Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey were, among other things British, all weighing Andy Murray down. What a load as he strove to be the first British guy to scale the Big W all the way to the final since Bunny Austin in 1938. Austin lost to a Yank named Don Budge (three-quarters of the way to the original Grand Slam), and Murray, the gifted Scotsman, was also … [Read more...] about THE DANDY ANDYS MEET IN THE SEMIS AND THE DECISION GOES TO THE YANK
Wimbledon
KAMIKAZE KID SERENA RESCUES HERSELF; SHOULD SAFINA SUE MEDUSA?
Who else would it, could it be, last standing but the Sisters Sledgehammer? The other 126 ladies were just window dressing. Do you think poor Dinara Safina should sue Medusa, the WTA computer that lists her misleadingly as No. 1? If she were, say, No. 7 or 8, what Venus did to her wouldn’t seem so bad. But that result had a very garish look: Venus, 6-1, 6-0, the worst … [Read more...] about KAMIKAZE KID SERENA RESCUES HERSELF; SHOULD SAFINA SUE MEDUSA?
LEANING TOWER OF ZAGREB TUMBLES AT LAST, DONE IN BY FEDERER’S RETURNS
Somebody had to break Ivo Karlovic’s serve. It looked for days that a sledgehammer would be required, but all it took was a tennis racket – in the skilled right hand of Roger Federer. Karlovic, the Leaning Tower of Zagreb, was toppled like a pile of bricks after Federer got his eyes fixed firmly on the ball. At 6-feet-10, the mighty Croat seemed to be dropping grenades from … [Read more...] about LEANING TOWER OF ZAGREB TUMBLES AT LAST, DONE IN BY FEDERER’S RETURNS
TWO-WOMAN SORORITY SENDS FOES TO THE BOTTOM, LIKE ANOTHER WILLIAMS’ TITANIC
Before Venus and Serena came along, the most celebrated tennis player by the name of Williams was a Philadelphian: Richard Norris Williams, II. Quite a handle, but he preferred that his pals call him Dick. Dick almost didn’t make it much past his 21st birthday because he happened to be riding on a steamship called the Titanic that didn’t make it past the interruption of its … [Read more...] about TWO-WOMAN SORORITY SENDS FOES TO THE BOTTOM, LIKE ANOTHER WILLIAMS’ TITANIC
A GERMAN REVIVAL, THEN THE ROOF CLOSING GIVES BIG W LONGEST DAY
They closed Wimbledon’s retractable Centre Court roof for the first time. Why? A Monday afternoon sprinkle that was soon over, but the folks at the All England Club were itchy to play with their new $140 million toy. The weather was acting too nice in this corner of the world that has long been known as the tropical rain forest of Southwest London. Sunny day followed sunny … [Read more...] about A GERMAN REVIVAL, THEN THE ROOF CLOSING GIVES BIG W LONGEST DAY