Twitter Highlights from 1-4-2019

Who says tennis is easy on the body? The force on the outside of RBA’s right foot and leg… Leg is nearly straight & outside of his heel is taking on absurd amounts of force. Low centre of gravity so important. Reminder of how brutal tennis is on joints. Which other sports have movements like…

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My History of Favorable Treatment from Tournaments toward Stars

Originally posted on Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life:
Roger Federer’s frequent night play on Rod Laver Arena sparked some controversy at this year’s Australian Open. I will start with 1991 because I recall the write-up of Jimmy Connors 1991 US Open run mentioning him asking for and receiving extra night matches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL1xqe5vW-I…

Mayotte and Gilbert Weigh in on Roland Garros 1989

I wrote about what might have happened if Thomas Muster had been healthy entering the 1989 French Open. What do I know, though? Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert were seeded 7th and 12th at Roland Garros in 1989.  Mayotte lost in the 2nd round while Gilbert ended up withdrawing from the event.  I asked their…

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What if Muster was Never Injured? A Roland Garros 1989 Counterfactual

Could we have seen this in 1989? Michael Chang’s improbable 1989 French Open title is one of the great underdog stories in the history of tennis.  The 17-year-old Chang rallied from two sets down to beat the #1 seed, world #1, and three-time French Open champion Ivan Lendl.  He followed that up with 4-set wins…

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Stan Lee – In Memoriam: Tennis Heroes

Tennis and comic books commanded much of my attention from 7th through 9th grade.  Comics faded in my life but tennis persisted.*  I was a Marvel fan collecting Silver Surfer and Thor comics for the most part with a few Dark Horse Godzilla comics thrown in for good measure.  Comic books stoked the imagination of…

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Final Power Ranking for 2018

 Novak Djokovic – I am sure Nole would have loved to have grabbed the big trophies in Paris and London to end the year.  Still, his Wimbledon and US Open triumphs as well as solving the riddle of Cincinnati more than place him atop men’s tennis for 2018.   On the plus side, finishing the year with…

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Emotions in Sports – Bjorn Borg as an Outlier?

I ate out tonight and a soccer recap show was on the big screen.  The celebrations and the displays of anger over poor plays were quite volatile to the point of being a bit comical.  I know basketball far better than soccer, but again it is easy to think of players celebrating big dunks, making…

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