Off season chillin’. The WTA ladies are already deep into rest and relaxation mode. The paparazzi caught Caroline Wozniaki sunbathing topless in a cute bikini while vacationing on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius last week. Agnieszka Radwanska and Urszula Radwanska came along for the trip.

“I am very pleased to have a holiday and relax. I feel I really have given everything this year, so I deserve it,” Caroline said in Doha before jetting off for 10 days in paradise. This is reportedly her first vacation unaccompanied by her parents – make the most of it, Caroline!

Photos via Sports by Brooks via: Ekstra Bladet and Forty Deuce

Serena Williams was honored on Monday evening as one of Glamour Magazine’s “Women of the Year.” She shared the Carnegie Hall stage with Maya Angelou, Stella McCartney, Rihanna and others (click here for the list.) She is a Woman of the Year because:

“When most people would falter, she is able to raise her game a level, and that’s what you look for in champions. I feel confident she will win more major singles titles than my 12. And that makes me very proud.” —Billie Jean King, tennis champ and 2006 Woman of the Year (via Glamour)

The magazine says that this nude-ish photo of Serena accompanying the magazine story was taken a week after Wimbledon. Did the Glamour folks consider taking Serena off the list after her US Open tirade?

It’s a little awkward to watch Serena being honored for her achievements when the Grand Slam Committee is reportedly poised to announce her punishment sometime this week. (The ITF President was quoted over the weekend predicting that the Committee will issue Serena a hefty fine, but no suspension – click here for more.)

Serena  was introduced by Tyra Banks at the Glamour ceremony. Here are some highlights from the evening:

Serena was also featured on the Today Show, talking about the award and her achievements. “Young girls can say ‘She did that and I can do that too.’ “ Well. . .yes and no.

Interesting to hear Serena’s comment that the hair-pulling soccer player will accept whatever punishment comes her way.

In my Serena search, I also found this sassy interview with Jonathan Ross in London.

And Part 2:

Italy beat the USA 4-0 in the Fed Cup final this weekend on the red clay of Reggio Calabria, Italy. Flavia Pennetta beat the overmatched Alexa Glatch and Francesca Schiavone took down Melanie Oudin on Saturday, and Flavia clinched the victory against Oudin in Sunday’s first match. With the tie decided, the fourth singles rubber was skipped, leaving Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani to underline Italy’s dominance with a 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 win over No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber and her partner Vania King.

It was a bittersweet weekend for Team USA – they made it to the finals as underdogs but were hoping to become the favorites (or at least in with a chance) with one or both of the Williams sisters playing in Italy. Venus and Serena finally declined to play team saviors, leaving Oudin and Glatch, with respective rankings of No. 49 and No. 132 in the world, to be the team No. 1 and No. 2. They’ve overachieved before, but pitting the two youngsters on the red mud against experienced, top 20 players like Schiavone and Pennetta was like sending lambs to the slaughter (and then to the oven to be roasted with rosemary and garlic. Yum.)

Oudin was in tears after losing to Pennetta 5-7, 2-6 on Sunday. But she says she’s still looking forward to next time: “Someday, when I’m in the Fed Cup final again, hopefully I’ll be able to pull on the win.”

REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito (ITALY SPORT TENNIS) via Daylife

Team USA Captain, Mary Joe Fernandez, put it this way: “The Italian team was the better team, they really played well and they deserved to win.”

Fernandez was Team USA’s biggest hero, rounding out a spectacular first season as the new leader with grace and good humor. She kept a blog this weekend at USTA.com, and here’s some of what she had to say about the result:

This year has been amazing. We started in Arizona with a pretty young team, including Melanie who I had just seen in Australia for the first time. Seeing her then and seeing her now I have seen such an amazing growth and transformation in every aspect of her game and she has matured so much.

Just for me to be back in a team atmosphere is fantastic. I have said so many times how my favorite memories are when I was on a team and Fed Cup was definitely one of the highlights and now to be in the mix from a different perspective has been great. It really is a dream come true. And the team has been fantastic. The girls fought so hard in every single tie. In each tie we were down and out and came back and we were hoping to do the same today but the Italian team was the better team, they really played well and they deserved to win.

I am very proud of everyone this year from the players who were not here in Italy like Bethanie (Mattek-Sands), Jill (Craybas) and Julie (Ditty), who came through for us in the other ties to our team here today. It was just a really positive year

Fernandez was honored by the ITF this weekend, becoming the first American to win the Fed Cup Award of Excellence.

There was nothing bittersweet for the Italians, who celebrated their victory with pure joy – and the Black Eyed Peas and Pavarotti (via FedCup.com):

While the Italian team piled on court to celebrate with Pennetta to the soundtrack of Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”, Italian tennis stalwarts Lea Pericoli and Nicola Pietrangeli were all smiles from the stands as the girls took the flag in a lap of honour underneath the presidential box, and the TV crews and their equipment scampered from the fountains of champagne.

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made the scoreline 4-0 by winning the doubles over Liezel Huber and Vania King, Vinci extending her perfect record in Fed Cup doubles to 14-0, and the stage was set for the trophy ceremony. The teams were led on court to the evocative “Chariots of Fire” and when Italy lifted their trophies in front of the standing crowd, they sang with gusto to their national anthem followed by Pavarotti’s “Nessun Dorma”.

Long-time  Italian Team Captain Corrado Barazzutti, was thrilled: “This is something unbelievable. These girls write the history of Italian tennis, this is a great moment. For a country like Italy…we are not America…this is a dream come true.”

The Italian team thanked Captain Barazzutti by throwing him in the air:

And then they threw their trophies in the air:

Here are some more scenes of champagne spraying, flag waving and general Fed Cup joy, Italian style:

Schiavone photo: AP Photo/Adriana Sapone via Daylife

Who needs Carlos Moya, anyway, when all of Italy is in love with you?

Fed Cup starts all over again in just a few months, with the USA playing France in the first round.

For all things Fed Cup, check out the excellent FedCup website here.

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 No. 1. Joining her are No. 132-ranked Alexa Glatch, who saved the USA from elimination against the Czech Republic in the semifinals, Vania King (who is replacing an on again/off-again Serena Williams) and doubles No. 1 Liezel Huber, who has used her experience to win the crucial fifth-rubbers in both the 1st round and semis this year.

Photos: Paul Zimmer via FedCup.com

“It’s definitely a little bit of pressure without the Williams sisters,” Oudin said to reporters (via the Tampa Examiner). “I thought that I might not even be playing (in the Fed Cup final), and definitely not No. 1 singles, but it’s a good feeling because I like representing our country and I’ve been on the team twice before. I’m really looking forward to playing and just fighting hard and having a good time again this weekend.”

Photo: Paul Zimmer via FedCup.com

If Team USA is scrappy, Team Italia is a band of gritty street fighters. Flavia Pennetta (No. 11) and Francesca Schiavone (No. 16) led their team to a 5-0 victory against France in February (in a battle that included some trash talk and a few rude gestures) and dismantled the Russians in the semifinals: 4-1. This is Italy’s third finals appearance in four years, having won the Fed Cup vs. Belgium in 2006 and lost to the Russians in 2007. Current team members Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci played in both of these finals.

Pennetta gave the chair ump another finger during France vs. Italy 1st round.

Perhaps the underdog Team USA will take heart in the teams’ head-to-head – this is the 10th meeting between the two nations, with USA leading Italy 9-0 in their series. The last time they met was in 2003 when USA won 5-0. Then again, streaks were made to be broken. Click here for some more interesting stats from the Fed Cup website.

Here’s the draw for the Fed Cup finals:

Saturday, November 7

* Flavia Pennetta (ITA) v Alexa Glatch (USA)
* Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Melanie Oudin (USA)

Sunday, November 8

* Flavia Pennetta (ITA) v Melanie Oudin (USA)
* Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Alexa Glatch (USA)
* Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci (ITA) v Liezel Huber / Vania King (USA)

Click here for the Fed Cup TV schedule and live streaming options.

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 not listing his whereabouts twice and for missing one drug test. The players can appeal their suspensions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Both Wickmayer and Malisse will likely appeal the rulings.* According to Nieuwsblad.be (and my Google-assisted translation), Wickmayer is blaming her lack of compliance on a computer password that didn’t work in the system log. Malisse says a lack of internet access at hotels and tournaments made it impossible to record his whereabouts and says he missed a drug test scheduled during French Open qualifying because he forgot to tell anti-doping officials that he decided to stay in the States. (Hmmmm. . .)

As the suspensions are immediate, Wickmayer is out of the Tournament of Champions in Bali, where she was in the running to be a semifinalist. Malisse was playing this week at the AXA Belgian Masters event.

Reuters is reporting that neither the ITF or WTA are able to comment as of post time:

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said it had not been informed of the suspensions while the women’s WTA Tour said it was also unable to comment.

“Before we can comment on doping cases until we have been notified in writing by the Belgian anti-doping agency and that has not happened as yet,” an ITF spokesman said.

These bans come as a surprise. As recently as October 23, the AFP reported that both players were off the hook:

Wickmayer, Malisse escape bans in doping row: Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse will not face suspensions despite falling foul of drug-testing rules. The disciplinary commission of the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) has instead requested a reprimand for the duo.

This is obviously mere speculation on my part, but could the tribunal’s sudden change of heart be the first example of the Agassi Effect?

*UPDATES as of November 6:

Xavier Malisse says an appeal is too costly for him, and that his career is likely over (via the AFP):

“A procedure before CAS is very costly and lasts a very long time,” said the 29-year-old, who has won three career titles and was ranked 19 in 2002.

“I currently don’t have the financial means to take on such a battle. I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but if the suspension is maintained that means the end of my career.”

Yanina Wickmayer’s sometimes coach, Ann Devries, tells Belgian TV that Wickmayer “sounded shattered and hysterical and was in tears when I spoke to her over the phone.“

“Just like that she will lose all that she has gained from several years of hard work. In a year’s time she will have lost all her WTA points and will have to start again from zero,” said Devries. (via tennis.com)

***UPDATES as of November 9

The ITF has accepted the Belgian tribunal’s ruling. Here’s Francesco Ricci Bitti, the ITF president:

“This reminds me of the cases of Italian players involved in betting a little while ago,” Ricci Bitti said. “These players need to be aware of their responsibilities. If they don’t know, this is the result.

“These cases create discussion because they’re not reliant on positive tests, but there are rules to respect,” Ricci Bitti added. “We’re awaiting the details from the Belgian federation. These kids need to wake up. They’re professionals and they earn a lot of money. They don’t need to merely know the rules, they should also respect them.”

Wickmayer speaks:

“I learned the news around 2:00 a.m. on Thursday night,” Wickmayer told VRT’s Sportweekend. “I think I woke up the whole hotel with my screams and I didn’t stop crying for two days.”

“It was not until June that I learned from the federation that my whereabouts had not been in order,” she added. “Since July, my whereabouts have been in order daily and let’s be clear: I have never failed or refused a test. I have been tested 10 to 15 times this year. I find it such a pity that my name is now associated with doping.”

Kim Clijsters via Twitter:

“It[']s very unfortunate what’s happened to Yanina and Xavier this week… While they may not have followed correct administration, they did not register a positive doping offense either… To receive a one year ban because of this seems extremely harsh and is potentially career-ending for both of them… I hope the authorities and athletes can work together on finding better solutions to keep our sports clean.”

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 Lisicki and Kimiko Date Krumm accepted the tournament’s two wildcards, completing the 12 woman draw. Click here for more info.

Marion Bartoli, Sam Stosur, Yanina Wickmayer and Sabine Lisicki are the top seeds and head up the four round robin groups:

Group A: Marion Bartoli, Shahar Peer, Magdalena Rybarikova
Group B: Samantha Stosur, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Agnes Szavay
Group C: Yanina Wickmayer, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Kimiko Date Krumm
Group D: Sabine Lisicki, Melinda Czink, Aravane Rezai

The tournament put a tropical spin on the requisite “evening gown” competition, hosting a welcome lunch and dressing the players in bright finery by Balinese designer Rico Anantha. I want one! (A dress, not a player – though I’d take Lisicki’s serve and Peer’s backhand.)

Photos via the WTA website – click here for more.

Aravane Rezai and Yanina Wickmayer:

Kimiko Date Krumm and Shahar Peer:

Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki

Magdalena Rybarikova and Anabel Medina Garrigues:

Agnes Szavay and Melinda Czink:

The ladies also took part in some kind of skin care demonstration, which I would find horribly condescending if it didn’t look like so much fun! (Also, I labeled this post “Tennis Babes” so who am I to talk?)

So is this a tournament or the off-season?

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 wear for the next player parties – they could have a design-off!

One last appeal to the WTA -  with all the injuries at the YEC last week, shouldn’t high-heels be banned?

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 is 25 years old, Slovenian and 6′7″ tall (so about Sharapova’s stiletto-height.)  Last year, he signed a three-year, 15 million dollar deal with the LA Lakers. Have fun, kids!

Here’s Sasha working the red carpet, Sharapova style:

Speaking of the young and super-rich – after collecting her $1.5 million dollar check in Doha this weekend, Serena Williams set the single-season record for prize money earned on the WTA tour: $6,545,586. Earlier this year, Serena surpassed Lindsey Davenport to become the first woman to earn more than $23 million in career prize money in any single sports league. (via Reuters) Serena may only have won three titles this year, but she knows how to pick ‘em. But Serena is not picking Fed Cup this weekend, abruptly withdrawing her participation last week just days after volunteering it. Here’s the reaction of team Captain, Mary Joe Fernandez via ESPN:

Fernandez, the ESPN analyst who was once a Fed Cup stalwart herself, sounded as if she had a little emotional whiplash Saturday after getting the news. “[Williams] e-mailed me,” Fernandez said. “She said she feels terrible and wishes she could be there, but she feels like she’d be a burden. I’m watching her play (in Doha) now.” “We were so excited that she was going to go, but what can you say? It’s the end of the year and everybody’s hurt. Billie Jean King always told me that you have to take the people who can go and who want to be there.”

Perhaps Serena’s exhausted by the Battle of the Books, as the hype surrounding Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open,” continues to dominate the headlines. Shortly after winning in Doha she flew to London to promote her own book “My Life: Queen of the Court” at a book signing at Harrods. Agassi will be appearing on “60 Minutes” this Sunday, the evening before his book hits the shelves.

Andy Murray is the latest tennis star to offer his opinion on Agassi’s crystal-meth use and drug test cover-up, offering this supportive take (via the Guardian):

I don’t think any of the players expected it, but you’ve just got to move on,” he said in Valencia, where he is due to return to the ATP Tour tomorrow after six weeks off with a left-wrist problem.

“I loved Andre, met him numerous times. He was unbelievably nice to me. I practised with him quite a lot. I guess it’s something he has to deal with himself. He’s entitled to say whatever he wants and I wish him the best.”

“I judge him as a tennis player, he was great, a great player, one of the best of all time. From the experiences I have had with him, he’s been nice to me. No one wants drugs in sport but everyone makes mistakes.”

“I didn’t play in those times [when Agassi failed a test] so I don’t know what it was like. There are even cases now where guys get off, with failed tests and contaminations, mistakes, like with the [Richard] Gasquet case. Sometimes things like that happen. People get away with it sometimes but I just don’t think drugs in tennis is a big problem like it is in other sports.”

Fernando Verdasco, who has recently spent some quality time in Las Vegas with Agassi and Adidas trainer Gil Reyes, agrees with Murray:

“He was my idol, all my life when I was a kid, and he will still be my idol,” the Spaniard said. “Everyone can make mistakes. My thoughts about Andre will not change because of this. He is a great person, he is always trying to help me and that for me is more important.”

Tennis writer Peter Bodo thinks more players should be voicing their support of Agassi, and condemns cynics who think Agassi’s confession is a ploy to sell more books: “Condemn Agassi all you want, but he respected you enough to tell the truth about himself and his time in the game.”

But if you still want to condemn the ATP for the cover-up, click here to read a former ATP-exec’s inside story.

Super-coach Brad Gilbert, who worked with Agassi from 1994 – 2002, told the The New York Times he had no idea about Agassi’s drug problems or the failed 1997 test:

“Maybe it was me being naïve, but I had no clue,” Gilbert said in a telephone interview Friday from his home in San Rafael, Calif.

“I did a really good job of sticking to the tennis court,” Gilbert said. “If Andre asked for something outside it, I would give it. I just wouldn’t ask him about it or volunteer something I wouldn’t have knowledge about. Because we hung out a ton, but that doesn’t mean you ask things that are personal.”

“I probably would have been up a creek if I would have known,”

Someone who always seems to be up the injury creek is Tommy Haas, who has withdrawn from this week’s Davidoff Swiss Indoors tournament due to Swine Flu. He came down with the flu before withdrawing from the Stockholm tournament a couple weeks ago and is unlikely to participate in the Paris Masters (via the Telegraph):

“I did a test because I suspected I had the swine flu and the test was positive,” he said. “It was obviously a shock for me.”

“I am quite relaxed because I know that swine flu is a particularly strong form of flu, but when you are in a good physical condition like I am, then you can quickly beat it off,” he added.

“It was really bad for three days and I couldn’t leave my hotel room,” he revealed. “I felt really bad.”

This will be Haas’s third straight withdrawal/retirement, having started the streak at October’s Shanghai Masters, where he retired from his second round match due to a shoulder injury.

Haas may be out of contention for the World Tour Finals in London, but plenty of other guys are still fighting for the last two spots. Click here for the ATP’s “on the bubble” break-down. (Hang tough, Stepanek fans!)

Rafael Nadal, who is taking a break from tennis this week, will appear in an in-depth interview on CNN’s Talk Asia. Here’s some of what he has to say:

On how Roger Federer has inspired him:

“What makes me a better player isn’t seeing Roger being a perfect player. What makes me a better player is to watch Roger always improve because when he was number one in 2004…I saw him and he was an unbelievable player, but after a few times, he was better and he was improving during all his career. And that says to me is you must improve all the time.”

On his career’s longevity:

“A lot of people finish their career at 29 years old and he started at 20 or 21. But I started at 16 and already I have seven years in total. I am not finished. I expect to be here and hope to be here for a long time. That’s what I can say. . .I think if I am not having chances to win important tournaments, I’m gonna go. That’s my feeling. I have already seven years like this and I hope be here as long as I can, but having 14 or 16 career years seems a lot.”

Click here for more from Rafa.

French chicken – and I’m not talking coq au vin. The French Tennis Federation is threatening to pull the French Open out of its current location if the Paris city council continues to stall the tournament’s expansion plans (via ESPN):

“It seems that the mayor’s entourage has become more hostile to our project — which was not the case when we launched it,” (FFT director general Gilbert) Ysern said. “Add to that the residents’ opposition and we are now forced to look for other options, including that of leaving the premises.”

A site near Disneyland Paris is a rumored alternative. I say it’s a stupid idea – roof or no roof, the French Open belongs at Roland Garros!

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 dollar pay day, Serena mentioned that she was thrilled to “finally” win a non-Major tournament, her first since taking the title in Charleston in April of 2008.

Here’s Serena with her No. 1 trophy, her first since 2002:

But Serena wasn’t entirely satisfied, when an interviewer congratulated her on her strong finish to the season, she replied: “I wish we could have won the doubles, but that didn’t work out.” (click here for the interview)

She and Venus paired up this year to win doubles titles at the Australian, Wimbledon and the US Open, admitting this week that is was their “secret goal” to compete in doubles in Doha. It was likely that their other secret goal was to win the tournament, but they were knocked out by Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez in the semis. The Spanish duo proved that their victory was no accident, going on to beat the No. 1 ranked team of Liezel Huber and Cara Black: 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 10-7 in the final.

By the way, check out the amazing Spanish cheering section that helped cheer the Spaniards to victory this week – eat your hearts out, Samurai!

The WTA action isn’t quite over yet. There’s still this coming week’s Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, “a season-ending event for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s top International tournament winners.” Marion Bartoli and Sam Stosur are the top seeds. Click here for more.

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 in the Majors this year and Venus is the opponent she fears the most. So let the better Williams win.

Serena may be No. 1 now, but she and Venus have lost the battle for supremacy in doubles. They went down on Saturday in the Doha semis to Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez. The longtime team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber have clinched the year end No. 1 ranking – despite not winning a Major this year. (Black/Huber will play the Spaniards in the final.)

Here’s some ammunition for those of you who just can’t let the Battle of the Real No. 1 Doubles Team go (via tennis.com):

“Serena and Venus Williams took the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns, while Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual won the French Open. Black and Huber reached the U.S. Open final and the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon, also winning six WTA titles including Madrid and Cincinnati.”

But I doubt Serena will be trash talking Liezel Huber, her Fed Cup teammate. Oh wait, Serena’s withdrawn from Fed Cup, with no reason given. Coincidence?