Court Six: Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Gossip Column (March/April 2013)

April 22, 2013 | By Emilie Katz
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Kirilenko and the Great 8
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin and tennis star Maria Kirilenko, are planning to get married. The Washington Capitals forward and two-time NHL MVP took to Twitter and announced: "We are engaged !!!!!!! )))))))))" Ovechkin is 27 and Kirilenko is 25 and is currently ranked 15th in the WTA Women’s Singles Rankings and with doubles partner Lucie Hradeka, is ranked sixth in the world in Women’s Doubles.

 

 



 

Murray purchases hotel in Scotland
World number three Andy Murray has purchased a hotel near his hometown in Scotland. He plans to transform the Cromlix House Hotel into a 15-room, five-star property. The U.S. Open champ and Olympic Gold Medalist says he is “Pleased to be able to give something back to the community I grew up in.” The project is expected to be completed by 2014.



 

Tennis stars make a match
World number three Maria Sharapova is dating Bulgaria’s top player, Grigor Dimitrov. Speculation about the possible pairing began in November when Sharapova was first seen walking with Dimitrov and her team in Milan, where Sharapova was scheduled to play an exhibition.



A good boyfriend
Caroline Wozniacki’s kept her golf star boyfriend Rory McIlroy awake late into the night during her matches at the Australian Open. The former number one-ranked Wozniacki came back from 3-0 down in the final set to win the last six games of the match against big-hitting Lisicki 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. McIlroy got up at 3:00 a.m. to watch from Abu Dhabi, where he was preparing to play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championships. He was coming off a busy time himself after an announcement of a lucrative multi-year contract with Nike. Of course, the multimillion dollar golf contract became a topic of conversation.

“It wasn’t really a big surprise to me. I kind of knew,” Wozniacki said to laughter in her post-match press conference. “I felt bad for him because I think he went to bed at midnight their time and woke up at 3:00 and watched me and then back to sleep for a couple of hours … that’s a true fan.”



 

Stephens meets Ellen
After defeating Serena Williams at the Australian Open, young American Sloane Stephens has seen her celebrity status grow. The 19-year-old sat down with Ellen DeGeneres on "The Ellen Show" and the TV host presented her with a poster to put up in her bedroom, to replace the one of Serena Williams that she may or may not have truly had up before. Stephens also did a whirlwind tour of major media, talking to major outlets such as CNN and more.



 

Happy birthday down under
Rennae Stubbs presented a cake to Angelique Kerber after she defeated Madison Keys, and the Aussie Open crowd serenaded her with a "Happy Birthday" rendition kick-started by Stubbs herself. Kerber was unfortunately upended in the next round by Ekaterina Makarova, who fell to Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Laura Robson, turned all of 19 years young while in Melbourne. Robson defeated Melanie Oudin and then Petra Kvitova (11-9 in the third set, no less) before falling to American Sloane Stephens.



 

Ex-soccer star wants to coach del Potro
Former soccer star Diego Maradona, who is an ambassador for Dubai Sports Council and attended WTA matches in Dubai, joked that he will take charge of a fellow Argentine next week, when the ATP begins its tournament there. “Next week, I’ll be the one training [Juan Martin] del Potro myself," he told Gulf News. “I will ask Franco Davin to step aside and Diego will train del Potro.”



 

Tweets from the tennis pros
John Isner (@JohnIsner): Who’s gonna face the #Undertaker at #Wrestlemania this year? I say #Lesnar

Novak Djokovic ‏(@DjokerNole): Good day today! Celebrated with Brad Drewett and Roger Federer 40 years of the ATP rankings and rich tennis history. Proud to be part of it!

Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76): Finally back watching my second favorite sport live. It’s been too long @anahiemducks.

Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob): Always fun reconnecting with long time friend @TommyHaas13 He drinks from the Fountain of Youth!

Amer Delic (@AmerDelic): I was hoping #Oscars would honor Michael Jordan & #SpaceJam. After all, this is his birthday month. Seemed appropriate.

Mardy Fish (@MardyFish): My wife wants to meet Giuliana Rancic so badly. How can I make this happen?

Laura Robson (‏@laurarobson5): Guy on the treadmill next to me has sunglasses on. Not sure why as the gym has tinted windows and they’re falling down his face every 2 secs.

John Isner (@JohnIsner):@laurrranob: @JohnIsner I made it to my 21st birthday in Athens without getting arrested I’m pretty sure that deserves a retweet!” haha

Maria Kirilenko (@MKirilenko): We were playing pool and my opponent Monica hit the light ball instead of pool ball!

Kim Clijsters (@ClijstersKim): Hi everyone, we have some exiting news to tell you … Jada is going to be a big sister 🙂 ! Xxx Kim, Brian and Jada
 


Emilie Katz
Tennis Pro
USTA NTC
Pointset

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