Fashion don'ts

Let me begin by saying I'm a fan of Bethanie Mattek-Sands, so what follows is puzzlement rather than criticism. So, totally superficial but Mattek-Sands was sporting a very weird look today when she played doubles with Nadia Petrova. After losing the first set, the two bested Alla Kudryavtseva and Tatiana Poutchek in a 10-point tiebreak.

But back to Mattek-Sands' duds. I'm mystified by the combo of the knee socks (so '70s) and the baby-doll frock. While the look is weird, the net result (at least today) was a win, so who am I to carp?

The beginning of a Stanford sojourn

Am spending the entire week at the Bank of the West Classic tournament at Stanford University in what I'm calling a modified staycation. Thanks to my generous friends, Fernando and Charles, who live in Menlo Park, I have nearby lodgings, so I don't have to drive back and forth between Oakland and Palo Alto each day.

By the by, I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on tickets to the tournament. I'm volunteering. Work a 4-hour shift, get a ticket to watch another session. Pretty cool.

The tournament has its best draw in years (and this is its 39th year) including Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, and Nadia Petrova (she lost today to Sharapova).

Seeing tennis in person differs qualitatively from the TV experience. Aside from the fact that TV does indeed add 10 lbs., it's hard to appreciate the physicality of the players onscreen. In person, however, the players' fitness and prowess is oh so evident.

Case in point: Ms. S. Williams, who looks extremely slim and powerful in person.