Mauresmo out for a month--what a bummer

Just two days after President Chirac pinned the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur medal on her, Amelie Mauresmo complained of stomach pains. On Sunday, she pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and had surgery for appendicitis. She will be out for a month, and will miss the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida (where she was seeded number 1), the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, and probably her Fed Cup matches.

For weeks, I have been looking forward to finally getting to meet Mauresmo and see her play in Charleston. Mauresmo is a wine collector, and we had even planned to get her a gift from our local award-winning vineyard; Family Circle Cup officials were facilitating this for us.

So I am as disappointed as I can be. There is a great lineup in Charleston, and I was realistic enough to know that at least one top player would pull out, but why, oh why, did it have to be my favorite player in the WTA? All I can do now is hope that Martina Hingis stays healthy.