Paula Defends 'Tsitsidosa'

Paula Badosa on the people who attack her relationship with Stefanos Tsitsipas -- saying she’s harming his career: 

“That has hurt me a lot, because with the whole issue of the injury, I have actually been able to dedicate myself quite a bit to helping him. We both love tennis and he is also a super-working person, we are very similar in the goals we set for ourselves. We talk a lot about tennis, and we help each other a lot. As you can see, I have gone to the court to support him or to the gym to accompany him, always respecting the times & his people, his team. He has also supported me a lot with the injury, so when we read those things it impacts us. Sometimes people are not able to understand how that can affect you, or affect a relationship. I can understand that we are public figures and that we are exposed, but in the end, we are two 25-year-olds, & all this is delicate, because it is an innocent relationship… For people to go around saying things is quite serious, because they are destroying the career of someone who has spent his entire life dedicating himself to what he does. I don't think that giving an opinion this way is very humane.” (via El País)

No word on how Stefanos's hair is hurting me.

Separated at Birth: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frieda?

More Separated at Birth posts HERE.

Tennis Tuesday: Stefanos Tsitsipas

Between manspreading with his hot physio, eating a banana and having sunscreen spread on his body by another man, Stefanos Tsitsipas sure knew how to put on a show while waiting to play in Monaco. See for yourself BELOW.

Tennis Tuesday

 

I so wanted Stefanos Tsitsipas to beat Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne, but will have to settle for these leggy photos instead. Two more BELOW.

Tennis Tuesday

 

Hotel quarantine life in Melbourne hasn't been easy for Stefanos Tsitsipas and his boxer briefs. Have a look for yourself HERE. 

Page 1 Roundup (10/06)

 

The Daily News: I am angry and resentful I have to constantly hear about this person's depraved behavior

Boy Culture: Joe Biden beautifully explains why he would be a transitional president

Back2Stonewall: Gay History Month -- 'Female Trouble' Opens, E.M. Forster, and the shocking abuse of AIDS patient Morgan MacDonald

Greg in Hollywood: Blond bombshell Trevor Donovan skateboards to Fleetwood Mac -- but how did he manage to film it?

Instinct: Zachary Quinto came out because he felt hypocritical as teen suicides surged

Baseline: Tsitsipas looks back on his early journalism days

Dlisted: Skeet Ulrich had a Stanford Blatch moment with his much-younger mate 

HuffPost: California governor nominates first openly gay man to state Supreme Court

Gr8er Days: Marlene Dietrich rides again

NewNowNext: The Supreme Court is already targeting LGBTQ rights

CNN: Voting rights groups speed payments to help ex-felons in Florida ahead of registration deadline

New York Post: Pence and Harris will be separated by plexiglas at Utah VP debate

Washington Blade: Fate of D.C.'s Crew Club takes another turn

The Washington Post: Supreme Court sides with Republicans in South Carolina dispute over mail-in ballots

Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll fight Justice Dept. intervention in lunatic defamation case

Concern rises for White House residence staffers as their workplace emerges as a virus hot spot

The New York Times: Eric Munster finally interviewed in New York fraud inquiry

Judges tell Donny his officials are serving illegally and he does nothing. Or, why our democracy isn't equipped for someone with no regard for the law

The pressure to be perfect turns deadly for celebrities in Japan

A new memoir and rarities collection show Mariah Carey's evolution into a poised, boundary-blurring pop superstar

The Wall Street Journal: IRS investigating NRA’s Wayne LaPierre for possible tax fraud

 Enjoy your meal -- quickly. Restaurants introduce time limits.

Fort Lauderdale home built for Anheuser-Busch brewing magnate lists for $19.25 million

Hot Cat of the Day: Noah Rubin couldn't run Behind the Racquet without a little help from Nike! 

The Croat Comeback Kid

Wow, did you see that? Borna Coric pulled off a great escape tonight, saving six match points while rallying to beat fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Coric's 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory was his second straight that went to five sets and lasted more than four hours. 

  

The No. 27 seed got treatment on his right shoulder and neck after the first set. Down 5-1 in the fourth set, he broke Tsitsipas three straight times, fighting off six break points along the way. Although I didn't see the whole thing, at some point in the third set tension apparently arose between the two -- apparently Borna didn't like Stefanos's yelling and carrying on -- and it was remained palpably uncomfortable throughout the fourth and fifth sets. It's been a rough year or two for the Croatian cutie -- couldn't be happier for him even if I don't like seeing Stefanos fall apart like that. Between him and Taylor "I served for the match" Fritz earlier today, my faith in the NextGen has only grown fainter.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Team Stars took out Team Stripes to win the Draft Kings All-American Team Cup in Atlanta this weekend. (Damian is curious why John Isner's crew wasn't called Team Stars and Bars.) While Reilly Opelka's injury and Frances Tiafoe's withdrawal after testing positive for coronavirus were what drew the most attention, it was nice to see sexy Stevie Johnson and Tommy Paul back in action. 

That winning moment for @TommyPaul1 and #TeamStars.#TennisGoesFourthpic.twitter.com/W6kqHlOo7V

— Truist Atlanta Open 🎾 (@ATLOpenTennis) July 6, 2020

Tommy topped Steve in what would be the deciding match.

But the real drama was in Nice, France, where Stefanos Tsitsipas's hot dad and hot ass took center stage during a match against Corentin Moutet.

The Frenchman was right to call out Stefanos's dad for talking during his serve.

Well that escalated quickly 🤯@moutet99 takes aim at Apostolos Tsitsipas and things get heated in a hurry at #UTShowdown pic.twitter.com/L5RkRkoI6m

— Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) July 5, 2020

"I won't speak about Stefanos, because he's a good guy. But it's just (his) father is stupid, everyone thinks he's stupid," Moutet told commentators during the break. "He's speaking when I'm serving, all the time. It's not respectful."

El @tenista_quemado continua sumando discípulos. Ni en una exhibición Corentin Moutet pudo contener su bronca😂🤦🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/jd6V8iUmcY

— Tenis Central (@Tenis_Central) June 29, 2020

But I think he'd have had a stronger leg to stand on if he weren't a notorious nut himself!

THIEMs7 tournament to kick off tomorrow.

Players arrive in Kitzbühel. All 60 tests for Covid-19 are negative.

Thiem: "It's just fantastic to be back. I'm looking forward to seeing the other players again. Most of them, I haven't met since March in Indian Wells."

📸: THIEMs7 pic.twitter.com/0ZGpLr8VwS

— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) July 6, 2020

Meanwhile, action gets under way in Austria today for an exhibition organized by Dominic Thiem's people.

Domi joins his dad Rafa as one of the only players that should wear a sleeveless top. pic.twitter.com/bJDBty1PoM

— C’mon Museum! (@ChumJetzeAnyone) July 4, 2020

I don't know what he's been doing during this extended break. But it looks like his ass might be facing some stiff competition from the Gun Department this year.

Around the Net:

Christopher Clarey reports that ATP announced its new rankings plan: Went for the system that delivers a quicker return to normal in 2021 but there could be some drawbacks, particularly for the U.S. Open. WTA's plan still to come. 

Fuck, marry, kill: Tommy, Reilly and Taylor

It's raining men

Tour de France: Albano Olivetti and Alex Robein 

Dusan Lajovic stays limber

Christian Harrison and Cesar Ramirez are still going strong

I'm still smitten with Cameron

Trunk alert! Jan-Michael Gambill 

Where ya headed, Quentin?

JJ Wolf has all the hottest friends.

Tommy Haas with "twin brother" Max Wimmer.

Taking care of business  

Pretty boy Nikola Mektic

Tennis Tuesday

Stefanos Tsitsipas was upset in the second round in Rotterdam.

But his loss to Aljaz Bedene couldn't overshadow his upper body ...

which was just about as hot as semfinalist Filip Krajinovic's lower body.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Although I thought I'd be happy either way, I must say Stefanos Tsitsipas's 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 win over Dominic Thiem in the ATP Finals was a little more bitter than sweet. Of course it was incredible to see the gifted 21-year-old win the biggest title of his career, with the promise that someone from the so-called Next Gen might just be ready to challenge the big three in 2020's majors. But at five years his senior, what it said more to me was that my fear that the Ass From Austria doesn't really have the killer instinct needed to go to the next level is looking to be correct -- beating both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer yet still coming up short when push came to shove. (You may recall I first got this nagging feeling when he squandered a two-set lead against Rafael Nadal in the 2018 U.S. Open quarterfinals. And don't get me started about Daniil Medvedev blowing a 5-1 lead in the third set against Rafa in London.) Damian still thinks Thiem's got future French Open champ potential, but I think a better bet is gay-porn bareback bottom.

And even at that ...

Has anyone noticed the 6-4 Greek god is now giving Dominic a run for his money in that department, too? 

When's the last time the Big Three were in a tournament and none of them reached the final?

Meanwhile in the doubles, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut put the finishing touches on a brilliant if discombobulated season by claiming their maiden ATP Finals title on Sunday, with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus.

And in Challenger Land: James Duckworth won the event in Pune, India, beating Jay Clarke 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The points will push the 27-year-old Aussie to 82nd in the world, granting him direct entry into the main draw of his home Grand Slam in January.

And sex bomb Marcos Giron beat Ivo Karlovic to win the event in Houston, saving six match points.

His new mustache only added to his appeal ... only he called it “hideous” on Instagram while vowing to shave it. 😩 

The Big Three have now ended the year No. 1 five times each. Pete Sampras is still the all-time leader, having accomplished the feat six times (in a row).

Also in London, former World No. 4 Tomas  “The Bod” Berdych announced his retirement.

P.S. I was away last week when Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur (4–2, 4–1, 4–2 -- whatever that means) to win the 2019 Next Generation ATP final. (Tsitsipas was the defending champion, but decided to withdraw as he had also qualified for the 2019 ATP Finals!)

Former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova called it a career at the age of 30. The winner of eight WTA titles, Cibulkova's last triumph will go into the books as her greatest, having lifted the WTA Finals crown in Singapore to close out the 2016 season. Bonus: Now she'll have more time to f**k her hot hubby. 

And Kristina Mladenovic inspired France to a drought-breaking Fed Cup triumph, a nail-biting 3-2 win in the final against Australia on Sunday.  Mladenovic combined with Caroline Garcia to beat Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, in the decisive doubles match at Perth Arena. She produced a herculean effort on the outdoor hard court after earlier Sunday upsetting the top-ranked Barty in a three-set thriller to move France into a 2-1 lead.

Up next is "Davis Cup" in Madrid. Here's Novak Djokovic and the man who ruined the legendary world tennis championships, which are described like this:

The new season-ending Davis Cup Finals event will take place over the course of one week -- Nov. 18-24. The Finals will feature 18 teams -- 12 qualifiers, the previous year’s four semifinalists and two wild card nations. The 18 teams will compete in six round-robin groups of three teams. The six group winners plus the two second-placed teams with the best records based on sets and games won will qualify for the quarter-finals. The Davis Cup champions will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase. The four semifinalists will qualify automatically for the 2020 Finals. The nations that finish in 5th-18th positions will contest the 2020 Qualifiers. These teams will also be eligible to receive a wild card into the 2020 Finals, along with the winners of the 2019 Group I ties. (Huh?)

At least the players still clean up nicely for the event.

Team Spain

Team France

Team Germany

Team Serbia

Team Croatia ...

Not sure what 2020 holds for Borna, whose constant injuries knocked the wind out of his sail.

  

Fine dining ...

Italian fare.

 Team Canada 

Or as I see it, Team Canada

Team Great Britain

Team Argentina 

Around the net ...

I'm ready for a ride on Tommy Paul's mustache ...

Did Tommy Robredo marry an actual woman?! 

Jan-Michael Gambill joined Tracy Austin, Stevie Johnson and others at a fantasy tennis camp in Maui.

I think I see what the fantasy refers to ...

Nice work if you can get it.

From Russia, with lust.

Jonny angel ...

How I love him.

Even if he vacations in homophobic Dubai.

Demure he's not.

Christian Harrison would make a fine wife for Vasek.

And with that new sexy 'stache, anything is Pospisil ...

Brits playing with balls ... huh-huh.

(With wire services)