Miscellany

To enjoy the U.S. Open even more, you can enter the Match of the Day contest Tennis Now is sponsoring. Predict the score of the featured U.S. Open match, and compete to win a $50 gift card from Tennis Express. And while you're at Tennis Now, you can also enter to win three nights and two days in Miami while you attend the Sony Ericsson Open in March.

There is so much wrong with the ideas promoted in this article in the New York Times, I don't know where to begin. Fortunately, I don't have to, because After Atalanta has said just about everything I want to say. I'm pleased that Gigi Fernandez has children, but the oppressive tone of her comments (passively promoted by the writer) is worrisome. She also seems to have been "shocked" by discovering fairly standard biological realities, and her cautionary message is far more judgmental and needlessly guilt-oriented than it is helpful. (Update: Fernandez has responded to the After Atlalanta post, further explaining some of the difficulties involved in her goal to have children. I respect what she went through, but the tone of the article is nevertheless one that reflects the usual "warnings" our culture gives to female athletes who dare to compete at a top level for more than a few years.)

Just another reminder that Unmatched will premiere on ESPN's "30 for 30" on Tuesday, September 14 at 8 p.m. EST. The documentary covers the rivalry between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, which is the greatest sports rivalry of all time. (Make sure you read The Rivals, too.)

I'm liking Sam Stosur's front-pleat purple Lacoste dress with the white trim. I also like the Addidas dress that Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic are wearing.

I can handle only a small portion of Andrea Petkovic's frenzied, and sometimes tangential, prose. But if you enjoy it, you should know that she's blogging for ESPN.

Lindsay Davenport says that the courts are too fast and the wind too strong for top seed Caroline Wozniacki to win the U.S. Open this year.

Now is a good time to get to know Mandy Minella.

"She was fire, and I was ice"

Congratulations to Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, who were inducted, as a pair, into the International Tennis Hall of Fame today. Fernandez and Zvereva won fourteen major titles, and numerous other titles and honors--almost too many to count. They also hold the second-longest major tournament doubles title streak in Open Era history.

Fernandez and Zvereva to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, who comprised one of the tour's greatest doubles teams, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July.

Fernandez and Zvereva won 38 titles together, including 14 majors. Fernandez won a total of 68 doubles titles, including 17 majors, three of which she won with Robin White, Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna. Zvereva won 84 doubles titles, including 18 majors, four of which she won with Larisa Savchenko (2), Pam Shriver and Martina Hingis. Zvereva also won the Australian Open mixed doubles championship twice.

Fernandez and Zvereva on ITHF nomination ballot

Of the twelve people who were recently announced as possible 2010 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees, two are very successful tour doubles players--Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, who appear on the list as a team.

Fernandez won 17 majors, including five consecutive French Open titles. She won a total of 68 career titles, and was ranked number 1 on four different occasions.

Zvereva won 18 majors in women's doubles, and won the Australian Open mixed doubles title twice. Zvereva was also ranked as high as 5 in the world in singles.

Fernandez and Zvereva won more major titles than any team in the open era except for Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.