Marin Cilic, in action at Wimbledon in 2018, has said he cannot imagine tournaments without fans. He may just have to.
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
The old thought experiment is predicated on the notion that sound requires perception, not just airwaves, so no perception, no sound.
That seems to be the thinking behind those bemoaning the prospect of spectator-less spectator sports. What meaning will they have without those who provide the gate, the soundtrack, the inspo, the raison d'être?
Read MoreAndy Murray and Novak Djokovic at The Boodles Tennis Challenge exhibition in Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire, England in 2012.
Can Novak Djokovic overcome the devastation of losing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final and defend his Wimbledon title? He is said not to be one to dwell on loss. Still, this one had to sting like no other. Can he put aside that sting as he did when he lost to Roger Federer in the French semifinals in 2011 then went on to win Wimbledon and the No. 1 ranking?
Speaking of Fed, can he summon his glory days to win his 18th Slam?
Can Rafael Nadal – who won one grass tournament and lost early in another recently – regain the form that made his Wimbledon matches with Fed so memorable? ...
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Who will it be? The once and future king (Rafael Nadal) or the kid bro all grown up and in the driver’s seat (Novak Djokovic)? The maestro (Roger Federer) or the Murrah (Andy Murray)?
One of the new guys perhaps – the teen dream (Borna Coric) or the princes in waiting (Kei Nishikori, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov)? Or will one of the vets (Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, David Ferrer) flash the old brilliance?
This year the French Open, which starts Sunday, May 24 and ends Sunday, June 7, is both Novak Djokovic’s to lose and anybody’s guess. There are several factors at play here.
Nine-time winner Rafa is seeded only sixth, thanks to a dismal season. (He would’ve been seeded seventh but an injured Milos Raonic dropped out.)
Wimbledon seeds according to the player’s performance on the surface (grass), not based on his ranking. So last year Nole was No. 1 even though at the time he was ranked No. 2.
But Wimby is Wimby. The French Open seeds according to the rankings and, even before the draw came out, you just knew that Rafanole – as their rivalry is known – would be renewed. Sure enough, they are set up to meet potentially for the 44th time in the quarterfinals, with one of them set potentially to meet Andy in the semis.
Meanwhile, Feddy would appear to have the easier path to the final but not so fast. There are people on his side of the draw like Berdych, Gael Monfils and even countryman Stan Wawrinka who could prove nettlesome.
So there are lots of questions:
Can Andy continue his sparkling play on clay?
Can Fed continue to dazzle at age 33?
Can Rafa recapture the magic in Roland-Garros, site of nine of his 14 Slam titles? ...
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Anna Wintour – lover of tennis and male tennis players, bless her heart – has anointed a new favorite, Nick Kyrgios.
The 20-year-old Aussie hotshot – who famously took down Rafa last year at Wimbledon – is of Greek-Malaysian descent. He says in the article in May Vogue that the food in his family’s house is amazing. We can only imagine. ...
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An unsettling, if not upsetting, sports days with trade rumors swirling about the San Francisco 49ers sending quarterback Colin Kaepernick to the Philadelphia Eagles or the Chicago Bears or the Martians. General Manager Trent Baalke was quick to deny it, so you know it must have some validity.
More about this in a minute but first, What would The New York Times do without Roger Federer? Last year, The Times couldn’t bother writing about World Tennis Day at Madison Square Garden, which was too bad, because Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray put on quite a show. This year, however, Feddy Bear and Grigor “Baby Fed” Dimitrov are slated to square off March 10, and I predicted there would be a huge article in The Times to advance it. Christopher Clarey didn’t disappoint with the kind of piece that could’ve been written by Mirka, Feddy’s wife. The article was long on how the Feds travel the world with two sets of twins and – surprise, surprise – several nannies. But not even the cleverest of journalists can turn a subject into something he is not. One of the great pleasures of any Fed article is his blithe unawareness of his own self-centeredness. (Though it would seem counterintuitive, self-centered people never understand how others see them, or they wouldn’t be self-centered. It’s what makes pseudofedblog.com so funny.)
Anyway, here’s Fed on traveling the world en famille:
“The girls enjoy it, and I love being with my family, and so does Mirka. She loves being with me….”
I’m sure she does. ...
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The United States may be the sole superpower but as far as tennis is concerned, we might as well still be Britain’s backwater colony.
We’re out of the Davis Cup, and let’s face it, we Yanks will always be knocked out in the first round as long as we have to play the Brits (by which I mean Andy Murray). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You can say what you want about Andy as a low-rent Hamlet always bemoaning his existential fate, usually in the middle of a match. (Remember the time he was playing Nole at the Aussie Open and got distracted by a feather?) But Andy’s been dandy in Davis Cup, especially against us.
While we do have the No. 1 doubles team in twins Bob and Mike Bryan, they’ll never be enough without marquee singles players. And we’re a long way from John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. ...
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