Thursday/ fashion at the US Open 🎾

‘The tournament has become a sweat-stained fashion week for players, spectators and celebrities.’
– The Styles Desk from the New York Times
(My comment: Well, all right. It is high time! Dressing fashionably has been in vogue at Wimbledon and at the French Open since time immemorial).

The Styles Desk again:
The U.S. Open has become something akin to a fashion week: for celebrities, who stepped onto a blue carpet on the opening night; for fans, who have come to love the green and cream hats of Aimé Leon Dore and the look of a Ralph Lauren sweater draped over their shoulders; and for players, who are contractually obligated to wear much of what you see them wear.
On the courts, Carlos Alcaraz has stood out for his insouciant, almost slinky tank top. Naomi Osaka, as usual, could not be ignored as she pulled out an array of dramatic looks: a hooded newspaper gown with a skirt of white tulle; a shiny coated black skirt with a perforated underlayer; and a Dolce & Gabbana dress and Sophia Webster heels she wore to explore the stadium on the eve of the Open.
Then there is Adrian Mannarino’s anti-fashion fashion: a loose, unflashy white T-shirt and baggy pink shorts.
As these athletes’ personalities burst into view in sometimes grueling matches, celebrities like Queen Latifah and Travis Scott drew our eyes to the crowd, too.

Reporting from the New York Times.
Carlos’s locks of hair is the longest I have ever seen it, and is held in place by a hairband.

Tuesday/ knocked out! 😲

Welp— Carlos and Serena are out of the mixed doubles at the US Open. (See report below by Stephen Whyno for Associated Press).

I did not realize the event mixed doubles tournament had already started, alongside the qualifying rounds. It is ‘Fan Week’ this week, before the main tournament starts in on Monday.

It is more expensive than ever before to attend the event in person.

Explains Google AI Overview:
‘Ticket prices for the 2026 US Open are soaring due to a massive surge in demand, a booming resale market, and stadium redevelopments geared toward high-yield corporate hospitality.
Marquee sessions sold out months in advance during the initial May presales, leaving limited inventory.
Opening-day grounds passes with a $65 face value have resold for over $360.
High-profile sports and entertainment convergence in New York City has driven average household incomes of attendees past $262,000, creating an event heavily tailored toward affluent buyers and corporate spenders.’

Monday/ a buzz cut 💇

Erling Haaland, Samson, and whether elite sports stars lose their powers when they shave their heads

(Amelie Claydon writing for The Athletic in The New York Times .. it’s a mixed bag and several sports stars had great success after cutting their long hair)
Erling Haaland has cut off the hair that Zlatan Ibrahimovic warned was the source of his strength.

Erling Haaland’s post on Instagram.

The former Sweden striker gave him that advice during the 2026 World Cup and on Sunday, Haaland failed to score in the first game he has played without the long blond hair that had become his trademark.

The 26-year-old Manchester City striker went for a buzzcut before his side’s opener against Bournemouth, then went goalless despite having five shots in a 2-1 victory. Before Sunday, he had scored in every Premier League opener he had played (seven goals in four games).
..
In 1995, a 24-year-old Andre Agassi arrived at the Australian Open with his head shaved, having spent the early part of his career with long hair that became central to his public image.
He later revealed he had worn a hairpiece due to his receding hairline, but became so anxious about it coming loose that it distracted him during matches. Once rid of the hairpiece, Agassi produced the most successful season of his career.
..
Carlos Alcaraz was 22 when his brother made a mistake with the clippers before the 2025 U.S. Open, leaving him with little choice but to shave most of his hair off. Alcaraz joked that he was “faster” without it and reached the final without dropping a set before beating Jannik Sinner in four to win his sixth Grand Slam and take the world No 1 ranking from the Italian.

Sunday/ the run-up to the last Grand Slam of 2026 🎾

2026 Cincinnati Open concluded at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, today.
Coco Gauff (22, 🇺🇸)won the women’s title and Arthur Fils (22, 🇫🇷) captured his first ATP Masters 1000 crown.

The start of the 2026 US Open is a week away.
Carlos Alcaraz (23,  🇪🇸) confirmed that he is making his comeback after four months away from the circuit due to a wrist injury.
Unfortunately Jannik Sinner (25, 🇮🇹) is out of the US Open due to a knee injury.

That’s Arthur Fils in the foreground, playing in the final today against France ‘Big Foe’ Tiafoe (28, 🇺🇸). Fils is sporting a pair of pink ASICS GEL-Resolution tennis shoes to go with his powder blue Lacoste shirt. He plays with the intensity of Carlos Alcaraz, and the two of them may well meet up in the later rounds of the US Open. Fils is on a roll, though, and Alcaraz has not played an ATP match in four months.
[Still image from Tennis TV streaming channel].
Fils pumping himself up and looking at his support team.
[Still image from Tennis TV streaming channel].

Wednesday/ hot outside 🔥

It was toasty outside here in the city of Seattle, yesterday and today: 92°F (33°C).
It will cool down tomorrow, though. Elsewhere in the United States there are communities that deal with much warmer days, with flash floods and with tornadoes.

And look at the cheeky post of German magazine Die Zeit on X, about a First World soccer fan’s dilemma:
‘The big question after the World Cup: What gives life structure now, with no more football on TV?’
Answer: All right, I guess I’d better go return the deposit bottles now.

Sunday/ Spain on top of the world 🇪🇸

Congrats to Spain on their second World Cup win.

It took 106 minutes of play and 20 shots by Spain to score the one and only goal of the game.
(Argentina not only disgraced themselves on the pitch with their play, but afterwards as well. They acted like losers— sore losers, with their ‘charmless petulance’ as Adam Crafton writes for The Athletic in the New York Times.)
As for the half-time show: just, no. It was not worth watching, and it disrupted the whole game.

Image posted on cnbc.com by Alex Livesey-Danehouse/ Getty Images Sport/ Getty Images

Friday/ the wildfires are burning 🔥

Happy Friday.

It’s wildfire season and dozens of wildfires are suddenly burning in Oregon, reports the New York Times. The state told thousands of people to be ready to evacuate.

In the northeastern United States, smoke from Canadian wildfires will likely linger in the air for the World Cup Final that is set for Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
So far, predictions are that conditions will be noticeably improved compared to previous days, though. 🤞

Wednesday/ Argentina escapes, again 🇦🇷

What 1966 also had, as every single human being in the British Isles knows, was Gordon Banks, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and the patrician tones of Kenneth Wolstenholme’s narrating the World Cup final at Wembley Stadium between England and West Germany.
“Some people are on the pitch,” Wolstentholme said, his voice rising, with England 3-2 in the lead. “They think it’s all over.” Whomp went Geoff Hurst’s left boot, clumping the ball into the roof of the net in the final minute. “It is now!”

Those two hours are among the 20th century’s most enduring contributions to Britain’s national mythology. Little else comes close, especially for the still-dominant English part of the country. It remains the first and only time England won the World Cup and the mark by which Britain measures itself — not only in soccer but also, in that squishy phrase, its place in world affairs. That moment, alongside the Beatles, Twiggy and miniskirts, Britain told itself perhaps it remained a world-beater after all.

– From Matthew Rose’s guest essay today in the New York Times, titled “England Defeats Itself. Again.” (The byline states ‘Mr. Rose is an Opinion editorial director and a long-suffering England soccer fan’.)


So Argentina and Spain will play for the World Cup on Sunday.

It really looked like England would defeat Argentina today, but no.
England had scored a goal after 55 minutes of play, and then Argentina scored twice, right at the end of regular time (at 85′ and 92′). Oy.

A local soccer game was held tonight at Miller Playfield on 19th Avenue East, likely a scheduled match from the Greater Seattle Soccer League.
The clouds displayed beautiful pastel colors in the fading light.

Friday/ the Hanshin Tigers 🐯

Happy Friday.

My set of Japanese stamp purchases from the proxy shopping service in Japan arrived today.
I buy stamps from 5 or 6 sellers from all over Japan. The purchases are sent to the proxy service warehouse by the sellers. The proxy service combines my purchases into one package and ships it out to me. 😚

One of the sellers used a colorful ‘action folder’ of the Hanshin Tigers to protect the pages with the stamps inside.

The Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース, Hanshin Taigāsu) are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. (Two main circuits in the national baseball league are  the Central League and the Pacific League.)
The Hanshin Tigers are one of the oldest professional clubs in Japan. They played their first season in 1936 as the Osaka Tigers and assumed their current team name in 1961.
The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc.
The Tigers team plays its games at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, which in the Hanshin area of Japan between Osaka and Kobe (part of the greater Kansai region). There is no parking lot at Hanshin Koshien Stadium (parking is completely prohibited around the stadium).
A typical ticket price for a Hanshin Tigers game at their home field, ranges from roughly ¥2,000 to ¥9,000 (US$13 to US$60), depending on the seat location.
[Sources: Wikipedia, Hanshin Tigers website]

Thursday/ the ‘Ferytale’ at Wimbledon 🎾

Arthur Fery (23, 🇬🇧) is the first men’s wildcard* to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in 25 years—matching a feat last achieved by Goran Ivanišević in 2001.
*An invitation granted to a player by tournament organizers, allowing them to compete in the main draw of an event without having to qualify or rely on their world ranking.

Fery has defeated Damir Džumhur, Otto Virtanen, Zizou Bergs, and Grigor Dimitrov, before thrashing ninth seed Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 yesterday in the quarterfinals.
He faces second seed Alexander Zverev for a spot in the finals tomorrow.

Update Fri 7/10: The fairytale has ended. Zverev dispatched Fery in straight sets, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-4.

Monday/ Belgium 4-1 🇧🇪

It was a deflating, abrupt, way-too-early end to a run that felt like it could deliver so much more.
– Henry Bushnell writing for The Athletic in the New York Times


Well, it is the end of the road for World Cup 2026 for the US Men’s National Team.

The near-goal from the Belgians in the very first minute of the game turned out to be a warning of things to come.
The US team played did not play well and it was all a little painful to watch to the end.

I wonder if the scandal surrounding Folarin Balogun’s reinstatement had impacted the US team’s performance.
(On Sunday, Trump called up FIFA President Gianni Infantino and had him overturn Balogun’s red card disqualification from the game against Bosnia).

Tonight’s picture of the Space Needle and helicopter has (unintended) Apocalypse Now vibes. (One of the 1979 movie’s posters features an orange sunset and Viet Nam War helicopters.)
The lettering on the flag on the Space Needle says “THE UNITED STATES OF IRRATIONAL BELIEF” with the logo of the US Men’s National Team below—playing on the idea that American fans have “irrationally” latched onto the belief that their team can defy the odds and win the tournament.

Friday/ Argentina to the brink 🇦🇷

Happy Friday and happy Independence Day weekend.

Whoah. It would have been a cataclysm in the sports world if Cabo Verde had upset Argentina, I thought, as the match ended.

Afterwards, the Argentina supporters seemed a little stunned, drained— and definitely relieved.

Tim Reynolds writes for Associated Press:
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — All that Vozinha wanted out of this World Cup was for his mother to see him play.
He got that — and so much more.
Cape Verde didn’t win a match at the World Cup, and somehow, that didn’t seem to matter. The African team’s debut on this stage was unforgettable, thanks largely to the 40-year-old goalkeeper who nearly engineered a soccer story that would have been counted among the greatest upsets in sports history.
Cape Verde’s magical ride ended Friday in the Round of 32, with the Blue Sharks falling to Lionel Messi and defending World Cup champion Argentina — as most expected. Final score: Champions 3, Cinderellas 2, in extra time — as probably very few expected.
“We have dignified Cape Verde as a national team in most parts of the world,” Vozinha said in Portuguese. “Today, we fought on an equal footing against Argentina.”

Headline from Associated Press and photo from Lynne Sladky/ AP.

Wednesday/ go USA ! 🇺🇸

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The U.S. men’s national soccer team charged into the World Cup’s round of 16 by beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday, but suffered a devastating blow when star striker Folarin Balogun was shown a red card.
– Paul Tenorio, Henry Bushnell and Tom Bogert writing for The Athletic in the New York Times


So that means that the U.S. men’s national team will return to Seattle on Monday Jul. 5 to face Belgium in a round-of-16 match.
One could argue it is one of the biggest sporting events in Seattle’s history.

Forward Folarin Balogun celebrates his goal in San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the USA against Bosnia and Herzegovina after 45 minutes of play.
[Headline from The Athletic/ photo by Alex Pantling/ FIFA/ Getty Images]

Monday/ the mighty have fallen 😳

SO—  Germany is out, and so is The Netherlands!
Congrats to Paraguay (nickname ‘La Albirroja’, after the red-and-white striped jerseys they wear) and Morocco.
Brazil survived their clash against Japan, scoring the winning goal for a 2-1 victory only in the very last minute or two of regular time.

Paraguay and Germany were still deadlocked at 1-1 after overtime.
Paraguay won the dramatic penalty shootout by 4-3.
This is a still from a clip of the festivities on the streets of Asunción, capital of Paraguay.
Asunción is one of the oldest cities in South America and the longest continually inhabited area in the Río de la Plata Basin; for this reason it is known as “the Mother of Cities”.
[From the Instagram account (santipenapy) of President of Paraguay Santiago Peña]

Sunday/ 🇨🇦 Canada 1, South Africa 0 🇿🇦

They gave it their all, but eventually, in added time, a brilliant strike from distance broke their resistance.
South Africa dominated possession, patiently building up from the back and then waiting to beat the press at the appropriate moment, though in attack they struggled to create clear opportunities.
At the other end, their last line of defence repeatedly repelled Canada. Defenders Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Aubrey Modiba made heroic clearances, the former denying Jonathan David with an open goal gaping in the second half, while goalkeeper Williams made a string of important saves, too.
– Chris Waugh writing for The Athletic in the New York Times

Headline from The Athletic in the New York Times/ picture by Alex Grimm/ Getty Images.
Canada will play the winner of the Netherlands-Morocco match, on Sat. July 4th.

Friday/ drone show 🌈

Happy Friday and happy Pride Weekend!

Before tonight’s Egypt-Iran match at Lumen Field, the stadium held a moment of silence for the victims of the recent devastating earthquakes in Venezuela.

Later tonight, I headed down to Seattle Center for the post-game drone show. It only featured a few hundred drones and lasted just 12 minutes, but it was still great to watch.

Thursday/ 🇺🇸 USA 2, Türkiye 3 🇹🇷

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Turkey stunned the United States with a 98th-minute winner and beat the Americans, 3-2, in a World Cup group-stage finale that meant nothing but nonetheless entertained 70,000 fans here at SoFi Stadium.

Although the game technically had no stakes — the U.S. had already clinched the top spot in Group D, while Turkey was already eliminated — both teams played with passion and intensity.
– Paul Tenorio, Henry Bushnell, Tom Bogert and Asli Pelit writing for The Athletic in the New York Times

P.S. The government of Turkey is pushing for their country to be referred to as Türkiye (say ‘Tour-key-ye’) henceforth, and especially in international contexts. They don’t like to be called the same name as the Thanksgiving bird.  It’s just that we don’t really have an u with umlaut (ü) in English for writing it.
The commentators on the game tonight complied but it sounded to me that they all said ‘Turkey-yay’ which I believe is not quite the right pronunciation.

Headline from Seattle Times with photo by Marcio J. Sanchez/ Associated Press

Wed/ 🇿🇦 South Africa 1, South Korea 0 🇰🇷

Go Bafana Bafana!
Congratulations on the big win.

MONTERREY, Mexico – South Africa reached the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time in their history after rescuing their campaign with an exhilarating 1-0 victory over South Korea at Estadio Monterrey.
The win seals the first fully known matchup of the knockout stage: South Africa against Canada.
Having entered the night at the foot of Group A, Bafana Bafana surged into second place in Group A thanks to Thapelo Maseko’s 63rd-minute winner.
– Tomás Hill López-Menchero reporting for The Athletic in the New York Times

Friday/ 🇺🇸 USA 2, Australia 0 🇦🇺

Happy Friday.
It was already weekend early this morning, since it is the Juneteenth holiday here in the United States.

Team USA secured a place in the round of 32 with today’s win.

I went down to the The Press Box sports bar at 10.30 am to watch the USA-Australia game with my amigos. There were lots and lots more people out and about by Pioneer Square and around the Stadium compared to the Belgium-Egypt game of Monday.

Andy Yamashita writes for the Seattle Times, about the game:
The Americans, propelled by a sold-out crowd that rattled Seattle Stadium’s press box with every shot, launched themselves into Friday’s game with intensity, deploying their high press almost immediately.
The Australians, in comparison, struggled to get out of first gear.

Australian fans pose for a picture on a ferry, with the Seattle skyline as backdrop. I assume that is a stuffed kangaroo and not a real one!
[Photo from the Seattle Times]
U.S. soccer fans march through Seattle to the match with Australia.
[Photo by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times]

Thursday/ 🇿🇦 South Africa 1, Czechia 1 🇨🇿

It was an uninspiring and ugly match, but South Africa managed a draw against the Czech Republic (Czechia) today.

Tomorrow is the much anticipated USA-Australia match, right here in Seattle.
There was no flag hoisted on the Space Needle by late afternoon.
Hopefully there will be one tomorrow, to celebrate the USA team and cheer them on.

Mexico has qualified for the next round with their 1-0 win against South Korea today. South Africa and the Czech Republic still has a slim chance to make it out of Group A into the next round.
[Table from The Athletic in the New York Times]