Boris Becker won his only US Open beating Lendl in 1989 from the baseline. He’s a serve and volley kind of guy so I took he wanted to prove that he could win anywhere on the court. That reminded me of Pao who just lost her suit against her former employer. Sex harassment might have been a winnable case for her or had higher winning percentage but she chose gender instead. Becker and Pao all made their stance but only one came out a winner.
A bug at the club
Sunday. When I opened the door to the bathroom on the third floor, this little bug dropped on my left shoulder and fell off to the ground. It’s very quick, spared me of a heart attack.
Monday. The 9:45 yoga was so full, I and another girl have to practice in the hall way.
Please extend the club hours and recruit less members?
Almost a fist fight – an angry white man
The lone chair by the elevator is missing at the gym. When I came down, there was an Asian man sitting on the long sofa, toward the right side. I hung my coat on the right hand side’s arm. When I realize the wifi isn’t working on my iPad, I went to the desk, asking for help (I was waiting for my husband).
There was only a single greeter at work. I chatted with a lady who’s masseur, learned a bit about it and her. While waiting, an older man came and asked where’s the chair. The greeter explained to him that it’s kaput – one leg was missing a screw hence was limping. He went over to the sofa, and asked who’s coat it was. I said it was mine. He then moved to the right, asking the man to move.
I didn’t watch what happened exactly, but as I was walking back to the sofa (the greeter fixed my wifi .. why couldn’t I log on on my own? I did it last time.), I saw he sat down to the Asian man’s left. It was kind of tight and the two men began to argue.
The Asian man kept on asking me if I knew the older white man, and if he’s my family. So the white man asked me if I knew the Asian man. I was bit bewildered. I have never met either of them.
The white man maintained all he wanted was to sit down and asked the Asian man to move.
The Asian man was saying .. you can’t just squeeze in ..
Next thing I saw was the white man held up his fists as if to punch.
At first, I really thought the white man was joking. But then realized he meant business.
The Asian man said he was threatened and asked the greeter to call the security or the policy. He was using his phone, then used it to take picture of the white guy.
I didn’t feel comfortable to sit there so I got up and moved to the counter by the window. The Asian man said, “you can’t leave, you’re my witness ..”
Another tall man came down and saw part of it, as he was exiting, he commented that the old white man’s rude and nasty.
The white guy went back upstairs so everything back to normal. The Asian man’s wife came down and they left.
Then my husband came down. As he was tying his shoes, the old white man came down too. The greeter asked for his name. Yes, the greeter did say, with so many members came, he did not know his name. The white man became ballistic again, and said,
“I’ll .. getting rid of this place.”
I could not remember exactly what the greeter said, but I felt nowadays, people seem to be looking for, or baiting the key offensive word, in order to make their case.
I felt sad for the white man. What made him acting so angry?
The title is alluring to Angry Asian Man’s messy legal fight with the angry little Asian girl.
Swiss Stars Are Absent at Davis Cup
New York Times, 2015.03.05 Swiss Stars Are Absent at Davis Cup, and So Is Change
The Davis Cup is still officially in Switzerland’s possession with another campaign set to begin on Friday, but the Swiss have already given up any real chance of defending their title.
There were confetti and celebration in Lausanne and elsewhere in November after Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka finally brought the trophy home. A promotional tour is still planned in the hope that more Swiss — particularly young Swiss — will be bitten by the tennis bug.
But further festivities could fall flat if the team, as expected, is beaten in the first round in Belgium this weekend.
Neither Federer nor Wawrinka agreed to defend the prize that took them many years to win. That leaves their friend, adviser and captain, Severin Lüthi, with a Swiss lineup whose top player is No. 321 Adrien Bossel now that No. 292 Yann Marti has reportedly left the team in a huff after not being picked for Friday’s singles. The only holdover from the winning team is No. 576 Michael Lammer.
Transition at the top is coming — the longtime International Tennis Federation president, Francesco Ricci Bitti, has decided not to run for re-election this year. But turning the event into a true monthlong World Cup of tennis seems to involve too much risk and calendar juggling. Holding the event every two years might endanger short-term revenue that is vital to the smaller tennis nations that are part of the I.T.F.
Another smart proposal — requiring home teams to pick surfaces that are in use on the regular tour during that time of the season as a way to reduce injuries — could founder because of the dearth of clay courts in some countries.
Even the modest and reasonable idea of giving the previous year’s finalists a first-round bye has failed to gain traction, partly because of resistance from sponsors and broadcasters and partly because I.T.F. officials are not convinced it would improve player participation.
It would, however, help players stay fresh, and it would also help prevent the buzz kill of seeing the reigning champion quickly fumbling its crown.
For now, with Davis Cup dates set through 2018, the idea of holding the final at a neutral site determined well in advance — à la soccer’s Champions League final or the Super Bowl — is gaining momentum, with the goal of improving the event’s organizational and promotional potential.
“We are disappointed that Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have decided not to play in the first round of Davis Cup, especially for the thousands of fans in Switzerland and around the world who supported their progress to the title last year,” Ricci Bitti said. “Davis Cup is not a mandatory event, and players do choose from time to time to miss a tie.”
They certainly do, but what sort of message does it send when the titleholders have no interest in repeating?
Federer fought the clock and a significant back problem to make it on court and help beat the French in last year’s final. Now, less than four months later, he would rather save himself the hassle and the energy at age 33. He will instead play a lucrative exhibition match against Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
“I always feel there is so much guilt put on you from the federation or from the I.T.F., more so than anybody else,” Federer said of the Davis Cup last week on his way to the title in Dubai. “So I’m happy I was able to finally tick that off and do it.”
Federer made it clear that he played the Davis Cup from start to finish last season more to address his teammates’ wishes than his own. He also made it clear that it had been more of a burden than a pleasure through the years.
“Those are powerful quotes,” Jim Courier, the United States Davis Cup captain, said in a telephone interview from Glasgow, where his team has a first-round rematch with Andy Murray and Britain after losing last year in San Diego.
Courier, who won the Davis Cup twice as a player, would prefer big changes in an attempt to broaden the event’s reach, but he appreciates the event too much to write it off in the face of stasis. Still, there is a notable disparity in excitement between the Davis Cup and the Ryder Cup, the golf team event contested by the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup was played at Gleneagles near Glasgow in September.
“We just did a press conference with the local press, and there’s not one American member of the press here, and we didn’t expect there to be,” Courier said Wednesday. “The golf community and general sports community knows in America when Ryder Cup is coming because it’s focused on. There are tennis fans that know we are playing here, and no one else knows. That’s not our fault, necessarily. We’re not responsible for promoting this.”
The top players, who united for increased prize money at Grand Slam tournaments, could have done the same to force change on the Davis Cup. They do not seem interested in doing so.
More matchups between the game’s biggest stars in this age of great rivalries could have made the Davis Cup more impactful globally. Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray have too seldom faced each other in Cup matches, a combination of bad luck of the draw and flickering commitment.
This year, Federer is out (perhaps for good), but the fifth-ranked Murray and the top-ranked Djokovic, who is set to lead Serbia against Croatia in the first round, are back in the mix. So are No. 4 Kei Nishikori of Japan and No. 6 Milos Raonic of Canada, whose teams will face off in Vancouver in what could be the most compelling of the first-round encounters.
No matchup has a longer back story than the United States versus Britain, however. The two countries played the first Davis Cup tie, in 1900 in Boston, after the Harvard student Dwight Davis had the bright idea of starting an international tennis challenge. The Americans won, 3-0, benefiting from the absence of Britain’s best players: the brothers Reginald and Laurence Doherty. The Americans also made good use of twist serves, which left the Britons lunging and searching for answers.
There should be no such secret weapon this time. The top players know one another well in this globalized era, although the Belgians could certainly be excused for lacking information on Bossel and the other Swiss players filling in for Federer and Wawrinka. At least they no longer have to worry about scouting Marti.
What a difference three months make.
Another trying day at the gym
Snow.
雪.
neige.
Schnee.
Nothing but snow. The parking lot was full at 9:53am at the gym and one staff stood by the entrance by the street, Bayview Avenue. Many of us have to park at the adjacent lot, which was also full. On a snowy day walking from that mile away (ok, just kidding) lot is very difficult because there isn’t a pedestrian path.
Have the club ever considered, maybe recruit less members? I got to the 10 o’clock Pilate at 10:09. Four more women came after me, 10 some minutes. Fortunately Bonnie allowed us. It was around 10:20. 10 more minutes into the class, just I thought we finally settled down and in, mates began to leave. Two left. One left. Three more left. To sign up for the next class. It was very unsettling. I asked a greeter at front desk, is it really necessary? The young woman apparently very uninterested in her job, replied curtly, “Yes.” Babe, if you don’t like what you do, please, move on. “Can you open the sign up early, like 9:55 or on the net?” Having the mates before the class, or using their phone during the class, perhaps is better than them physically leaving? It’s disturbing to the rest of the class.
“No.”
Ok, I gave up.
Russians are coming – the Five
There are few 5s..
CSKA Moscow and Soviet National Team
The Five Composers
Chess
- Mikhail Tal
- Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian
- Anatoly Karpov
- Boris Spassky
- Mikhail Botvinnik
Pianists
Russian Composer
The Mighty Handful
Novels
- Crime and Punishment
- War and Peace
- Anna Karenina
- The Idiot
- Lolita
- Doctor Zhivago
Cursing off the court
Highest Paid Female Athletes 2014
According to Sporteology:
- Maria Sharapova, Earnings: $27.1 million, 5 grand slam titles
- Li Na, Earnings: $18.4 million, 2 grand slam titles
- Serena Williams, Earnings: $16.3 million, 18 grand slam titles
- Caroline Wozniacki, Earnings: $13.7 million, 0 grand slam title
- Danica Patrick, Earnings: $13 million
- Victoria Azarenka, Earnings: $9.7 million, 2 grand slam titles
- Kim Yuna, Earnings: $9 million
- Ana Ivanovic, Earnings: $7.2 million, 1 grand slam title
- Agnieszka Radwanska, Earnings: $6.9 million, 0 grand slam title
- Yani Tseng, Earnings: $6.1 million
Danica Patrick is an American racing car driver who also models whom I followed for a while. Kim Yuna is a South Korean former figure skater and Yani Tseng, a Chinese golfer from Taiwan. Wenxue & sina
Li Na 李娜 on 60 Minutes tonight
Foremost, she won two grand slam titles, French Open 2011 and Australian 2014, has just retired for the second time on 19 September, 2014. She is pregnant, expecting her first child this summer. This 60 Minutes segment is just a feel good piece, nothing is unknown. Lesley Stahl called Li’s career “remarkable” and applauded her standing up to Chinese government. Li has the reputation as a rebel, which the New York Times Magazine portrayed her in 2013.
In this 60 Minutes interview, Lesley Stahl said, “Li Na is one of the wealthiest female sports figure in the world. She’s probably China’s most famous athlete and an idol to young Chinese not only because of her ability but because the way she stood up to the Chinese system.”
Ms. Stahl. .. “.. .. Li Na became one of the highest paid and most watch female athletes .. state run sport system… .. leaving the sport after a remarkable career. Remarkable, not just because she won two grand slams, but because she stood up to the Chinese authorities, to win some freedom.”
wenxue; file 21519
Tim Smyczek vs Rafael Nadal 底线
The NYT reports: Another Loss for Nice Guys, but This One Wins Raves on Tim Smyczek, a qualifier from Milwaukee ranked 112th, playing third-ranked Rafael Nadal in the second round at Australian Open.
As Nadal served for the match ahead by 6-5, 30-0, in the fifth set, a fan hollered during the toss of his first serve, disrupting his motion. The serve sailed long.
As the crowd began to boo, Smyczek caught the attention of the chair umpire and held up two fingers, indicating that Nadal should be able to have both of his serving opportunities. Once the umpire announced that it would again be a first serve, Nadal gave Smyczek a thumbs-up sign and a small wave, and several members of Nadal’s team stood to applaud the gesture...
Despite clinging to ideals of gentlemanliness and fair play, tennis has had its low moments in sportsmanship. Justine Henin’s declining to give Serena Williams a second chance at a first serve after holding up her hand midway through Williams’s service motion at a 2003 French Open semifinal serves as a counterpoint to Smyczek’s gesture. Medical timeouts, bathroom breaks and illegal coaching from the stands are common forms of gamesmanship.
If was a day match in the 1992 at the Louis Armstrong Stadium. The former champ Ivan Lendl got a questionable line call in his favor. Back then there was no instant replay. Line umpires and chair umpire wielded the absolute power over each shot. The player could only confer with the chair umpire which Lendl’s opponent did but the chair empire upheld the call. However the next shot another line umpire called a close shot in the opponent’s favor.
We cheered. It’s vigilante justice I suppose.
Lendl protested,
“You don’t have to give him back so quickly.”
We laughed, then despised him. Tennis is really a gentlemanly sport. You compete fair and square. If you think the call is wrong, you correct it. Which, Thomas Muster did during a tournament. Muster felt the call in his favor was wrong and gave it back to his opponent Michael Chang. However a few games down the road, when another close call occurred but Chang did not reciprocate, Muster got mad. He eventually beat Chang, feeling vindicated. Not many people like Lendl and Muster. I admired Muster for his conduct. Also his come back to win the same tournament in Miami in 1997 where he was hit by drunk driver (1989). A side note, Muster had just beaten Noah after losing the first two set early in the day in the semi final and was scheduled to play Lendl for the final.
