FEDERER AND THE ART OF NONCHALANCE
LIVING PROOF THAT MAN CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING: Federer hasn’t won an Olympic Gold singles medal.
THE TRACKS OF OUR TEARS: Justin Gimelstob said that the emotional Vera Zvonareva “has very aggressive tear ducts.” In contrast, Roger Federer said that after losing his Gold Medal Olympic match to Murray, “I didn’t need to kind of sit down and go in a dark room and cry over it … I understood rather quickly what happened.”
HALLELUJAH: Starting in 2015, the French Open and Wimbledon will be three (not two) weeks apart. But what impact will this have on the North American hard-court circuit?
THE NAKED TRUTH: John McEnroe went to some beach volleyball matches at the Olympics and said, “The energy there is crazy … They’ve got these people juiced up, they’ve got a DJ, they’ve got naked people, basically. We need a little of this in Wimbledon, perhaps.”
OF SHOES AND SOCKS: When asked to describe his bright red, white and blue Olympic shoes, Andy Roddick said, “Subtle.” … Aussie broadcaster Greg Willis confided, “I’m so scared of heights I don’t wear socks.”
THE MOST GRACEFUL SPORT IN THE WORLD: In the documentary movie “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” about the Chinese artist/dissident Ai Weiwei, he contends that, “There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.”
NOT EXACTLY FAN FRIENDLY: An ump told Atlanta fans not to fan themselves as players were about to serve
“FEELING LIKE YOU DON’T TOUCH THE FLOOR” – JO WILLIE TSONGA AND THE JOY OF TENNIS: Tsonga has an infectious smile and a glint in his eye. He plays without a coach, which he says gives him greater freedom. So how does he handle the stress of the tour? The Frenchman says, “I don’t have an approach to pressure … In my life I try to stay positive, to have a smile every time, to enjoy every moment I spend on this earth. I know there are a lot of people who suffer a lot … [but] I’m not suffering in any way. I’m healthy … I play tennis in beautiful places. My family is okay. I have everything to have, the smile every time. Even when I lose a set.” So what does he feel as he leaps in his singular post-match celebration? “It’s something special …You feel like you don’t touch the floor.”
THE LONELINESS OF A TENNIS PLAYER: When Urzula Radwanska left the court at the Bank of the West, Coco Vandeweghe called her mother out on court. When Tauna got there she asked, “How can I help?” Coco responded, “I don’t need anything. I just didn’t want to sit here by myself.”
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE: Serena Williams actually showing up for (and winning) Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic right after her Wimbledon triumph is all the more notable considering the spate of withdrawals this summer: think Nadal, Federer, Murray, Sharapova, Azarenka et al.
CARRYING THE FLAG: At the Olympics, it was more notable who wasn’t carrying their country’s flags at the Opening Ceremonies. Rafa Nadal was looking forward to having the honor, but he was sidelined with a knee injury. The nationalist said, “This is one of the saddest days of my career as one of my biggest ambitions, that of being Spain’s flag bearer … cannot be. You can imagine how difficult it was to take this decision.” Federer, who had twice carried the Swiss flag, declined. His friend Stan Wawrinka was chosen. Other flag carriers included the rather “Americanized” Russian Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic/Serbia, Marcus Baghdatis/Cyprus, Max Mirnyi/Cyprus, Agnie Radwanska/Poland, Stephanie Vogt/Liechtenstein, and Horia Tecau/Romania. Andy Murray carried the Olympic torch at Wimbledon.
FEDERER AND AND THE ART OF NONCHALANCE: We thought Roger was simply “cool.” He doesn’t run, he glides. He hardly seems to break a sweat. He flicks his considerable hair with a commanding ease. But to Justin Gimlestob, all this is an example of something called “sprezzatura,” which is the quality of having “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.” The Italian-based concept is sometimes defined as a “studied carelessness” or the ability to display “an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions … [or] the ability to disguise what one really feels behind a mask of apparent nonchalance.”
SAY IT ISN’T SO: The American flag fell to the ground during the gold medal ceremony for Serena … Venus and Serena, the most dominant dubs team since Navratilova and Shriver, were unseeded in the Olympic doubles … 14 tournaments this year are getting more ranking points then Olympics.
DON’T BOGART THAT PIZZA MY FRIEND: After commentator Andrew Catalon heard that Serena would rather win the doubles gold with Venus then the singles by herself, he said, “I don’t share pizza with my sister, but she’s sharing three gold medals with her sister.”
THE LOVE IN GUGA’S EYES: Three-time French Open champ Gustavo Kuerten, who was recently inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was a cool dude with a dreamy backhand. Mary Carillo noted that Kuerten never “lost any of his surfer-dudeosity … [He is] “a human slinky…his backswing starts in Kentucky and ends in Ohio.” Yevgeny Kafelnikov said that if you give Guga “freedom, he’s like Picasso.” The Brazilian is known for a great gesture. After avoiding a huge upset to American Michael Russell at the French Open, he drew a heart in the red clay and fell into it in ecstasy and relief.Yannick Noah noted that, “Guga has this look in his eyes. There’s love there. It’s almost religious. He’s not like, ‘I win, I’m the best.’ It’s not an ego trip. It’s ‘Oh my God, I won. I’m so happy for my people.”’At his induction ceremony, a choked up Kuerten said, “We almost had to sell the house, sell the car, sell the piano for me to travel. We knew we were on the right track … but we didn’t know where we were going.”
JUST WONDERING: What’s a more curious habit: Azarenka’s shrieking; Nadal obsessively arranging his water bottles; Marion Bartoli’s staccato leaping and shadow boxing or Sharapova’s (committee of one/behind the baseline) conferencing with herself?
JUST WHAT IS A VOWEL QUEUE?: After Andy Murray “sound-alike” Jonathan Marray won the Wimbledon doubles crown, the British comedy show Mock the Week suggested Murray was “in a vowel queue and won’t win until Merray, Mirray and Morray have their turn.”
OF CASTLES AND KASTLES: Former Aussie Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis and Karolina Sprem were wed in an ancient Croatian castle and she is now expecting … The Washington Kastles’ were down by six games to the New York Sportimes when Venus Williams beat Martina Hingis in the last set of their match. Then Venus beat her in the tiebreak and did it once again in the super tiebreak to give the Kastles a 21-20 win. The D.C. team has a record 30-match winning streak.
