Seems like old times – or not – at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

November 23, 2015

Well, there was no Rafael Nadal appendectomy this year or contretemps between Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer’s wife, Mirka, or controversy over whether or not Feddy bailed in the final to lead Switzerland to the Davis Cup.

But the result was the same: Novak Djokovic was the last man standing, winning the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Sunday, Nov. 22, for the fourth time, capping a year in which he became the first player to win $20 million in prize money. Nole and tennis have come a long way.

Of course, given the lack of drama in this year’s tournament… or was there? Methinks I detected just a whiff of passive-aggressive gamesmanship in the press conferences. ...

The ‘arrival’ of Novak Djokovic

November 17, 2015

Whatever happens at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London – where Novak Djokovic is scheduled to play Roger Federer Tuesday, Nov. 17 as part of the round-robin format – Nole has had one helluva season. Three Slam titles, again. Six Masters 1000 titles (the first man to do so in a season.) No. 1, again. ATP Player of the Year, again. A nomination for Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, again.

Now it appears that others outside the tennis community are taking notice of a year that surpasses his dream season of 2011. Christopher Clarey’s “Novak Djokovic Ascends Ever Higher, With No Clear Landing in Sight” appeared Nov. 13 online in The New York Times, also known as the Roger Federer Gazette. Ah, that must’ve hurt. But Nole’s “relentless perfection,” as former Fed and Pete Sampras coach Paul Annacone described it in the article, can no longer be denied. ...

The Pharoah, Djokovic up for Sportsman of the Year

November 12, 2015

The racing world is a-flutter – and so am I: American Pharoah is up for Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. As is Novak Djokovic once again.

OK, Nole – who hasn’t lost a tournament since the Ice Age – is never going to win. I’m assuming that when posters say they haven’t heard of some of the nominees, they mean him. And when they point out the year fellow nominee Serena Williams had, I know they don’t know what they’re talking about. No disrespect to Serena, but she won three Slams, lost in the semifinals of the fourth and then basically retired for the rest of the season. ...

Novandy and the Web we weave

November 10, 2015

Nothing like the BNP Paribas Masters final in Paris between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to bring out the haters and the opinionaters – as well as a few wits – on the Internet.

Nole won 6-2, 6-4, which left plenty of people unhappy about oh, gee, just about everything – Nole dominating tennis, Andy’s service problems, Nole’s supposedly “robotic” play, Andy’s seemingly fatal attraction to the net, Nole’s shouting, Andy’s cursing, their “boring” baseline rivalry, even the winner’s trophy, which looked like a small metal tree that could take out a few eyeballs. (More on that in a bit.)

For the haters, Andy is British and not Fred Perry. Nole is, well, Nole and not Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Net’s cloak of anonymity allows posters to voice opinions that in another era would’ve been defamatory and libelous, to say nothing of vicious. Wishing Nole would break an ankle or implying that he owes his success to steroids without any proof is stupid, mean and downright unbalanced. ...

Clash of the titans at the Paris Masters

November 7, 2015

No sooner had The New York Times announced in a brief that Roger Federer had moved into the third round of the Paris Masters with a dazzling attacking display than, oops, he lost in the third round to John Isner and his 27 aces.

Ah, those Federinas. They always live in the hope that each Fed win will spell the return of the king – until, of course, the moment when he’s tripped up by someone who’s a one-trick pony. The truth is Isner is a big guy (6 feet, 10 inches) with a big serve. Period. When he’s on, though, he’s tough to beat, as Feddy Bear himself acknowledged in his delightfully solipsistic manner. ...

American Pharoah, Novak Djokovic: What defines greatness?

October 28, 2015

American Pharoah has arrived at Keeneland in Lexington for the Breeders’ Cup Classic Saturday, the final race of his career. He’s going to face an older woman, Beholder; older guys like Tonalist and Honor Code; and old rivals like Frosted and Keen Ice.

But hey, is that any worse than the naysayers, the ones who remark that he’s good but not great – certainly not as great as the greats of the 1970s, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and my beloved Affirmed; and, that if he doesn’t win the Breeders’ Cup, he really won’t be considered great.

This is the same conversation about Novak Djokovic, who will lead the field at the BNP Paribas Masters Paris, which begins also on Saturday and runs through Nov. 8. If he doesn’t repeat in Paris and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London the following week, he won’t have had a great season.

Let’s review, shall we? ...

The Mets – New York’s other baseball team

October 26, 2015

As a longtime New York Yankees’ fan, I must admit to a certain pang when the Yanks aren’t in the World Series and the Mets are. (The last time the Mets won the pennant was in 2000, the year the Yanks beat them in the Series. Ouch.)

But as a fan of the Bronx Bombers, I must also admit that there is a part of me that’s just delighted to see the Amazins in it. For one thing, I’m a New Yorker. I always want to see every New York area team do well. (I’ve also probably seen the Mets more than the Yankees as I don’t have cable, and the Mets tend to have more games on regular TV.) ...