Status: ATP #102. Reached his second ATP quarterfinal in 2010 in Newport. Reached second round at this year’s Wimbledon.

Ht: 6-5 Wt: 180

DOB: December 8, 1984 In: Celle, Germany

First Tennis Memory: “The courts back at home where I started playing in Germany. It’s a long time ago.”

Nicknames: “Just one – Dreddy.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Listen to music all day basically. I’m on my computer a lot. Catching up with friends online.”

Tennis Inspirations: “As in idols? Early on, when they were still playing – Noah, Safin. Mainly those two. Agassi.”

Last Book Read: “Dan Brown, Illuminati.”

Favorite Movies: “I watched Karate Kid this week. Pretty good movie. Pretty much everything Denzel Washington was in. He’s a really good actor, so.”

Favorite TV Show: “Californication.”

Musical Tastes: “Hip-hop, R&B, Lil Wayne, Drake.”

First Job: “Tennis [laughs].”

First Car: “Camper Volkswagen.”

Current Car: “Camper (white).”

Pre-Match Feeling: “It always varies. Never the same. It always varies, depends on where I am, who I have around me, who’s with me.”

Favorite Meal: “No favorite meal actually.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”

Childhood Dream: “I was always tennis. Never been anything else.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Winning the $100,000 Challenger in South Africa, Soweto (d. Izak van der Merwe 76 63). This year. (Why?) It’s the biggest win of my career, that got me closest to the top 100. And it’s a really great feeling winning there in Soweto, with the whole thing going on there with blacks and whites.”

Most Painful Moment: “Probably losing 0-0 to Jerome Haehnel in Basel on center court, three years ago. 0-0 indoors. Shouldn’t be 0-0 with my serve. (What happened that day?) I have no idea. Everything. And nothing [smiles].”

Which Matches Did You Feel At Your Very Best: “Under all the terms, the Querrey match in Newport. It’s a grass court, short match (64 63 in 47 minutes). Definitely served unbelievable – first serves won – 33 out of 34 – 97%. One point that when I put a first serve in that he made a point on my serve. First serve percentage 66%. That’s very good. I don’t think I’m going to have a day where I serve 80 or 90%. That’s probably not going to happen. I’m pretty happy to serve 60-70%, especially on these courts.”

Closest Tennis Friends: “American guys, Armitraj family, Rajeev Ram and a bunch of German guys – Stadler, Phau, Bozo (Bozoljac).”

Funniest Players Encountered: “Probably that’s some of the guys you hang around with. If you don’t hang around with anyone, the guy can’t be funny.”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “I would say everybody. Because no one wants to lose, everybody wants to win. So they’re basically always fighting. No one gives it easy to you.”

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “Nope.”

Strangest Match: “No, none of that Mahut stuff [smiles].”

Favorite Players To Watch: “Watching my friends at a tournament. There’s not anyone I would say that I would prefer to watch. The guys that I hang around with at the tournaments.”

Favorite Sport Outside Tennis: “Nothing.”

Last Vacation: “Never vacation. I would say tennis. Although I wouldn’t say it’s a vacation. Or I could say it’s always a vacation [smiles].”

The Long Journey: “It’s been a really long journey. Basically started – I was living two years in Jamaica where I was gonna play Futures. My parents were thinking of ways of how they can keep me going and playing. My parents aren’t rich or anything, they were like, What can we do? My mom came up with the idea about the camper. Now the investment has paid off. It was hard just traveling with a camper the whole time, living in there, practicing. It’s not easy when you’re beginning your 20′s and you’re still young. It’s not exactly the ideal way to play tennis. But it definitely worked out and got me through a couple of tough times which definitely helps me on the court.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Nice, friendly people who like to have fun.”

Status: American electro house musician, record producer and founder of Dim Mak Records. Has remixed for Duran Duran, Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, Timbaland and Robin Thicke.

DOB: November 30, 1977 In: Miami, FL

Childhood Heroes: “Bruce Lee, Malcolm X.”

Hobbies/Interests: “Actually, right now in my life, I’m so busy with work I have no time for a hobby. I run a record label (Dim Mak Records) full time, I started a clothing line (Dim Mak Collections), and I deejay and travel a lot, so. I’m more like trying to be organized and make sure that I have the right teams in the right areas and that I’m picking up the right people that can help manage all the different things that I’ve got going on. My main focus is the label, the clothing line and deejaying. And I’m producing music now too.”

Favorite Movie: “La Femme Nikita – is the first that pops in my head. I have more but I can’t think of them right now.”

Favorite TV Show: “Freaks and Geeks.”

Musical Tastes: “I love Dolly Parton. I love Bloc Party. I love Elton John. Michael Jackson. Prince. The Rakes. Oh No Oh My. Scanners. Whitey. And Pony Up.”

First Job: “I worked in a swap meet in LA when I was 12, I was like the busboy.”

First Car: “Isuzu Rodeo. (Color?) Black.”

Pre-Work Feeling: “Well if I’m not like having a serious hangover from the night before, I can deejay really good. If I’m not too busy thinking about my hangover. If it’s like a really big event, I get nervous no matter what.”

Favorite Meal: “Japanese food.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Green tea ice cream.”

Greatest Career Moment: “The best moment was when I signed a band called Bloc Party. And I got the test presses made of their first EP, that I released. And I started playing that. Right when I dropped the needle on ‘Banquet’ – before anyone turned – people were just jumping. Because they knew instantly it was a good song.”

Most Painful Moment: “My memory is the most painful moment of my career [smiles]. I leave needles everywhere, and headphones in Vegas and New York and Miami. I lose everything [smiles].”

Embarrassing Memory: “Got so many. So many. At The Troubadour when my shit was skipping and I couldn’t control it, at a Hard Fly show. Skipping like crazy and I couldn’t control it.”

Childhood Dream: “I wanted to become Bruce Lee.”

Favorite Performers: “Gaft Punk. RK Fire. Uffie.”

Last Halloween Costume: “What was I? Yellow Peril. (What’s that?) It’s like a yellow costume and I just made it up. I was like attacking people [laughs].”

People Qualities Most Admired: “I like, I like fucking real people, that – it’s such a vague word ‘real’ but. But like you could kinda figure somebody out in 10 minutes, talking to them. Like what they’re gonna bring out, what they’re gonna say first. People that don’t want to like climb some ladder, they just want to be themselves and they’re really proud about of being themselves. I don’t know if that’s a word – what is that word [smiles]?…People that are truly original.”

Education: UC Santa Barbara (Woman Studies and Sociology)

Steve Aoki “Kid Millionaire’s” website is www.dimmak.com

Status: WBC/IBF Light Welterweight champion. Pro record is 20-0 (13 KO’s).

Ht: 5-8 Wt: 140

DOB: February 10, 1987 In: St. Louis, MO

Boxing Inspirations: “For people who don’t know me, I grew up with Cory Spinks, he’s been a great inspiration for me. He’s been in the same gym with me. He’s been a great experience. But I’m self motivated myself. I just look at the game, see who’s all inside the game – I look at that and take it upon myself to motivate myself and inspire myself to be the best.”

Nicknames: “Besides The Great, Smiley. I smile a lot. They call me Smiley. Or they call me Dangerous D. Just different names that’s got to do with boxing and that knows that I’m dedicated to boxing, anything like that.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Think about boxing. Besides that, I don’t know. 24-7 I think about boxing. I want to be undisputed champion. That’s my hobby. I’m thinking about what can I do to progress my talent and all that. Basketball sometimes I can do basketball. I like to eat [smiles]. That’s one of my hobbies. Other than that, boxing is my main goal right now.”

Favorite Movies: “I like scary movies, exciting movies, gore movies, horror and stuff like that. I like the Jasons and Michael Myers movies whenever they come on.”

Last Book Read: “Jesus Christ – a questionaire book about God. I read in China, very informative. A book about me knowing why am I Christian and what am I Christian for. I’m not a Christian just because somebody tells me I am. 90% of people don’t know why they’re Christian. So I was reading into that.”

Musical Tastes: “Rap, I like TI or Young Joc.”

Favorite TV Show: “Comedy, Jamie Foxx or Steve Harvey, Martin. I like the comedy aspect of TV shows.”

First Boxing Memory: “When I won my first national Silver Gloves title, I remember that (in Lenexa, Kansas). I was nine or ten. I fought every day and won the whole thing. That was my first time going. It felt good because everybody was looking at me. I felt like I accomplished a lot. So I never forgot it. Then I came home and I was in the newspaper for the first time in my whole life. So that was pretty good.”

First Job: “I worked at Busch Stadium with St. Louis Cardinals. I was a vendor when I was 13 selling
cotton candy. It didn’t work out well for me. It wasn’t my fault. Actually, I was working with a girl, we were selling lemonade. She was actually making the lemonade and she was cutting the knife and she licked the knife. A lady saw her and reported that she liked the knife and she fired both of us – and it really wasn’t my fault.”

First Car: “Ford Escort (green), 1995.”

Current Car: “Monte Carlo 2002. Silver and smoke gray. Got some 20-inch rims on it.”

Favorite Meal: “Chicken and macaroni. No, I take it back, lasagna and chicken.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”

Pre-Fight Feeling: “Just think about it all. Thinking about going in there and executing the gameplan that we have. That I’ve prepared myself. Doing the checklist. Making sure I have my mouthpiece, cup, all that stuff. And just getting physically, mentally focused. Just think about what I’ve been going through my whole career. And that motivates me. And my dad. Think about my daughter, how is she back at home. Just think about all different kinds of stuff – too motivate me, get me pumped up and ready to show the crowd The Great is gonna be champion.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “So far, becoming champion (d. Junior Witter for WBC title in 2009 and Urango for IBF in 2010). Most boxers never get a chance to be champion of the world. It’s a blessing. I’m like, wow. So it motivates me.”

Most Painful Moment: “I’d say when I lost my dad. I was in Olympic Trials, he didn’t pass yet. I lost in the last day of Olympic Trials to Rock Allen. It was 16-16. When I did get back, he got real sick. That’s when he passed. When I did get back, it was hard to say that I lost. Because he would have really looked forward to me winning there. It was okay but that was one of the most painful moments that I can think of.”

Funny Boxing Memory: “Me and Cory used to joke around all the time. We’d spar, he’d hit me on top of the head. I’d hit him. I can’t really think of anything funny, boxing is pretty serious in the ring.”

Embarrassing Boxing Memory: “When I fell out of the ring. Amateur and I fell out of the ring at national PAL tournament. We were fighting and I missed him and whooo, fell all the way out of the ring. All out into the judges, crowd.”

Toughest Opponent: “Chop Chop Corley on HBO. He knew what he was doing, he wouldn’t let me slack up. He was on me the whole fight. He made me prove my skills – or he was gonna show me what it’s all about.”

Favorite Fight(s): “I like Mayweather and Gatti. I thought it would be better but he went in there and took him out. I just like to see good, competitive fights.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Like if I see a person and they have a lot of power, I’ll expect them to be humble and stay humble. And treat people with kindness. Don’t take advantage of people. And just pray to God, just be humble to yourself. Like me, I’m trying to stay humble and pray to God, stay focused, stay in carriage. And don’t let nobody doscourage you.”

Status: Philadelphia Flyers left wing.
 
Ht: 5-11  Wt: 202
 
DOB: Jan. 28, 1985 In: King City, Ontario
 
Hockey Inspirations: “Growing up, I always watched Steve Thomas play. Hard worker. I liked watching Toronto and Detroit; Domi and Probert going at it. And so that’s all the memories I have. I didn’t watch too much hockey growing up, to be honest with you.”
 
Nicknames: “Got some new ones – Car Bomb, Chico, Carcie, Carc; pretty standard.”
 
Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “Golf, just relax pretty much. Nothing too strenuous.”
 
First Hockey Memory: “Going and playing bantam, going to the Bantam Cup championship. Winning it in Peterborough. Played against a bunch of guys that are in the NHL now and in pro hockey – Anthony Stewart…Sean Samuel, Corey Perry.”
 
Favorite Movies: “Old School, Dazed & Confused.”

Last Book Read: “What was it…Scar Tissue. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Anthony Kiedis one.”
 
Favorite TV Show: “Don’t watch much TV.”
 
Musical Tastes: “Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, a lot of classic rock, Neil Young.”
 
First Job: “Newspaper route.”
 
First Car: “Honda Accord (silver).”
 
Current Car: “Hummer (black).”
 
Pre-Game Feeling: “Pretty calm, just concentrating on what my job is, what I need to do.”
 
Favorite Meal: “My grandmother’s cooking I guess, chicken cutlets with some French fries.”
 
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Strawberry.”
 
Greatest Sports Moment: “Under-18 gold medal in Russia. For Canada.”
 
Most Painful Moment: “Maybe losing my first fight. (To who?) It was (Darcy) Hordichuk.”
 
Favorite Uniforms: “I like this team’s orange jerseys.”
 
Closest NHL Friends: “Pretty close with Patrick O’Sullivan and Kyle Quincey.”
 
Funniest Player Encountered: “Todd Fedoruk. (Why, what is it about him?) Just funny, easy going, makes it fun to go to the rink. (I recently interviewed Derek Morris and he said you, by the way.) I gotta ease into this team a little bit, but, yeah, I like to have fun around the rink.”
 
Toughest Competitors: “(Jarome) Iginla goes pretty hard every game.”
 
Most Memorable Goal: “Probably my first one in Chicago.”
 
Embarrassing Hockey Memory: “First NHL game. They made me go out first and waited in the hallway while I was skating around for a little while.”
 
Last Vacation: “Mexico.”
 
Favorite Non-Hockey Sport To Watch: “I guess the final round of any golf tournament.”
 
Favorite Players To Watch: “What players do I like to watch…I don’t watch much hockey, to be honest with you.”

People Qualities Most Admired:  “Trustworthy. Funny. Sincere.”