Comments on: FARMERS CLASSIC: STIFF MURRAY FIGHTS PAST BELOVED SMYCZEK, BLAKE POPULAR

By: Jake Willens

Jake Willens — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:43:24 +0000

Murray better win today to end his title drought!

By: MarK

MarK — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:12:27 +0000

That’s funny for those who know Slavic languages, because his last name means “bow” as in “violin bow” – смычок (smychok) in Russian. A guy with such last name MUST play violin.

By: Jake Willens

Jake Willens — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:53:17 +0000

I like Murray to win the US OPEN SERIES.

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:39:05 +0000

Hi MarK! I guess he is – at least that’s what it says in his ATP bio:

“Born and raised in Wisconsin, now resides in Tampa…Qualified into his first ATP main draw tournament in San Jose by winning eight qualifying matches (five pre-qualifying, three qualifying) before losing to Mardy Fish in the first round…Stayed in Fish’s house for a year…Plays the violin…Wants to be a lawyer when his tennis career is over…His coach Steve DeVries (California-Berkeley All-American) also made it through the pre-qualies and qualies in 1983 when he went on to play Ivan Lendl in the tournament’s first round.”

By: lk28

lk28 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:02:57 +0000

The LA tournament sounds like so much fun!
For all those in the DC area, we have our own chance to watch some of the top players next week (although not the top four) at the Legg-Mason tournament. The singles draw includes: Roddick, Querry, Isner, Berdych, Hewitt, Blake, Verdasco and Nalbandian.
So, come on down!

By: MarK

MarK — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:55:41 +0000

Sorry for asking, FF – i must have missed something – but why are you calling Tim Smyczek a violinist? Is he really? Or is it a joke based on his last name? Just wondering…

By: lorrie

lorrie — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:48:09 +0000

yup he should

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:10:55 +0000

Nice to see you, too! Now I’m kind of wishing I had a pair in the shape of tennis racquets. If only I had the address of the guy in Africa who made them. . .

By: judy

judy — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:06:53 +0000

uh he should!

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:46:35 +0000

Hi guys!

Thanks for reading, as always. Glad you liked the tidbits from L.A. – it’s a great tournament, in it’s own way.

I’ll get fritters to do a shot of the earrings – wonder if he’ll watermark it with the GTT logo

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:50:40 +0000

Great coverage and photos! But yes, we need the earrings, please!

I love James and I’m glad to get some news of him. And I like the guy behind Gavin Rossdale. Is he going to eat that big bag of popcorn all by himself?

By: Jake Willens

Jake Willens — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:43:55 +0000

Murray had better win this thing to get some confidence going for this summer.

By: alicemarble

alicemarble — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:37:55 +0000

OK, fritters, we need a shot of those earrings!

By: Erwin

Erwin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:46:28 +0000

Good to see you at the tennis last night! Funny: I woke up this morning and thought, “I should have taken a picture of her earrings!”

By: judy

judy — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:30:26 +0000

great job freaky team! i love when you’re covering a tourny in person. you’re like the dynamic duo of tennis reporting. why is there no pic of your earrings?!

i had the same caption in my mind for the gavin pic. maybe he will show up at the uso. he loves his tennis and his buddy rog.

i hope blake is having fun. he seemed to be in great spirits when i saw him play wtt. he’s such a great guy and it would be nice to see him do well this summer.