A tennis community for the recreational player
Here it is, a glorious September Sunday, and where am I? Out hiking? Apple picking? Playing tennis? Nope. Just sitting here in front of my damn laptop. The weather’s been too nice for staring at screens, but it’s past time to show my blog a little love…and these ugly clothes a little hate.
Continue reading “Fashion Face-Off: Worst-Dressed Player at US Open 2025”
Man, am I tired of watching the women pros choke.
Victoria Mboko, the Canadian wildcard entry who took the title in Montreal last night, is the real deal, and I absolutely mean her no disrespect. Had Naomi Osaka played at her full capabilities, she still might have lost. Mboko has power and speed and an effective drop shot, and she earned her win.
But Osaka choked, and choked badly. Worse, she knew she was choking and just gave up, slumping listlessly through the third set with vacant eyes. If I’d bought tickets to that final, I’d be demanding my money back.
Trouble is, she’s not the only one. One day earlier, Elena Rybakina choked in the semis, looking positively frozen with fear. Back in June, Aryna Sabalenka fell apart in the French Open final, racking up an astonishing 70 unforced errors (and yes, she handled it gracelessly afterwards). Amanda Anisimova froze in the Wimbledon final, getting double-bageled in 57 painful-to-watch minutes. These women all possess enough firepower to take the racquet out of their opponents’ hands, but this year, at crucial moments, they couldn’t put the ball in the court.
Have I resolved the technical issues that plagued last week’s face-off? I hope so. My apologies for the less-than-seamless reading experience — and thank you to those who valiantly forged ahead anyway. Give a shout if there continue to be problems.
Now on to the women of Wimbledon…
Did you happen to catch commentator Pam Shriver speculating that Jessica Pegula was on the rag during her surprise first-round loss?
Continue reading “Friday Fashion Face-off: Best-Dressed Woman at Wimbledon 2025”
What a strange French Open it has been on the women’s side. Would you have picked any of the semifinalists (Sakkari, Pavlyuchenkova, Krejcikova and Zidansek) for your fantasy league team? Well, you might have picked Sakkari, but I didn’t. Fortunately for me, hardly anyone else did, either. I remain in a respectable eleventh place.
Will today’s slate of best-dressed nominees be as surprising as the semifinalists? Let’s find out…
Continue reading “Friday Fashion Face-off: Best-Dressed Woman, 2021 French Open”
Sadly, but fortunately for me, there was no shortage of heinous outfits at this year’s Australian Open. In fact, I had such a surfeit of possible nominees that I had to leave off Serena Williams: Continue reading “Friday Fashion Face-Off: Worst Dressed at the 2021 Australian Open”
In Friday’s “worst dressed at the Open” post, I flippantly claimed credibility as an arbiter of tennis fashion. Of course, anyone who reads this blog knows I have little credibility in fashion, or anything else, for that matter.
One of our blog readers, however, does bring some serious cred to the topic of fashion: Robin Hauck, founder and editor of the sleek and chic Misstropolis magazine. Robin may well be the coolest person I know—so cool she once landed on the list of Most Stylish Bostonians in The Boston Globe.
According to Robin, I was wrong (!) to nominate Naomi Osaka in the worst-dressed poll. Normally I brook no dissent on my blog, but seeing as I’m still waiting for my own Most Stylish nomination, I decided to ask Robin to elaborate. Man, did she ever set me straight. Continue reading “The Fearlessness of Naomi Osaka”
This year’s weird but still wonderful US Open is behind us. The only thing left to do is award the prize for most fashion-challenged. Let’s get right to it! Continue reading “Friday Fashion Face-off: The Worst Dressed at the 2020 US Open”
It’s that time again! The day we vote on the worst-dressed at the US Open! I’m all tingly with excitement.
I should note that as I’m selecting my nominees, I’m dressed in old baggy boot-cut jeans, a shapeless red shirt and purple sneakers:
Yup, blogging isn’t all glamour, folks. If I played at the Open, I’d be nominee #1 for this blog.
Instead, we have these three worthy candidates. Continue reading “Friday Fashion Face-off: Worst-Dressed Award for the US Open (2019)”
I know you were all wondering what happened to this week’s Friday Fashion Face-off. Well, we have something special for you today–the Saturday Sartorial Showdown!
Moving our fashion fun back one day had nothing whatsoever to do with my post-hiatus fatigue and disorganization. It was all part of my master plan. A new day for a new feature–the evening wear competition! Continue reading “Saturday Sartorial Showdown–The WTA Gala”
Update 3/7/21–I’m looking at this post two and a half years later. Although I still agree with the general substance of what I wrote, the tone is much harsher than I feel now. In retrospect, I wish I’d been a bit more measured in my response. Mary Carillo said it much better: “At her very best — and she is very often at her very best — I respect and admire Serena beyond measure. She is so powerful. She’s an important voice. She’s a ferocious competitor. But at her very worst, as she was on this night, she acts like a bully.” But Serena doesn’t get a do-over of that night, and I suppose I shouldn’t get a do-over either. I’m not editing the post, other than acknowledging some chagrin here.
Well, guys, I’m going out on a limb here. I wrote this draft and then decided it was too controversial to post. But then I saw a longer opinion piece on Tennis.com, making many of the same points, although at greater length and better explained than I was able to do here. Check out the Tennis.com piece if you can, and then let’s discuss in the comment section…
Dear Serena,
Yes, you’re the greatest of all time. That’s been established beyond question, regardless of whether you overtake Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record.
And it’s true the chair umpire erred in not giving you a verbal warning before issuing the final code violation that cost you the game. He didn’t have to give you a warning–you were well over the line–but with so much at stake, he should have. Maybe there was even sexism involved.
But honestly. Enough about being a mom. We know, we know. You’ve told us over and over again. Your bizarre argument to the chair umpire (“I have never cheated! I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her!”) was a painfully transparent play for the crowd’s sympathy, reminiscent of Jimmy Connors’s blatant crowd-baiting in the 1991 U.S. Open quarterfinals (“I’m out here playing my butt off at 39 years old, and you’re doing that?!”) Continue reading “The Women’s Final: A Letter to Serena”