Associated Press
LIMELETTE, Belgium ó Justine Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a short and successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked No. 1.
The 25-year-old Belgian made the surprising announcement at a news conference Wednesday, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay-court major championship four times, including each of the past three years.
“This is the end of a child’s dream,” Henin said. “This is a definitive decision. Those who know me know it is serious.”
Henin won 10 tournaments last year, but has been in one of the worst slumps of her career this season.
BUYOUT
WASHINGTON ó Busy with “Monday Night Football” and his many other jobs, Tony Kornheiser essentially stopped writing columns for The Washington Post long ago.
Thus it only seemed inevitable that he tell the world that he’s taking the newspaper’s buyout ó while on the radio.
Kornheiser on Wednesday announced the end of his full-time association with the Post, which began in 1979.
“It just feels odd,” Kornheiser said on his morning show on Talk Radio 3WT. “It feels odd and it feels bad. It doesn’t feel sad, there’s no sadness to it, it just feels wrong.”
Kornheiser’s funny, sarcastic and sometimes poignant columns in the Sports and Style sections were once must-read material in the past, but he began writing less in the 1990s when he branched into radio and television.
He has been the co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” since 2001 and became an analyst on “Monday Night Football” in 2006.
COLLEGES
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ó Former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has told The Birmingham News he will sign with Jacksonville State.
Perilloux was dismissed from the defending national champions by coach Les Miles after a series of rules violations.
His only other visit was to Alabma A&M in Huntsville.
HORSES
BALTIMORE ó Running on the outside has been very good to Big Brown. Now the Kentucky Derby winner gets to try things from the middle.
He was installed as the 1-2 early favorite for Saturday’s Preakness, and a victory could set up a Triple Crown try three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes.