THE SCOOP, ROLAND GARROS DAY 7

The great egg debate slams into center court

PARIS, June 3 – The great egg debate was on at Roland Garros as to who laid an egg on center court Sunday afternoon. The egg came from some place North of the center court and dropped near to Sandrine Testud. While there were some people of the opinion that a pigeon laid its egg from mid-air on the center court, there was a more widely held notion around the Roland Garros grounds.

Many were suggesting – "Egg on your face" – if a classless French fan tossed the egg at Frenchwoman Sandrine Testud. Some people believe that a fan might have been annoyed that Testud was 5-0 down against Martina Hingis in the first set. If this is the case, tennisreporters.net wonders how much better that spectator thought they could have fared playing the world No 1.

"Of course, I'm surprised," Testud said of the incident. "I mean, it doesn't happen every day. You're on center court and an egg is falling from nowhere. I was surprised but, you know, there are some people that shouldn't be allowed to watch a match in the stadium." Hingis, who finally prevailed in the fourth-round match 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, also made note of the egg dropping onto the court. "At first I didn't know what has happened," Hingis said. "Was it like a little bomb?" Of course, typical of Hingis, she went on to personalize the incident, saying, "Well, it wasn't thrown at me, so I felt good about that. It didn't really matter."

CAPRIATI CLEARS THE MISCONCEPTION
Only 12-years after Jennifer Capriati first arrived at the French Open as a 14-year-old in 1990 and went on to reach the semifinals, she's decided to set the record straight on one of the enduring stories about her initial visit to Paris. Mary Carillo, who was calling the tournament for ESPN at the time – incidentally Capriati's recollection is that it was NBC – took the Capriati family around the city to see Paris for a ESPN piece. Carillo reported back that when it was suggested they drive by Notre Dame, Capriati was under the impression she was going to see a football field and not a famous cathedral. Not so, says Capriati, after beating fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-1 in the fourth round here on Sunday. "I just remember seeing all the sights and, of course, the famous quotes of Mary Carillo when she talked about Notre Dame, the football stadium," Capriati then laid the blame on the proper person. "I didn't really say that, my brother (Steven) did."

PROPER DUDS

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

If you've been watching some of your favorite male players on court at Roland Garros and noticed that collared shirts are going the way of the dinosaur, you're not wrong. While the rulebooks used to specifically say that a player must wear a shirt with a collar, it no longer is that rigid and players like Michael Chang and Lleyton Hewitt have been seen on court wearing scooped neck tennis shirts. But it is not a free for all since each player is inspected before going on court to make sure they are properly dressed according to the current rules. The Grand Slam rulebook states "Every player shall dress and present himself for play in a professional manner. Clean and customarily acceptable tennis attire shall be worn as determined by each respective Grand Slam. Unacceptable attire – sweatshirts, gym shorts, dress shirts, t-shirts or any other inappropriate attire shall not be worn during a match (including the warm-up)."