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THE
SCOOP: U.S. OPEN, DAY 7
Open
gets some needed lighthearted banter
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FLUSHING
MEADOWS, N.Y., SEPT. 2 – The
U.S. Open is quickly becoming a journey through controversy this
year. There’s charges of racism against Lleyton Hewitt, there’s
Czech player Michal Tabara spitting at Justin Gimelstob, and there’s
a questionable outburst by Greg Rusedski as to whether he said
the more believable fuck then fudge he claims to have uttered.
But
everything at the U.S. Open is not always serious.
With
all the heavy duty happenings swirling around the grounds at as
fast a pace as the wind whipped on Saturday, it’s nice to
note that some lighthearted banter was still in the mix. A number
of players came into the media interview room to discuss their
most recent match, their upcoming match and some general information
about their lives.
Take
for instance, up-and-coming Swiss knight Roger Federer –
he wasn’t particularly controversial on Saturday. He was
more interested in boyhood heroes and beaches.
Now
there might be something disconcerting about a Swiss guy wearing
surfer beads, but, hey, why not?
“First
I had a gold necklace from my mother once for a birthday,”
said Federer, a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) winner over Sjeng Schalken
of the Netherlands. “That on got too small then and somehow
I got into these surfer necklaces. So I liked them, I started
to buy them. I have a whole collection of them.”
It
also might be a bit disconcerting for a Swiss guy, who had posters
of Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras lining his bedroom walls when
younger, to be rating beaches, but he certainly took his best
stab at it. Maybe if you come from snow country, you can be in
a better position to judge the beaches you visit.
“I
like the beach,” Federer said. “Well, I like Miami,
South Beach, Key Biscayne, South Africa, Capetown, a lot of places.
Sydney.”
TALKING
CUISINE WITH SERENA
We
also had Serena Williams doing her best Julia Childs imitation
– or should that be Martha Stewart – as she discussed
her culinary skills after a 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow American
Lisa Raymond.
“I
like cooking meats and desserts,” Williams said. “I
one time cooked or made a dessert with pineapples soaked in lime
with strawberries. I let the strawberries sit so they’d have
a sauce. Then I put marshmallow cream in it, too, so I just made
it really, really dangerous. A little sugar on top. It was nice.”
ANDRE
MUNCHES ON A MEGABYTE
Second
seed Andre Agassi didn’t have much to say after his impressive
7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over Ramon Delgado of Paraguay, but he
did let us in on a little secret that many people in today’s
world would be embarrassed to admit. Asked about his favorite
websites on the internet, Agassi said, “I’m unfortunately
computer illiterate.” Of course, tennisreporters.net
is convinced that as soon as Agassi is introduced to our site,
he’ll be perfecting his surfing skills so that he can sign
on daily.
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