Gladiator: Novak Djokovic and the quest to be loved

September 10, 2015

Well, God has finally dropped everything else, and the planets have aligned (including my beloved little Pluto).

The New York Times has finally bit the bullet and done it: It’s running a piece on Novak Djokovic in the Men’s Style section Friday.

That must really have killed The Paper of Record (which could also be called The Paper of Roger Federer). Apart from the inexhorable Serena Slam watch, The Times’ US Open coverage has been much Roger, much of the time. The Gray Lady is like a royalist longing for the Stuart Restoration, just waiting for the once and future king (that would be Feddy) to rid the world of that Cromwellian imposter (that would be Nole) and assume his rightful title as US Open/Wimbledon/French Open/Australian Open champ and eternal No. 1. (And how fascinating is it that one of Nole’s Peugeot commercial echoes this meme?)

But the Nole article by David Shaftel, who apparently interviewed Nole during the Rogers Cup, is titled “Novak Djokovic is No. 1, Like It or Not.” And we know that for The Times, the answer is Not. ...

Andy crashes out of the Open

September 8, 2015

Andy Murray went down to Kevin Anderson in four sets on Labor Day evening at the US Open. You knew this one was going to be trouble, because Andy had already had a match in which he was down two sets and had to rally and the chances that he could do it twice were not good, plus Anderson was the one who took Novak Djokovic to five sets at Wimbledon.

He’s a big guy with a big serve, and guys like him can upset the more complete players in the earlier rounds of a Wimbledon or a US Open, where a serve counts for a lot and where luck, let’s face it, counts for everything. ...

Rafa and Tebow – out of sight but not out of mind

September 8, 2015

Well, Rafael Nadal is out of the US Open (again) and Tim Tebow is out of the NFL (again). As a fan of both, I’m sorry to see them go but not surprised.

Rafa was up to two sets and 3-1 in the third against Fabio Fognini (yes, I know, Who?) in the third round of the Open Friday night into Saturday morning when, depending on your viewpoint, Rafa lost it or Fabio staged a fab comeback. ...

At the US Open – The two temperaments (Nick and Andy); plus Rafa and the recent past

August 31, 2015

Two terrific matchups in Round 1 of the US Open, which begins today – Andy Murray versus Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal versus Borna Ćorić.

But really it’s the battle of the two temperaments and Rafa versus his recent past.

Not for nothing is “A star is” Borna known as “Baby Nole.” That range, that return, that poise – all at 18. He’s already beaten Rafa (at Basel in October) but really, it’s more than that. For Rafa’s it’s got to be like looking in a mirror at when it all began to unravel for him, back in 2011. ...

Nick Kyrgios receives further punishment – sort of

August 27, 2015

So follow this: Nick Kyrgios has been fined an additional $25,000 and suspended 28 days for going all Scarlet Letter on Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend, tennis player Donna Vekic, at the Rogers Cup.

Except he hasn’t been. Nick will only pay the additional fine and serve the suspension if he misbehaves over the course of a six-month period ending Feb. 24. ...

Rafa – Tommy Hilfiger’s Nacho Figueras?

August 26, 2015

Rafael Nadal is a fever in a woman’s blood.

The sensual gaze. The tawny, molded muscles. The playful sexiness that makes a little skin oh so in.

He’s displayed all that and more in the Armani jeans and underwear campaign and now he takes it off again as the spokesmodel for a new line of Tommy Hilfiger underwear and clothes as well as the new Hilfiger fragrance TH Bold. ...

Borna and Nole – in Vogue

August 23, 2015

Well, once again the gazillion-page (actually only 832-page) September Vogue is out, and, once again, the big issue for me is not the cover or the fashion but whom editrix Anna Wintour has anointed among male tennis players for the ritual dressing (and undressing).

This year, tennis-crazed Anna, the sly minx, is offering a kind of two-for-one and her own version of doubles. In the “People Are Talking About” section, rising star and teen dream Borna “Identity” Ćorić looks like he’s headed off to Harvard, standing at the net in a gray and white Canali sweater with gray J. Crew sweats. Coach Brad Gilbert has given the 18-year-old Croat the nickname but the question is, “Whose identity?” ...