I understand that Nadal rules at Roland Garros, but must the floral design on Court Philippe Chatrier incorporate the colors of the Spanish flag?
I've been enjoying the French Open, particularly Iga Swiatek's upset yesterday of Simona Halep. (The Polish teen reminds me of the students I taught in Warsaw). But I've been bothered by one thing: The players are often wearing leggings and long sleeves while the ballkids - who never get to work up a sweat - are still in their summery uniform of shorts and polo shirt.
If you’re a sports fan, this is truly a golden autumn. In addition to the usual glut of football games – college and professional – most days of the week, and the a tad tardy baseball playoffs, there are, this year, the even more delayed basketball playoffs and, for the next two weeks, the French Open, where you get to see some of the greatest tennis players in the world wearing long sleeves. Autumn in Paris.
If you’re a Miami sports fan, you’re probably wishing that every season could be an abbreviated season.
I'm just back from tennis and I'm trying to decide if I find wind preferable to humidity.
According to announcers, the players participating in this year’s U.S. Open are living in a bubble. This is true of course, but – having covered the Open one year, as well as the Miami Open – I know that tennis players are always in a bubble. This year’s is simply more airtight.
And I suspect that except for the crowd energy during matches, most players are not missing the fans. They can hit on the practice courts without anyone watching; they can stroll the grounds without being hounded for autographs. The top-ranked players have been given corporate boxes, and during matches the camera will occasionally zoom in on – not a famous actor or celebrity athlete – but a shirtless Sasha Zverev or a chopstick-wielding Naomi Osaka. The players are the only stars in attendance, and they have been given the run of the place. For many it must be the ideal tournament.
Yesterday at the U.S. Open Novak Djokovic - the #1 seed who was chasing history - got defaulted for accidentally hitting a linesperson with a ball struck in anger. His action left many questions, including: How soon after the default did Roger Federer call Rafael Nadal?