I had hoped to be writing more about tennis with the US Open underway. I had hoped to be resting from my labors on Labor Day.

But as Eleanor Roosevelt said of World War II, “This is no ordinary time.” With challenges and crisis on the home front and abroad, the time demands we go within to reach out, that we roll up our sleeves intellectually, physically and spiritually and use pleasure as it was always meant to be used – as a dessert rather than a meal.

Perhaps, however, it is still possible for me to write about tennis while also writing about character. Both are subjects of a new book by James Blake...

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