“You’re only as good as your opponent makes you play,” Martina Navratilova observes in “Strokes of Genius.” It’s a documentary about Rafael Nadal’s hard-fought triumph over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, which Jon Wertheim describes in his book of the same name as the greatest tennis match to date….
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Novak Djokovic auctions off a bit of personal history
Now you can swing a racket like a US Open champion — not to mention tell time like one. On Thursday, Sept. 20, Christie’s will conduct an online-only auction of the Head racket US Open men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic used to defeat Roger Federer in the Open tune-up, Cincinnati's Western & Southern Open.
Read MoreDoes tennis have a gender problem?
Telling the stories of the US Open
Imagine a room with banks upon banks of cubicles, each of which contains a monitor, a laptop and a headset.
No, it’s not a telemarketing business but part of the Media Center at the US Open, which ends Sunday, Sept. 9 with the men’s final. While fans have been raving about the new “Louie,” as in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, or taking in the action at Arthur Ashe or the Grandstand or one of the other courts, members of the press have been hard at work at their designated cubicles, banging out stories for publications and media websites all over the world….
Read MoreColin Kaepernick just does it
The heat is on at the US Open
The US Open – the last of the Grand Slam tournaments, celebrating its golden jubilee this season – is one of sports’ greatest events and one of its most challenging.
For fans, that is due in part to the difficulty in getting into the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. Then once inside, members of the New York City Police Department, along with the Open’s security and ushers, have a poor sense of what’s where. (We ourselves were dropped off on Northern Boulevard, which we surmised correctly would be the shortest walk to the Media Center.)
So unless you have the directional skills of a Lewis and Clark, it can be tough going. Equally daunting for fans but especially the players this year has been the soaring heat and humidity….
Read MoreThe Other Open
If you are a reader of this blog, then you know that I am writing a series of novels called "The Games Men Play" and set in the worlds of swimming, tennis and football. The first two, "Water Music" and "The Penalty for Holding," are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The third will explore the equestrian worlds of show jumping, polo and Thoroughbred racing. It's a tale of bloodlines and bloodlust set amid rival equestrian families and told in part from the viewpoint of a colt that is trying to become the first since Whirlaway to win the Triple Crown and the Travers Stakes.
With this in mind, I thought you'd enjoy a repost from WAG Weekly, the e-newsletter that's part of my editing day job, about the other Open starting today in the New York metro area….
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