U.S. OPEN NOTES : Was Becker’s Serve Really Underhanded?

Fourth-seeded Boris Becker defeated 13th-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-3, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Monday.

Early in the third set, Becker did something that can be considered highly insulting--he served underhanded to his opponent. To do this during a match he was easily winning, at a Grand Slam tournament, was highly questionable, but Becker said it was no big deal.

“He [Rosset] didn’t want to play anymore at 40-love,” Becker said. “So I served underhand and I thought I won the game, but then Marc didn’t react. Neither did the umpire, so I had to serve all over again. Of course, I made a double-fault.”

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Becker says he has a strict rule against talking about anything other than tennis, a rule he breaks should he feel like it. Monday he chose to give advice about career longevity.

“If you want to stick around very long and enjoy your sport, you’ve got to somehow squeeze in a life after, off the tennis court,” Becker said. “In my case, I found a woman and we started a family and all that. That has taken away a little bit from tennis for six months, sometimes up to a year, but it is very important for me to do that in order to have a base. That allows me to continue to play tennis at a high level. If I wouldn’t have started that, let’s say two or three years ago, I don’t think I would still be playing tennis, because tennis is not the most important thing in my life. It is my wife and my son.”

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Monica Seles is truly a little wacky. It’s endearing.

She showed up on court Monday with the fingernails on her right hand each painted a different color. The nails on her left hand remained unpainted.

Seles said a representative from a nail polish company left samples for her at her hotel. She had nothing better to do Sunday night, she said, so she painted her right hand. Being left-handed, Seles said she didn’t have the skill to paint her left hand.

But why didn’t she take the the polish off before her nationally televised match?

“Because I don’t wear nail polish, I didn’t bring any nail polish remover,” Seles said.