The Fed Cup finals are finally here! A scrappy, Williams-sister-free Team USA is in the “toe” of the Italian boot this weekend, battling for Fed Cup glory on slow red clay. World No. 49 Melanie Oudin, who proved herself as a little-known underdog in the first round against Argentina this February, is now the team [...]

The AFP reported today that both Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse have been suspended from tennis for a year (and fined 1000 euros) by the Flemish Doping Tribunal. Wickmayer, world No. 18 and a US Open semifinalist, was punished for failing to report her whereabouts to drug testers on three occasions. Malisse was punished for [...]

Photo: JP/Ricky Yudhistira
The WTA’s final tournament of the year is this week in Bali at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. The $600,000 tournament is a kind of consolation year ending championships, open to the top players who have won at least one International Series level event in 2009 and who didn’t make Doha. Sabine [...]

I just can’t get closure on a tournament until I see the player party video, can you? Here’s the party in Doha. I love Wozniacki’s “brainless ball basher” vs. “pusher” analysis of her match vs. Azarenka!

Also, I didn’t realize Jelena Jankovic was a budding fashion designer. I propose that Serena and J.J. design the evening [...]

A lot of interesting stories continue to develop in Tennis Land, so I thought I’d put them all down in one place:
Let’s start with some fun stuff. Reporter Matt Cronin via Twitter: “Sharapova recently began dating the Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic. Now if she can only help “The Machine” get his deadly jump shot back.”
Vujacic [...]

Serena Williams beat her sister, 6-2, 7-6 in the finals of the year ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha on Sunday. Serena was undefeated this week and will end the year as the best player in the world – both in ranking points and by popular consensus. Besides the ranking, prestige and the 1.5 million [...]

It’s Williams vs. Williams in the final of the year ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. The sisters have played each other over 20 times, are as good as tied in the head-to-head and are the two most enduring, confident and iconic players currently playing on the WTA tour. Serena’s been the most dominant player [...]

We’ve been treated to some riveting tennis so far at the WTA’s year ending championships in Doha.
Was today’s meeting between Vera Zvonareva and Caroline Wozniacki a tennis match or medieval torture porn? The blood poured (literally) in the second set, when Vera Zvonareva took a 5 minute medical timeout to treat a bloody nose. The [...]

Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, the Williams sisters and others have responded to Andre Agassi’s “shocking” confession that he used crystal meth and lied to the ATP about it after a drug test came back positive.
UPDATE: Rafael Nadal was less moderate than others in his reaction to Agassi’s confession. He wonders why “now that he is [...]

The WTA has a new feature on its website called “Something Completely Different,” which includes players’ answers to “random” press conference questions. The first in the series is: “Who is your favorite male tennis player?” Roger Federer is on the top of many a WTA player’s list – and no, Marion Bartoli isn’t even included!
I [...]

Dinara Safina’s retirement against Jelena Jankovic and subsequent withdrawal from the year ending championships was Wednesday’s big news out of Doha.  She tapped out in the third game of the match, leaving the court after a series of gut wrenching sobs no doubt caused by both pain and disappointment. In what was supposed to be [...]

Photo via www.sonyericsson-championships.com
The best thing about the year ending championships is the format – from the very first day you have the best players playing against each other and the promise of seeing them again soon, win or lose.
The first match was an interesting one. YEC rookie, Victoria Azarenka, trounced former world number one Jelena [...]