LONDON — Roger Federer makes it seem so simple. It's not. For most people making it to the top in pro tennis is a long soul-deadening grind. Enter Alex Bogomolov Jr., 28. An authentic journeyman, he came to America from Russia as a boy and now trains in Florida. Long ago, he entered the world of junior tennis in the same era as young Andy Roddick and won the big junior championship at Kalamazoo. But once he ventured out onto the pro tour he encountered some serious setbacks.
He underwent wrist surgery. He spent his way to a $40,000 American Express debt (which he later cleared thanks to winnings from a Kennedy Foundation exhibition tournament in Long Island). He was briefly suspended due to the use of an inhaler he says he used for the asthma he had been enduring since he was 12.
“I was so bitter about it,” he told a small group of American reporters, contending that it was a matter of improper paperwork.
Bogomolov asserted he had been used as an example; that he lost a lot of money due to the suspension and two years later they legalized what he had done. Now he says, “I have made it easier for the guys [to deal] with the paperwork…But it was tough to take that, being the example.”
But his worst setback was the divorce he went through with Ashley Harkleroad, a former tour beauty who once posed for Playboy. He confided, “Everyone knew what was going on with her coach [Chuck Adams, who is now married to Harkleroad].”
As for his marriage to the Georgia native, Bogomolov said, “We rushed into it. For me, it was more of a prize sort of when I got married, because she was very popular with all our guys in the States. They dated her. Andy dated her, Robby [Ginepri] dated her, Mardy [Fish] dated her, everybody dated her. So…I was competitive in tennis, I was competitive in the personal life…That's just the way the juniors are. You can take a girl away from a guy and feel good about it.”
But all of this is in the past and now with wins over Donald Young and Juan Ignacio Chela, “Bogie” is into the third round where, he’ll play 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych. If he beats the Czech power player, he’ll reach Wimbledon's second week, a feat he characterized as “an impossible dream.”
NOT A FAN OF BANSHEE-SCREECHING: Stan Procter, a British tennis fan from Tadworh Surrey, wrote the Telegraph a letter saying, “This morning, a BBC commentator said that grunting and female banshee-screeching at Wimbledon could not be stopped, but the answer is simple: stop grunting or be banned from competing.”
HEADLINES
SELF-STYLED LADY GAGA FLOUNCES OFF AFTER UNFASHIONABLE DEFEAT
THE GRUNT GALS OF WIMBLEDON ARE TURNING US OFF TO LADIES TENNIS
MCENROE OUTS HIMSELF AS A CRICKET FAN
SHOWING VULNERABILITY WILL ENDEAR SERENA TO PUBLIC
GRAND OLD LADY OF TENNIS GIVES VENUS RUNAROUND
NADAL WINS UNDER ROOF AND UNDER THE RADAR
CRUEL INJURY ROBS WATSON OF VICTORY
SWISS DELIVERY IS THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS
GO FIGURE: Thirty-seven players in the Wimbledon women’s draw weren't born when Kimiko Date-Krumm first played Wimbledon…Rafael Nadal is 16-2 against Americans at Slams (he lost to Roddick and James Blake at the '04 and '05 U.S. Opens).
SURVIVAL: At the French Open, the only American woman to reach the third round was Bethanie Mattek-Sands. At Wimbledon, the only Americans left are Venus and Serena Williams.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'RODGE' AND RAFA: Simon Barnes noted, “There is a difference between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that shows itself in the way they deal with opponents in the early rounds. Rodge makes 'em look stupid, but Rafa make 'em look pathetic. Rotten luck for the poor bugger at the other end, neither stupid nor pathetic, but that's the Rodge Effect, that's the Raf Effect. Federer bedazzles his poor bunnies with wit and style and art and guile: Nadal bashes them over the head with a shovel.”
SWEET MOMENTS: Sabine Lisicki in tears of joy after her Centre Court victory over No. 3 seed Li Na…After three hours, 35 minites, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finally beat young Grigor Dimitrov 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(8) and promptly hurdled the net and helped his fallen foe from the grass and gave the Bulgarian a heartfelt hug.
NO KIDDING: Reflecting on the stunning Venus vs. Date-Krum Centre Court thriller, James Lawton wrote, “Who said that women cannot play tennis — or at least not in that way that can make you feel as involved and as absorbed as if you are at ringside for a great feat of pugilism?”
SAY IT ISN'T SO: According to Rajeev Ram, a linesperson fell asleep for about half a minute during his Wimbledon doubles match.
OF BALISTIC BASELINE BELLES: The Telegraph’s Allison Pearson noted that Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha in Sex in the City, was at Wimbledon and added that every time Venus unleashed a groan, it “sounded remarkably similar to one of Samantha's more boisterous orgasms.” Pearson continued, claiming, “The ballistic baseline belles [of women's tennis] seem to come off a production line in some secret armaments factory in Eastern Europe.”
THAT'S JUST ABOUT RIGHT: One Twitter observer referred to Mattek-Sands (who's into tattoos and motorcycles and whose husband is a former football player who hunts) as a “Yankee Redneck.”
TOM WATSON, MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, GEORGE FOREMAN, GEORGE BLANDA, EVANDER HOLYFIELD, KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM: Athletes who've performed wonders after 40.
A BAD DAY FOR CHINESE TENNIS: It was the worst day in Chinese sports history since Yao Ming was injured in December. After all, there was supposed to have been an intriguing All-Chinese third-round confrontation between Li Na and Jie Zheng. But something happened on the way to the all-Asian happening. Jie lost to the little-known Japanese player Misaki Doi, who toppled Mattek-Sands in the opening round; and French Open champ Li Na, despite having two match points, dropped a 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 decision to Lisicki. The German, who suffered an ankle issue two years ago and was carted off-court at this year's French Open, had seen her ranking plummet to below 200. But she won the Birmingham warm-up a week before Wimbledon and got a wildcard into the big show in London. After her second round win on Centre Court, Lisicki said, “My emotions are over the moon.”
QUOTEBOOK
“I can make the semis or finals. I've done it before.” — Andy Roddick
