The other day, BBC broadcaster David Mercer noted how a linesman dodged a fierce Nadal serve and quipped, “Well ducked.”
Today, it was all about chickens. Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu was asked about his family business. He replied, “My father is selling the chicken, not the meat, but the live chicken…[and] send it to the farm… After, they kill and become the meat. So I can catch a chicken. I can show you. Yeah, serious. I can catch a chicken.
Q: Did you work with him?
YEN‑HSUN LU: I tried few times. But I don’t really like because smell really bad. But I know is very tough work. They always working between 1:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the morning… That time the chicken cannot run away because they cannot see.
Q: They were wild?
YEN‑HSUN LU: Yeah. No, but still they can run. They just put in the box or something. You have to catch them into the box. If the people want some kind of chicken, you need to separate.
Once Yen-Hsun revealed all this, we didn’t have to be egged on to collect some of our favorite chicken references and lay them on you.
• When 1994 French Open finalist Alberto Berasategui was asked why he ate chicken 15 minutes before a match, he explained: “Did you ever see how fast chickens run?”
• When Yannick Noah was plagued by a knee injury that just didn’t respond to conventional treatments, he went to an African witch doctor who healed the knee by beating it with a panther tail, while Joakim Noah matter-of-factly assured us that Florida, of course, won the NCAA final against UCLA because his grandfather in Cameroon had sacrificed a chicken before the game.
• John McEnroe told IT, “Ultimately, I don’t have an excuse for all the things I did. There were things that were out of line, over the line. But, to be frank, they [officials] are too chicken s— to do anything about it.”
• Asked about his arch rival, Ivan Lendl, McEnroe said, “He’s chicken and scared of us. Though as big a jerk as he is, I’m sure he feels just as beautifully about me.”
• When Lendl skipped out on the most important tournament in the year, Virginia Wade said, “I cannot believe Lendl is not playing Wimbledon. It’s the biggest chicken out of all time.”
FED: PUT HAWK-EYE IN SOCCER, KEEP IT OUT OF TENNIS
After the absurd disallowed English goal in World Cup and other ridiculous World Cup calls Inside Tennis asked Roger Federer whether there should be electronic officiating in soccer. He responded with a political response referencing the controversial head of FIFA who’s Swiss. Our dialogue
ROGER FEDERER: Have to be careful. Who is the head of the FIFA? I don’t remember. Is he a Swiss guy by any chance (smiling)? We [in tennis] have electronic line calling even though we don’t need it. We all know we don’t, but we do have it. They should have it, and they don’t. It’s a choice the guys have to make at the top. I do struggle a little bit with soccer at the time because there are so many mistakes from umpires. Don’t blame them. They’re so far away sometimes from what’s happening, and then so many goals are disallowed that are goals and others are not counted that would be goals. It’s frustrating … They could have been sent home just because of that single mistake, and it’s incredible … it’s just crying for a change, a bit.
Q: In our sport you feel it is best just to leave it in the hands of the linesmen and the chair umpire?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, you have to understand, one forehand down the line doesn’t change the outcome of the match; whereas one goal changes the entire mindset of a team, of a strategy. You know, you can play defense after that. Tennis, we don’t have that. Guys are sitting there, not moving. They’re only staring at the line. It’s so much more simple. It’s going to even out throughout a career or a season, the good and bad calls. Whereas goals, it’s such a huge impact in those 90 minutes. It changes everything. That’s why they have it in American football, right?
CURIOUS QUESTIONS: To the slow-starting Kim Clijsters: “Where were you in the first set?”
To Clijsters after her win over the child-less Justine Henin: “Was this a triumph for motherhood?”
Is the first Monday of Wimbledon – when the men and women both play all of their matches – the best day in tennis?
In her match against Maria Sharapova, how much of a revenge factor was there for Serena who suffered that huge defeat to Maria in the ’04 Wimbledon?
Is the defeat of the Bryan Bros. nemesis — the Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic, who won the French Open — the equivalent of Robin Soderling wiping out Nadal at the ’09 French and clearing the way for Federer to have a record setting performance …Will Caroline Wozniacki’s brutal 6-2, 6-0 loss to Petra Kvitova have a longlasting effect.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE: Serena Williams flicked a behind the back flick of a free-floating ball that almost hit the ump.
GO FIGURE: With the loss of Wozniacki, 19, there are no teens left in the draw. The last teenaged girl to win a Slam was Sharapova in ’06 …Yen-Hsu Lu’s English teacher couldn’t pronounce his name so he called him Randy…The Woodies aren’t playing doubles together.
JUST WONDERING: Are Masha and Sasha (that would be the love couple of Sharapova and L.A. Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic) the couple with the best sing song name in sports…Was Clijsters convincing three set win over her fellow Belgian Henin a case of a great light-heavyweight beating a great lightweight.
BALLPERSONS’ ANALYSES OF THE DAY: Radio Wimbledon noted: “Good pick up by the ball boy – two hands” … BBC reported: “That girl has had done a grand job of following Andy Roddick around for hours. Every once in a while he says thanks.”
THE NO BAGEL DIET: For the first time, Serena did not win her first set 6-0. But Billie Jean King cautioned her that it is dangerous to win the first set that way. Your opponent now knows they have nothing to lose, there is no way to go but up and they come out hitting loose.
