love in the air
Novak Djokovic took a break from his tennis match on Saturday to applaud a marriage proposal in the stands. “It’s nice to see this moment,” Djokovic said, after advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open. “I’m sure he was very happy when she said yes.”
At the end of the second set, Djokovic and his opponent, Fernando Verdasco, were seated on their benches when a stir erupted in the crowd at Rod laver Arena. The capacity crowd of 15,000 watched on giant courtside screens as a man offered the woman beside him a ring, and she said yes. The crowd applauded, as did Djokovic from his courtside chair.
He later said it wasn’t the first marriage proposal to occur during one of his matches.
“I think it happened maybe once prior to this match in my whole career that someone proposed,” he said.
“It’s one of these moments you remember forever. Not just for them, but for everybody who was there.”
COURTSIDE CORRECTION
Do not call Victoria Azarenka (in pic) — Vicky. After winning her third-round match at the Australian Open, Azarenka seized the opportunity to correct her fans.
“I love playing in front of you guys,” Azarenka said into the microphone during her on-court interview.
“One thing I don’t know (is) why everybody keeps calling me Vicky, but Vicky is not my name,” said the two-time Australian Open champion. “It’s Vika, Victoria, V, those are goes. Vicky is not my name.”
The crowd laughed and applauded, and one lone voice was heard shouting out “Vicky!!” A word to Azarenka about the local vernacular: In Australia, where just about everyone and everything has a nickname, Victorias are often known as Vicky.
OUCH
The ball boy is standing at attention, hands behind his back, when along comes a speeding serve by Feliciano lopez. OUCH, and the boy doubles over. A video making the rounds on YouTube has made the boy a minor celebrity, lopez said after winning his third-round match Saturday, two days after the incident.
“He became very famous with his mates at school. Everybody was watching the video,” lopez said.
The ball-boy was hit in the groin during lopez’s second-round match. During his day off between rounds, lopez went to find him, bearing gifts.
“I just wanted to apologize and to make him happy for a while,” he said. “I gave him a T-shirt and a wristband from the match.”
lopez said the ball boy recovered quickly after some time.