Serena Excels At Other Net Sports
While in New York for the Billie Jean King Cup last week, Serena Williams appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. A good moment from the episode: Fallon asking the world No. 1 if she’s ever been to Denny’s for a “Grand Slam Breakfast.” Bad moment: Serena talking about her love of Paris and saying she considers herself “culturized.” Then she took on Fallon at beer pong. Serena, a teetotaler, was the victor.
But Wait–There’s More Serena
According to an interview with OK!, “write a screenplay” is on Serena’s ever-growing to-do list. “I love writing. Venus bought me this book about writing screenplays so I look forward to doing that,” she said. And Venus wants to get into music production. (No joke.)
Gone Fishing…Back In ? Minutes
I’m already missing Marat Safin. By that I mean I’m missing his official website, maratsafin.com, which has been down for days. The popular Russian, who announced at the start of the 2009 season that this one’s his last, seems to have let the registration on his domain name lapse. Either that, or he’s finished with the Internet as well as the tour. Fans on the message board at safinator.com, a site run by a fan named Christine, are also wondering what happened. After doing some digging, I found out that Safin’s site is in “good standing” with its provider through December 10, 2013. So I checked with the ATP, which checked with Safin’s agent. The site is “undergoing renovation” and should be back soon.
Rome, Paris…New Haven?
Bud Collins offers his 10 favorite tournament destinations in a piece for USA Today. Collins’ picks range from the obvious (Wimbledon, Monte Carlo) to the not-so-obvious (Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale).
Pulling the Plug
Fans were furious with the BBC’s decision to not broadcast Sunday’s dead-rubber matches for the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Ukraine, which the visiting Ukrainians won 4-1. Without their top singles player, Andy Murray, the Brits knew it would be a tough tie. But as one angry fan said, “Does that mean if we get knocked out of Wimbledon in the first week, like we usually do, that the BBC will not show the rest of the tournament?”
Nice Guys Finish First
ESPN.com’s Greg Garber wrote a nice piece about Furman University coach Paul Scarpa, who over the weekend became the winningest coach in Div. I men’s tennis history. Scarpa broke the record, previously held by Jim Schwitters of Hawaii, with his 820th win. And it only took him 46 seasons to do it.
Baselines to Hashmarks
According to Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, former USTA chief Arlen Kantarian is going to be a senior adviser to the Miami Dolphins. He’ll be working on the team’s branding. Wonder if Kantarian is responsible for the ‘Fins’ foray into Twitter?
More People Go With Visas…If They Can
In the aftermath of the Shahar Peer controversy, Michelle Higgins delves into the many reasons why some countries deny visas to travelers in a story for the New York Times’ travel section. The best thing you can do to ensure entry: keep your criminal record clean.
Spring Break Tennis
If you happen to be in Hilton Head Island, S.C., this month and feel like taking in some matches, check out Spring Break Tennis. SBT is a month-long tournament pitting teams from colleges around the country against each other. Tournament director Ray Yost says the 202 teams that signed up this year includes 80 percent of the country’s Div. III programs. The local paper prints up the schedule for the week’s matches on Mondays. Be warned, there are limitations on parking and entering some of the sites, so check with the venues first. For more information, go to springbreaktennis.com and read this interview with Yost.
And Finally…
Doesn’t it seem like a day doesn’t go by without a reference to “The Simpsons”? Well, here’s one for today. In this clip from last Sunday’s episode, Lisa Simpson tabs Billie Jean King as one of her heroes.
