NOT GONNA GO THERE: Asked what the difference between Kim Cljsters and Justine Henin is, Serena Williams said, “Uhm, hmm, I’m going to keep that to myself.”
SNOTTY LITTLIES IN TOW: The Age’s Linda Pearce marveled at Roger Federer‘s accomplishment in Melbourne, writing, “Fathers struggle to win major titles. It is supposed to be harder with snotty littlies in tow. All those interrupted snoozes, so many more distractions.”
GO FIGURE: Rafael Nadal fell out of the top three for the first time in five years.
KING ARTHUR ON A TENNIS COURT: Richard Hinds asserted that all that stood between Andy Murray and his first Slam was “only the greatest accumulator of Grand Slam silverware in the game’s history. Only the man who could market his racket under the trademark Excalibur. Only the player with the vintage strokes, the sanguine temperament and — as his provocative pre-match trash talk had revealed – a fierce will to win disguised by a ready smile and a beguiling game.”
DOES THAT MEAN WE DON’T HAVE YOUR SUPPORT?: ITF chief Francesco Ricci Bitti (whose focus is obviously on preserving Davis Cup) slammed the initiative for a World Cup of tennis, calling the plan “a completely stupid idea.”
HEADLINES
Role Model Serena Williams, a Champion of the Oppressed
Pretender Put in His Place by Supreme Federer
No Feet, No Forehand, No Confidence…but That Was Last Year for Roger Federer
Federer Back In Rude Health and Eying New Peaks to Scale
QUOTEBOOK
“I was trying to hunt him down, but the guy keeps winning. I’m like, ‘Dude, stop winning.’ When he finally won the French Open, I said ‘Stop!’ I’m like, ‘Roger can you please let me catch up?’ But he keeps on winning. He is amazing.” — Serena (she of 12 Slams) on Federer (he of 16 Slams)
“It is crazy, absolutely crazy, for a man to be this good at tennis. It is crazy to remain unaffected by the intensity of the big title matches. It is crazy to make those shots, to win those points, to seize control in the crucial passages of play as he does. And nothing fazes him. Not the youth of his opponents; not the pressure of maintaining supremacy; not even the very human distractions of parenthood.” —Martin Samuel, The Daily Mail
“Has there ever been a more contented champion?” — Neil Harman on Federer
“If there is an end to Federer’s reign in sight, it is hard to see it from Melbourne. —Kevin Mitchell, The Guardian
“I can cry like Roger. It’s just a shame I can’t play like him.” — Murray
“While some critics dared suggest she shouldn’t even have been playing the year’s first major as punishment for threatening a lineswoman at last year’s U.S. Open with a fluffy, green tonsillectomy, Serena took the opportunity to remind us that $90,000 was an outrageous fine for a working girl to be slugged with. Can’t people show some respect? She’s raising money for Haiti, for goodness sake!” — Peter Hanlon
“Move on.” — Serena when asked about her U.S. Open meltdown of ’09
