What off-season? Here's what's buzzing this week in pro tennis, largely away from the courts:
SELL YOURSELF Spin friend The Slice takes cuts at the 2012 season, including best in style (Maria Sharapova sitting runway-side with Anna Wintour!) and top marketing moments (I'd almost forgotten about that Rafael Nadal-Cristiano Ronaldo commercial, so good). If you've ever wanted to gaze at Roger Federer on a motorcyle or Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki sprawled out in states of repose, or to be reminded that Laura Robson took a stand for equality at the 2012 Australian Open, these are your chances.
DELICIANO STYLE Speaking of fashion, Feliciano Lopez dishes up a low-key sartorial wonder in a photo posted to his Instagram account, where he's been updating rapidly lately. Now that is the way a Spanish man likes his apple pie.
GANG OF FOUR The ATP's Big Four—Novak Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Andy Murray—will be featured in a glossy spread in the Australian Open's official 2013 program, also revealed on Instagram as a sneak peek. All four look debonaire, and the Spin looks forward to the read.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK Federer, on meeting followers on his Brazilian exhibition mini-tour: “I met more fans that collapsed in tears than elsewhere. It was amazing how many were shaking, had great joy and began to cry, so I take to practically take them in [my arms] and had to say: ‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’" And the quotation rolls on from there.
—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)