Molik makes successful return to Professional Tennis
Alicia Molik, a former World No. 8, has entered ITF Pro Circuit tournaments spread across Australia over the next few months as she looks to refresh her appetite for competing at the highest level. The first took place last week in Darwin, which was host to the inaugural Northern Territory Womens Tennis International tournament.
Having been awarded a Wild Card into the singles Main Draw, Molik made a triumphant start to her return to the ITF Pro Circuit as she claimed the Womens Singles and Doubles crowns.
Molik steadily made her way through the draw with wins over British 6th seed Emily Webley-Smith (61 62), Australian 17-year old Isabella Holland (64 75), 4th seed Ayu-Fani Damayanti from Indonesia (62 62) and New Zealand's 7th seed Sacha Jones (61 62) before taking on the tournaments surprise package, Australian star-in-the-making, Sally Peers in the final. A 63 64 victory over Peers gave Molik her first singles title since a triumph in a WTA tournament in Doha back in February 2005, adding to the doubles title won earlier in the tournament when Molik had teamed up with Australia's Nicole Kriz to win the doubles crown 63 64 over Tyra Calderwood and Olivia Rogowska.
Despite her loss in the singles final, Peers could also claim to have had a wonderful week after reaching her first ITF Pro Circuit final which included ousting the top seed Olivia Rogowska in the semi final 76(3) 75.
A large and enthusiastic crowd watched an excellent singles final in very warm conditions. The Northern Territory Government has made a long term commitment to the sport with a second ITF Pro Circuit tournament taking place at the same venue this week, and with a three year long term deal already having been struck, professional tennis has certainly made a welcome return to the Northern Territory.
After the match Molik attributed her decision to return to tennis simply through rekindling her love for the sport, being able to make herself injury free and by finding a way to balance playing with involvement with all levels of the game having captained Australian Junior National teams earlier in the year.
Alicia is certainly a popular player and her presence on the ITF Pro Circuit will no doubt create a lot of interest in the upcoming events on the Australian circuit which next week moves from the Northern Territory to South Australia. This is followed with tournaments in Western Australian and then the series ends in Victoria.
DARWIN, Australia - Former world No.8 Alicia Molik has made a successful return to singles, winning an ITF Pro Circuit event in Darwin in Australia's steamy Northern Territory on the weekend. Although the 28-year-old needed a wildcard to make the field at the $25,000 NT International she was impressive all week, ending with defeat of fellow Aussie Sally Peers in the final, 63 64.
"I couldn't be happier today," said Molik, who played doubles at New Haven and the US Open with Meghann Shaughnessy after nearly a year away from the sport. "My opponent certainly made things a little difficult for me in the second set and I made a few things difficult for myself but all in all I was very happy to get out of that second set.
"I didn't serve as well as yesterday but look it's been a long time since I've been in a final and I came up trumps so I have to be pretty happy."
The Darwin win represents Molik's eleventh ITF singles title, but first since 2001. In the intervening period she has won two Grand Slam doubles titles (2005 Australian Open and 2007 Roland Garros), five Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles (most recently at Sydney in 2005) and five Tour doubles trophies, in addition to the two majors.
Molik won't have too much time to celebrate, though. This week she is contesting another ITF event, again in Darwin, before following the circuit to South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria. That schedule will take her up to the Christmas break, with an assault on the Tour's January swing Down Under a natural next step.
RETIRED Australian tennis player Alicia Molik is embarking on a comeback.
Molik is fit and injury-free after regular sessions at Melbourne Park and ready for another tilt on the pro circuit, with doubles believed to be her major focus at this stage.
The former top-10 player had hoped to keep her return low-key, but the training sessions became so strenuous in recent weeks it was obvious she was not hitting for fun.
The Herald Sun yesterday spotted Molik hitting freely with former pro and Tennis Australia coach Louise Field.
After enquiries, sources confirmed it was far more than a hit and giggle session.
Sources close to Molik have confirmed she is excited at the prospect of another crack at top level tennis.
Molik appears to have lost several kilograms and may be trimmer than when she retired in September last year at the age of 27, mentally worn out by a string on injury setbacks.
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Almost right after her classic aggressive game helped get her all the way to the Top 10, an inner ear infection pushed her out of the sport for almost a year. And on Thursday, September 4, 2008, after over two years of trying to make her way back to the elite, Alicia Molik called it a career.
Molik, who turned pro in 1996, showed consistent growth as a player through her first several years on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but it wasn't until 2004 that she really shot into the upper echelon, winning three titles and a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics, and finishing the season inside the Top 20 for the first time. She continued her upwards surge in the early stages of 2005, reaching her very first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, and shortly afterwards becoming the first Australian woman in more than 20 years to crack the Top 10 (spending 22 weeks inside the elite and peaking at No.8 for 12 of those weeks).
Molik's career was shaken up in a big way in the spring of 2005, as vestibular neuronitis - an inner ear infection that affects vision and balance - forced her off the Tour for the better part of 12 months. She returned in the spring of 2006 and enjoyed some success in the last two and a half years, reaching three more quarterfinals and winning her second Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open last year (with Italy's Mara Santangelo). But a variety of injuries just wouldn't let up, and all the withdrawals and lack of match play took its toll.
"It's tiring and it's very draining but I guess it's a number of things culminating," Molik said. "I've spent a lot of time thinking. I did have a huge setback three years ago, with my middle ear problem. It took a while to get back, and since then I've just struggled with a few more things that I never imagined would come along the way. But that isn't the only thing. I think I'm still young enough to focus my energies on something that I feel is again challenging."
Molik's singles career on the Tour was highlighted by five singles titles and the aforementioned Olympic bronze medal, as well as eight career Top 10 wins. She was also a Top 10 player in doubles, winning seven titles, including two majors. She reached three Grand Slam mixed doubles finals and represented her nation in Fed Cup for eight years and at three Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008).
Injuries, loss of form take toll on former world No. 8
AUSTRALIAN tennis lost one of its charismatic and gifted talents yesterday with the retirement of Alicia Molik.
Molik, 27, hangs up her racquet after 11 seasons on the professional tour, a stint crowned by a career-high singles ranking of No. 8, Olympic Games bronze and grand slam doubles success.
Articulate, personable and driven, Molik has mulled her future for the past two years while recovering from the inner-ear virus vestibular neuronitis. More recently, the South Australian has been plagued by leg and arm injuries. In the end, retirement came easily.
"It's not a sad day, it's an exciting time for me," Molik said yesterday. "Sad is when I'm in my hotel room and I've lost first round and I've been beaten badly. "Sad is when I switch my phone off for two days and I don't want contact with anyone at the US Open or maybe I've lost at Wimbledon. "As a player travelling the world, it can be very lonely. For three or four years, I've been very good at keeping a brave face. It's been an uphill battle, it really has, as much physically as it has been mentally and emotionally."
Molik carries no bitterness about being cut down in her prime. She was on the cusp of grand slam glory in 2005 when her ranking peaked at No. 8 and she had just beaten Venus Williams to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Soon after she was physically unable to stand up without fear of over-balancing because of the effects of the virus. The months required for rehabilitation and the regaining of form should have been Molik's best.
But they became her most exasperating as memories of top-10 victories against Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina and Williams became even more poignant.
If Molik feels cheated, it does not show. "In 2005, you could say I was at the pinnacle of my career," she said. "I was No. 8 in the world, it was the first time I'd cracked the top 10, I'd won an Olympic bronze medal. I'd beaten the top players in the world and I wouldn't have imagined then probably this day (retirement) would come this soon. But it has and it's as though I've been blessed.
"I've had 11 years on the tour, with a bit of injury time in and out, that's a pretty unbelievable career, I think. I'm a bit of a realist. I felt like I've been ready for a long time (to retire). Instinct tells me to move on to something else." Beijing was the beacon that dragged Molik this far. After the elation and success of Athens in 2004, Molik began preparing for China despite crippling injury and illness travails.
"It (Beijing) was a huge goal for me," she said. "Not so much a finishing line, but I promised myself I'd then take a step back and evaluate before I made any really serious decisions."
Molik's decision has stunned some of those closest to her, but surprised even fewer. "A lot of people have said, 'You're young, you've got a lot of years ahead of you'," she said. "That's true, but I want to be as productive as I can and to be challenged, to be stimulated and motivated again. "There's only so many hours that you can spend in player lounges with a lot of dead-mind time, I call it. There's only so many tennis matches you can talk about." Apart from spending more with her parents Andrew and Teresa and brother Richard, Molik wants more quality time with her Australian-based friends.
She said she will miss her compatriots on tour, along with Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and Italian Mara Santangelo. But she will not yearn for the endless travel grind and solitary tour life. In time, she wants to help Australia's children to discover the joys of tennis - as she did 21 years ago - on suburban courts.
But for the moment, it is time for a well-deserved respite. "When you travel so much and the best thing about going away is coming home, you don't need to ask yourself questions," Molik said.
"The answer is sitting right there in front of your face. I still love tennis, but it's time for the next phase, the next chapter of my life. It's time to look at other opportunities out there that will make me happier than what I'm doing at the moment."
Molik won six WTA singles titles and eight doubles crowns, including the French Open.
