"Britain's Andy Murray has received such a big clothing contract from adidas — around £15m over five years — that the brand have ditched Novak Djokovic, Marcos Baghdatis and the Bryan brothers to help fund it. So there was understandable meltdown within adidas when Murray turned up for a photoshoot last week at Dubai’s new racecourse wearing a distinctive Hugo Boss-branded polo shirt. Jim Latham, head of adidas tennis, will be making clear his disappointment to the Murray camp." --Charles Sale

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But I don't.

Look. I couldn't bring myself to watch a single point. Won't watch one next week either. As Venus Williams might say, I'm not trying to be down with Dubai. Shahar Pe'er gets her previously denied visa to enter the country and perform, but even when she plays the defending champ -- the defending champ, the kind of defending champ that gives this kind of event serious stature in tennis -- she's relegated to an outer court? Which means the stature-giving defending champ is relegated to an outer court also.

That's some straight-up bullshit.

Hey, Venus. Why you still so down with Dubai?

I don't care how much the players on both tours like the event, it simply shouldn't exist and I wish it didn't.

But it does, so....

I give it lip when it crowns a champion.

Oy.

Dear ESPN,

I've never seen Mary Carillo as anything but a commentator who covers the sport with insight and wit and as much objectivity as she can muster when certain players aren't on the court. I've defended her around the Internet for years against accusations of ineptitude and far worse. When it comes to Serena Williams, I've found her criticism a bit acidic, but fair, giving her the benefit of my doubt, if I had any doubt about her feelings at all.

Tonight, she crossed a line.

She actually said from the broadcast booth that the world No. 1 and defending Australian Open champion is trying to start a gender war and that she got away with threatening murder.

I spit out my tea.

This from an analyst who doesn't understand that having the best serve and having the best service games won statistics are two different measures of ability and execution. One's an opinion, the other, a quantifiable fact.

Serena committed no crime, Mary Carillo. She wasn't arrested and charged. She wasn't handcuffed or dragged out of Arthur Ashe stadium in shackles.

Pam Shriver came armed and ready, as though she knew Mary would take her rant to another level during Serena's second-round match. Sounded like Pam read from a page, bringing facts to the table and let her colleague and all of us know that no man in the NFL who had an actual physical altercation with an official was fined more than $25,000.

Mary Carillo has driven fans away from tonight's broadcast because they didn't want to hear any more of her slanderous vitriol.

ESPN, do the sport a favor and fire Mary Carillo. And if you can't or won't do that, then ban her from calling another Serena Williams match for the rest of her tenure with your corporation.

Sincerely,

Craig Hickman
Maine

Update
I had intended this only as an open letter venting, but a reader suggested I post the ESPN contact link here for anyone who wants to send them a complaint. If you prefer snail mail, their corporate address is:

ESPN, Inc.
545 Middle St
Bristol, CT 06010

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Yanina Wickmayer of Beligum holds the trophy after defeating Flavia Pennetta of Italy at the women's Auckland Classic final on January 9, 2010. Wickmayer defeated Pennetta 6-3, 6-2.

::

What irony that she's the first titlist of the new decade.

“I think it was a shame [Yanina Wickmayer] got the ban and I’m happy she could come back. I sent her an e-mail to support her and I said I hoped she was fine. I think they went too far with the penalty, which she did not deserve.” --Shahar Pe'er, on playing her next opponent in the ASB Classic semifinals

“The tour has received written confirmation from the UAE Ministry of Interior that [Shahar Pe'er] will be able to enter and participate in the event without incident. One of the conditions that Dubai had to meet was that this year there would have to be a written confirmation that she would be able to play because last year there were just verbal assurances.” --Katie Scott, WTA spokeswoman

According to this article in French. Apparently nothing will be resolved until 2010.

Yanina Wickmayer will need a wildcard to get into the Australian Open according to this article in English.

As the World Turns.

“Because I didn’t have enough confidence in myself as a grass-court player. Because I am always scared of playing the Williams sisters on grass, especially Venus. Part of the reason I lost to [Marion] Bartoli in the [2007] semi-final was because I was scared to face Venus in the final.” --Justine Henin

(Thanks, Karen)

"We're going to appeal because we still don't have all the elements which will allow us to decide whether a sanction of one year is appropriate. The scale of sanctions (under the world anti-doping Code) is between one and two years. To drop down from two to one year there have to be justifiable elements. We're going to meet the Flemish authorities Friday to see how we can coordinate our actions, and to be consistent in how we approach this case because the athletes seem to want to make it an affair of principles on different levels."

--Olivier Niggli, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) legal director, on why WADA is seeking a tougher penalty against Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse