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THE
SCOOP: MONDAY, DECEMBER 10
Serena
& Venus: carrying the torch to Salt Lake City:
Hewitt
changes coaches for 2002
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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It
was early Saturday morning, December 8, when sisters Venus and
Serena Williams became one of the 11,500 Olympic torch runners
that will carry the flame throughout the United States en route
to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Ace
photographer Fred Mullane caught up with the Olympian siblings
– Venus is the reigning singles gold medallist and the two
are the reigning doubles gold medallists from the 2000 Sydney
Games – as each one did their two-tenths of a mile run with
the three-pound Olympic torch in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Younger
sister Serena appropriately picked up the torch in front of Saks
Fifth Avenue at the Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale. After all,
Serena is an admitted shopaholic and after she handed the torch
over to sister Venus, it wouldn’t be surprising if she backtracked
the two-tenths of a mile to make a purchase or two. The turnover
between the two siblings came on a drawbridge over the Intercoastal
Waterway on Sunrise Boulevard and Venus jogged off to A1A by the
Atlantic Ocean.
Joining
Venus and Serena to share the moment was their father Richard
aboard his Harley Davidson. The atypically camera shy Richard,
perched on his bike, asked not to be photographed as he watched
his daughters’ perform the honorable task of Olympic torch
carrier.
The
Olympic torch arrived in the United States from Greece on December
4 and will be part of a 65-day event around the country before
it arrives in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8. It will travel 13,500
miles by a variety of ways including foot, air, train, ship, dogsled,
snowmobile and horse-drawn carriage. Only four states – Minnesota,
North Dakota, South Dakota and Hawaii – will fail to have
the torch travel through their borders on its way to Salt Lake
City.
HEWITT
CHANGES COACHES FOR 2002
World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt will be working with Jason Stoltenberg
for the 2002 season, ending a four-year relationship with Darren
Cahill. The change came as a surprise since it is Cahill who brought
Hewitt to his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open this year
and the world No. 1 ranking.
The
official word is that Cahill has tired of all the travel, but
many insiders believe Cahill has tired of Hewitt’s father,
Glynn, being too close to the coaching of his son. The elder Hewitt
is without a doubt an omnipresent figure in Lleyton’s life
and is involved in all aspects of his tennis life. The more mild-mannered
Stoltenberg, an Australian based in Orlando, Fl., will probably
deal with an interfering stage father without getting too crazed.
FERNANDEZ
AND GODSICK AWAIT NEW ARRIVAL
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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While
at Key Biscayne, IMG agent Tony Godsick, revealed that his wife,
former Grand Slam finalist Mary Joe Fernandez, was doing great
and keeping busy as she awaited the birth of their first child
due on the 15th of this month. In fact, Fernandez was out doing
a photo shoot last Tuesday and lunching with former coach, Harold
Solomon, on Saturday. Godsick sasid they are a couple doing the
“Having a Baby” the old-fashioned way and have no idea
if a little boy or girl is on the way. The couple will be spending
the next few months at their South Florida home before taking
up residence in Cleveland where Godsick works out of IMG’s
main headquarters.
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