Fourhand: Gulbis talks vampires—err, umpires

You have to hand it to Ernests Gulbis: The man has a winning smile, even when he sheepishly walks back his comments hurtful to vampires the world over. Here are the latest headlines away from grass-court play:

ERNIE THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Gulbis fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon today in three decisive sets. Before that, after his first-round victory, he was asked what he thought about removing umpires from professional matches, per John McEnroe's attention-grabbing idea this week. Hilariously, Gulbis misheard the question, and initially addressed it regarding vampires, not umpires. He then realized his unforced error:

Too bad, really, that he won't be around to further address the matter this week and next.

ART APPRECIATOR Victoria Azarenka found time to take up a new hobby during her outage from the WTA tour: Enter Vika, art enthusiast. What began with absentmindedly wiping paint on her top became full-blown enjoyment, including conversations with none other than the aforementioned Gulbis: "He's very smart actually. He was telling me about the history of art a little bit, you know, the Impressionists."

Azarenka hosted friends in her home to have their way with a large canvas, saying, "I felt like it's just emotions and the thoughts of people you care about in one thing and I can keep it in my house."

GRAF AS COACH? Goran Ivanisevic knows who he would have picked as his coach, were he in Andy Murray's trainers recently: Steffi Graf. He also speaks to Serena Williams's dominant, powerful play.

SHAQ ATTACK  The celebrity parade is well underway at Wimbledon, and Shaquille O'Neal is among the early guests in the Royal Box, having regarded Andy Murray's Monday opener.

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