T

em>The women's tennis calendar is finished for the year, and the men's is reaching its climax. Here are some of the events from on and off the court.

UNDER SCRUTINY: Janina Wickmayer's one-year suspension, which came as she played in the season-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali earlier this month, has drawn a lot of attention. The 20-year-old failed to follow the "whereabouts" rule of the Flemish doping agency, required to verify where an athlete will be at any given time for testing. Many have come out in support of Wickmayer - she has argued in her defense that she was unable to access the agency's website to file reports, and that the rules weren't fully explained to her - including fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters.

While the one-year ban seems harsh, especially as the world number 18 had never failed a drug test, it should be stressed that each country has its own set of anti-doping rules, and the rules are no different for other Belgian players, including Clijsters. We will have to see what the appeals court decides.

MUCH ADO ABOUT SHABU: Andre Agassi's tell-all autobiography has made a lot of waves, especially his admitted use of crystal meth. The Las Vegas native, the game's colorful, petulant showman, before succumbing to the stabilizing influence of fellow great Steffi Graf, did not expect the recriminatory reaction from many in the game, as well as fans. Why did they expect a different moral standard for their sports heroes than for the rest of us? Should Agassi have lived a monastic life of devotion to the game, even though he earned millions of dollars and lived in the fast lane throughout much of his career? Born-again Michael Chang did manage that, but he never married Brooke Shields.

Recreational drug use and tennis is not news. Former world number one Mats Wilander tested positive for cocaine at the end of his career, John McEnroe liked a toot or two, according to former spouse Tatum O'Neal, and the late Vitas Gerulaitis battled drug addiction. Even seemingly saintly Chris Evert has owned up to smoking a joint. Agassi disappointed some, but at least he did not try to sugarcoat his past, or use the excuse that a positive drug test was due to a kiss, a la Richard Gasquet.

GREAT GAULS: Serbian Novak Djokovic is, this year, finishing strong, as Sunday's Paris title proves. Although he was the spoiler for French finalist Gael Monfils, the home crowd has many reasons to celebrate. French tennis is in its ascendancy with Monfils, Gilles Simon and 2008 Paris winner Jo Wilfried Tsonga (and occasionally Richard Gasquet) forces to be reckoned with in men's tennis. On the women's side, there are Marion Bartoli, Virginia Razzano and Aravane Rezai to pick up the mantle left by Amelie Mauresmo if, as expected, she retires in 2010. The Bartoli-Rezai Bali final displayed the depth of French tennis today, although both women were mostly coached by their fathers and were not products of the French coaching system.

Rezai's current trainer-cum-coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, honed the talent of Marcos Baghdaitis, and is also training precocious talent Jan Silva, the 7-year-old tipped for greatness, at his academy.

"We love the system here - the US could learn a lot from the French Tennis Federation," Silva's father, Scott, told The Jakarta Post WEEKENDER earlier this year.

SHE'S BACK: In the age stakes, 39-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm has been the success story of 2009, especially after winning in Seoul and reaching the Bali semifinals. Let's not forget the efforts of our own Yayuk Basuki, who turns 39 on Nov. 30, and has been on the doubles comeback trail since last year. Starting out with wins in Challengers in Europe and the US, the mother of one is determined to keep going, reaching the final of the US$100,000 tourney in Chinese Taipei with American Riza Zalameda a couple of weeks ago. The play that brought her a top ranking of 19 in the late 1990s will be on display during this week's Xpro tournament at the Sultan Hotel, where she will team with Angelique Widjaja, once regarded as her successor but who retired in 2008. Questions about Angie, 24, returning to the international tour persist, even if she herself acknowledges that it is unlikely. Yayuk's age doesn't matter for local fans glad to have someone - anyone - to cheer for today with national tennis in the doldrums.