NO SOUTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY SPOKEN HERE: When a reporter approaches a tennis expert at Wimbledon and says, “Let’s talk about the Andes,” he’s not referring to that towering mountain range in South America. He’s referring about a couple of Andys: Roddick and Murray.
ONE OF THE GREAT FREAK FACTS IN THE HISTORY OF YANKEES IN THE LAND OF WIMBLEDON: Before the start of play on Thursday, all three American men left in the Wimbledon draw were from Boca Prep in Boca Raton, Fla.
HAWK-EYE SHOUT OUT: Ana Ivanovic reported that she relaxed last night by watching the “Last of the Mohicans.” BTW: one of the movie’s heroes includes Hawkeye the native-American, not the electronic scoring system.
STAND BY YOUR TENNIS MAN: When two-time dad Lleyton Hewitt was asked what suggestions he would have for expectant papa Roger Federer, the macho Aussie responded, “I hope Mirka’s a good wife.”
WE SAID IT BEFORE AND WE’LL SAY IT AGAIN: French Open star Svetlana Kuznetsova may not have too much star appeal, but she’s a fun-loving girl. When asked what she’s been doing since winning in Paris, the Russian joked, “You know, party every day until 6 a.m. and then sleep during the day, and now I’m playing these two days [at Wimbledon].” Kuznetsova said that even though she just won a Grand Slam, she didn’t mind the Wimbledon diss of having her first two matches being assigned to outback courts in the boonies. And what about the fact that more glamorous stars like Sharapova, Ivanovic and Jankovic get far more attention and bigger endorsement contracts? The low-profile No. 5 said, “[That’s] not my problem…My problem is to get my best results and that’s it. I’m happy who I am and I’m happy the way I am. I am enjoying myself on the court, and for me that’s the most important thing. What they get, I never look at another basket, you know, I look at my basket…Maybe I used to care more, but that’s when I was younger. But why should I? Why should I look at somebody’s house or somebody else’s garden? I’m happy with what I have. If I want to have more, I just have to play better.”
NOTES FROM THE RUST BELT: Maria Sharapova (who after leaving Siberia as a seven-year-old has hung out in sunbelt sites such as Florida, L.A. and Phoenix) looked mighty rusty yesterday when she crashed out in the second round. Today, it was “Rusty” – aka Lleyton Hewitt – who shined in the sun, as he demolished Juan Martin del Potro.
PUTTING HER POLITICAL PRIORITIES IN PLACE: When asked if she would want President Obama to come to London to watch one of her matches, Venus Williams said, “He’s got a lot on his plate. I don’t know if he has time for me. [But] I would be honored if he was here.”
EASY GRADER: After losing in straight sets to ’02 champ but now unseeded Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Martin Del Potro was asked to grade his performance on a scale of one to 10. He gave himself an eight.
A PRESSER FOR THE AGES: Wise-guy supreme Andy Roddick is known for his creative, cryptic, wide-ranging press conferences that both cut to the bone and draw edgy laughs. Here are some excerpts:
Q. Do you feel a burden in carrying the weight [for America]?
RODDICK: Not any more than I have for the rest of my career. You’d like it to be different, but…this ain’t CandyLand. We can’t really make fantasy worlds up. You just deal with it and move on.
Q. A question about your Twitter. What made you do that? Do you have fun? Do you update it yourself?
RODDICK: Yes, yes and yes.
Q. Do you have fun updating it?
RODDICK: Yes.
Q. So can you talk us through Rick Astley [the ’80s pop singer and one hit wonder]?
RODDICK: I said I wasn’t proud, but I’m not going to lie…I busted my wife on some of her crappy music. She brought up Rick Astley. I can’t deny it. It’s in my iPod. I bet it’s in your iPod, too, so shut up.
Q. You can get arrested in this country for having Astley on your iPod.
RODDICK: You can get arrested in my country for lying under oath, so…
Q. How did it come about, this passion for Astley?
RODDICK: Okay, calm down. Just calm down.
Q. Does it help [getting through two weeks at Wimbledon] listening to Astley?
RODDICK: I didn’t hear that.
Q. Jesse Levine is playing today, a qualifier. Do you know him?
RODDICK: Uh-huh. We’re both from Boca. I think we went to the same high school actually. He was younger.
Q. Your thoughts on Shaq being traded to Cleveland?
RODDICK: It works both ways…Phoenix cuts dollars, and Cavs have a big man. It was pretty apparent during the playoffs against Dwight Howard that that was the part that was missing. [If you] keep him healthy…I think him and Ilgauskas will be able to spell each other…I think it’s a great move for them…Obviously, there’s going to be an adjustment period with a 7-foot-3, 350-pounder in the middle…It’s only going to make their team better. You have to make moves to win championships.
Q. If I have it right, there are three guys from your high school still in the draw.
RODDICK: Well, yeah. Mardy [Fish] went to Boca Prep also.
Q. So talk about that. What’s in the water there?
RODDICK: Tennis academies are all around the school.
Q. If they said to you back then that there would be just three Americans left in the 2009 Wimbledon draw and they all would be…
RODDICK: I don’t know. I played No. 3 on my high school tennis team my junior year, so yeah, it was average…You’d be obviously guessing, but you knew there was certainly talent [there]. Our school made up half the seeds at Kalamazoo at the junior nationals, so I guess it wouldn’t be that surprising.
Q. Was your high school tennis team undefeated?
RODDICK: I think we lost because we’d always have to go over and play the French Open. Our coach would get pissed.
Q. Talking about Levine, he’s recently taken on a mental coach – the same one that Lendl used. A few years ago you had taken a look into bringing someone like that onto your group.
RODDICK: I did?
Q. You did.
RODDICK: No. I wouldn’t want to do that to anybody.
Q. Truth be told, in high school were you or Mardy better at basketball?
RODDICK: Mardy? Well, on [the] team I would kick his ass one-on-one pretty much every time. I’m more physical…I have a bigger ass. I can box out.
Q. Thoughts on the NBA draft, predictions?
RODDICK: What do you want to know?
Q. What do you think of the first pick?
RODDICK: Well, Griffin is going No. 1, then it’s going to be interesting to see what Minnesota does. I think they have, what – 5, 6, 18, 28?
Q. You don’t follow the draft at all?
RODDICK: No, not much. Supposedly, they’re looking to trade 6 and 18. So, it will be interesting. Something fun will happen.
Q. If you had to pick one NBA star to be a prospect on the tour, who would you go with?
RODDICK: Nobody. That would make my job harder.
SCOTT FREE: Outgoing WTA chief Larry Scott has Henry Kissinger-like diplomatic skills. He’s about as an adept a spinmeister as you will find outside the Washington D.C. beltway. And boy does he know how to land hefty contracts. (Thanks Sony Ericsson and all you deep-pocket oil sheiks.) Plus, he’s been the most celebrated WTA chief since ol’ Jerry Diamond, the pioneer exec of the woman’s game. But Scott wanted it all. When the top job at the ATP opened up, he pushed hard to have both the men’s and woman’s groups agree to have him head both of their organizations. But when the combo plan fell through, Scott opted for a job as the commish of the Pac-10. Now his flights will be two-hour puddle hoppers, not 20-hour flight-a-thons and he’ll move to Alamo, near San Francisco. Not surprisingly, Scott’s farewell address at Wimbledon this morning was crowded with (largely well-placed) self-appreciation. He spoke of the sport’s popularity, how the game has broken barriers, how there is at last equal prize money at the Slams, Jews will (after quite the controversy) be allowed to playing in Islamic Dubai and a partnership is in place with UNESCO to push gender equality. Scott reeled off achievements like Venus hits aces. He spoke of the game’s new roadmap, a longer off-season, reduced player withdrawals, $750 million in stadium upgrades, a (recession-be-damned) 40 percent hike in prize money and $84 million from Doha and Istanbul for the season-ending championship (which is why the event will not be on Broadway, i.e. at Madison Square Garden, for many a moon.) While Scott praised Venus for her involvement, he bristled at several other notions: that all woman’s tennis has going for it is sex appeal; that the WTA is not doing enough to control betting or that there is a problem with American tennis, since the U.S. only have one “non-Williams” player in the top 60. Scott also dismissed the notion that the WTA is not doing enough to control betting or that it is problematic that no one star is now dominating. Scott also downplayed the importance of people’s upset over grunting, saying that there are hindrance rules in place and that no players have complained to him that screeching interferes with the competitive fairness of the game. As usual, in some ways, some of the game’s more prickly problems were not really addressed. The fabulously successful San Diego tournament was allowed to vanish – so sad. An array of questions shadows the American game. Many tournaments may have problems meeting the tour’s new requirements and nobody can get Venus and Serena to chill and come back and play Indian Wells’ BNP Paribas Open.
