WILLIAMS ON WILLIAMS: Comedian Robin Williams called First Lady Michelle Obama “a mix between Jackie Onassis and Serena Williams.”
TENNIS RETURNS TO ATLANTA?: After initially nixing the proposed sale of its Indianapolis designation to Atlanta (a move that both stunned USTA Southern officials and, according to sources, threatened continued support from U.S. Open Series presenting sponsor Olympus), the ATP appears to have OK’d the transfer of the mid-July event to Georgia’s capital city.
EXCHANGE OF THE WEEK
RAVI UBHA: “Will we see you on court anytime without the cap?”
ANDY RODDICK: “That’s not something I’ve spent three seconds of my life thinking about.”
HEADED DOWN UNDER: Much touted teen Ryan Harrison scalped Donald Young 6-3, 6-4 and Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 at the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff in Atlanta, earning the 17-year-old his first main-draw slot at a Grand Slam.
ENBERG THE NEW VOICE OF THE PADRES: Longtime Grand Slam broadcaster Dick Enberg is the new play-by-play man for the San Diego Padres. One of the most versatile announcers of all time, Enberg’s résumé includes coverage of six Australian Opens, 23 French Opens, 26 Wimbledons and 10 U.S. Opens. “Over my many years behind the microphone, my love for baseball has never waned,” said Enberg, who is expected to continue his coverage of the Slams.
VERDASCO, DENT JOIN SAP FIELD: Fernando Verdasco and Taylor Dent have committed to San Jose’s ATP stop — the Feb. 8-14 SAP Open. Verdasco and Dent will join three-time SAP champ Andy Roddick, ’02 titlist Lleyton Hewitt, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Tommy Haas and the Bryan Bros.
ORANTES HONORED: Manuel Orantes was honored with the ’09 Davis Cup Award of Excellence on Dec. 5 during an on-court ceremony in Barcelona. Orantes was a member of the Spanish Davis Cup team from ’67 to ’80, compiling a combined 60-27 record. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 in ’73. He captured 33 career titles, including the ’75 U.S. Open, where he defeated Jimmy Connors.
A MOTHER OF A WIN: U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters bested Venus Williams 6-1, 7-5 in an exo match on Wednesday in Antwerp.
COSTA BRIEFLY HOSPITALIZED: Spain’s Davis Cup captain, Albert Costa, was hospitalized in Barcelona on Thursday with chest pains, but was later released. On Sunday, the 34-year-old had led Rafael Nadal & Co. to their fourth Davis Cup title with a 5-0 sweep of the Czech Republic.
THE NUMBERS
$184 million: Annual economic impact, according to a report commissioned by the ITF, generated by Davis Cup.
130 mph: A Sabine Lisicki serve at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali — the fastest serve ever recorded on the WTA Tour, eclipsing Venus Williams‘ previous standard of 129 mph.
$5.1 million: In unpaid taxes Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario must pay after a ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court. The three-time Roland Garros champ had claimed that she was a resident of Andorra, not Spain, from ’89 to ’93, and should therefore not be required to ante up.
QUOTEBOOK
“Suspending her would have achieved…what exactly? The fans, the event, the television partners and the sport would have suffered most.” — Jon Wertheim on Serena Williams’ $82,500 fine
“Ironic. Intriguing. But most of all, it’s fitting that the bar for sports autobiographies would be raised by an emissary from that remote corner of the athletic galaxy known as tennis. Tennis might be distant from the center of the American sports universe, but as Andre Agassi‘s book “Open” shows, in a fundamental sense, it’s closer to our nation’s spirit than we dare admit.” — Joel Drucker
