TENNIS in DEPTH.

Two days before the start of Wimbledon, women’s tennis is struggling with the troublesome question of what it wants to be. A sport? An entertainment? A business? Or a beauty contest?

 Driven by the demands of sponsors, TV networks, and a new breed of astute marketeers, the women’s game has become slick at manipulating its own image. Its big-name players are by far the highest earning female athletes on earth, and – even in the depths of a global recession – crowd attendances were up by 11 per cent last year.

Yet many traditionalists complain that much of this success has been achieved by selling out to commercial interests that seek to exploit the glamour and celebrity of a relatively small number of star players, while ignoring the game’s broader base. Nearly 20 years after the Dutch Wimbledon winner, Richard Krajicek, caused outrage by declaring that “80 per cent of the top 100 women players are fat pigs” (he later retracted – “OK, only 75 per cent”), the women on the tour have never been under such pressure to look good.

“What we have is a modern sporting-entertainment property” he says. “We are the leading global professional sport for women, and when it comes to marketing we have to look at everything – the personalities, the athleticism, the high level of off-court interest. We have to understand that there are many potential fans out there who are attracted by the celebrity aspects of our game, and that, if we use that sensibly it helps us create a stronger brand and a broader fan base.”

“Look, any sport in this era that doesn’t also consider itself an entertainment is kidding itself.”

The WTA rule book states that players: “will be expected to dress and present themselves in a professional manner.” It adds: “A player shall wear appropriate and clean tennis attire … failure to do so may result in default and/or a fine.”

No one has ever been fined for dressing improperly, and the women players – or those of them who, like Serena Williams, acknowledge that “sex sells” – have taken full advantage of the latitude the rules allow them.

A more demure tone prevailed at Eastbourne last week, but the players – especially the younger ones – seemed in no doubt that their future prospects hinged as much on their ability to catch the eye as to beat the opposition. “There’s a lot of pressure to look good, get noticed,” said Grace Lin, a 16-year-old American from Georgia. “Everyone talks about it, but you have to deal with it in your own way. I’m just trying to play tennis.”

One of the pressures the women cite is the tour’s unofficial, but unmistakable, disapproval of grunting. Market research has shown that most viewers dislike the serve-and-squawk combo, favoured by the likes of Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, and last year, Michael Stich, a former Wimbledon champion complained that the grunts were “disgusting, ugly and unsexy.”

“It’s not all dictated from above,” says a seasoned tour hand. “The players want to look good, and that also suits their sponsors, so it happens naturally. A lot of the bad stuff comes from the media, where there’s still misogyny, and you have girls being criticised for being overweight by 25-stone blokes on sports desks.”

In a sense, the future of women’s tennis was decided by Russian-born Anna Kournikova, who arrived in the early 1990s as a peachy-skinned, walking oestrogen bomb, and quickly became the game’s most famous female star. Anna didn’t win much, but securing the title of “Sexiest Woman in Sport” brought her dozens of lucrative endorsements and earnings of £10 million-a-year.

“Now everybody wants to be the next Kournikova,” says American ex-tennis player and sportscaster Mary Carillo.

So the pressures build, and sometimes they burst, as when Laura Robson, the 16-year-old British prodigy recently branded some of her female rivals “sluts” – a remark she claimed was taken out of context.

Courtesy Mark Langley   The Telegraph.

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Former world number one Dinara Safina and Spain’s Maria Martinez Sanchez have withdrawn from Wimbledon.

Safina, who was seeded 20th, is suffering from a back injury, while 22nd seed Sanchez has a knee problem.

The two players will be replaced by Melanie Oudin and Kateryna Bondarenko, seeded 33 and 34 respectively.

Safina’s ongoing back problem has led to speculation that it might curtail her career. She has been close mouthed on the subject(as she should be), but did disclose a few ago that her doctors have advised her that her condition is ‘serious’.

Ernests Gulbis has become the latest seeded player to withdraw from Wimbledon due to injury.

The 27th-seeded Latvian has been forced to pull out with a hamstring injury, a move which sees Germany’s Philipp Petzschner move into the seedings at number 33.

Lucky loser Santiago Ventura of Spain has been drafted in to the men’s singles main draw as a result of Gulbis’ withdrawal.

Ivo Karlovic, Radek Stepanek, David Nalbandian, Richard Gasquet and Mario Ancic are other notable absentees from the men’s draw due to injury.

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Justine Henin enjoyed the perfect peraration for Wimbledon when she beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win the women’s title here on Saturday.

It was also a timely boost on grass for the Belgian as she heads to London in pursuit of the only Grand Slam to have eluded her. It was very evident that Henin is a clay court player at heart, and even though Petkovic played well she is not among the elite players who will oppose Henin at Wimbledon. Grass court tennis is a power game, and Henin has neither the serve nor the ground strokes to inflict any damage on the sod.

Henin, the top seed here, was forced to dig deep for this victory as she dropped the first set, then trailed 0-3 in the final set.

Her 22-year-old German opponent had only appeared in one final before when she won at Bad Gastein last year but she showed few nerves as she tested Henin in the opening set.

She kept her cool to bag the one break point that presented itself during the first set going on to take it 6-3.

Henin, however, bounced back to take the second as both players struggled on their own serve. Henin dropped her serve once but broke Petkovic twice to restore parity.

It was the German, though, who took a grip on the third set, breaking Henin’s first service game to open up a 3-0 lead. But Henin, who is ranked 17 for Wimbledon, hit back to break Petkovic twice and snatch the set and the title.

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky took the men’s title, needing just 56 minutes to dispose of Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-0.

It was Stakhovsky’s third tour win having taken the Zagreb Indoor crown in 2008 and the St. Petersburg Open last year.

The 24-year-old from Kiev, ranked 71 in the world, did not drop a set all week and had his serve broken just three times in 46 games.

Tipsarevic, ranked 20 places higher, had a disastrous day, claiming just nine points in a second set that lasted a mere 22 minutes.

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Ekaterina Makarova defeated Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (5), 6-4 at the Eastbourne International grass-court event Saturday to win her first career title.

The 22-year-old Russian became the first unseeded champion at Eastbourne since American Chanda Rubin in 2002, and is the first qualifier to win the title.

Azarenka struggled from the start and appeared to be carrying an injury, but refused to reveal what it was.

“It’s my problem, I’ll keep it to myself,” Azarenka said. “I still have to treat it and I don’t want to put it out there. It’s not a big thing.”

The hobbled 20-year old from Belarus sank to her knees after Makarova hit a winning return to break for 2-0. While Azarenka was moving gingerly at times, she competed throughout, holding a break point at 2-0 and another at 4-2 before forcing a backhand error to break in the ninth game as Makarova failed to serve out the set.

Makarova also faced two break points at 5-5 before taking the tiebreaker.

Leading 2-1 in the second set, Azarenka called for her coach and appeared close to tears. She went on to concede her serve at 2-2 when she made a forehand error.

Makarova, who saved 10 of 11 break points in the match, fought off four break points to hold for 4-2 and two more at 4-3 before claiming victory.

Makarova is the first qualifier to win a title since Alexandra Dulgheru in Warsaw last year.

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The world’s top female tennis players descended on London on Thursday night for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Pre-Wimbledon Player Party hosted by Sir Richard Branson.

Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova were among the players that held court with a difference, trading tennis gear for glamorous evening attire.

The enchanting event, held at the Kensington Roof Gardens, also attracted men’s No.8 seed Fernando Verdasco, comedian and actor Russell Brand and chat show host Jonathan Ross.

The party is designed to celebrate women’s tennis ahead of the world’s most traditional Grand Slam.

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Justine Henin coasted into the final of the Unicef Open with a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over fifth seed Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.

The 28-year-old former world number one is seeded 17th for Wimbledon next week and plays Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the opening round.

She will face Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in Saturday’s final in Den Bosch.

The seventh seed overcame Henin’s compatriot Kirsten Flipkens 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the Netherlands.

Former world number one Henin, champion at the Dutch event in 2001, is playing her first grasscourt tournament since cutting short her retirement earlier this year.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner, 28, has yet to take the ladies singles title at Wimbledon.

In the men’s semi-finals, Serbian seventh seed Janko Tipsarevic battled past defending champion Benjamin Becker.

The 25-year-old dropped a set before seeing off the eighth-seeded German 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 to set up a meeting with Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine.

Stakhovsky, 24, hit five aces and converted all four break point opportunities to beat Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-3 6-4 in their semi-final.

The 71st-ranked Ukrainian is bidding for his ATP third title after Zagreb in 2008, when he beat Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals, and St Petersburg in 2009.

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Ana Ivanovic has a tough first round match at the 2010 Wimbledon against the 13th seed Shahar Peer. If she loses once again in the first round of a tournament she will probably slide further down the WTA rankings to be outside of the top 60.

What she needs is on-court playing time, and while she continues to lose early she fails to gain any playing time. It is a catch 22 situation for players who have lost confidence and are trying to regain their former position on the tour. The further they slide the more difficult become their opponents and their chances of winning are decreased.

The answer for Ana maybe for a move to the Challenger cicuit. Here she would gain on-court matches, she would be out of the public eye, and she just might capture her 2008 form. If she continues on her present path, playing just one match every two weeks, she has little or no chance of regrouping.

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Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova stunned French Open finalist Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 Friday to knock the Australian out in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne International.

The number 100 outsider played well above her level as she put out the third seed ranked 93 places above her.

Makarova, 22, from Moscow, will face Victoria Azarenka, who eliminated 2005 champion Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals at Devonshire Park, and won her semi final match with Marion Bartoli 6-4, 7-5.

Makarova will be bidding to finally win a title after being beaten twice on clay last season, by Yanina Wickmayer in Estoril and by Anabel Medina Garrigues in Fez.

The Australian will still move into a career-best ranking of sixth on Monday in time for the start of Wimbledon, where the sixth seed begins in the first round against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

Makarova was the first Eastbourne qualifier to reach the final since Vera Dushevina managed in 2005, where she lost to Clijsters.

The Russian has already assured herself of a Top 90 ranking with number 75 possible if she should win the grass title Saturday.

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