They roared at every big play, shouting and waving signs and flags. They ate South Asian food sold at the concession stands, jumped, chanted, high-fived with fellow supporters and — after a bit of rain — soaked up the sunshine on a historic day at the usually quiet park.
“It was electric,” said Chandu Talla, an India fan and entrepreneur from Tampa, Fla., who came to the match with his son Aryan, a high school junior. “We paid $2,500 per ticket and no regrets,” he added. “It was a dream come true to see India here.”
– David Waldstein reporting for the New York Times, from a temporary stadium for 34,000 set up in the grassy southeastern corner of Eisenhower Park in Long Island.
The temporary stadium was built in 3 months for the biannual T20 Cricket World Cup match between perennial archrivals India and Pakistan. India started slow but came back strong to win, 119-113. [Picture from the online edition of New York Times].The stadium in East Meadow, N.Y., was built in 100 days and will be taken apart after the tournament. There are three more matches scheduled in New York, with the final one on Wednesday between India and the United States. The stadium will then be dismantled and the pieces sent out to other sporting events around the country. [Photo by Yuvraj Khanna for The New York Times]
There is a new rivalry in men’s tennis: between Jannik Sinner (🇮🇹, 22) and Carlos Alcaraz (🇪🇸, 21).
The rivals met today in the men’s semi-final of the 2024 French Open.
It was a see-saw match that had Alcaraz emerge the victor after trailing two sets to one: Alcaraz 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaraz leads Sinner by 5 wins to 4 in their head-to-head matches so far.
On Sunday, Alcaraz will play against Alexander (Sacha) Zverev ( 🇩🇪, 27) in the final.
It will be the first French Open men’s final without Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic since 2009.
It’s the first without Nadal, Djokovic or Roger Federer since 2004.
Update Sun 6/9: Alcaraz outlasted Zverev to won his first French title: Alcaraz 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
The shadows are starting to creep over the red clay inside the Philippe Chatrier Stadium at the Roland Garros grounds. It’s the fifth and final set, almost 4 hours into the match. Sinner is rapidly running out of time to catch up after losing his serve early in the set. (Alcaraz is about to go up 4-1.) Here, Alcaraz had just served hard into the far corner, drawing Sinner out sideways for the return. The return was short. Alcaraz lifted up his racquet as if to hit, but then cut under the ball for a surprise dropshot that kissed the top of the net, wrong-footing Sinner, and out of reach. [Still frame from Tennis Channel streaming video feed].
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (20, 🇫🇷 ) cut through tie-break tension to complete a dream week and lift his maiden ATP Tour title in the city of his birth Saturday at the Open Parc in Lyon, France.
Roared on by a vocal Lyon crowd, the 20-year-old wild card battled past sixth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(7) in a dramatic championship match at the ATP 250. Mpetshi Perricard was a point away from defeat at 6/7 in the deciding-set tie-break but held firm for a famous two-hour, 29-minute win in just his fourth tour-level event.
– As reported on ATPtour.com
Mpetshi Perricard, 20, will enter the top 100 for the first time on Monday at a career-high No 66 after his dream week in Lyon.
All eyes in the world of tennis now turn to Stade Roland Garros, Paris, where the French Open starts tomorrow.
Rafael Nadal (37-almost 38, 🇪🇸) is playing on Monday: against No. 4 seed Alexander (Sacha) Zverev (27, 🇩🇪). It may just be Nadal’s last match at the tournament that he had won 14 times in the past.
Update Mon 5/27: Nadal lost in straight sets against Zverev, but did not rule out after the match that he will not be back to compete here again. (Sooner rather than later, that is. The tennis matches for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be played in the Stade Roland Garros, and he should be able to represent Spain).
Mpetshi Perricard in action on Thursday in the quarterfinal match against compatriot Hugo Gaston. [Picture posted on https://openparc.com/photos/]
Congrats to the owner and team for Mystik Dan, the winner of the 150th Kentucky Derby, by a nose.
Run, horsies, run! These are wildebeest, actually: large African antelopes of the family Bovidae. From an updated issue of the 1926-27 London Pictorial definitive series (the first series of stamps were printed in London, thereafter by South Africa government printers in Pretoria) Issued Jan. 1950 Perf. 15×14 | Screened rotogravure | Afr. & Eng. inscriptions for South Africa | Wmk Multiple Springbok heads SG120 13 | 1 shilling | Brown & chalky blue | Black and blue wildebeest [Source: 2016 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue- Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps]
Rafael Nadal (37, 🇪🇸) was back on the court again today at the Barcelona Open.
His comeback from hip and abdominal injuries after three months was ended by Alex de Minaur (25, 🇦🇺), though.
The 12-time champion got a standing ovation as he waved goodbye to the Barcelona Open— for possibly the final time.
Here’s Jonathan Jurejko reporting for BBC Sport: Nadal is hoping to be fit enough to make a return to the French Open, where he won a record 14 men’s singles titles, next month, and suggested he was preserving his energy for Roland Garros during the latter stages of the De Minaur match. “On a personal level, for what is to come, the 6-1 in the second set is what had to happen today,” he said. “It wasn’t today that I had to give everything and die. I have to give myself the chance to do that [at the French Open] in a few weeks, or at least try to.”
Nadal (near side) rips a shot cross-court, and Alex de Minaur could not get this one. De Minaur is known for his athleticism, though. He held his own and then some, and caught Nadal with several drop shots. Final Score: De Minaur wins 7-5 6-1. [Still shot from Tennis TV streaming service]
Monégasque (say “mon-i-gask”) noun
a native or inhabitant of Monaco adjective
of or relating to Monaco or its inhabitants.
The 2024 clay season for men’s tennis is in full swing.
Today was a beautiful Monégasque clear spring day at the Monte-Carlo Country Club— where Stefanos Tsitsipas (25, 🇬🇷) squared off against Casper Ruud (25, 🇩🇰) for the title match of the 117th annual Monte Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament.
Tsitsipas emerged as the winner 6-1 6-4, winning his third title there.
A beaming Tsitsipas posing with Charles Leclerc— is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. I don’t follow Formula 1 racing, but Leclerc has caught the attention of F1 fans since becoming the youngest member of Ferrari’s team in 2019, landing a role in his early 20s, says People magazine. [Picture posted on X @leclercdata]Yes, the beautiful people were out in full force at the tennis. Charles Leclerc with his girlfriend Alexandra Saint Mleux, a 21-year-old Art History student from Italy. [Picture posted on X @leclercdata]
It’s midnight in Miami, and there is still action on the tennis court at the 2024 Miami Open.
As I write this, Gaël Monfils (37, 🇫🇷 ) had just taken the second set, playing against Jordan Thompson (29, 🇦🇺) in the second round of the 2024 Miami Open. So they have to play a deciding set. P.S. There are no bleary-eyed line judges. All line calls are by an electronic line-calling (ELC) system. These systems use a combination of cameras, computers, algorithms, and microphones to track and calculate the trajectory of the ball, and determine if it landed in or out of bounds. The winner of this match will take on Carlos Alcaraz (20, 🇪🇸) in round three. Update 3/24: Monfils won 7-6 6-1 6-2 and will play against Alcaraz on Monday.
All right, it’s time for a quick update on the happenings at the Indian Wells 2024 men’s tennis tournament.
Raphael Nadal (37, 🇪🇸) had actually withdrawn from the tournament before it even started, simply stating that he was not physically ready to play again at the highest level. Will he play French Open in May? We don’t know.
World No 1 Novak ‘No Vac’ Djokovic (36, 🇷🇸) was back for the first time in four years, only to fall to ‘lucky loser’ Luca Nardi (20, 🇮🇹) in the third round.
(A lucky loser is a player given a spot in the main draw even though he lost in the final round of the qualifying tournament).
Daniil Medvedev (28, His Country Invaded Ukraine— but not his fault) and Holger Rune (20, 🇩🇰) are the likeliest from the top half of the draw to make it to the final on Sunday.
In the bottom half it will be Indian Wells 2023 champ Alcaraz (20, 🇪🇸), Jannik Sinner (22, 🇮🇹) and Alexander Zverev (26, 🇩🇪) battling it out for a spot in the final.
Update Sun 3/19: It was Alcaraz vs. Medvedev in the Men’s Final, with Alcaraz winning 6-3, 6-2.
Carlos Alcaraz (20, Spain) smacking back a forearm, in his pink and blue outfit that he seems to wear for every match lately. After today’s win against Fábián Marozsán (24, Hungary), he wrote ‘TUDUM’ on the camera lens with his marker, and I looked up the word in vain on Google Translate. But no, it’s not a Spanish word. It’s an international onomatopoeia slang term, derived from the double chime as Netflix starts up. Apparently it means ‘Stay Tuned’. [Picture posted by Carlos Alcaraz @carlosalcaraz on X].
I’m not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I am among the best, that’s true. That’s enough for me.
– Rafael Nadal, Mar. 2023
The second big tennis tournament of 2024 has started: the Indian Wells Open in California. Celebrated veteran and champion Rafael Nadal (Spain, 37) is back after missing the Australian Open due to a hip injury.
Rafael Nadal is seeking a fourth Indian Wells tournament win here, but faces a very tough draw (assuming the seeded players win their matches):
R1 – Raonic
R2 – Rune
R3 – Shapovalov/Musetti
R4 – Fritz/Baez
QF – Medvedev/Dimitrov
SF – Djokovic/Hurkacz
F – Alcaraz/Sinner/Zverev/ Rublev
I didn’t pay attention to the news in tennis and missed the first ‘Netflix Slam’, an exhibition match held in Las Vegas yesterday at the Mandalay Bay resort. Lucky for me, Netflix posted it for me to watch tonight. This match featured Rafael Nadal and the other already-famous young Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz (20).
Chiefs become first team in 20 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls LAS VEGAS — The NFL has a repeat champion for the first time in 19 years. The Kansas City Chiefs, with a third Super Bowl triumph in five seasons, cemented the league’s modern-day dynasty with a 25-22 overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
This one, the same as the last two for Kansas City and its superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, came with a stirring second-half comeback and, this time, with some late heroics in overtime.
Jake Moody’s 27-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime put the 49ers ahead 22-19, but the Chiefs responded with a 13-play, 75-yard drive and won it on 3-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman.
– Zak Keefer, National Staff Writer for The Athletic
Overtime is over, and the game is over, and the usual pandemonium erupts onto the field. The confetti is real. The purple oysters shooting green slime onto the field are from cartoon channel Nickelodeon, as are Spongebob SquarePants and his foil Patrick Star (an overweight coral-pink starfish), in the bottom left corner.Superstar Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (28).
Congratulations to Jannik Sinner (Italian, 22), the 2024 Australian Open Men’s Singles champion. It’s his first Grand Slam title.
Sinner rallied back from two sets down, to outlast Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Medvedev was definitely the underdog, since he had lost his past three matches against Sinner.
Picture from the Australian Open website. The carrots are a nod to Sinner’s red-orange hair.
The hard indoor courts in Turin are ‘fast’— very different from Alcaraz’s home turf of red clay. Still, he showed by winning Wimbledon on grass this year that he can adapt rapidly to new court conditions. A two-time Grand Slam champion and already fabulously rich at age 20, I just hope he keeps the fire in his belly and will be able to play for another 10 years without a career-ending injury.
There is spectacular men’s tennis on display in Turin, Italy, this week.
It is the last of the year: the world’s top eight players squaring off in the ATP Nitto Finals.
The semifinals are tomorrow. Jannik Sinner (Italy, 22) plays Daniil Medvedev, from a country non grata*, 27)
and Carlos Alcaraz (Spain, 20) plays Novak Djokovic (36, Serbia). *The one that invaded Ukraine. When will that terrible war end?
Update Sat 11/18: Well, winning the ATP Finals was not to be, for Alcaraz this year. He lost 3-6, 2-6. It will be Sinner and Djokovic in the final.
Bok, bok, staan styf Hoeveel vingers op jou lyf? Vier!
(An Afrikaans rhyme from a children’s game.
Loosely translated, it says
‘Bok, bok, hold still.
What number of fingers do you feel?
Four! says the Bok).
Top: Reporting in The Observer/ The Guardian by Robert Kitson at the Stade de France. Cartoon by South African cartoonist Dr Jack. One more stripe can now be added under the Rugby World Cup trophy on the Bok’s sleeve. The event takes place every four years, and South Africa has now won four times: 1995, 2007, 2019, 2023. The first RWC was held in 1987 and other past winners are: New Zealand (3 times), Australia (twice) and England (once).
Congratulations to the Bokke from South Africa, coming from behind and notching a 16-15 win against England, in today’s 2023 World Rugby Cup semi-final.
New Zealand’s All Blacks easily dispatched the Argentinian team by 44-6 in the other semi-final on Friday.
The final is next Saturday, in the Stade de France stadium, in Paris.
Handre Pollard of South Africa kicks his side’s second penalty during the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final against England. The only try (‘touch down’) of the match came in the 69th minute, when South Africa’s replacement lock RG Snyman went over the line. [Photograph: Adam Pretty/World Rugby/Getty Images]
Here is Eric Margolis writing for the Japan Times (just the introduction of a long article): You may have learned that “I” is 私 (watashi). And while this is a handy all-around term to use when referring to yourself, a 2019 survey showed that over 30% of Japanese women and around 70% of Japanese men don’t regularly use it. To make things even more confusing, people do or don’t use 私 entirely depending on the situation. While 80% of women in their 50s expected to use 私 to address colleagues or acquaintances their own age, just 30% expected to use it for people they met for the first time. Meanwhile, 60% of men in their 50s expected to use it when meeting a young person for the first time. But that percentage dropped to 40% of the time when they were meeting someone their own age. Japanese dictionaries and resources list over 30 different words for just one in English: “I”. Every word expresses different nuances about how the speaker views themselves and what their relationship is to the person they’re speaking with. There’s わたし (watashi), わたくし (watakushi), あたし (atashi), 僕 (boku), 吾輩 (wagahai), 俺 (ore), うち (uchi), 儂 (washi), 麿 (maro) and 自分 (jibun), just to name a few. So how to know which one to use?
P.S. I would have loved to be in Japan right now, at the tennis courts watching some Japan Open tennis action.
South Africa’s Springbokke prevailed 29-28 over the hometeam ‘Les Bleus’ from France in tonight’s 2023 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. The match was played in the Stade de France, the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis.
Next Saturday the Bokke will play against England.
In the other semifinal Argentina will take on New Zealand.
Eben Etzebeth played in the No 4 lock position, and is scoring a crucial try here, 27 minutes into the second half, to win the game for the Springboks. [Photo by Associated Press]
The US Open tennis tournament is a wrap*— and I believe this coat with a green sheen, on a Tesla Model Y, is a wrap as well.
*Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 36) beat Danill Medvedev (27) in straight sets in today’s Men’s Singles final. I pay my respects to Djokovic begrudgingly. I am not a fan of his.
Coco Gauff (19) is the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams won the tournament in 1999 at 17.
Coco Gauff (above, USA, 19) ran down just about all the shots that Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus, 25) blasted at her, neutralizing Sabalenka’s aggressive play. Final score: Gauff 2-6 6-3 6-2. [Photo: Karsten Moran for The New York Times]
The US Open tennis tournament is under way, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York City.
It is— amazingly— the 50th anniversary of the US Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to female and male competitors, promising never to stop fighting to maintain that hard-won progress. (It would take 34 years before all the other Grand Slam events followed suit. This year, the US Open winners will each receive $3 million, with total player compensation rising to $65 million).
– James Martinez reporting for the Associated Press
The competition is ferocious, and No 4 seed Holger Rune (age 20, Denmark) is out. He lost in four sets against Roberto Carballés Baena (30, Spain)— serving, and about to close out the third set. This is an outside court, Court No 5. Rune complained about the court before the match, posting a map on X of the court’s location for his fans, saying he thought he deserved to play on a stadium court. He did admit after the match that he was outplayed and cannot blame Court No 5 for his loss. [Still frame from video on US Open website]
