Hair-brained

July 24, 2016

This has been a fabulous season for hair.

Let me clarify – not actual hair, which summer wreaks havoc on, turning fine locks limp and coarse tresses frizzy. No, despite its Donner Party-quality snowstorms, winter remains hair’s best season – low humidity, don’t you know.

But this is proving to be the summer of metaphoric hair. First, we have one of the great hair performers in history – Donald Trump, who accepted the nomination for president of the United States Thursday at a Republican National Convention that was by turns angry, hate-filled, surreal and meh. Then The New York Times – which often covers the city as if it were a foreign country – expressed surprise at some men here spending $800 on a haircut. The article was accompanied by a photograph of Roger Federer, whose stylists include Tim Rogers of Sally Hershberger’s downtown studio. ...

For Nole, love means having to say you’re sorry

April 6, 2015

Tennis, Andre Agassi once observed, is a lonely sport. A singles player is out there by his or her self, and has no one to blamed but his or her self when the match heads south. It can be particularly frustrating.

I was reminded of this after reading about Novak Djokovic’s triumph over Andy Murray 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0 at the Miami Open Easter Sunday. It was the third time that Nole’s pulled off the difficult double of wins at Indian Wells and Miami. He’s 25-2, a start that echoes the fantastic beginning to 2011, when he first became No. 1.

But what some will remember about the April 5 final in Miami is the way Nole shouted at his entourage after losing the second set to Andy and grabbed a towel from the startled ball boy. This was uncharacteristic of Nole, who’s tender with children. He knew it and he apologized. ...

Fed’s (Davis) Cup runneth over

November 24, 2014

So Roger Federer and Switzerland finally have their Davis Cup. Fed defeated Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to win the opening singles match Sunday, Nov. 23 and give Switzerland the three matches (out of five) it needed against France.

"It's not for me. I've won enough in my career and did not need to tick any empty boxes," Federer said of the emotional win. "I'm just happy for everybody else. I'm happy we could live a great tennis historic moment in our country."

Yeah, uh-huh. Let’s not pull any punches here. Winning the Davis Cup was the only thing Federer hadn’t done in tennis. Tennis and thus, the Davis Cup may no longer be a big deal in this country, as American men’s tennis is somewhat in disarray. (If you want to see America win the Cup, check out my novel “Water Music,” part of “The Games Men Play” series, in which Iraqi-American prodigy Alí Iskandar delivers the goods.)

But tennis and the Cup are still a big deal internationally. With this win, Fed’s career is complete. It has to be satisfying, particularly as rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic helped the Spanish and Serbian teams respectively to Cups.

But Spain and Serbia have a lot of tennis depth. Switzerland has Feddy and Stan “the Man” Wawrinka. Credit “the Stanimal” with playing lights out against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga on Friday, then teaming with Fed to win the doubles Saturday. ...

In sports, sexism knows no bounds

November 19, 2014

Boy, no sooner had Andy Murray bombed out against Roger Federer in the disastrous ATP World Tour Finals and Mirka Federer kicked up a firestorm by calling Stan Wawrinka a “crybaby” as he played her husband, than the misogynists were out in force.

First came the suggestions that Andy should quit coach Amélie Mauresmo for a male coach who would be more compatible.

That was mild compared to the epithets hurled at Mirka, who was called everything from a cow to the pants in the family to Lady Macbeth to, well, rhymes with “rich.”

I don’t believe in heckling or booing people as it’s a reflection on me. But there is equally no reason to call her a shrew.

Then came word from Rafael Nadal, who was critical of Spanish Davis Cup team captain Gala León for allegedly fanning the flames after Rafa coach Uncle Toni suggested that the team needed a male captain.

For years, men have coached, captained, trained, shepherded and generally led women. And for years, women have borne men’s verbal and physical abuse. ...

Will Fed London drama spill over into the Davis Cup?

November 17, 2014

Shockeroo at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals in London Nov. 16 as Roger Federer withdrew from the final against Novak Djokovic due to back spasms, leaving an admittedly mentally exhausted Nole the winner in a walkover.

But the real shock may be the underlying reason for the withdrawal. Simon Briggs, tennis correspondent for The Telegraph, reports that Fed got into a heated exchange with compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the locker room after their taut semifinal duel, which at the very least delayed treatment for Fed’s back injury. The reason for the exchange: Stan the Man had taken exception to Feddy Bear’s wife, Mirka, rooting too loudly for her man and against himself.

Tennis players regularly take their opponents’ “teams” to task for such cheerleading. Fed’s been known to tell the Djokovic clan to shut up and Rafael Nadal’s coach, his Uncle Toni, to pipe down. Sometimes the players get on their own boxes as when Nole told his father once to leave an arena. ...

To have and have not: Roger Federer – a (grudging) appreciation

September 23, 2014

All biography – Alí, one of the tennis players in my new novel “Water Music,” notes – is selective history. And all history is selective truth.

The accomplishments of those we love shine brighter than the achievements of those we don’t. Yet there is a common, middle ground in which we can assess those we dislike, or at least there should be.

So I’ve come not to bury but to praise Roger Federer, subject of a glowing cover profile in October Town & Country and, in analyzing him, to understand something of myself.

The subtitle of the article by Ed Caesar is “The Romantic Comedy Life of the World’s Greatest Tennis Player.” (Really, Ed? Greater than Rafael Nadal, who dethroned him? Or Novak Djokovic, who beat both to become No. 1?) Understand that Town & Country is a luxury magazine. Luxury magazines are in the business of selling luxury. The interview took place “in the high-ceilinged Directoire drawing room of Moët & Chandon, for whom (Federer) works as a brand ambassador.” Enough said.

The picture that emerges...

Are marriage and career incompatible?

July 28, 2014

celebrity couple. It was an enviable lifestyle for those yearning to be rich and famous, but McIlroy’s main motivation was to be remembered for his golf. So in May, with the wedding invitations on the way, he broke off the couple’s engagement.”

Let’s set aside the implication that marriage to Wozniacki would’ve necessarily produced a sort of Duke and Duchess of Windsor lifestyle, with the pair jet-setting from one party to another. And let’s leave off the devastation McIlroy’s last-minute exit caused Wozniacki – a subject I’ve blogged about before...