UMBRELLA PAYMENT: Margaret Court won an umbrella for winning the Australian Open in 1960. When Serena Williams won last year, she pocketed $2.1 million.
JUST A SLIGHT EXAGGERATION: Roger Federer said Andy Murray would “like to win the first [major] for British tennis in…like, 150,000 years”…Martina Navratilova said AO semifinalists Li Na and Zheng Jie “had a billion Chinese on the edge of their seats”… Justin Gimelstob said John Isner had a big advantage “by being 42 feet tall.”
CHANGING TIMES: Once it was just assumed that top tennis rivals would fiercely snarl at each other. But Rafa and Roger are different. As they were trying to film a promotional announcement for their charity exos, they broke down 11 times in howls of laughter.
KEEP THOSE HEAVY SHOES ON IN GERMANY: A few years ago, a barefooted Mardy Fish suffered a serious injury when he tried to kick a field goal in Germany. And last year, Serena suffered a wretched injury when, in her sandals, she stepped on some glass in a Munich bar.
JUST WONDERING: Who will be the next great American player?… Has the slide in American tennis bottomed out, or is more pain in store?…Will James Blake ever break back into the top 40?…Will Maria Sharapova ever be an imposing force again?…Will Rafael Nadal’s knees hold out?…Who will be the next teen to win a Slam?…Has there ever been (as Neil Harman asked) “a more contented champion [than Federer]?”
PAM THE TORPEDOS, FULL SPEED AHEAD: Pam Shriver, our favorite (bedecked in pearls) tennis broadcaster, got into a Wimbledon snit fit with Blake, who claimed her courtside commentary was too loud. “Amazing – you used to play tennis,” Blake yelled. “I can still hear you…[and] you have to be an ass about it, too? And act like I’m at fault?” In any case, “Our Pammie” offered many a pearl last year:
• “Watching Federer warm up is like doing yoga. I feel relaxed already.”
• “When we look back 50 years from now, the most surprising player to have reached No. 1 will be Jelena Jankovic.”
• During a U.S. Open women’s match in a windstorm she claimed, “You have to have a hair management strategy.”
• After noting that two Moscow tennis centers claimed Elena Dementieva had no future, Shriver said, “They must have only looked at her serve.”
APT (AND NOT-SO-APT) ANALYSES
• Craig Gabriel said Tomas Berdych “can be a giant killer or go off with the pixies.”
• Serena confided, “I love my name, but it has nothing to do with me. I am the most un-serene person in the world. I’m not peaceful. I’m not calm.”
• After beating Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open, Serb Janko Tipsarevic said the Texan “needs to change his game style a little bit…Go for it a little bit more, especially from his forehand…Being a little more aggressive…Definitely he needs to change something to win a Grand Slam.”
• Kamakshi Tandon said, “For Mardy Fish, making the most of what’s left of his career meant giving up french fries. For James Blake, it’s meant giving up some of his famous stubbornness.”
• Lindsay Davenport said Coco Vandeweghe “reminds me of myself. Very tall, very humble, very intelligent.”
GRIN AND GRUNT
• Greg Baum noted, “It’s remarkable how little players grunt in practice.”
• Venus Williams explained, “Monica Seles was my favorite player when I was 10. So I started grunting…I haven’t stopped. I blame Monica.”
• A University of Hawaii study concluded that loud grunts could have a negative effect on their opponents by distracting them and slowing their reaction times.
NICKNAMES: Justine Henin — “Little Allez”…John Isner — “Jisner”…Caroline Wozniacki – “Sunshine”…Robin Haase — “Schlob?ber…Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova — “APav.”
OBVIOUSLY: Patrick McEnroe noted, “Donald Young is still young”… John Inser, the heaviest player on the tour, observed, “I’m not the fastest guy out there”…Birthday boy Andy Roddick said, “I’m barely older than I was yesterday.”
DROP SHOTS: Roddick said, “My best shot is my between-the-legs topspin drop shot”…Jurgen Melzer said a drop shot is “like a virus; once you’re infected, it’s tough to get rid of”…Jarmila Groth, 23, apologized for making 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm run for a drop shot.
INITIAL OBSERVATION: Robby Ginepri said he was doing well in Paris because he has the same initials as Roland Garros. (Too bad nobody with the initials RG has ever won the French.)
SAY IT ISN’T SO: Jennifer Capriati was hospitalized after a reported accidental prescription drug overdose…At the Aussie Open, Victoria Azarenka called out, “Speak up!” to her courtside coach…The last teen girl to win a Slam was Maria Sharapova in ’06…Pete Sampras isn’t coaching juniors for the USTA because of money issues…A nasty fight broke out in the upper tier at the U.S. Open.
NEWS LEAK: An Australian Open ballboy couldn’t hold it, urinating on court and causing a 30-minute delay.
THE GIFT OF GIVING: The engaging Francesca Schiavone explained why she became far more expressive: “I wasn’t like this 10 years ago…I decided to express myself, to be free, to be able to share my joy. Why not? When you give, you also can receive. If you remain closed, there’s no exchange.” Not surprisingly, she explained why she kissed the clay at Roland Garros: “To kiss the ground for me is to thank this clay, this beautiful tournament and this arena. I call the arena to give me this opportunity and all the emotion that I am living.” As for her feelings at the peak instance of triumph, Schiavone told IT, “In that moment, you remember when you were young. It’s special because it’s your space, it’s your time, it’s your opportunity. I felt alone, but with all the love around. It’s like if I ask you, ‘How did you feel when you married?'”
GENDER BENDERS:
• Chris Bowers asked the obvious: “Is ‘no man’s land’ an appropriate term to use in women’s tennis?”
• John McEnroe caused a brouhaha when he said that it was asking too much for women to play the same rigorous schedule as the men. “You shouldn’t push them to play more than they’re capable of.” Mary Carillo responded, “I hate the idea that we have to judge women on a curve and say, ‘It’s too much for them.’ I’ve seen too many great women champions for too long.” Billie Jean King dismissed McEnroe’s comments as “rubbish.”
• Serena said, “Men are just stronger than ladies. It really is comparing apples to oranges. I would have to go to boot camp… for about two months – then I think I would have a good chance against someone who is way outside the top 100.”
• The London Times’ Simon Barnes contended, “Women are not athletically inferior to men. In most sports, women operate to…different standards…[But] in many ways women are physically superior. When it comes to extreme endurance, tolerance of pain, coping with extremes of temperature and sense of balance, women beat men every time. But most sporting events – being invented by men – are not tough enough to reach the point at which female superiority kicks in.”
LIKE DEBATING A MIME: After noting the basic unfairness of players ranting at linespersons, Jon Wertheim said the one-sided process was “like debating with a mime.”
DON’T BET ON IT: Ted Forstmann, the wealthy head of the marketing giant IMG, admitted that in ’07, after speaking to Federer, he bet $40,000 on his Swiss client to win the French Open over Nadal, also an IMG client. Forstmann said, “Can you imagine that, I bet a few bucks on sports?”
OF SOCKS AND SEX: Americans Andrea Collarini and Jack Sock won the French and U.S. Open Junior titles…Bethanie Mattek-Sands has a sock endorsement contract…Chris Bowers shared the following French Open weather report: “Bright skies will cohabitate with clouds without consequence at Roland Garros”…When asked about the arrival of shade in the fifth set of a steamy U.S. Open match, Novak Djokovic said, “It felt like sleeping with my girlfriend.” Later, when asked if he could hit the tweener a la Federer, he said, “I have something else between my legs. Don’t worry, I won’t show you guys.”… Ex-Wimbledon Junior champ Laura Robson, 16, apologized for saying that some of the women on tour are “sluts” who “make a bad name for themselves by going out with different guys.”
OUR FAVORITE LITTLE ENIGMA: According to Mary Carillo, when Henin left the game in ’08, “she took much of the sport’s art with her.” Then again, Henin had been stuck in a problematic place. The Belgian admitted, “In the past, my gasoline has always come from something negative.” So she left tennis, contending, “I don’t need the adrenalin of competition to be happy.” But it didn’t last. She soon confided, “I would look in the mirror and the woman I saw was so lost. I felt so empty.” When she did come back from her 20-month retirement, she gushed, “It was a great feeling just to take the racket and say, ‘Okay, I can be in love again with my passion.” Then she conceded the obvious: “My fans suffer a lot because nothing is ever simple with me…Crazy things happen. But that’s also what I like about tennis – nothing is ever over one way or another.”
LINDSAY, KIM & THE CURIOUS NUANCES OF PARENTHOOD
• In ’09, fans delighted in the sheer joy and glee of Kim Clijsters’ delightfully innocent daughter, Jada, who, after her mom won the U.S. Open, playfully gazed at her image on the huge overhead screen. But last year was different. Now aware of her role in the media, Jada was far more cautionary as her mom once again hoisted the trophy. When Kim attempted to replicate last year’s blissful photo op, Jada froze. Then, as Kim moved in for a cuddly moment, Jada retreated. When her mom sat her down courtside, the cameras approached and, incredibly Jada said, “No photo, no photo.”
• Asked which is more difficult, playing in a Grand Slam final or being a mom, Lindsay Davenport said, “At least in a Grand Slam final, you know there’s an end in sight.” Of parenthood, Lindsay Davenport confided, “Some days you just want to pull your hair out. My son was just having the biggest tantrum I’ve ever seen. I’m like, Oh, my God.’ He just turned three. He’s also known as Buzz Lightyear. [He] wears his costume daily. If you see a little Buzz around, it’s him.”
TAKING ‘DA GLOW OUT OF ANGLO: For the first time ever, there wasn’t an Englishman in the Wimbledon draw. Still, the head of the LTA said, “British tennis is really healthy, vibrant and growing.”… Not only did the U.S. briefly not have a player in the men’s top 10, the last two years were the only ones of the Open Era when no American men reached the U.S. Open quarters; 2010 was the first year since 1925 that the U.S. didn’t place a man in at least two Grand Slam quarters; and American men are mired in their longest Slam slump of the Open Era. (The last American guy to win a Slam was Roddick in ’03.)…In ’71, when Evonne Goolagong and John Newcombe won Wimbledon, there were a combined 46 Aussie men and women in the draw. Last year, there were just nine.
REAL ROYAL: It was quite the year for royals and tennis. Federer greeted Prince William at the Aussie Open, saying, “Your Royal Highness, welcome to the world of tennis.” When Prince William told Serena that he liked her older sister, Venus, Serena quipped that she liked his younger brother, Harry. Denmark’s Prince Frederik revealed that he helped fund Caroline Wozniacki’s career. Spain’s Queen Sofia presented Rafa with his trophy in Madrid. And Queen Elizabeth came to Wimbledon for the first time in 33 years. While Serena fretted about her curtsey gone wrong, Roddick claimed that the Queen “said she loved me in the American Pie movies,” and Federer suggested that the Queen told him that he “should hit more backhands down the line.” Naturally, royal watchers had a field day too. The Independent’s Amy Jenkins claimed that when the queen visited, “the feeling in the air was one of absolute devotion. We may as well have been wearing animal skins while making obeisance at sunrise to some kind of stone goddess… The queen is a Freudian archetype – a feminine ruler who may not technically govern, but who is nonetheless deeply embedded in our national psyche. Jan Moir claimed, “The Queen and I have a lot in common…She lives with a grumpy old moaner who’s always putting his foot in it; I’ve got one of those at home, too. She likes lots of horses and has her face on a stamp. I’ve got lots of stamps and a face like a horse.”
NOT-SO-REAL ROYALS: Martina Navratilova said that if the much-anticipated Federer-Murray Aussie Open final did not live up to the hype, then “I’m the Queen of Sheeba.” (Sadly, the match was a dud.)
YOU SAY DREARY, I SAY INCREASINGLY CHEERY: Karen Crouse said Robin Soderling’s on-court demeanor “suggests a man digging himself out of a Scandinavian winter.” But Nadal offered a far sunnier view: “He improve his level of kind of person, no? I think he improve his personality the last year… I think he say more times hello to the rest of the — yeah, I am speaking serious. I am speaking in the positive way, not in a negative way.”
BRAND AWARENESS: Jon Wertheim suggested, “For a few years now, Nadal’s team has talked about ‘evolving the brand’ and presenting their man as a modest adult. (To me, that’s like presenting Lady GaGa as the embodiment of class.) In Nadal’s case, this means sleeves and more subdued colors and the like…[But] he comes off looking like a teenager whose parents have forced him to go back to his room to change into something more appropriate. And practice his piano and put away his skateboard while he’s at it.”
THE ILLUSION OF NUDITY: The fashion universe orbited around Venus and her stunning outfit of black lace, red trim and revealing skin tones — a kind of Gussy Moran is off to the Moulin Rouge happening. Venus said the revealing dress was “about nudity and illusion.” One fan said the outfit “was good for my imagination, but it didn’t require much.”
THE RINGS OF SATURN: According to S.L. Price, when the folicly challenged Ivan Ljubicic dons a headband, it looks like the rings of Saturn.
TMI: A recent headline informed us “Halep’s Breast Reduction Helps Her Tennis Career.”
LIFE’S LITTLE MYSTERIES: Lindsay Davenport said that the fact that Justine Henin’s coach, Carlos Rodriquez, doesn’t get cited for illegal coaching is “one of those little mysteries.” Davenport added that the coaching is obvious and that Henin “receives [illegal] signals pretty much for every point.”
THE VIEW FROM THE SONIC WOMB: The Daily Mail observed that certain WImbledon matches are “hallucinogenically vivid”?and have “a way of rising up and enveloping you, like some strange momentary sonic womb.”
THE SAGA OF 70-68: In one of the most memorable (though not that important) matches in history, John Isner battled unheralded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut for a record 183 games, lasting 11 hours and five minutes over three days. After a record combined 215 aces, Isner prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. Ironically, before the match, Isner’s coach told him, “You’ll be able to play for 10 hours.” Now and forever, anytime a match starts to go long, people will think “70-68.”
HE AIN’T HEAVY: After their classic marathon, both Isner and Mahut had weighty thoughts. The Frenchman, who served 65 times to save the match said, “We played the greatest game in tennis in the greatest place in tennis.” Isner added, “To share this day with him was an honor. He was an absolute warrior.” Of course, the certifiably insane encounter drew comment. Seth Myers said, “No one has spent that much time on grass since Cheech and Chong.” Then the ESPYS host added, “By the time the match ended, the ballboys were ballmen.” While delivering David Letterman’s Top 10 list, Isner asked, “Remember when I said I was exhausted? That was eight hours ago.” He then claimed that during the match he thought, “I’m going to lay back until 51-50, then make my move.”
OF GOD AND GLORY: Tsvetana Pironkova said, “Wimbledon is like a religion”…An Arab commentator proclaimed, “If Allah allows, and I’m sure he does, I’m changing my religion to Federerism”… Asked whether he believes in God, Rafa replied, “It’s hard to say, ‘I don’t believe in God.’ I would love to know if God exists. But it’s very difficult for me to believe…If God exists, he’s intelligent enough to [do] the important things, the right things.”
THE CRYING GAME: After losing the Aussie Open to Federer, a weepy Andy Murray said, “I can cry like Roger. It’s just a shame I can’t play like him”…Federer confided that, as a 14- or 15-year-old boy, he cried after he lost a practice set to Emmanuela Zardo, a Swedish woman ranked in the top 50…After Spain won the World Cup, Nadal confided, “I cried like a little boy.”
HOW SELFISH CAN YOU GET?: John McEnroe said Roger and Rafa, who have won 21 of the last 23 Slams, were “nasty, stingy people. They are not sharing a lot of majors”…Jim Courier told Nadal, “You hit with more topspin than anybody. Why do you need more? You’re so selfish”…Henin told Doug Robson, “It shocked me to see real life and how selfish and focused people are…It’s the way the world is going.”
HOW BORING CAN YOU GET?: When, in a courtside interview, Courier asked Murray to reveal something personal about himself, the Scot was at a loss and confided, “This right here proves how boring I am.”
LEGAL BLOTTTER: A slew of Sampras’ trophies were stolen from an L.A. storage unit…Nadal’s $525,000 watch was either lost or stolen in the Toronto locker room…Lleyton Hewitt tried to gain trademark rights for “C’mon!” the phrase he continually shouts…Anna Kournikova’s mother was booked for child neglect after she left her five-year-old son alone in her mansion. (The child – Anna’s half-brother – survived a fall out of a second-story window.)… Brit Robert Dee, who The Daily Telegraph said was the “world’s worst tennis pro,” lost his libel action against the paper…Wayne Odesnik pleaded guilty to importing HGH into Australia… A recently released prisoner tried to toss two tennis balls filled with marijuana into a New Zealand prison…A prisoner bribed his way out of one of Indonesia’s most secure prisons to see the WTA tournament in Bali.
STOP THE PRETENDING?: Christophe Rochus claims that widespread doping exists on the tours. “There’s a lot of cheating. Simply, people don’t like to talk about it. I simply would like to stop the pretending. This hypocrisy is exasperating.”
SOCIAL REGISTER
ENGAGED: Masha and Sasha (that would be Maria Sharapova and New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic).
MARRIED: Bob Bryan and Michelle Alvarez…Martina Hingis and French equestrian Thibault Hutin…Indian Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricket star Shoaib Mali… Czechs Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova.
DIVORCED: Chris Evert and Greg Norman.
NEW PARENTS: Taylor Dent, Gilles Simon and Lleyton Hewitt, who, BTW, charged fans $2 apiece for access to a website to find out the name of his newborn (Ava Sidney).
FAREWELL: Mary Carillo on ESPN, Elena Dementieva, Carlos Moya, Taylor Dent, Ai Sugiyama, Guillermo Canas, Sebastien Grosjean, Dominik Hrbaty, Nicolas Kiefer, Paradorn Srichaphan, Shenay Perry, men’s tennis in New Haven and the Dusseldorf World Team Cup.
MIA: Juan Martin del Potro.
PSYCH JOB OF THE YEAR: Before his Aussie Open final against Murray, Federer went on the psychic offensive, saying Murray’s “in his second Grand Slam final now. The first one’s always a bit tougher than the second. But now that he didn’t win the first one, I think, doesn’t help…Plus he’s playing, you know, me, who’s won many Grand Slams…[I’ve] been able to win here three times, so I know what it takes and how to do it, which is definitely an advantage.”
THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF ANDREW RODDICK?: On court, Andy Roddick had an up and down year. Off court, there were some humbling happenings. His wife, swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, won their bet on who would be the first to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and Andy confided she scored higher in an IQ test they both took. Plus, as a kid, NFLer Drew Brees and (even worse) Serena Williams beat young Andy on court and his high school teammate, Mardy Fish, gave him headaches in hoops.
TRENDING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION: From Federer and Roddick to the Williamses and Sharapova, many of the top players refused to play the Fed or Davis Cups. Notable exceptions were Francesca Schiavone and Novak Djokovic. BTW: The Davis Cup’s numerous problems led an Aussie promoter to call for an alternative, a biennial World Cup of 32 nations that would play for 10 days.
REALITY IS IN THE ‘HAWK-EYE’ OF THE BEHOLDER: After an absurd disallowed World Cup goal, Federer told IT that tennis has “electronic line-calling even though we don’t need it. We all know we don’t, but we do have it. Soccer should have it.”
NEAT COMMENTARY: During a Tennis Channel review of the contents of her bag, Sania Mirza apologetically said, “Sorry if it is untidy.”
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF CHRIS EVERT: Asked about her earliest memories of Martina Navratilova, Chris said, “I remember she was fat. She was very emotional…whining if she didn’t feel she was playing well. But I remember thinking, if she loses weight, we’re all in trouble.” Said Navratilova, “My goal was for her to remember my name”…On her first encounter with Andy Mill, which was at Navratilova’s Aspen home, Evert said, “He was so cute. He woke up and said, ‘I can’t believe I slept with Chris Evert in Martina Navratilova’s bedroom!'”
TENNIS — JUST ONE OF MANY GAMES:
• Writer Jerry Magee claimed, “Tennis is nothing but boxing with a ball.”
• Jon Wertheim quipped, “The Fed Cup is not just what Roger wears when he plays hockey.”
• Justine Henin studied the throwing motion of NFL star QB Brett Favre to improve her serve.
• Dr. Angel Cotorro, a Nadal fitness advisor, said Rafa “mixes the explosive pace of a 200-meter runner with the resistance of a marathon runner.”
• John McEnroe criticized Blake’s lack of variety, saying, “He’s like a guy who throws a 98-mph fastball. There are days when he’s unhittable…but to consistently do that over seven matches in a major is quite difficult.”
AND NOW FOR A BRIEF CALENDAR UPDATE: SI.com claimed, “The calendar in tennis is a decades-old Sphyxian riddle.”…During one long break between points, Pam Shriver noted that the chair ump was glancing down [but] I’m not sure if it’s at a stop watch or a calendar.”
I’M NO. 2: Vera Zvonereva finished second at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, in the Wimbledon doubles and in the year-end rankings.
THE DUOPOLY DOMINATES: Fed and Nadal won all four Slams in 2010…For the third year in a row, either Roger or Rafa won both the French and Wimbledon. The last player to do that was Bjorn Borg in ’80…Rafa has a 14-8 record against Roger, the best player of all time.
STAT STUFF: Dick Enberg noted that, unlike other sports, “it’s hard to find numbers that appreciate defense in tennis” …Pam Shriver said there should be a stat for “the percentage that players convert when they serve for the match, like a closer in baseball”…Agassi’s autobiography, Open, has sold more than 600,000 copies…When Federer upset Sampras at Wimbledon in ’01, there were 254 serve-and-volley points. In the ’09 final, Federer and Roddick hit 11 serve-and-volley points. When Nadal beat Tomas Berdych in the ’10 final, they never served and volleyed…Esther Vergeer has won 103 straight wheelchair tennis tournaments.
A RECORD THAT WILL NEVER BE BROKEN: John Isner smacked a record 113 aces in his first-round marathon, then none in his second-round loss — a differential that most likely will never be matched.
BRYAN BYTES: The Bryan Bros. admitted that, when it comes to forging their individuation, they still have “a lot of work to do.” They added, “If you put us together, we’re one really good…complete player.”
THINGS THAT (DON’T) GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT: Liezel Huber said her doubles partner, Bob Bryan, “wants to chest bump, chest bump, chest bump. I’m like, ‘No! Do it with your girlfriend! Don’t chest bump me!'”
FAME IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING (NOT): Melanie Oudin told IT the tale of an evening at a local cineplex: “I’m in the bathroom and there’s like this whole group of little girls,” she recalled. “And they knew it was me. My little sister is, like, trying to pretend that she doesn’t know me and I’m not who they think I am. So they all come into the bathroom and wait for me to get out. And then they go out, they’re, like, ‘Yeah, there’s a bunch of boys outside waiting for you.’ So I go outside, and I’m bombarded by little 12- and 13-year-old girls and boys. They just couldn’t believe it was me. They’re like, ‘You live here?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I live really close.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, my Gosh. I can’t believe you live here.’ It was pretty creepy.”
MAKE UP YOUR MIND: Sports Illustrated’s U.S. Open headline read: “The Slam From Hell.” SI.Com’s headline read: “A Satisfying Open.”
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST: The new $38.4 million, 10,500-seat home of the Italian Open was described as “the premier tennis stadium in the world.”… The U.S. Open’s Ashe Stadium is too big for a reasonably priced roof… The overcrowded French Open negotiated an agreement to expand and will not move to the burbs.
A SOUL-DEADENING PROSPECT: Asked about the possibility of moving the French Open to the suburbs, Federer wondered: “What about the soul of Roland Garros? This is what we might miss. So let’s think twice before we act.”
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: Nadal and Clijsters.
SHOT OF THE YEAR: Pick ’em: Roger Fededer unleashes a back-to-the-net/between-the-legs U.S. Open winner; or Fernando Verdasco closes out his five-set comeback against David Ferrer at the U.S. Open with a 12-step sprint which he tops off with an around-the-net-post forehand while falling to the court in victory.
BEST COMEBACK PLAYERS: Mardy Fish and Kimiko Date-Krumm.
BEST UPSETS: Tsvetana Pironkova, a 150-1 longshot, stunned five-time champ Venus Williams at Wimbledon… In Marbella, Spain’s Beatriz Garcia Vidagany, ranked No. 258, shocked Clijsters…Robin Soderling, who had lost 12 straight times to Federer, broke the Swiss’ run of 23 consecutive appearances in Slam semis in the Roland Garros quarters.
THERE’S ALWAYS A SILVER LINING: After Federer’s run of 23 straight semis was broken, he said, “I still have the quarterfinal record going.”
FAMILY FEUDS: Belgium’s Henin vs. Clijsters spat may be in remission, but the camps of Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic went at each other with zeal. Jankovic’s mom was livid after photos appeared of Ivanovic sipping coffee with her boyfriend at a resort while her daughter was soldiering on with Fed Cup duties. In Madrid, Jelena mocked Ivanovic’s trademark fist pump gesture. All the while France’s Marion Bartoli bristled over all the media attention her fellow Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai was getting. Rezai responded, saying, “Marion is a difficult girl. She already attacked me two years ago… If she has a problem with me, I don’t know [why] because I did nothing… But that’s her education.” Finally, Liezel Huber went ballistic on her former partner Cara Black, telling her, “You’re not good enough to play with me anymore.”
CAR TALK: Mary Carillo said the diminutive Slovakian Dominka Cibulkova “was a hood ornament of a kid.”
THE NUMBERS
0: Amount Toni Nadal is paid to coach his nephew, Rafa.
28.5: Average age of the women who won Slams this year.
GAEL FORCE COMPLAINT: A the U.S. Open, Frenchman Gael Monfils was warned for smashing his racket, but he insisted he merely tossed it and it was not damaged. As SI.com reported, the French man pleaded his case to the ump saying, “Zees racket ees perfectly fine. Zere ees nozing wrong with zees racket. I cahn play weeth thees no problem. Show me where eet ees broken!”
FUZZY INSIGHT: Reflecting on the very basic nature of tennis, Sharapova said, “If you really think about it, it’s so dumb – you have a grip in your hand, strings in the racket, there’s a yellow fuzzy ball and you’re hitting it and you’ve been doing it since you were four years old — it’s ridiculous, it’s really dumb, but it’s what we do.”
QUOTE OF THE YEAR: When Jose Higueras, a top USTA Player Development coach, was asked whether he was a U.S. citizen, the former Spanish star replied, “No…[but] I love tennis and if somebody likes tennis, then more than likely, I like him or her also…It doesn’t matter what language they speak.”
TOP 10 STORIES
1. Rafa Reigns: Nadal finally wins the U.S. Open (his third Slam of the year) and becomes the youngest ever to claim the career Grand Slam. (NEWSFLASH: The GOAT debate just got a bit spicier.)
2. Marathon Men: The Isner-Mahut Wimbledon marathon is a wonder like no other. 70-68 in the fifth – puh-leez!
3. From Grass to Glass – a Cut Above, a Cut Below: Serena cuts to the chase and wins the Aussie and Wimbledon, but is suddenly sidelined by a freak accident.
4. Bold and Beautiful: An expressive Francesca Schiavone comes out of nowhere to kiss the clay in Paris.
5. Sweet and Sour Fed: Roger collects his record 16th Slam in Melbourne, then falters and sees his record streak halted.
6. A Duo Like No Other: The semi-sublime (“Which one’s Bob?” “Who’s Mike?”) Bryan Bros. shatter the record book.
7. First Serb: Serbia, the small, sports-crazy Balkan nation of 7 million, wins its first-ever Davis Cup. Some call it the best moment in the history of the land.
8. Women Adrift?: Yes, WTA Player of the Year Clijsters again won the U.S. Open, but Serena, Venus and Henin were often sidelined. Former No. 1s Sharapova, Jankovic, Ivanovic and Safina failed to grab the Holy Grail. Plus, no gleeful teen emerged to astound us.
9. Justine Time: Well, at least, after 20 months of retirement, Henin did reemerge as a force and reached the Aussie final.
10. Indo-Pak Express: All we are saying is give peace (and cross-border backhands) a chance.
ANIMAL FARM
• When Serena was asked if she felt she had any responsibility to represent her country in Fed Cup, she said, “My only responsibility is my two dogs.”
• After rumors suggested that the French Open might move to Euro Disney outside Paris, a reporter asked Federer if he was “ready to play against Mickey Mouse.”
• After a linesman dodged a fierce Nadal serve, the BBC’s David Mercer quipped, “Well ducked.” Mercer then got into trouble when he said England’s beloved teen Laura Robson needed to get rid of her “puppy fat.”
• After Yen-Hsun Lu beat Roddick at Wimbledon, he told tales of working through the night at his dad’s poulty farm, and bragged that he could catch chickens.
• Just before a couple of pigeons almost landed on Justine Henin’s head, Cliff Drysdale said, “She’s a sparrow of a girl, but she’s got a heart of a lion.”
QUOTEBOOK
• “If you play like you’re broke and hungry, you’ll never be either.” — Mardy Fish’s dad’s advice to his son
• “I tip very well. “[Tipping $1], that’s not the norm.” — Pete Sampras
l “[The women’s tour] is like a big summer camp traveling around the world.” — Anna Kournikova
• “I’ve totally moved on. One moment doesn’t make a person’s career. It’s all about the moments you put together.” — Serena on the U.S. Open incident in which she verbally accosted a lineswoman
• “We got a genius over in Row C.” — John McEnroe on a less than supportive World Team Tennis fan
• “He has a quiet cockiness.” — Brad Gilbert on Federer
• “I know I am totally drunk, but I need an ANSWER FROM ALL OF YOU PEOPLE WHO ARE FOLLOWING ME ON THIS SOCIAL NETWORK. Who is the world champeon?” — Janko Tipsarevic’s Twitter after Serbia won the Davis Cup
• “The standards of discipline practiced by tennis officialdom are so lamentably weak they make the no-spank parents of the lentil-belt suburbs seem downright draconian.” — Richard Hinds
• “I had so many ways I could have got out. I had so many excuses I could have made that it would have been easy to walk away. I could have said that no one else in tennis has ever come back from a serious rotator-cuff injury…I could have said I’d made enough money to last me the rest of my life.” — Maria Sharapova
• “I’m playing with such predictable inconsistency.” — Fernando Gonzalez
• “Fame is not something I would wish upon anyone.” — Andy Murray
• “I appreciate the unity of body and mind in tennis.” — China’s Li Na
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Greg Garber joked, “The state of Nadal’s tender knees has been discussed with a zeal approaching the national healthcare debate.”…A reporter asked Sam Querrey whether there should “be affirmative action for Americans?”…Tom Tebbutt asserted that Ernests Gulbis (who frequently smashes his frames) should pay a “carbon tax” every time he destroys a racket…Asked by students which White House facility the First Family enjoys most, Michelle Obama said, “Right now, we’re using the tennis court the most, because everybody is taking tennis lessons.” She added that her husband’s most annoying habit was that “he beats me quite often” in tennis… InsideTennis.com noted that Italy and Australia — the homelands of the two French Open finalists, had about as much of a connection as Sarah Palin and Dalmatians”…Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Tennis Group issued a report that contended, “Given the remarkable level of expenditure, in excess of $90 million annually, it should be possible to deliver better outcomes”…Reflecting on Shahar Peer being barred from playing in Dubai, Venus said, “The feeling inside of me was just one of almost rage and discontent”…Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, of the Indo-Pak Express, claimed, “The West and America, they have a very wrong perception about Muslim and Pakistan. We do have terrorist groups, we do have extremists. Like every religion, there are extremists. It doesn’t mean that the whole nation is terrorist Pakistan is a very peace-loving country. Everybody loves sports. Everybody wants peace…The only reason we’re actually getting so many terrorist attacks is because we are allies with America.”
HEADLINES
KIM MARS VENUS
MURRAY SNAKE-BRIT
WHY MURRAY IS A BRIT WHEN HE WINS AND A SCOT WHEN HE LOSES
AMERICAN IDLING (AFTER BLAKE AND ISNER BOTH LOST)
REIGN DELAY: RAFA, AT LAST, WINS U.S. OPEN
MARTINA HINGIS: WITH HER MARRIAGE WHO’S THE HOTTEST STAR LEFT?
GO FIGURE
A broadcaster accused Hawk-Eye of being a bad sport…Spaniard Nicolas Almagro played a five-set match at the AO with a broken wrist…Federer beat 119 consecutive players ranked outside the top 10 at Grand Slam events prior to losing to No. 13 Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon…When Serbia beat France, Niki Pilic (who had helped Germany and Croatia win Davis Cups) became the first person to help coach three different nations to the Davis Cup titles…The only time Federer has retired from a match was when he was 16…There’s one active Russian in the top 14 – No. 2 Vera Zvonereva.
OF NOTE
A record 35,681 fans watched Kim Clijsters beat Serena in Belgium…Martina Navratilova was diagnosed with breast cancer and then failed in a charity effort to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro…In Patrick McEnroe’s last match as the U.S. Davis Cup captain, Mardy Fish scored three wins in the Colombian mountains to keep the U.S. in the World Group…Jim Courier is the new U.S. Davis Cup captain…The Bryan Bros. broke The Woodies’ all-time wins mark of 61 and finished No. 1 for a record sixth time. (They were 11-0 in finals.)…Serena and Venus won the Aussie and French titles to complete the career Williams Slam in doubles… En route to titles at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, the newly formed duo of Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova upset eight seeded teams…Tomas Muster, 43, returned to the ATP for the first time in 11 years…Shahar Peer led 10,000 marchers in the Holocaust Remembrance Day march in Poland.
