Highlights of the year so far (in no particular order):

Henin's Retirement:

No one saw this coming. The 7-time slam Champion called it quits days after her loss to Dinara Safina at the German open. What shocked everyone even more was the timing of the announcement- a couple of weeks before the French Open. Henin said that she had given her everything to the game and now she needs to step away and focus on life outside tennis. The Champion said that she had absolutely no regrets in her mind when she choose to announce her retirement- including not winning Wimbledon-  (Henin lost in the final twice to Venus Williams (01) and Amelie Mauresmo (06). Post Henin’s retirement, the WTA tour had no clear number one. Also, tennis was deprived of its most beautiful shot (as McEnroe put it) - the Henin single-handed backhand.

Nadal's Ascend to the top slot:

At the beginning of the year, things did not look too great for Nadal. Novak Djokovic was closing the gap between them and the young Serb went on to win the Australian Open. Nadal managed to reach the semi finals at the year's first slam, an improvement over his quarterfinal appearance in 2007. While post Australian Open he did have some consistent results he did not win a title till he moved to his preferred clay courts. He quickly accumulated titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Hamburg and clinched his fourth French Open title with an ultra dominant performance. He won the slam without dropping a set. The closest he came to losing a set was to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, where the world no.3 had a set point in the 3rd set against Nadal.

Post French Open, the action shifted to London where Nadal won his first grass-court title, the Artois Championships and carried the momentum to Wimbledon where he beat the five-time defending champion Roger Federer in a five-set classic. The final which was in stark contrast to the one played at Roland Garros between the two few weeks back, was hailed as the greatest tennis match ever played.

Post Wimbledon, Nadal won the Rogers Cup and played solid tennis to win the singles gold at the Beijing Olympics beating Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets in the final. Post his Beijing conquest, he also registered his best performance at the US Open by reaching the semi finals.

The Roger Slump (!) and Resurgence:

How does reaching a semi final and two other slam finals equate to a slump? In general terms it may not, but when it comes to gauging Roger Federer it does. For the past four and a half years he has dominated the sport like no other player on the men’s tour had done before, thus setting almost unattainable standards. During that time, every other player on the tour was subjected to that standard and they invariably fell short. Only this year Roger found himself being constantly compared to the Roger of the past years and he found himself falling short. The main reason for his losses can be summed up in one word- mononucleosis, a glandular fever that he was diagnosed with a fortnight after the Australian Open, but one which was affecting his system right from the beginning of the year. In retrospect, it was surprising that Federer could even manage to play, let alone walk onto the court. He lost in the Australian Open semis to the eventual winner Novak Djokovic and then failed to win a title till the clay-court season began. During that lean phase he had loses to Andy Murray in his opening match at Dubai, Mardy Fish at Indian Wells and Andy Roddick at Miami. Federer still was suffering from the effects of the illness and the lack of match practice did not help. He went on to win his first title of 2008 at the Estoril Open on clay, beating Nikolai Davydenko in the final. After not winning any other title on the surface, Roger moved to his favourite surface- grass. He won the pre-Wimbledon warm-up at Halle without dropping a set or his serve.

After the loss at Wimbledon to Nadal in the final, Federer continued to struggle with early losses to Frenchman Gilles Simon and Ivo Karkovic at the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati Masters respectively. Perhaps the biggest post-Wimbledon disappointment came in the form of the quarterfinal loss to American James Blake in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics. Federer however recovered quicker than he was expected to and won the Olympic doubles gold medal with his counterpart Stanislas Wawrinka. This medal proved to be sufficient motivation for the Swiss Champion as he defended his US Open title successfully. Doing so, he became the first player to win two slams successively for five years. The victory at New York meant that Roger was just a slam short of equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 14 slams.

The Serbian Rise Continues:

Serbia got its first singles grand slam champion in the form of Novak Djokovic at this year’s Australian Open. The young Serb cemented his status as one of the three best players in the world with this win and led to the coinage of the phrase Big Three of Tennis. What Novak might not have achieved till date, his countrywoman Ana Ivanovic managed to do: reach the number one position. She did so by winning the French Open by beating Russian Dinara Safina in the final. While Novak and Ana have had slam success this year, Jelena Jankovic proved to be the most consistent of them. Jelenaa, a strong contender for the year-end number one ranking,  reached the final of the US Open and has the most number of wins on the women’s tour this year

The Ways of the Williams sisters:

Not playing day-in day-out and playing only when they really felt and ready seems to be the secret of the Williams sisters’ success at the slams. While Venus clinched the Wimbledon title (beating Serena in the final) without dropping a set, Serena did the same at the US Open and took over the number one ranking for the first time since 2003. The sisters also tasted success in doubles winning the title at Wimbledon and also the Olympic gold medal.

Del Potro and Safina- the New Stars:

While 2008 definitely belongs to Rafael Nadal, one cannot deny that the 19 year old Juan Martin Del Potro is the latest star of men’s tennis. The young Argentinean won four titles in a row and had a 23 match winning streak, before losing to Any Murray in the US Open quarterfinals.

Dinara Safina has a 43-5 win-loss record since winning the German Open in May, which helped her reach the no.3 ranking and a chance to take the top slot by the year end. The powerful Russian had her best results this year and has established herself as a serious slam contender for 2009.

Andy Murray fulfils his promise:

Andy Murray won the Cincinnati Masters for his first Masters Series title and in less than a month reached the US Open final. The young Scotsman has had an excellent year, in which he won some really tough matches, the most, memorable one was perhaps his fourth round win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon, where he came back from two sets down to win a five-set thriller. Murray, who always was a brilliant tactician, has shown tremendous improvement in fitness this year, for which he credits his fitness coach. The US Open final appearance helped Murray reach his highest ranking of 4.

All in all, the year had been nothing short of splendid with stories and mini-stories galore. While the schedule left the players, especially tired, the fans aren't complaining.

Los cambios en la cima de la Asociación de Mujeres Tenistas Profesionales (WTA, por sus siglas en ingles) es igual a los de las estaciones del año: en promedio, una cada tres meses en los últimos cuatro años.

La derrota que sufrió la estadounidense Serena Williams ante la china Li Na permitió que en el escalafón se registre un cambio más de la numero uno del mundo, el sexto del 2008, y el regreso de Jelena Jankovic a encabezar la tabla.

Desde la alemana Justine Henin colgó las raquetas en mayo de este año, se han registrado, en promedio, un cambio de la líder del ranking cada 22 dias. Sin embargo, si hacemos la comparacion por el lado de los caballeros, desde que Federer tomó el primer lugar en 2004, en las damas se han registrado 16 cambios, es decir, con una media de una cada tres meses, aunque esos cambios han recaído en ocho jugadoras. En los varones sólo ha habido un cambio de estafeta. Pero el cambio constante en las damas no se entiende, ya que sus sistema de repartición de puntos para la lista es muy similar al de los varones, que va de mil en los GrandSlam a los 6 en los eventos Futures.

En estos meses, la serbia Ana Ivanovic ha sido la que mas tiempo ha permanecido en la punta del escalafón, con un total de nueve semanas, para perderlo durante siete dias ante su compatriota Jankovic, recuperandolo y permanecer tres semanas mas.

La menor de las Williams ya había probado la cima del ranking durante 57 semanas en el 2002 y 2003. La estadounidense Chris Everet fue la primera en estrenar la clasificación femenina a partir del 3 de noviembre de 1975. Desde ese entonces, se han registrado 76 cambios en total, sin contar el de Jelena, que asumirá el sitio de honor a partir del lunes.

Las número uno

• Justine Henin(Bel) 10/11/03 - 12/09/04 para 44 semanas
• Amélie Mauresmo(Fra) 13/09/04 - 17/10/04 para 5 semanas
• Lindsay Davemport(EU) 18/10/04 - 21/08/05 para 44 semanas
• María Sharapova(Rus) 22/08/05 - 28/08/05 para 1 semana
• Lindsay Davemport(EU) 24/10/05 - 29/01/06 para 14 semanas
• Kim Clijsters(Bel) 30/01/06 - 19/03/06 para 7 semanas
• Amélie Mauresmo(Fra) 20/03/06 - 12/11/06 para 34 semanas
• Justine Henin(Bel) 13/11/06 - 28/01/07 para 11 semanas
• María Sharapova 29/01/07 - 18/03/07 para 7 semanas
• Justine Henin(Bel) 19/03/07 - 18/05/08 para 61 semanas
• María Sharapova 19/05/08 - 08/06/08 para 3 semanas
• Ana Ivanovic(Srb) 09/06/08 - 10/08/08 para 9 semanas
• Jelena Jankovic(Srb) 11/08/08 - 17/08/08 para 1 semana
• Ana Ivanovic(Srb) 18/08/08 - 07/09/08 para 3 semanas
• Serena Williams(EU) 08/09/08 - 05/10/08 para 5 semanas
• Jelena Jankovic(Srb)* 06/10/08  - ? para ?

*A partir del próximo lunes

Del 10/11/03 haciendo la suma, tenemos en la cima a:

1. Justine Henin(Bel) 116 semanas
2. Lindsay Davemport(EU) 58 semanas
3. Amélie Mauresmo(Fra) 39 semanas
4. Ana Ivanovic(Srb) 12 semanas
5. María Sharapova(Rus) 11 semanas
6. Kim Clijsters(Bel) 7 semanas
7. Serena Williams(EU) 5 semanas
8. Jelena Jankovic(Srb) 1 semanas *

*Mas lo que logre sumar a partir del lunes

Justine Henin wants everyone to know there's absolutely no way she's coming back to professional tennis.

“No, no competition is over for me. For me, it’s definitely over. When I took my decision I knew it was forever. So I don’t say I will never be back for an exhibition or for another event in the future. But for me (playing) on the Tour? Yeah, it’s in the past and I won’t come back. I made the right decision and I stick to my decision. I will never change my mind about that decision.”

That stinks, Justine! What I would do to have her come back. Women's tennis got about 400% uglier to watch when she left and it just keeps getting uglier.

Let's take a look back at her year. She began 2008 ranked #15 in the world and having never been past the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam. She didn't come out of the gates red hot, as she fell in the first round of the Australian Open and didn't get to the quarters of any tournament until Miami (late March). It was at Berlin in mid-May where she made her mark. Oddly enough she beat Justine Henin in the third round, in what turned out to be the last match of her career, then defeated Serena Williams Victoria Azarenka, and Elena Dementieva to claim the title.

She used that momentum to catapult herself into the finals of the French Open. Despite the loss, she didn't let that deter her. She won two out of the next four tournaments she played in, went to the finals of the Olympics, the semis of the US Open, and then won the aforementioned tourney in Tokyo. Beginning with the tournament in Berlin she has an amazing 42-5 record.

So, will she overtake Jelena and Serena in the top spot? Svetlana Kuznetsova, who lost to Safina in the finals at Tokyo seems to think so. She said that Dinara has bigger strokes than Jelena and plays more than Serena which will help her garner more points. To me, it comes down to her mental preparation. Like her elder brother Marat, she is known to get a little mad and that can really throw her off her game. If she can remain focused like she has in the past couple of months I see no reason why she can't challenge those girls for the top spot.

I will say that when Serena is on there is no one better, and when Jelena is moving at her best no one can play defense like her. Safina certainly has her work cut out for her, but I could see her moving into the poll position by the end of 2008.

What do you think?

De secretaris levert graag op bescheiden wijze ook een bijdrage met een misschien wel opmerkelijke gelijkenis: die tussen een man en een vrouw. Niet dat ik daarmee iets impliceer over de geaardheid van beide personen. Alhoewel de man in kwestie wel bekend staat om zijn falset-stem......Maar niets dan lof over Alides Hidding, het boegbeeld van de populaire Time Bandits in de jaren '80. Maar vindt u niet dat hij behoorlijk lijkt op de pas afgezwaaide tennisster Justine Henin?

justine henin, bron: www.hln.be; alides hidding, bron: www.standby.fm

Dat ik er sportief én sexy uitzag in dat rode jasje.

Ja, onze Egosum valt nogal mee, feitelijk.
Besloot ik nadat hij ons (mij en Trotster, die weer overuren deed, hoe dóet ze dat toch?!) getracteerd had op een sangria, rood voor Trotster (getuige de rode vlekken op haar Pinguïnhemd achteraf; ambetante glazen!) en wit voor mij, mjamm (op kosten van het hotel, trouwens, cuz no-one paid for it *grijns*).

En dat ik op Justine Henin leek, zo van ver.
Dat is nu al de tweede of derde keer in mijn leven dat ik dat hoor. Verdomme zeg, het zal toch niet waar zijn zekers? Ik ben wel íets minder vormeloos, íets minder blond en íets minder goed in tennissen en Frans hoor!!!

World Top Seed Tennis player Jelena Jankovic won another sneaker squeaker, playing 28 points in the last game to finish off Zheng Jie 7-5, 7-5 Friday and become the first woman into the fourth round at the U.S. Open.

Jankovic needed more than two hours to beat the 37th-ranked Zheng after playing for nearly three hours in the second round. Plus, the Serbian star was scheduled to play doubles later in the day.

The World No. 2 Jankovic is aiming to reach her first Grand Slam final. She needs three more wins — with Justine Henin retired, Maria Sharapova injured, Ana Ivanovic eliminated and the Williams sisters in the opposite bracket, this figures to be her best chance.

Jankovic came out full of energy, showing no ill effects of a bad left leg that cramped after she played in this match.

Jankovic is one of six women who still have a chance to be ranked No. 1 after the Open, with Ivanovic among them despite her loss.

For more Live update of US Open  click here

In my humble view the kind of tennis being played last night in Montreal in a quarter-final match between Kuznetzova and Safina was a sad view on women's tennis today. The picture I saw was one of two dull plodding journey-women players exchanging unforced errors. The dim session wasn't helped by the insipid and laconic commentary by Brian W and Tracy A.

Earlier this year Justine Henin, whose tennis story offered some human interest, retired early. More power to her but less for us the viewers!

Now Sharapova is facing up to a career dimming and maybe ending shoulder injury. So her serving difficulties of the past few years are more understandable. I have to say that I never liked her approach to power tennis with its raucous background of grunting screams. As for her astronomical off-court income it seemed to me to be another example of the dimwittedness of marketing and celebrity status.

Then there are that daring Serbian duo, Ivanovic and Jankovic, who don't either of them seem able to perform with any consistency and regularly end up beating themselves with swarms of unforced errors.

What about that peekaboo duo, the Williams sisters. Now you see them but more often you don't. But wait a minute, maybe they have got it right!

The sad fact is that power tennis tends to cause havoc on bodies and muscles, so Serena and Venus spend more time off-court than on and they keep coming back to win the majors.

What we are left with now is competition on the women's circuit that tends to be dull and uninspiring. And what about all those strange Slavic names.

Where's the beef-cake?

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The players seemed to be in good condition (although, not Novak, who is OUT now, beaten by the in-form Safin).

Still, for me it lacked one favorite on the Women's side. Who other than Justine? Ever since her retirement, it has been an agony for me to even hear something related to tennis. Even if it comes from men's tennis, my mind was still lingering on her.
Despite that, on the men's side, I still favor the big No. 1 guy from Switzerland to take it all. I believe he can do it. So many people have underestimated him already, and it's just amazingly shocking to me, how a player gets written off so quickly. This is Federer we're talking about.

Why do I still watch it anyways, when Justine was my whole reason to watch tennis? She defines  poise and control and mental strength, and it has been a journey through mild and terminal (though thoroughly enjoyable) heart attack for me watching her play (or hearing the commentators from the RG Radio talking about the shots she does).

The reason is clear ask the London sky. Tennis is tennis. And I love it. With Justine, it's a thrill ride even the roller coaster cannot beat, and some times, a stroll in the park with a breezy, cozy wind.
Without her, it's... tennis. It's a game. And I love the game.

"We waren samen, maar het is meer dan nu. Het is gedaan," Justine stated emphatically, adding, "Hij is een lul!"

Witnesses in a Bruges Cafe said that the Break-Up was a Publick One, with some reporting that Justine even smacked Murray in the Face; others said she merely Tossed a Glass of Water on him. Either way, it was Quite a Scene.

Justine may be Heart-Broken, or just Bitter, but Murray moves on (as Usual) - he has already made Appearances at two recent Rihanna Concerts. Both of their Spokes-Persons, of course, deny any Hanky-Panky between the Two.

--The Minister of Gossip.

El torneo de Wimbledon, empieza este lunes. En el apartado masculino Rafa Nadal y Roger Federer volverán a disputarse el trofeo como en años anteriores, mientras que en el cuadro femenino, ante la retirada de la

imbatible Justine Henin, parece que la cosa estará entre dos diosas del calibre de la rusa Maria Sharapova y la serbia Ana Ivanovic.

Entre las chicas no parece haber discusión en que Roger Federer es, a pesar del cuerpo moldeado en gimnasio de nuestro Rafa, más guapo que el mallorquín y tiene más tirón. Para los chicos es más difícil decantarnos entre la rubia rusa y la morenaza serbia… y su espectacular paso por la fiesta que dió ayer el magnate Richard Branson no sirvió para decidirnos ya que las dos lucieron espectaculares. En la foto las acompañan las poderosas hermanas Williams y la guerrillera Elena Jankovic, que es posible que les den quebraderos de cabeza sobre la hierba del All England Club pero que en belleza y atención de los flashes no tienen nada que hacer.

Image via Wikipedia

Perhaps a lot of people know that a Belgian, together with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, developed the World Wide Web somewhere on 25 december 1991.

Apparently, the idea was much, very much older and came in 1934 (before computer the era) from another belgian : Paul Otlet, who had the idea of "a global network of computers (or “electric telescopes,” as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. He called the whole thing a “réseau,” which is french for “network” — or arguably, “web.”

What is this about Belgium ? They are famous for their over 500 varieties of beer (according to belgians, Heineken is dishwater) with "West-Vleteren" as the best beer of the world and "The Kulminator" as the best beer cafe of the world according to the late Michael Jackson, they drink the best french wines (and leave the minor ones for the french), they invented french (???) fries (with mayonnaise), they have one of the best "cuisines" in the world, they work very few hours per week but in these few houre are more productive than the rest of the world, they had Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to take care of the Williams sisters, they won four Nobel Prizes, had some of the most famous painters lik Brueghel, Rubens and Magritte, they invented the saxophone (Adolphe Sax) and the Smurfs (Peyo), they invented the belgian andives, they had Jean-Marie Pfaff and Eddy Merckx, and a lot of other world-famous sportsman and -women.

Belgium has only 10 million inhabitants but if you ask a belgian which is the best country to live in: no doubt about it : Belgium !

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Bien bien bien, veamos, pues hay que hablar de varias cosillas....

SERIES: Al fin, parece que van a estrenar a mi Dextercillo en Cuatro, joder, ya era hora. Los de Cuatro tienen un huevaco de series por ahí desde hace una eternidad y parece que ya las estrenan. Eso sí, sólo Dexter será en Prime Time, las demás (lo siento por los fans de Cinco Hermanos) serán más bien de madrugada. Cosa que era comprensible cuando emitían series como la maravillosa, extraordinaria y genial Queer as Folk ya que tenía ciertas escenitas (¡Qué escenitas!) que... pero con el resto de series no lo entiendo, supongo que están muy ocupados con su "exitoso" Supermodelos o la mala Cuestión de Sexo. Aún así yo sigo esperando la tercera temporada de Dexter, que yo creía que iba a ser imposible superar la segunda, pero después de haber leido el spoiler parece que si van, al menos, a igualarla. Seguimos con Dirt (¡qué buena!) que ahora se ha visto cancelada tras sus dos escasas temporadas, a pesar del estupendo trabajo que hizo Courtney Cox (Curtineix, según la Hornillos), además de que la segunda temporada sólo tiene 7 capítulos por la huelga de guionistas ahora no nos van a dar un final como Dios manda. Final... un gran final fue el de House (Patryx casi se corre viendo a Jiu en un bus XD), sin duda alguna, los dos mejores capítulos de House de toda la serie, y el mejor season finale después del de la primera de QaF. También ha terminado Prison Break, esta tercera temporada me ha gustado bastante, lo que no me convece mucho es que haya una cuarta.... no sé, creo que ya ralla la cosa, habrá que ver si merece la pena, allá por septiembre. Y he visto los 8 capítulos de Bionic Woman, la verdad es que es comprensible que la cancelaran, le falta muchísima emoción, recuerda a Kyle XY (que por cierto, no estrenan la tercera de Kyle hasta enero en los EEUU) y el guión estás más bien mal hecho, sobre todo al principio. Pero bueno, ahora retomaré por fin A Seis Metros Bajo Tierra y trataré de empezar alguna series más (si mi Ares me lo permite), como jPod, Samantha ¿Qué? o The Office, a parte de ver el segundo capítulo de Jericho, si me gusta continuaré con la serie, si no bye Jericho.

DESPORTES: Lo primero y más importante: ¡¡¡Qué rollo de Roland Garros!!! Sin Justine no tiene emoción. Mauresmo se va de las primeras ante una principiante, Suarez Navarro, que parece que promete; Janckovic cae en picado ante Ivanovic; Safina, la única que dio emoción al torneo, cae en picado ante Ivanovic... todo incomprensible. Que Suarez Navarro perdiera en cuartos sí es totalmente aceptable, era su primer Gran Slam, tuvo que pasar la previa, y una número tres del mundo, quieras que no, impone. Así que, en realidad, fue un buen torneo para ella. Sólo espero que Suarez Navarro y Dinara Safina de verdad hagan algo por el tenis femenino, ya que Ivanovic, a parte de no merecer en absoluto el número uno, destaca demasiado por su prepotencia al estilo Rafa Nadal, y no tan rafa, que al menos Rafa sí juega bien. Cosa que demostró en la final palizando a Federer, en fin, ya digo, sin emoción, estaba cantado que ganaría Rafa. Espero que en Wimbledon haya más que rascar, al ser hierba y esas cosas. Sobre los Juegos Olímpicos que se avecinan sólo me pregunto una cosa: ¿cuántos records se batirán este año en atletismo y natación? Probablemente todos... En cuanto al resto de deportes, pues bueno, es obvio, Alonso es un conductor sin coche, Pedrosa parece que avanza aprovechando el complejo de heroísmo de Lorenzo, que espero que aprenda algo con todo esto, pero Rossi no deja de pelear. Y el football, como no me gusta, pues sólo espero que España pase de Cuartos para que los de Mediamark tengan que devolver parete del dinero de sus televisiones.

LECTURA: Aunque no he tenido mucho tiempo de leer en estos últimos meses, algo he leido. Por ejemplo, la Historia Interminable, que ya tenía ganas de leer, la primera mitad del libro realmente me gustó pero la segunda pierde bastante en intriga y hay capítulos que casi no aportan nada a la historia, pero a pesar de ellos tiene bastante significado moral, cosa dificil en este tipo de libros, acostumbrados al típico "eres el elegido porque sí y no tienes que hacer ningún esfuerzo porque naciste con ello" que supongo que enseñará mucho a los niños. Pero lo más importante de todo es que por fin conseguí mi libro de Dexter, personalmente, la serie me gusta más que El Oscuro Pasajero, pero no porque sea mejor, si no porque desarrolla mucho más el personaje y las situaciones, pero aun así ya me he pillado el segundo, Querido Dexter, por que quiero más DEX!!! También he leido el clásico de Reverte, El Capitán Alatriste (The Sadwing Captain), y me pareció legible, sólo clásico por la buena representación de la situación de la época, porque, en mi opinión, la escritura no es tan maravillosa. Y tras terminar al Capitán, he empezado con Eclipse (sí, arualita mia, por fin), tercera parte de la saga Crepúsulo de Stephenie Meyer, llevo sólo dos capítulos y ya me parece estupendísimo, con eso lo digo todo.

MÚSICA: De música no tengo mucho que decir, la verdad. En fin, lo de siempre, que quiero un nuevo disco de Tokio Hotel, en inglés o alemán da lo mismo, pero nuevas canciones ya, por favor. Espero que para cuando acabe la gira, o para el año que viene tengamos uno nuevo. De 30 Seconds to Mars he escuchado partre del primer disco y no me convence mucho, creo que me quedo con el segundo que es más Rock. Y por supuesto Nickelback y su disco perfecto All the Right Reasons que es un orgasmo de 11 canciones alucinante!!!

Bueno, pues para terminar diré que tengo muchas ganas de que llegue Octubre (¿de qué me suena esta frase?). Porque en octubre pasan bastantes cosillas, por ejemplo, la publicaión de la tercera y última parte de El Ejército Negro o la publicaión de la cuarta y última parte de Crepúsculo, que llevará el nombre de Amanecer, o tal vez la publicación de Brisingr, tercera parte de la saga El Legado (más conocida como Eragon por muchos, aunque aún no se sabe si será en Octubre o Noviembre, pero por ahí anda), o a lo mejor el estreno de la película de La Ciudad de La Oscuridad de Jeanne DuPrau, que saldrá titulada como Ember, o no, puede ser tambien por el estreno de la película de Crepúsculo... pfff, no sé porqué.

(PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)

Ana Ivanovic was picture perfect in nabbing her first grand slam title on Sunday. She clearly benefited from the experiences of her prior two runner up finishes in grand slams, including last year's French Open and this year's Australian Open. Against Dinara Safina, herself in her first grand slam final, Ivanovic kept her wits and calmly played within her abilities.

Watching Ana in last year's final against Justine was painful. It was as bad as Mary Pierce's implosion in 2005. But Ana has clearly grown, matured, and did not let the experience get bigger than her. To her credit, Safina kept the match competitive the whole way through, but her serve, surprisingly timid for her own considerable stature, allowed Ivanovic to pressure her in each game.

Wimbledon will be a good test for Ivanovic. As the pace of the game quickens on grass, she will lose the luxury of time, especially in her stellar return game. Ivanovic made the semis last year, but was taken out by the hard-serving American, Venus Williams. In fact, Ana's record against big servers is less than stellar (1-4 vs. Venus, 0-1 vs. Serena, and 2-3 vs. Sharapova).

What's more, through her title run, Ana did not face a single big server in the latter rounds at the French (Safina, Jankovic, and Schnyder), which obviously worked out perfectly. She won't be so lucky in London, but for now, she can sit pretty with her trophy and a new number 1 world ranking.

(Getty Images)

Ivanovic claimed her first Grand slam title, after two previous tries, beating Dinara Safina to become the first Serbian to become the World's top tennis player. She also becomes the new queen of the Clay after Henin won the plum three years in a row.

In the men's final, many anticipated a hardly fought match. A lot of records were set to be broken. Nadal sought to be the first man since Bjorn Borg to win four straight French Open title. On the other hand, Federer wanted to win the last Grand Slam title that has been oh so elusive to him and to match Pete Sampras' record of 13 Grand Slam title.

However, Nadal was way too fierce for Federer on clay. Rafa won in straight sets, and dropped only four games throughout the entire match. Federer lost the third set 6-0. It was a heartbreaking loss for the World No.1. Now, the tennis world is speculating that Federer will soon loosen his hold of his top ranking.

Federer looks forward to defend his Wimbledon crown. We all await the next faceoff between the world's two top players. I hope though, that it will be a hotly contested match next time.

A sua forma de jogar é simplesmente espectacular ... é pena :|

A tenista, Justine Henin, anunciou o final da carreira profissional. A número 1 do ranking mundial retira-se dos courts aos 25 anos e após conquistar 41 títulos entre os quais 7 torneios do grande slam.

Um pequeno (grande) vídeo:

Fonte: RTP

Rumours have also Surfaced that the two showed up at a Party thrown by Belgian Film Director Gris-Gris in Cannes after the Film Festival there - but those in Attendance were strictly Close Friends of the Director (As Murray is Known to Be), and they have all been Quite Mum about whom or what they may have Seen.

And so, These Blurry Photos are the Best Evidence we can Give you at the Moment. Justine's Publicist has decried them as "Inconclusive" - but you be the judge!

--The Minister of Gossip--

Her departure from tennis has been written on and pondered over by writers the world over. Not too much I can add there. But given the many comparisons drawn between the two over the years, often stated in terms such as commitment to the sport, temperment, and even style of play, I thought I might contribute to the field by offering a comparison of accomplishments of Steffi at age 25 vs. Justine at age 25.

- In 39 slams played, Steffi won 15 (38%). In 31 slams played, Justine won 7 (23%).

- Steffi had won at least one Slam each year from the age of 17-25. Justine won at least one Slam each year from the age of 20-24.

- Steffi won at minimum seven tournaments per year from the age of 17-25. Justine won a minimum of two tournaments per year from the age of 20-25.

- Steffi's most remembered year was 1988 when, at 19, she won all four Grand Slams and the Olympics, won 11 tournaments, and amassed a 72-3 win-loss record (96%). However, her most dominant year was 1989 when she won 13 tournaments and had a 86-2 win-loss record (98%). Justine's most dominant year was 2007 during which she won 10 tournaments and picked up a 63-4 record (94%).

- By age 25, Steffi had won 85 singles titles and been runner up in another 25. Justine finished her career with 41 and 16 runner up appearances.

- They both won Olympic Gold for tennis, Graf in 1988 and Henin in 2004.

- At 25, Steffi had finished the year atop the world rankings six times (1987-90, 1993-94); Justine 3 times (2001, 2006-07).

- Steffi was the highest ranked player ever to retire when she was #3 in the world until Justine retired while she was number #1. (That's the one stat the Justine will have forever over Steffi!)

For a long period of time, women's tennis was good in Belgium. Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters ruled the game. They were a threat to win every tournament they competed in, and were always right there at the end of the Grand Slams. Now, for the first time in a long while, neither of them are competing anymore

With Henin's sudden retirement, Belgium only has one lady ranked in the top 100 - Yanina Wickmayer. This 18-year old Belgian is ranked #98 in the world and is the lone representative of Belgium in the main women's draw at the French Open. Wickmayer will face #50 Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round.

On the men's side, things are a little better, but not much. There are three players ranked in the top 100 - Steve Darcis (#45), Olivier Rochus (#66), and Kristof Vliegen (#85). All three are in the main draw at the French Open, but Rochus has already lost his first round match. Darcis will play David Ferrer (not good for Darcis), and Vliegen was losing to Albert Montanes before rain stopped play.

There is another man out there who has been inside the top 20 before in his career, and that is Xavier Malisse. The X-Man has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy since he was a boy, and was picked to be a top player by many. But for numerous reasons (injuries, lack of focus, etc.) his career high ranking was only #19 in the world. Right now he is ranked #236, because injuries have essentially derailed the last year and a half of his career. We all know that he is capable of playing with anyone when he is on, but we haven't seen him play up to his potential in a while.

All things considered, Belgium has some work to do. I always say that you never know what you've got until it's gone, and now that Henin is gone, there are only question marks remaining.

Pas de souci pour elle : elle n'est pas à la rue, elle a une petite fortune et un Centre de formation pour jeunes à gérer... et elle retrouvera vite un amoureux. Bref elle ne va pas s'ennuyer.

Par contre, elle a quand même fait un sale coup à l'équipe belge au Jeux Olympiques! Outre le fait qu'elle les prive d'un leader (mais là, y'en a qui se pressent au portillon pour la remplacer, pas de doute), elle prive les Belges d'espoir de médailles en tennis et pire... elle met dans la mouise l'agence de pub qui a fait les 30 sec en télé, les affiches et les pubs magazine, tous ces petits communicateurs qui ont tout misé sur elle en la plaçant au centre de la campagne!

Jusqu'à présent, elle est toujours bien présente! Alors maintenant, comment vont-ils procéder pour poursuivre la com ? J'ai des idées mais ça me plairait de connaître les vôtres! Balancez!