NO MORE RAIN DELAYS!: Regarding Belgian Justine Henin‘s un-retirement, SI’s Jon Wertheim quipped, “If you think it’s a coincidence the announcement came barely a week after Clijsters won the U.S. Open, I have a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium to sell you.”
STORY TIME: Venus Williams is reading Fablehaven, Brandon Mull‘s best-selling children’s fantasy tale featuring trolls, witches, imps and fairies.
FEET DON’T FAIL ME NOW: Making the talk-show rounds in New York, USO quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin stopped in at the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, where the following exchange took place:
CO: You get very, very emotional when you play, and you sometimes yell at yourself, not just yell at yourself, you yell at your feet. Is that right? I have to ask you about that.
MO: Yes, because sometimes they don’t go fast enough. I don’t know why, I just get mad at them.
CO: What do you say? Do you say — “Feet, do better! Run faster, feet!” Do you ever call your feet aside and say, “I’m sorry, I got a little angry?”
MO: Not really.
THE FRENCH CAN BE SO HARD TO PLEASE: Marion Bartoli has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with her former hometown of Le Puy-en-Velay. In fact, this summer the No. 15-ranked Frenchwoman told IT that when she left the medieval town she vowed, “I’m never, ever coming back to this village in my whole life. Never, ever.” And she hasn’t. But according to Departures, it’s not such a bad place after all. The magazine recently deemed Le Puy-en-Velay, with its volcanic pinnacles and picturesque cathedrals, “the most secret place in France,” adding that it has “some of the loveliest and freshest landscapes full of torrents, gorges, and steep deciduous forests; high pastures covered in soft grass; exquisite cowslips; many species of orchids, violets, yellow marigolds; and wild oeil du poete narcissus – fields of them.”
HEADLINES
Justine Henin’s Not Ready for Normal Life Yet
THE NUMBERS
643: Shots exchanged in the longest rally of all time — a 29-minute point between Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner in Richmond Va., in 1984, a 6-hour, 31-minute marathon that remains the longest match ever completed in a single day. Nelson won the point and — eventually — the match 6-4, 7-6 (11). Hepner, some 25 years later, told the New York Times, “Even now, just thinking about it, my stomach is starting to hurt.”
15: Months Jelena Dokic‘s estranged father, Damir, will spend in prison after threatening the Australian ambassador to Serbia.
QUOTEBOOK
“For the first few weeks after my retirement, it was an exciting time for me. It was great. I was free to do whatever I wanted, and it was wonderful to spend time with my friends and the people I love. But, after the excitement, I experienced a difficult time, when I had to bring some order to my life, and when I had to face myself and my past.” — Justine Henin
“Some wonder if the concept of quitting has been misrepresented — or at least, should be re-examined.” — Doug Robson
“The women’s game is back to possessing a blend of established and aspiring stars that is as rich as, well, Belgian chocolate.” — Christopher Clarey
“It’s hard to fault the players for fantasizing about a normal life built around activities like waiting in line at the post office, showing up at your really boring cousin’s snoozer of a cocktail party, helping your neighbor wrestle the new mattress off the top of his car. How can facing Serena Williams, break-point up late in the third set at the U.S. Open, possibly compare to those things?” — Peter Bodo
“As much as I thought Kim could get back to that level, it was still extremely fast. Beating Venus and Serena? We weren’t expecting anything like this until maybe 2010. But I really think that with all that was going on with her dad, tennis was great medicine.” — Kim Clijsters‘ husband, Brian Lynch
