Seriously, who know's how much she'll end up giving? First of all we don't know how many aces she's going to hit. Secondly we have no idea if she will give more above the aces donation. Most likely this whole thing just occured to her today as it did for just about everyone who's decided to donate and she thought she'd do something linked to the Open. At first when I heard it I thought "Why make such a big show of it" but then in light of the recentness of the situation, I thought it was a nice idea that might catch fire with some of the other players. Maybe that's what was on her mind too? At any rate I thought it was a sincere gesture. She certainly could have done what McEnroe did and just donate a wad of money and be done with it. For all the criticisms - real or imagined - there have been about her, she doesn't strike me as the cheap type; and I'm sure if she was trying to be slick she could afford to make a big show of a $25-50,000 donation.

He could (and should) mix it in like Federer, but I'm sad to say the days of exclusive serve-and-volley players are over. Tim Henman has been the only one consistently in the top 10 since Sampras retired, but you see how hard it is for him. The racquet technology gives the returners too much power. If they know where the server is going to be every point, most of today's players can pass with ease. Scoville definitely needs to come in when he can though. Like JMac said, he's very good at half volleys.

Part of the reason Roddick isn't consistently successful at serving and volleying is that he serves a little too hard. Like Muller did last night, people can block it back before he can get into good volleying position. It'd be a lot more successful if he mixed it up a little more.

What the hell just happened?? Did USA just drop out before the end of the match or did I miss the final point? I stepped out of the room for a second and all of a sudden I'm watching Law and Order.


Haw!

Falafaclese: Very confusing but coverage switched to CBS at 12:30 a.m. And CBS finished the Nadal/Jenkins match live. Jenkins broke at 3-5 but Nadal came back at 5-4 and won it on his serve.

I liked the way Rafa wore his clothes. Sorry folks, I really did.

Looking forward to seeing James tomorrow night. I wish he had the dreads back but I love me some JB.

Rich Eisen, speaking of CBS, looks very stiff next to an animated PeeMac.

Same thing happened to me. I was paying attention to the computer for a minute and suddenly Law and Order is on the TV.

I think what happened is that CBS has exculusive rights to the 12:37-1:07 time period (which is when they do their highlights of the day show), so I guess when matches are over USA is not allowed to continue showing them in CBS' time period.

Falafaclese CBS late night showed the rest of the match. Nadal won 6-4 in the third in case you didn't know.

Well, Rusedski is a serve and volleyer. I certainly wouldn't call him a great athlete. I don't even think he is that great a volleyer, but he comes in after huge serves and is able to make most of his volleys. Roddick is a better athlete than he his but is not as comfortable and doesn't seem to have a good sense of when to come in and when to stay back. It is something he can work on though.



I think it would be very hard to change it, but it is possible. I think it might depend on the player whether or not they can change a stroke. Hingis was never able to change and improve her serve while Henin did. Clijsters shortened her the backswing on her backhand since her surgery. It does seem like the basic way you hit a stroke would be very hard to change mid career though. The backhand clearly needs to be worked on. Roddick knows it, let's hope he is able to do something about it.

Thanks guys, I just figured it out. I'm pissed I missed the end of the match though.

And yes, Eisen looks as stiff as a board.. He also looks like his suit is stuffed with tissue paper.

And finally, if I ever hear that stupid Maria Sharapova song I just heard I'm going to throw up. I hope to god that wasn't specially made for Us Open coverage.

Nice Gilles Muller Article in Wed NY TimesIt has quotes from a former coach about how incredibly much he's improved and how enormous the difference is between being a top junior and a top senior player.

Thanks for thinking of me! The umbrella was useless in the wind but my friend and I bonded with the crowd (a little more than we were comfortable with - you'll understand if you know how narrow the corridor outside is) but it was fine. The delay was pretty much exactly what the USTA said the weather service said it would be.

We got there a bit late but I'm not a Serena fan so that was OK. Rafa and Scoville were worth it and late rain leaves an involved and enthusiastic crowd.

Re: Serena's donation, my friend and I had the same reaction: just donate the stupid earrings.

I'm going back tomorrow and am having a tough time deciding where to go. I think Genepri/Muller will be good, as well as Haas/Schuettler (wunderbar!), Coria/Spadea, Soderling/Lopez, Guga/Robredo....I could go on and on.

Of course I'm haunted by the back page of Hoy! which I saw someone on the street reading with the full page Nalbandian picture. If only anyone sold today's paper at 1am. I think it said "un carrera" or something like that. Anyone know what that means?

A race.

Just diving into the shallow end of the pool and wallowing. I have to say as someone who has gone to a few tournaments and has seen a number of players- David Nalbandian is so much better looking in real life than he is on tv. Really- he is very, very and may I say very good looking in real life with gorgeous blue-green eyes. And he was really nice when I asked for an autograph. I was really taken aback about how nice and handsome he was up close.

Another player whose good looks don't convey that much on tv is Fernando Gonzalez. Those eyes....those lashes....oh my.

Hm, that doesn't make a lot of sense, he won in straight sets. Or maybe it would if I actually got a copy and saw the context. Thanks - I knew someone would help me out!


The funny thing is, I've seen him many times in person (playing) and on TV and I don't think he's especially good looking. What I love about him is his mental strength and his ability to go the distance. I first saw him play when everyone was behind his opponant, cheering and noisy, and it didn't seem to affect him one iota.

But I'm incredibly envious that you met him and psyched that he was that nice.

I suppose if I was wading in the shallow end of the pool I'd want Feliciano Lopez or Mardy Fish (yes, yes, I know) to be my pool boys.

Both are very hot in person but Felciciano is almost disconcertingly good looking in person - like model unreal good looking. It kind of makes you nervous to be around him. And he is kind of moody which adds to the nervousness.


As for Nalby, maybe I am alone in thinking that he is good looking in person but his eyes up close are beautiful (as are Kim's by the way). And he is so nice.

Hope you had fun tonight by the way!

As for my pool boys- it would be huge crew with the entire Spanish Armada (hottest tennis nation around), James, Mardy, Gaston, David, Arazi (I don't know why but there it is), Pim Pim, Pat and Mats and Groan coming from retirement, etc. Plus others- basically chock full.

Some interesting ideas about keys to Andy's shortcomings from Slate.com. I'm not sure they hold water.

Raggedy Andy

I'm not doubting Serena's sincerity at all. And she can give whatever amount she wants, that's her choice. But I still feel that it's not cool. That's what I have always felt about that kind of thing. Athletes seem to do it a lot, too. This amount more for every free throw made, eagle or hole-in-one, etc. It's pretty childish. Just give the money and don't make a game of it, for god's sake. YMMV. I don't buy the publicity advantage either. But hey, if it works, then good for her.

It is physically impossible to have a butt bigger than James Blake's!

That "Andy's Mojo" thing just makes me cackle with glee.

I'm sure it's different when you make a living playing games. I imagine it seems very natural.


Why? For instance, I doubt we'd know or hear as much about the "Summer of Aces" campaign if they had just given a large summer of money in June.

There's definitely some truth to Andy relying on his serve too much. I think that was mainly true years ago, but the lingering effects are still being seen now. Let's be honest—Roddick is rather ordinary if you can return his serve. As great as it is, it would be even more effective if he had the consistency and confidence to back it up like, say, Federer and Nadal. Once the rally is at neutral, I doubt Andy has much confidence in his ground game.

While I think Serena's "donation" is laughable, it's far better than Venus' take on the issue. When asked whether she had seen any of the hurricane damage during her presser yesterday, she said this:



Yes, I'm sure it's far better to be oblivious and live in your own little world.

That's a very silly attitude; however, I can empathize with her. I couldn't watch the news for a long time after a close friend committed suicide. I wonder if this might have come from dealing with her sister's death.

But what exactly is Venus supposed to say? I can kind of sympathize with her, because she's there to play tennis, and suddenly some tool is asking her what she thinks of the hurricane. I honestly think that no matter what she would have responded to that question, someone in the press would find a way to criticize it.

"I don't watch the news." - what a self centered little bizatch

"Oh, it's so terrible what happened to those people. I feel so bad and I hope they get the help they need." - selfish bizatch, you make so much money, why aren't you donating?!?!

"I feel so bad for them. I'm gonna donate $500,000 to the Red Cross." - selfish bizatch, she's just trying to promote herself

Sometimes I think the press really has it out for Venus and Serena. I'm just curious, did any other players get asked this type of question, and what was the response?

Well the men's match was entertaining last night. Scoville has improved quite a bit over last year- he really seems stronger. He does have great half volleys as well. Nadal seemed a bit distracted and unhappy out there, but he did what he needed to do. His father and sister were cute in the stands- they looked rather worried. I was annoyed with the crowd though when they were cheering first serve faults and when someone called a ball "out" in the middle of a rally. I feel a bit for Nadal because he will likely play Blake in the next round, and if he gets through that and makes it the quarters, then will have to likely play Agassi. So he will have to play four Americans and face really partisan crowds just to try to make it to the semis.

One thing that stinks about being in Central time (and Eastern as well I suppose) is that we didn't get to see the post-match interview. I always like those.


I have my Tivo set for today and I really hope that they show a good bit of the Mueller/Ginipri match even though it is not on Ashe. I think it could be a great contest. I think we will get a glimpse of Guga/Robredo since USA has been good at going to different courts. Alas, Lopez is playing on Court 4 where they don't have cameras so I think we will be denied the pretty.

One could have a field day with this release :
Serena serves up Hurricane Katrina relief effort...



They are the most popular U.S. players, so I think it is very valid to ask them about it. Also, with Serena strutting out with the "bling" on Monday, while this immense tragedy was happening, did not sit well with many people.

James Blake tonight, yay! If he wins I'm going to be so torn about the third round match-up. I love Blake but I also love Nadal. Blake has that heart-tugging comeback story going for him, but Nadal has all the pressure of the media saying he's the only one who can beat Federer.

Scoville Jenkins reminded me of Snoop Dog. However, he played really well last night and if I wasn't such a Nadal fangirl I would've rooted for him to win the match.

ITA that Rich Eisen looked uncomfortable last night. He was pretty bad - he kept fumbling his statements.

But there are people who are infinitly more wealthy and decadent in America than Serena Williams and she's being critisized for the way she chose to donate money to a tragedy. I don't understand that logic. Does she have some blinged out earings? Hell yeah. But she bought them with her own hard earned money. Like I want someone to get on Bill Gates yacht owning ass or Bush twins oil rich behinds. Maria Sharapova is rolling in comporable dough, no one has asked her if she'd like to donate money to Katrina, and she's extremely popular in America. Both Serena and Venus are tennis players and somehow they're also responsible for tasteful statements and donations about Katrina?

NoWayMan:
It's simply the timing of all of this. If the US Open was not happening, she would not be in the spotlight.
Serena and whoever gave the earrings made a big deal about their worth and it became this big media thing. It's simply was not the time to do that. It's has nothing to do with her earning money.
It's in bad taste to roll out expensive jewels and then say you're going to donate the whopping sum of $100 an ace. It's like after 9/11 or the tsunami where people go without in order to donate money in order to help.
As far as Venus goes, she sounded like a complete idiot.

Just wanted to say that I didn't event know this tennis thread existed until a few days ago, and I'm so happy that I found it. I know very few people who are into tennis, and even fewer who are as knowledgeable and amusing as y'all. I really appreciate your insight and humour. So thanks, you guys.

Did I see correctly last night? Was that the chair umpire who made all those bad calls during Serena's quarter-final match against Capriati last year? I heard the commentators say something about "being off for a year" or something, but I was in the other room and didn't hear clearly. I thought that Serena had stipulated that she never wanted that woman officiating another of her matches.

Castallack, for the last number of years, I've watched mainly women's tennis (I'd probably watch more men's tennis if Roger Federer were better looking, Lleyton Hewitt looked less like a serial killer, and James had been around more.). But your enthusiasm about the Jenkins/Nadal match was so infectious that I tuned in, and I'm so glad I did. What a great match! Just wish that the outcome had been different. I'll definitely be watching for Jenkins in the future.

It would only be equal opportunity ogling if it was Nadal's skin-tight SHORTS that you were talking about. (And those pants last night were hideous.)

I don't know whether Carillo has ever coached, but she does have, as others have pointed out, a real skill at analyzing players' weak spots and areas for improvement. But do you honestly think that any of the guys would actually hire a woman as a coach, even if it was Mary? (I know it's the 21st century and all, but...)

Count me among those who really miss James's dreads. I miss Agassi's hair as well (but probably not as much as he does).

I am listening to US Open radio at work at it sounds like Muller is playing like utter poo against Ginepri (tons of errors, etc.) I hate it when players totally decompress after a big win.

Speaking of US Open radio, their mispronouncinations of names are so bad they make the USA commentators seem like linguists.

Actually, I applaud Venus for just coming out and saying she doesn't watch the news. I think that's probably the smartest reply to these "What do you think about xxx?" questions.

I bet she probably does keep up with current events more than she lets on, but why get yourself branded as some kind of know-it-all athlete?

I don't know why reporters ask celebrities questions unrelated to their lives or what they're famous for, but celebrities who step into it consistently come in for criticism and ridicule. A "you know, that's not something I'm that knowledgeable about" (which is basically what the "I don't watch the news" dodge is) is probably their best bet, and a lot more appropriate IMO.

I don't tune in to the US Open to get updates on Hurricane Katrina. Why would I possibly care what any of the competitors think about the situation? I can watch the news and hear from people who are actually there for legitimate information and opinions.

Me too. Yay for Robby but I expected Muller to put up a better fight than this.

USA Today article about the AmEx/Andy situation. I loved this:

Hee hee.

That's part of it, but I think it's more like a return to the status quo. Despite that big win, Ginepri's the higher-ranked, better player. His speed and consistency are allowing him to wait for Muller's mistakes. When you play a high-risk game like Muller, things fall apart in a hurry when you aren't hitting the lines every shot. I didn't think it would be this easy, but I figured Ginepri was the clear favorite.

Those quotes from Muller are priceless. Oops, wrong card. Heh.

Yes, Muller is truly sucking. I can't believe this is the same guy that played so well the other night. It makes me wonder what kind of match we would see if Andy had won. I think Ginepri is playing really well and I don't think the current Andy could beat him the way he's (Ginepri) playing today.

I'm sorry I love Nadal, I do, but the fist pumping after every. single. point. is annoying. I dont think I'd mind it if it was just the pumping or the yelling, but the combination along with the jump-dance bugs.

And I cant get behind the outfit. Their capris. No matter what anyone says, and they a) give him a pantie line and b) make it look like hes got the biggest wedgie in the world or is wearing a g-string.

And the shirt would look fine on its own, but the capri-shirt combo just does not work.

That said I still love him. And Scoville Jenkins, who was great last night. And I love his family/coach/entourage. They were all so happy, especially his dad.

I have to agree with McEnroe- when I watch a Karlovic match you just want to fast foward to the tiebreak. Supposidly he is a really sweet guy (as one of my fellow tennis groupie friends who met him at a tournie can attest) and I feel for his shyness brought on about his self-consciousness about his stuttering. So I want to enjoy watching his matches, I do. But the ace, ace, ace no break, no break, no break matches can be about as entertaining to me at times as watching paint dry.

As far as Serena's $100/ace thing, that's the exact amount AMEX is donating for each ace on center court this tournament to develop children's tennis programs. Maybe that's where she got the idea. I thought it was a cheap amount for a corporation, but it's not so paltry for an individual.

And thanks WTA stat people, for my second biggest laugh of the night. The biggest was when Jonathan from Amazing Race overturned his soapbox racer. The second was when I saw Serena's stats:
Height 5'9" Weight 135
Even Ted Robinson asked when they were going to update those figures. Tracy diplomatically said something about Serena being closer to 5'10". I think there should be a scale wherever they receive their credentials, at least at the first tournament of the year. Otherwise all the weight category is good for is to know what their weight was when they joined the tour, no matter how long ago that was.

Andre not playing Davis Cup.

Doubles players holding press conference Friday morning

Radical change sparks outrage in doubles tennis.

If this happened in Russia, I'd agree with you. Despite living in America, she is Russian. The Williams sisters are American. These are their fellow citizens.

On a related topic, I'm sorry, but playing tennis in $40,000 earrings is austentatiously disgusting. She was spilling diamonds all over the court. That kind of conspicuous consumption wouldn't sit well with me at any time. After all, there is suffering going on somewhere every minute of every day. Wearing that kind of jewelry for a sporting event just doesn't sit right with me. Too a party? Fine. She earned her money just like every other overpaid athlete. It was the situation, not merely the cost that bothered me.

If they're going to be doing reality TV shows and trying to stay in the public eye for reasons unrelated to tennis, I don't have a problem with questions about the world around them. I'd rather hear that than questions about who they're dating. I also don't think consciously trying to appear uninformed or dumb is the best way to go.

I just can't agree that the media is somehow out to get these two. Does anyone else remember the first year Serena was at Wimbledon? When she was getting beaten by (I think) Virgina Ruana-Pascal and suddenly became "injured"? After the match, she totally ranked on Ruana-Pascal: she was only getting beat because of her "injury", Virginia would never do anything against her otherwise. Then, she talked about how if she'd been "able" to finish and meet Venus the next day, the Brits would have something to look forward to "for once". This was the night before the World Cup match between England and Argentina--a major rivalry for the Brits because of the legendary "hand of God" goal. The Brits didn't give a shit about a Williams sister match-up. Of course, later that day, her "injury" was gone and she wanted to play doubles. The WTA waxed that idea because she'd retired from a match the very same day. The only person who called her on it was Navratilova. Of course, the injury feigning by both of them has happened more than once since, especially when the sisters were set to face each other. The U.S. media gives them zero grief about this. The episode at the French open a couple of years back? Would have totally been Serena's fault if she hadn't been American--and she would not be allowed to forget it. Instead, I actually read articles talking about how unfair it was that she had to go the the press conference when she was still upset. Ask Martina Hingis about that. She got a bad call, too. She acted immaturely, too. She was also 2 years younger than poor little Serena. But she was a bitch who must never forget what she did; Serena was a poor, defenseless victim of those evil French "surrender monkeys".
I just don't see this as out to get them; I see it as kidgloves. Of course, when the crowd boos them for doing such things, Richard immediately calls racism and the girls stay mum. They're never asked why they don't dispute those racism charges that their dad is so fond of throwing around on their collective behalf. I think they get off far too easy.

On a more timely issue, I had to turn off the Karlovic-Agassi match. Ted Robinson actually said that the crowd "appreciated the effort of both players". This, I guess is "appreciation": Karlovic's errors and faults got as much applause as or more applause than his winners did; his winners were often met with groans accompanied by (and drowning out) a handful of people clapping politely. Just think how, say, a French crowd who was behaving that way would be treated by the commentators. The most I can say is that J-Mac did half-heartedly contradict his idiotic partner. It's one thing to ignore the bad form of an American crowd when crowds of other nationalities are skewered for similar kind of behavior. (I don't know how many times I've heard commentators say that applauding errors and faults is unacceptably bad form for a tennis crowd.) It's quite another to blatantly misrepresent them as being supportive of the non-American player when nothing could be further from the truth.

I think a question about their reality show or any other venture they're involved in would be appropriate, too. What I think is dumb is asking celebs questions about the issues of the day when they have no connection to them. Why would we think that Venus would (or should) have anything to contribute on the subject of Katrina?

If she were from the area, or had relatives there or something, I could maybe see that angle. But since she has no connection, I think she was wise not to offer up opinions on a subject she didn't know much about. I wish more players would use a little discretion in their interviews.

I can't see how they "get off far too easy" when you just accused Venus (and Serena) of faking injuries with nothing even resembling proof. I mean, of course they weren't actually injured or anything...


Are you talking about the match against Henin-Hardenne? I find it seriously hard to believe anyone can find fault with Serena on that one. Justine was clearly in the wrong, but for some reason the crowd jumped on Serena. Now that was an example of treating someone with kid gloves.


They are asked about their father's claims. They rightly respond that that's his opinion. I don't see why they should have to defend something their father says. It's not like anyone can prove it was or wasn't racism. He's certainly entitled to his opinion (as ridiculous as it may or may not be).


What's the difference? I think $40,000 for earring is utterly ridiculous no matter where you are. That's why I won't be buying any. :)

Discussion of the Richard Williams' race assertions/criticism of Venus and Serena almost always ends up being a back-and-forth of "he/she/they cry foul!" and "there's racism on the tour!"

I'll just say the two aren't mutually exclusive, y'all.

And re: Henin-Hardenne in '03, that's really nothing new. The French Open fans are notoriously fickle. Just ask Mary Pierce. HH was the underdog in that match, and the FO crowd tends to root vehemently against the favorite. Not always, but on a pretty consistent basis.

As far as Venus' response to the Katrina, I'm not buying it. It may be true, but I still think it's a case of foot-in-mouth. She didn't have to offer up a five-minute speech on the subject, but I'm sure she could've offered a more tactful, yet canned answer. I think that's one case where she should have given a PR response.

How old are Venus and Serena now? Twenty-three and 24 or 25? And they have been in the extreme media spotlight, asked all sorts of stupid questions since they were children. I just find it hard to believe that public figures of their age, with their intelligence and their degree of media exposure would know better or have the judgement to say something a little more politic than what Venus did. Or have better taste than to make Serena's no doubt well-intentioned gesture at the same time that she is wearing such outrageously expensive (and publicly proclaimed) jewelry. Like I wrote earlier: Marie Antoinette comes to mind.

I kind of feel sorry for them if they're genuinely that out of it, that clueless. But it's also kind of sad. And if they're not that out of it (and I just find it hard to believe that they could be that out of it), but just think they're cute by acting that way, that's ... well, it makes me kind of queasy.

I feel a similar sympathy/queeziness about Andy's Mojo AND Lexus ads. He put himself out there in kind of an ... unwise? ... egotistical? ... I''m not sure ... way, and, boy, it backfired, and ended up totally humiliating him. Now obviously he got caught up with huge, powerful companies, but at some point he said yay or nay, so free will was involved there too. A certain egotism underlay those ads: "Andy's such a great player we can confidently make fun of the idea that he could actually lose his mojo. What a ridiculous notion!" And for the Lexus ad: "Andy's trip to and through the Open will be so important and involving to us, that we'll all happily join in with these funny people he's driving with and their funny ideas, and how cool his funny responses are et cetera." All predicated on him doing well at the Open. Kind of an egotistical assumption.

I just kind of feel bad for all them that they left themselves open to some justified (and some unjustified) criticism and snarking.

Ugh, I'm not putting this well. I hope this makes some sort of sense.

Forgive me, I wanted to reply to this but I haven't figured out how to quote directly--

By chomskyite:

I just can't agree that the media is somehow out to get these two. Does anyone else remember the first year Serena was at Wimbledon? When she was getting beaten by (I think) Virgina Ruana-Pascal and suddenly became "injured"? After the match, she totally ranked on Ruana-Pascal: she was only getting beat because of her "injury", Virginia would never do anything against her otherwise. Then, she talked about how if she'd been "able" to finish and meet Venus the next day, the Brits would have something to look forward to "for once". This was the night before the World Cup match between England and Argentina--a major rivalry for the Brits because of the legendary "hand of God" goal. The Brits didn't give a shit about a Williams sister match-up. Of course, later that day, her "injury" was gone and she wanted to play doubles. The WTA waxed that idea because she'd retired from a match the very same day. The only person who called her on it was Navratilova.

I think this is rather unfair. I don't remember this incident but I guess I'll take your word that it happened. How old was Serena at her first Wimbledon, 15?? I am grateful that no one was around me with a camera or a microphone catching all the idiot, boneheaded things I had to say at that age. I don't think people should be judged by their words/actions as a child. Can you come up with anything she has said in the last few years that is this inflammatory? From what I have observed she seems to have matured into a gracious young adult/woman and is often complimentary of her opponents. Does that mean she is immune to the occasional moment of cockiness? No, but show me a top athlete who is. Hingis in her heyday had far nastier things to say about her fellow players (including calling Amelie Mauresmo "half a man"). I'm not going to say that the media is out to get the Williamses, but c'mon, open your eyes -- I would say its hard to dispute that what they say, wear, do, and how they live their lives is held up to harsher scrutiny than any of the other players. They just can't catch a break.



From chomskyite:

Instead, I actually read articles talking about how unfair it was that she had to go the the press conference when she was still upset. Ask Martina Hingis about that. She got a bad call, too. She acted immaturely, too. She was also 2 years younger than poor little Serena.

Umm, no, Hingis is a year older than Serena. Both have birthdays this month -- Serena will be 24 and Hingis 25.

And they don't need walkers to get around the court?!? Holy cow!

Seriously, when I was 25, I had been out of college for two years with a PR degree and I shudder to think how I would've handled some of the situations these youngsters are in. They don't get media training, and they are required to do press after the matches. They have to learn by trial and error, and 50% of that formula is "error." So I don't see not engaging on a current events topic unrelated to tennis is the worst durn thing I've seen.

As CurlyWhirly pointed out, Hingis routinely said really negative and dismissive things about her opponents. Compare that to Venus at Wimbledon last year. The press did everything they could to goad her into saying she wuz robbed against Krem and she steadfastly refused, going so far as to admit that she lost track of the score and should've been on that.

I also don't see the comparison between the Hingis Australian Open thing and the Henin-Hardenne/Williams French Open incident. Hingis was upset with a call, lost it and behaved inappropriately. She may have been upset, but bad calls happen.

HH signalled to hold up play while Williams was in mid-serve and then took the fault with the explanation that it's the chair umpire's job to handle the situation. Um, no. You stopped play. Own up to it. Serena was justifiably upset, but in the interview I saw admitted that that one point wasn't why she lost the match. Still, it was shitty on Justine's part. Even Clijsters, one of the nicest women on the tour, said something along the lines of "That's just Justine" or words to that effect. I cannot recall one single person that agreed that HH was in the right on that one.

What are you saying? Serena's not 135, You're kidding. I'm not sure if Serena's ever been that light. Even when she first joined the tour. She's always been a big girl. I don't think she's overweight at all, BTW. But I wonder if they actually weigh the players or the players just tell them, cause a lot of the weight numbers don't look right. BTW Jonathon falling, FUNNY!

With all the discussion of Venus/Serena/Katrina and how the responses are appropriate of not, I haven't heard anything from Lindsay Davenport about the situation.
I also remember at last year's open Dementieva speaking about the Beslan massacre after the final and being very impressed by that.

Hooty, I agree completely. My point is that these two grown up young women are now extremely experienced with media, and extremely intelligent. And I just wish for their sakes that they could have done a little better in this situation because it wasn't a question about their fields of fashion and tennis but about something deadly serious. It isn't fair, of course. It just made me wince for each of them because I thought they looked bad when I think they really could have spared themselves that.

Back to tonight's broadcast: I loved the woman who after giving a shot at pronouncing "Karatantcheva" said "Oh, it's Chris Evert!" I also loved the review Al read of the Bulgarian Restaurant down on Canal Street that turns into a Bulgarian Disco on Wednesday nights: "It's the kind of place where you go when you want to be on your worst behavior." Hee-hee. Good one, Al!

And back several pages: re Majorca (sp?). Okay, I have a fairly expensive education, but all I knew was that it was off the coast of Spain; I couldn't have told you exactly where it was. I thought it was in the Atlantic. Whoops. Is that truly idiotic? Like thinking the Nile is in South America or something?

There should be a Karatantcheva drinking game.

She learned English by listening to the Spice Girls.

*swig*

And now she's learning Spanish by listening to Shakira.

*two swigs*

Every time she goes for the lines and misses.

*whip out the keg*

If the issue is that 40,000 is a decadent waste of money on earrings due to suffering in the world then where they are displayed seems irrelevant. It's almost like saying that the problem with gross consumption is not the material impact of spending money on something as silly as earrings, the problem is the visual representation of that consumption on TV at a sporting event. By the time Serena goes on TV, or arrives at a private party, the crime's already been comitted. But accepting for a moment that the flaunting on TV is the real problem, doesn't it count for something that Serena is the only player at the tour to take a portion of her on-air time to a: mention the disaster b: pledge money to the disaster. I feel as if her critics want to have it both ways. It's gross to show up on TV in those earrings, and its also lame to use TV to publicisze charity in a way that no other ATP/WTA player is doing. Again, what can this woman do that will satisfy people?

I totally disagree here. Serena is doing a very noble gesture here. Isn't it sad that we're even discussing this as a negative thing? Besides, how many other players have said that they would donate money? Federer? Agassi? Sharapova? Davenport? Not to say that Agassi has not done a lot for charities but you get my drift.

I finally saw Nadal's outfit last night. I'm not liking it that much. I think its a little too tight (can he even breathe in it?). I had to laugh at John McEnroe's comments about Nadal's on court antics:

"The players complaining about Nadal's and Hewitt's antics on court is a joke".

And I agree. What someone else is doing (fist pumping, saying "come on") should not bother a player if your focusing on trying to play the game. Besides, most of the time the fist pumping is done when the other player is walking back to the service line so it would be behind their backs....

Well, to be fair, has Lindsay been asked? Venus and Serena were asked directly. It doesn't surprise me if she hasn't been. The media tends to not cover her much and she doesn't seek them out. She's probably, next to Steffi, the shyest and most private #1 player in history.


Agassi has given more money to charity than any other professional athlete in any sport. It would shock me if he doesn't donate something.

ETA: Just wanted to say that I for one don't have a problem with Serena's donating per aces. I understand why some do, I just didn't want my comments above re: Lindsay and Andre to seem like I was criticizing Serena. I'm not. Venus' comments reminded me of Capriati when she was asked about Title IX and what it would mean if it were overturned and she asked, "What's Title IX". She caught a lot of grief for that one!

Okay, totally new topic y'all.

But James Blake's girlfriend is almost as pretty as he is. She pulls off the tan/blonde thing better than the rest of the Tennis Wife/Girlfriends.