Amelie Mauresmo Withdraws from the Zurich Open with Shoulder Injury
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Oct 19, 2006 | Print
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World number one Amelie Mauresmo has pulled out of this week’s Zurich Open because of an injured right shoulder.
“I’ve pushed myself to play last week and to be able to come here this week. Maybe it was not the right solution. There is inflammation in two areas of the shoulder but not big damage that could really put me out for a long time.”
“I hope I will be in Madrid,” Mauresmo added. “For me of course it’s an important goal. I definitely hope I will be ready. I can’t say for sure today that I’m going to be but I’ll do my best and hopefully it will work.”
(source: DNA Sport)
Mauresmo, who desperately needed to win the tournament in hopes of remaining in the top spot, originally hurt her shoulder practicing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany two weeks ago.
She pulled out of Stuttgart, pushed herself to play in the Kremlin Cup before losing in the quarterfinals to Nicole Vaidisova, and then played her opening round match in Switzerland against Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
Mauresmo was due to face Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals tomorrow. In other Zurich related news, Elena Dementieva was knocked out of the tournament in the second round by Katarina Srebotnik. Srebotnik defeated the fourth seed in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
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Nexty | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
I’m desperate!!!
Ame
:(
Sapphisto | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Aw, my poor baby. She was so hungry for the #1 spot, and now she may not even play the YEC?!
That really, truly stinks. Poor Amelie.
That’s just ruined my day - I can’t even imagine what she must be feeling like.
momofan | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Aaress, I am a TDQ (teenage drama queen), but I must truly say that my life is ruined. I can only imagine how Ame’s feeling right now. I think it’s time for a post on how whack the WTA ranking system is, though. Seriously, how does a person who wins 2 GS, makes the SF of the third, and wins Two Tier II’s and makes two other Tier II SF NOT end the year at No. 1? If she, God forbid, doesn’t play Madrid or loses early there, she could very well end the year at No. 3. That’s just MESSED UP in my book.
*WAHHH* I’m sooooooo sad.
Aaress | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Momofan, yes the ranking system is “whacked” and needs an overhaul, and it does seem strange at first glance why Amelie could be down to No.2 or depending on how well Sharapova does in the next three weeks, possibly No. 3.
However, it does make sense when you think about it.
Amelie has played great this season - undoubtedly her best ever, but on the current rankings, its not the Tier II’s that matter.
Almost more importantly on the rankings, Amelie had a ton of points to defend from last season. Remember apart from the clay courts, Justine was out for a lot of 2005 with a knee and hamstring injury. Defending ranking points has not been an issue for her this season.
Justine’s steadily risen on the rankings and even though she only bagged one Grand Slam, she pocketed HUGE amounts of points just by reaching the finals. On top of that she bagged three Tier II wins and made the final at Berlin this spring. Overall, if you just look at points and stats - you could say that Justine has had a better year than Amelie. Amelie is 48-13, while Justine’s up at 56-7.
Amelie has pretty much lost the race for the top spot, and I if were her, I would be a little concerned about what Maria Sharapova could do. Maria’s probably resigned to being behind Justine, but to end at No. 2 would still be a big thrill for her. Obviously her foot injury could be a problem, but she’s still planning on trotting the globe, and picking up as many points as she can before November 13.
momofan | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Aaress said:
“but on the current rankings, its not the Tier II’s that matter.”
———————
I totally agree with you here. I think it’s the Grand Slams that matter the most. And IMHO, the person who wins 2 GS in one year has had a 50% better year than someone who wins 1 GS, regardless of how many GS finals the other person made. This is why it depresses me to think that the ranking system doesn’t reflect this.
And, ultimately, I want to see my girl in the top spot. Who else has represented the WTA tour better this year? A humble, soft-spoken, yet intelligent World No. 1 player. Someone who doesn’t resort to “Banana/Servegate” (Sharapova held up her hand while playing Peer today in a redux of that Justine-Serena RG ‘03 SF), someone who doesn’t quit two major finals in a year, someone who plays for the love of the sport, even when she’s injured. Have we ever doubted when Amelie’s had to pull out of a tournament this year???
No matter where she ends up in the ranking, she’ll always be *my* No. 1 for these reasons. And really, I don’t care whether she defends her Stuttgart final points from last year, and while it would be LOVELY for her to finish this FANTASTIC year by defending her YEC title, hey, let’s look at this way: she accomplished something she’d never done before this year, namely, win TWO GS titles. And hopefully, there’s more to come.
#1, 2, or 3…Amelie’s the best, for me!
Jol | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Well, if we look at this from a different angle, sometimes it is better to place F or SF in several GS than it is to win one or two. Here is my point: Mauresmo won 2 GS = 1400 , US Open SF = 314 pts, and the French Open 96 pts.Total 1810 Hardinne won 1 GS = 700 pts and 3 F GS = 1476: Total: 2176 Thus, Mauresmo’s performance at the French open really hurt her. As well, she did not finish high enough at the other tournaments. Considering just the tournaments in which Mauresmo and Hardinne both played, Hardinne comes out 961 points ahead of Mauresmo (based on 12 tournaments). Mauresmo had no choice but to continue to play in more tournaments and collect more points. Hardinne had a huge cushion on which to relax and play only the required number of tournaments. The end result, Mauresmo’s fitness takes a hit and Hardinne has opportunity to rest.
We shall not consider Sharapova… My pick for Madrid: Kuznetsova. She is strong and healthy after 21 tournaments. Looking to next year, I will keep my eyes on the Russians: Kuznetsova if she improves her consistency, Petrova, and others.
Jol | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
I’ll call this out before someone calls me on it. The delta between the 12 tournaments was actually 1565. In my original calculation, I omitted the French Open. I blame fuzzy math. However, this further illustrates my point of how much Mauresmo was hurt by her performance at the French Open.
Aaress | Oct 19, 2006 | Reply
Jol, I agree with you on Kuznetsova. I’d really like to see her post some great wins next season, especially during the clay courts. She’s actually one of, if not the most fit player on tour, and her stamina is incredible. While the rest of the tour is battling shoulder, knee, hip, and other ailments, Kuze just keeps going and going.
Nexty | Oct 20, 2006 | Reply
Seems like Ame is only returning at the YEC…….
The number one sport is definetly away!:(
The last objectif would be to win in Madid …