Chakvetadze has nightmares about mugging

An investigation into the robbery of former world No. 5 Anna Chakvetadze’s family home in Moscow in December of 2007 by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reveals that her father Djamal was beaten up so badly that he had to go through two shoulder surgeries, and that Anna still has nightmares and often wakes up at 3 AM—the exact time the robbery occurred.

Six thieves stole about $260,000 in cash, jewelry and other items and were also said to have beaten Anna (she sustained a significant wrist injury), asking for the Rolex that she just given the day before at an exhibition in Belgium and then telling her, "Keep playing—we'll come again."

Her father Djamal alleges that the wrong men were convicted of the crime and the real robbers were protected by a corrupt police force.

The robbery occurred just a few months after the then 20-year-old Chakvetadze had her best run ever, winning Cincinnati and Stanford, upsetting Venus Williams at San Diego and reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Open. While she had some good results in 2008, most notably by winning the Paris Indoors, her career began to go off track and she has been on and off the tour since then, battling injuries and illness. Her father said that she is still traumatized by the mugging.

She recently ran for the Russian Duma (congress) with the Right Cause Party, but the party was unable to secure even one percent of the vote and she was not elected.

Chakvetadze is planning a return to the WTA after spending much of 2011 dealing with dizziness. She only played 14 matches this season and has seen her ranking fall to No. 229. She will use her special ranking to enter the tournament in Hobart, which starts the second week of January 2012.