2016 just keeps on giving with the surprises as this evening, Ana Ivanovic announced her retirement from professional tennis. Ana said in the short video that injuries had contributed to “not being able to perform up to my high standards”. While many things had been speculated in this planned live broadcast on Facebook, i’m surprised and particularly as this is with immediate effect. Ivanovic played IPTL during the off-season and was still technically on the entry list for Auckland next week.
I always enjoyed watching Ana play (that forehand 😍) and she seems a lovely person off the court. All the best for the future, Ana!
In other news… there was an overload of information from Madison Keys just before Christmas as she announced that she is teaming up with Lindsay Davenport again (yay!), but will be skipping the Australian summer of tennis due to injury. I’m thrilled to see the Keys-Davenport combo back together as it was very successful back in 2015 and they seem to gel really well.
Screaming at this, I know exactly what Madison means!
Petra Kvitova held a press conference before Christmas after her recent ordeal. While it was terrifying to see her bandaged hand, it was lovely to see her smiling.
Here is the full press conference from the @tenisovysvet.cz Facebook page.
It’s heartwarming to see the support for Petra on social media. Headband did a brilliant job at collating all the positive messages.
Garbiñe Muguruza has posted her schedule for the first six months of 2017. The only minor surprise is that she has opted to play Birmingham instead of Mallorca in the second week of the grass court season. I’m disappointed but not surprised that it looks like she won’t be playing Eastbourne.
All the players are heading down under for the start of the 2017 season!
A heads up for The Sports Mechanic, which is a site that allows athletes, coaches and trainers to share and sell sports training equipment they have invented directly to consumers.
The WTA posted a hilarious update on their yet-to-be-unveiled WTA streaming platform by revealing no new information whatsoever. My frustration and anger on this issue grows…
*an update on original post*
On a more jolly note, British Eurosport have a BRILLIANT offer at the moment with a 12 month pass for just £19.99. They have rights for the Australian Open next month with access to all the courts on the Eurosport Player. In addition, they also normally cover the French Open, some of the UK grass court season, Linz, Luxembourg, Fed Cup, Davis Cup and some ATP 250s. Last year they also did the US Open after Sky Sports in the UK dropped their coverage. It’s a no-brainer for me.
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I was surprised about Ana as I thought that she was going to release some sponsor/coach changes etc or that she was pregnant. Seems a bit too young to retire but I wish her well. The WTA streaming fiasco must be very frusrating for you. BT Sport are covering Brisbane and are also doing a 2 hour highlight show which I plan to watch. Also surprised that Serena is planning to play in NZ and not at Brisbane….perhaps she wants an easy start to 2017 ^_^
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I’m surprised. I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this announcement but I didn’t expect anything with immediate effect. I’m sorry I keep going on about the streaming but it’s really bugging me!
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Both the Auckland and Brisbane draws look pretty fierce in my opinion. You could argue that Auckland has a little more prestige, what with Venus, Serena and Wozniacki all being there. Then you have Sloane Stephens, Anastasia Pavluychenkova, Kiki Bertens and Barbora Strycova who are all title winners who could do well.
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Unfortunately Sloane Stephens has pulled out of Auckland. There’s been very little information about her but I think it’s a foot injury.
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Oh no! It’s especially sad because she played some red hot tennis in her last match on the IPTL against Nara…
Kind of gives some credence to those who say she prioritizes the other aspects of her life to her game though.
Hopefully she gets bored after a few months and comes back.
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Yes and now she’s married, perhaps looking to settle down. I was surprised since Ana played IPTL and was still on the list for Auckland. The WTA posted an interview with her where she said “it hasn’t been an overnight decision” but it does sounds rather sudden.
http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/6190546/title/%3Fit-wasn%3Ft-an-overnight-decision%3F–ivanovic-reflects-on-an-unforgettable-career
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Well I’ll be interested to see what kind of Serena shows up. It’s been announced online that she’s just become engaged (to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian), who she seems to have been dating for a good chunk of last year.
Will she use Auckland as a practice session, to get back into match shape… or will she go guns blazing, sending a message to the other girls on tour?
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Glad you have access to Eurosport…any ideas yet what our options for watching live war tennis MIGHT be in the United States?
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Hi Rhonda, I looked at the “TV Schedule” on the WTA website in the link below and they have BeIN Sports down for the US which I can’t say that i’ve ever heard of. There doesn’t seem to be much information on their website (no surprise there). If I hear anything then i’ll let you know.
http://www.wtatennis.com/tv-schedule
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Thanks much. I’ll let you know next week how it works… R.
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