Tennisweek.com

Tennis Stars Take Over NYC

By Valentine Uhovski

8/22/2008 4:11:00 PM

Tennis was once again an inescapable theme for virtually all New York events, as tennis stars made appearances in Tribeca, Midtown East and West and beyond.

And tennis loving New Yorkers seemed more excited about the sport hero sightings than ever. Early in the night, Jay Fielden  and Men’s Vogue hosted an event for James Blake to benefit the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Research Fund at Greenwich hotel. Musician John Mayer, Blake's former high school classmate from Fairfield, Conn., came by to show his support and Blake seemed to be consciously excited about being surrounded by all the editors.

"I have a lot of time on the airplanes, so Men’s Vogue is certainly on my reading list," he said. "But I have to say, it’s a little bit more pressure get dressed for an event like this. Normally I’m hanging out on the practice courts in t-shirts and jeans."

Speaking of practice courts and routines, Blake still chooses hotel beds instead of familiar homes while in the city.

"I still stay in the hotel, just to establish some sense of normalcy," he said. "Even though I have so many friends or family here. And I need a little rest from all that jetlag."

What about the biggest seeding news of this tournament?

"It’s weird for us, but it must be a lot weirder for Roger for him to be number 2," Blake pondered. "I mean he was on top of men’s rankings for four or five years but I guess there’s something new to look forward to this tournament."

After his own event Blake made his way to ninth annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis event at W hotel. The American star was the last man to try on the apron while Andy Roddick cooked up with Ingrid Hoffmann. Tomas Berdych,  Shahar Peer, Max Mirnyi , Tommy Haas, and Nicolas Kiefer served everything from short ribs to ice cream cones to gourmet buffalo wings to fans to benefit the Food Bank For New York City.

"I’ve been serving so much food, I haven’t actually tried what I’ve been giving out," laughed Peer.

Of course, they weren’t actually cooking. Chefs like John DeLucie of The Waverly Inn and Gotham Bar and Grill’s Alfred Portale did the kitchen work.

"I actually have a very mean forehand down the line," proudly noted Portale. "And even though I’m cooking with James tonight, I’m still waiting to my Open tickets."

As is the rest of New York.