I was debating if this was even worth posting, considering it’s an unfounded rumor. But it’s a rumor about Maria Sharapova being spread by her countrywoman, Nadia Petrova, via well-respected tennis journalist, Charles Bricker. So it’s solid, at least in terms of being a “real” rumor. Here goes:
Via Bricker’s Blog by Charlie Bricker (click here):
“Maria Sharapova retiring from tennis because of her chronically bad shoulder?”
Just a rumor, says fellow Russian Nadia Petrova, who quickly added, “I don’t believe it, but that’s the rumor.”
My follow-up: “Yes, but you’re saying you’ve heard that rumor, right?”
“Yes,” she said.
How good is any rumor? I might have started one last week by “hunching” that Nick Bollettieri would retire by the end of 2009 and the two star-quality coaches he’s hired for part-time gigs — Brad Gilbert and Brian Gottfried — would move into the big office. Well, that got shot down fast enough. IMG Academies this week gave Nick a three-year extension on his present contract, that will take him through 2011.
But that was a hunch. This is a rumor. Is there a difference? There is if it comes from another women’s professional tennis player and another Russian, on top of that.
Still, there is Petrova’s qualifier: “I don’t believe it, but that’s the rumor.”
Do with this what you will, tennis fans. Me, I’ve moved it up to second place on my list of Top Tennis Worries, between “1. Roger Federer’s mental breakdown” and “3. will Tsonga ever win a major?”
But I’m a world-class worry-wart, so that doesn’t mean much. And from what I gather, the Russians are a gossipy lot (click here.)
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jacques Boissinot via Guardian U.K.
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