The Berlin Diaries

It was a regular Men at Play photo shoot today in Berlin, where the players were decked out to promote this weekend's Laver Cup. (Apparently Rafael Nadal will not be announcing his retirement as widely anticipated, with Grigor Dimitrov stepping in for Team Europe.) See who wore it best BELOW.

3 GOATs and a Scot Walk Into a Bar ...

It's hard not to love this.

Self-aware Andy is the best.

And get a load of the ditzy umpire! 

P.S.

This popped up below Davis Cup photos on my Twitter feed. Might be fun to see the guys play a game.

UPDATE:

And now for the gala ...

Davids vs. Goliaths

I guess if the Laver Cup is inevitable, I might as well lie back and enjoy the tennis -- it's Roger Federer's swansong, after all. Apparently he'll only play doubles due to his lingering injury. Rafael Nadal was absent from this photo-op, but will he be his farewell partner? 

I still think the best part of the event is seeing the men all gussied up to promote it, though! Lots more HERE.

U.S.-Canadian relations 

Listen to Novak Djokovic fawn over a blushing Matteo Berrettini HERE.

P.S. I do agree with Ben Rothenberg that this might be the way to fix the ridiculously lopsided teams, although I would call it Democracies vs. Autocracies. 

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Daniil Medvedev's reign of terror continues, crushing Borna Coric 6-3, 6-1 at the St. Petersburg Open. 

It was the 23-year-old Russian's fifth consecutive final after making title matches in Washington (l. to Kyrgios), Montreal (l. to Nadal), Cincinnati (d. Goffin) and the U.S. Open (l. to Nadal) during the North American hard-court swing. At one point Borna took a medical timeout for his oft-aching back.

Listen to his MOANING and tell me you're not watching a Bel Ami audition.

Although he didn't put up much of a fight in the final -- Porna seems most comfortable when he's face down -- it was a good result for the Croatian after being hampered by injuries ... 

Too darn hot ...

Can't remember if I mentioned that Borna recently announced he was separating from coach Riccardo Piatti and his academy ...

Opting to work full-time with sexy Antonio Veic, whom he added to his team in April. 

Damian developed a little crush on Russian qualifier Egor Gerasimov ... until her beat Matteo Berrettini, our  fantasy threeway man. 

I, for one, was more taken with Evgeny Donskoy -- who caught my eye in a tournament ad last week.

BTW: The event looks like a dream come true for fans, with all sorts of player Q&As and signings. (Even saw Dinara Safina!) Too bad it's in Russia, where Trump's boyfriend continues to persecute LGBTQ people.

Blond bombshell Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the first man to win four titles at the Moselle Open on Sunday, beating Aljaz Bedene 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3. 

The 34-year-old -- who recently won a Challenger event in his latest comeback bid -- becomes the ninth French champion in the past 11 editions of the tournament. Since Gael Monfils’ title run in 2009, David Goffin (2014) and Peter Gojowczyk (2017) are the only non-French players to lift the trophy in Metz.

Was happy for Naomi Osaka that she was able to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open in her native country, outslugging Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6-2, 6-3) to win her first title since the Australian Open. (Talk about a drought!) It was a nice turnaround from having lost to Karolina Pliskova -- who you may recall was wearing a house coat -- in last year's final. The two-time major winner also reached the final as a youngster in 2016 before losing to Carolina Wozniacki. 

American Sofia Kenin beat 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Guangzhou International on Saturday for her third WTA singles title of the year. Kenin won her first singles title of 2019 on the hard courts of Hobart, Australia, in January and added her second on grass in Mallorca in June. 

No.3 seed Karolina Muchova had to wait six hours to take to the court for the KEB Hana Bank Korea Open final due to rain -- but wasted no time once there, racing to her maiden title with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No.4 seed Magda Linette in one hour and eight minutes.

Crazy that there was so much high-caliber tennis when many of the game's top men were in Geneva for the Laver Cup. 

As I said on Facebook, it sounded about right that Europe would have Federer and Nadal and dreamy coach Thomas Enqvist while we had a roly-poly Jack Sock (on the comeback trail), a feeble Milos Raonic (who wound up being everyone's punching bag) and coach John McEnroe, who is morphing into a not-funny Ellen DeGeneres. 

In the end, though, Team World came a lot closer to winning than one might have expected, not that I care much about exhibitions much. 

P.S. Wait, no one told me the prize was a pileup involving Enqvist!

And in Challenger Land: John Millman defeated Marc Polmans (6-4, 6-2) in an all-Australian final at the Kaohsiung OEC Open.

Around the net ...

Jonny O'Mara, just because ... 

Michael Venus: Damian's favorite other "Daddy" ...

Frenchman Quentin Halys has good taste in travel partners ... Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.

I like Tommy Paul's new wheels.

I sure hope you saw this story on Guido Andreozzi's Instagram account, because the crotch of those shorts were getting quite a workout ...

It's official: Billie Jean King has a library named after her!

Hubba-hubba: And speaking of BJK: Are we sure she’s a lesbian?