Future Tennis Stars

Serena Williams just couldn’t overcome a knee injury and pulled out of the season ending WTA Championships.

Williams dropped the first set against Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 and said afterward her knee was sore to begin with and got worse as the match went on. This result puts Bartoli in a hole now down 0-1 for round robin play and even though they played one set, she is down 0-2 for the events so far. Bartoli will play tomorrow against Justine Henin and even though she beat Henin at Wimbledon, don’t count on a repeat performance.

Once again, Justine Henin beat Jelena Jankovic and this time, it wasn’t close. Henin beat Jankovic 6-2, 6-2 and it puts Henin up 2-0 in round robin play and puts Jankovic in a hole 0-1. Jankovic should cheer up though as she will have to play Williams and Chakvetadze (who are playing now and Chakvetadze took the first set 6-4) and Jankovic is capable of beating both which is exactly what she will need to do. Another loss and Jankovic could be out.

Roger Federer drew Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez and Nikolay Davydenko in the Red Group when the Masters Cup draw was selected on Wednesday.

The Gold Group, which opens play on Sunday, includes Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet.

Federer is of course the favourite to win his fourth Masters Cup title. Nadal isn’t in top form and Federer’s draw is similar to that of the US Open when he beat Roddick and Davydenko en route to the title.

Djokovic is also a threat and a rematch of the US Open finals is most likely what we will get in just over a week.

Bob and Mike Bryan pulled out of the season ending Masters Cup due to Mike’s elbow injury. That top ranked pair will be replaced with Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich.

“I am extremely disappointed that I won’t be able to compete in the Tennis Masters Cup this year,” Mike Bryan said. “Unfortunately I have had a problem with my elbow for the past couple of weeks and it hasn’t recovered in time to be ready for the tournament.”

The Bryans won the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup doubles title in 2003 and 2004.

Rafael Nadal ended Marcos Baghdatis’ hopes of playing in the Masters Cup in Shangha. Baghdatis lost a touch 2 hour and 25 minute, three set match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. It looked like Baghdatis was going to get his first ever career win over Nadal after he took the first set and led 3-1 in the second. Nadal came back however and took the match. Baghdatis needed to reach the finals to get a spot in the season ending championships but instead, Richard Gasquet will take that spot and will play David Nalbandian for Sunday’s final.

In a stunning turn of events, Martina Hingis announced on Thursday that she is currently under investigation for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon this year.

“I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent,” Hingis said in a brief statement.

Hingis has struggled in recent months with injuries and health problems. Hingis ended her season a month ago after having problems with her hip and said she would take as long as she needed to recover. However, the drug allegations seem to be totally out of character for Hingis.

Since returning, Hingis has beaten top players and won 3 titles including the Italian Open last year. Hingis has struggled since reaching the fourth round at Indian Wells. She finished 2006 ranked 7th, and is currently 19th.

Hingis retired in 2003 after long bouts with ankle injuries.