The next match of the night featured a doubles contest between Blake and Querrey and Bob and Mike Bryan. It was business as usual for the ATP’s No. 1 doubles team. They attacked their opponents with their superior quick reflexes at net, and easily won, 6-3. After that match, Blake grabbed the mike to thank all the people that came out. “This event means more to me than any tournament,” he said. I believed him.
Parting is Such Sweet Fodder
In case you’ve only been following the news of Tiger Woods’ marital problems this week, you may have missed a big break-up in tennis. No, I’m not talking about doubles team Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, who announced they were ending their partnership this week. Nor am I talking about Bhupathi and his wife’s separation, which they announced in October. (Ouch. Not a good finish to 2009 for Bhupathi.) I’m talking about Andy Murray and his longtime girlfriend, Kim Sears, breaking up. People knew something was amiss with the couple when Sears, who had been sharing a house in Surrey with Murray and used to be a regular presence at his matches, was conspicuously absent from the ATP World Tour Finals in London. So, to put an end to the speculation, his agent and her mother confirmed that the relationship was, indeed, kaput.
Just a few weeks ago, Murray discussed his relationship with Sears in an interview with the U.K.’s *Daily Mirror*. He said that if they were going to get married, it wouldn’t be for years. And he dismissed any notion that Sears, a 21-year-old college student studying English literature, was a gold-digger. “People will still say, she's with him for the money or fame, whereas I do think with Kim that’s not necessarily the case. Why is she with me? It’s a good question actually,” he said.
Sears must have been asking herself that question, because inner-circle sources speculate she was the one to initiate the split. Her class workload may have become her primary focus, or his video-game hobby (read: addiction) got on her last nerve. If it’s that, as is rumored, he plays video games seven hours a day, who can blame her? Personally, I think she could no longer endure the humiliation incurred by Murray’s embarrassing rapping on the Bryan brothers’ song, “Autograph.” Let’s see how long it takes Jelena Ristic, the girlfriend of the song’s other rapper, Novak Djokovic, to call it a day. (Just kidding. They recently went skiing. I think. ‘Google Translate’ says “skijanju” means skiing in Serbian.)
Murray seemed to be holding up well despite the break-up and having missed the semifinals at the ATP year-end event. He was seen shopping for an ironing board with his mum, Judy. Shopping, always a good way to get over heartache. Now there’s talk that Murray may be seeing a former classmate, Katharine Brown, who was crowned Miss Scotland in May. She watched Murray play at Wimbledon. Just friends? Who knows. If it’s true, I hope she likes video games.
Seen and Heard
Last weekend Serena Williams was in Barbados to play in an exhibition against Caroline Wozniacki. Williams won the one-set match, 6-4. She also relaxed on the beach with her we’re-just-friends boyfriend, the rapper/actor Common. There was a swimsuit malfunction. Seriously, who doesn’t have a swimsuit malfunction while at the beach?
Jelena Jankovic unveiled her new clothing line for Serbian fashion house Mona. You can see photos of the collection here. In an interview with Serbia’s Blic, the former No. 1 said fashion was just her hobby, but that she’d love to see her collection in Vogue. She also talks about her BF, hottie water polo player Mladjan Janovic, with whom she recently appeared on the cover of Serbian magazine *Gloria*.
Ana Ivanovic was in Melbourne in November with her boyfriend, pro golfer Adam Scott. He addressed those who blamed the couple’s relationship for his slump in 2009: “Should I not have a girlfriend?” he said. Should Ana have a boyfriend? Seems like she does better without one. Since she started dating other professional athletes, first Fernando Verdasco in 2008, then Scott this year, her ranking has fallen from No. 1 to No. 22. On the fashion front, Ivanovic has unveiled her new Adidas outfit for 2010.
Mats Wilander has cut the asking price for his Idaho mansion 30 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal. Based on these pictures, the house, which comes with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, looks like a cross between an aristocratic country manor and a rustic hunting lodge.
“Nice Pair of Sharapovas”
I watched the new FX comedy series “The League” for the first time last Thursday. I had heard mixed things about the show, which revolves around the lives of a group of friends who have a fantasy football league. In reviewing the series premiere, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly found the fantasy football heckling and scheming “kind of funny.” Neil Genzlinger of the New York Timesthought the show “moves quickly and somewhat sloppily.” Both commented on the raunchy humor, which was at full volume in the episode I saw, titled “Mr. McGibblets.” One scene had the boys using tennis players’ last names for body parts while ogling women at a spa. Stuff like, “Check out the Hingis on that one.” The scene made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Speaking of tennis and fantasy leagues, if you’d like to participate in a fantasy tennis league for 2010, check out this site, or this site for individual Slams. And if you want to see the full episode of Mr. McGibblets, it’s available at hulu.com.
Next week, I’ll have some gift ideas for the holidays. Stay tuned…
Sarah Thurmond is an associate editor for TENNIS. Follow her on Twitter.
