After the highs of June (American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown) and July (planet Pluto, Novak Djokovic defending his Wimbledon title), August has been a bit of a dud for me, with AP losing to Keen Ice at the Travers this past Saturday and Nole losing the Rogers Cup (to Andy Murray) and then the Western & Southern Open (to Roger Federer). ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
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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?” ...
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For someone with a mouth on him, Nick Kyrgios went quietly in his opening round match at the Western & Southern Open, losing to Richard Gasquet 6-2, 61.
You’ll recall that Gasquet was Kyrgios’ opponent during Socks-gate at Wimbledon when he nonchalantly decided to change his socks in the middle of the action. But that was nothing compared to going all “Scarlet Letter” on Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. ...
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Kudos to Andy Murray – An-deeee – for his convincing victory over Novak Djokovic in the Rogers Cup in Montreal, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Andy had lost to Nole eight times previously so he needed this one. Now he’s back at No. 2 at a moment when he and wife Kim Sears are expecting a baby, due early next year. (As one site put it, looks like Andy’s following Nole’s example in more ways than one.) ...
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