!1081885 I'm a little late posting today's Your Call, so I'll be brief here and come back later with a red-meat post on an interesting dimension of Roger Federer's career. Meanwhile, here are some odds and ends to contemplate if you can't watch tennis today, and are just doing furtive TW peeks at the office:
- Tim Mayotte has been added to the stable of official USTA national coaches. For a while, Tim was a neighbor of mine in Manhattan, and I bumped into him fairly frequently and had dinner with him and his ex-wife on one occasion. I guess Tim will be moving down to the USTA/Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. to fulfill his new obligations. I think Mayotte will do a fine job, and he'd be particularly well-suited to working one-on-one with a kid who might need some good advice and guidance - a Big Brother figure. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why I feel that way - it's just a gut reaction, but those are usually pretty reliable.
- Jesse Levine tops Bobby Reynolds in Los Angeles*. Am I the only one to whom this headline seems like one that pops up every few days? Or am I mistaking Bobby for Robert (Kendrick) and Jesse for some other young, struggling American player? Whatever the case, it does seem like these young Americans fighting to shed "journeyman" status are constantly beating up on each other. That's life in the pit, far below the peaks and plateaus occupied by U.S.'s leading players, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Robbie Ginepri. . . The bright side is that beating up on each other is probably good for all these young guys.
- The WTA is in Isantbul. I would be very curious to know how that enterprise is working out, and plan to get some details. I wonder if the girls are drinking that Turkish coffee, which is an exquisite treat for anyone like me, who likes coffee that has the consistency of sludge and, if consumed with sufficient gusto, can power you through a long day of pretty much anything at all.
You know what do to - back a little later.
--- Pete