congrats maddy

photo: Ng Han Guan/AP

this was a very long overdue win for madison keys. i always feel heartbreak thinking about how she lost the us open championship to good friend sloane stephens in 2017.  also, her loss in the us open semis against aryna sabalenka in 2023 made me feel more ache.  maddy's play down under was exceptional defeated both the #1 and #2 women to FINALLY get that grand slam championship.  

open

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 round-up. this has sat on my to-read shelf for years and i finally got around to it just as the french open was kicking off. i'd heard this is one of the best sports memoirs and I can see why. agassi really gets to the heart of the psyche of being a tennis player. how lonely the game can be? you are your own worst enemy not the opponent you are playing. i laughed out loud every time brad gilbert showed up. he truly is the hidden star of this book and i can see how he has driven the best out of so many player, especially the first player he coached - andre. i grew up watching agassi, sampras, chang and courier. i remembered many of the matches he talks about, and agassi's internal monologue during these matches really makes this book.

diez para rafa

congrats to rafael nadal on his 10th french open championship! how about jelena ostapenko to take her first in the women's championship.

congrats nole!

(Photo: Susan Mullane, USA TODAY Sports)

after dealing with the most disrespectful federer fans, the true champ takes the title. joker was stronger when the points mattered most. mad props to the chair umpire, eva asderaki-moore, for trying her best to settle the rabid fed fans and her accurate overturn calls. 

us open

it's been like 7 years since i've been back to the us open and my first time at arthur ashe stadium. last night saw an epic legends exhibition and arguably the best men's tennis player ever almost get bounced by a frenchman. i was rooting for the latter.

(top left to lower left) james black, john mcenroe,
mat wilander and jim courier

roger federer in black and gael monfils in green

still on a us open high i trekked down to brooklyn bridge park where amex set up a big screen. i watched both women's semis.

small sound

tennis has a new album out and i love how they've gone windows 95 on their website (above) and their video for single "mean streets"(below) follows the 90's theme.

congrats rafa!

even though roger federer had anna wintour in his box, my boy rafael nadal pulled out another championship win at the 2011 french open.

tennis at bowery ballroom

best ready for spring concert: tennis at bowery ballroom. i missed them back in december at mercury lounge, and i wasn't going to let another opportunity slip. i first fell in love with tennis when i was plugged into daytrotter. their 60's do wop sound immediately won me over. npr featured the couple back in january as well, so you know these kids are legit.

i couldn't help but sway to every tune from my fav "pigeon" (a song alaina says is about patrick) to "long boat pass" (a sad song that sounds happy). alaina told the crowd what a pleasure it was to play the bowery, a place where she and patrick would see their favorite bands. they have only been a band for 8 months and bam sold out at bowery. they play the bell house tomorrow with holiday shores and la sera (vivian girls' katy goodman's side project). important note: katy covered the shirelles' "dedicated to the one i love".

la sera, joined by alaina to left

patrick groovin' and katy in the wings

tennis luvin'

another amazing musical gem from yours truly. they somehow manage to make hotel utah look way bigger than it really is. three cheers nate chan. for more sweet tunes from tennis, check out their stellar daytrotter session.

wimbeldon - day 7

all time london to do: wimbeldon. shar, along with thousands of others, queued for tickets to wimbeldon on day 7 of the championship. the 4 hours seemed to fly. i must say the best queuing experience i've had and there's grass to sit on. i'm glad i got up at 4:30 though because i got front row seats on court 12, which feature jelena jankovic, jo-wilfried tsonga and robin soderling. i was there a solid 6 hours friends. yes, shar loves tennis (missed you henry).

strawberries and cream, anyone?

my fav - pimm's!
tommy robredo, practicing serves before his win in men's doubles jelena arrives

jelena before she retired because injury

vera zvonavera
jo-wilfried tsonga

robin soderling

his fans in force

david ferrer

kim clijsters and xaxier malisse winning mixed double. this was after she had beatenher fellow country women justine henin.

henman hill

frenchy open

so close but too many € away: french open 2010. shar's always wanted to complete the grand slam of tennis champs. i've only managed to hit up the us open, and have my sights set on wimbledon next month. you will be mine, oh yes! you will be mine strawberries and cream with pimms cocktails. i knew i would be near roland garros, but i didn't realize the the duckets i would have to drop to get there. more my fault for no planning ahead. so i must settle for this.

us open craziness

i can't believe i missed this last night. here's serena's take on it, and i must say classy after a whirlwind loss.

sassy at the us open

best surprise: melanie oudin. this whipper snapper has taken out both elena dementieva and maria sharapova already. she was also a name to watch after upsetting jelena jankovic in the third round of this year's wimbledon. shar's excited to see her continue in the open. next up is nadia petrova. hopefully oudin's streak against russians will continue. she's got a great top half of the draw, so shar's rooting for her to make the finals.

best return: kim clijsters. shar's always loved clijsters' drive and splits. also liked her off court relationship with lleyton hewitt, which didn't last unfortunately. she got hitched to an american basketball player instead. she retired too early in my opinion and so glad she came out of retirement. it's going to be rough for her, facing venus tomorrow. i'd love a oudin versus clijsters final, but that will be highly unlikely i'm afraid.

wimbledon wrap-up

unexpected championship match: wimbledon gentlemen's final - federer versus roddick. i was expecting roddick to go down fairly easy but i was uber impressed when he took the first set, but not so surprised he choked in the second. dude, the kid was up 4 set points. it hurt a lot, but i do have to commend him for sticking out the match and making it a close one. i missed the the fourth due to a date with chicken and waffles in harlem. i missed roddick crying. i was disappointed that pete didn't hand over the trophy to roger. it would have been a nice image of a hand over of his record.