Maria Sharapova, to the surprise of no one, duly took part in a film shoot in Rome on Sunday to publicise the Sony Ericsson women's Tour, one she had threatened to boycott. However it would be untrue to say, unlike most of the others involved, that she actually enjoyed herself. The US-based Russian had been miffed that it had been organised directly before this week's tournament at the Foro Italico, and had made some forthright comments to this effect on her website, thereby ensuring several million more hits, no doubt.
Some folk were interested to know where the shoot had taken place, particularly as Shaz has always expressed an avowed interest in architecture. (If you should happen to bump into her at Wimbledon, you might tackle her on her thoughts concerning Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright). So where had this shoot been? "I'm not quite sure. I was riding around in a car for an hour talking - pretending like I'm talking on the phone. Yeah, that was pretty much it." Should make for fascinating watching.
Underlying this storm in a Chianti glass was the ongoing attempt by both the WTA and the men's tour to formulate a calendar acceptable to everyone. The WTA has largely cracked this by not expecting their leading players to compete at all. (Well, it often feels that way). Sony Ericsson, whose last quarterly figures brought little but earache to the telephone company, still seem to believe that they have a good deal, though to most outsiders it remains baffling.
Despite this, the out-of-form Justine Henin today announced her immediate retirement from the sport, citing fatigue as the reason. Having written on her website last week that she had been training without any problems and was injury-free, the Belgian was fined £10,000 by the WTA for withdrawing from this week's Italian Open. If Henin found the women's tour tough, she should spare a thought for the men.
The ATP, as ever, bumbles on in its own fashion, assuring everyone who is bothered to listen that all will be well, while producing publicity material, posters and the like, that appear to have been formulated by someone devoid of the least understanding of what the game is about. Meanwhile the players bitch and carp, as is the way of the rich.
Most of this year's problems centre on the Olympics, which every four years congests the schedule and has the players in a froth of indignation. The complainer-in-chief this time around has been Spain's Rafael Nadal, who has seen his beloved clay-court season constricted, and his No2 spot squeezed as Serbia's Novak Djokovic powers in behind him.
Rafa's beef is understandable, although it has tended to obscure the more obvious truth that his body (and when did you see an arm like that outside the weightlifting arena?) had been cracking up under the strain, and the last few weeks have compounded a long-term fitness issue. It would be a massive pity if the thoroughly likeable young Spaniard's career turned out to be a brilliant but short-lived flame like Henin's, although it is beginning to appear that way.
So is the calendar to blame? The answer has to be no. Rafa is probably correct in his assertion that to play three Masters series on clay in the space of four weeks is too much. But in between he chose to compete in Barcelona, which he could have missed, while he took part in the doubles in Monte Carlo, which he had no need to. The trouble is, as ever, that the players want it all ways, while the governing bodies that run the game remain fragmented, and often at odds with each other.
One day tennis may get the infrastructure and the quality of leadership that it deserves. Until then, and disregarding the four slams, it will, as ever, mend and make do.
'Her success came at a considerable cost'
It is true that Henin, only 25 years old and the winner of seven grand slam titles, had intimated earlier this year that she was thinking about her future outside of forehands and backhands, but nobody had an inkling beyond what has always been an extremely close-knit circle that she was about to turn her back on a sport that has seen her win 41 titles, and earn just under $20m in prize money.
The surprise was accentuated by the fact that no other women in professional tennis has retired while ranked world No1. The bald statistics are that she compiled a 493-107 win-loss record, an astonishing feat in itself, but it was the style of her play, be-jewelled by a one-handed backhand approaching perfection, for which she will be remembered. She had always possessed it, and it remained a shot of wonder, backed up in the later stages of her career with an equally punishing forehand, and a velocity of serve that confounded her small frame.
Henin, or Juju as the French called her, was one of the smallest women on the circuit at just under 5ft 6ins, yet she had the power to compete with the big hitters, unlike the similarly-built Martina Hingis. Henin had no fear, yet her success came at a considerable cost. Time and again she was laid low by virus problems as her body rebelled against the punishing schedule, while her back also creaked frequently. On many occasions she cut a pale forlorn figure, yet when she was fit and well and her confidence high, she could dominate the world's best, particularly on clay.
It was her mother, who died when Henin was young, who first took her to Roland Garros as a child, and the love affair was permanent. Not so her family relationships. For years she was estranged from her father and siblings, until last year when one of her bothers was in a coma after a car accident, and this led to a rapprochement that delighted everybody.
Before then her surrogate father was her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, who has been with her since she was 14, and above all helped her overcome chronic nerves, and was instrumental in evolving her game, both technically and mentally. As well as her success on clay, she won the US Open twice, including last year, the Australian Open, and was twice runner-up at Wimbledon. Added to this, and much to her joy, she was Olympic champion in Athens.
