Kyrgios in his youth

"On guard!"

Earlier this week, with the help of Mike Pielluci, an article I wrote on Nick Kyrgios appeared at The Classical. His summer malaise was the subject, mostly, but at the heart of my interest in the supposed future of Australian tennis was the question of youthfulness set adrift. After all, if summer is a young season, the conflicts that wrestle within its rugged months are caught between serious play and an active form of resting. I watch Kyrgios and he is either stretched taut on a rack or cocooned in the fetal position. And, in turn, I can never decide whether to root for or against him. Mostly, though, I watch him rushing and shuffling as if to do nothing and I think how the athletic body and the young mind are bound together in a counterproductive push and pull. If I had known then, what I know now.

In the Year of the Djokovic

Tennis is such a weird sport, not because of what takes place during a match, but because of what takes place at center court after the match. No other sport makes the loser share the stage with the new champion. I mean, there's golf, but in golf, your opponent is as much the course as it is the other players, and it's not like the Olympics where everyone stands on pedestals and can hide, inactively, behind the notes of a national anthem. No, in tennis, not only do you stand close enough to hear your oppressor kissing the metal trophy that you wish you'd won, but you have to give a speech, like some sort of puppet President explaining to the local populace that the foreign tanks in their front yards are nothing to fear, that absolutely nothing about the new regime is any different than the old regime. It's awkward. It's strange. And, perhaps, it's why tennis players are some of the most fascinating athletes in sports--they have to actually accept defeat, to an extent, or risk alienating millions.

Tigers is the GOAT

After a beautiful comeback (on Tigers first fathers day as a father) yesterday in the US Open, Tiger finished off Rocco Mediate on the first hole in sudden death. By any stretch of the imagination was it easy, his knee is still bothering him and Rocco may have given the best fight to Tiger he has faced in winning a major. During todays 18-hole playoff, by the tenth hole Tiger had jumped out to a 3 stroke lead. Mediate started off slow, but after the twelth where he just missed a 15-foot birdie putt he got it in gear. From the thirteenth hole to the fifteenth, he would show his skill to the world with three straight birdies. But today his fight and valor was just not enough, he would hold onto the one-stroke lead going into the eighteenth hole. From the tee-box of the par five 525 yard hole, Tiger would strike blasting a drive down the middle of the fairway leaving him 217 yards to the hole. Woods would take advantage of his drive, hitting the green in two, while setting up for a beautiful finish. Rocco would drive into the left bunker, making him lay up and get to the green with three shots. Woods first attempt was from 45 feet, he putt it by the hole leaving himself 4 feet for birdie. Rocco's had his opportunity to win it all, with a birdie from 20 feet out, but he slid the ball past the hole and putted in for par. Tiger smoothly knocks down his short putt to send the tourney into sudden death.

After 90 holes, the first to strike would win, this was life-changing for Rocco and history was on the line for Tiger. Tiger could become the first to win 7 tournaments on the same course, it would get him his 14th major and one major closer to Jack. Rocco would be remembered as a major winner other than a average to good pro.

Woods made sure to take advantage of his honors on the first hole in sudden death. He drove long on the right edge of the fairway, and Rocco showed all 90 holes on his face. He looked tired and ready to give in to Tiger. Rocco pulled his first into the left fairway bunker and with his attempt from the bunker he put it into the crowd and near the grandstands. Luckily the USGA made a drop zone for pace of play of the tournament or Rocco would have been cooked. He took his free drop and chipped the ball onto the green. Tiger calmly hit his second shot to the front of the green, putting him position to birdie. But Tiger rolled his birdie putt just short of the hole and settled for a par. It all came down to Rocco's last putt, make it and keep playing or miss it and get a nice second place check. Rocco would roll it just past the hole, final Rocco 359 Tiger 358. This gives Tiger his 14th major and helps legacy grow. Only 4 more to catch "The Golden Bear" and five to supplant himself as the greatest of all time.