YOU CAN BANK ON TENNIS: Considering that the BNP Paribas is the 11th largest company in the world, and that the French bank plans to spend virtually all its $32 million sponsorship budget on tennis in 2010 (outside of its modest backing of a Belgian soccer team), the sport must be in good health. Plus, the WTA event at Carlsbad’s La Costa Resort recently snared a backer in Mercury Insurance. Now if only the ATP’s L.A. Open (formerly the Mercedes-Benz Cup and Countrywide Classic) could find a presenting sponsor.
GROSJEAN TO HANG ‘EM UP: Sebastien Grosjean, 31, who rose to a career-high No. 4 in 2002, says he’ll retire at the end of the year. We’ll miss his feisty play (and his backward-facing ballcap).
POETRY IN MOTION: Wimbledon has appointed Matt Harvey as its first official poet-in-residence. The humorist/performance poet is expected to produce a poem a day throughout the fortnight.
NOT SO CONFIDENTIAL ANYMORE: In his new book “Hardcourt Confidential,” Patrick McEnroe reveals that U.S. Davis Cup newbies are regularly hazed. Well, sort of. Practice partners are asked to make a speech in front of various ITF dignitaries, athletes and media, during which they’re instructed to weave in words like “teabagging,” “chocolate highway” and “banana hammock.” Ryan Sweeting used the word “dingleberries” prior to a tie in Russia, and who could forget John Isner introducing himself as “Jizner” in Portland in 2007?…PMac also recalls Andre Agassi‘s infamous flyover incident during the U.S. vs. Bahamas Davis Cup tie of 1993, when he buzzed the court in his private jet. Recalls Patrick, as Agassi flew overhead, “I could have sworn I saw him giving us the finger, grinning.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNESTS: Of the night Ernests Gulbis spent in Stockholm cell after being arrested for soliciting prostitutes during a tournament, the Latvian said, “It was great. It was great fun, but I’m never going to go to Sweden again in my life. If you go out and meet some girls, and immediately you’re put in jail, that’s not normal.” Asked if his wealthy family truly owns a jet, Gulbis shot back, “Yes, and I have a helicopter, a submarine and a spaceship.”
THE NUMBERS
15-0: Rafael Nadal‘s clay-court run heading into Roland Garros.
18: Record number of Masters Series titles for Nadal, who snapped Agassi’s mark with his win over Roger federer in Madrid.
44: Age of Pat Cash, who recently became a grandfather. Said the ’87 Wimbledon champ said his new status came “a bit quicker than I expected, I’ve got to be honest. Then again, my kids came a bit sooner than I expected, too.”
2: Years Wayne Odesnik will be sidelined after being slapped with a doping ban.
QUOTEBOOK
“I feel almost like a butterfly on the court again.” — Jelena Jankovic
“I don’t know if I like or love the game so much.” — Ernests Gulbis
“The whole idea of journalists going into the locker room is an American idiosyncrasy. I can remember being in Barcelona at a Davis Cup match in ’65, when Bud Collins and I waltzed down to the Spanish locker room. We weren’t just barred. The Spanish sentinels looked at us oddly, as if we’d tried to enter the ladies’ room. I understood. I’ve never felt altogether comfortable in a locker room.” — Frank Deford
