NOT A BAD SLAM: The Aussie Open didn’t have Maria Sharapova, but it did have a semi-obligatory streaker, mindless chair-throwers, searing heat, serial defaults, an on again off again roof, late night insomnia, an eight-minute delay for fireworks, smoky flares in the stands, the return of tennis’ prodigal daughter (Jelena Dokic), and an abundance of sublime tennis.
SUM UP THE AO IN 18 WORDS OR LESS: Charlotte James captured the spirit of Melbourne, saying, “Billies were boiling, shrimps were on the barbie, players were spitting chips and everyone got a fair go.”
RAFA REALITIES: A nine-step dash to successfully retrieve a Fernando Verdasco drop shot…an astonishing bend-it-like-Beckham running forehand winner off a corkscrew backhand…tears during the semi…a flat-on-his-back victory celebration, consoling a trembling foe after the final…humility and six Slams. Still, questions of constant injuries linger.
SAY WHAT: Chris Fowler said getting the yips on your serve “are like herpes. You can control them, but they always come back”… Early in the A.O., after Roger Federer hit a stunning overhead off of an overhead, veteran ump Steve Ulrich tried to calm down the buzzing crowd by saying, “Excuse me, Mr. Federer, we are all still amazed.”
THE IMPULSE FOR RIVALRY: Inspired by the Rafa-Roger rivalry, Jeff MacGregor wrote: “It is our nature to seek rivalry. To create it. To stoke it. Rivalry flares in us all, and in every human circumstance. Brothers and sisters. Classmates. Co-workers. Lovers. All of us craving more attention, more affection, better pay, a bigger slice. These rivalries are tepid things mostly, simmering away in your own brainpan as Ed gets that loading dock promotion you deserved; or Betty hits off with that guy you just started dating. For better and worse, rivalry — not to be confused with jealousy — is part of our competitive impulse.”
GO FIGURE: Roger has reached the semis of 19 straight majors. The next record is Ivan Lendl with “only” 10… In San Jose, Roddick hit a 150-mph serve. Pete Sampras hit a 138-mph blast…Serena says that as a Jehovah’s Witness she is “trying to do a lot of door-to-door witnessing”…At a time when gambling concerns remain, the South African Open was held at a casino.
THE GREATEST CO-ED MATCH SINCE BILLIE JEAN/RIGGS: When IT [as part of our greatest games series] asked Serena Williams to list her greatest matches, we got a whole lot more than we bargained for. Rather than recalling battles with Venus, Justine or Jennifer, she spoke of her win over a then pre-teen Andy Roddick, which led to an oft-aired back-and-forth: “He’ll hate me for saying that,” she said. “[But], indirectly I’ve beaten a lot of people on the men’s tour…Indirectly I have wins over Federer, Nadal.” While there is debate over the score (Serena says it was 6-1, Andy insists it was 6-4), it’s clear Williams is still rubbing it in. “She always just gives me crap,” said Andy. “But she won’t give me a rematch…It wasn’t fair. When we were 10, I had to literally run around in the shower to get wet. I was this big. She was bench-pressing dump trucks already…Any chance she gets she just does it to get under my skin, and she does it very successfully.” Asked if a charity rematch might be in the cards, Roddick said, “I’d love to.” But Serena bristled: “I don’t think it’s necessary to have a rematch. I won. I was clearly the better player. I beat Roddick.” She added, “The score absolutely speaks for itself. He always jokes, ‘Rematch, rematch.’ But I don’t even have time for a rematch.”
SOUND CHECKS:
• Richard Hinds claimed that Serena’s x-rated cry of “F—-ING FIRST SERVE!” was heard by “old pensioners in Row ZZ with their hearing aids turned down.”
• Hinds also noted, “On Australia Day fans usually complain about the raucous music from nearby rock concerts. During the Azarenka-Williams match, you might have expected an irate concert promoter to storm into Laver Arena and tell the players to shut up because they were drowning out his heavy metal.”
JUST WHAT IS A GIRAFFE-LEGGED, PIG-TAILED EPONYMOUS BLONDE?: According to Hinds, Victoria Azarenka “looked like one of the eponymous blonde, tall, pig-tailed, giraffe-legged Tennis Barbies who are so common in the corridors of Melbourne Park.”
TEAR TRACKER: Federer, Nadal, Dokic and Azarenka all teared up at the A.O.
THE TRACKS OF HIS TEARS: James Blake wasn’t surprised to see Fed get weepy in Melbourne, saying, “It’s the human side of sports. I hope people don’t think any less of him. There’s no stigma anymore about being a man and crying.” Sampras, told IT that he was taken aback by Fed’s emotions: “It was pent up frustration. He was really hurt…but after a loss you just sort of keep it together. I felt for him. He’s frustrated and wants it so bad. To be at that breaking point, it’s affecting him a lot more than I thought. It’s hitting home. He’s emotional… When he beat me at Wimbledon, he was in tears…He internalized a lot of things like I did and then he reached a breaking point. It caught me off guard. It shows how much he cares.”
IMAGE IS EVERYTHING: Musing on Andy Murray, Jon Wertheim admitted, “When I see an athlete has signed with an ‘image consultant’ I fear he’s doomed.”
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
• Reflecting on Dinara Safina’s request to change the pronunciation of her name from sa-FEE-nah to SAF-i-nah, Mary Carillo said “If you’re going to change your name, go big. [Change it to] Queen Latifah Safina.”
• IT reader Tom Pirodsky suggests that if Roddick and wife-to-be Brooklyn Decker were to have triplets, the boys should be named after boxer Riddick Bowe, ATP pro Radek Stepanek and the NBA’s J.J. Redick. The trio would be Riddick Roddick, Radek Roddick and Redick Roddick.
• Follow us here. Lovely Lindsay Davenport’s son is named Jagger (think Mick). So does that mean the daughter of the now pregnant Davenport will be called: A. Bianca, B. Joplin, C. Baez, D. None of the above.
• Alize Cornet told Bud Collins that her name means “breeze across the water.”
• Our favorite new names are juniors Nicha Lertpitaksinchai, Rashmi Teltumbde, Karim-Mohamed Maamoun, Natchanok Saenyaukhot and Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas.
NO JACKIE ‘O’ AT THE AUSSIE O: Ana Ivanovic’s purple dress sure was pretty and Serena opened the tournament wearing a camouflage, commando dress, but with Sharapova sidelined and the fashionistas doing a walkabout, the A.O. offered few fashion wonders. After all there were times when it seemed like the most important accessory was the ice vest…BTW: What were Nike and Nadal thinking with Rafa’s olive green, royal blue and scarlet hodge-podge?…Natalie Craig said that even though he now wears shirts with sleeves and conventional shorts Rafa “is still suffering from that fashion faux-pas, wedgie-prone undies.”
SAMPRAS UNPLUGGED:
• ”I get to show a lighter side of my outstanding personality.” —On what he likes most about playing exhibition matches
• ”He’s so close to my record he can taste it.” — On Federer
• ”You see a human element, a vulnerability that you don’t see when you’re 25 and kicking ass.” — On Fed’s struggle for Slam No. 14
• Asked if he watched the Aussie final, Sampras replied, “At 2 in the morning? Are you crazy? I’ve got two kids.”
• Asked if he’d ever consider coaching, Pete quipped, “Just on my Blackberry.”
• “Roger gets Andy’s serve back, then says, ‘Let’s run.’ He’s better on the run. He’s a better athlete. Roddick has the power, but it’s a bad match up for him. They play similar games, but Roger is that much more efficient…He’s more talented.” — On the Fed-Roddick match up
JUST NOT THE SAME: Rafa without the pirate pants. And, by the way, will record books now divide Rafa’s stats into two separate categories: “BC” (before capri pants) and “AC” (after capri pants).
TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK: The Swiss vs. U.S. Davis Cup tie will be played in Birmingham, a once troubled city. (See First Serve). The South African Open, one of the most controversial tourneys in tennis history (where Arthur Ashe was denied entry in ‘70 and played in ‘73 amidst much controversy before the tourney itself was banned) was at last renewed and the French-African Jo-Wilfried Tsonga proved to be a storybook winner. But then the Israeli Shahar Peer was to play in Dubai in what was dubbed another feel-good story. That was, before she was denied a visa and the WTA went on and actually played the tournament.
FOOT FAULT: Boy, do we feel like a bunch of heels. After running our “If the (Tennis) Shoe Fits, Wear It” feature last month, which chronicled some of the most dubious footwear moments in tennis history, two more foot-stomping moments came to pass. First, Jelena Jankovic had a “cool” idea when she called for air-conditioned shoes to combat the stifling heat of Melbourne. Then, during a San Jose exo, Sampras held a match point against Tommy Haas when one of his shoes came off and he fell. The Great One never recovered and went on to lose. “That’s never happened to me,” confessed Pete. Fans wouldn’t let him leave the arena until he tossed his Nikes into the stands.
THANKS FOR ALL THE 411, YOU JERK: A fan held up a sign up at the A.O., that read, “The guy behind me can’t see.”
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE STUCK IN THE PAST: Last year, Marat Safin complained that the foot fault rule was “a stupid rule that someone made in 1850.” This year, he claimed linespersons who call foot-faults “want to take five seconds of the camera to show everybody they’re in the match. It’s a sad story -the most stupid thing I ever saw.”
IN THE MOMENT: Gael Monfils said, “I never think about the past and even the future. If you stay in the past, [or] in the future, you cheat the present.”
TRAPPED IN THE FUTURE: Reflecting on the A.O.’s touching awards ceremony, Jeff MacGregor wrote: “Spent, both men are in tears for the trophy ceremony. Only they understand why. Each is less without the other, though the other may destroy him. The legacy of one must now become the legacy of the other. Trapped, they define each other.”
SOME CONVERSATION: Andre Agassi spoke for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve to Fernando Verdasco who shortly thereafter went on to reach the A.O. semi.
HEADLINES:
• THE CHANGE VERSUS
• EXPERIENCE SLAM
• JUST WHAT THE DOKIC
• ORDERED
• HOWDY DUDI
• ATOMIC FATHER WRAPPED OVER KNUCKLES
• DOUBT IS THE ENEMY
• DANE AND ABLE
• THE WORM VS.THE FISH
BAD COACHING?: Former Wimby semifinalist Sandy Mayer told IT that Roddick was “probably the worst ball striker of a great player that I’ve ever seen. He’s been a great competitor, but that’s waning enormously. If he stayed with what he had done when he first came out under [then-coach Brad] Gilbert and didn’t try to do the rest of the rest of stuff, he would have been much better off. These forays into the net when he doesn’t have the technique, that’s bad coaching and it’s been a disaster.”
MORE TOUGH CRITICS: After Ernests Gulbis fell and cut his arm in St. Petersburg last year, the Latvian press inferred that he had tried to commit suicide…After her second round win Serena gave herself a D-…After Dinara Safina beat Alize Cornet, she was asked if she was pleased. “Pleased?” she snarled, “It was disaster…The girl …gave me the match…Either I play completely different tomorrow…or I can just take my rackets.”
AT LAST SOME ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ CRITICISM: Commenting on a tough patch in one of James Blake’s matches, Justin Gimelstob said he “could build a house with all those bricks he’s laying with his hands on these points.”
‘THATCHER IN THE EYE’ (OF A STORM): BBC reporter Carol Thatcher, the daughter of former PM Margaret Thatcher, was fired after referring to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a “golliwog,” a racist British slang term.
MAKE UP YOUR MIND: Serena said, “I’m human and I have doubt.” But she also asserted, “I can do it all, I cook, I clean, I write, I make jokes, I tape [my own ankle]. You know, I just pretty much do everything.”
LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT: Up a set, Victoria Azarenka was positioned to possibly beat Serena when she succumbed to heat and had to throw in the towel. Svetlana Kuznetseva was also up a set and seemingly cruisin’ when officials stopped her semi and closed the roof and effectively allowed a befuddled Serena to re-group, cool down and eventually win.
WEIGHT WATCHERS: Jankovic bulked up, Roddick lost about 15 pounds and Serena wasn’t sure if her recent weight loss helped her handle Melbourne’s temps: “Maybe with the fat I would be able to absorb more of the heat.”
A KIMIKO ‘DATE’ WITH DESTINY: Kimiko Date reported that when German auto racer Michael Krumm first spotted her on TV, he promptly announced: “‘I found [my] wife.’…A few years later, we married. So he is always saying it’s destiny.”
POLISCI 101:
• Asked in Melbourne whether he planned to stay up to watch Obama’s inauguration, Roddick replied: “No, I’m sure they’ll get it done without me.”
• President Obama told the press, “We installed a new basketball net on the tennis court.”
• As an eighth grader, new Dept. of Energy Secretary Steven Chu taught himself to play tennis by reading a book and then joined his school’s team as a second-string sub.
• When Venus offered a kind-of-tepid commentary on the election (She said Obama “was the best candidate, so I’m happy the best candidate was elected…but I really am not a political expert”) Jon Wertheim responded: “This response was profoundly disappointing. You have this incredible global platform…Millions of all races look up to you. Historically, you’ve been thoughtful…You’ve shown that your interests…transcend tennis. You were involved in the bid for equal prize money…And when asked a perfectly reasonable (and predictable) question…Venus says breezily she knows “zero”…I suspect that somewhere Billie Jean King is banging her head against a post.”
YOU ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT: After Corina Moriau commented on the importance of communication, Justin Gimelstob, who is her former boyfriend and is now her broadcast partner, quipped, “Yeah, you always told me that.”
IN A PINCH, WHO YOU GONNA CALL?: Fed feels the Hawk-Eye system is “horrible,” except “If it’s 9-all in the fifth. [Then] you got to use it…[If] the linesperson is sleeping and the umpire is drinking coffee…it’s good you have it.”
WHERE’S KNUTE ROCKNE WHEN YOU NEED HIM: Many have suggested that Federer hire a coach, but Juan Jose Mateo contended, “The problem for anyone coaching Federer will always be the same: What do you tell him to change after winning so many titles? How do you convince him of his mistakes?…He needs someone to fire him up, not to talk about tactics.”
‘TO YOUR LEFT, PLEASE NOTE THE SINGULAR FEDERER FALLS, ONE OF THE GREAT NATURAL WONDERS …’: Richard Hinds wrote that, “At times, it had been difficult to tell which of Federer’s rivalries had been greater. With Nadal, to determine who was the best tennis player on earth. Or with Victoria Falls, to determine which natural wonder was the greatest waterworks.”
JUST WONDERING: Is it unfair to create a ridiculously high standard for Venus and Serena (“I wanted them to be the twin Tiger [Woods], and dominate the sport and rewrite the record books.”) and then fault them for not being totally dominant?… Is the Nadal forehand to the Federer backhand the most dominant exchange in the history of elite-level tennis rivalries?…Why does Fed, arguably one of the most orderly champions in history, who always has things just so often emotionally crack after epic matches?…Is the eight year Williams sisters vs. Indian Wells spat the most drawn out tennis controversy since the tug-of-war in the ‘60s over making tennis an Open sport?…What would the tennis landscape be like if Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters hadn’t retired?…What was worse, the “no mas” default in the withering heat by Novak Djokovic who, despite being the defending champion, threw in the towel against Roddick in the A.O. quarters or the default by Gael Monfils who later admitted that perhaps his wrist injury was “just in his mind”?…Was the re-emergence of Jelena Dokic the best WTA comeback since Jennifer Capriati?…Is the overhead shot of Melbourne’s Laver Arena (with it’s rectangular flash of super bright sunshine starkly framed by darkly shaded seats) the most distinctive TV visual of any court in tennis?…Will accusations of fraud by the SEC against Robert Allen of Stanford Financial affect their sponsorship of the Sony Ericsson Open, and the Outback Champions Series? The ATP already cut ties.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Ahhh, tennis again got the cover of Sports Illustrated. Well, sort of. Roddick’s fiancee, model Brooklyn Decker, can be seen showing off some body paint in the swimsuit edition. At least Andy himself is featured in the inside of the magazine (no, not in a bikini), as are scantily clad WTAers Maria Kirilenko, Daniela Hantuchova and Tatiana Golovin. Ana Ivanovic declined an invitation to participate.
REFLECTIONS ON NON-COMBUSTIBLE SELF-CONTROL: A British reporter suggested to Roddick that the American’s Melbourne success might have been because of his ‘noncombustible’ self-control. To which Roddick responded: “Noncombustible? I love you English dudes.”
DOUBLES DOUBLE: California natives swept the A.O. men’s and women’s dubs. The brothers Bryan won their seventh Slam together and the sisters Williams collected their eighth Slam title.
HYDERABAD, HYDERAGOOD: With her mixed doubles win with Mahesh Bhupathi at the A.O., Hyderabad’s Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to win a Slam title of any kind. Given that Yuki Bhambri won the A.O. junior boys’ title, it was a pretty good tournament for India.
KEVIN CURREN IS ALIVE AND WELL: A headline relating to Bernie Tomic’s volatile dad read, “A Tomic Bomb Drops On Open,” recalled the time Kevin Curren went nuclear. Critical of the atmospherics at the U.S. Open, the South African native said Flushing Meadows was so bad “they should drop an A-bomb on the place.”
DON’T LOOK FOR MARTHA STEWART TO BAKE COOKIES AT THE U.S. OPEN: Former USTA whiz Arlen Kantarian, who is one of seven execs to recently leave the USTA, is considering a front-office slot with the Miami Dolphins and was elected to the board of Martha Stewart Living.
RAINING ON THE FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE TOURNAMENT: Just when we were getting all warm ‘n fuzzy about the comeback of Jelena Dokic (who, after suffering from depression and pretty much being sidelined for four years, came back to reach the A.O. quarters), word came out that the estate of a deceased drug dealer was seeking $60,000 of her prize money.
WII ARE (NOT) THE CHAMPIONS: Monica Seles on the decline of American tennis: “When I did a clinic last year, it summed up why U.S. tennis is really struggling. A kid comes says [to me], ‘My parents told me you were one of the hardest-working players. How many hours did you practice?’ I said, ‘Well, five, six hours.’ He said, ‘I practice just that much on the Wii.’ I’m thinking, ‘A Wii?’ It’s a computer that imitates a real match. This guy is playing five, six hours on this thing and he thinks this is the real thing?”
KUDOS: To the Tennis Channel and The European Wall Street Journal, who stepped up and did the right thing by withdrawing their support of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships when Israeli Shahar Peer was denied access into the U.A.E. due to her nationality.
TRANSITIONS: Monica Seles, agent/entrepreneur extraordinaire Donald Dell, pioneer Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson and Spaniard Andres Gimeno were named to be inducted into the International Hall of Fame this July…Marat Safin says he will retire at the end of the season. (We’ll see)…Birmingham paid the USTA $200,000 to bring the Davis Cup to town… Recently-replaced Fed Cup Captain Zina Garrison is reportedly preparing to file a racial discrimination suit against the USTA…The USTA has purchased a 25 percent stake in World TeamTennis.
HUMILITY 101: After winning the U.S. Open, Pat Rafter said, “I’m still the same old sack of s—-.” After winning the Aussie, Nadal asserted, “I’m no better now than I was five hours ago…You have to know before the match who you are and after the match you have to know who you are. You are the same.”
QUOTEBOOK:
• “He cried, and it was hard not to cry with him.” — Eleanor Preston on Roger Federer
• “I hear that Federer guy is pretty good.” — James Blake on Roger
• “[Natalie] Dechy is the anti-Bryan. She moves her feet and goes nowhere.” — Justin Gimelstob
• “Legs feed the wolf.” — Brad Gilbert quoting Herb Brooks on the importance of conditioning
• “I could never see Rafa or Fed doing that.” — Gilbert on Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal in the quarters
• “They were forecasting death.“ — Roddick on weather reports before a January heat wave hit Australia
• “I’m pretty annoying to be around, so I think it’s a relief for her that I’m gone sometimes.” — Roddick on fiancee Brooklyn Decker
• “He’s a bit of a windscreen-wiper.” — Darren Cahill on Marat Safin
• “Suck it up, princess.” — A fan yelling at Marat Safin as he complained to the ump
• “He was a mental midget. Now he’s got the heart of a champion.” — Martina Navratilova on the transformation of Fernando Verdasco’s playboy image
• “You should ask Ana more than me about this. I don’t think that is my fault.” — Fernando Verdasco, when asked about the upset loss of his ex-girlfriend Ana Ivanovic
• “I wish I looked that good after throwing up all day.” — Pam Shriver on Victoria Azarenka
• “Glum mum.” — Navratilova on Oracene Price
• “My eyes, my eyes, my innocent eyes.” — Serena, when asked what she was thinking when her doubles match was interrupted by a streaker.
• “When she throws the ball up [to serve] it doesn’t land in Moscow anymore.” — Bud Collins on Elena Dementieva’s once errant service toss
• “Kuzy will find a way to lose.” — Collins on the problematic Kuznetzova
• “It’s very obvious he’s the smartest person in the room.” — Maria Sharapova’s agent Max Eisenbud on new ATP chief Adam Helfant
• “I have a safe life, it’s very easy for my mind.” — Federer
