Business Bits: Poo's Fashion & Clijsters' Ongoing Farewell

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Business Bits: Poo's Fashion & Clijsters' Ongoing Farewell

By Nicholas McCarvel

Kim Clijsters' farewell exhibition match versus Venus Williams in Antwerp (Dec 2012)

(October 31, 2012) --

So long, farewell: Seriously, Kim Clijsters. Your farewell, good-bye, won’t-see-you-later tour is stretching far, far into the fall, and is putting the Von Trapp family to shame. Clijsters announced on her website Monday that she would play Venus Williams in an exhibition Dec. 12 (12/12/12!) at “Kim’s Thank You Games” in Antwerp. Clijsters owns a 7-6 career record vs. V, including their last five matches.

The night will include a doubles match and a Kim “farewell show.” So, we’re calling it right now: Kim is actually performing the “So Long” song herself during the show. Cue Justine Henin as Julie Andrews!

Bad Bernie! Bad, bad Bernie! It really has been a year to forget for Bernard Tomic. Scratch that -- a 10 months to forget. After Australia’s next great hope made a dramatic run in Melbourne -- beating Fernando Verdasco from two sets down in his opener and defeating Milos Raonic -- the youngster has found himself in trouble on and off the court time and again. Over the weekend it was the police involved in breaking up a fight that Tomic was having with a friend at his house. Things don’t look to be getting better, either: next week he’ll go to a hearing in regards to motoring charges that were leveled against him following the Australian Open. Oh, and remember that incident with Papa Tomic? Maybe Bernie should take up meditating for the winter, no?

Phasionable Philippoussis: While a future Australian champ moves into disgraceful territory, a former one… well, brightens our day with this news: Mark Philippoussis, he of a storied yet unfulfilled career and questionable post-tennis choices (cough, cough, Age of Love) is ready for a fresh, fashionable start: yes, the “Poo,” -- that’s our favorite nickname ever -- is said to be planning a fashion line of sorts. Phillippoussis said he’s getting inspiration "every day from all over, from looking at houses to going for a surf. I believe there is a lacking (in the market) and a wanting for that. Right, we’ve never seen a surf tee. Ever. he said. But, hey! The Poo isn’t perfect! "Am I going to make mistakes along the way? Absolutely, that's a given. But I'm going to use that to make the company better. I'm excited for that." He’s also excited to continue to work his way through a bankruptcy, which he filed for in 2010 after defaulting on his mortgage.

Andy’s bloody plea: OK, so Andy Murray’s plea itself wasn’t bloody, but it did involve blood. The world No. 3 and US Open and Olympic champ said in Paris for the Bercy Masters that he thinks tennis should up its efforts in blood testing to help catch doping cheats in the sport. “We're not used to doing that many blood tests in tennis," he told reporters. "I've probably had four or five blood tests this year, but a lot more urine [tests], so it's something that's obviously necessary.” Continuous discussion of how strong tennis’ drug-testing ways has followed the revelation of Lance Armstrong's cheating in the sport of cycling.

Itty bits:

Will a family feud kill off the Lacostes share in the company they started generations ago? The iconic French brand is on the verge of falling into Swiss hands as the Swiss retail group Maus Feres has moved to ++up its share in the company from 35% to 65%. President Sophie Lacoste has until Nov. 12 to accept or refuse the offer. Sophie’s father, Michael, has bemoaned her appointment as president, which happened in September. She’s “incompetent,” he’s said of his daughter, who is expected to take the Feres deal. | The ATP previews London’s World Tour Finals. Sheesh, we love these videos they put together. | Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will open the 2013 season in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin at the World Tennis Invitation. Vika is the defending champ there while it’s the first time Serena has played in Thailand. | Bad economy? Not according to FedEx. The company said it expects to see a record volume of shipments this holiday season as online shopping continues to grow. Packages could number around 280 million between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 percent from last year. | Nick Bollettieri is a hall of famer in the tennis world, but looks as though he’s got quite the business mind, too. | Want to know what a national junior tennis tournament can do for a medium-sized city’s economy? Let Columbia (S.C.)’s The State tell youafter the town hosted the USTA Jr. Team Tennis National Championships last weekend: it’s almost on par with a college football weekend. | Margaret Osborne duPont, winner of 37 majors in singles and in doubles, died last week at the age of 94. She was 44 when she played her last match at Wimbledon in 1962 and during WWII worked in a marine shipbuilding plant. You go, Margo. | Bleacher Report has a fun slideshow out this week on the best tennis players through the decades, starting with the 1930s. | Maria Sharapova’s goal for 2013? Win Wimbledon. | Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal noted today that the top of the men’s tennis ranking isn’t necessarily a bastion of youth. So, who’s Carl got his eyes on? That’d be Grigor Dimitrov (22) and Jerzy Janowicz (21). OK, let’s see it boys!

(File Photo: Kim Clijsters plays the 2012 U.S. Open; Credit: Andy Kentla)