Charlie

Serena won the US Open for the first time in 1999, and she is one of only three former champions in the draw to make it to the second round; the others are Sloane Stephens (2017) and Bianca Andrescu (2019), neither of whom has particularly strong records since their championships. Angie Kerber (2016) withdrew before the tournament started (announced she was pregnant); Venus (2000,2001), Osaka (2018, 2020) and Raducanu (the defending champion) all lost their opening round matches, and everyone else since 1999 is retired. There is no one left in the draw who has ever defeated Serena in any major final except Muguruza, and she has had a bad year. Maybe fans' hopes for a Serena farewell victory aren't as hopeless as predicted a few days ago.

Any idea what is going on here?

The going's great, in my 88.

When I was in grammar school in New Jersey in the 1950s, I had a penpal in Leeds, England. It sometimes took weeks to get a response from him. When I was in college in Pennsylvania in the 1960s, I would write letters to my best friend, who was in college in Vermont, and it would take at least a week to get a letter back (long distance phone calls were too expensive for us). When I lived in England in the 1970s, I would make tape cassettes and send them to my spouse in Philadelphia; it usually took about 10 days to get a tape in response. When I lived in Czechoslovakia in the 1990s, if I wanted to have a conversation with a family member in the US, I had to go to the local post office, and wait in a booth with a phone while a local operator put through a long distance call to an American operator, who would connect me to the person I wanted to speak to (if, of course, the person was at home). And now I can sit at my computer in California and type a comment, and get a response from you in Australia a minute later. Yes, it's amazing!

He refers to his "Prince Albert"--does that nose ring do double duty?

Cum along with me, in my merry Oldsmobile.

I'll remember to say that the next time I beat my regular doubles partner.

Nick certainly looked like he was trying to get it over quickly.

Fritz was the overwhelming favorite on paper, so losing would be embarrassing, but he and Brandon have been friends since they were children, and their mothers were pro doubles partners, so winning might have been awkward in other ways. Kyrgios, however, seemed to have no qualms about rolling over his longtime friend and doubles partner Kokkinakis, who is trying to rebuild his singles career.

Stef won only one game in the fast first two sets, and he actually snapped back at something coming from his box; after that, Apostolos seemed to pull back, as though he didn't think it was worthwhile pushing, and Stef actually played better, but couldn't maintain it.

First man through is JJ Wolf, a young American who just took out the 16th seed RBA in straight sets. He looks good without the mullet and in sleeveless shirt.

BTW, what happened to Sandgren? He seemed to drop out of sight everywhere. Is he even playing challengers?

I actually belonged to GAA back in the day (early 1970s), but I don't recognize anyone in the photo.

I have taken my response to BSR's political opinions to a private message to him. Unfortunately, it is hard to discuss Novak without bringing in politics, since his problems now are related to his conflicts with governments rather than with other players.

Those who volunteer to serve in the military give up a lot of personal choices, including what outfit they will wear, where they will live, and yes, the right to pick and choose what vaccinations they are required to have. Ever since George Washington required that all Revolutionary soldiers be vaccinated against smallpox this has been so--it is not some arbitrary new practice. Rules are obviously different for non-citizens who enter the country illegally (i.e., without the proper documentation for immigration) versus non-citizens who wish to enter the country legally for a visit (i.e., with a visa). Free COVID vaccination is available only to citizens, so neither group is offered the choice of vaccination or not on arrival. Legal visitors like Novak cannot get a visa to make the trip in the first place, while illegal visitors are not allowed to travel freely once they are caught.

I don't know that they were "killer" bees versus "normal" bees, but the killer bees are more likely to attack without cause, while "normal" (i.e., honey bees ) usually leave you alone if you don't do something to disturb them.

He chased a couple of the bees, but they pretty much ignored him and concentrated on my legs, especially my white cotton socks, which they stung right through.

The US Open has not blocked him--they do not require participants to be vaccinated. He can't participate because the US gov't requires foreign visitors to be vaccinated.

Well, wouldn't ya know?!! This morning while walking my dog on a residential street, I was attacked by a swarm of killer bees, who stung me multiple times on my legs. It's a good thing I am not allergic to bee stings, or I would have ended in the ER instead of urgent care. No sign of lanternflies, though they might have urged the bees on after reading the above post. [Note to editors: please don't move thread to Politics forum.]

Whitney? Toby?

Every biting insect in the world seems to be attracted to me. Although I wear socks all the time, whenever I go out early in the morning to walk the dog, things I can't even see attack my legs; at the moment I have nasty bites on my ankles from something that must be able to bite through my socks. The other day the tennis court I was playing on was crawling with ants. I asked the other players if they would be offended if I stomped on the ants, but no one was willing to defend ant rights, so we finished our match with many tiny spots on the court. I will kill any insect I find in my house, except spiders, because I know they are usually my friends in the insect wars. However, one time when I was sleeping in a hut in a national park in Tasmania, I woke to find spider bites on my stomach; apparently, they had nested in the bed I was sleeping on. That severely tested my tolerance for spiders, because the bites were ugly and took weeks to heal. If I find any lanternflies on my property (unlikely), they will not find refuge with me.

Great Calvin Klein ad.

Apostolos doesn't strike me as an easy person to tell to stay home. Then there is the further problem that Steph's mother was a successful tennis player, which probably complicates the family dynamic.

For those of us involved in the legal battle over gay rights on the East coast in the 1960s, the Black Cat was legendary. So when I made my first visit to SF in 1967, I hoped to see it, but it was gone.

I remember it, too, but I'll bet the voice at the other end of the line didn't actually look anything like him.