Court Six: New York Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column (September/October 2011)

September 21, 2011 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Credit: Creatas

Twitter’s top 100
SportsIllustrated.com released its Twitter 100 list. Appearing on the list are three professional tennis players and strangely enough, they are all of Serbian descent: Novak Djokovic (@djokernole), Andrea Petkovic (@andreapetkovic) and Janko Tipsarevic (@tipsarevicjanko).



And the ESPY goes to
Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams won ESPY Awards for the Best Male and Female Tennis Player at the recent ESPN awards show.



"Planking" anyone?

Team USA engaged in some planking before their loss in Davis Cup. You can find the photos online but here are the highlights of the "plank war":

►Mardy Fish started things off by planking in the arms of teammates after the Davis Cup tie's announcement.

►Andy Roddick countered that by planking up an escalator.

►Mardy Fish returned the favor by planking from an ice cooler.

That's two to one in favor of Fish, but Roddick's plank was probably the best so we'll call it even.



To play or not to play
Venus Williams left doubt as to her Olympic future and the idea that she will indeed play mixed-doubles with Bob Bryan at the 2012 London Olympics. She said, “You know, I've been known not to commit to relationships,” she said with a laugh. “So I'll be waiting until the last minute to see what's best, you know? I'm always a ‘grass is greener’ kind of girl. It's a bad habit that has followed over to tennis."

It was a confusing answer from Venus, who had previously said she'd partner with Bob in hopes of Olympic glory.

Also her sister, Serena Williams and Andy Roddick made a commitment to play the Olympic Games together. When asked by New York Tennis Magazine recently if she was still on course to partner up with Roddick, Serena said, "We will see. I'm not sure who I will be playing with. I love all the American players."

So it remains to be seen if either Venus or Serena will be playing mixed-doubles and if so, who they will be playing with.



Let’s play the Feud
John McEnroe recently inferred that the timing of Andy Roddick's marriage to model/actress Brooklyn Decker has coincided with a slide in the quality of A-Rod's on-court results.

"I know Andy as well as anyone, and I think the marriage is one of the reasons he's still playing," said Mardy Fish. "I think what's been said is completely unwarranted. It's not a great comment to talk about wives."
Fish and Roddick are close friends, and Fish himself is also married to a model, Stacey Gardner.

Roddick and McEnroe also shared another exchange recently when Johnny Mac asserted that, “The unknown is what we want, something unpredictable—watching the players trade practice shots takes away from that,” McEnroe told The London Evening Standard. “They should go out there like boxers, to huge applause and announcements, have a coin toss and then, boom, first serve.”

Roddick had the following retort: “I think it’s easy to not have the warm-up when you’re the one not doing it anymore." Also, about waiting out rain delays and long matches, “I’ve been sitting around for four-and-a half hours, and he [McEnroe] wants me to go out there and serve 145mph? That’s irresponsible is what it is.”



Here comes the bride … on ice
The dearly departed Elena Dementieva, who retired at the end of 2010 without ever claiming a Grand Slam title, has still added another worthy trophy to her collection, and it's the most important of all … the love and affection of her hockey-player husband, Maxim Afinogenov. The pair married on July 16th on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow. Gisela Dulko reportedly missed Argentina's 4-0 Fed Cup promotion-playoff loss against Japan because she was preparing for her own wedding.

 

 

 

 



The Biggest Loser
Anna Kournikova was a no-show for the 2011 World TeamTennis season this summer and the reason is that she has joined the cast of the hit NBC extreme weight-loss show, The Biggest Loser. Kournikova will be replacing trainer Jillian Michaels, who is leaving the series to pursue whatever celebrity trainers end up pursuing after a successful run on a reality TV series. Executive Producer Todd Lubin told New York magazine's Vulture that the show is "Getting slightly away from just the tape measure, and getting into overall well-being and health.”



Congrats are in order
World number one doubles player Bob Bryan has announced via his Twitter account that he and his wife, Michelle, are going to have a child. He got the buzz going by tweeting out, "Boom! 10 hours of sleep and 10 days until the next shindig. Finally a little break. Oh, and I've got some news for you …” He then revealed, "This little baby could be your 2034 Wimby champ!”

 

 



Tennis tweets of late
What is on your favorite tennis players mind and what are they are up to? We learned this through the wonderful world of Twitter:

Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki): Had a good day in London, photo shoot went well and now I am on my way back to Monaco, practice starts tomorrow 🙂

►Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): What does the REM stand for in the band REM?

►Serena Williams (@serenawilliams): I think I have insomnia or "I'm so tired I can't sleep!"

►Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob): Zurich is a beautiful city. I’m a few hours away from doing my extensive interview with Roger Federer.

►Sania Mirza-Malik (@mirzasania): Finally a day off after eight days … looking forward to doing NOTHING for a change except one photo shoot for a couple of hours!

►Amer Delic (@amerdelic): Just finished re-watching season seven of Entourage.

►Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): My baby sis is gonna have a boy!

►Andy Murray (@andy_murray): Having a little game of backgammon with the dog …

►Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki): Running and tennis in the morning, had a small nap and now the gym and tennis at five.

►Justin Gimelstob (@ justingimelstob): Not a great feeling showing up at Zurich airport at 5: 45a.m. for a flight to Atlanta and realizing I forgot my passport in my hotel room!


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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