DINARA DONE?: Dinara Safina, who hasn’t played since the Aussie Open but is the No. 2 seed in Stuttgart, says the back injury that forced her to retire in the fourth round in Melbourne could eventually put an end to her career. “My back injury is the worst you can get, because if things go wrong again, that might be it for my professional career altogether,” said the 23-year-old Russian, who was diagnosed with a double stress fracture and a ruptured muscle in her back.
DEE-NIED: Brit Robert Dee, once described as the “world’s worst tennis pro” by the Daily Telegraph, lost his libel action against the newspaper.
THE NUMBERS
70: Minutes it took for Rafael Nadal to oust Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Rome Masters.
2: Years since the slumping Ana Ivanovic last occupied the No. 1 ranking. (The Serb is now No. 57.)
QUOTEBOOK
“I have noticed that you really need all your 10 fingers.” — Justine Henin, who must wear a splint for six weeks after she broke the pinky finger on her left hand while prepping for Belgium’s Fed Cup tie against Estonia
“I was shaking. It was a terrible feeling.” — Ernests Gulbis, who needed seven match points to close out Roger Federer on Tuesday in Rome
“You cannot be 100 percent all the time.” — Roger Federer
“Everyone is panicking a bit and asking what the problem is, but I just had a couple of bad tournaments. It happens to everybody.” — Andy Murray, who scored his first victory in more than a month by beating Andreas Seppi in Rome 6-2, 6-4
“Clay is probably her best surface, if not a high-bouncing hard court, so she’s definitely one of the threats.” — Aussie Fed Cup captain David Taylor on Sam Stosur‘s chances at Roland Garros
“It was all pizza, spaghetti.” — Patty Schnyder, who said she couldn’t find any local Moroccan cuisine during the WTA event in Fez
