Taylor Swift, seen here at “The Golden Globe Awards” last month, has become the subject of a conspiracy theory to get out the vote for President Joe Biden after boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs win a rigged Super Bowl LVIII Feb. 11. Photograph by iHeartRadioCA.
When my publisher asked me to write about what has made Taylor Swift a billionaire, I noted that she seemed, as a singer-songwriter who began her career in country and branched out to pop, to bridge the American cultural divide.
Silly me. I should’ve known that everything and everyone in this society at this time can be politicized and thus divisive.
Read MoreMy favorite photograph of Novak Djokovic ,at the moment it all began to happen for him, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals of Wimbledon 2011 to become the number one-ranked men’s player.
In our endless summer of discontent — the heat, the humidity, the devastating wildfires, the smoke, the wayward storms, the indictments, the losing Yankees, to name but a few — I’d like to take a break and return to a subject that helped inspire my fiction and this blog, tennis and in particular Novak Djokovic, whose career trajectory has a lot to do with two pairs of themes that fascinate me — power and rivalry and context and perception.
Read MoreThe way the ball bounces: Novak Djokovic on his way to being the No.1-ranked men’s player in the world at Wimbledon in 2011. Still number one, Djokovic was bounced from the US Open last Sunday when he accidentally hit a lineswoman.
What kind of year has it been for you, for our global community? For many, it has been an “annus horribilis,” to borrow from what Queen Elizabeth II said of 1992. (Chuck and Di divorced. Windsor Castle burned. Your Majesty, we felt your pain.) People have lost loved ones, jobs, homes and their health to the coronavirus. Their loss and grief are incalculable, as are our feelings of inadequacy in trying to help them.
For others, it’s been “the best of times, the worst of times,” to quote another Briton, Charles Dickens. They have not lost their health, loved ones, jobs and homes. Instead they are working from and on their homes, using their extra time to acquire new skills, take up a language, a sport or an art, exercising and losing weight and generally getting their lives in order. They’ve made money in the market, as tech and pharma stocks help buoy the Dow, and have even earned honors. Or maybe they haven’t endured any losses but they’re struggling with a number of challenges, like the kids’ schooling.
In any event, it’s hard for them to take much pleasure and pride in their accomplishments and blessings with so much suffering around them — and with the occasional curve ball thrown their way. They’re having what we might call a Novak Djokovic kind of year.
Read MoreChristie’s will be auctioning off an historic Novak Djokovic racket, along with one of his watches, Thursday, Sept. 20.
Now you can swing a racket like a US Open champion — not to mention tell time like one. On Thursday, Sept. 20, Christie’s will conduct an online-only auction of the Head racket US Open men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic used to defeat Roger Federer in the Open tune-up, Cincinnati's Western & Southern Open.
Read MoreAfter the highs of June (American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown) and July (planet Pluto, Novak Djokovic defending his Wimbledon title), August has been a bit of a dud for me, with AP losing to Keen Ice at the Travers this past Saturday and Nole losing the Rogers Cup (to Andy Murray) and then the Western & Southern Open (to Roger Federer). ...
Read More
For someone with a mouth on him, Nick Kyrgios went quietly in his opening round match at the Western & Southern Open, losing to Richard Gasquet 6-2, 61.
You’ll recall that Gasquet was Kyrgios’ opponent during Socks-gate at Wimbledon when he nonchalantly decided to change his socks in the middle of the action. But that was nothing compared to going all “Scarlet Letter” on Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. ...
Read More
Sports’ greatest rivalry has hit a speed bump as Rafael Nadal pulled out of tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati prior to the US Open due to an injured right wrist.
Even though Rafa’s a southpaw server, wrist injuries to the dominant and non-dominant hand alike are becoming more common as players engage in a power game that puts a lot of stress on the joints. This is particularly true in the case of Rafa, who has such an intense style of play.
This sets up a number of intriguing scenarios for the rest of the season. First, whatever Nole does – and remember he’s about to become a first-time father – he’s assured of remaining the No. 1-ranked player through the summer and probably through the rest of the year, because Rafa will not be able to defend the points he gained winning Toronto’s Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open in Mason, outside Cincy last year. (Under the ATP rankings system, if you can’t defend your points, you lose them.)
Secondly, this makes it harder for Rafa to defend his US Open title. He has never defended a Slam except for the French Open on his beloved clay, of course.
Read More
