Tennis Chatter

The Australian Open will be next week and I am sure it will generate a blast of smorgasbord stories. So before a wave of the famous Australian heat comes aburning, let us digress as early as now to other quirky matters.

Let’s talk about hair.

Last year, Britain’s number one player and currently no. 15 in the world rankings Andy Murray could not seem to make up his mind about a change of hairstyle. He admitted that his personal barber for a long time was either his girlfriend or himself…using nail scissors. That explains a lot.

So he passed the buck to his fans via a hair poll on his website. Sweet, isn’t it? Yeah, I thought so. I mean, once in a while the famous do have the temerity to ask ordinary mortals for help, right? What can you do? It’s a symbiotic world. He even shared matter-of-factly in one interview, “I never brush it when I get up in the morning, and I never put any products in it. I do wash it, though.” Well, that would do, Andy.

Eventually he had his thick unruly mop snipped for a good cause partly by DJ Scott Mills. The £10,000 raised went to Children in Need, an annual British charity organized by BBC.

Hmmm…what’s next? Dental bleaching?

On the other hand, Belgium’s Xavier Malisse scored some points last week. First, he focused on his focus problem which often was a thorn on his road to reaching his full potential. No reported tempers rising happened, another major point. He won his second ATP title in Chennai against Austria’s Stefan Koubek 6-1, 6-3 although the surprise of the week was snatching a feather for his professional cap from the much disappointed world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals (Rafael, you are slipping in all surfaces but clay). He also won the doubles title with compatriot Dick Norman against, what do you know, Rafael Nadal and fellow Spaniard Bartolome Salva-Vidal! Xavier’s only title came at Delray Beach in 2005. Minor point: he was once linked to Jennifer Capriati.

Going back to the hair, last year I found this tennis player’s mane disturbing…and painful! Ouch! It was like a homemade facelift exercise. HAIRY-ble!

Good thing the ponytail went kaput this year. That was not a lucky charm at all. Let’s face the fact that Federer Jr. is not yet born. Xavier’s good looks now shine clearer and his confidence is obviously off to a good start.