Serena's season is DONE!

It appears that Serena's tennis season is over.  She issued the following statement to her fans via her website:

Sunday, October 10, 2010

My dearest fans

I have been training for many weeks to get back to playing tennis as quickly possible since my foot surgery in mid-July. Yesterday I learned that I had tried too hard, and did too much too soon. After practicing yesterday morning I felt discomfort in my foot and tests by my doctor revealed that I had unfortunately re-strained it, as a result of over training.

I am likely out for the year now. I was really looking forward to beginning my comeback in Linz, followed by the Year-end championships in Doha. I feel completely heartbroken, and devastated, but knowing I will never be given more than I can handle I plan on coming back stronger and better. However, in order not to make this worse, I have to chill on my physical workouts but I will immediately begin rehabbing as soon as I get the Doc's OK. Keep me in your prayers (I need them).

Thank you all for your support and love.

Xxx
S

Serena WITHDRAWS from Linz

LINZ, Austria — Serena Williams has pulled out of next week's Generali Ladies Linz tournament because her injured right foot hasn't healed properly.  Williams had been cleared by her doctor to return to competition.

But the American suffered "a physical problem" which surfaced in her final training session for the event.  Instead of travelling to the Austrian city on Sunday, Williams chose to undergo further medical tests and later announced her withdrawal.  A comeback at the modest Linz tournament would have allowed Williams get herself in condition for the Masters in Doha at the end of October, which is played on the same surface.

Williams will lose her world number one spot when the latest WTA rankings are published on Monday, after 20-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki secured top spot by reaching the quarter-finals at the Beijing tournament.  Williams has been sidelined since July after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant after winning Wimbledon.  She returned to practice in September after having surgery but twice put off her comeback, withdrawing from the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the China Open in Beijing.

* I received two very HOT emails about Serena's withdrawal.  I will post them later but I have to "edit" and "tone down" some of the "language." 

Serena and OPI to release Nail Polish Collection

Serena has partnered with OPI for an upcoming nail polish collection.  The OPI "Grand Slam Collection" will be released in sets of two throughout the year, to coincide with the major tennis tournaments. The first set will launch Jan. 2011 (Australian Open), a bright green shade called Simply Smashing.  The other three duos will come out in May 2011 (French Open), June 2011 (Wimbledon) and Aug. 2011 (US Open) .

Serena mentioned the nail polish collection on a recent visit to the Oprah Winfrey Show.  While on the show, Serena gave Oprah a pedicure.  Serena stated that she is working on becoming a certified nail technician and has to log 600 hours of pedicures, manicures and more to do so.  Serena currently has 200 hours under her belt and stated that she’s been practicing on friends and family.  Serena is even thinking of opening her own salon after she’s certified.

Serena to return Monday @ Linz tournament

LINZ, Austria -- World No. 1 Serena Williams, who hasn't played competitive tennis since winning Wimbledon, said Thursday she'll return to tournament play next week in Austria.  Williams announced she would participate in the Generali Ladies Linz tournament, a $220,000 event in Austria that begins Monday. She is also expected to participate in the WTA Championships in Qatar the last week of October and the Fed Cup final Nov. 6-7 in San Diego when the United States goes against Italy.

Williams hasn't played competitive tennis since she cut a foot on broken glass, an injury that required surgery, shortly after winning Wimbledon.  Her announcement about Austria comes one day after Venus Williams said a leg injury would keep her out action for the rest of the year.  It also was made the day Caroline Wozniacki locked up enough WTA rankings points to knock Serena Williams from the No. 1 spot in the rankings. Williams has been the top-ranked women's tennis player for the last 49 weeks.

Serena on the beach (E! News Video Clip)

Serena's #1 ranking on the line...M. Cronin speaks

Check out Matt Cronin's article on Serena:

"Sitting Out May Be Catching Up To Serena."

Interesting excerpt: 

"This year has been particularly odd and the fact that Serena still sits at No. 1, even though she's only played six tournaments, shows just how good she's been when she has played, but it also shows how wildly inconsistent the rest of the WTA 's elite players have been."

Serena has qualified for WTA Championships

Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters became the third and fourth singles players to qualify for the season-ending WTA Championships–Doha 2010, set to take place for the third year in a row at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from October 26-31. Williams and Clijsters join Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva and the doubles teams of Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta and Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik who qualified earlier. The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams will compete for the coveted WTA Championships title and a share of the $4.5 million in prize money.

“I congratulate both Serena and Kim for qualifying for the WTA Championships and am glad that fans all over the world will have the opportunity to watch these two incredible players compete for the coveted title in Doha,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

World #1 Serena Williams has qualifed for the WTA Championships for the seventh time in her career and is headed to Doha as the defending champion. In her career, Serena has held the World No.1 ranking for 122 weeks (6th all-time), including all of 2010 season to date. Serena enjoyed a successful start to the 2010 season, capturing her 12th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, in addition to taking home the doubles trophy with Venus. Serena was a finalist at Sydney and at Roland Garros, she reached the quarterfinals and also won the doubles title with Venus. She then went on to capture her 13th Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon two weeks later, passing Billie Jean King’s career number of Grand Slams singles title wins.

Articles courtesy of:
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and Global Village Tennis News

Serena and John to represent USA at Hopman Cup

Hopman Cup Teams:

USA: Serena Williams and John Isner

AUSTRALIA: Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt

BELGIUM: Justine Henin and Steve Darcis

FRANCE: Kristina Mladenovic and Gael Monfils

ITALY: Francesca Schiavone and Potito Starace

SERBIA: Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic

KAZAKSTAN: Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrey Golubev

If you missed Serena giving Oprah a pedicure......

If you missed Serena giving Oprah a pedicure, click HERE

Ooops...."Diary" will remain open.....

Wow, let's just say that you all convinced me to do this a little longer. I have a lot going on but I will make it work.  Back to my regularly scheduled "updating/posting." : )  lol