WHERE ARE THE RIVALRIES?: ESPN’s Mark Kreidler said the WTA has “failed to establish itself as a go-to choice with many viewers because of a cyclical absence of marquee rivalries.”
BETTING TIP?: Rumors of match-fixing swirled after Spaniard Oscar Hernandez defeated Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4 in Stuttgart. Tipsaravic (now ranked No. 66/Hernandez is No. 72) was the favorite going into the match. But despite the odds, bookies began to see large sums put on Hernandez to win in straight sets. Enter the Tennis Integrity Unit, which has reportedly launched an investigation into the matter. Janko’s father, Pavle, was quick to defend his son, saying, “This is all farcical — anyone who knows Janko knows he is a great sportsman and that he would never even think of fixing a tennis match.”
HENMAN HUMOR: Tim Henman told the following joke to the London Times:
There’s a man and a woman trying to get into town. They stop a taxi driver and say, “Excuse me, mate, can you tell me the quickest way to get into town?”
He says, “Are you walking or are you driving?”
“We’re driving.
He says, “Yup, that’s the quickest way.”
A NEW-AGE SHRIEKER: The San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins described Michelle Larcher de Brito as a “new-age shrieker, shattering all previous standards of volume and density.”
FASHION FLUNKIES: On her best/worst dressed list, Maria Sharapova gives two enthusiastic thumbs down to both Radek Stepanek and Brad Gilbert.
MARIA’S LIST: ESPN editor-for-a-day Maria Sharapova offered 12 tips to improve her sport:
- More entertainment (think clowns during changeovers)
- No dogs in the players’ lounge.
- No hangers-on the player’s lounge.
- Shorten the WTA calendar.
- Use Facebook and Twitter to market sport.
- No on-court coaching.
- More replay challenges.
- Lose the Mascara on court.
- Limit injury timeouts.
- Allow color at Wimbledon.
- Call in the fashion police.
- Element of surprise (go into a tournament not knowing who you’re going to play nor what surface you’re going to play on.
HEADLINES
L.A. Tennis Open is More Rank-and-File than Top-Ranked
THE NUMBERS
4-13: Robby Ginepri’s record coming into Indianapolis.
2: Number of career titles in Indianapolis for Ginepri, who took the ’09 event with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Sam Querrey
1: Number of men who have managed to win more than one major after becoming a dad (Jimmy Connors)
QUOTEBOOK
“It’s a tough existence out here. It’s sort of legalized drug taking. That’s how I see it. You have unbelievable highs but incredibly tough lows.” – Aussie Rennae Stubbs on life on the WTA Tour
“Male athletes aren’t going to come out because they’re going to get ridiculed and they’ll be embarrassed. Men aren’t supposed to be gay if they’re playing sports. It’s just the way it is.” — The openly gay Rennae Stubbs
“[Nadal] thrills people. Federer thrills people, too, but the Nadal thrill is so different from the Federer thrill that studying the two of them is like a gorgeous immersion course in the varieties of athletic possibility.” — Cynthia Gorney
“Every tennis lover would like, someday, to play like Federer. But every man wants to be Rafael Nadal.” — Philippe Bouin
