Redfoo took to the court against Serena Williams in an exhibition in March. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

Stefan Gordy, aka Redfoo, one half of the now-defunct dance-pop band LMFAO, begins his attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open this week at the sectional qualifying tournament in Salinas, Calif.

The 37-year-old musician, who is dating WTA No. 2 Victoria Azarenka, says he used to be a highly ranked junior player in Southern California. After breaking his wrist in a snowboarding accident as a teenager, Redfoo turned his attention to music. But Redfoo says he’s always dreamed of playing professional tennis.

Redfoo releases song that includes Azarenka’s grunt

“Every time I tour, I find a pro — I go to the local tennis center in that country, wherever it is and I play,” Redfoo told ESPN.com in January. “I played with a Davis Cup player, he’s 19 but he’s on a Davis Cup team in Malaysia. I don’t even want to tell you the score.”

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The U.S. Open has been televised by CBS since 1968. (David Walberg/SI)

Sports Business Daily reports ESPN is close to acquiring all coverage rights for the U.S. Open beginning in 2015, moving the tournament coverage exclusively to cable. CBS has owned some portion of the coverage rights since 1968.

ESPN’s pitch to the USTA was of a Wimbledon-style deal, where ESPN picks up rights to the entire tournament, bringing another major sports championship to cable. ESPN has a lot of college football commitments in the fall, but has committed to carry the semis and finals on ESPN. Their plan includes TV Everywhere rights, which allow it to stream live matches to authenticated users.

PODCAST: Connors discusses his memoir

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Redfoo took to the court against Serena Williams at Madison Square Garden earlier this month. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

Redfoo has been making tennis headlines off the court. Now it’s time to see what he can do with a racket.

Victoria Azarenka’s beau — real name Stefan Gordy — has entered the 2013 U.S. Open National Playoffs. The playoff affords an opportunity for anybody 14 and over to earn a spot into the the U.S. Open through a series of sectional tournaments and playoffs that culminate in three championship events — men’s and women’s singles and mixed doubles — at the New Haven Open at Yale in August. Winners of the men’s and singles playoffs earn a spot in the U.S. Open qualifying draw, while the mixed doubles winners get direct entry into the main draw.

What was said in Nadal-Federer handshake

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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray played the fifth straight men’s final on a Monday at the U.S. Open this year. (Erick W. Rasco/SI)

The U.S. Open will be a 15-day tournament in 2013, moving the women’s final from Saturday evening to Sunday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. and the men’s final to Monday at 5. A few quick thoughts on the announcement, which I’ll do without mentioning the dreaded “R” word.

Good riddance Super Saturday: Let’s start with the good news. The USTA’s decision to push back the finals next year — and again, this change has only been announced for 2013 — means the chaos and inherent unfairness of Super Saturday, which had both men’s semifinals played during the day and the women’s final in prime time, is over for at least a year.

After five straight years of Monday finishes due to inclement weather, the USTA’s announcement doesn’t practically change anything other than give the players notice that they’ll — theoretically — have a day off. The previous schedule forced them to play back-to-back best-of-five matches for the title, something that isn’t required from them at any other major. Ideally, the scheduling change means a day of rest for both the women’s finalists and the men’s finalists, something the men have repeatedly clamored for over the years. Then again, if weather pushes the men’s semifinals to Sunday, would organizers stick to the Monday final? Or would they move it to Tuesday to give the guys rest? These are the sticky questions when you don’t have a roof*.

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The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

• Video: Roger Federer visits Iguazu Falls in Brazil and has a blast. His primal scream at the 33-second mark was kinda weird.

• The USTA has added an additional day to the 2013 U.S. Open, meaning the women’s final will now be moved to Sunday and the men’s final to Monday. The decision ends the much-maligned “Super Saturday” schedule, at least for 2013. The USTA will decide whether to implement the change permanently after next year.

• The USTA also announced a prize money increase of $4 million to a record $29.5 million. Distribution has yet to be determined.

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Roger Federer won his 17th career Grand Slam title by beating Andy Murray at Wimbledon. (Erick W. Rasco/SI)

After the ATP Finals, we debated the best matches of 2012. Now, The Toss returns this week with another look back at the season as New York Times tennis blogger Ben Rothenberg joins the discussion.

[2012 IN REVIEW: Report Card | Surprises | Meltdowns | Shots]

Today’s Toss: Relative to each other, how did the four Grand Slam tournaments rank this year, taking into consideration the overall experience of each and the the storylines they generated?

Courtney Nguyen: If you’ve been reading BTB this week, you know that we are in full year-end review mode. I have quite enjoyed the offseason — you know, that blink of an offseason — to get out of the weeds and take a more holistic look at the year that was. What the heck happened over the last 11 months, Ben?

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Here are our favorite photos from the U.S. Open detox period and a wild weekend of Davis Cup.

(EPA)

British Press: Gotta love the Daily Mirror. It’s not enough that he ended Britain’s 76-year drought. Now he has to put a ring on Kim Sears’ finger? Cut the guy some slack!

*****

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Andy Murray did the usual media tour after winning the U.S. Open. (Getty Images)

Having combed through all of Serena Williams’ and Andy Murray’s media blitz interviews after they won their respective U.S. Open titles, I have to say that Murray’s 20-minute sit down with Charlie Rose is, for substance, the best.

Because if we’re not talking substance I think we can all agree that Serena karaoke-ing on Fallon wins 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

The interview covered a range of topics including the sacrifices his parents made for him and his brother Jamie, his deep respect for Novak Djokovic, and an interesting discussion regarding the evolution of his game over the years.

Below are my five favorite quotes from Andy’s tete-a-tete with Charlie Rose.

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Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final, but Djokovic leads the head-to-head 8-7. (Getty Images)

The U.S. Open final was a five-set battle between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic that stretched nearly five hours. With Roger Federer losing in the quarterfinals and Rafael Nadal out resting his knees, Murray and Djokovic took center stage to grind it out for the year’s final major.

This week on The Toss, Brodie Elgin, the tennis blogger over at Mind The Racket, joins to discuss the growing rivalry between the two U.S. Open finalists.

Today’s Toss: Are Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic the next great rivalry in men’s tennis?

Courtney Nguyen: Thanks for joining me on this week’s Toss, Brodie. Your Canadian-to-the-core personality is perfect this week as we’re coming off an exciting U.S. Open men’s final. Andy Murray took down Novak Djokovic in a near five-hour battle to end the 76-year drought for British men at the Slams. In so doing, the two 25-year olds, who were born a week apart, locked horns in a cramp-inducing display of aggressive counterpunching until, rather surprisingly, it was Murray’s physicality that won the day. To be honest, I can’t say this is a final that I’ll be popping into my DVD player — the wind unfortunately detracted from the pure level of tennis these two are typically known for — but it was undeniably an entertaining, dramatic, and memorable end to, well, an entertaining, dramatic, and memorable U.S. Open.

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(London Evening Standard)

You see that bill? You see the 2 bottles of Roederer, the 17 “Zesty” Martinis, and references to Don Julio Black, Cabernets and Green Destinies?

Yeah, Andy Murray had the $6.00 lemon soda. Just one.

The London Evening Standard reports that Murray and his team hit up New York hot spot Hakkasan after his history-making U.S. Open win on Monday night, and while Murray’s team boozed it up in a very admirable way, the champ himself had… a soda.

“The problem was when I arrived everyone was so drunk already,” he told a small pool of reporters the next day. “It would’ve taken awhile to catch up, so I didn’t bother.”

You really could have splurged and had two sodas though, Andy. Really. Murray’s straight and narrow decision shouldn’t come as a shock to those who follow tennis. Murray has quite the reputation as a teetotaler, citing a bad experience when he was young in Barcelona that put him off drinking completely. Not that that stopped his team, which included his girlfriend, Kim Sears and his mother Judy, who showed up to Andy’s post-semifinal press conference smelling “of wine” and with two famous Scots in tow.

I wondered then what the celebration would be like if Murray were to actually win his first Slam in New York. Looks like they did it up right.

Also of note? The restaurant comped the entire meal. Well, all but the tip. Nicely done, Hakkasan.