Elena Dementieva, ranked 13th, plays at J&S Cup in Warsaw, which starts on Monday, after an injury has put her off court from an early February. She injured her rib while playing in Antwerp, and hasn't played since.

If the second-seeded Dementieva manages to defeat Meilen Tu of America in the first round of this $600,000 tournament, she is likely to face Venus Williams in the second round; if she reaches the quarterfinals, there is a possibility of meeting fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Dementieva had struggled this season even before her injury. She was defeated in the Sydney second round by China's Na Li. She was eliminated from the Australian Open in the fourth round by Nicole Vaidisova, and then, in Tokyo, she fell to Martina Hingis in the semis. In Antwerp, she retired in her opening match, against Russian Elena Likhovtseva .

However, in Warsaw Dementieva is lucky to have avoided the top part of the draw which includes top-seeded and 2005 champion, Justine Henin, fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, as well as Anna Chakvetadze, seeded sixth.

(source: IOL)

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J&S Cup, which takes place in Warsaw from April 30, has Justine Henin of Belgium as its top seed.

As the first four seeds have a bye in the first round, Justine Henin plays her first match either on Wednesday or on Thursday against the winner of the match between Kaia Kanepi and Anna-Lena Groenefeld . Justine has played Anna-Lena Groenefeld once, at 2006 Roland Garros, and won in straight sets. Estonia's Kaia Kanepi and world No. 1 have never met so far.

If in the opening round everything goes according to Justine's plans, she will face Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals, and then have a semifinal meeting with Jelena Jankovic or Anna Chakvetadze.

This is Henin's second time to play in Warsaw. Last time, in 2005, she came out as a winner defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. The defending champion this year is Justine's compatriot, Kim Clijsters, seeded second.

(source: Justine Henin's website)

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How often do injured players retire when closer to victory, and how often when they are losing? Which players are more likely to retire, and which stay in match even though they are losing?

Tennis Magazine, who did this research, took into account the top 20 players and calculated the proportion of times they retired when close to losing a match. The aim of their work was to determine which players retire when they see that defeat is near, which, as they believe, tells a lot about a person's attitude. So, matches where a player retired before the completion of the opening set, as well as those when a player withdrew while less than two games behind, were not included.

Some players are more prone to injuries, but you can see that some of them withdraw when they see that they can't win. It's evident that player's retirement affects the opponent as well as spectators. The opponent can't enjoy the victory as much, because things were left unfinished.

One of favorite WTA players, Kim Clijsters, had lots of injuries in her career, but retired while losing only once. Ana Ivanovic, Shahar Peer, Nicole Vaidisova and Martina Hingis have never left the match when behind.

On the other hand, an unbelieveable 11.4 % of Jelena Jankovic's defeats are retirements while losing, which is more than one in every nine losses. Players following Jankovic are Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze.

A spokesperson for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, who saw the results of the research, said: "There is no evidence that WTA Tour players do anything other than compete their very best." However, John Lloyd, British Davis Cup captain and former Australian Open finalist, claims that "really good champions don't feel they're going to lose until the last point, so they never throw in the towel."

I don't really agree with the view that players who are prone to retiring while losing are players with worse attitude and not real champions. It shows a certain part of their character, but it doesn't make them worse people, or worse players. They are simply like that (it's normal to lose interest when you see you have no chance to win), and after all, it's not forbidden to withdraw while behind.

(more at Tennis Magazine website)

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Amelie Mauresmo had to have her appendix removed in mid-April. She's recovered a great deal, but still, she's not ready enough to compete in J&S Cup, which takes place in Warsaw next week.

The French number 1 decided to make a comeback in Berlin, at Qatar Telecom German Open, a $1,340,000 tournament which starts on May 7. After Berlin, Mauresmo will play in Rome, and after Rome, she'll have intensive training to prepare for the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros.

(via Amelie Mauresmo's official website)

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Serena Williams ended 2006 ranked 95th, now she's world No.12. And not only that, she already has two important titles in 2007 - the Australian Open and the Sony Ericsson Open. However, Serena's ambitions don't end there; "I have something in mind, but I'm not going to say. It has something to do with clay… I'm really looking forward to Roland Garros. It's going to be fun," she told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

Serena won the French Open title in 2002, which was the first one of her four consecutive Grand Slam titles, a phenomenon known as Serena Slam. If she pulls off the French Open victory this year, she'll be halfway to achieving a True Grand Slam (winning all four Grand Slams in the same calendar year). "I think it can be done. I play well on all surfaces so I'm a good candidate to do it. Who knows?" said Serena.

After all, not many players can win a match after losing an opening set 6-0, as Serena was losing to Justine Henin, and eventually won the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open. Serena surely has abundance of mental strength, which is what makes a difference between an excellent and exceptionally excellent player.

(source: Sports Illustrated)

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