Article about Pasha in the magazine Tennis Match ( section "down the line")
Written by Kevin O'Keefe
© by Anushka R.
Less is More
When I ran into fashion designer Estevan Ramos at a nightclub at Hollywood's Sunset and Vine this spring, we launched into a discussion of future athletic wear. Ramos, winding down from the evening's showing of his winter 2000 collection, eventually offered this prediction for tennis in the new millenium:"Less will be more"
It was interesting to hear a diverse trio of entertainment representatives -- two-time defending Olypic gold medalist ice dancer Pasha Grishuk of Russia, ER star Kellie Martin, and Jack Nicholson -- add to Ramos' entertainment-and-spice tennis topic. Grishuk, 27, who is now training and acting in Los Angeles, was my guest at the Ramos show. She gets a lot of the credit for bringing a sassy rock 'n' roll mentality to ice dancing.
That's why when I heard that no ATP Tour players were recruited for the Cartoon Network SMASH Tennis stop in Pacific Palisades, Calif., I called Grishuk and she came with rackets at the ready. Grishuk's public tennis debut became the most-attended stop on this year's SMASH circuit and proved an eye-opener for her. "I like how Cartoon Network has injected music and color and animation into everything, " said Grishuk, who has seen how those ingredients have helped make her sport a prime-time TV success. "Tennis needs more expression and kid appeal. This needs to be seen with the pros. The pros all kind of look the same."
