Driving everybody crazy, literally
Andy Roddick is the man no one wants to play golf with.
The American’s big serves on the tennis court translate into big frustration on the golf course and he said his competitiveness meant he was difficult to play with.
“I’ve been the guy you can't play golf with because he really gets that upset and ruins everybody’s day,” he told a news conference.
“Every time I play golf, I got to buy a new set of clubs. It’s not relaxing for me. I go mental. The ball’s not even moving and I can’t hit it right.
“I haven’t reached the point in my life where I have the patience level it takes to play golf. And I don’t have the pants.”
Ashamed at lack of champions
Virginia Wade, the last British player to win a Grand Slam tournament, is both proud and ashamed.
“Nothing, nothing, nothing — that’s not so good,” the 1977 Wimbledon champion said after British hopes were dashed for another year at the domestic Grand Slam when no homegrown player progressed past the second round.
Wade, a BBC commentator and the All England Club’s guest of honour on the 30th anniversary of her victory, said: “I am very proud of having won Wimbledon but not proud of the fact that I was the last British person to win.”
Wade, who also won the Australian and US Opens, felt that British tennis lost its way but now finally has the set-up, with the establishment of a new National Tennis Centre, to produce a steady stream of world-class players.
New hairdo a huge hit
Russian fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova has been turning heads at Wimbledon with her new hairstyle.
She is sporting long, blonde braids for the grasscourt Grand Slam instead of her normal chin-length style and has even been getting tips on the extensions from tennis’ most fashion conscious players — Venus and Serena Williams.
“They tell me what I have to do to take care of it,” the Russian said. Kuznetsova said the question she was most asked about her new look was ‘how long did it take’?
“I hear it more than my name... I have to put a huge note on my front so everybody knows.”
Inevitably, she was asked once more and with a patient smile said: “Three and a half hours.”
‘Never a right time to quit’
Steve Waugh has dismissed the notion that sportspersons knew when their time was up and said he experienced a raging mental conflict in his final days wearing the Baggy Green cap. “People say you’ll wake up and you’ll know when you want to retire. I don’t think it happens like that,” the former Australian captain said.
“Most people juggle with it. I spoke to one or two people when I was thinking about it and it is natural for your emotions to go up and down,” Waugh was quoted as saying in ‘The Age’.
“Some mornings you’re going to wake up and think ‘Geez, I love playing for Australia and I want to be here every day’.
“Other days you’ll think ‘Geez, I miss the kids and my form’s not too good, am I really doing the right thing,” he added.
Beckham to make LA debut in Nov
England soccer star David Beckham will play for his new American club, the LA Galaxy, in a one-off match against Australia’s Sydney FC in Sydney on November 27, Football Federation Australia said on Tuesday.
FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said assurances had been received from the Galaxy that Beckham would play in the match, or that the match would be rescheduled if the former England captain was injured or unavailable.