Miscellany

The U.S. Fed Cup team for the U.S.-Argentina contest next month has been announced. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez has selected Jill Craybas, Bethanie Mattek (who lives half an hour from the tournament site in Arizona), Melanie Oudin, and Liezel Huber. The Argentine team will be led by the talented but underachieving Gisela Dulko.

Melbourne Park is going to undergo a redevelopment that will costs hundreds of millions of dollars. Proposals for the project include putting a roof on the Margaret Court arena, and building a new Tennis Australia headquarters, better player facilities, better media facilities, and improved practice courts.

Billie Jean King would like for the WTA and the ATP to combine. That's her dream, nor mine, though I do appreciate the reasoning behind such a wish. King, by the way, is now going out of her way to correct what she implies is a faulty perception that her activism focuses on women's issues. God forbid.

Serena Williams recently revealed that, as a Jehovah's Witness, she has been spending some time going door-to-door on behalf of her religion. Can you imagine opening your door and seeing Serena standing there with The Watchtower in her hand?

On Monday, Wendy Turnbull was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame. A bronze statue of Turnbull will be placed in Garden Square at Melbourne Park.