Tennis Talking Points

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Aug 17, 2009

Tennis Talking Points

Kim Clijsters

<i>Our weekly Friday look at newsmakers in the tennis world.</i> <br><br>It's like she never went away in the first place. The 26-year-old former No. 1 looked so good in her first tournament in more than two years that some observers are predicting that she could contend for the U.S. Open title next month. Clijsters defeated top-20 players Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in Cincinnati before losing to Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals.

The Great Eight

Thanks in part to the comebacks of Roger Federer (from paternity leave) and Rafael Nadal (knee tendinitis), history was made at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The eight top-ranked players -- Federer, Nadal (pictured), Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Porto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko -- reached the quarterfinals of a tournament for the first time since rankings started in 1973.

Venus and Serena Williams

The error-prone sisters crashed out of the third round of the Cincinnati Open in sloppy fashion. Venus (38 unforced errors) lost in straight sets to Flavia Pennetta, while Serena (44) later fell in two sets to Sybille Bammer.

Juan Carlos Ferrero

The former No. 1 has turned back the clock in his 11th season, winning a title in Casablanca, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the finals of the Croatia Open. This week, the 29-year-old Spaniard defeated No. 40 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 13 Gael Monfils in straight sets at the Rogers Cup before falling to No. 3 Andy Murray.

Monica Seles

The nine-time Grand Slam winner is playing an exhibition doubles match Monday at the women's Rogers Cup event in Toronto, where she's being inducted into the tournament's hall of fame. Seles won a record four consecutive Canadian titles, including in 1995 in her first tournament back from the stabbing incident.

Billie Jean King

King's resume includes 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 in doubles and 11 more in mixed doubles. But the longtime champion of gender equity issues added yet another honor to that list Wednesday, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the country's highest honor for a civilian -- from President Barack Obama.