If you're in post-Wimbledon withdrawal, a few of this week's news-making morsels from outside the grounds of SW19 may satiate you for a moment, even as we reflect yet on the grand denouements—starkly different ones—at the season's third major event. Onward.
COMMON PROBLEMS Not many people can say they fought for a tennis player's affections. Nor can many famous folks, and rappers at that. Enter Common and Drake, who reportedly feuded over Serena Williams and more. "It wasn't totally that," Common tells DJ Vlad in a sit-down interview. As Vulture put it so well, "So concludes this edition of Low-Stakes Rap Mysteries From Two Years Ago." Indeed, that's a romantic menage a blah at this point. The clip below may be just the ticket for Serena to get some hover cover for a bit after her uncharacteristically feeble, sad showing in a second-round Wimbledon doubles match:
VACA DAYS London to Ibiza, as the J.Lo song goes: Rafael Nadal wasted no time in licking his Wimble-wounds elsewhere after his ouster at the hands of Nick Krygios at the All England Club—and he favored an all-pink look as he did so on a boat. Not to be outdone, Wimbledon semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov followed suit, posting a shirtless "recovery workout" beach photo to Instagram; he and girlfriend Maria Sharapova, who viewed his Wimbledon semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic from the player's box, jetted to Russia post-tournament for a little R&R.
INFO-TASTIC In what will probably go down as the niftiest infographic the 2014 pro tennis season brings us, Twitter's data team comes through with a global map depicting explosions of tweets about Djokovic's singles final against Roger Federer throughout various key times of the match. Watch the red and green faux-pyrotechnics take over the world during those nerve-wracking tiebreaks. It sort of looks like Christmas popping up all over the planet, and, in a nutshell, that's just what the two all-time greats gave us.
NO-DJOKE NUPTIAL In case you're waking from a post-Wimbledon stupor, the Novak Djokovic-Jelena Ristic wedding is on. Heavy.com has "5 Fast Facts" to know about the dynamic tandem to marry in Montenegro on Thursday, and Tennis Tuesday preview a potent(ial) guest list.
BONUS Additional photos have surfaced of Venus Williams and Tomas Berdych ahead of ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue hitting newsstands Friday. Here's Berdych kicking up some dust in the desert for no reason at all, plus a peek at Venus's cover-model image, which stars her long hair and a lithe derriere.
"BONUS" NO. 2 Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham and Samuel L. Jackson's awkward non-exchange in the Royal Box at the Wimbledon men's final, via Vine video.
What's your favorite story to spring out of Wimbledon's conclusion?
Got a tip or a point to make? Hit me on Twitter at @jonscott9.