Faulkner

Queen Viv put pompous Kenny in his place! She was not to be played with!

YAAAAAY!!!

Glad that King Federer is facing *some* questions about his potential conflicts of interests surrounding Tennis Australia head/Aussie Open director Craig Tiley and investments in Laver Cup, Julien Benneteau’s recent comments, and Caujolle’s revelations that he worked with Federer to change Paris’s surface to engineer a title there for him. The press and tennis establishment *never* hold his feet to the fire because of $$$$ and web clicks. Everyone has to genuflect and kiss his ass or pay a steep price. The cult of Federer, exemplified by David Foster Wallace’s hagiographic comments about him, has been sickening to watch. His flaws are always vehemently excused. He’s clearly an all-time great and deserves *some* deference and preferential scheduling for his contributions to tennis and global fanbase (it IS a business), but fairness and accountability need to be part of the equation. Tennis has to be bigger than any one man, and TPTB need to understand that if they are to survive once King Federer retires.

An old friend of mine did the photos for this feature:

Perhaps Eccleston will one day say more in a memoir. It’s really too bad things ended so poorly. He’s one hell of an actor.

I was just thinking about Jerzy Janowicz today in light of the Radwanska news, and this popped up:

Sveta serving the glamour.

So funny that Meg Ryan is about to be Teddi’s stepmom. Let’s see Bravo try to leverage that.

Well obviously not now, but they played fuller seasons before (when they were Zverev’s age and older) and still had something in the tank at the WTFs. It meant not playing every little tournament for a buck. Again the game has changed, and yes, the WTFs haven’t always produced great tennis. Basically I think Sascha is ultimately right, but he’s not the greatest messenger.

^Zverev agrees with you. That said, he’s 21. Somehow Federer and Djokovic consistently managed it over the years throughout their 20s. The game is more physical, yes, but some judicious scheduling would help.

Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) has had a crazy body transformation. Sick body:

Radwanska is retiring.

Watching new episodes of The Great British Bakeoff (Baking Show in America) on Netflix. Thought I’d desperately miss Mel, Sue, and Mary but Noel, Sandy, and Prue didn’t miss a beat. I actually find myself laughing out loud during eps. It also helps that the bakers are so well-cast.

WTF with the WTF? I can’t remember the last time top players performed so poorly. (Maybe at another WTF?) Only Novak and Kevin have stepped up at all. The NextGen guys played better from what I’ve seen.

Speaking of folks reading the Isner serve well...Novak effin Djokovic.

I know the “everything in quotes” style is a Virgil Abloh trademark, but yeah. Given the discourse around Serena historically, it does feel a bit tone-deaf to choose “woman” to set off in quotes.

Oh la la.