STARS

Nikolay Davydenko beat Rafael Nadal 0-6 7-6 (8) 6-4 to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar

Kim Clijsters beat Justine Henin 6-3 4-6 7-6 (6) to win Brisbane International women’s singles in Brisbane, Australia

Yanina Wickmayer beat Flavia Pennetta to win the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand

Andy Roddick beat Radek Stepanek 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7) to win the Brisbane International men’s singles in Brisbane, Australia

Marin Cilic won his second straight Aircel Chennai Open, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3) in Chennai, India

Ricardo Mello beat Eduardo Schwank 6-3 6-1 to win the Prime Cup Aberto de Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Tommy Robredo and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez teamed up to lead Spain to its third Hopman Cup title, beating Great Britain

SAYINGS

“I did not come here expecting to win. I am surprised that I have won. It is an amazing feeling to have won here. I have played semifinals and finals here, but never won.” – Nikolay Davydenko, after beating Roger Federer in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal in the final to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar.

“This week will stay in my heart and my soul for the rest of my life.” – Yanina Wickmayer, who won the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, in her first tournament since her one-year suspension from tennis was lifted.

“It’s the first week of the year and it’s important to start with a title. … I now have one doubles and one singles title. That is nice.” – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, after teaming with Albert Montanes to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open doubles.

“I would like to stay the top player in the world … because going from number two to number one was hard work and not an easy thing to do, especially with Rafa playing so well. That was a major accomplishment for me and I would like to stay there as long as possible and try to finish 2010 as world number one.” – Roger Federer.

“That’s why she’s back. She’s hungry to win Wimbledon.” – Nadia Petrova, noting that Justine Henin has never won the grass court Grand Slam tournament.

“Sometimes you have to listen to your body and do what’s smart, even if it’s not an easy decision to make in the short term.” – Andy Roddick, announcing he won’t play Davis Cup this year because of his knee injury.

“This is definitely a great way to start this year.” –Liezel Huber, who teamed with Cara Black to win the ASB Classic doubles title.

SETBACK IN COMEBACK?

Playing in her first tournament after a two-year retirement, Justine Henin injured her left leg in the final of the Brisbane International tournament. The Belgian withdrew from this week’s Sydney International, but still is planning on playing the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. The 27-year-old Belgian said she strained her upper left leg earlier in the week and aggravated it in the final, where she lost to US Open champion Kim Clijsters. Henin, who quit the WTA tour in May 2008 while being ranked number one in the world, has no ranking. However, she was given wild-card entries into the tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney ahead of the Australian Open. “It was very tight for a few days, but it really got worse in the end,” Henin said of her leg. “It’s no excuse, it’s not the reason why I” lost to Clijsters. “I just think it could get worse if I play in the next few days.”

SHOULDER INJURY

Gael Monfils withdrew from the Sydney International because of a shoulder injury. The Frenchman, ranked number 12 in the world, said his right shoulder is inflamed and needs rest. He reached the semifinals of the Brisbane International, but complained of soreness in his serving shoulder and had it taped during the tournament. Right now he still plans on playing at the Australian Open.

SUSPENDED

Russia’s Ekaterina Bychkova was fined USD $5,000 and suspended from playing for 30 days for failing to report she was asked to throw matches, The Tennis Integrity Unit said there was no evidence Bychkova accepted compensation, but the 24-year-old was penalized because she didn’t disclose the illegal offer until she was questioned by investigators. The Tennis Integrity Unit, formed by the Grand Slam Committee, International Tennis Federation, and the ATP and WTA tours, said Bychkova received a proposal to provide inside information and to influence the outcome of matches in exchange for substantial compensation.

SPECIAL TITLE

Winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, had to be super special to Yanina Wickmayer. The young Belgian player, who got into the tournament on a wild card, beat top-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 to post her third WTA tour crown. She got into the Auckland draw when a court overturned a one-year ban imposed on her by the Belgian tennis federation for failure to abide by the “whereabouts rule.” “When I came here … I wasn’t feeling well,” Wickmayer said. “My back was hurting and mentally I didn’t feel very well. So I just tried to focus on other things and relax and enjoy being at a tournament again.” It apparently worked

SHAHAR TO DUBAI

The WTA has been assured that Israeli Shahar Peer will be welcomed into the United Arab Emirates to play a tournament in Dubai next month. Last year, Peer was denied a visa, apparently because of anti-Israel sentiments in the Gulf state following a three-week war between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza. The UAE does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The tournament was fined USD $300,000 last year and told it would have to meet certain requirements, including a written confirmation about Peer. WTA spokeswoman Katie Scott said there were just verbal assurances last year. After Peer was refused entry last year, Israel’s Andy Ram was given a visa to play in a men’s tournament the following week.

STOPPED

Police arrested six demonstrators during anti-Israeli protests outside a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, where Shahar Peer was playing. Acting on a noise complaint, police dispersed about 20 protesters who blew whistles and chanted outside the downtown Auckland stadium while Peer was competing in the ASB Classic. They arrested five protestors. A day earlier, police arrested one person outside the stadium while Peer was beating Magdalena Rybarikova. The demonstrators were from the New Zealand group Global Peace and Justice and said they were protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Among those arrested was the group’s leader, John Minto.

The Auckland stadium was evacuated when an unattended bag was discovered. Players and spectators had to leave the tennis complex and streets around the central Auckland stadium were sealed off while emergency services dealt with the incident. The evacuation occurred shortly before play was scheduled to start for the day.

SPANISH TITLE

Tommy Robredo and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez gave Spain its third Hopman Cup title when they teamed to beat Britain’s Andy Murray and Laura Robson in the decisive mixed doubles 7-6 (6) 7-5. The Spanish victory came after Robson won her first singles match of the week, beating Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-6 (6). But Robredo then handed Murray his first loss of the week in singles, 1-6, 6-4 6-3 before teaming with her Martinez Sanchez to capture the final. It also was the British team’s first loss of the week in mixed doubles. Spain was in its fifth final, while Britain was playing in the Hopman Cup final for the first time. Robredo won the event in 2002 when his partner was Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

STRAIGHT IN

Sebastien Grosjean and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro have received wild card entries into the main draw of the Australian Open under an exchange agreement with the French Tennis Federation. Grosjean, who was a point away from reaching the Australian Open final in 2001, will be making his 11^th appearance at Melbourne Park. Cohen-Aloro has competed at six Australian Opens.

Britain’s Laura Robson has been awarded a wild card into the Australian Open qualifying tournament in Melbourne. The 2008 junior Wimbledon champion had teamed with Andy Murray to reach the final of the Hopman Cup before losing to Spain. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said, “Laura has had a quick rise on the international scene and deserves this opportunity.”

SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE

It definitely wasn’t easy, but Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka outlasted everyone to win the Brisbane International women’s doubles. The Czech pair lost the first set in three of their four matches, and needed a tiebreaker in the first set of their other match. Hlavackova and Hradecka began by beating Liga Dekmeijere of Latvia and Turkey’s Ipek Senoglu 3-6 6-2 10-6 (match tiebreak) before their only straight-set win, 7-6 (2) 6-2 over Olga Govortsova and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus. The Czech team then edged Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan and Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan 2-6 6-4 10-7 (match tiebreak) before capturing the title by besting Melinda Czink of Hungary and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 2-6 7-6 (3) 10-4 (match tiebreak). Whew!

STAYING HOME

The United States Davis Cup team will have to win without Andy Roddick this year. The top American player says he is skipping the international team competition in 2010 to protect his knees. “At this point, we felt it was smartest in terms of long-term health,” Roddick said. “It certainly wasn’t an easy decision.” The 27-year-old Roddick injured his left knee last October. He has been told his knee would be in better shape if he didn’t switch between different types of courts. The United States is scheduled to play Serbia on March 5-7 on indoor clay in Belgrade, Serbia. “I’m not playing Davis Cup this year,” Roddick said. “I’m not retiring from Davis Cup.”

Tennis.com reported that James Blake has also told USA captain Patrick McEnroe that he won’t be playing in Serbia. Roddick, Blake and twins Bob and Mike Bryan have been the mainstay of the USA Davis Cup squad for a number of years.

STEPPING DOWN

Pierce O’Neil says he is leaving the United States Tennis Association (USTA) after 15 years. A former senior vice president at IMG and associate producer/director at DBS Sports, O’Neil joined the USTA in 1995 just prior to the construction of Arthur Ashe Stadium. He had served as the USTA’s Chief Business Officer during the period of record revenue growth for the USTA and US Open.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Doha: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Albert Montanes beat Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 6-4 7-5

Auckland: Liezel Huber and Cara Black beat Natalie Grandin and Laura Granville 7-6 (4) 6-2

Brisbane (men): Jeremy Chardy and Marc Gicquel beat Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes 6-3 7-6 (5)

Brisbane (women): Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka beat Melinda Czink and Arantxa Parra Santonja 2-6 7-6 (3) 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Chennai: Marcel Granollers and Santiago Ventura beat Yen-Hsun Lu and Janko Tipsarevic 7-5 6-2

Sao Paulo: Brian Dabul and Sebastian Prieto beat Tomasz Bednarek and Mateusz Kowalczyk 6-3 6-3

SITES TO SURF

Sydney: www.medibankinternational.com.au/

Auckland: www.heinekenopen.co.nz/

Hobart: www.hobartinternational.com.au/

Melbourne: www.australianopen.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$372,500 Medibank International, Sydney, Australia, hard

$355,000 Heineken Open, Auckland, New Zealand, hard

WTA

$600,000 Medibank International, Sydney, Australia, hard

$220,000 Moorilla Hobart International, Hobart, Australia, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP and WTA

Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, hard (first week)