Antwerp: Mauresmo Wins the Diamond Studded Racket

Amelie Mauresmo of France won the Diamond Games in Antwerp by defeating Kim CLijsters of Belgium, 6-4, 7-6 (4). She wins a diamond studded tennis racket for winning the title three years in a row.

TIMEOUT: Will you guys please ditch the cliche? You know, the photo of the tennis player with the wide open maw and clenched fist. I can see it now: some comedian gets on stage and asks, "What am I?" and then clenches his fist and opens his mouth as wide as he can in a roar of rage. The audience cries, "A professional tennis player!"

So cut it out. Do you have to practice some journalistic recipe for success superstitiously like automatons till you've beaten us over the head with so often it has lost all meaning and stimulus? We are bombarded with so many photos of "tennis rage" that they strike us as comic now. Okay? So, get a new idea already, will ya? (And try a little variety.)

TIME-IN: Last month, Mauresmo failed to defend her Australian title, losing in fourth round of the Australian Open. Because of a thigh injury, she considered skipping the Diamond Games as a precaution.

As for retiring Belgian Kim Clijsters, she won the Sidney title in January and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. She hints on her website that she may skip the French Open in order to prepare for the summer grass-court season.

The former No. 1 is 24 years old and is going to marry an American this summer. She has announced that she will retire before the end of the year.

You've probably noticed that the tennis world seems stunned. In fact, the way she talked about retiring prompted Peter Bodo to say that sounded like she viewed her leaving the tour as an "escape" rather than a retirement. Reporters cannot seem to believe that she desires the new life, so they keep asking her if she's changed her mind.

Stay tuned.