Bill Simons
Indian Wells
A POODLE WITH SHADES ON A MOTORCYCLE: You know you’re in the Coachella Valley when, as you drive off in the morning to a beautiful tennis stadium, there are stunning snow-capped mountains on the horizon and in front of you is a motorcyclist in a black biker outfit driving a burgundy Harley-Davidson with a white standard poodle in the sidecar. And – get this – the poodle is wearing sunglasses.
MURRAY BY THE NUMBERS: Andy Murray got crushed in the first set of his first-round match against Japan’s Taro Daniel and was down a break in the third. But one of the greatest competitors in tennis history battled back to win. Steve Weissman said, “We have to come up with words to say what Andy Murray does on a tennis court.” But that’s too hard for us, so we decided to look at Murray’s numbers.
0 – Amount of prize money he will pocket for the rest of the year. He’s giving it all to a UN fund for kids in Ukraine. Number of Southern California tourneys he’s won.
1 – Number of his own hips he has…Highest ever ranking…Number of year-end championships he’s won…Number of women coaches he’s had (Amelie Mauresmo)…Number of times he’s reached the Indian Wells final (2009).
2 – Number of Wimbledon Championships, Olympic golds and San Jose ATP titles he’s won…Number of hip surgeries he’s had…Birth order in his tennis happy family, behind his brother Jamie.
3 – Number of majors he’s won…Number of times he’s been with his current coach Ivan Lendl…Number of times he’s been on the cover of Inside Tennis
4 – Andy has four children, he has the fourth most wins of all active players, and he is No. 4 on the list of all-time prize money winners.
5 – Number of years it took him to get from 600 to 700 tour wins.
9 – Matches won in 2022.
13 – Depending how you count, the number of coaches Andy has had in his career.
14 – ATP Masters titles won.
17 – Number of students and teachers killed in a massacre at Andy’s school when he was in fifth grade.
18 – Andy has the 18th most wins in the Open era.
34 – Andy’s age.
41 – Weeks at No. 1.
46 – Career titles.
77 – Years it took a Brit to win Wimbledon again (Andy won in 2013, Fred Perry won in 1936).
84 – Current ranking.
104 – Years it took a Brit to win an Olympics gold in tennis (Josiah Ritchie won in 1908, Murray won in 2012).
$611 – Cost per night of a suite in the luxury Cromlix House in Scotland, which Andy owns.
700 – Andy’s career wins.
$62,540,988 – Prize money he’s won
$165,000,000 – Murray’s net worth
Countless – The tears he shed after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Federer…The pain he’s experienced overcoming all his injuries…The joy he’s brought to millions.
KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS: Andy Murray likes his kids to call him Daddy. But he confided that his older daughter, six-year-old Sophia, understands he’s a celebrity and loves to tease him by calling him Andy Murray. “She knows it winds me up,” joked Sir Andrew.
WE ALL REMEMBER THAT ONE – RIGHT? Andy Murray said his most perfect match came against Finland’s Jarko Nieminen in the second round of the 2007 Canadian Open.
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT BRITISH PLAYERS: Winston Churchill said, “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.” American reporters love to cover British players because of all the wonderful differences in American and British English. To Brits, injuries are niggles, a warm-up is a knock up. Emma Raducanu said she couldn’t believe how her American agent called out to her time and again in Australia, “C’mon, baby!” She added, “I love how positive and fun the American people are.”
THE SECRETS OF GARBINE MUGURUZA: Yesterday, American Shelby Rogers came back from being down 5-1 in the final set to beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz. But after she lost the first nine games of her match vs. No. 8 seed Garbine Muguruza, almost everyone assumed Alison Riske was toast. “After the first set,” the 31-year-old American with the flat shots admitted, “it literally couldn’t get any worse. I couldn’t get the ball in the court.” Then she stormed back, winning 12 of the next 13 games. “The wind may be calm on the court, but there is nothing calm about the scoreline,” said Pam Shriver. “Never in a million years did I expect Riske to be in this position.”
After Riske prevailed 0-6, 3-6, 6-1, scoring her third straight win over the Spaniard and her first top ten win in three years, announcer Andrew Krasny observed, “What just happened out here…This was one of the most incredible upsets we’ve seen in a long time.” Paul Annacone added, “That was just a head scratcher.”
Riske is 3-0 versus Muguruza. When a reporter asked her if she felt the Spaniard was susceptible to collapses, Riske hemmed and hawed. Twice she replied, “That’s a good question.” Then she confided, “I don’t want to go into it too much and give you my secrets about Garbine Muguruzu.”
STILL MY PARENTS’ KID: Coco Gauff, who beat LA’s Claire Liu tonight, will turn 18 on March 13. She said after that there’ll be “no more having to have my parents fill out my documents – so I’m excited for that. [But] I’m still going to be my parents’ kid.” Gauff added that the best thing about her years on tour has been not the results, but being a role model for kids.
RESULTS WE NOTED: American veterans John Isner and Jack Sock won their first-round doubles match over the No. 1 seeded Croatian team of Nicola Mektic and Mate Pavic 7-6(2), 3-6, 10-7…After downing Aratxa Rus, 20-year-old Katie Volynet fell to Russian Daria Kasatkia 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
A SNEAKY DRY SENSE OF HUMOR: On the Tennis Channel, the Bryan Brothers said that Andy Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl was “a mean guy…He can be intimidating to a lot of guys.” Brett Huber lightened the moment, adding, “He has a sneaky dry sense of humor.”
HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Osaka Blows Stephens Away on a Windy Day.
