Virginie Razzano Brings Lawsuit Against WTA

As first reported by leading French sports news outlet L'Equipe, France's Virginie Razzano is seeking damages from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for an injury to her right foot that she alleges was caused by a WTA masseuse at the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Razzano, 27, was ranked at a career-high #16 in November, but had fallen to #39 by the time Ponte Vedra came around in early April.

According to her claims, the tour's masseuse at the tournament put such a great deal of pressure on her foot that it caused an edema, large and painful enough to prevent her from putting any weight on her foot.  She also claims that trying to compensate for this injury in her movement caused a tear in her hip.

Razzano withdrew from the Ponte Vedra event before her first match with what was listed then as a "right foot injury."  She did however play as soon as the next week, losing in the first round of Charleston in three sets to Monique Adamczak. 

Razzano then missed several clay tournaments in April and May (including Rome and Madrid), but returned to action with a wildcard in Strasbourg, where she won her first match over Chang Kai-Chen before falling to Sofia Arvidsson in the next round.  She then lost the next week in the first round of her home slam to Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-2.

As I see it, there are two questions which Razzano will have to satisfactorily answer if she is to win her case.

Firstly, was this a pre-existing foot injury? There doesn't seem to be a reason for her to have been receiving vigorous treatment to her foot if it wasn't already hurt, so how clear is it that it was this massage that caused the injury? There also may be a legal distinction between a practitioner causing and aggravating an injury, and that would definitely need to be clarified.

Secondly, why did she choose to play three tournaments while suffering through this injury? She played the very next week in Charleston, and then back to back weeks at Strasbourg and Roland Garros, even winning a match in the process and certainly staying competitive in all three.  If this injury was so terrible, how was she able to contend at roughly the same level she had been in the months before?

I've had the chance to interview Razzano previously, and found her to be one of the friendliest and warmest players I've spoken to.  I'm therefore inclined to believe her claims, but I'm not sure if, when she comes up against the tour's army of lawyers, she'll be left with a foot to stand on (pun very intended).

(H/t to Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim for finding the original story).