”We’re havin’ a heat wave – a tropical heat wave…” An old Broadway show tune that some deejay here in Melbourne should have draged out. But probably never heard of. You expect Australian summer to be toasty. But we felt like slices of Wonder Bread slipped into the toaster. It’s was an historic monsoon of Hadean heat according to the Melbourne weather bureau, the … [Read more...] about TO CLOSE OR NOT TO CLOSE? WHAT WOULD HAMLET HAVE SAID?
Tournaments
AUSSIE ENDS WITH A LALAPALOOZA – ROUNDHOUSE RAFA CONNECTS
Pete Sampras couldn’t defend himself. But a friend in need turned out to be a young Spanish guy who responded when Sampras screamed, “Stop thief!” The prospective thief, named Roger Federer, had his eyes and grasping hands on Sampras’s treasure, the record 14 major singles championships he earned over 13 years of roaming the world with a dominating tennis racket. Federer … [Read more...] about AUSSIE ENDS WITH A LALAPALOOZA – ROUNDHOUSE RAFA CONNECTS
SISTER SERENA PROVES IT: SHE’S THE WORLD BEST IN ONE OF WORST FINALS
It’s not Serena’s fault that Dinara Safin contracted stagefright. Or maybe it is. Looking across the net at destructive Sister Serena is not one of the great views. Nothing scenic about it. It’s like peering over the edge of a cliff and losing your balance. It was the tennis version of falling into the Grand Canyon, and in this battle for the No. 1 ranking, No. 3 Dinara … [Read more...] about SISTER SERENA PROVES IT: SHE’S THE WORLD BEST IN ONE OF WORST FINALS
IT’S THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROCKET’S SECOND GRAND SLAM — AND NO MAN HAS SLAMMED SINCE THEN
“Laver’s lost the first two sets!” The cry ran through the Wimbledon press room like wildfire. But it was chilling to me. Wimbledon ’69 had barely begun, and the defending champion, “Rocket” Laver, was under siege, losing badly to an anonymous Indian in the second round on Court 4, a patch of grass hardly fit for the emperor. To the other reporters, it was the … [Read more...] about IT’S THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROCKET’S SECOND GRAND SLAM — AND NO MAN HAS SLAMMED SINCE THEN
VENUS AT THE WHEEL HAS A COLLISION, BUT SERENA’S STILL HERE DESPITE HERS
MELBOURNE – Rafa Nadal, who has come here as the man to beat, says he likes this city (even though he hasn’t won the title here in four tries). “It is big but calm. Very clean,” he says. It is. Venus Williams says she likes to drive all over town. Even on the left side of the road, which doesn’t faze her. Gets lost all the time, but works her way back to familiar territory. … [Read more...] about VENUS AT THE WHEEL HAS A COLLISION, BUT SERENA’S STILL HERE DESPITE HERS