Brian Baker, a comeback player who recently shot up the rankings and is dealing with much more publicity than before: “I’m looking at it as positive, knowing I must have done something right to be getting the attention. Things like this, where all the proceeds go to charity, I love doing, and I think a lot of us love doing, just to give back, because tennis has given us so much. You know, I’ve had to learn how to say ‘no’ a few times, but I’ve really been enjoying my time the last few months.
Mirjana Lucic, who made it back into the Top 100, agrees the glamorous side of tennis is a well-earned positive: “This part is always fun. Working hard and playing and doing the press conferences, that’s all part of it. But this is kind of more relaxed, and it’s really fun, especially since it has to do with cooking because that’s my passion, that’s something I really like. This is my kind of night.” She also loves New York, to an extent: “I don’t know if I could live here. It’s just crazy… crazy energy all day long.”
Sorana Cirstea loves New York, too: “I love New York, it’s my favorite city. I’ve been here on holidays two times already. The restaurants, shopping, Fifth Avenue, and the museums, the Soho area, the Library. There are so many things to do, you know, you can never get bored here.” If you’re looking to dine with the Romanian, you might find her at one of the Japanese or other Asian-cuisine restaurants in the city.
Janko Tipsarevic gave more specific directions: “There’s a small café across from my hotel, it’s called Duke… The thing that I love is that it’s open 24/7 and when we have late-night matches and we get to the hotel around 12 or 1 or 2, this is the place we have to go.” Tipsarevic told us the name of the hotel, but we’ll leave you to figure it out yourselves. When not eating among the New York’s late-night crowd, the World No. 9 seeks to feed his urges: “I’m a big fan of Indian food, so I am trying to hit every Indian restaurant.” He’ll risk it all for Indian food: “I try to avoid it a few days before the match, but I just can’t help myself.”
Here are some photos from the BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis. For more photos, CLICK HERE.
Photos by Mariya Konovalova
