[gernica]

TALES FROM THE TRANSPO DESK: PART 5

ARE WE CALLING HIM POODLE OR ZOOLANDER?

Peter McNamara is Grigor Dimitrov’s coach and he remains amazingly thin and unnaturally blonde for his age. He also loves tight, white t-shirts, and strides about with a puffed chest and a regal posture. Since the transpo desk is right next to the main practice court, we get a great look at most of the practice sessions (Gulbis and Baghdatis had an amazingly competitive one). Grigor would warm up by lazily jogging around the court, while McNamara commenced his own warm-up routine – striking poses that can be best described as an amalgamation of yoga and calisthenics. Watching his poetry in slow motion, little doubt was left that he must have appeared in Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi documentary Olympia. (See link below starting at the 5:20 mark) He carried himself with such vanity that we really couldn’t decide between nicknaming him Poodle or Zoolander. Ultimately we settled on the former since he very much resembled a manicured French doggie.




Needless to say, both Tursunov and Dimitrov were in stitches when I revealed our beloved nickname for McNamara.

As for Dimitrov and Dmitry, they are virtually inseparable and very much share an older/younger brotherly bond. Seeing them interact, it would be easy to refer to one of them as a ying to the other’s yang, but their relationship doesn’t necessarily conform to conventional wisdom. For example, Grigor is the younger one but very much winds up playing the part of the older, more mature sibling. Yet at the same time he easily wastes money and has the temperament of any 20-year-old. He especially enjoys cursing, and although uttering profanities can be an art form (see David Mamet dialogue), Grigor right now just comes across as vulgar. When Tursunov wanted to stop and pick up burgers from a hole in the wall joint, it was Grigor who expressed an athlete’s concern for their health yet Tursunov being the older one, paid for lunch. Observing the two together, it is difficult to place one’s finger on exactly what keeps their bond so strong, but certainly the two of them fill a deep need in each other. They are inseparable – scheduling rides together, practicing only with one another, playing doubles together, and spending all their off-court time together. One wonders if such an intensely close relationship has an expiration date, but for now the bromance is full throttle intense, and you have to be happy for them.

As for Dimitrov’s physical appearance, he appears particularly lithe, even for a tennis player. I believe he simply may be too thin right now and could stand to add 10-15% muscle to his frame in order to give his shots more weight.

There was one particularly attractive female driver on our staff and it seems half the players wanted to get to “know her better”. Leaving for the airport, Grigor specifically asked for her but she was not on duty so I had the honor. Arriving at the hotel, in my deepest manly voice, I greeted Grigor by saying, “Hi, I’m Stacey”. Instantly Grigor blushed and turned into an insecure twenty year-old, even going so far as to disavow any interest in Stacey.

As for Tursunov, his mind does race a mile a minute – never missing an opportunity for a quick quip, and is both hilarious and exhausting at the same time. When you are initially around him, it is fun to laugh at his quick wit, but after a while it does just becomes too much. Grigor pretty much tunes him out and by the end, I was doing much the same.

With his constantly racing mind, it is no wonder Tursunov remains an erratic player. To make matters worse, he gets frustrated quite easily, even in practice. It is quite bewildering to see him routinely smack the ball as hard as he could towards the back fence – all because he made an error during practice. I’m sure he finds it difficult to harness the will and concentration to win a given match, let alone for an entire tournament, and this is why I think many times Dimitrov winds up playing the role of the older, more mature sibling.

One last tidbit on Dimitrov: When players schedule pick-ups at the airport, we ask for a cell phone number so the drivers can call them when circling the airport. Dimitrov’s agent refused to give up his digits, fearing they could fall into the wrong hands – I’m thinking his non-existent rabid female fans in the US. Clearly the agent thinks Dimitrov is a bigger star than he actually is, yet another sign of how players who have yet to accomplish anything have inflated worth of themselves.


THE PACKAGE HAS ARRIVED

Djokovic arrived in LA unexpectedly, and of course promptly wanted to use tournament resources while in town to do some promotion work unrelated the tournament. (Leno, Conan) for the week. If he was going to be in LA anyway, it would have been nice if he had played, especially since he pulled out at the absolute last moment last year. You will never guess why he pulled out last year – keep reading for the answer.

Initially very few people (even within the tournament) knew he was in town and he was promptly nicknamed The Package by the transpo department. To keep his presence low-key, he chose to practice away from the tournament site, where the qualies courts are located. Most of the time there was absolutely on one watching the #1 player in the world. even though he was practicing out in public. Most definitely a surreal experience.

Here is a photo of Novak practicing:



Here is a wide shot showing how many fans were watching.



Not sure which big-time celebrity is a Nole fan, but the house he was staying at was a routine stop on the “Homes of the Stars” tourist bus circuit.

Most players like to practice twice a day and Nole was no different. However, strangely enough, he did not practice with any of the players in the tournament but rather chose to hit with local juniors and former collegiate players. Very unusual.

During one particular practice, he chose to play two practice tiebreaks against a junior and promptly lost the first one. See how easy it is Rafa? Because of a pre-arranged bet, Nole then had to hit the cement and do ten push-ups. Of course he promptly beat the kid in the second tiebreak and made him do the requisite push-ups. What a memory this kid will have, having beaten the #1 player and the current Wimbledon champion in a practice tie-break! I will say this about Nole, his personality away from the cameras and the fans is not at all different than when everyone is “watching” him. He is very much happy go funny.

In more damning news, it was found out why he unexpectedly pulled out of the tournament last year. It was all because he was, drum roll please, yachting! Honestly, why does this guy make it so difficult to like him?


“HOW MUCH THIS CAR?”

Bellucci’s personality can be best described as a big fat zero. I was with him numerous times, but most of the time he remained quiet, and completely uninterested in his surroundings, even though this was the first time he has played LA. No he wasn’t shy, or the quiet type who opened up once he felt comfortable around you, he was just plain, old boring. When I told him to feel free to ask me questions, the only one he could muster was, “How much this car?”. Yeah, Tomaz, great question. What are you going to ask me about next? The home prices in Bel Air and Beverly Hills?