As The Ball Bounces August 1 2013

by Savannah

This is a post about nothing in particular. Just stuff going on in the wonderful world of tennis. I mean in a week where Stefan "Redfoo" Gordy and Victoria Azarenka went totally public withe their feelings for each other and Andy Roddick is telling people to stop dragging Caroline Wozniacki and her golfer why not? Was it about two weeks ago that Patrick Mouratoglou was posting fuzzy pics of him with Serena Williams in the background after she won Båstad? As that eminent philosopher Bugs Bunny once said "Ain't love grand?"

Then again the poor guy who married Martina Hingis thinking it was twu wuv found out it may be twu luv but a girl gets bored. I mean she married him so he had to be able to scratch her itch at one point right? Maybe it's just a phase for Ms Hingis. Tennis players don't really have lives during their teen years so what did he expect? I'm sure she loves him in some way shape or form. Girls just wanna have fun.

Speaking of Ms Hingis I have a question. I thought you got inducted into the Hall of Fame when your career was done, when you might play an exho here or there but really main draw like stuff is not in the cards.

I find it odd that she's going to play doubles and might accept a wild card into singles after the US Open.

Anyone notice how many seeded players are being upset this week? Boy those under dogs are having a great summer aren't they? No one thinks for a minute that The Rogers Cup in Canada or the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati have anything to do with these odd losses. Nope. Fans are getting to see just how deep the tours really are.

But wait the fans aren't getting to see how deep the tours are because the cameras are off in US Open Series tournaments until Thursday or Friday. I forget which and I don't care. It would be nice to see some of the lower ranked players getting a chance to shine but I guess fans will just have to wait until the cameras go on. Can't have live streams showing such high quality play can we? Damn fans will get to watch when the TD's and US networks want them to see play. That's the trouble with tennis fans. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. It's not like players or their camps do that right? What's wrong with seeing just the semifinal and final of a tournament? With any luck one of the players will be an American and all the talk about the decline of US tennis will stop.

In this era of players with public images that have become somewhat boring it's nice when someone who should know better pops off isn't it? It can only help your son's popularity if you go public with your opinion that he's being picked on by the mean guys. Everyone will feel sorry for him and like him better right? I get it. So what's everyone all upset about? a parent popping off about how his grown child is being bullied is a gold mine. Just think about it. It's almost as good as the mother of a player going on about one of her sons peers being delicious.

The US Open released its prize money levels yesterday. If you're still trying to figure out if you can afford to step foot on the grounds of the National Tennis Center here's what your faves will be making:

Winner: $2.6 million (a 37% increase)
Runner-up: $1.3 million (a 37% increase)
Semifinalist: $650,000 (a 37% increase)
Quarterfinalist: $325,000 (a 37% increase)
Round of 16: $165,000 (a 38% increase)
Round of 32: $93,000 (a 43% increase)
Round of 64: $53,000 (a 43% increase)
Round of 128: $32,000 (a 39% increase)

Thanks to the ATP Players Association shaming the Slams into spreading some of the wealth around lower ranked players of both tours will at least get a decent pay day. It's a big deal for players to get their air fare, maybe work with a coach, and get gear to play what for many will be one round of tennis.

A lot of people were surprised that Sloane Stephens, ranked #15 in the world, was relegated to the second court at the Citiopen in Washington DC while Melanie Oudin, ranked #123 and Christina McHale, ranked #70, played on the Stadium/Main Court. Surprisingly it was Oudin who won her first round match.

There is one thing that is still bothering me though. Why is the tennis media so excited about Hingis possibly playing singles again? It didn't work that well for her the last time did it? And with her soul sister Agniezska Radwanska getting taken out by Dominika Cibulkova I don't know why they're so excited.