METHY AFFAIR

 

Agassi has admitted to using meth.

He also confessed in the book itself to a lifelong hatred of the sport.

"I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have," he wrote.

This admission of hate for tennis can only reflect the psychological and physical abuse by his father, a former boxer.

EAT YER GARLIC

 

For centuries, garlic has been extolled not just for its versatility in the kitchen but also for its medicinal powers.

Whatever the reason, studies seem to support an effect. In one double-blind study, published in 2001, British scientists followed 146 healthy adults over 12 weeks from November to February. Those who had been randomly selected to receive a daily garlic supplement came down with 24 colds during the study period, compared with 65 colds in the placebo group. The garlic group experienced 111 days of sickness, versus 366 for those given a placebo. They also recovered faster.

Besides the odor, studies have found minimal side effects, like nausea and rash.

One possible explanation for such benefits is that a compound called allicin, the main biologically active component of garlic, blocks enzymes that play a role in bacterial and viral infections.

Or perhaps people who consume enough garlic simply repel others [with colds].

NY TIMES full article.

WINNING WALLOON WOMAN WRETURNS

Former world number one Justine Henin plays to make her return to tournament tennis at next year's Brisbane International as part of her preparations for the Australian Open.

The Belgian is planning to play two warm-up events later this year but has chosen Brisbane for her official comeback after recently deciding to come out of retirement.

"After a 15-month absence I am pleased to begin my second tennis career at the Brisbane International," the 27-year-old said in a statement Wednesday.

Henin was given a wildcard into the January 3-10 event because she no longer has a ranking, and will be joined by compatriot Kim Clijsters, who won this year's U.S. Open after also making a comeback.

The pair are using the Brisbane tournament to fine tune their preparations for the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne from January 18-31.

NALBANDIAN’S HIP

David Nalbandian is planning to follow the same path as Argentine compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro when he resumes his career next year.

Nalbandian, a former Wimbledon finalist and world number three, has been sidelined through injury since May and underwent hip surgery in August.

However, the 27-year-old expects to make a comeback next year and has entered the Auckland Open from Jan, 11-16 to complete his preparations for the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne the following weekend.

Del Potro won the Auckland event earlier this year before going on to capture his first grand slam title at the U.S. Open last month.

REUTERS

WORLD TOUR FINALS IN LONDON

American Andy Roddick has booked his place at the World Tour Finals with four weeks of the season remaining, the ATP said on Tuesday.

The world number seven will join Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro at the end-of season tournament to be held in London from Nov. 22-29.

Roddick, who reached the semi-finals in 2003 and 2004, has qualified for the season-ending event seven years in a row.

Two places are still up for grabs with Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco leading the chase.

REUTERS

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME - A VIRUS?

The new report has intrigued scientists, been seen as vindication by some patients and inspired hope for a treatment.

But the new study is not conclusive, and a great deal of work remains to be done to find out whether the new virus really does play a role. Just detecting it in patients does not prove it is what made them sick; people with the syndrome may have some other underlying problem that makes them susceptible to the virus, which could be just a passenger in their cells.

The new suspect is a xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV, which probably descended from a group of viruses that cause cancer in mice. How or when XMRV found its way into humans is unknown. But it has also been linked to cancer in people: it was first identified three years ago, in prostate cancer, and later detected in about one-quarter of biopsies from men with that disease (and in only 6 percent of benign biopsies). It is a retrovirus, from the same notorious family that causes AIDS and leukemia in people.

Read the whole article, here.

COOLING DOWN - ANOTHER MYTH-TAKE

The idea of the cool-down seems to have originated with a popular theory — now known to be wrong — that muscles become sore after exercise because they accumulate lactic acid. In fact, lactic acid is a fuel. It’s good to generate lactic acid, it’s a normal part of exercise, and it has nothing to do with muscle soreness. But the lactic acid theory led to the notion that by slowly reducing the intensity of your workout you can give lactic acid a chance to dissipate.

The lactic acid theory is wrong, but it remains entrenched in the public’s mind.

One study of cyclists concluded that because lactic acid is good, it is better not to cool down after intense exercise. Lactic acid was turned back into glycogen, a muscle fuel, when cyclists simply stopped. When they cooled down, it was wasted, used up to fuel their muscles.

Click here to read the whole article.

WASH YOUR HANDS

With swine flu sweeping across the country, health officials are reminding Americans to wash their hands often to reduce the spread of the disease.

Soap and warm water have long been said to prevent the spread of infections, but is warm or hot water really more effective than cold?

In its medical literature, the Food and Drug Administration states that hot water comfortable enough for washing hands is not hot enough to kill bacteria, but is more effective than cold water because it removes oils from the hand that can harbor bacteria.

In studies in which subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had “no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction.”

They found no evidence that hot water had any benefit, and noted that it might increase the “irritant capacity” of some soaps, causing contact dermatitis. “Temperature of water used for hand washing should not be guided by antibacterial effects but comfort,” they wrote, “which is in the tepid to warm temperature range. The usage of tepid water instead of hot water also has economic benefits.”

NY TIMES

FED AND NADAL START NEW SEASON

Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will begin the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi by playing in a six-man, $250,000 winner-takes-all exhibition tournament, local media reported on Tuesday.

Swiss world number one Federer and his Spanish rival have confirmed they will be taking part in the event, which starts on Dec. 31, Dubai's Gulf News quoted organisers as saying.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Russian Nikolay Davydenko, Spain's Fernando Verdasco and Swede Robin Soderling will also take part.

British world number three Andy Murray, who defeated Nadal in the inaugural event this year, has decided to skip the event, organisers added.

REUTERS

HENIN CAUGHT OZ WILD CARD

Justine Henin has been granted a wild card entry to the Australian Open in what she is targeting as her comeback to Grand Slam tennis.

Henin, who won the 2004 Australian Open among her seven major singles titles, announced last month she was returning to the women's tour after more than a year in retirement.

The Australian Open has up to 12 wild cards to issue in each of the men's and women's 128-player draws.

Henin will not have a protected ranking when she returns to the tour and so will need to get wild card entries or enter the qualifying tournament for a place in the main draw. She announced her comeback soon after fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open, only three tournaments into her own comeback from retirement.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/10/12/australian.open.henin.ap/index.html?eref=si_tennis#ixzz0Tjo9HNPy

SHANGHAI ON TSN AND TSN2

OZ AND THE GOLDEN BRICK ROAD

The men's and women's champions at the Australian Open will collect US$1.86 million for winning the season's opening Grand Slam event.

Australian Open organizers announced the increased prize money for the Jan. 18-31 tournament on Tuesday, with the total for the tournament increasing by 4.1 per cent to $21.4 million.

The Australian Open has offered equal prize money for the men's and women's draws since 2001, when the total prize pool was $7.5 million and the champions received $450,000.

PIANO STAIRS

STRETCHING

 

-- Stretching before exercise will not reduce your risk of injuring yourself during that session, and it will not help your performance. In fact, it's clear that it will temporarily decrease power, speed and running efficiency.

-- Stretching after exercise will not reduce soreness the next day. Any muscle damage has already been done.

-- But regular stretching does seem to produce increased strength and fewer injuries over all. It doesn't seem to matter when you stretch, as long as it's not immediately before your workout.

So what should you do? Jason Winchester, lead author of the LSU study, recommends a “dynamic warm-up.” Start with a low-intensity, rhythmic activity to elevate your heart rate and body temperature, such as jogging, swimming or easy biking.

Then progress to dynamic movements that mimic the motions of your intended activity. For runners, that might include high-knee drills and butt kicks; for basketball players, some arm windmills; and for weightlifters, lifting with a greatly reduced weight.

Next, add in light stretching either after your event or on your off-days.

Read the whole article in THE GLOBE AND MAIL

I AM SCAR[R]ED FOR LIFE

Tennis star Serena Williams looks every inch the champion as she poses naked on the cover of America's ESPN magazine.

The stunning shot shows the 28-year-old athlete smiling and looking confident despite having previously admitted she struggles to accept her body shape.

'My thighs…I think they're too big. And also my arms. I think they're too muscular. They're too thick,' she said.

'I swear to God, I'm going to shove this ******** ball down your ****** throat........'

WITTEN'S FUTURE

At the beginning of this year, Jesse Witten's world ranking in professional tennis was so low, fans needed sonar to find him.

He lost his primary sponsor. He was forced to drop from Challenger to Futures tournaments, comparable to being demoted from Triple A to Class A in baseball. He considered quitting.

Less than nine months later, the 26-year-old Naples, Fla., resident lived the dream of every struggling pro.

Witten, who's scheduled to play at 11 a.m. today in the first round of the Natomas/USTA $50,000 Men's Professional Tournament at the Natomas Racquet Club, barely got into the U.S. Open qualifying tournament, won three matches to enter the main draw and advanced to the third round.

There, he met Novak Djokovic and served for a two-sets-to-one lead against the world's fourth-ranked player.

The stands at 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium were packed, and millions watched the enthralling match on CBS on Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Then reality finally set in for Witten, as he lost his serve, the set and the following one to end the match.

Still, he pocketed $48,000, more than double his 2009 earnings of $19,284 to that point, soared 89 places in the rankings to No. 187 and revived his career. Witten is now No. 174, three spots below his career high.

"I've been playing well and able to get on a roll ever since team tennis (in July)," said the former four-time singles All-American at Kentucky and the NCAA singles runner-up as a freshman in 2002. "It really helped me out, and it kept building and building."

After nagging injuries last year caused his ranking to plummet to No. 397, Witten won three Futures singles titles in the first half of 2009.

One came at Del Oro High School in Loomis in June as he saved three match points in the final against Russian Artem Sitak.

Was Witten nervous on the national stage in the U.S. Open?

"Surprisingly, I wasn't," said Witten, unusually stocky for a pro tennis player at 5-foot-10 with a devastating forehand. "I had nothing to lose, and I played like it.

SACRAMENTO BEE

EVERT AND NORMAN

Tennis champ Chris Evert and golf legend Greg Norman have split just 15 months after they wed - because neither wanted to move out of their own home.

Mum-of-three Chris had kept the Florida mansion she shared with her exhusband, despite Greg's pad being even more flash, and his having carried out big renovations ready for her to move in.

A friend said: "Chris hated the idea of living in the same place Greg shared with Laura, his wife of 25 years."

The couple, both 54, confirmed they had split but promised to "remain friends".

IT'S STILL NOT ABOUT YOU, SERENA

Serena Williams was accentuating the positive on Sunday after her return to singles action for the first time since her rant [This was no rant! It was a physical threat.]at a lineswoman at the U.S. Open last month.

The world number two was fined a record $10,000 for the verbal assault on the official during her semi-final loss to Belgian Kim Clijsters in New York, and could still face further punishment after an investigation into the incident [Not likely. Tennis officials would rather look the other way.].

Williams, who has since apologised [ belatedly] to the official, could face a grand-slam ban if the incident is deemed a "major offence" by investigators.

The Australian and French Open champion said she thought it would be inappropriate to comment about the investigation while it was continuing, but suggested that her enthusiasm for the game was undimmed by the incident.

Serena, this isn't about YOU!

It's OUR beautiful game and you have made it ugly!

MURRAY'S WRIST

As expected Andy Murray’s problems with inflamed tendons in his left wrist have forced the world no.3 to pull out of next week’s Rakuten Japan Tennis Championships in Tokyo and the Scot’s participation in the upcoming Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 the following week remains uncertain.

Although MRI scans have shown 22 year-old Murray is suffering no long-term damage to his non-racket arm, he is determined not to endanger his chances of contesting either the calendar ending ATP World Tour Championships at London’s 02 Arena or next January’s Australian Open where he is determined to mount a concerted campaign to win his first major title.

MURRY - SORE WRIST

World number three Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week's Japan Open due to a wrist injury, the Briton said on his website.

Murray suffered the injury at last month's U.S. Open and aggravated the problem in Britain's Davis Cup tie against Poland on Sept. 18.

He will sit out the Oct. 5-11 Tokyo event on the advice of doctors, a statement on his website (www.andymurray.com) said.

His withdrawal will come as a further blow to tourmanent organisers following world number one Roger Federer's cancellation due to fatigue.

U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will assume top seed status at the $1.3 million event.

REUTERS