NUMBERS GAME: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin will play an exo on July 8 in Brussels, where they’ll attempt to snap a 37-year-old attendance record of 30,492 that assembled for t
he Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs Battle of the Sexes at the Astrodome in ’73. The event will be held at the 40,000-seat King Baudouin Stadium.
WAYNE’S WORLD: According to the ITF, Wayne Odesnik has accepted “a voluntary provisional suspension” after pleading guilty to importing HGH into Australia.
WHAT’S NEXT – BONO RODDICK?: The rocker-tennis tradition continues. Lindsay Davenport and Jon Leach have a son named Jagger. Spaniard Tommy Robredo‘s father, Angel, named his son after The Who‘s famed rock opera. Now Carling and Robert Seguso have welcomed baby girl Lennon.
QUESTIONS: Is the Davis Cup becoming more and more like Fed Cup? And is Fed Cup becoming more and more like the Whitman Cup (R.I.P), which ceased to exist in 1989?
THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF A GLOBAL GAME: Russian Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev is having visa issues and at last check was in danger of missing the April 24-25 World Group semi in Birmingham, Ala. That is if the tie is played at all. Due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, many of flights out of Moscow have been cancelled.
HEADLINES
Is Andy Murray Confused or Waiting for the Big Time?
THE NUMBERS
$21.1 million: Total purse at Wimbledon, a 9.4 percent increase from last year.
QUOTEBOOK
“A lot of people are like, ‘Why would you go there again?’ But I keep trying. I persevere.” — Mary Joe Fernandez on her tireless efforts to pull Serena and Venus Williams back into the Fed Cup fold
“What has gone wrong with Andy Murray? Where are the wins? Where are the shots? Most alarmingly, where is that rage for perfection that frequently drove him to memorable victories against all the sport’s top performers and reminded so many, in terms of character and personality rather than actual game style, of a certain John McEnroe?” — Barry Flatman, London Times
“Where the likes of Nadal and Murray have developed huge biceps with which to muscle the ball, Federer is merely toned. His forearm is sinewy rather than resembling a side of beef, and tells of someone who strikes the ball with beautiful fluidity and an economy of effort that minimizes damage to his body.” — Mike Dickson, The Daily Mail
