Delray Beach ITC
The independently-owned ATP event ramps up the promotions with the VolleyGirls, fans sitting in a Porsche on the court and more, and the brains behind the PR.
BY RICHARD VACH

1. Roger FEDERER
What was with that fifth set in the final, playing like a whuss? Time to get a coach, get the killer instinct back and get Rafa out of your head.

“I aggravated it pretty bad at the Open and only made things worse,” said the left-handed Bob, who received a cortisone shot prior to the US Open. “I knew if I wanted a chance to play the rest of this year, I had to shut it down now. I can’t even hit any balls.”

It may not have come in his preferred event, but in his third try Roger Federer finally has his Olympic gold medal.

Ginepri opens against world No. 3 Novak Djokovic, while Querrey has two winnable matches before a potential third-round meeting against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Blake, the No. 8 seed, opens against big-serving Aussie Chris Guccione, and hopes to make a quarterfinal meeting against world No. 1 Roger Federer.

“Oh, I was angry,” said Sharapova, who was booed by fans upon rapidly exiting the stadium court. “I was angry for making unforced errors, for not taking some of those balls and just ripping them.”

Probably the two most important guys there (the wire writers) barely look up from their desks, let alone go out to watch tennis. I asked one of them when the last time he had seen a match. He thought he might have seen a few minutes of one in Miami but not one since. When asked “why do you need to even attend the events if you don’t watch any of the tennis?” Answer: “For the quotes.”