Courtside

Name of the game

Basketball fans might have done a double take looking at the Australian Open schedule on Sunday: Matthew Dellavedova was playing his first-round match on Court 7.

It wasn't the Australian-born NBA player, though. It was his 16-year-old cousin and namesake, who's entered in boys' singles and doubles events at Melbourne Park.

The younger Dellavedova gets a lot of questions about his famous relative, who was formerly LeBron James' teammate on the Cleveland Cavaliers and is now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.

But the kid doesn't know much about him - they've never actually met. And he's not much of a basketball fan, either.

"I've never played it myself, apart from maybe half an hour in my lifetime. I'd like to definitely have a game with my cousin," Dellavedova said after his first-round singles win over Ien Schouten.

Murray the critic

Andy Murray was less than complimentary about his mother's appearance on British TV's Strictly Come Dancing.

"She certainly didn't win it. She was useless. I'm not a dancer either, to be honest. I can't see myself doing that show," Murray told Australia's Channel Seven.

Still, he thinks he's the favorite child of his mother and one-time coach, Judy Murray.

"I think I am my mom's favorite and (brother) Jamie is my dad's favorite.

"That's just my opinion. However, they would tell you they love us both equally. But that's how I feel," said the world No 1.

Ice queen

Serena Williams revealed a hidden talent for ice skating.

"I can't do a triple Lutz, but I can maybe do a double," she said. "I have no idea. I just close my eyes, and I just spin and I pray I don't fall. If I do, I get up."

As it turns out, this is similar to her approach to serving, which she says she doesn't practice too much. "For me, I don't think about it. I serve my best when I just toss the ball up and see what happens," she said.

In the running

Many players want to stop training and put their feet up after retiring, but Barbora Strycova said she wants to run a marathon.

"This is actually my dream, after I finish, to run a marathon. So I will prepare for that. I don't know when it's going to be, but it's my dream," said the 30-year-old.

She would be following in the footsteps of Caroline Wozniacki, who found the time to train for and run the New York marathon in 2014. "You don't have to think. You just go and run," Strycova said.

Agencies