Tennis

34 year old Monica Seles has decided to officially end her tennis career. Seles had not played for five years due to various injuries but hoped to mount a comeback. The winner of 53 tournaments and 9 grand slams released a statement on the WTA Website that said:

"I have for some time considered a return to professional play, but I have now decided not to pursue that."

Tennis fans will always wonder how many titles the native of Yugoslavia would have won if a deranged fan of who had been obssesed with her rival Steffi Graf hadn't stabbed her which set her career back. Despite the stabbing, Seles managed to return to the tour two years later and return to form but she was definitely robbed of some her prime years because of the incident.

Tennis fans will also remember Seles for her unique style pounding the ball with both hands on her forehand and a backhand something that no one in recent memory has done or is currently doing. Seles was also known for her quirky grunting noises that infuriated opponents leaving many to complain that they were unable to concentrate on the match.

Martina Hingis, who retired from professional tennis in November after testing positive for cocaine, was banned for two years after an independent tribunal confirmed the offense. The International Tennis Federation said in a statement on Friday that Hingis, 27, would also forfeit ranking points resulting from last year's Wimbledon championships and $129,481 in prize money.

Martina Hingis, a five time grand slam champion, has denied taking cocaine. In November, when the allegations first came to light, she said that she had "no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials." It was at this time that Hingis decided it was time to retire.

The ITF also stated today that the anti-doping tribunal had ruled after a two-day hearing that samples produced by Martina Hingis at Wimbledon in June 2007 had indeed tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine. Furthermore, they rejected the suggestion that there were doubts about the identity or integrity of the sample attributed to her, stating:

"The Tribunal also rejected Ms Hingis' plea of No (or No Significant) Fault or Negligence, on the basis that no mitigation was possible as it had not been shown how the cocaine entered her system."

Russian tennis player Anna Chakvetadze was robbed of $230,000 in cash and valuables today when robbers broke into her Moscow house and tied up her family as Anna ran away for safety.

Her father went on Moscow television and explained:

"They started to beat me up, I resisted, then they hit me either with their hands or a pistol,'' Jamal Chakvetadze said.

Chakvetadze is the 6th ranked woman tennis player in the world. She earned 1.6 Million dollars last season. Russian sports figures have been involved in a number of strange robberies in recent memory including former tennis star Andrei Chesnokov who was shot in the Ukraine late last year.

Recently retired tennis star Martina Navratilova has teamed up with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in an endorsement deal that will see her as the organization's new Health & Fitness ambassador.

In her new role with the AARP, Navaratilova will share tips with AARP members through online chats, speak at various events, and even conduct Q&As and video segments on the AARP website. While the AARP has had ambassadors in the past, Navaratilova is the first ambassador for health and fitness.

This deal is just one of the latest examples of a growing demand for retired athletes as brand ambassadors. Many of the highest-paid endorsements still go to young stars like LeBron James, retired players are beginning to get far more attention than they used to.

One of the benefits of a retired athlete is that their reputation is well-set and they are often have greater name recognition than younger players. Additionally, finance and healthcare companies are eyeing up the growing legions of aging baby boomers now entering retirement, and are on the hunt for endorsers that their customers can relate to.

A bazaar story in the tennis world today. Tommy Haas, a German, may have been poisoned before the Davis Cup Match in Moscow. Haas says he still is ill 6 weeks after the match and his doubles partner, Alexander Waske, said that he had heard that Haas had been poisoned.

Weske told a German newspaper, "I was told in Moscow that Haas had been poisoned."

Haas will undergo testing tomorrow to see if their are still traces of substances in his system.

"I want to find out if any poison can be traced or confirmed," Haas told Bild newspaper.

The International Tennis Federation is taking the claims seriously and are investigating the matter.

Former #1 tennis player in the world Martina Hingis is set to hang up her racket for good according to reports. Hingis, who was nicknamed the Swiss Miss when she dominated in her teenage years, has called a news conference for later this afternoon.

Hingis had retired in 2002 but had a successful comeback in 2006 but was unable to win a major. She did manage climb all the way back to number 7 in the world.

Hingis will go down as one of the best ever to play Womens tennis. The one knock on her is that she was never fully able to compete with the power game but her finesse and style is arguably second to non. Hingis leaves the game with 5 major titles under her belt and was successful in every Grand Slam tournament except the French Open.