And Then There Were Four

 

I mean, given how crazy the past 10 days have been at the All-England Club -- particularly on the women's side -- I must say we're pretty lucky to have these semifinals. Obviously I would love to see Novak Djokovic snuff out that homophobe Margaret Court's specious 24 majors co-record. But even if he does get past Sinner -- both of them are potentially not well -- the good news is I can live with his losing to Carlos again, who truly is a generational talent ... and adorable!

Here it's pretty much a win-win-win-win situation: Aryna should take home the trophy on Saturday, which would prevent her from potentially ending the year as a Slamless No. 1. I've always liked Belinda in a Madison Keys kind of way -- meaning that I've basically given up on her but would still be thrilled if she finally did it. (She's still only 28 because she was so young when she burst on the scene.) Anisimova is a brilliant player whose mind has always been her biggest weakness -- she’s constantly on the brink of tears -- so more power to her if she can put it all together. And Iga's been lost in the woods for over a year, so if she somehow won Wimbledon -- on her worst surface -- how could I complain? 

Star Sightings at SW19

Lots of bold-faced names at this year's Wimbledon, including heartthrobs John Cena, Glen Powell, Gareth Bale, Tom Daley, Jack Whitehall, Nick Jonas and more BELOW.

Wimbledon Ditches ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs.’ to Catch Up With Late 20th Century

Wimbledon re-did its ladies' championships board to do away with honorifics -- and I can only imagine Mr. J.M. Lloyd is wincing somewhere at losing his one All-England singles "title"! 

 

Breakfast(s) at Wimbledon

With action scheduled to begin in just a few hours, I am curious who everyone is rooting for at The Championships. For the first time in ages I can honestly say I would be happy with any of these four winning, although in a weird way it makes the exercise somewhat less compelling.  On the women’s side, I prefer Pliskova because she’s the best player (and a former No. 1) to have never won a major. But Barty is a doll and I love her game, so have no complaints with her coming out on top. For the men, it would be fantastic to see someone as nice and hunky as Berrettini win his first major — and thus set an example for his peers. But it seems unlikely given the relentlessness of Djokovic, whom I would be thrilled to see tie up the most majors record, and essentially put the GOAT debate to rest once and for all. Spectators ready? Play!

All England Snub?

The Tennis Channel has completely blown this pandemic by showing nothing but "classic" matches we all remember so clearly that they're not even memories yet. So you can imagine how happy I am that in addition to my tennis DVD collection I rarely dust off, I have been able to supplement my pro tennis fix with a slew of actual classic matches recently uploaded by Wimbledon to its YouTube channel. Because so many things on the video-sharing site are of such low quality -- frequently from old videotapes and the like -- these matches straight from the source have been a pure delight, almost like watching them live again. As mentioned, I finally got to see Virginia Wade's stunning upset of Chris Evert in the 1977 semifinals. And last night I watched Evonne Goolagong upset Chris in the 1980 final. (Martina Navratilova's championship win over Chris in 1978 is up now, too.) All of this is great, of course. But it's been difficult on hardcore Chrissie fans, which prompted me to send THIS REQUEST to the Wimbledon Twitter account. Feel free to retweet ... I'm hoping Chrissie is curious enough to read it that she unblocks me to see what all the excitement is about!

When 'Our Ginny' Dethroned the Ice Maiden

As longtime readers know, I fell in love with tennis in 1977 -- with my first professional tournament being the U.S. Open, which happened to be its final year at Forest Hills. The Tennis magazine headline nearly said it all -- "The Kid, the Rabbit and the Champion" was just missing "the Transsexual" -- and after watching glamorous Chris Evert win her third title in a row, she quickly became my favorite player. That fall led to a deep dive into tennis history, with my brother Bill subscribing to Tennis and World Tennis, and then buying as many back issues as he could afford. 

It didn't take long before I learned that Evert had lost in the previous big tournament -- something called Wimbledon -- and I struggled to make sense of it all. The magazines wrote extensively about something called a "fortnight" when "Our Ginny," with her "new hairdo," brought the "Venus Rosewater Dish" home for the tournament's "centenary" during during the queen's "silver jubilee" -- most of which made no sense to a 10-year-old from Madison Heights, Mich. (At that point I thought quotation marks were placed around words to give them emphasis and that Virginia Slims was one of the other players!) 

Posh and college-educated vs. the girl next door

So imagine my delight slash horror when I discovered the infamous Evert-Wade semifinal was added to YouTube today -- in vibrant colors that emphasis Chrissie's "Hot Clairol" image, a phrase coined by my friend Mark! Watch it and weep (again), bitches. I texted my Arizona best friend and tennis partner in crime,, Greg, to tell him about the match's online arrival and of course he responded, "Am already watching it." The comments on my Chris Evert Facebook group are hilarious, with all these gay guys reliving the match like it was yesterday, recounting how they were "sick to their stomach" that day 43 years ago! 

While it certainly ranks high on Chris's list of missed Wimbledon opportunities -- don't even get me started about the menstrual mishap of 1980 -- as an adult I really came to appreciate what a huge deal it was for the Belle of Bournemouth, playing before the queen (during the 25th year of Elizabeth II's reign) on the 100th anniversary of The Championships -- who ended her long career with three of the four majors under her belt, but probably would have forfeited every crown she won for that one splendid moment on the grass that was finally hers. 

Yes, queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My brother Terence reminded me of this classic Sports Illustrated headline -- for an article that speculated Evert was distracted by maybe-on-again boyfriend Jimmy Connors not showing up as promised to support her, opting to spend time with actress Susan George ... again.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Well, I predicted Roger Federer and Serena Williams would win this year's Wimbledon crowns ... and I was darn-near right. In what has to be the most devastating loss in his career -- for his fans and Roger alike -- the Swiss legend squandered two match points on his own serve, after charging back from down two sets to one and 4-2 in the fifth against an unflappable Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3). 

“I thought most of the match I was on the back foot,” said Djokovic, who now has five Wimbledon titles. “I was defending. He was dictating the play. I just tried to fight and find a way when it mattered the most, which is what happened.”

Although John McEnroe didn't want to hear it, this loss hurts Federer's legacy more than meets the eye. After losing six Grand Slam matches in a row to Rafael Nadal-- including four finals -- Fed has finally gotten the Spanish monkey off his GOAT back. And, sure, it's impressive that a 37-year-old was one point from winning the longest Wimbledon final in history.

But this win guarantees that Novak will end the year No. 1 for the sixth time, allowing him to overtake Fed in the last remaining area besides total majors he still has an advantage. And having lost from match point up to Djokovic -- what, three times in majors? Yikes. All this time we've argued Federer or Nadal as greatest of all time. But assuming he wins four more majors -- don't forget he's the only one of three contenders to hold all four at once -- it now looks like Djokovic is the actual answer. No other player has dominated this many times against this strong a field. (Sorry, Bill, wherever you are.)

As for the women, what can I say? Serena Williams (again) waltzed into the final of yet another major. But shockingly (again!), her opponent didn't curl up into the fetal position, exploiting the GOAT's utter lack of match play. While I was not surprised that people like Kerber, Osaka and Pliskova were able to capitalize on Serena's rustiness, I have to give all the credit in the world to Simona Halep, who played one of the most perfect matches I have ever seen. So stunned was I by the result, I rewatched it in its entirety two more times Saturday -- it was such a thing of beauty. All the respect in the world to the Romanian pipsqueak for rising to this huge occasion. (And can we talk about all the beef in her box?!) 

I'm so tired of the constant bullshit drama surrounding Serena Williams -- almost always started by people who know nothing about tennis -- that I refuse to even click through. But I know from the headlines that Billie Jean King is right that Serena is again at a crossroads. She definitely has one more major in her -- and god know I'd love to see Margaret Court taken down a peg. But if she wants to make history again, she can't simply phone it in like she could before. 

Couldn't take my eyes of the epic men's doubles final, and not just because Robert Farah was wearing extra-clingy shorts and what appeared to be no underwear. 

He and Juan Cabal made history, narrowly edging Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-3, to become the first Colombian men's doubles champions at a major. (The loss seemed to hit Christophe Roger-Vasselin's son really hard, reducing him to tears for several minutes after the match.) 

Well-earned by the social-media savvy duo!

And in women's doubles, some history was also made. A former WTA Doubles World No.1 and the next WTA Doubles World No.1 triumphed in the final.  Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei claimed the title, as the No.3 seeds eased past No.4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yifan of China, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and six minutes. "Oh, my God, there is no word to describe the feeling," Strycova said, in their post-match press conference. "It's kind of like unreal. But in the same time it's amazing." It is the first Grand Slam title in women’s doubles for Strycova, who will rise to WTA Doubles World No.1 in the WTA doubles rankings for the first time in her career as a result. Not bad for a women who had just reached her first major seminal at age 33.

Earlier, Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan claimed the mixed doubles title. Croat Dodig, 34, and Taiwanese Chan, 29, prevailed 6-2 6-3 against Sweden's Robert Lindstedt and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in one hour and 10 minutes

And while I was rooting for Team Tracy Austin/Andrea Jaeger(!), Cara Black and Martina Navratilova ended up winning the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, defeating Marion Bartoli and Daniela Hantuchova in the final, 6–0, 3–6, [10–8]. Martina is about to turn 63!

And last but not least, apparently I have a type. Gustavo Fernandez won the men's wheelchair singles, and of course he's Argentinian. Have you seen him posing NAKED?

Around the net ...

Vacation (with Matteo Berrettini), all I ever wanted. More HERE.

Was hard to say which tennis legend was more happy about Simona's win: Martina Navratilova, who probably doesn't have to worry about Serena breaking that record too, or Chrissie, who still seems heartbroken by her pal Darren Cahill's separation from his star pupil. The correct answer is, of course, Margaret Court!

If Michael Venus is a "loser," I don't want to win.

Studly Martin Nosko has the HOTTEST STUDENTS.

Saturday 'Stache

Royal Box edition.

Morning Wood

I must say there was plenty of SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS this fortnight.

Weekend Tennis Roundup

The past few months have been a little difficult to put it mildly -- my parents' car accident, my job (in)security, some problems in my apartment building and the lasting effects of losing my brother Bill -- so it was nice to have entirely positive Breakfasts at Wimbledon for once. First, Angelique Kerber did exactly what she was supposed to do by playing her crafty style of offense/defense with a lefty twist against a scratchy Serena Williams, who amazingly reached the finals of a major in just her fourth event since giving birth. (And to be honest, what would it say about the women's game if she had been able to waltz back in and win it, anyway? Kim Clijsters did something similar in 2009, but was much younger.) It was a beautiful sight to see -- Angie hit line after after and threaded the needle on nearly every passing shot -- and powered her way to her third Grand Slam title. 

She's the female Stan Wawrinka!

Novak Djokovic similarly rose to the occasion by putting an end to Kevin Anderson's incredible run, taking the South African gland freak out in two easy sets and one nail-biter, in which Nole saved five set points. Damian was crestfallen that his beloved Rafael Nadal had finally returned to good form on the grass yet still lost. But I kept reminding him that Nadal (and Roger Federer) had been racking up majors lately, and the return of sinewy Serb into the mix will hopefully soon mean the end of Alexander Zverev in the top three when he still can barely win a best-of-five match. To put my money where my mouth is, I'm willing to say I'd even be happy if Andy Murray were to win the upcoming U.S. Open!

These two sure cleaned up nicely!

The Champions' Dinner becomes The Champions' Dance... @djokernole and @angie.kerber take the stage #wimbledon

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) on Jul 15, 2018 at 4:05pm PDT

Too cute for words!

Djokovic with a son.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PyNDz47ZZK

— Tenis Kanalı (@TenisKanali) July 15, 2018

Waiting to Exhale

I couldn't be more relieved that Kevin Anderson beat Trump sympathizer John Isner. The American's tennis is as one-dimensional as our fake leader, and both of them need to just go away) As for the second semifinal, I won't sleep well tonight, but suffice to say I am comforted that Novak Djokovic managed to win the third set after blowing a break and being down three set points. 

What a shame they (we) now have to wait until tomorrow, but at least I'm off so I can pay more attention rather than fleeting glances in the newsroom!

As Damian put it, you live by the sword and you die by the sword, so Isner won the longest match in Wimbledon history and lost the second longest.

And Then There Were Four (x Two)

Well there was certainly no lack of drama at the All England Club, even if only one of the four men's semifinals went the way I wanted it to -- Novak Djokovic beat Kei Nishikori. (Would it kill Juan Martin del Potro to wake up before the match started?) 

Although I wasn't thrilled Kevin Anderson gave his Obama-bashing wife something to cheer about, I was even more disgusted that John Isner beat Milos Raonic. (Do we really need a geriatric Trump sympathizer in the semifinals of Wimbledon?) 

In years past one would think the winner of Djokovic and Nadal would be the obvious eventual winner. But given their advanced ages and levels of fragility, I'm scared either one of them could end up losing to either one of the giants. [Sigh.]

On the women's side I will say that with all Top 10 players being eliminated before the quarterfinals, it still wound up being a pretty respectable final four. While I still think it's Serena's to lose, I'm rooting for Kerber to win it all. Interestingly, Ostapenko has never played Serena, so it's hard to gauge who has a better shot against the mother GOAT.

Respect, above all else. 👏 . One of the great final sets - according to @andymurray - caps an almighty battle between Nadal and Del Potro on Centre Court . #Wimbledon @rafaelnadal @delpotrojuan #TakeOnHistory

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) on Jul 11, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

One point away from a straight-sets defeat, now one win away from a Wimbledon final 🙌 . See you in the semis, Kevin Anderson 🔜 . #Wimbledon @kandersonatp #TakeOnHistory

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) on Jul 11, 2018 at 11:06am PDT