Yanina Wickmayer had to qualify for the 2010 Australian Open — even though she’s the world’s 16th-ranked player — because of her alleged violation of the WADA’s whereabouts rule. She said they were looking for her in the wrong place (uhm, this sounds like a vicious cycle) and the anti-doping agency just slapped her with a one-year ban. She got it overturned, but not before it forced her to miss the entry deadlines for tournaments in Auckland and Melbourne.
Wickmayer’s quickly righting the ship, winning Auckland as a wildcard (defeating Flavia Pennetta in the final) and reaching the third round in Melbourne after beating the un-Tacchini-ed Pennetta again — this time 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Looking forward: Wickmayer has essentially taken over Flavia’s 12th seed spot in the bottom half of the women’s draw. We expect her to fall to fellow Belgian Justine Henin in the fourth round or to Clijsters in the quarters.
Lovin’ them drop earrings. She’s also put some light pink into her teal/white/black Erke rotation.
(images via Getty Images)
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