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. ...

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?” ...

The FINA World Aquatics Championships and Phelpte revisited

July 23, 2015

The FINA World Aquatics Championships – a qualifier for the Olympics – will be held July 24 through Aug. 9 in Kazan, Russia for the first time.

The championships consist of diving (July 24-Aug. 2), open water and synchronized swimming (both July 25 through Aug. 1), water polo (July 26 through Aug. 8) and, my favorite, swimming (Aug. 2 through 9).

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Worlds. The opening scene in my debut novel “Water Music” takes place there, and it’s often an indicator of what the swimmers will do at the Olympics, though not always. I can’t help but think that Ryan Lochte – who eclipsed Michael Phelps at Worlds in Shanghai in 2011 – peaked too soon. ...

Heartbreak at the French Open: Novak Djokovic loses to Stan Wawrinka

June 9, 2015

From the high of American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown, I plunge to the low of Novak Djokovic losing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final.

After routing Rafael Nadal in three sets – unthinkable at Roland-Garros and a whole other kind of heartbreak – and outlasting Andy Murray in five sets, Nole fell to Stan in four. He was so close to his dream of a career Grand Slam. It wasn’t to be. At least not this year.

It’s easy to make excuses – and Nole, to his credit, has learned not to make them even though beating Rafa and Andy back-to-back must’ve produced a physical and emotional letdown – but he simply got outplayed by a player who has beaten him in big matches before, like the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2014. ...

Rafanole revisited: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meet in the French Open quarterfinals

June 2, 2015

Well, the match that we’ve anticipated since the French Open draw May 22 (Novak Djokovic’s 28th birthday), is now at hand, the 44th meeting between him and Rafael Nadal, the longest – and, I think, greatest – rivalry in tennis’ open era.

For both men, this is a crucial contest. For Rafa, it represents a chance to return to former glory after a dismal winter and a surprisingly mediocre season on his favorite surface, clay. A win against Nole in the quarterfinals Wednesday, June 3 – his 29th birthday – would cement the return of the King of Clay. He could still go down in the semifinal or final, but the Big Mo, momentum, would be with him.

For Nole, the quarterfinal represents an opportunity to bury once and for all the notion that he can’t beat Rafa at Roland-Garros, that he lacks the Rafa-esque mental fortitude to close out a match that means the most. He would be the only man to take Rafa down on every Slam surface, and he would position himself not only for a career Grand Slam, since the French is the only Slam he hasn’t won, but propel himself toward winning the Grand Slam in a calendar year – something no man has done since Rod Laver in 1969. ...

Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris – the best of rivalries

May 26, 2015

One of the fellow customers I met in the jewelry store said I should write about baseball on my blog.

Well, here it is, a post inspired by a Sunday New York Times’ column by presidential historian Michael Bechloss about a friendship/rivalry – should that be frivalry? – between the New York Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.

In the summer of 1961, the “M & M Boys,” as they were known, electrified the nation as they pursued Babe Ruth’s single season home-run record, 60, together. It helped that they were teammates who had a lot in common. (Although not all teammate rivals are friendly: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, anyone?)

Both Mantle and Maris were big corn-fed blonds from the Middle West, Mantle from Oklahoma and Maris from North Dakota. But they were also complements. Mantle, whose father had died young, lived a life of reckless abandon in the big city. Maris never lost his small-town, family roots. Long before “The Odd Couple,” Mantle and Maris roomed together with outfielder Bob Cerv in Queens – cooking out and shopping local. Once a stock boy was so stunned to see the diamond demigods doing something as mundane as grocery shopping, that he took out a row of cans as he fell off the ladder. The M & M Boys had that effect on people, who would reach out to touch them everywhere they went. ...

Michael Phelps starts over

May 19, 2015

He didn’t win any events at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Charlotte, N.C. But then, Michael Phelps has dug himself a hole that he has to climb out of. He retired. He unretired. He was arrested for DUI.

Sometimes I think he does some of this on purpose so that he’ll have to start over. But that’s just what he’s doing. He’ll follow coach Bob Bowman to Arizona State in Tempe, where Bowman will coach the men’s and women’s swim team. Phelps – who is making the move with his fiancée, Nicole Johnson – has some familiarity with the area, having rehabbed in Phoenix. Still, it’s a big move from his hometown of Baltimore – new program, new surroundings, new responsibilities, new life.

Maybe it’s just what he needs to get back in the swim. ...