Absence extends to US Open as Molik doubts return
By Will Swanton
July 17, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Alicia Molik is in extreme doubt for the US Open.
Paying the price for a premature return from her debilitating inner-ear infection last month in an effort to contest Wimbledon, Molik is in no shape to attempt another comeback.
A year that promised so much when she reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, and rose to a lofty world ranking of No.8, is rapidly becoming an almighty anti-climax.
Molik, having missed the French Open and Wimbledon, where she would have been a legitimate title threat at full fitness, is now facing the prospect of being ruled out of the US Open, which begins at Flushing Meadows on August 29.
"She's still fighting the illness," Molik's manager Lisa Chaffey said.
"She can be on the court practising for a session every day, or every second day, but she's still not right.
"She was desperate to get back on the grasscourts for Wimbledon but in hindsight, playing at Birmingham probably set her back.
"She pushed herself a bit hard. It's not guaranteed at all that she'll be at the US Open."
Molik has been knocked out by the virus vestibular neuronitis, which struck in April when she was in America. The condition at its worst causes lethargy, dizziness, nausea and the partial losses of vision, depth perception and balance. All those symptoms have eased for Molik, but they haven't eased enough.
"She won't rush back just because it's the US Open," Chaffey said.
"If she can't play the tournament before the US Open, at Toronto, I doubt she'll be at the US Open. She won't be playing unless she's 100 per cent and knows she can be as competitive as she wants to be.
"There's no point hurrying. She's made good progress lately and doesn't want to regress again. It's best for her now to be based at home with her doctors around."
Molik has been off the tour since losing to America's world No.100 Laura Granville at Birmingham in June. Her ranking has slid from eight to 11 but her standing will be protected if her absence lasts six months.
She has slumped to 16th in the points race that determines the eight starters in the elite Los Angeles WTA Tour Championships in November.
Molik had a golden run in the US late last year but the likelihood of her launching another assault on the American summer circuit, and defending those rankings points, is diminishing by the day.
"I feel quite lethargic a lot of the time," she said after making the "heartbreaking" decision to withdraw from Wimbledon.
"I miscue the ball quite a lot. I do lose vision of the ball. It's no fun going to a tournament when you hope to get through one round. That's not what I'm about. I'll be healthy when I'm healthy, I'll be right when I'm right."
