Blog

Tennis, everyone

August 24, 2017

The qualifying rounds of the US Open are underway at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. The actual tournament – the last of the four Slams – begins with first-round play Monday, Aug. 28. In the meantime, enjoy the game’s stars in a lighter mood at Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday, Aug. 26.

On the tournament’s infrastructure front, the big news is the temporary Louie (as in Louis Armstrong Stadium) while the United States Tennis Association readies the new Louie for its Big Apple Bow next year. On the personnel front, a number of big names will be missing this year. ...

Does ‘Trophy Son’ malign top tennis players?

May 26, 2017

A new novel about tennis that offers an uneasy mix of fiction and reality asks the question, To what extent is fiction protected from libel?

“Trophy Son” by Douglas Brunt (alias Mr. Megan Kelly) tells the story of a fictional tennis prodigy who’s the victim of a stage parent. But at some point, it apparently veers into reality as one character, fictional trainer Bobby Hicks, accuses Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Needless to say, this is all anyone’s talking about. ...