Everyone knows that Rafael Nadal loves California Rolls. But do you understand the complexity behind Andy Murray’s fascination with fatty tuna Hosomaki? I expect not, but that’s alright, because you obviously understand nearly every player’s fascination with sushi. Indeed there is something curious about the world’s greatest tennis players and their love for raw fish. Is it the Omega-3? Perhaps they simply enjoy their aquatic treats fresh from the salty waters from which we were all birthed? No, it must be that they see in the sushi what they see in tennis: purity; a complex balance between delicacy and force; and, of course, beauty. 

 
Andy Roddick gives sushi a double thumbs up.

Regardless of what has driven tennis players to love sushi, all we know is that many of them do. Players Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Justine Henin, and John McEnroe are all known to take a break from beating competitors and snack on sushi. And what are their favorite rolls? Confidentiality agreements limit that information’s disclosure, but sources are rampant with rumors.

 

Roger Federer: Salmon skin and sweet cucumber rolls. Everyone knows that Roger

has a sweet tooth, not to mention a love for crisp fish skin, right? Obvious choice. Reportedly, Tennis Express’ owners Sean and Brad took Roger and his wife out for their first (of many) sushi experiences.

Ana Ivanovic: The Serbian curiously loves the westernized Philadelphia Roll, which     

contains smoked salmon, cucumbers, onions and cream cheese. What’s next, barbeque sauce? Count me out.

Stanislas Wawrinka:  The Swiss man likes his tennis tough and his sushi crisp, which

is exactly why the pro loves the Crispy California. Take a California Roll, lightly bread it with tempura batter and fry. While this doesn’t sound even remotely like sushi to this humble writer, the pot shan’t call the kettle black.

Justine Henin: I would expect the Belgian to fill up on frites and mussels, but this star

reportedly love the Spider Roll – a sushi roll filled with fried soft shell crab, cucumber, daikon sprouts, avocado, and spicy mayo. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this lady loves her sushi with the fiercest of all sea-floor dwelling beasts.

John McEnroe: Last but not least, this larger-than-life tennis celebrity loves L.A.’s Yatta

Truck’s Cheeseburger Rolls. Before you bring your desk-side trashcan up for a quick vomit, this interesting roll is filled with cooked beef and melted cheese. You cannot be serious!

 

If you’re in New York for the 2010 US Open, I recommend checking these sushi places out as soon as possible: Nobu lives up to its hype on Hudson Street, free sake at Azuki Sushi on Park Avenue, and the authentic Sasabune on 73^rd.

 

But try not staring at all the pros. Please.

 

For starters, did you hear the recent news that tennis star sisters Serena and Venus Williams are the newest celebrities to invest in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins? The two sisters have become the first female African-American investors in the history of the National Football League. They join the ranks of A-list celebrity investors like Marc Anthony, both Gloria and Emilio Esteban, and Jennifer Lopez. Perhaps now everyone will quit talking about that Pet Detective movie’s Flipper robbery and move on.

 

Did you know that Maria Sharapova is an avid hip-hop dancer, has been promoting the 2014 Winter (read: no tennis) Olympics in Russia and had/is/will dated/dates/will date Laker’s Slovenian basketballer Sasha Vujacic? Probably not, unless you read the “personal” section under her Wikipedia, as I quite recently did. 

 

Belgian Kim Clijsters is the daughter of a soccer player and a gymnast and is married to a former professional basketball player. This sounds remotely like selective breeding to gain a competitive edge for future generations of Clijsters, but whatever.

 

Martina Hingis knows her way around both the pitch and the links as she has dated both a soccer player and a golfer. Selective breeding, once again? Let’s not get repetitive.

 

Lleyton Hewitt is an avid Australian rules’ Adelaide Crows. For those of you not in the know, Australian rules football is like a mixture between rugby, football, soccer and cricket.   Or was it street hockey, polo, diving and speed-painting? I can’t remember…

 

Ana Ivanovic has been known to play basketball with her younger Milos and is involved with Adam Scott, an Australian golfer. I hear that Ana gets Milos all the way to H-O-R-S, but loses every time.

 

Billie Jean King’s younger brother, Randy, was a professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, the Houston Astros, and the Toronto Blue Jays. However, only one of those clubs has ever won a pennant (at least in their current configuration). Billie, on the other hand, has won 12 Grand Slam Singles titles, 16 Grand Slam Women’s titles, and 11 Grand Slam Mixed titles. American pastime, huh?

 

Likewise, Andy Roddick is dating Brooklyn Decker. Don’t dare tell me that modeling isn’t a sport or that a tennis player’s romantic relationship with a bikini model doesn’t fall under the broad category of “inter-sports involvement”, because it is and it does. Roddick is married to a woman who encompasses the passion and fervor of a magazine wholly dedicated to sports of any and all varieties. Looking at it this way, Roddick is deeply involved in cricket, basketball, baseball, competitive swimming, track, badminton, racquetball, golf, bicycling, skateboarding, ice hockey, football (American and other), bowling, boxing, race car driving, rugby, bull riding, gymnastics, horse jumping, lacrosse, field hockey, ultimate frisbee, and a slew of other sports I wouldn’t want to bore you with. Let this be heard here first: Roddick is the GREATEST supporter of sports ever.

 

I understand that these sports might be near and dear to these athlete’s hearts, but please write them – every single last one of them – to tell them to never forget about the sport that reared and loves them. And sign it with your blood. Tennis for life.

 

Serena and Venus Williams, the super-star sisters of professional tennis are afraid of things too. No, it’s not you and your new racket or that serve you’ve been working on (theirs are better), but it’s something totally irrational and something super wacky: horror movies. These sisters reportedly get scared when they watch them, which is completely surprising and all together illogical. When I watch horror movies, I sit alone, stone-faced and unwavering. Grow up, girls – you’re scared of child’s play.

 

Famously, Andre Aggasi has a fear of hair. Only kidding! Aggasi has a severe case of arachnophobia. The tennis great’s fear of spiders is one of the more common types of phobias and limits his visits to local prisons and abandoned barns. He began his racquet training early, crushing hobo spiders and punishing black widows. I guess it has served him well.

 

Andy Roddick, the supermodel-marrying tennis millionaire has something by the name of Leporiphobia, or the fear of large bunnies. Not large like radioactively mutated, but large like a stranger wearing a bunny costume. This is completely understandable and not at all weird. Strangers attempting to hide their identities pose as serious threats for personal safety and security. Consider this: a stranger wearing a full body suit of questionable fur approaches you. The creature’s eyes are glossy and resemble the color of freshly drawn blood. A damped voice bellows from within the suit, asking if you may be interested in a small piece of brand-less and unwrapped candy. As you look up from the creature’s stained and lifeless paws, you notice that the beast’s head is not only unproportionally large, but crooked. It is as though the swine’s giant head had been sawed off and sewn back on. Your hands begin sweating and your legs tremble. You attempt to run, but you have become crippled with the thought that this giant, mutant rabbit will be the last thing your eyes ever lay themselves upon. As the sky fades to black and the heavens turn to flames, you feel droplets of…is that blood?

 

Andy Roddick was so, so right. Never doubt A-Rod.