David Ferrer was preparing to serve in his Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinal match against American Mardy Fish when the sound of a bawling child filled the stadium court. The sixth-ranked Spaniard briefly paused, but decided to play through the noise.

Ferrer lost the point. Then he lost his composure. Looking in the general direction of the crying baby, Ferrer lobbed a ball into the crowd in frustration. He went on to lose the next point and four straight games, capping a complete second-set meltdown.

Watch the clip below. (The video doesn’t show the baby crying during the point, just Ferrer’s reaction.):

Given how bad Ferrer’s groundstrokes were in the second set, it’s no surprise that the ball didn’t come close to hitting the baby. (Rimshot!)

Ferrer’s actions were reckless and immature. It was a bully move borne out of frustration. He hit a ball in anger toward the crowd, which is never acceptable, particularly when it’s at a defenseless child. He’s lucky he didn’t get a warning or a fine. He’s even more lucky the ball didn’t come close to hitting anybody.

Is all that out of the way? Good. Because while I believe everything in the previous paragraph, there’s another big issue at hand: Who brings a baby to a tennis match?

There are two places babies don’t belong: bars and any place where silence is greatly valued. Find a babysitter. Leave the child outside the stadium with your wife. Or, better yet, watch the match on TV. (But not in a bar.) Ferrer was wrong for overreacting, but the father is equally wrong for putting his child in that situation.

Fish defended Ferrer after the match. "He’d probably take that one back if he could," he said. "He’s a very nice guy. Obviously flustered."

For his part, Ferrer didn’t blame the baby for his meltdown, saying a bout of indigestion is what caused the collapse of his game. "[The crying baby] was in one moment of the match, but nothing special," he said. "It was not the problem."

No, the problem was Ferrer’s boorish behavior, which was caused just as much by his decision to play through the noise than it was from the noise itself. The instant Ferrer thought he shouldn’t serve, he should have backed away from the baseline to collect himself. When he lost the point, he seemed more frustrated at himself for playing rather than the child.

His warning shot worked, by the way. The child stopped crying after Ferrer launched the ball into the stands.

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I was prepared to start getting sick of Andrea Petkovic before she had ever really done anything. The dances, the videos, the professed love of Goethe and Bloc Party, the determination to be intelligent and fun rather than just a ball-smacking drone: In theory, there wasn’t a lot not to like; the Serbo-German seemed to be the type of personality that any fan would want from the WTA. But was she all style, without enough substance to back it up, without enough game to be more than an attention-seeking hipster novelty act? Her mechanical style certainly seemed to be no match for her free-spirit persona.

All of that has changed in 2011—the on-court Petkovic has begun to catch up to the off-court version. She reached the final in Brisbane, beat Maria Sharapova to make the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and this week in Miami she’s handed world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki a rare defeat and come from behind to beat Jelena Jankovic to get to the semifinals. While her serve and forehand remain as mechanical-looking as ever, Petkovic’s charismatic confidence has begun to shine through in the clutch.

“She’s going to be a big-match player for years to come,” Lindsay Davenport said after she watched Petkovic beat Jankovic on her third match point with a gutsy, on-the-line, crosscourt backhand winner.

Petkovic says she loves the big moments, though she has gotten tight in them in the past. I watched her hold, and lose, multiple match points before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova at Roland Garros last year. But this week she’s backing her words up. Against Jankovic she became more aggressive as the third set went on, while at the same time becoming more accurate with her sometimes-shaky forehand.

But Petkovic isn’t just a basher. In her victory over Wozniacki, she also brought her well-advertised intelligence to the court. She was justifiably proud afterward that she hadn’t fallen into the trap of playing too aggressively against the ultra-consistent Wozniacki, a trap that Petkovic says she has seen a lot of other players put themselves in. She knew that Wozniacki was too good a defender to go for broke against her, so she kept her attacks measured and her percentages high. Today she faces a very different player in a rematch with Sharapova. I didn’t see much of Petkovic’s win over her in Melbourne, si it will be interesting to see how she approaches her this time.

Petkovic herself seems to realize that her novelty was wearing off. She said after her win over Wozniacki that she wouldn’t do her post-win Petko-dance anymore. This is a positive development—champs are known for winning, not dancing. But she couldn’t help herself when that last backhand found the line against Jankovic. Good for her. I’m happy she’s not a sideshow anymore, but I wouldn’t want her to lose her sense of fun along her way up the rankings. The WTA needs winners, it needs players with guts, but it needs personalities, too.

Originally posted on ESPN.com.

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Combing through closets to bounce unused clothes from the hanger bar isn’t the only source of spring cleaning for tennis players. As April approaches and the weather warms, many players clear the cobwebs from their games, rid racquet bags of old gear and prepare for the move from indoor to outdoor courts.

“Experienced recreational players understand that just as your car will drive better with regular oil changes, there is some maintenance involved with your gear,” says Midwest Sports’ product manager Dave Limke. “When you get new strings, re-grip and put a vibration dampener, you tune things up without having to necessarily go out and buy a brand new racquet. Essentially, you can make it play pretty close to new, assuming it’s not a 10-year-old racquet.”

Restocking your racquet bag doesn’t have to drain your wallet. We talked to some of the nation’s top retailers and specialty store owners for their views on the best gear buys for $25 or less. Here are some suggestions:

(Next week, we’ll explore some of the best apparel buys for under $25, and wrap up by offering stringer and retailer recommendations for a variety of strings.)

Gamma Ballhopper Risette 50 (MSRP $22.95)
Give your back a break from bending over to pick up stray balls and check out the Gamma Ballhopper, which can hold 50 balls and features handles that flip over into a stand.

Babolat Loony French Open Damp (MSRP $4.95)
The official brand of Roland Garros combines tradition with a comic touch in this vibration dampener two-pack. One displays the classic Roland Garros logo while the other re-imagines the red clay as a pair of eyes staring down the ball onto the strings.

Head HydroSorb Replacement Grip (MSRP $10)
Available in black and red or white and black, the HydroSorb features a high-tack surface that keeps moisture off your hand, sustaining a sure grip. Shock absorption and cushioning are its key qualities.

Tourna Grip 10 Pack (MSRP $16.95)
Pete Sampras brought the blues back to Madison Square Garden earlier this month, taking the court against archrival Andre Agassi with a blacked-out racquet trimmed with Tourna Grip’s light blue overgrip. Made in the USA, Tourna Grip counts the Bryan Brothers, Andy Murray, John Isner, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova among its users, who like its lightweight and secure feel.

Wilson Pro Overgrip 12-Pack (MSRP $24)
When Roger Federer and Serena Williams re-grip, they both wrap the distinctive white Wilson Pro overgrip around their handles. Our personal favorite is Wilson’s best-seller. At .55 millimeters thick, it’s thin enough to offer racquet response and the color works as a barometer of change: when the white becomes a grimy, grungy grey, it’s time for a new one.

Babolat French Open All Court Ball (MSRP $4.25)
Babolat takes over as official ball of Roland Garros this spring, and you can add some French flavor to your game with the brand’s all-court ball.

Camelbak Elixir Orange Alert (MSRP $10)
Providing a quick pick-up without the sugar of some energy drinks or the bitter taste of coffee, Elixir Orange Alert is a sugar-free tablet that dissolves in 24 oz. of water. There are 10 tablets in a $10 tube, with each one offering 10 calories and 75 mg of caffeine—about the same as a shot of expresso or a serving of Red Bull. No messy mixing required.

PowerBar Energy Gel Pack (MSRP: $1.19-$1.29)
PowerBar brands its 41-gram gel pack as “fast fuel,” and some pro players supplement the tour’s staple snack—bananas—by ingesting this instant energy both before and during matches. Now available in seven flavors, the gel comes in both caffeinated and non-caffeinated versions. The Double Latte flavor offers 200 mg of sodium to replace electrolytes lost in sweat—as well as 27 g of carbs and 10 g of sugar.

Paper Shower 6 Pack (MSRP $7.50)
Wash up between sets without soap and water with Paper Shower, a combination of moist and dry towelettes sealed in variously sized multi-packs which fit in your bag or pocket. Each towelette is 9” x 12”. Paper shower gained a bit of international exposure when the Illinois-based brand sent packs of the products to Chile for use by the 33 miners trapped underground.

Chilly Pad Super Cooling Towel (MSRP: $14.95)
Whether you need to cool off amid scorching conditions or just relish a chillaxing changeover, the Chilly Pad delivers. Made by Frogg Toggs, it’s a 27” x 17” towel that transforms into a cooling device when wet. When it stops cooling after a few hours, re-wet the towel, wring it out, and it starts cooling again. “We got some of these and they were immediately one of our hottest-selling items,” says Woody Schneider, who owns Grand Central Racquet in New York City. “They’re great for kids who play tournaments or attend tennis camps.”

Nalgene MultiDrink Water Bottle (MSRP: $14.99)
Drinking water is an essential activity on court, but leaky bottles that flood racquet bags can be as annoying a dripping faucet. Nalgene offers a solution with its 24-oz. MultiDrink water bottle that comes with a leak-proof lock to prevent spills. The bottle offers a wide-mouth cap that can be removed to add ice, as well as a pivoting straw when you don’t need a big gulp. Measurement marks along the side of the bottle make it ideal for mixing ice tea or powdered drinks.

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by Pete Bodo

MIAMI, Fla.—Victoria Azarenka, a semifinalist in Key Biscayne after eradicating world No. 2 Kim Clijsters, apparently has discovered the secret to life, and it turns out not to be all that complicated. “I’m just in a good mood always, now,” said the 21-year old. This comes as somewhat shocking news to many tennis regulars, who had long since anointed Azarenka the Miss Sorehead of the WTA. “Doesn’t matter when I’m on the court, off the court,” she gushed after the match. “I feel like I’m happy all the time.”

Well, Vika, good for you! But then many of us—or your peers, anyway—might be also be loving life if the only thing standing in our way to the semifinals in a tournament as big as the combined Miami event was a listless and seemingly uninterested Clijsters. Usually, when a player of Clijsters’ caliber pulls off the sort of escape she managed the other night against Ana Ivanovic—a former Grand Slam champion and world No. 1 player herself—she (or he) is apt to feel invincible and is thus especially dangerous. That Clijsters bounced back from such a potentially inspirational comeback with such an uninspired performance tells you something. Where was the adrenaline surge that players so often surf after the big fightback?

“I just didn’t feel good out there,” Clijsters admitted in her presser afterward. “Just mentally, physically, didn’t feel right…just kind of feel like I didn’t have any fighting spirit.”

Alright, some things you can’t force or control, and Clijsters was honest enough to admit: “(It’s been) a tough few last days. (But) not in a way that I should not be ready for. I train hard enough to physically be capable of doing that.”

But that still leaves open the question: Why can someone of Clijsters ability and status be so…wasteful? Especially when she might have gained valuable ground on No. 1 Wozniacki by winning here? When it comes to providing incentive, the tournament can’t be faulted.

It was clear from the start last night that Clijsters seemed intent on duplicating her adventure with Ivanovic. The really surprising thing is that she did it. Think about it. What were the odds, given all the possible combinations and variables, that Clijsters would wind up facing match points while down 1-5 in the decisive set? I wonder what Clijsters’ final 2011 W-L record will be for matches in which she was down 1-5 and match points in the decisive set?

Granted, Azarenka looked pretty good. Just as surviving an impossible situation usually inspires a player, returning to a scene of success can also lift and energize a player. When Vera Zvonareva gets off the plane in Pattaya City, she must feel like Martina Navratilova strolling through the Fred Perry gate at Wimbledon. But Azarenka played down that angle when she was asked if she’s starting to feel like it was 2009 (when she won here) all over again:

“No, it doesn’t not at all,” she said, smiling. “It’s 2011. Completely new year; different tour. And I played Kim. And she was not there at 2009, so definitely not the same.”

Well, let no one say she doesn’t think literally. But Azarenka did admit, “Miami certainly is a great place. So much excitement from people and so many great fans coming. I don’t know, it’s always going to be a special place for me, so I’m really enjoying my time here.”

This was Azarenka’s second win (against four losses) over Clijsters, and she believed it was built upon her overall fitness and good health, as well as a willingness to play more aggressively and to move forward into the court. And with both Wozniacki and Clijsters, the top two seeds respectively, out of the event, the tournament is really there for any of the semifinalists to win. Sharapova is the only Grand Slam champion in that group, yet she’s also the one who’s been most inconsistent, and looked most vulnerable. Clijsters, the only other former Grand Slam champ to reach the quarterfinals, looked less than commanding herself in the run-up to last night’s quarterfinal.

Clijsters’ loss to Azarenka suggests that at some elemental level, the Belgian No. 2 has a motivation problem. The opportunities are enormous; how can she pass them up, what with the Williams sisters out of the picture and Wozniacki still too green to dominate (if that’s what she’s destined to do)? But I wonder if her heart is really in it. I have no doubt that she wants to try (or, to use my preferred phrase, she wants to want); she certainly works hard and does all the due diligence of a true professional.

But you can’t fool the heart, no matter how much “sense” it makes for Clijsters to continue playing in an environment where merely showing up guarantees material rewards that nobody in his or her right mind would pass up. Who can blame Clijsters? What would you do, in her Filas?

The WTA needs to load up with players who can imagine nothing more enjoyable than winning big tournaments, and being out there testing themselves, week-after-week. Women who love to compete and play and bask in the adulation of the crowd. Women who like a good fight, cat or court.

Happy Azarenka is in that category, as are a number of other young players in the current pipeline, including another Miami semifinalist, Andrea Petkovic. It’s the job of those women to shove the reluctant, uncommitted, flawed or wounded competitors out of the way. It sounds cruel, but that’s how a healthy game works.

That would make everyone happy, just like Azarenka.

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World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was unable to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York on Tuesday even though she went to a charity event in Harlem to greet him, Ekstra Bladet reports.

Danish TV has first reported that the Danish embassy had arranged the meeting and her father Piotr confirmed it, but in a text to the newspaper, Wozniacki she couldn’t get close enough to Obama.

“In the end, it came to nothing because of security around him.” she said. “When I arrived a little late into New York, it was unfortunately not feasible.”

Wozniacki will now head to the Charleston tournament. —Matthew Cronin

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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP)—Andrea Petkovic will lead Germany in the Fed Cup playoff against the United States in April.

Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki and Anna-Lena Groenefeld complete the German team for the April 16-17 match in Stuttgart, Germany. The winner will advance to the eight-team World Group.

The U.S. team lost to Belgium in the first round in February without the injured Williams sisters.

Petkovic has advanced to play Maria Sharapova on Thursday in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. She’s defeated top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic.

The 23-year-old Petkovic will break into the top 20 next week.

World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was unable to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York on Tuesday even though she went to a charity event in Harlem to greet him, Ekstra Bladet reports.

Danish TV has first reported that the Danish embassy had arranged the meeting and her father Piotr confirmed it, but in a text to the newspaper, Wozniacki she couldn’t get close enough to Obama.

“In the end, it came to nothing because of security around him.” she said. “When I arrived a little late into New York, it was unfortunately not feasible.”

Wozniacki will now head to the Charleston tournament. —Matthew Cronin

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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)—Mardy Fish talks trash to Andy Roddick about basketball and golf, but not tennis.

The topic of Fish’s new ranking will be off limits, he said.

Fish claimed the top U.S. spot for the first time Wednesday by reaching the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open when he beat No. 6 seed David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2.

The 29-year-old Fish will climb to at least 11th, a career best, in the next world rankings. Roddick, a good friend since childhood, will fall from eighth to 14th after losing his opening match last week.

“I don’t think I would ever feel like I was the No. 1 American,” Fish said. “Andy has had a pretty good career. You can put his career on top of mine about six times. He’s always going to be the top dog in my generation.”

But Fish is the lone American with a shot at the title this weekend. He’ll try to continue his best run in 10 appearances at Key Biscayne on Friday against No. 2-seeded Novak Djokovic, who is unbeaten this year.

Djokovic extended his winning streak to 24 consecutive matches by defeating former University of Illinois star Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic won two Davis Cup matches in December, and his 22-0 record in 2011 is the best to begin a year since Ivan Lendl started 25-0 in 1986.

“When you watch him play, it’s really not that surprising that he hasn’t lost yet, because he’s playing so well,” Fish said. “He’s not going to win every single match this year. Whether it be this week or in July, he’s not going to win every one. It’s just not possible. So hopefully it can be against me.”

As Djokovic closed in on his latest victory, he unveiled his version of the Petko Dance—a celebratory jig introduced by Andrea Petkovic, who plays Maria Sharapova in the semifinals Thursday. Petkovic and Djokovic are both natives of Serbia.

Victoria Azarenka advanced to her first semifinal this year by beating two-time champion Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-3. Clijsters, nursing a right shoulder injury since she won the Australian Open in January, had eight double-faults and held only three times in nine service games.

“I just didn’t feel good out there,” Clijsters said. “I didn’t have any fighting spirit. Against some lower-ranked players maybe it’s possible to get through matches, but against somebody like her, it’s not.”

Azarenka’s opponent Thursday night will be No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, who beat No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3.

Fish was braced for an endurance test against Ferrer, a dogged baseliner, but the Spaniard had back-to-back double-faults to lose serve and fall behind 6-5 in the first set, and Fish pulled away from there.

Ferrer, who lost just 12 games in his first three matches, said he was bothered by indigestion.

“A lot of pain in my stomach,” he said. “In the second set, I cannot run anymore.”

Fish thrived in the role of front-runner, winning the final 15 points on his serve. In the past two matches, he has lost only 11 of 84 points when his first serve was good.

“I’ve served well over my career,” he said. “To be confident enough to not have to press is key.”

The afternoon crowd was subdued—there were no chants of “U-S-A”—but Fish’s rooting section did include golfer Sergio Garcia of Spain, even though Ferrer is Spanish.

“Sergio and I have known each other for a long time,” Fish said. “He’s a huge tennis fan. He has a good game—he’s probably the best golfing tennis player. Put golf and tennis together, I think I’ve got him, though. And you can tell him I said that.”

Garcia is expected back on Friday, when Fish will try to improve on a career record of 3-0 in ATP Masters 1000 semifinals. He has never won a title in the series, which ranks just below the Grand Slam level.

Zvonareva, seeded third, overcame a set point with an ace in the first set against Radwanska, and won four consecutive games to take control of the second set.

The 26-year-old Russian improved to 4-0 in quarterfinals this year.

“I’m definitely more experienced and I’m more mature,” she said. “I’m just trying to enjoy my time on the court. I don’t really think about anything else when I’m out there.”

Azarenka, seeded eighth, is coming back from a hip injury that forced her to retire in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells two weeks ago. The Belarussian earned her biggest career victory by winning Key Biscayne in 2009.

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