The Spin is not ready to declare Serena Williams "engaged" to Patrick Mouratoglou (of the eponymous tennis academy in France), not as some tennis watchers are inclined to do, but it seems obvious that the two, while not yet confirming their together-ness, are more than chummy.
I mean, would you put your hand down the back denim pocket of someone who's just your coach? Methinks not. And consider these gushing tweets from Mouratoglou, a stand-alone post and a response to Conchita Martinez. Wrote Mouratoglou, "15th Grand Slam for Serena. Great summer with 2 GS and the gold medal at Olympics. Very proud to be part of the journey. Very proud of u." This also explains the fairly odd proximity that Serena has had at times to Bulgarian quasi-star Grigor Dimitrov, as the ATP pro is coached by Mouratoglou and has been photographed more than once with Williams.
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Not so far from that news is the word out yesterday via Facebook that Justine Henin is expecting a baby in March. The quite and private but often candid Henin has a partner in Benoit Bertuzzo and the joy of creating new life at hand. The retired star wields seven Grand Slam singles titles and a host of publicly yearning quotes about building a family and a life, and in light of her own family troubles over time. Congratulations in advance to the pair ... and may that spawn have a racquet glued to its hand if it so happens that the child can also possess the mother's glorious one-handed backhand. Not sure if lightning strikes twice in this case, but time will tell.
Reactions to these slices of relational-family news, Spin fans?
—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)