Court Six: Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column (September/October 2012)

September 20, 2012 | By Emilie Katz
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Tweets from the pros
►Daniela Hantuchova (@dhantuchova): Hey guys, I had so much fun last night at the ESPYs! It was fun seeing so many great athletes under one roof. It’s always great to be in LA!

►Casey Dellacqua (@caseydellacqua): Justin Bieber seems like a lovely young lad with a good head on his shoulders.

►Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): I’m not an Angels fan at all but obviously I have to root for a guy named Mike Trout right???

►Novak Djokovic ‏(@djokernole): I’m officially back in the office! I hit a couple of balls with Maria, trust me … she didn’t take it easy on me 🙂

►Sabine Lisicki (@sabinelisicki): Done for the day. It feels so good to get home after a good day of practice. I’ll sleep like a baby tonight!

►Shahar Peer (@shaharpeer): After a really good day of tennis and fitness I had a massage, and now I’m going to have dinner! Really happy about today 🙂

►Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki): Evening on the couch for me! 6 hours of training in 30 degrees should do it.

►Serena Williams (@serenawilliams): I’m at Chef Chu’s restaurant in Palo Alto, Ca. This place is insanely good! Thanks Chef! I love it!!!

►Robin Soderling (@RSoderling): Acupuncture time!

►Andy Roddick (@andyroddick): It’s awesome when you’re behind someone at the grocery store and as they are getting wrung up they run to get five more things.

Tweets from the 2012 London Olympics
►Bob Bryan (@Bryanbros): Trying on some snazzy gear at USA team processing.

►Sabine Lisicki (@sabinelisicki): Woohoo on my way to London!!! So excited!

►Ryan Harrison (@ryanharrison92): Made it to London! Awesome new Nike gear for the Olympics! Can’t wait to get going.

►Serena Williams (@serenawilliams): OLYMPICS!!!!!

►Caroline Wozniacki (@carowozniacki): Back in London and can’t wait for the Olympics! I am so excited to represent Denmark!!



Body issue
Daniela Hantuchova has followed Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva in appearing before the cameras for ESPN The Magazine’s annual Body Issue. There’s precedent for Hantuchova’s (lack of) coverage: She featured prominently in Sports Illustrated’s 2009 Swimsuit Issue, alongside fellow pros Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin.

 

 



Basketball meets tennis
Scottie Pippen, part of the six-time World Champion Chicago Bulls and the original Dream Team, watched Serena Williams advance to the next round at Wimbledon and Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki watched his German compatriot Sabine Lisicki upset Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon as well.

 

 



And the ESPY Goes to …
Maria Sharapova made a cameo on the red carpet at the ESPY Awards held at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre. She then won the Best Female Tennis Player honor, but was beaten for Best Female Athlete by Baylor University basketball champ Brittney Griner, and for Best Comeback by Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Novak Djokovic also won at the ESPYs as Best Male Tennis Player.

 



Back to school
Venus Williams is taking online classes through Indiana University. She wore her school colors and letters while watching sister Serena play at Wimbledon.

 



Love and marriage
Marcos Baghdatis and Karolina Sprem married in Trakoscan castle in her homeland of Croatia in July. Sprem is also pregnant with the couple’s first child. Both players are 27 and have been dating for two years. On his way to tying the know is James Blake. Blake is set to be married on Nov. 9 in San Diego. Blake and his fiancee Emily just recently had their first child, a baby girl named Riley. María José Martínez Sánchez has been enjoying some of the best years of her career recently and the Spaniard got married in Barcelona on July 14 to her boyfriend of nine years, Juan Domingo Pérez.



Serena hopes not to argue at U.S. Open
Serena Williams jokes that her goal at this summer’s U.S. Open is to "maybe not get into an argument." In her last two appearances at Flushing Meadows, Williams threatened a linesperson after being called for a foot fault (in the 2009 semis), and then argued with chair umpire Eva Asderaki over a hindrance call, calling her “not a very nice person inside” (in the 2011 final).

"If someone makes me really angry I might have to get into a little bit of an argument, but my goal is to try to stay calm if I can," Serena said with a smile. "If not I’m going out with a bang as I did the past two years."



Last call at Open for Clijsters
This year’s U.S. Open will be the last for former world number one-ranked Kim Clijsters of Belgium. Clijsters has announced that she plans on retiring after the event. She initially retired in 2007 due to a hip injury, but returned in 2009 to win her second U.S. Open title that year. Earlier this year, Clijsters had already announced this would be her last season.

"As it stands, I will end my career at the U.S Open," said Clijsters. "That is where I enjoyed my greatest triumphs and it is a very special place for me." She is a three-time champion in Flushing Meadows, winning the tournament in 2005, 2009 and 2010.



McHale and Stephens on the USS Midway
Two of America’s most promising young stars, Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens, had a very special experience on Day 1 of the Mercury Insurance Open, playing tennis on and then touring the USS Midway, the longest-serving U.S. Navy carrier of the 20th Century and the most visited floating ship museum, with more than five million visitors since 2004.



Tube stations
In celebration of the Olympic Games in London 2012, the names of 361 tube stations will be changed to carry the names of Olympic athletes. Roger will have his own stop near the city centre. "Roger Federer" will be one of the stops on the black line, the so-called Northern Line and will replace the normal stop "Old Street.” Athletes like Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Usain Bolt, Fabian Cancellara, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali will be honored with their own tube station stops during the Olympics this summer.


Emilie Katz
Tennis Pro
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