Blog

Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, in 2013. *Photograph by* *Gilad Rom.*

Fab: The long twilight of tennis' 'Big Four'

November 25, 2024

“The truth is forced upon us, very quickly, by a foe,” the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote, and that was perhaps never truer than of tennis’ “Big Four” — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They were, strictly speaking, not foes — which implies an element of enemies, along with cross and double-cross — but rather opponents and especially rivals in the glorious first three decades of this century, when they won 69 Slam titles and three of the last four gold medals in men’s singles at the Summer Olympics (Nadal in 2008, Murray in ’12 and ’16 and Djokovic this year).

People talk about Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and their contrasting temperaments and talents — Apollonian ice versus Dionysian fire respectively — which may ultimately eclipse the four. But I predict that when the history of tennis is finished, fans will look back at the Big Four as the likes of which we never saw again.

A plaster cast of Eduardo Barrón's "Nero and Seneca" (1904). Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher and historian who tutored and advised the emperor Nero, had a lot to say about leading a meaningful life. His ended when the narcissistic Nero forced him to commit suicide. *Courtesy Museo del Prado.*

High profile leave-takings ask -- when and how to go?

October 13, 2024

Recently, The Museum of Modern Art director Glenn D. Lowry, a man I interviewed several times in my career as a cultural writer, announced that he will step down from his post after 30 years in September of 2025.

As much as his counterpart Philippe de Montebello at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, who left that post in 2008 after more than 30 years as its longest-serving director, Lowry really shaped the New York City cultural scene at the twilight of the 20th century and the dawn of the 21st. He could’ve stayed on.

But he told The New York Times: “I didn’t want to be the person who stayed too long.”

In that, however, Lowry is a rare bird.

Thoughts on the US Open

September 9, 2024

The US Open began on a brilliant August day (the 26th) that hinted at autumn and ended on a brilliant September day (the 8th) that delivered it.

In between, there were upsets — women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek, last year’s women’s winner Coco Gauff, last year’s men’s winner Novak Djokovic and the No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz — and some insightful tennis as Taylor Fritz and Francis Tiafoe squared off in a semifinal that gave hope to American fans of a possible U.S. champion.

But only false hope. I saw men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner practice with Paris bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti on Media Day — Friday, Aug. 25 — and thought Sinner would win the men’s final, which he did, beating Fritz in straight sets 6-3. 6-4. 7-5.

NBC, the Olympics and American exceptionalism

August 6, 2024

The Olympics were just getting underway July 27 when the American swim team was reminded of how Australian swimmer Cate Campbell reveled in her country having had more gold medals than the United States (13 to seven) at the 2023 World Swimming Championships.

There has long been an intense rivalry between the swim teams that has spilled over into trash talk, but Campbell really went off on the cowbells in the stands that support Americans in the pool and even the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” If nothing succeeds like success, nothing irks like it either.

While the National Anthem comment seems petty, Campbell may have a point when you consider NBC’s cheerleading coverage of the Paris Games as we roll through the second week of competition….

Vice President,and Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris at a San Francisco Pride event in 2019. *Photograph by* *Quinn Dombrowski* .

The month that was -- from the Democrats' gambit to the Paris Games

July 30, 2024

It figures that my birthday break would bring big news: There’s just something about the second half of July.

On July 21, President Joe Biden went George Washington on everyone and announced that he would put patriotism and party before personhood and renounce the nomination for a second term, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Perhaps the most surprising thing in an announcement that was devoutly desired and yet still shocking was the way people rallied around Harris, who raised $200 million in her first week on the campaign trail.

Sandy Koufax, one of Major League Baseball’s greatest players, announcing his retirement at age 30 on Nov. 20, 1966 at the Beverly Wiltshire Hotel. *Courtesy the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.*

'Say it ain't so, Joe' -- the challenge of letting go

July 4, 2024

Wimbledon may be a long way metaphorically as well as geographically from Washington, D.C., but both Ws have been confronted recently with the age of key players. Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, with an artificial hip and fresh from surgery to remove a spinal cyst, is playing doubles with brother Jamie at age 37. Just a week younger, seven-time champ Novak Djokovic is playing ahead of schedule after surgery to repair a meniscus tear, which may or may not have an effect on his chances for an Olympic medal at the Paris Games, beginning July 26, and

a repeat as US Open champ. (I don’t know why people keep saying “an elusive Olympic medal.” He won a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games.)

Rafael Nadal, 38, who has had his own hip surgery and subsequent injuries and whose knees are allergic to grass anyway, is sitting out Wimbledon for a chance to play at Roland Garros again as Carlos Alcaraz’s doubles partner at the Paris Olympics, after losing there in May in the first round of the French Open, a tournament he once dominated.

But hey, at least they’re not running for president of the United States.

President Joe Biden on his 81st birthday, Nov. 20, 2023. *Courtesy the president’s Instagram account.*

Joe Biden and the rage against the dying light

June 28, 2024

If President Joe Biden’s debate performance had been a Broadway play, it would’ve closed the night it opened. At times stiff and unresponsive, he stood there as if his spirit were encased in wood, like some mythological creature whom the gods would destroy before loving, while former President Donald J. Trump hammered home false narrative after false narrative. Good grief.