the match in question was the 2006 French Open final.  Ironically, Federer lost to Rafael Nadal.

The reason for the suit is because Forstmann allegedly breached an agreement with Agate and left them in the red for gambling losses and tax liabilities. 

Forstmann's rep says that,

The allegations in James Agate's complaint are beyond false, they are preposterous.

And apparently in 2009 Agate admitted to spreading false information about Forstmann.

According to TMZ, there has been no comment from Federer's rep.

Update on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 4:29PM by [OnTheGoTennis]

Too see Roger's response to these allegations, click here.

Video: Nole Artballing

Now that Novak Djokovic has qualified for the Barclays World Tour Finals, he gets to do some artballing too, and he does it with his fabulous Nole flair.   It seems he always has a great time no matter what he is doing, including rolling around in paint.  Sexy.

Injury Report: Footgate 2?

Not a chance.  Kim Clijsters has pulled out of the China Open due to foot surgery. She had the surgery to remove moles from her foot, but it is not healing well. On her website she states,

After I returned from New York, I had some moles removed. The operation had been planned for quite a while. However, the wound on my foot sole heals really bad. Therefore playing tennis is not possible.

And then she showed us this beautiful picture of her foot for confirmation.  I guess she wanted to ensure that we believed her story, unlike another player who is still getting media backlash for dropping out of tourneys after foot surgery.

After seeing this pic, I think we just need to start taking people at their word. Don't ya think?