Monday, January 28, 2019

Weekend Tennis Roundup


Novak Djokovic increased the odds that he might be deemed GOAT when all is said and done, dismissing Rafael Nadal in straight sets to claim his record seventh Australian Open title.



 I’ve been watching professional tennis since 1977, and I’ve never seen a man play better than I did in that match -- and against one of the best players of all time.


Rafa scores a win down under ... 


 Truly incredible. Nadal was p;laying in just his first tournament since retiring in the semifinals of the U.S. Open -- so reaching the final at all was Serena-esque, to put it mildly.


 But the Spaniard had looked so utterly unbeatable that I was still taken aback by the outcome. 


Assuming Nadal stays healthy, it will be fun to see these two possibly square off in Paris again, where Nole will be going for his second sweep of the majors. 


Already told you how thrilled I am for Naomi Osaka, who won her second straight major on Saturday. 




Nice to finally see that smile she was robbed of in New York ...


Found these pics of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut  ...


to be strangely homoerotic ... 


Leg men ... and did you see Herbert's HOT BROTHER


The Frenchmen achieved a career Grand Slam in men's doubles after defeating Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the final, 6–4, 7–6(1)!


Ended up watching the boys' final, pitting No. 1 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy and American Emilio Nava. I don't really see much of a future for either of them, to be honest. But it immediately took me back to my juniors days, with each boy tensing up and wanting it SO BADLY that you could barely breathe even as a spectator. That it went to a third-set tiebreak in which each boy had match points only added to the drama. But in the end the Italian came out on top. Ivan Lendl presented the trophies -- which was as awkward as you'd guess. But it looks like Novak Djokovic surprised the guys by stopping by later, which seems to have put smiles on their faces. 


Love this photo so much! 


Another fun factoid I learned this fortnight is that there have been 26 women ranked number one in the history of the WTA -- and Serena has beaten a stunning 21 of them if you count what she did against Karolina Pliskova. Can you name the five she hasn't beaten? Hint: Only one of them is a player who hadn't retired before Serena got to 'em!


When Damian and I saw Naomi play Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2016, we predicted she was the real deal. Now she's proven she's even realer than we thought! After she beat Petra Damian said to me, "Shouldn't she be pacing herself?"

(With wire services)

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