Richard Gasquet appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland on Tuesday to defend his contaminated-by-a-cocaine-kiss excuse before a panel of lawyers. The World Anti Doping Agency and the International Tennis Federation are appealing an independent tribunal’s decision that allowed Gasquet to return to tennis after being side-lined for just 2 1/2 months for a doping offense. WADA and the ITF want him out of the sport for at least a year.

Gasquet was officially suspended from competition in early May, after testing positive for cocaine at the Miami Masters tournament at the end of March. He missed the French Open and Wimbledon while the ITF assembled an independent anti-doping tribunal. The tribunal bought Gasquet’s claim that he had unknowingly ingested the recreational drug while kissing a cocaine user known as “Pamela” in Miami, and cleared him to return to the sport in July.

But WADA and the ITF feel that Gasquet got off too easy and want him held to “the strictest standards of the WADA Code — which makes athletes responsible for any substance found in their body.”

“Everything went as expected and Richard Gasquet has, of course, had his chance to speak,” CAS secretary-general Matthieu Reeb said after the seven-hour hearing. “Now the arbitrators will begin their deliberations, which are going to take around three to four weeks until a final judgment will be communicated to the parties.” (via the AP)

Officials say they hope to make the decision well before January’s Australian Open.

I hope everything works out for Gasquet. At this point, a one year ban seems overly harsh for a recreational drug, no matter how he ingested it. But with Andre Agassi’s admission that he used a similar – I’d argue more believable – explanation to get out of his own failed drug test, it’s a bad time to be a tennis player on the defense.

Just ask Belgian players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse. They may be appealing to the CAS themselves, after being handed one-year suspensions by a Belgian anti-doping group last week.

Gosh, with all this WADA talk and Serena’s US Open-related punishment upcoming, tennis is getting downright gloomy.

Gasquet’s sharp suit lifts the spirits a little bit:

Photo of Gasquet outside the CAS by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

What’s coming out of the taps in Basel? Whether it’s Lindt chocolate or clean, crisp natural spring water, we have three Swiss players into the Basel quarterfinals on Friday. The last and only other time Basel saw three Swiss in the quarterfinals was eight years ago, when Federer, George Bastl and Michel Kratochvil made it through. (via the ATP)

Unless you’re a pretty hard-core Federer fan (or Swiss) it’s hard to even name three Swiss players on the tour. There’s Roger, of course, and ol’ Stanislas Wawrinka and. . .Marco Chiudinelli? You do know Marco, right? He was a guest at Roger’s wedding! He also finished last year at No. 779 in the world, after a year off with injury. Since then, he’s climbed to a career-best ranking of No. 71 last week and is now a candidate for the ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year. A Swiss with an upside – like the Alps.

But no Swiss is safe as long as Novak Djokovic sticks around. He double-bageled Jan Hernych on Thursday on his way to the quarters.

Here’s the order of play in Basel on Friday:

Stepanek vs. Cilic
Wawrinka vs. Djokovic
Chiudinelli vs. Gasquet
Federer vs. Korolev

It’s nice to see Richard Gasquet back in the mix and playing well after his suspension. He fought through a tough three setter on Thursday, saving match points against John Isner, and it was a pleasure watching him play. That backhand belongs in a museum – or on a stage.

Here’s Richard talking about Thursday’s victory and his return to tour:

In Valencia, Andy Murray survived losing the second set to Leonardo Mayer and will advance to the quarterfinals. Defending champ David Ferrer withdrew from his match against Albert Montanes due to a hamstring injury and is out of contention for the World Tour Finals (otherwise known as the WTF). Davydenko and Verdasco both kept their hopes for London alive by winning their matches.

Here’s Friday’s order of play in Valencia:

Youzhny vs. Simon
Murray vs. Montanes
Garcia-Lopez vs. Davydenko
Verdasco vs. Robredo

I guess I should point out that four Spaniards made it to the quarters in Valencia, but that’s really not too surprising, is it?

This video shows off the stupendous (stupefying?) new tennis complex in Valencia. The Ágora building, which holds the center court, is straight out of a science fiction movie. Check it out:

Click here for the Basel TV schedule. Click here for the Valencia TV schedule (coverage begins on Saturday)

Today is Martina Hingis’s 29th birthday and the last day of her two-year drug suspension. Jon Wertheim has an interesting interview with her posted on the Sports Illustrated website. Click here to read it if you haven’t already (yes, she answers the comeback question.)

Here’s what really got to me:

The amount (of cocaine metabolite found in Hingis’s system during Wimbledon, 2007) was so trace that, in marked contrast to Richard Gasquet — who was cleared to return after completing a 2½-month ban in July when an anti-doping panel ruled that he accidentally ingested cocaine by kissing a woman at a nightclub — Hingis was at a loss even to fashion a plausible theory about how she could have tested positive. (In the past few months the British media have reported about trace levels of cocaine turning up everywhere from the Thames River to restroom sinks.) Though circumstantial evidence is just that — circumstantial — it defies logic that a veteran player who had passed upwards of 100 tests, some of them unannounced and out of competition, would dabble with cocaine in conjunction with a Grand Slam, knowing with virtual certainty that she would be tested.

Rafael Nadal plays Richard Gasquet in a tough first round match at the US Open. If you’re nervous about Rafa’s chances, his comments from today’s press conference should make you feel better:

Q. How are your knees feeling? How are you more generally physically? Are there any other problems you’re dealing with?
RAFAEL NADAL: Hopefully not, no. The knees are perfect right now, my feeling. I think everything is okay, so I don’t have any problem.

Q. How tough has it been psychologically for you to deal with what you’ve dealt with the last couple of months?
RAFAEL NADAL: Psychologically for me now, I am perfect. After important stop, came back with more energy than ever, no. Probably I need few time to be ready, to get the rhythm, to play your best tennis, but the energy and the illusion is 100%.

Q. Have you changed your workout routine at all? Have you slowed down because of the knees? Work less, shorter hours?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. When you come back after an injury, you start slow always. You have to be progression, but later I am like normal right now. Yesterday I practice two hours and a half. Today I practice two hours. I am feeling really well.

Q. Is it a bit of a psychological advantage to be a bit of an underdog here because of the injury? Less is expected so you can be more relaxed. Is there anything to that line of thinking?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I don’t know why, no? I think I am perfect, no? I am relaxed to be here another year and to try my best another time.

Q. Can you say you are 100% well, feeling well, for this tournament?
RAFAEL NADAL: I am 100% well to play this tournament, yeah. (laughter.) I don’t know if I am playing at my best level, but I am 100%. You want me 100%? Me too.

In terms of Gasquet’s troubles, spending months off the tour dealing with allegations of cocaine use, Rafa is unequivocally supportive. . .and maybe a touch paranoid, no?

Q. You showed a lot of support for Gasquet when he was suspended. He says he appreciates that very much from you. Can you talk about the reason, what went through your mind? You showed so much support for him.
RAFAEL NADAL: The true is I support him a lot. First thing, because I believe in him. Second thing, because I think he’s a very nice guy. I know him since 13 years old or 12 years old. I talk with him what happen. He told me he didn’t take nothing. So I believe him 100%, and I think you know, it is open. I don’t want to speak a lot about that and a lot of history is out about when I speak about that, but it’s not 100% perfect sometime. If someone wants to kill you, somebody can kill you, you know? And you didn’t do nothing. That’s the true, no? That’s my feeling what happened with Richard, and of course they say that, no? He won. In the beginning, it was three years, and then it was three years because he didn’t take nothing. So I’m very happy for that, and I am sure a lot of players are very happy for Richard.

Uhhhh. . .translation, please?

Interview via US Open website.

Rafa photo REUTERS/Peter Jones (UNITED STATES SPORT TENNIS) via Daylife.

Sunday was Practice Day at the US Open, which gave fans the opportunity to watch the pros prep for the big tournament. Some of the top stars practiced out-of-view on Arthur Ashe, but there was still plenty to gawk at on the side courts.

It was especially nice to see Richard Gasquet back on the court with his fellow Frenchies. (Speaking of good looking French stuff – don’t forget to enter our Babolat racket giveaway! Click here for more info.)

Here’s some of what we shot:

 

First it was Mariano Puerta’s wife, now it’s “Pamela,” Gasquet’s one-night-fling. Why are we ladies always blamed for besmirching the honor of the ATP?

Tennis.com’s Peter Bodo shared the full ITF report from Richard Gasquet’s anti-doping tribunal. Long story short, the tribunal said Gasquet’s cocaine use “occurred in circumstances in which the degree of his fault was very small, as small as the minuscule quantity consumed.”  Instead of a long suspension, the tribunal decided that Gasquet had been penalized enough and could return to tour immediately.

So now let’s get to the juicy stuff! Yes, I know it’s wrong to find intrigue and humor in someone’s misfortune, but we’ve all been there – victim of a doomed night out on the town. So let’s all agree we’re laughing with Richard, not at him, shall we?

And the adventure begins. . .

On March 27, on the eve of Richard Gasquet’s first round match at the Miami Masters tournament, he and his team took a look at an MRI scan of his inflamed shoulder and decided he should withdraw from the tournament. They went from the doctor’s office back to the hotel, leaving the formal withdrawal process – which can include a drug test – until the next day. This small, seemingly inconsequential decision would prove to be Gasquet’s undoing. . .duh. . duh. . duh!

Then Gasquet makes the mistake all of us have made at one point – he decides he’s bored and wants to go out. So he and a group including his coach Guillaume Peyre (the guy with the hot stepdaughter who dated Baghdatis ) and Thierry Champion made arrangements to go out for dinner and see French DJ Bob Sinclar. The DJ, an aquaintance, was “performing that evening in Miami as part of the Winter Music Conference; an event which, though the player did not know it, is notoriously associated with use of illegal recreational drugs including cocaine.” Poor, naive, Reechard!

And here’s where it gets good:

(Gasquet and Peyre) arrived at Vita (the restaurant) and met M. Champion and another friend of his there.  They dined together, joined by the owner of the restaurant.  While waiting at the bar for their table, the player noticed a group of four young women dining at a nearby table.  He recognised one of them, Mlle Francesca Antoniotti, a sports news presenter on French television.

At about 10.30pm one of the women invited the group of men to join them for a drink after dinner.  The men did so, joining them at their table.  The player talked mostly to one of the women called Pamela.  We do not know her family name and therefore refer to her simply as Pamela.  The player learned that Pamela lived in Paris  and that she, Mlle Antoniotti and another of the women, known as Nouria, were on holiday together in Miami.  The player and his companions discovered that these three women were also planning to see M. Sinclar perform that night, at a club called Set.  The fourth woman, called Denise, was due to leave to work at a different venue.

The group of four men, including the player, and the three women, including Mlle Antoniotti and Pamela, set off for Set on foot at about midnight.  They entered Set at about 12.40am on 28 March 2009, after awaiting the arrival of M. Sinclar.  He then started his performance.  The player and the others in his group were soon invited to M. Sinclar’s table by his wife.  They stood around the table talking and listening to the music.  On the table top, there were open jugs of mixer drinks, including apple juice, a bottle of vodka and bottles of water.

The player drank a vodka and apple juice prepared for him by M. Champion.  Later, at about 2am, he helped himself to more apple juice, without vodka.  The player talked particularly to Pamela, though he was not with her all the time, and also talked to others.  The Tribunal accepts the player’s evidence that he and Pamela kissed mouth to mouth about seven times while they were at Set, each kiss lasting about five to ten seconds. We accept his evidence that he was not with Pamela constantly while at the club.  At one stage the two of them went upstairs and sat on a sofa where they kissed.  After that they came downstairs again, stopping to kiss on the stairs.  The player then drank only water from a sealed bottle and a vodka and apple juice he had ordered from the bar.

At about 4.15am, the player and the others with whom he had arrived decided to leave.  They left at about 4.35am, after awaiting the end of M. Sinclar’s performance, thanking him and saying goodbye.  The player was tired.  His impression was that Pamela did not seem tired. She expressed a wish to go to another venue called Goldrush, where the fourth woman from the restaurant, Denise, was working.  The group of seven traveled in two taxis.  The player went in a taxi with Pamela.  Goldrush turned out to be a strip club. The player and his three male companions did not like it and wanted to leave about 10 minutes after arriving.  He did not have any physical contact with Denise or anyone else at Goldrush.

They waited for Pamela to return from the toilet where she had spent longer than expected.  When she returned, she had replenished her make-up and rearranged her hair.  The group then left at about 5am and said their goodbyes outside.  The player kissed Pamela on the mouth for two or three seconds before boarding a taxi back to his hotel with his coach.  On arrival at his hotel he went to his room and slept.

Shocking, just shocking. . . .I’m not even talking about the strip club or the damning fact that Pamela “replenished her make-up and rearranged her hair” because I already know that Gasquet is guilty. . . Guilty of drinking apple juice and vodka!  Really, there’s just no excuse for that.

But of course the story doesn’t end there. Sloppy nights like these are often followed by awkwardness and misunderstandings – drug tests, paternity tests, breathalyzer tests – and in Gasquet’s case, sh*t happened.

The next day, Gasquet went to the tournament to withdraw, and was asked to take a drug test. He was told weeks later that he’d tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite. Besides submitting to a hair test (which came back negative), Gasquet and his manager also tracked down Pamela at the Parisian restaurant where she worked. She said that her friends had taken cocaine in Miami but she hadn’t touched the stuff.

She soon stopped answering Gasquet’s manager’s phone calls, but found the time for an interview with Aujourd’hui magazine. This time she claimed that neither she nor her friends had used cocaine in Miami (probably because one of her friends was a newscaster.) She also said she’d never even kissed Gasquet on the mouth and complained that she was getting grief from her boyfriend about it. Then an anonymous witness went on French radio claiming to have seen Pamela taking cocaine that night at the club. Needless to say, Pamela wasn’t called as a witness at the tribunal.

So all’s well that ends well, except for one harsh fact. Though Gasquet was not severely punished this time, if he ever has an apple juice and cocaine cocktail again – or tests positve for any banned substance – he will face a career destroying four year suspension. Guess he’ll be spending a lot of nights in his room drinking Evian and watching The Wire on DVD.

Moral of the story, kids: Stay in your room and do your homework. And stick to scotch.

For the full report, click here and follow the link in the article.

Richard Gasquet has been given “time served” for testing positive for cocaine in March, and is free to return to tour immediately.

From the AFP this morning:

PARIS (AFP) — France’s Richard Gasquet, who tested positive for cocaine during the Miami Masters in March, was handed a two-and-a-half month suspension on Wednesday, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced.

Gasquet had been provisionally suspended in May following a positive test of his A sample and the B sample has come back positive, the ITF said.

However, the ITF added that the 23-year-old will be able to return to action as from Wednesday, with the ban retroactive to May.

The ITF said Gasquet’s sample from the ATP event in Miami contained benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine banned in-competition under the World Anti-Doping Association’s 2009 List of Prohibited Substance.

But the ITF tribunal accepted his plea of ‘no significant fault or negligence’, the player having insisted that the cocaine entered his system through inadvertent contamination in a nightclub.

The ITF ruled that a longer ban would have been disproportionate.

Gasquet, who eventually did not play in Miami because of a shoulder injury, also retains his results, ranking points and prize money from events subsequent to Miami.

This is good news for tennis fans! No one wins when players are disproportionately punished for trace amounts of recreational drugs in their system. The fact that Gasquet has already served more time than doping Dodger Manny Ramirez seems patently unfair.

Martina Hinigs retired in 2007 after she tested positive for cocaine, saying she had “no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.” The ITF suspended Martina for two years, with the ban lifting this October. She’s said that a comeback isn’t realistic at this point. (Wait, what’s that Adidas phrase, again? Impossible is Nothing, Martina!)

I am very interested to see if this relatively short suspension (though missing two Majors isn’t exactly a light punishment) helps motivate Gasquet and refocus his significant talents. He’s currently ranked #32 in the world and has had lackluster results for most of the season.

Tennis player Mathieu Montcourt, ranked # 119, was found dead outside his Paris apartment at about 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Preliminary autopsy reports show that the 24-year-old player suffered a cardiac arrest. Further tests for any drugs or medicines in Montcourt’s body have been carried out, with results expected this weekend. (via Reuters.)

His colleague Rafael Nadal – who had played with Montcourt since their junior days – was one of the first to respond publicly, via his website: “This morning I woke up to one of the worst news anyone can receive. I heard about the death of my friend Mathieu Montcourt and I am still in shock, I can’t believe it.”

Part of the close-knit French Tennis Federation (FFT), Montcourt’s colleagues – “Les Blues” – are understandably shocked by his unexpected death. (My translation via L’Equipe unless otherwise noted.)

Laurent Recouderc: “It’s just impossible. We cried together, cracked up together, traveled the world, too many memories. A guy who never gave up. I’m thinking very much of his family, his girlfriend and his grandfather who loved him so much.”

Richard Gasquet: “C’est violent! I’ve known Mathieu since the age of nine. Everyone has their little problems, but when something like this happens, it puts it in perspective.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: “Mathieu and I shared the same room for two years, at INSEP [a high-performance training center]. We did so much together – he was full of ambition. Since this morning, whenever I think of him I have tears in my eyes.”

Sébastien Grosjean: “My thoughts are with his family in these hard times. He was a really nice guy and a very hard worker. It’s really sad. I trained with him many times over the past few years.”

Fabrice Santoro: “He was truly a good person and I don’t know what else to say. It’s very sad.”

Alize Cornet: “I am extremely shocked by the passing away of Mathieu. Honestly, I haven’t fully realized yet that he is no longer with us, that I will no longer bump into this really nice boy that I was in the habit of seeing at certain tournaments. I’d like to express my support during this terrible ordeal to his family and those close to him. . .Rest in peace, Mathieu and courage to those that remain.”

Patrice Dominguez, the FFT’s Technical Director and possibly the last person to speak to Montcourt (Montcourt had spent the evening at his home), said that the hard-working player had top 50 potential: “He is a player we considered could get into the top 50 or 60 within the next two years. He was someone who was really well liked. He was someone who was always one of the best under 12s, best under 16s, best juniors. He was always a fighter, and was a player we liked to watch.” (via CBS Sports)

Mélanie Maillard, a psychologist with the FFT, gives some insight into his personality: “He was an original par excellence – with a big “O” – courageous, unique. His family called him “Matou” like a cat who is sweet but can also grab its opponent in his claws. For quite some time he said that luck was maybe turning in his favor.”

Montcourt, who lost to Radek Stepanek in the second round of this year’s French Open, had since played in four Challenger level events, including a semi final effort in Rijeka, Croatia last week. Perhaps he was trying to play as much as possible before this Monday, when his five week suspension for betting on matches went into effect. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found that Montcourt had wagered a total of $192 on 36 tennis events in 2005. Montcourt claimed that he never bet more than $3 on a match, and never on his own matches – his statements were confirmed by the ATP (via CBS Sports)

Obviously Montcourt’s death is very sad, regardless of the timing, but it does seem unfair that he’s now the “player who died while banned for betting.” Especially since the infractions were minor.

SI’s Jon Wertheim also points out how “downright creepy” it is that Montcourt is now the second tennis player to recently suffer an untimely death after being banned for betting. Italian player Federico Luzzi was suspended for much of 2008 for gambling on matches, and was diagnosed with leukemia upon returning to tour in October. He passed away soon after. Players including Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer paid tribute to Luzzi at the Rome Masters event this April.

Tough new anti-doping controls will be in effect at this year’s Roland Garros.

From Le Monde (click here for the original, my translation):

“This year, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, like all players who compete at Roland Garros (May 24 to Sunday June 7) will not only be subject to traditional anti-doping controls by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but also those carried out by the very effective French Agency for the fight against doping (AFLD).

Under a new World Anti-Doping Code, which allows an organization to implement national anti-doping tests in addition to those organized by a federation for a major competition, the president of the AFLD, Pierre Bordry, asked his counterpart at the ITF for the right to make additional checks during the fortnight in Paris. The ITF agreed. “The AFLD will conduct random and targeted checks at Roland-Garros,” Pierre Bordry confirms. “The tests will be organized according to the information we have and the evidence available  from the ITF.“

Before the 2008 Tour de France, the AFLD received a “tip” from the Italian Olympic Committee – that riders were using CERA, the new generation of the (blood boosting drug) EPO – to find this substance in the urine of several cyclists. Does the AFLD have a similar clue before Roland Garros?

“Does the AFLD have a similar clue before Roland Garros?” Now that’s the million dollar question. It will be interesting to see how this story develops – are certain players really being targeted or is this just extra sensitivity brought on by l’affaire Gasquet?

The last time the AFLD tested at Roland Garros was in 2006. For the past two years the ITF has tested, exclusively, and used a Swedish sampling company and labs in Montreal (the same labs that recently found cocaine in Gasquet’s urine.) No one has tested positive for drugs at Roland Garros since Mariano Puerta, after making it to the final in 2005.

The AFLD is hard core – it’s famously the thorn in Lance Armstrong’s side (click here.) If I were a tennis pro, I’d be terrified to eat a hot dog or a bag of Fritos right now. Who the heck knows what’s in those things, anyway? Stick to organics, guys.

“It was only this much.” Gasquet photo by Reuters via Ouest-France

There’s been lots of fun and bizarre news items lately that haven’t quite warranted a full post. So I thought I’d put them all together into my second tennis goodie bag. Enjoy! (And don’t worry, it won’t rot your teeth.)

First Serena Williams is trash talking Safina as second best (click here), now she’s haranguing the WTA tour. After retiring with a leg injury against Schiavone in the first round of Madrid on Monday, Williams complained to the press about the demands of the tour. Here’s the scoop from the BBC:

“I don’t really have a choice whether to play,” said Williams, who has said players would be fined for not playing even if they were dead.

She added: “I’m not into throwing away thousands and thousands of dollars.”

The world number two – second seed in Madrid – said she was currently remodeling a house and said: “I don’t know about anyone else but $75,000 is a lot of money to me.

“That’s like my whole furniture bill, and some stairs, rugs.”

Marat Safin also lost in the first round yesterday, and seemed more ready than ever to be retiring from the game. He described the daily grind (via the Guardian):

“You wake up in the morning and you get on a bus or in a car at 11 o’clock. You come back around six. You watch a couple of episodes of something on TV. You read a book. You go for dinner. You look at the internet a little bit. And then you go to sleep. It’s boring I know but it’s the routine you have to do because you can’t do anything else. That’s our job for 10 years. Some great moments, some bad moments. Sometimes we can get out and have some fun but most of the time you have to be focused on tennis. Life is waiting for me after.”

Wait, Marat just described my life! Except I don’t travel the world, make millions of dollars and get to retire at 30. Otherwise, it’s good to know we all put our tennis shorts on one leg at a time.

Pop quiz: Name the American men, currently active on the ATP tour, who have made it to a Major singles semifinal. (I’ll post the answer in the comments section.)

Industry sources say that literary agent Larry Kirshbaum has been talking to publishers about a memoir by the 22-year-old Spanish heartthrob, who is now ranked the No. 1 tennis player in the world. . .Mr. Kirshbaum has yet to send publishers a proposal, but some editors say a book by Mr. Nadal is something they’d have to consider. “He is the best tennis player in the world right now,” says a publishing executive. “There are a lot of tennis fans around the world.” Mr. Kirshbaum did not return a call seeking comment.

Speaking of opening spectacles, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi spoke to the BBC recently to promote the exhibition match celebrating Wimbledon’s new roof on Centre Court (the match will also include Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters.) Click here to watch the video (and get a load of how intensely Agassi stares at his wife.) If you prefer something a little more kinky, click here to watch TMZ stalk Steffi and Andre while they shop for lingerie in Vegas. (The May 17 exhibition will be televised live in the States at 9:30 a.m EST on ESPN Classic and streamed online at ESPN360.c0m.)

Just checking: Does Stan’s girlfriend remind you of anyone???

And in the “put this in your pipe and smoke it” (no, not you, Marat) category, here’s more fuel for Gasquet-watchers (via Tom Tebbutt of the Globe and Mail):

“In the 2009 ATP media guidebook, there is a note about Richard Gasquet: “In February, 2008, [he] launched The Richard Gasquet Foundation, which aims to help adolescents who struggle to find their place in society and who suffer from a lack of confidence.”

“What about ME?” you’re asking. Okay, if you want some goodies of your own (like a new tennis racquet) click here to visit Tennis Identity’s round-up of the best tennis racquet deals from Babolat, Wilson and Prince.

Serena Williams thinking about her contractor -  photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Imagesphoto via Daylife.One of Marat Safin’s “bad moments.” Thumbnail photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images bia Yahoo! Sports.