Novak Djokovic Apologizes to Ball Boy for Scaring the Living Daylights Out of Him

He made a video, "Novak Djokovic Apologizes After Yelling At Ball Boy - Miami Open 2015."

And you can see the moment at Fox Sports, "Ball boy caught in crossfire: Novak Djokovic shamed for epic dummy spit at Miami Open."

Caroline Wozniacki for Sports Illustrated

At London's Daily Mail, "Caroline Wozniacki gets the deuces flowing by revealing her stunning picture in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015 edition," and "In her teeny tiny tennis whites! Caroline Wozniacki displays her athletic figure in an array of bikinis for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue."

Caroline Wozniacki Ousts Maria Sharapova at U.S. Open

At the New York Times, "Upsets Persist at U.S. Open as Caroline Wozniacki Ousts Maria Sharapova."

I think this describes it! @usopen pic.twitter.com/3tjWbJ2ztu

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) August 31, 2014

Serena Williams On-Court Breakdown at Wimbledon

Bizarre.

She's a dominant player. I don't know how she could go out there looking like she was on drugs. I guess it was a "viral" illness of some sort, but it's bad.

Ana Ivanovic in Epic Upset Over Serena Williams at Australian Open

The hot Serbian just decimated Serena. One of the best ladies' matches I've seen in a long time.

At LAT, "Serena Williams upset by Ana Ivanovic at Australian Open," and NYT, "Serena Williams Diplomatic in Australian Open Defeat to Ana Ivanovic":

MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams sat before a bank of television cameras, below a gaggle of reporters, in both an unfamiliar and impossible position. There were no right answers, only questions. Lots of questions.

Most centered on her back and a previously undisclosed injury and how it may have impacted her fourth-round contest of the Australian Open against Ana Ivanovic on Sunday. Answer truthfully, that she nearly withdrew from two matches, and Williams risked a public lambasting for not giving Ivanovic enough credit. The alternative was to lie — and be perceived as holding back.

Williams, as best she could, opted for diplomacy. When pressed, she admitted to back pain, to taking pain medication and to needing a few days off. But she tried (mostly) to steer the conversation back toward Ivanovic, a former No. 1 who all but went missing in recent seasons.

Ivanovic, a Serbian, recorded the upset, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals. She put Williams on the defensive, controlled the rallies, ably returned serves, smacked 33 winners and attacked Williams’s backhand as if to say she had found a weakness. Ivanovic deserved much credit, and a welcome back.

And yet, it was difficult to ascertain how much credit Ivanovic deserved.

Difficult even for Williams, who said: “I don’t want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit. It’s not like I gave her the match.”

But, she added, “I almost didn’t play.”

For almost a year now, Williams had won professional tennis matches at an improbable 96 percent clip. Since her exit from last season’s Australian Open, she had played 80 matches, and before Sunday, she had won 77 of them.

Ivanovic had never beaten her, and had made one Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance since her French Open triumph in 2008. Yet Ivanovic said she could sense early she had a chance, at 2-2 in the first set.

For the first week of the tournament, Williams collected broken records.

She set one for most match wins in women’s singles at this tournament (with 61) and another for most women’s singles matches played (70).

All the while, she eyed an even bigger milestone: an 18th Grand Slam singles championship. That would have put Williams in even rarer company, tied with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for second-most all-time, within sight of Steffi Graf and her historic 22 titles in the open era.

To conquer Williams, opponents must return well, for her serve remains her primary weapon. Ivanovic said Williams’s serve did not seem as fast on Sunday, and while Williams garnered 13 aces, she did seem to lack some of her usual zip. Ivanovic dominated, in particular, William’s second serve, winning 59 percent of those points.

Williams cruised through the first three rounds of this Australian Open behind a succession of swift victories. She did not drop a set.

Yet she looked off on Sunday, even as she took the first set. She did not bend well on the backhand side, and she moved sluggishly. After she missed a return early in the second set, she bent over in apparent pain...

Forget all the baloney about "diplomacy" and "holding back." Williams got her butt kicked, and hard. Ivanovic was on fire. Outstanding tennis. And no there's no spin that can disguise poor play and poor sportsmanship. Williams had it handed to her.

And at the video at top, that's Chrissy Evert for ESPN with the Ivanovic interview.

Serena's press conference is here, "Serena Williams Falls to Ana Ivanovic in Australian Open."

U.S. Open: The World's Most Star-Studded Sporting Event

I tuned into the match during the end of third set, and the tide was just beginning to shift permanently toward Rafael Nadal.

With the exception of Spain's Queen Sophia, the network didn't show any celebrities, so I thought this was a pretty good bit at London's Daily Mail, "DiCaprio, Timberlake, Beckham and Connery turn US Open final into the world's most star-studded sports event."

Serve and Volley is Dead

Yeah, it does seem like a long lost art.

At the Los Angeles Times, "What's happened to serve and volley in tennis?":

NEW YORK — The contrasts used to be one of the most attractive elements of tennis.

Pete Sampras standing at the net, Andre Agassi at the baseline trying to get the ball past his greatest rival.

Chris Evert, dainty but cruelly clever in the backcourt, against Martina Navratilova, who moved forward, fast as a whip, knocking a volley that Evert lunged at or just missed, eliciting a squeak of frustration from Evert.

Or John McEnroe, dancing on his toes, back and forth as Bjorn Borg stood at the back of the court and calculated the correct angle at which to whiz the ball past his rival — only to have McEnroe, with a flick of the wrist, gently drop the ball over the net, just in the spot where Borg couldn't reach it.

Billie Jean King still volunteers to coach players and teach them to serve and volley. She urged Serena and Venus Williams to learn that most difficult part of the game but couldn't persuade either of them.

As the U.S. Open tennis tournament, the final major of the year, begins Monday, it's more likely viewers will see an American man win — a longshot — than see more than a handful of serve-and-volley points.

That part of the game is gone, possibly forever.

"I don't think it's ever coming back, I really don't," said Sampras, who won 14 Grand Slam events, second only to Roger Federer. "It's difficult to learn to do, and it's hard to be successful with it at first, and kids and coaches don't like failure....

More at the link.

Citing Shoulder Injury, Maria Sharapova Pulls Out of U.S. Open

No doubt a loss for tennis fans everywhere.

At NYT, "Sharapova, Citing Shoulder Injury, Will Miss Open."

After an uncharacteristically tumultuous summer, third-seeded Maria Sharapova announced Wednesday night that she was withdrawing from next week’s United States Open because of a right shoulder injury.

“Maria has informed us that she will be unable to compete at the U.S. Open this year due to a right shoulder bursitis and has withdrawn from the tournament,” the tournament director, David Brewer, said in a statement. “We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to her return to New York next year.”

Sharapova later posted on Facebook: “Withdrawing from the U.S. Open has been a really tough decision to make. I have done everything I could since Wimbledon to get myself ready but it just wasn’t enough time. I have done many tests, received several opinions and it all comes down to taking the proper amount of time to heal my shoulder injury properly.”

With Sharapova’s withdrawal, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska will move to the No. 3 seed, and all subsequent seeds will move up a spot. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia will become the new No. 32 seed and a lucky loser from the final round of the qualifying tournament will take Sharapova’s slot in the 128-player draw.

The American Mardy Fish also withdrew from the tournament Wednesday, citing continuing health concerns. Fish has struggled with physical and mental health problems.

Sharapova, 26, was first affected by right shoulder problems five years ago and had surgery to repair two tears in her rotator cuff in October 2008. When she returned to the tour 10 months later, she struggled with inconsistent serving.

But Sharapova, the 2006 United States Open champion, steadily returned to previous form, returning to the No. 1 ranking and completing the career Grand Slam by winning the French Open last year. She made the French Open final again this year, but lost to Serena Williams.

Continue reading.

HAT TIP: The Other McCain, "Live at Five."

Ivan Lendl Has Daughters?

He does, five of them, in fact.

At the Mellow Jihadi, an interesting piece.

Lendl used to be my favorite back in the late 1980s. We was (somewhat) emotional at Wimbledon yesterday when Murray took the top trophy.

Not a Looker: Marion Bartoli Takes Beauty Appraisals in Stride

Oh jeez, she's not that bad. If Serena Williams is touted as a hottie, I guess anyone could be. A little makeup and a snazzy French evening gown and Bartolli could be looking hot.

At Sports Illustrated, "BBC apologizes after commentator calls Marion Bartoli ‘not a looker’."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Marion Bartoli takes high road after sexist remark about her looks":

Marion Bartoli, a French tennis veteran with the IQ of a genius and recently crowned Wimbledon women's champion, had little to say in the wake of a sexist remark about her looks by way of comparison to Maria Sharapova, a lanky blond from Russia.

BBC radio commentator John Inverdale remarked after Bartoli's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Germany's Sabine Lisicki, "Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little: 'You’re never going to be a looker. You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight'?"

Bartoli, a first-time winner of a Grand Slam tournament at 28, played it off in a classy way.

"It doesn't matter, honestly," Bartolia said. "I am not blond, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I'm sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes."

Inverdale later apologized, saying it was all in fun.

"We poked fun, in a nice way, about how she looks," he said, "but Marion Bartoli is an incredible role model."

That was not lost on Bartoli's father, who helped develop her game as a coach.

"I am not angry," Walter Bartoli said. "She is my beautiful daughter."

Also, "Marion Bartoli overpowers Sabine Lisicki for 2013 Wimbledon title."

Andy Murray is First British Mofo to Win #Wimbledon in 77 Years

I got up early to watch this. Six in the morning is a little early, especially after a couple of bourbons last night.

Anyway, at the Telegraph UK, "Andy Murray wins Wimbledon."

I'll post Murray's victory speech when it's up at YouTube. A great guy. Last year he was bawling after his loss. Much more cool this year, and I'm very happy for him.

Added: He's Scottish, actually, but Scotland's still part of Great Britain, so WTF? Folks are sure happy over there, in any case.