Graf, Seles Injured Again

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Shun Cheun » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00


On Friday, Seles announced that she would go through
shoulder rehab for a month and withdrew from the Zurich
tournament in two weeks. Apparently, Seles is trying to
avoid shoulder surgery as much as she can. In the past,
whenever Seles was out due to injuries, she was out for a
long time. I wouldn't be too surprised if Seles doesn't
play again until 1997.

And then on Saturday, Graf withdrew from her SF match
against Huber in Leipzig, citing the same knee injury that
has been around since Wimbledon. As I pointed out
yesterday, had Graf beaten Huber to reach the Leipzig
final, Graf would have become the outright #1 (and Seles
would have been the Co-#2 with ASV under her special
ranking deal). Now, Graf and Seles will continue to be
co-#1 for the time being. It isn't clear exactly how
serious this injury is, but unless it is a GS event, Graf
just doesn't seem to be that motivated to play in these
days.

Earlier this year, I pointed out that Graf, Seles and
Capriati were in a three-way race for the most number of
withdrawals. Unfortunately, that continues. With only some
2000 fans showing up in the Fed Cup final last week and
Sanchez not playing all that great lately, the WTA Tour
simply continues to be in poor shape.


Chris Smith's Tennis FAQ--http://www.mindspring.com/~csmith
1997--AO:Jan13-26 FO:May26-Jun8 W:Jun23-Jul6 USO:Aug25-Sep7
      Lipton:Mar20-30  WTA Champ:Nov17-22

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Jacob Alexander Stepasch » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00

I know we've been over this before, but when Graf retired against Huber, it
_will_ count as a "normal" loss, wouldn't it, being in all the statistics
aso... Or ?

--
J.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross: "You don't believe in evolution?"
Phoebe: "I don't know, it's just, you know -- monkeys, Darwin, it's a nice
story, but I think it's just a little too easy."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Shun Cheun » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00


Quote:
>I know we've been over this before, but when Graf retired against Huber, it
>_will_ count as a "normal" loss, wouldn't it, being in all the statistics
>aso... Or ?

There are not official definitions, but I use the term
"retire" from a match when a match has already started,
but a player quits in the middle of it (usually due to
injuries). In that case, it is counted as a victory by the
other player, and the winner receives bonus ranking points
for officially beating her/his opponent.

Graf withdrew from the SF match against Huber before it
started. Hence it will NOT be counted as an official match
in Graf's career (or Huber's career). It will also NOT be
counted in their official head to head results, and Huber
receives no bonus points from it because she never
officially beats Graf.

In the other SF in Leipzig, Majoli beat Sukova in straight
sets. Hence the final will be Huber vs. Majoli. It is very
interesting that Majloi and Huber suddenly come alive again
once the indoor season starts. Both of them had sub-par
results throughout the spring and summer, like both lost in
the 1R at the US Open. Since Majoli and Huber are
baseliners, one would usually think they are better on slow
surfaces instead of carpet. However, Majoli's four career
titles, all from the last 52 weeks, are all indoors.


Chris Smith's Tennis FAQ--http://www.mindspring.com/~csmith
1997--AO:Jan13-26 FO:May26-Jun8 W:Jun23-Jul6 USO:Aug25-Sep7
      Lipton:Mar20-30  WTA Champ:Nov17-22

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by William F. Kingsbu » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

> On Friday, Seles announced that she would go through
> shoulder rehab for a month and withdrew from the Zurich
> tournament in two weeks. Apparently, Seles is trying to
> avoid shoulder surgery as much as she can. In the past,
> whenever Seles was out due to injuries, she was out for a
> long time. I wouldn't be too surprised if Seles doesn't
> play again until 1997.

I don't see the logic in postponing surgery, even if the rehab is
four months. Seles has already missed a substantial part of '96,
attempting to "cure" her shoulder problems with therapy.  If
the tear was going to heal without surgery, it probably would have.
Playing with the injury enhances the risk of irreparable damage.

Cheers,

--
Will Kingsbury

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Samir Bhak » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00


Quote:
>the 1R at the US Open. Since Majoli and Huber are
>baseliners, one would usually think they are better on slow
>surfaces instead of carpet. However, Majoli's four career
>titles, all from the last 52 weeks, are all indoors.

Huber has won titles on all four surfaces, and has had some decent GS
results - AO final this year, QFs in 91 & 92, FO SF in 1993. As far as know,
Majoli has only reached a GS QF once (1995 FO). Majoli strikes me as a
player who's not very fit, so perhaps playing in pleasant indoor conditions
suits her better than the warmer venues.

- Samir

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Shun Cheun » Sun, 06 Oct 1996 04:00:00


Quote:

>> On Friday, Seles announced that she would go through
>> shoulder rehab for a month and withdrew from the Zurich
>> tournament in two weeks. Apparently, Seles is trying to
>> avoid shoulder surgery as much as she can. In the past,
>> whenever Seles was out due to injuries, she was out for a
>> long time. I wouldn't be too surprised if Seles doesn't
>> play again until 1997.
>I don't see the logic in postponing surgery, even if the rehab is
>four months. Seles has already missed a substantial part of '96,
>attempting to "cure" her shoulder problems with therapy.  If
>the tear was going to heal without surgery, it probably would have.
>Playing with the injury enhances the risk of irreparable damage.

Generally speaking, I agree with this view, but then, it is
very easy for us to say that Seles should have surgery.
Seles can afford to use the best surgent around, but there
has to be some risk involved, and most likely it'll take
Seles a long long time to rehab from surgery.

For top players such as Seles, the tennis season is pretty
much over after the US Open. (I don't want to argue about
that again, but most top players see it that way.) Now the
Fed Cup final is over; this is the best time to have
surgery and hopefully Seles can recover soon enough for the
Australian Open. Worst comes to worst, she should
definitely be ready for the French Open. Without surgery,
if case this rehab doesn't work, Seles' should injury will
just drag on.

But then, most vateran players simply have to play with all
sorts of injuries, and perhaps Seles just has to deal with
them like everybody else. That is just part of the sport.


Chris Smith's Tennis FAQ--http://www.mindspring.com/~csmith
1997--AO:Jan13-26 FO:May26-Jun8 W:Jun23-Jul6 USO:Aug25-Sep7
      Lipton:Mar20-30  WTA Champ:Nov17-22

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by b.. » Mon, 07 Oct 1996 04:00:00


Quote:


>> On Friday, Seles announced that she would go through
>> shoulder rehab for a month and withdrew from the Zurich
>> tournament in two weeks. Apparently, Seles is trying to
>> avoid shoulder surgery as much as she can. In the past,
>> whenever Seles was out due to injuries, she was out for a
>> long time. I wouldn't be too surprised if Seles doesn't
>> play again until 1997.

>I don't see the logic in postponing surgery, even if the rehab is
>four months. Seles has already missed a substantial part of '96,
>attempting to "cure" her shoulder problems with therapy.  If
>the tear was going to heal without surgery, it probably would have.
>Playing with the injury enhances the risk of irreparable damage.

>Cheers,

>--
>Will Kingsbury


Well, hopefully, this is what the doctors had advised her to do.  Hey,
if it works she could be ready for the WTA Championships.  But who
knows?

--Brian

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Steven Warsan » Tue, 08 Oct 1996 04:00:00

No, it's a walk over not a normal loss. Huber doesn't receive the
bonus points for overcoming Graf. As far as I know it's not a win so
this will not be entered in the statistics.

btw This is the FIRST time in her career that Graf pulled out of a
tournament where she played one or more matches.

Steven.


Quote:

>I know we've been over this before, but when Graf retired against Huber, it
>_will_ count as a "normal" loss, wouldn't it, being in all the statistics
>aso... Or ?

>--
>J.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Ross: "You don't believe in evolution?"
>Phoebe: "I don't know, it's just, you know -- monkeys, Darwin, it's a nice
>story, but I think it's just a little too easy."
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Shun Cheun » Tue, 08 Oct 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>No, it's a walk over not a normal loss. Huber doesn't receive the
>bonus points for overcoming Graf. As far as I know it's not a win so
>this will not be entered in the statistics.

Right, again, a default BEFORE a match begins is usually
called a "walk over," which is different from a default
when a player "retires" in the middle of a match.

Quote:
>btw This is the FIRST time in her career that Graf pulled out of a
>tournament where she played one or more matches.

I think that was what Graf said in the press conference,
but actually that isn't the case. Way back in 1983, Graf
slipped on the grass in Melbourne and retired in a match
against Liz Smilie. Graf hurt her thumb and reportedly,
that was almost a career-ending injury at age 14.


Chris Smith's Tennis FAQ--http://www.mindspring.com/~csmith
1997--AO:Jan13-26 FO:May26-Jun8 W:Jun23-Jul6 USO:Aug25-Sep7

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by Stephen Barnar » Tue, 08 Oct 1996 04:00:00

Quote:


> >btw This is the FIRST time in her career that Graf pulled out of a
> >tournament where she played one or more matches.

> I think that was what Graf said in the press conference,
> but actually that isn't the case. Way back in 1983, Graf
> slipped on the grass in Melbourne and retired in a match
> against Liz Smilie. Graf hurt her thumb and reportedly,
> that was almost a career-ending injury at age 14.



Geez, Shun, how do you come up with this stuff?  You know more about
Graf's record than Graf does.

        Steve Barnard

 
 
 

Graf, Seles Injured Again

Post by STEPHANIE MYLE » Tue, 08 Oct 1996 04:00:00

Seles has already committed to a meaningless exhibition with Mary
Pierce, her boyfriend Brady Anderson and Roberto Alomar in Baltimore
on Nov. 26, right after the Corel Championships. Obviously she is
trying to hand on and play those, even though the Oz Open is obviously
far more important (or should be).

Wanna bet there's a last minute substitution for her in Baltimore.
Maybe Mary can call on one of her many bosom buddies on the tour to
fill in. How about crowd pleaser (?) Mary Joe Fernandez

Stephanie Myles