1. Roger, are you a man or a machine? It’s getting hard to tell. “Ich bin wie ein computer,” Federer told German newspaper Die Welt in an interview before the Masters Cup. He said he’s surprised to find that he can now analyse and figure out opponent’s games during a match rather than having to study them beforehand, and can be a few shots or a whole point ahead of his opponent.
The best part? There’s no confusing it with being a jelly doughnut.
2. Rafa, what was your toughest challenge during the Masters Cup? Not Federer or Blake. Finding an answer to this question, posed during a press conference in Shanghai:
“Has anyone told you that you have the muscles which look like popcorn? How do you feel about your muscles?”
Nadal looked floored, shrugged smilingly and finally mumbled something about feeling normal and not looking in the mirror too much. When the “Any more questions?” call came a few minutes later, he muttered, “Hope not.”
Things got a bit easier for Nadal when he played Federer in an exhibition match in Seoul last week. One of the ‘questions’ asked during the on-court interview: could both players please give the crowd a “big smile”?
3. James, was that you getting a bit frustrated during the Shanghai final? Well, it certainly wasn’t a Bjorn Borg imitation (see photos right).
4. Nikolay, what’s the difference between you and Andre Agassi? Er – eight Grand Slams? And if image is everything, the difference is even greater.
But ever since Davydenko shaved his head and began looking a little more like Agassi, TV commentators have started observing that his game looks a bit like Agassi’s as well. They’re also similar in their plain white and black clothing and businesslike manner on court. So what’s Davydenko missing? The long-haired, denim-wearing rebellious period, of course. Well, too late for that – or is it?
During the Masters Cup, Davydenko was repeatedly questioned about his low profile. “Tell me what I need to improve,” he asked, finally. “Maybe better body. Maybe shave or something. No shave?”
What about having his match upstaged in the press by Federer’s appearance in People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue? “What, I need to take out my shirt and pants and everything and say, ‘Oh, I be sexy the most’?” said Davydenko.
5. What’s a good way to find out if anyone remembers you exist? There's the old standby: miss a couple of bank payments. But Jelena Dokic stumbled on a more sensational method when she left Munich for a trip to Zagreb and failed to return as scheduled. Dokic’s disreputable father, Damir, told the Serbian tabloid Kurir that he believed his estranged daughter, who had been training at a Munich academy, had been kidnapped by her (nearly as disreputable) ex-coach Borna Bikic and his brother Tin, Jelena’s boyfriend.
A couple of days later, Dokic re-established her whereabouts and denied her father's story through another Serbian publication. Dokic said she was in Zagreb looking for sponsors to finance her continued stay at the academy so she could resume her professional career.
Ironically, it was Damir Dokic himself who made a kidnap threat against his daughter during the Australian Open – again published by Kurir – also adding that he wanted to drop a nuclear bomb on the country. Damir, once an Australian citizen, later claimed he was misquoted.
The real question: why was he being quoted at all?
6. Michael, haven’t you heard? The LTA is hiring. While Britain’s tennis federation continues to dig into its cavernous pockets to scoop up well-known coaches like Brad Gilbert, Peter Lundgren, and – soon – Paul Annacone, Michael Chang is finding it harder to convince Chinese officials to accept his offer to work with Chinese players ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
In Shanghai working as a commentator for Chinese television, Chang said he was “frustrated” by the way his proposal had been communicated to the press: “It almost sounded like I was applying for a job," he said. “I [just] want to share my experiences with their coaches and players.”
Time to send a resume over to Palliser Road – or even Down Under, where, in a related development, Tennis Australia may soon be hiring.
7. Carlos, aren’t you being a little paranoid? Hah. After the WTA Championships final in Madrid, Justine Henin-Hardenne’s coach Carlos Rodriguez criticized the tournament’s marketing focus on Maria Sharapova. While Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo play very pleasing games, Sharapova just grunts and hits the ball very hard, he said in an interview with DPA. Even her grunting isn’t the loudest in the game, he continued – Venus Williams is just as loud and Monica Seles was even more powerful. Rodriguez added that the WTA is chasing money by emphasizing “glamour” over tennis and attempting to recreate Kournikova’s impact through Sharapova.
He later backed away from the comments (and other quoted remarks about Clijsters). Still, he must have been left wondering after this remark from Sony Ericsson’s marketing chief in the Financial Times a few days later, “We need stars. Martina’s one of the biggest lights in a year when Serena and Venus have not been able to shine as brightly, and there is only Maria.”
8. Andre, what’s the property market like? There’s good news and bad news. The good news: after going on and off the market several times, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf’s San Francisco-area estate finally sold for $20 million, the second-highest sale price ever recorded in the county. The bad news: the highest-ever sale price was the $23 million they originally paid for it.
Just as well their recent real-estate investments have been in resorts and high-end timeshares.
9. Andy, are you having fun out there? What, it doesn't show? Andy Roddick’s last public words at a tournament in 2006: “Whatever. I'm done with you. I wish everything was that easy. If it was easy, everybody would do it.” On his website the following week, Roddick wrote: “2006 brought me more joy than any other year in my tennis career thus far. Yes, you heard me correctly. I had more exhilarating fun coming back this summer than I had had before.”
10. Do talented players get to break all the rules? No, they have the rules broken for them. After being brought in to compete on the seniors tour in Europe at the absurdly young age of 30, Marcelo Rios will also be allowed to make an appearance in the main draw of the ATP event in Vina del Mar next January. Regulations say players can’t be active on the ATP tour and compete in the seniors circuit.