Weekend Tennis Roundup

Italy's Matteo Berrettini fended off a challenge from Canadian teen Felix Auger-Aliassime, saving three set points to claim the Stuttgart Open, 6-4, 7-6 (11).

Poor Auger-Aliassime is now 3-0 in the finals, having lost in the 2019 Rio Open and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon finals. The 18-year-old had advanced to the Stuttgart final without playing on Saturday as compatriot Milos Raonic withdrew ahead of their semifinal due to back problems.

After six disappointing title matches, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino finally won his first crown, defeating Jordan Thompson 7-6, 6-3 to capture the Libema Open. The 30-year-old had previously upset Borna Coric in the semifinals before beating the mustachioed Aussie. (I just couldn't get a break!)

Meanwhile on the women's side, Alison Riske of the United States finished off a great week by fighting off five championship points on her way to an upset of top seed and home favorite Kiki Bertens, 0-6, 7-6(3), 7-5, to win her second career WTA singles title in 's-Hertogenbosch on Sunday. World No.61 Riske won her first title in her first final appearance at Tianjin in 2014, but had lost her next six singles finals since that point, including at Shenzhen earlier this year. At last, the American added to her singles trophy tally with her two-hour and 19-minute comeback win over the No.1 seed.

Top-seed Caroline Garcia claimed her first title of the season defeating No.2 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia, 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4), in Sunday’s championship final. The flaky Frenchwoman, who had finished off her semifinal victory over Jennifer Brady just hours before on Sunday, recovered from quickly losing the first set to outlast 2017 Nottingham champion Vekic after two hours and 36 minutes of play. Garcia eked back ahead to a 4-3 head-to-head lead in her rivalry with Vekic.

Ups and downs ...

Around the net ...

And kudos to Caroline Wozniacki for making cold-hearted midget Rory McElroy look like a complete fool by not only winning her first major, but also trading up to dreamy David Lee. Angie Kerber and I totally approve!

(With wire services)

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Couldn't be any happier for Crotia for winning the Davis Cup over the weekend, taking out 2017 champs France. Between Borna Coric and Mate Pavic -- who left me breathless in his doubles competition -- it just reaffirmed my love of the country I finally had the chance to visit. 

Hugs all around ...

Extra kudos to Marin Cilic, who always handles himself with such grace in victory and defeat. 

Looks like the locker room was the place to be on Sunday! 

Will be interesting to see how the newfangled version shapes up.

From HERE.

My Nadal- and Murray-loving boyfriend did not appreciate this scene on the Tennis Channel ...

You might want to follow Grigor Dmitrov, whose ass was the star of a recent Instagram story. More HERE.

Great week for sexy João Sousa, who was named an honorary member of the Portugal national soccer team ...

And was selected as Sportsman of the Year by the country's edition of GQ magazine. (Hubba, hubba! More photos HERE.) 

Noah Rubin posted this to end his season ...

Robert Farah looked like a million bucks at someone's weekend wedding ...

Apparently his fiancee is an LPGA player from Spain. Lavender wedding hopes remain alive!

Meanwhile in Dominic Thiem-land: Poor Rico has to look at THIS?

And did you hear about Justin Gimelstob getting arrested for allegedly punching some guy 50 times on Halloween, dressed as Tom Cruise in "Top Gun"?

I think this guy's tweet summed up the situation perfectly. I've always wanted to have the hots for JG -- he's so BIG -- but ultimately he just comes across as a long-in-the-tooth fratboy. 

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Dancing into the holiday season 🤣🙏 #Repost @carowozniacki ・・・ How we spent the holidays 😂💃🏼

A post shared by WTA (@wta) on Nov 24, 2018 at 6:49am PST

Carolina Wozniacki gets into the holiday spirit ... 

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Couldn't ask for too much more from this weekend's Wimbledon warm-ups. Mischa Zverev won his first ATP title at the ripe age of 30, taking out Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4 in Eastbourne.

The hunky Russian-German also joined the Adidas Short(er) Shorts club ...

Damir Dzumhur captured his third career title, defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 at the Antalya Open in Turkey.

The Bosnian cutie has won 16 match this year, his best to date.

And on the women's side, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki won Eastbourne for the second time Saturday, beating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in straight sets for her 29th career title. Wozniacki, who was runner-up last year, triumphed 7-5, 7-6 (5) in just under two hours.

And now we're off to Wimbledon, where you can be on the lookout for THESE NINE WATCHES being worn by the world's top players, including this Rolex Sky-Dweller donned by Roger Federer. 

And speaking of Roger, Damian and I caught "Strokes of Genius" on the Tennis Channel last night, a documentary about the 2008 Wimbledon final between the Swiss legend and Rafael Nadal that many consider to be the greatest match of all time. I'm not sure if I would call it that -- the 1980 Borg vs. McEnroe Wimbledon final and 1992 French Open final between Graf and Seles still rank higher for me -- but it is certainly right up there. And more than anything, it signified the end of the Federer era, who would not beat the King of Clay in a major final again until the 2017 Australian Open. (Ouch.) It was highly entertaining to watch again, though. And noteworthy that the only points I really remembered were ones Roger won -- I was a full-blown fan back then, watching in The New York Times newsroom with my pal/boss Ray -- like that backhand winner match point down in the fourth-set tiebreak. Documentary also has a lot of great footage of Federer's early career temper tantrums -- I've actually never seen another player throw his racket as far as he did! -- and junior-era Nadal, who is exactly the same person that he is today. 

How incredible that 10 years on Roger and Rafa are still the favorites going into most events. 

(Docked the doc 10 points, though, for using a clip of Martina Navratilova crying after losing to Tracy Austin to illustrate the ups and downs of her rivalry with Chris Evert!)

Looks like someone’s got ⚽️ on their mind as 🇪🇸 v 🇷🇺 draws closer 👀 . @fifaworldcup @rafaelnadal @wimbledon #ESPRUS

A post shared by ATP World Tour (@atpworldtour) on Jul 1, 2018 at 6:21am PDT

⚫️🔴🔵 Before tennis, we played croquet📍 . #Wimbledon #TakeOnHistory

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) on Jul 1, 2018 at 11:17am PDT

Gus Kenworthy and Matthew Wilkas Attend the Vanity Fair Oscars Party

Looking dapper, boys. More photos of America's First Gay Couple -- plus Darren Criss, Caroline Wozniacki and her hot fiance, David Lee -- HERE.

Remains of the Day (02/14)

Baseline: Tennis players celebrate Valentine's Day around the world, but none as well as Caroline Wozniacki

The Daily News: Immigration Nazi refuses to reveal immigration status of Melania's parents

DListed: Let's be honest, Prince Harry is hot from all angles

Daily Intelligencer: Instead of swearing off corporate cash, why don't Gillibrand and Booker swear off bad policies?

Towleroad: Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black are having a baby

Gr8er: Wait'll you see what "Carol Burnett Show" hunk Lyle Waggoner looks like now

The Gay Almanac: Remembering makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin, who was born on this day in 1962

The New York Times: Jan Maxwell, celebrated stage actress, is dead at 61

The Washington Post: Dossier author Christopher Steele is a hero -- and American owe him their thanks

Homorazzi: Brent Corrigan and JJ Knight get "romantic" for AdamMale V-Day promo

HuffPost: Republicans have four convicted criminals running for Congress in 2018

Greg in Hollywood: Happy to hear "Grace & Frankie" was renewed for a fifth season seeing as it finally found its footing in the fourth

Huffpost Queer Voices: Black love is for ALL black people

NewNowNext: A third of Americans think transgender people are committing a sin

OMG Blog: Joel Kinnaman shows off his hot ass in "Altered Carbon"

The New Yorker: "America's Harvest Box" captures the Trumpian attitude toward poverty

Tennis Life: Raonic auditioning coaches once more

The WoW Report: When Keith Haring covered Vanity Fair

Hot Cat of the Day: This little critter has a lot of real estate to work with ...

Weekend Tennis Update: Melbourne Edition

The Australian Open men's doubles final sure was a treat for the eyes, and I'd have been happy no matter who won. In the end, the Austrian-Croatian pairing of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic secured their biggest title together by defeating Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (below) to win their first Grand Slam title. It was a nice reversal of fortune for the May-December pairing, who had lost a heartbreaker in the final at Wimbledon seven months ago. 

Regular readers know I've had my eye on Farah forever. But his run to the final with Cabal opened my eyes to a few things besides his propensity to show off his hot body. I also learned he was born in Montreal, played at USC and is actually of Lebanese descent, a la Shakira. 

Best of all, I learned that he's known his doubles partner since he was 6. (Cabal was hiding his hair lose even then!)

¡Sudar, sonreír y repetir cuantas veces sea necesario! Entrenando duro y experimentando un estilo de vida saludable con mi #Nutrimeal @usanacolombia #al100conreset

A post shared by robertfarah (@robertfarah) on Jan 24, 2018 at 3:10pm PST

Oh, and success hasn't changed that propensity I mentioned -- thank God! 

The 6-4 Croat doubled his pleasure by also winning the mixed doubles, with Canadian Gaby Dabrowski. The pair saved a championship point en route to defeating Rohan Bopanna of India and Babos of Hungary 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 under a closed roof Sunday at Rod Laver Arena.

Even when he's behind, he's ahead ...

First-time semifinalist Kyle Edmund received a nice welcome at London's Heathrow Airport ... 

Caroline Wozniack and her new BFF, Daphne, go for a boat ride ...

but we all know what the real prize is (can't this big lug do something about that psycho dad?)

Oh, and some guy named Roger Federer held off Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to capture his 20th Grand Slam singles title. 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Federer is the oldest man to win the Aussie Open since one of his role models, Ken Rosewall, did it in 1972. This guy seems to be making a name for himself, huh? 

Roger's backhand -- and hair -- have gotten better with age ...

P.S. Chris Hemsworth was the most interesting part of the fifth set of the men's final ...