ForeverInLoveWithJus

News on Kim:

Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters has been fitted with a brace for her injured left wrist and will apparently miss next week's NASDAQ 100 Open Masters Series tournament in Miami.

Clijsters said on her website that an MRI showed she has a one and half centimetre tendon tear on her left wrist. She is taking anti-inflammatory pills to keep the swelling down.

"I can't even manage to type in my diary," said Clijsters. "I am trying to keep my form, but running with my brace on isn't easy. I have to be careful not to slip of course."

"I cannot sleep because of the pain," said Clijsters. "I can't even wash my hair. So Lleyton has to lend a hand."

She said she won't be able to train seriously for at least another 10 days, but could be out even longer.

"Should the injury not be better then, I will have to wait a further two to three weeks," she said.

She said she would try to return in time for the Fed Cup which begins April 19.

"It will become difficult to be strong for the Fed Cup. At this moment, chances that I will play the Fed Cup are still higher than the ones of not playing," she said.

Clijsters said she would stop giving interviews to certain reporters who doubted her injury.

"I have also heard about the lies that appeared in the press, again," said Clijsters.

"Some people even dare to write I am not injured at all. It has always been people from De Morgen en Het Laatste Nieuws who spread lies about my family. Therefore, I will no longer deal with these journalists."

PastyHusty

Rusedski Back For Davis Cup
Greg Rusedski has been included in Britain's Davis Cup team for their Euro/Africa zone match with Luxembourg on 9-11 April. It will be his first taste of competitive tennis since being cleared of a doping charge.

The British number two, sidelined since January, has under a month to prove his fitness to GB captain Jeremy Bates. Rusedski is joined in the squad by Tim Henman and Arvind Parmar, with Jonny Marray getting a first call-up. Bates said: "We are thrilled to have Greg back for the tie and his experience of Davis Cup will be a tremendous boost for the team. This is a strong squad, in good form and we are all relishing next month's tie."

At Queen's Club on Wednesday, Rusedski took part in his first training session in more than a month. With Rusedski unlikely to be fully fit, Bates may turn to Arvind Parmar in one of the singles matches. Parmar is still without a win in the Davis Cup. Bates' other alternative is to team 23-year-old Marray with Henman in the doubles.

Marray, the British number eight, has climbed more than 250 ranking places in the past year to 401 and won four satellite doubles titles and the Sheffield singles title. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Wrexham challenger last week, the best performance by a British player. "Jonny has earned his place in this squad on the merit of his doubles results over the last 12 months and we are delighted for him," said Bates. "When you work as hard as Jonny does in training you will see the benefit in improved results and that has undoubtedly happened for him this year. I have no doubt Jonny will thrive on the responsibility of representing his country."


Good to see that Rusedski will be getting back to playing in a top tennis match next month. I think we should be able to win that Davis Cup match, haven't heard of any good players from Luxembourg.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Thats good news for him.

PastyHusty

Henman has taken the 1st set 6-1 against Arthurs in Indian Wells.

Justine Henin has pulled out of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Florida next week. She says this is because she wants to concentrate on playing on clay surfaces in perperation for the French Open.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Thats a good idea for Justine.

News on Venus and Serena:

Serena Williams hopes to make a comeback next week when she returns to the WTA Tour to defend her Key Biscayne title.

"I am so excited. It's just like I have to calm myself," she said Tuesday.

"What am I going to be wearing? A lot of people have been asking me that. I am really excited to pull out some new clothes and some new looks."

Williams doesn't think she will have trouble focussing on tennis again after an eight-month break due to injuries and to pursue other interests, like designing clothes.

She underwent surgery last August on her left knee after successfully defending her Wimbledon title.

"Maybe I have to work harder to get back to number one. I like being there and don't like to see a different number next to my name," Williams said.

Asked why it took so long to come back, Williams said she spent a lot of time seeking advice from different doctors.

"What happened is my rehab took a little bit longer than expected," she said.

"I wanted to play but then you hear doctors saying 'You really shouldn't'. You should take it slow. That's it, basically fighting with doctors."

Williams had planned to make her comeback in Doha earlier this month but then got sick with a virus.

"I was deathly ill. It was a nightmare. I couldn't get out of bed," she said.

Her sister Venus has had problems coming back and Serena hopes to avoid a similar situation.

"It bothers me," said Serena. "I think she (Venus) has run into some unfortunate problems.

"She had a slight injury in Australia when she twisted her ankle. That's just bad luck. We have both been working very hard and we both plan on making a lot of noise."

PastyHusty

Tim Henman is comfortably through to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells. He beat Wayne Arthurs 6-1 6-3. Henman will now play Roddick, who defeated Escude 6-3 6-2.

Also:

James Blake beat Taylor Dent .. 7-6 4-6 6-1.
Irakli Labadze beat Augustin Calleri(22) .. 1-6 6-3 6-4.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Henman v Roddick should be a good game, Hope Roddick wins.

PastyHusty

Henman 6-7 7-6 6-3 Roddick

Again the British #1 proves he can beat Roddick. In 4 matches between the two, Henman has won three. This time around Henman battled back from a set down and survived a match point late in the second set to clinch the victory. Henman will play Irakli Labadze in the Semi-Final. The other Semi is between Aggasi and Federer.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

I hoped Roddick would win this one. I hope Agassi wins the other one.

DrTagnian

Typical that Tim Henman is one of the few people who can beat Andy Roddick.

Semi-Final shouldn't be such a problem, then the Final ...

I see Henman go up quite some places on the ranking.