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 ... 

Our Adriatic Adventure Awaits

Damian and I leave for Italy (Venice, Naples, Bari, Rome), Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split) and Greece (Zakynthos, Athens) in less than a month. I hear the scenery is especially good in Croatia ...

The Croats take on the United States this weekend in Davis Cup action ...

Weekend Tennis Roundup

If you'd told me five years ago I'd be OK with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both losing in finals on the same weekend -- and that's I'd be ecstatic about one of them -- I'd have thought you were nuts. But it was hard not to be thrilled watching young gun Borna Coric dismantle the GOAT -- on grass in Halle where'd he'd won nine times before -- to capture his second title to date.

He also embarrassed supposedly #NextGen superstar Alexander Zverev (again), 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, which prompted Justin Gimelstob to go on and on about how the young Croatian is better developed in "the lower region" than Sasha. Haven't heard him get this excited about someone's "tuchus" since he jerked off over Dominic Thiem in April.

Right back at ya 😏 . @bornacoric @gerryweberopen_official (🎥: @tennistv)

A post shared by ATP World Tour (@atpworldtour) on Jun 24, 2018 at 8:30am PDT

This point summed it up perfectly ...

The loss also tipped the No. 1 ranking back to Rafael Nadal, although Wimbledon still gave the No. 1 seeding to the King of Grass. The women's will be out tomorrow, perhaps held up by the tournament's history of using its discretion to seed people, namely seven-time champ and (World No. 183) Serena Williams. 

I wasn't exactly thrilled that Marin Cilic beat Novak Djokovic for only the second time in 16 tries. But I like Cilic and especially like that he isn't exactly a one-Slam wonder four years after winning his one Slam. Djokovic was up a set and 4-0 in the second-set tiebreak before double faulting and completely going away. Still not sure if Djokovic can regain the mental toughness he once had, but can't really be that disappointed that he reached a final after many previous early-round exit or losses to unexpected players.

In more erotic news, Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Andy Murray in his comeback match (at Queen's Club) before eventually losing to the eventual champion in the semis,  was fined $23,590 for pretending his water bottle was a penis, wanking on it and MAKING IT "EJACULATE" on live television.

As she did going into Roland Garros, Petra Kvitova made herself a favorite at Wimbledon with her second consecutive crown in Birmingham. (The Fucking Crumbs Everywhere Nature Valley Classic.)  The two-time Wimbledon champ fought back from a set down to beat Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. 

"Can I win Wimbledon [this year]? Well, why not?" Kvitova said afterward. "But many things can happen. You can get injured. ... It's a little bit of a different mindset with a Grand Slam, and I will try to set up my mind for this tournament." It was Kvitova's fifth title this year -- more than any other player on the tour -- yet her ranking still languishes at No. 8. 

And in the smaller Mallorca Open, Tatjana Maria -- who hadn't won back-to-back matches all year and was 3-15 coming in -- beat Kontaveit, Witthoeft, Safarova, Kenin and Sevastova for her first WTA singles title. In December, The New York Times said of her that the "WTA's busiest player is a glove-trotting mom."

Perhaps Serena Williams (and her fans) should follow her lead instead of whining about the rules.

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 ...

Update From Down Under

A few quick thoughts about last night's Australian Open results. For some reason, I just can't seem to see being upset that Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal knocked out Lleyton Hewit and retiring hunk Sam Groth before beating the Bryan brothers. (That second part I was happy about!)

De hombre a hombre ...

I'm a Marin Cilic fan -- that aqua blue is a very good color on him -- although I'm not sure he needed to make another Slam final.

Nice effort from Kyle Edmund to get to the semis, though. Wonder if he will be the new Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet type or if he could actually win one one day.

Damian and I stayed up all night only to watch Angelique Kerber lose 9-7 in the third to that pipsqueak. (My guy had to be at work at 9 a.m. -- says he can barely keep his eyes open after "that fiasco.") To be honest, Angie was playing so passively -- could she hit more than two shots past the service line, for god's sake? -- that she really didn't deserve to win. But when she somehow got to double-match point by hitting some classic Angie shots, I thought she might sneak through anyway. Hard to believe the No. 1 and 2 seeds made it to the final yet it feels like a bit of a second-tier event to me.

Sure hope Chung Hyeon gives Roger Federer a match. I hate lame semis in majors, which is exactly what Elise Mertens vs. Wozniacki was until Caroline started to choke.

And in the end, it's always nice to see David Lee smiling. (Noticed he has a little bit of belly and it made him seem ever hotter!)

Love this so much! And so happy for Helena Sukova, who was Martina Navratilova's Roberta Vinci back in 1984.

Song of the Day: 'European Son' by Japan

It looks like the winning Laver Cup gang can't get enough of each other, reuniting for lunch in Shanghai! 

Seeds Die on the Grass

I guess whatever's ailing the WTA is contagious, because Rafael Nadal (yesterday), Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic all lost at Wimbledon for no apparent reason, each in a way that would make Simona Halep proud. (Not to be outdone, the ladies have their sixth Slamless No. 1, Ms. Karolína Plíšková!) Lucky for us, Marin Cilic (who Damian and I saw play) won -- and had a hunky physio waiting in his box (above) -- while even party pooper Giles Müller's posse was easy on the eyes ... 

P.S.

I'm a little behind on my vacation blogging, but a reader watching Wimbledon online noticed Damian and me (perving out) during the Pospisil-Benneteau vs. Dodig-Granollers match, our first at the event!

Marcel Granollers 

Granollers receives ...

Vasek Pospisil