Another wild night in Melbourne, as Angelique Kerber channeled her inner 2016 self to demolish Madison Keys (who I wanted to win the whole thing), Simona Halep destroyed Karolina Plishkova (who was about to be up two breaks in the first set before completely going away) and Hyeon Chung's Himderella story continued as he took out Tennys Sandgren, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. (It was a highly entertaining match!)
I was curious if the commentators would acknowledge the controversy surrounding the ugly American's social-media posts, and to my surprise they did. Patrick McEnroe, who isn't usually my favorite, impressed me by not giving Sandgren a slide for being new to life in the spotlight, calling some of his views flat-out wrong.
But then Chris Fowler chimed in, calling Sandgren “thoughtful,” before adding that folks labeling him are doing so “without insight and research.”
Um, no. I had just complimented McEnroe via Twitter when I heard this, so I immediately responded to Fowler (above). No one is saying Sandgren can't learn from his mistakes. But there are consequences for your words and actions, and letting him off the hook because he seems like a "nice guy" just isn't acceptable.
I for one don't find people making fun of the LGBT community to be very nice.
Ball's in your court, Tennys.
Serena's tweet when Sandgren's match came up on was pretty great!
UPDATE: Looks like a double fault. Now the alt-right-curious player is blaming the media for his problems, a la Donald. Read HERE.
And Alexander Zverev outlasted Marin Cilic in three. More intriguing are today's matches, pitting Dominic "I can't win a set" Thiem against Grigor Dimitrov ...
and year-end-no-matter-what-happens No. 1 Rafael Nadal versus David Goffin.
Hyeon Chung ended up winning the Next-Gen title -- beating Russia’s Andrei Rublev 3-4 (5), 4-3 (2), 4-2, 4-2 -- but the abbreviated scoring was so confusing/stupid that I lost all interest.
Belinda Bencic won her first WTA title since surgery, beating Hseih Su-wei in the final of Thailand.
Caught some of the U.S.'s nail-biter-that-shouldn't-have-been win over a Victoria Azarenkaless Belarus in the Fed Cup, America's first win since 2000.
That Championship Season: Lisa Raymond, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati
The U.S. team at the pre-tie dinner with USTA President Katrina Adams
Kudos to first-time coach Kathy Rinaldi -- and especially to CoCo Vandeweghe for digging us out of the hole dug for us by Sloane Stephens, who basically hasn't won a match since claiming the U.S. Open.
Damian and I were more than ready to console the Belarusian fans on hand ...
who had a solid answer to Clara Peller's age-old question ...
Damian was excited to see Coach Max Mirnyi, whose SHIRTLESS/SPEEDO PICS he still remembers fondly!
1. Patrick Rafter: Always the most likable and lickable player on the circuit, it only makes me want to be this Aussie...
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
With Robert Buckley
Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
Step Brother McMullen
With Ed Burns
Headline News
With Thomas Roberts
Disclaimer
The views expressed on this blog belong to me -- and me alone -- and are not a reflection of my employers past, present or future.
All photos are shared under the fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C. § 107). If you would like any image removed, please contact me and I will promptly comply.
