WASHINGTON, May 14, 2020 (by Michael Dickens)
Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is a self-described foodie. The 22-year-old tennis star, born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother and now living and training in the United States, revealed in a Glamour interview this week that one of her favorite meals is simply “smoked salmon on a bagel.” Who knew?
With an extended time off tour during the Covid-19 shutdown of professional tennis, Osaka is savoring her time by developing her culinary skills. “When you’re on the road as much as I am, having the chance to be home and cook is really relaxing and comforting,” she told Glamour‘s Caitlin Brody.
Osaka has created a risotto dish she calls “RisottOsaka,” which she adapted after ordering different variations in restaurants during her time on tour. She describes her version as “a hearty meal.” Here’s how Osaka spins her version of it: “I love the texture of risotto … I added protein that you don’t normally find in risotto, changed up the cheese and I use sushi rice.”
Osaka suggests: “This is a good time to experiment and you can substitute items in this dish that you may have in the houes. You may have leftover steak or shrimp in the freezer, or you could add in chicken.”
Tennis champ @naomiosaka created this delicious risotto dish, which uses basic pantry staples. https://t.co/EAAzuOslVR
— Glamour (@glamourmag) May 11, 2020
Virtual concert for a good cause
As first reported by baseline.tennis.com, Kristie Ahn, who has become a Tik-Tok performance artist during her downtime from playing tennis, and fellow American player Louisa Chirico, both New York natives, are helping raise money for Chef José Andés’ World Central Kitchen and its Covid-19 relief efforts by putting on “virtual concerts” for four weeks. The pair are randomly picking one song to record each week from requests submitted by listeners who donate to the campaign.
The first-week song picked was Coldplay’s 2000 mega-hit “Yellow.” The at-home duet featured Ahn on guitar and Chirico singing the lead vocal that was made famous by Chris Martin.
As of this writing, the duo has raised nearly $1,000 since starting their GoFundMe page on May 1.
“We wanted to pick an organization that would impact as many people as possible. WCK supports small businesses while also feeding those most in need: food-insecure families, seniors, healthcare workers,” Ahn and Chirico wrote on their GoFundMe page.
Music to Feed wk 1 cover: Yellow by Coldplay, requested by Courtney @FortyDeuceTwits. Reminder that proceeds for our fundraiser go to World Central Kitchen for COVID19 Relief.
3 weeks left to make a donation/request a song! Link in bio. @Louisa_Chirico https://t.co/6qmpFljT2M— Kristie Ahn (@kristieahn) May 11, 2020
Interview with an umpire
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Victoria Chiesa, a feature writer for the WTA Tour website, has seized the opportunity to write some interesting and informative profiles of WTA chair umpires. Her latest, about Miri Bley, a native of Würzburg, Germany, debuted this week. As Chiesa tweeted: “In Germany’s decorated tennis history, never before had a 🇩🇪 woman attained gold badge status as a chair umpire. Enter Miri Bley. But has making history changed her life? Not really. ‘My friends still think I’m going on holidays all the time!’”
“They’d just said that for the chair umpire test that I had to come and do a practical — so I went. I passed, and I was basically in the right place at the right time.”
Interview with an umpire: Miriam Bley –> https://t.co/Wy5b1J5zKV pic.twitter.com/zt7baegfud
— wta (@WTA) May 12, 2020
Behind The Racquet – Coco Gauff
Last year was a breakout one for teen sensation Coco Gauff. It began with her first-round upset of Venus Williams at Wimbledon and took off from there. By October, she lifted her first WTA singles title at Linz, Austria, after winning her first doubles crown at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. Gauff, who was age 15 when she achieved her 2019 success, combined great maturity with physical talent on the court. In a recent essay for the Instagram series Behind The Racquet, as she explained: “Everyone asks me how I stay calm on court and I think it’s because I accepted who I am after overcoming low points in my life. Now, when I’m on court, I am just really thankful to be out there. Personally for me, I like playing for more than myself. One of the biggest things is to continue breaking barriers.”
What they’re sharing on social media
ATP Challenger Tour / Lockdown life with Arthur Rinderknech
What has daily life been like for players? What are they doing to pass the time?
2020 wins leader @arthurrinder describes his mother’s COVID-19 diagnosis and how he has turned to baking, drawing and watching #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/OxNUDWST0B
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 13, 2020
Kristina Mladenovic / Back on the court again
2 months later , we meet again 🎾🥰 #thatfeeling pic.twitter.com/hWaAz12xZ2
— Kristina Mladenovic (@KikiMladenovic) May 13, 2020
Dayana Yastremska / Debuts a new single
