Israeli Shahar Peer caught up in a political controversy (what else?!) again.
The UAE refused to grant a visa to Shahar, which means preventing her from competing in the Barclays Dubai.
WTA said it was "deeply disappointed" that Peer was being denied entry to the country hosting the tournament.
However WTA did not cancel the tournament.
The move is against WTA policy, whereby no player should be barred from competing in a tournament for which she has qualified.
Dubai could lose its WTA membership next year over the ban on Shahar, according to the WTA's rules.
"We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) denying Shahar Peer a visa that would permit her to enter the country to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships," said Larry Scott, chairman and chief executive of the tour.
"Ms. Peer has earned the right to play in the tournament and it is regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right."
"Following various consultations, the Tour has decided to allow the tournament to continue to be played this week, pending further review by the Tour's Board of Directors."
"Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally, and the Tour is reviewing appropriate remedies for Ms. Peer, and also will review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament," Scott said.
"The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour believes very strongly, and has a clear rule and policy, that no host country should deny a player the right to compete at a tournament for which she has qualified by ranking."
The Dubai Tennis Championships began Sunday and a cool 2 million dollars in prize money is at stake.
Updates While I believe a player shouldn't be denied his/her rights to play in any tournament he/she qualified for, let us just face it and accept that this practice is nothing new.
For example, Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was simply delayed in his Indian visa resulted in his non participation in Chennai Open.
Read Reem's blog here (she's from Eygpt) and try to understand her point of view too.
I think Shahar and all of us have to start accepting the fact that she'll possibly be denied visas in other Islamic countries too.
At this moment Shahar should stay out of controversies until the political tension has improved (I wonder when) and play in only countries where is she welcomed.
(Via cnn.com; Image by Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)
Suddenly Sania Mirza is in the final at the Pattaya Open and is ready to take on top seed Vera Zvonareva!
Unranked Sania had to pull off a tough fight before overcame eighth-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the semifinal.
Sania was once ranked as high as 27th, before she fell to no. 126 due to a long-term wrist injuries last year.
Pattaya is her first trip to a singles final since Stanford in 2007.
Her only WTA-level singles title was way back in 2005!
It's a tough match up in the final tomorrow but who knows what's going to happen. I can only wish Sania all the best!
More good news about Sania.
She has been granted a wild card entry for this week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
"Sania Mirza has a huge fan following here and we have seen the stadium packed to capacity each time she has come here," said tournament director Salah Tahlak.
Updates: Sania started off strong but Vera played better to win 7-5, 6-1 at the Pattaya Open.
(Image by Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)
The new edition of Virtua Tennis 2009 will be released this May!
Having played Virtua Tennis 3 before, I'm looking forward to the new fully integrated online ranking system (under the World Tour Mode), as well as the improved volleying, serving and net play, and player stumbling!
This is how the Virtua Tennis 3 looks like if you haven't played before. It's very realistic!
There will also be a new line-up of players such as Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic whom I supposed will be replacing players like Sebastian Grojean and Martina Hingis.
Virtua Tennis 2009 will feature singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches, as well as Davis Cup play and a number of minigames.
In those Court Games, don't be surprised to see "crocodiles, fruit and pirates".
Actually many of these functions are already available in Virtua Tennis 3. Check out Rafael Nadal practicing his footwork with huge tennis balls and apples :D
SEGA also announced that Virtua Tennis series will be available on Wii platform.
"The Virtua Tennis series is perfect for the Wii platform."
"SEGA is excited to be able to bring this uniquely interactive experience to Wii."
"The multiplayer Court Games in particular will be a feature that family and friends can enjoy together," Sean Ratcliffe the VP of Marketing SEGA of America said.
Virtua Tennis is also available on PC, Xbox, Playstation and PSP platforms.
Why me???
