We're now into the second week of Wimbledon, which banned Russian and Belorussian players this year, and still alive in the draw are two players I hope will take home the trophies: Elena Rybakina, an ethnic Russian who a few years ago took Kazakhstan citizenship, and Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios has nothing to do with Russia - he's Australian - but he's tennis's resident bad boy, complete with a darkly tattooed arm, and seeing him lift the championship trophy could make the officials of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club wish that they had invited Medvedev.
Could it be that writers are attracted to baseball because it's the sole American sport that one can watch while reading a book?
I was delighted by the news that Miami will be one of the hosts of the 2026 World Cup. Even if you don’t buy tickets to the games, you will be able to partake of the atmosphere, as fans from four countries will come to South Florida and gather in our bars.
In 1994, the last time the U.S. hosted the event, I traveled to Orlando to write color stories for the Sun-Sentinel. I remember grumblings then about The City Beautiful getting the games instead of Miami, which counted more soccer fans among its population. But Orlando’s advantage over Miami, at least for a feature writer, was that the celebrations were very concentrated; every evening Belgians, Mexicans, Irish, and Dutch filled the bars of Church Street Station. (You knew the first three by their national colors, the last by their height.) Here, fans – from what four countries we don’t yet know – will be spread out all over the city – South Beach, North Beach (especially if we get Argentina), Coral Gables, Wynwood – and even the region. Las Olas restaurants will hang big screens, and Pompano Beach (if Brazil plays here) will be buzzing.
I’ll probably spend my time in Coral Gables, where games are regularly shown on the pedestrian part of Giralda Avenue and at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus, which has a large terrace on Merrick Way. It was here that the mayors of Miami and Miami-Dade gathered yesterday to hear the news that their home will be a host.
Except for the Masters, I don't watch a lot of golf on TV, but I will make an exception for this week's U.S. Open, when I hope to hear loud boos whenever Phil Mickelson steps up to the tee. Monday I posted a cartoon titled "The Wide World of Sports" that showed Jesse Owens saluting on the winner's stand and Phil Mickelson in dark shades. The captions read: "1936: Beating the Nazis" and "2022: Joining the Saudis."
I like Iga Swiatek - she reminds me of my students at the English Language College in Warsaw - but sometimes her tactics get on my nerves (as they do on the players'). If ever a statue is erected to her it should show her with her left hand raised making her opponent wait to serve.
Played tennis yesterday evening at the Fort Lauderdale Tennis Club under perfect conditions: no sun, no wind, and of course no rain. After hitting for an hour and a half we retired to the bar to watch Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who at that point had been hitting much longer. By the time Nadal broke back to even the fourth set, a small crowd had gathered. Watching these two play is like watching an irresistible force meet and unmovable object.
“Nadal,” said a young man with a curly mop of hair, “is a freak of nature.”
There’s that too.
He won the match.