Future Tennis Stars

This just pisses me off. I’m sorry but it does. If there is one player who deserves a decent break, it’s Mark Philippoussis.

Mark will miss the Australian Open he had hoped to enter via a wildcard playoff due to yet another knee surgery. Of course this raises the retirement questions again. Philippoussis has already had three knee surgeries, the last in January which knocked him out of the entire 2007 season.

“I am bitterly disappointed because I really wanted to play in Australia this summer,” Philippoussis said. “They tell me it can be fixed. My initial reaction is I want to get the surgery done and then work on getting back on the court as soon as I can.”

Philippoussis I think represents a larger problem when it comes to the media. So many reporters talk about how Mark never made it to the top, that his career was a disappointment but never mention his multiple knee surgeries or injuries (same goes for Kournikova). We all remember that horrific fall at Wimbledon against Sampras that started this whole mess. If that never happened, who knows? Mark could have owned Wimbledon but it never happened.

Roger Federer and Justine Henin were named the ITF Champions for 2007. Seriously, they put out a press release for that? I guess they had to but it’s not like anyone was within spitting distance of them.

“Every year brings new challenges, and I am proud that I have been able to raise the level of my game when needed,” said Federer, who won three Grand Slam titles this year and reached the final at the French Open.

“This has definitely been the best season of my career,” said Henin, who was 63-4 with 10 titles in 2007 after skipping the Australian Open for personal reasons related to splitting up with her husband. “It has been a very challenging year overall, but I have stayed positive and proved that nothing is impossible if you work hard.”

Read the entire article at ESPN.com