by Pete Bodo
Believe it or not, I am not going to begin this trip around the tennis world with comments, snarky or otherwise, on the news that Serena Williams is going to record a rap. Given all the factors in play and the nature of the bodacious lady herself, my only comment is . . . What took you so long?
But let's stay with the WTA and the Williams sisters for a moment.
No News Is Good News
Ignoring the possibility that Serena turns out to be the next Queen Latifah, the news coming out of the Williams family camp these days is uniformly bad. The latest is that neither Venus nor Serena will play in Madrid or Rome, which means that the only chance either will have to get matches before Roland Garros will be in Brussels -- a tournament that Venus is apparently eyeing. Serena has yet to make a decision about her return date, and apparently still is recovering from the surprise pulmonary embolism and hematoma she suffered in February.
Kim Clijsters, who injured her ankle dancing at a cousin's wedding a few weeks ago, is also expected to miss both big clay events. Which raises the interesting possibility that Clijsters and Venus - perhaps even Serena? -- will headline the Brussels tournament. If all three players decide to get their Roland Garros prep work done in Brussels, the tournament will overshadow the two big events that preceded it.
I have a sneaking suspicion that if Clijsters is fit to play the French Open, she'll play Brussels.
I Guess Janko Really Is an "Ambassador for the Game"
It's a sign of how much Serbia values its tennis players that the government has issued diplomatic passports to Novak Djokovic and his Davis Cup teammates, as well as Serbia's two top women, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Does anyone else find this weird?
Granted, the burdens of travel these days are especially tough on tennis players and others who travel a lot, but aren't diplomatic-grade passports supposed to be for. . .diplomats? And doesn't this give the Serbian players an advantage, small as it may be, that players from other nations are denied, simply because their governments reserve diplomatic passports for. . . diplomats?
Maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this issue because I live in New York, where "diplomats" get away with murder (sometimes, quite literally - or at least rape, assault, and failure to pay $3 million worth of parking tickets collected while night-clubbing).
I understand that those tennis players are icons in Serbia, but I'd like it better if they named bridges after them, or built each one his or her own palace in Belgrade.
Defensive Much?
Jarmila Gajdosova (formerly Jarmila Groth) might have consulted with Donald Young before she started punching out those sometimes fateful 140-characters that make up a Tweet. Apparently angry at suggestions that she married Aussie journeyman Sam Groth merely to obtain citizenship in the Lucky Country, she wrote:
"To people who say bad things about me: I didn't need get married to become aussie citizen-check the facts... and check the law!". . .Also, "I got married because I loved sam and did it from my heart not because I am from poor country or I need him for passport!"
I don't know what the facts are here, but this isn't the first time this particular issue has come up in all its seedy glory. The most famous of these cases also involved a player from the former Czechoslovakia and an Aussie, albeit not a tennis player. That was Hana Mandlikova, who made very little effort to convince people that her marriage to Aussie restaurateur Jan Sedlak (by lineage, apparently also a Czech) was a match-madein heaven -- unless it was immigration heaven.The Wikipedia entry for Mandlikova doesn't tap dance around the issue, either, although it's worth noting the call for additonal citations.
Whatever the case, I suppose it's the business of the couples involved. The noteworthy part is Gajdosova's reaction to the rumors.
Today Queens, Tomorrow the Wor. . .Wimbledon!
You saw where Prince William and Kate Middleton, who will be married tomorrow in a ceremony in which I have not the least bit of interest, played mixed doubles at Queens Club, site of the ATP Aegon championships, the major Wimbledon tune-up tournament. Apparently, Kate's sister Pippa is a Queen's Club member. Who knows, if Kate gets to be Queen of England someday, perhaps Pippa could trade up and become a member at the All-England Club.
A Queens Club member who caught glimpses of the mixed doubles match sniffed: "I thought with all her sporty, boarding school background she (Kate) would be rather good, but she was a bit hit and miss. She reminded me of Princess Diana. Mind you, she was better than William, who was very wooden. Still, there was no bickering between them."
Of course not. Couples who play mixed only begin bickering in earnest once they're married, right?
!Somdev Someday Devvarman
Someday apparently is now for Somdev Devvarman, the two-time NCAA singles champion. In case you hadn't noticed, Somdev slipped through to the third round in Belgrade today, taking out no. 3 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in an excruciatingly tight third-set tiebreaker, 10-8.
I took a shine to Somdev after watching him at the US Open a few years ago; I'm not even sure why. I suppose I liked his fighting spirit and his clean game. What he is, I think, is the ideal underdog. You watch him against most anyone these days and you just naturally sense that he's over-matched (on paper) but so game that you can't ever write him off. At 26, he's not a kid anymore, which must make his current form all the more gratifying. In recent weeks, he's logged wins over Milos Raonic, Xavier Malisse, Janko Tipsarevic, and Marcos Baghdatis (I know, I know, everyone beats Baggy these days).
Devvarman is no. 71, no great shakes, right? But sometimes it's good to acknowledge guys who are doing great within their own playing ecosystem, even if they're not apt to make headlines.
Beauty and the Beast
Brad Gilbert wrote one of the great tennis books in recent times, his wonderfully conceived and titled Winning Ugly. It's a book that will improve anyone's game, but especially if you're one of those idealistic types who wants to play "like you're supposed to" (which is like Roger Federer or Serena Williams), and therefore doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hail of going two rounds in the town tournament because. . . he or she isn't Roger or Serena. Winning Ugly is a great book for those who have yet to come to the adult realization that winning beats losing, no matter how you get there short of cheating.
The other day, Gilbert told IMG Academies that the player who most closely adheres to the principles he espouses in his book is. . . Caroline Wozniacki. So I suppose those who denigrate her for playing a game that's essentially defensive, and based on consistency, anticipation, court sense and strategy can feel justified in their contempt for her abilities. But as Gilbert, one of that rare breed we can call "exuberant realists" (for realism and gloominess go together like Nadal and clay), says:
"The person that I like to watch the most because so many people talk about how she doesn’t have any weapons and that there is no dominant woman’s player is Caroline Wozniacki. She is a great counterpuncher, she works hard every match, and she is just doing as good as she can do. I love watching because she doesn’t have the biggest shots. She works hard, gives 100%, and she is No.1 in the world because she is out there winning the most matches. She is one of my favorites."
I never in my life thought I'd think of Gilbert and Wozniacki as birds of a feather in any way having to do with "pretty" or "ugly." But the nice thing about life is that it's full of surprises.