Amelie Mauresmo and Na Li have withdrawn from the Medibank International, the last major tuneup event before the Australian Open.

Mauresmo has re-injured her left thigh, while Li has a right knee injury.

Read more »

Fellow tennis blogger Diane of the Women Who Serve made a good point – we have been so busy praising Justine Henin’s fantastic year, Serena Williams' comeback, the success of the Serbian players, and Maria Sharapova’s magnificent end of the season, that we have almost completely forgotten about Amelie Mauresmo.

Of course, there is a clear reason for that – Mauresmo hasn’t lived up to the expectations this year (the sad fact that proves this is that my last three posts that mention the Frenchwoman are Mauresmo stunned early in Zurich, Mauresmo falls in Stuttgart opener, and Mauresmo upset at China Open). However, Amelie is not to blame for all this, appendicitis and a very long period of recovery, followed by an appendicitis-related adductor strain, kept her off the court for much of the season.

I’m glad Diane reminded us all that Mauresmo is still one of the world’s best players and that with appropriate training she’ll be there to challenge all the players that are now in the focus of attention. The two-time Grand Slam champion will probably have a confidence problem that could hold her back in 2008, but she should be able to overcome that and come back to the top, where she belongs.

I’m looking forward to mentioning Mauresmo in more positive contexts than it was the case in 2007. Allez!

Three seeded players, Amelie Mauresmo, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, fell in the second round of the $1,340,000 Zurich Open on Wednesday.

Former world number one and eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo, who has struggled since an appendectomy in March, was defeated by Alona Bondarenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

"I have to gain confidence by winning matches like this one but it didn't happen. And physically I'm just not at the level I've been the last several years," Mauresmo said. Read more »

With the exception of two tennis stars, there was nothing but rain, heat, and upsets in Moscow and Bangkok on Wednesday.

Who fell?

Before the start of the third round, the Kremlin Cup was left without four of its top eight seeds.

Second seed Maria Sharapova played her first match since the US Open and lost it in straight sets. The Russian was defeated by world No.32 Victoria Azarenka 7-6(9) 6-2.

Fifth seed Marion Bartoli was knocked out of the tournament by world No.46 Vera Dushevina. The Wimbledon finalist captured the first set 6-2, only to surrender a bagel set before losing 2-6, 6-0, 6-4. Read more »

Marion Bartoli and Amelie Mauresmo, the two highest-ranked French players, both lost in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo simply can’t put an end to the disappointing results; her nightmare has continued with the first round loss to unseeded Elena Dementieva. The Frenchwoman, who has slumped to 12th in the world rankings after an injury-hit season, lost 6-2 7-5 in less than an hour.

Earlier in the day, Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli was beaten by Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 0-6, 6-2, 6-1. What happened to Bartoli?! After serving a bagel in the first set, she won only three games! And to make the matters worse, it was on her 23rd birthday. I would like to see some consistency in Bartoli’s career, I mean, she proved she has potential.

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport will play second-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the semifinal of the 2007 China Open in Beijing. In the other semifinal match, Agnes Szavay of Hungary will face home favorite Pen Shuai.

Davenport, who won the last week’s Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, defeated Elena Dementieva 7-6 (1), 6-1, while Jankovic beat Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-5.

World number three Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is aiming for her fifth WTA title this year, but also for the top of the singles rankings: "My ultimate goal is to be the world No. 1…Now my ranking is very close, but I still have a long way to go. I need to work hard and I hope I can make it one day."

Peng Shuai of China upset third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Peng will next meet rising star Agnes Szavay, seeded-sixth, who defeated Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. (source: Sports Illustrated)

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to withdraw from the ongoing China Open because of an abdominal injury. The world number two reached the US Open final and then led Russia to victory in the Fed Cup in the last two weekends, and the injury has caught up with her. "It's getting worse and worse," said the 22-year-old Kuznetsova. "I came here and had treatment but I just cannot serve." The Russian at least had time to visit the Great Wall of China.

Third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France made an unspectacular return to tennis after a two-month layoff with a 6-2 6-2 win over Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru at the Tier II tournament in Beijing on Wednesday. Mauresmo has been struggling during this season. She didn’t play for two months because of appendicitis in March, and had won just one title in 2007 at Antwerp before deciding to take some time off. Remember that last year the Frenchwoman won two Grand Slam titles, and was ranked number one in the world.

Lindsay Davenport, on the other hand, has quickly found her form. After being away for almost a year, and giving birth to son Jagger in June, Davenport won a tournament on her singles comeback in Bali last weekend, and has now reached the second round of the China Open by beating fellow American Julie Ditty 6-0 6-2 in just 48 minutes. (sources: Reuters, BBC, photo via WTAworld)

Amelie Mauresmo has skipped some very significant tournaments lately: the Rogers Cup, Pilot Pen, and above all the US Open. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion will compete in the China Open, which starts September 17 in Beijing.

Last week, Mauresmo started training for the tournament in China, but her main goal remains to make the next season much more satisfying than the current one. Loic Courteau, the Frenchwoman’s coach, said that Mauresmo’s main objective is to find her rhythm again.

In the next WTA Tour rankings, Marion Bartoli will become the French number one, taking the place of Amelie Mauresmo who will be world number eleven. (via Ace 2007)

France’s Amelie Mauresmo and China’s Na Li won’t play at the US Open which starts August 27.

As expected, former world number one Amelie Mauresmo has pulled out of the final Grand Slam of the year in order to fully recover from a groin injury and to get her motivation back in the meantime. This is only a continuation of a tough 2007, in which Mauresmo endured a two-month lay-off with appendicitis after which her results on court have been much worse than usual.

Mauresmo hasn’t played any competitive tennis since the Fed Cup in July, while the last regular tournament she played was Wimbledon where her title defence ended with a fourth-round defeat by Czech Nicole Vaidisova. However, we might see her at the China Open in the second half of September.

World No. 21 Na Li has withdrawn because of a rib injury which has been bothering her since the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham. So, the US Open is the second consecutive Grand Slam that the best-ranked Chinese player must skip.

The WTA tour is not the same without Mauresmo and Li; I hope they will fully recover soon. (via BBC, Reuters)

World No. 7 Amelie Mauresmo withdrew on Monday from both the Rogers Cup (August 13-19, Toronto, Canada) and Pilot Pen (August 19-25, New Haven, CT, USA). The Frenchwoman said that she still hasn’t fully recovered from an appendectomy in March (this surgery really ruined her season). "I rushed back too quickly because there was a lot at stake for me, especially on grass," Mauresmo said. "Unfortunately my body did not cooperate.” There is even a chance that the 28-year-old will miss the US Open!

On Tuesday, world No.14 Venus Williams too pulled out of the Rogers Cup and the reason is tendonitis in her right knee. "I should have planned my schedule better. I'm feeling maxed out," she said. Next tournament for the four-time Wimbledon champion is the US Open. (sources: ESPN, Reuters)