The final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship was played today, here in Abu Dhabi, and Novak Djokovic defeated Nicolas Almagro, as everyone expected. The score, however, was much closer than expected, considering the world No. 1 player was taking on No. 11. But Almagro won the first set in a tiebreaker and seemed […]

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In journalism, some days just turn weird. You think you know how things will go. It seems slow. Routine. Boring. At the 4 p.m. news meeting I all but said “sorry, folks, sports is dull today …” And four hours later I was in a cab in the posh northwest corner of Abu Dhabi island, […]

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Have I written this before? Probably. But I am thinking of it now and will restate it. I love losing streaks. In life. But especially in sports. It gives us something to talk about. Something to focus on. A running subplot. Sometimes the plot. We lost some great losing streaks in the past decade. Four […]

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I love the idea of journalism start-ups. It means another batch of exciting jobs, perhaps good jobs, and exposure for writers both well-known and on the rise. One of those launched today: SportsonEarth.com And a former colleague here in Abu Dhabi, Chuck Culpepper, is one of the main writers for the venture. A first-day verdict?

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About halfway through Wimbledon, a Yank who sits near me in the offices of The National, a guy who is not a tennis fan, asked: “Why do the women play only best of three?” That is a very good question. Yes. Why. In an era where women run the same distances as men do, and […]

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Andy Murray is in the final at Wimbledon. This is news, in the queen’s country. Mainly because Liz the Deuce is 86 and seems to have been alive for ever … but even she was only a girl of 11 when Britain last put a man in the Wimby final, that being the wonderfully named […]

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Athletes need to give some thought to how they celebrate. Things are getting out of control.Winners are losing all sense of decorum, all sense of style and proportionality. So, a list of things I will not do when I win a big event:

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In the quarterfinals at Wimbledon tomorrow, I would like to see David Ferrer defeat Andy Murray. For two very good reasons. 1. I like David Ferrer. He is the Energizer Bunny of the men’s tour, forever chasing down balls, keeping rallies alive. He is not big, and he doesn’t have a monster serve, and almost […]

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Huge sports day, on both sides of the Atlantic. Maria Sharapova winning the French Open women’s championship, giving her a career grand slam. Her tennis future was bleak a few years ago, after shoulder surgery, but now she is back to No. 1 in the world. Two more games in Euro 2012, including Germany 1-0 […]

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Not sure I ever have been in Paris in May. If I had, wouldn’t I have gone to the French Open at least once? The 2012 edition begins Sunday, but the event already is under way. Sort of. With qualifying on both the men’s and women’s side, the backdoor entry for those ranked up in […]

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