Sports Betting Articles
Serena Starts Season With Knee Injury
By Audrey Nolan
Last year’s Australian Open winner; Serena Williams will start the new season with a knee injury and she will miss the United States' opening match at the Hopman Cup in Perth, said organizers on Thursday.
She is trying to recover from a lingering left knee injury that affected her in the WTA Tour's season-ending championships in Madrid last November forcing her to step out of the competition.
For the first tournament’s match Serena was schedule to play against India’s Sania Mirza on Saturday, but she had to be substituted by Meghan Shaughnessy. Tournament organizers said she will arrive to Western Australia until the weekend.
Williams first injured her left knee in 2000 and had surgery in 2003, forcing her to pull out of all events after Wimbledon that year. After overcoming an additional injury in 2006, she won the 2007 Australian Open and ranks now in position 7.
On the men’s side; the ATP has two tournaments scheduled outside Australia next week in Doha, Qatar and Chennai, India. In Australia, a men's tournament is scheduled in Adelaide, while the WTA Tour has tournaments in Auckland, New Zealand and in the Gold Coast in Queensland State.
The defending Australian Open champion Roger Federer makes his first appearance of the year at an eight-man exhibition tournament at Kooyong in Melbourne on January the 9th. He sends his year-end holiday greetings: “Sunny greetings here from Dubai where I am busy getting ready for 2008 under perfect conditions," stated Federer on his Web site.
"I must admit that it is a bit strange for me to celebrate Christmas in this kind of weather the thermometer climbed over 25 degrees (Celsius) today. I remember that as a child our family used to spend a lot of time outside in the cold or even in the snow during this time of the year. But I just love the heat so I really enjoy being here."
While there is an investigation into unusual betting patterns on different matches; the Australian Open has responded with an anti-corruption program which includes a former homicide detective as its chief investigation officer and a tournament hotline where players and fans can report corruption incidences.
About the author
Audrey Nolan is a high-ranking writer on sports for the online betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its whole on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.
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