THE SCOOP: U.S. OPEN DAY 7, SEPTEMBER 1

The mixed bag of tennis: Late Night Serena and Letterman
Agassi offspring vs. Sampras offspring
Navratilova’s recipe for success

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE U.S. OPEN – On Monday evening, Serena Williams will take a turn in the guest chair with David Letterman, a show she taped following her French Open and Wimbledon victories earlier in the summer.

Prior to the Letterman appearance, Williams said that the New York-based host was not her favorite late night entertainment, but she might have to make the switch from Letterman to Leno.

“Dave is a very nice guy,” said Williams, who didn’t break a sweat in her 6-1, 6-1 fourth-round victory against Daja Bedanova on Sunday to become the first woman to reach this year’s U.S. Open quarterfinals. “He’s very nice. I’ve always done Leno, I’ve never done Letterman. It was a different experience, New York.

“It was fun. I didn’t expect him to be so funny. Like, I was in the room listening to what he was saying. I was just cracking up. Normally, I watched Leno. Actually, I don’t know, maybe I’m getting towards Letterman now. It was a really good show.”

Although one can liken Williams’s aggressive on court personality to Letterman’s occasionally aggressive approach to guests, the No. 1 said she had no problem holding her own with the host.

“I don’t remember him asking any embarrassing questions,” Williams said. “I don’t get embarrassing questions. I’m very witty myself. I can come up with things real quick.”

Williams will move on to face either Daniela Hantuchova or Justine Henin in the next round, but don’t expect her to be out scouting their fourth round match.

BY THE SEAT OF HER VERY SHORT PANTS
“I’m the type of person that believes I have to go out and play my game,” Williams said. “I’m not really into, ‘Okay, I have to hit to her forehand three times, then to the backhand, then to the forehand.’ I’m not into all that. That’s too much for me. If I can’t do it by now, I’ll never be able to do it. That’s how I look at it.”

Despite being in the midst of the final Grand Slam of the year, Williams made it clear that she is aware of the world around her, including that the man who has been stalking her of late was arrested here on Friday.

“No, I think you have to be conscious of everything,” Williams said. “I read a lot. I read the papers. I watch the news. But, mostly, I read. You can’t just be oblivious to everything else just because it’s a tournament. This is actually very minute compared to things that are going on in the world, I think.”

Agassi offspring vs. Sampras offspring

Courtsey of the Agassi family

Considering the fact that 10-month-old Jaden Gil Agassi is practically walking on his own – mom, Steffi Graf, barely was holding his hands on Saturday when he raced across a patch of grass at the Open and into dad's waiting arms – it’s not surprising that the relationship between the infant and the expected Sampras baby due to arrive the end of the year.

And Agassi was quick to point out the age advantage – not to mention other advantages – Jaden will have on the future little Sampras.

“Well, I for sure see Jaden beating up on his kid a little bit – speaking on the tennis court,” Agassi said, laughing. “If it’s a little girl, I have a hundred bucks that says she has a crush on Jaden.”

If Jaden keeps those blond-hair, blue-eyed looks going, Agassi’s probably going to be $100 richer one day.

Asked about the prospect that Jaden could possibly be a prom date for a Sampras offspring, Agassi joked, “Either Pete or myself will chaperone, for sure.”

Navratilova’s recipe for success
The always outspoken Martina Navratilova, who could not stay retired and away from the game, is here at the Open offering fans another glimpse of why she was such a great talent and great spokesperson for the game.

Navratilova offered another example of why she is who she is when she dismissed her age and reasoned why she made it so far.

“You know, people have been putting limitations on me for a long time,” Navratilova said. “First, I was too young, then I was too old. It was a very short period of time I was just right.

“Sort of like my mother, one time she says, ‘You’re too thin.’ She’s feeding me, feeding me, feeding me. Next thing I know she says, ‘You’re too heavy.’ I say, ‘When was I right, mom?’ ”

“You can’t go based on what anyone else says or did. If I did, I would have never left Czechoslovakia; I would be there. You would have never heard of me. The leaders, the people that succeed, take chances. I’m certainly taking a chance putting myself on the line. That’s what life is about. Yeah, I know I don’t play as well as I used to but I still play pretty well. For me the key is not to think, ‘I should have made that shot. I would have made it 15 years ago.’ I can still make it now pretty well.”

Navratilova is quick to explain why she’s still out here trying to win matches.
“The love for the game just grows,” she said. “The passion is the same or more. I always loved the game. You know, like Billie Jean (King) says, ‘You never see the ball come over the net the same way twice.’ There’s always something different about it; there’s nothing routine about it. It’s still a challenge and I love it the same way, if not more.”