Results tagged “nationaltenniscenter”

For those looking for WNBA news, today is a huge day. The WNBA draft took place -- one day after the college season ended -- and the league announced the Liberty will play the first outdoor game in the history of professional basketball. New York will play the Indiana Fever at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on July 19. Ashe Stadium, which has been the main stadium court of the U.S. Open since 1997, has never hosted an athletic event other than a tennis match.

Open tryouts for ball boys and ball girls at the U.S. Open was this Thursday at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. Anyone can show up and run the drills set by the USTA's Director of Ballpersons. The tryouts themselves have turned into a sort of perennial institution and even made their way into an episode of "Seinfeld", when Kramer became a ball boy. Nearly 400 candidates sprinted, threw, and otherwise exerted themselves at this year's tryouts. They were competing for 75 spots as rookie ballpersons. We have to wonder how many of the candidates were members of the press, with an eye towards writing about their tryout experiences.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Sands St. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off City Island in the Bronx, and a stabbing at 146th St. in Queens.
• The national press is focusing on possible candidates Hillary, Rudy, and Bloomy, and catches on to the obvious fact that has been evident for the last century in politics: the rest of the U.S. hates New Yorkers and especially hates New York City politicians.
• If you haven't heard of Florsheim Shoes, you're not really a New Yorker. The company and the family are back.
• A NJ schools superintendent calls "Yuck!" at two gay boys kissing in a high school yearbook. That is so totally gay.
• John Lennon's sons, Sean and Julian, hug and make up.
• Before we get all worked up about the U.N. and its diplomats, City Comptroller Bill Thompson would like to remind us that there are a lot of companies and organizations that owe the city millions in unpaid taxes, like the Cyclones baseball team, the Mets, Hyatt Hotels, and the National Tennis Center. Pay up deadbeats.
• An FDNY rescue worker swam to a man crying for help as he clung to a the underside of a pier at East 38th St. this morning. #1 request after the near-drowning man was rescued from the chilly East River: "I need water."
• Mike Bloomberg: Populist Mayor or Plutocrat Kingmaker?

Join Denise Landis, recipe tester for The New York Times, as she shares recipes and expertise from her newest cookbook, Dinner for Eight. Free tasting and book signing to follow the demonstration. Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street (between Broadway and University), 3 PM, free.

With the US Open heading to its climactic weekend, there have been some fun articles about the ball boys and girls at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Take the NY Times' US Open blog post about "Ballbabes": Male spectators seem to love some of the ladies wearing the Ralph Lauren designed outfits (sleeveless and short, while the ball boys get less revealing polo shirts and shorts) and boo when their favorites get rotated off the court. The Staten Island Advance chatted wtih four Island ball boys and girls, including Ronald Butts who has been a ball person for 18 years:

The New Brighton resident was working behind the baseline at the nationally televised 1996 men's single quarterfinal between Alex Corretja and a flu-ridden Pete Sampras.

Continue reading "By the Balls"

When he announced he would retire after the U.S. Open, Andre Agassi made himself the story until he is eliminated. That almost came sooner than fans -- or CBS and USA -- wanted. Agassi survived three tiebreaks and beat Andrei Pavel in four sets to advance to a second-round match against Marcos Baghdatis on Thursday. The 36-year-old could have given up when, after splitting the first two sets on tiebreakers, he fell behind 4-0 in the third set. But Agassi rallied, much to the delight of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, which was about as one-sided as can be imagined.

Joy for tennis fans around New York City as the US Open officially started today out in Flushing despite some unfriendly tennis weather. Fun outings (with outrageously priced food and drink) for the whole family! With first-round matches underway, one seeded player has already fallen. 19th seed Dominik Hrbaty lost to Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets in opening round play. Some other big names advanced without much resistance. In men's singles, Andy Roddick easily advanced in straight sets. Justine Henin-Hardenne also advanced easily in women's singles. Currently underway is what looks like a great match between Paradorn Srichaphan and Jose Acasuso. It looks mighty exciting from the live updates on our computer screen.

- And for this hot day, here's frozen pizza from Slice

This year, as was the case last year, the men's tournament has defending champion Roger Federer on one level and everyone else on the next. That Federer owns his two closest rivals, Lleyton Hewitt (2001 champion) of Australia and the American Andy Roddick (2003 champion), makes most of his matches predictable. The only player capapble of beating Federer when both play their best tennis is 2000 champion Marat Safin, but inconsitency has rocked his career.

It seems as though the incident was related to dehydration. Novak offered some insight into what happened, saying, "I took water and a towel, but for 20 to 30 seconds he was out. He woke up and was asking us: 'What's my name? Where am I?' I was really scared. I didn't know what to do."