Tennis Australia managed to smooth over the latest controversy surrounding Court yet it is neither they nor the celebrated commentators who should be apologisingMartina Navratilova and John McEnroe, for once, had nothing of substance to apologise for. Nevertheless, two of the most outspoken voices in tennis, went through the motions here on Wednesday to soothe the ego of Margaret Court, Australia’s finest ever woman player, who is also a homophobe of no regrets and holds views that went out of fashion in the 19th century, as well as the sensitivities of Craig Tiley, whose normally excellent stewardship of the Australian Open has looked more like the captain of the Hesperus ignoring an advancing storm that his drunken first mate could...
How long can sport, like Hollywood, continue to wave away the contradictions between its activities and its supposed ideals?Someone once told me about a film actor who had developed a powerful ecological conscience, and in this spirit he bought every cast and crew member on his latest production a reusable coffee cup. As the shoot wore on, he’d make spot checks to see if they were using them. This was a source of some irritation but more amusement to the crew, who’d observe darkly to each other that – with the best will in the world on the old coffee cup front – they were literally MAKING A MOVIE HERE. There are few more disposably indulgent, bigger footprint projects than...
The Serb moves into another area of excellence in winning the Australian Open and sets his sights on the ‘ultimate challenge’ of beating Nadal on clay in ParisNovak Djokovic is the best tennis player in the world: now, and for the foreseeable future, perhaps until he chooses to retire, which looks to be a few years away yet, he hinted on Sunday night. What the 31-year-old Serb can achieve in the remaining days of a career that began more than a thousand matches and 72 titles ago is difficult to gauge but less so than it was before the final of the Australian Open.What he did to Rafael Nadal in the Rod Laver Arena turned what had been a keen...
Also featuring Australian Open memories, Sébastien Loeb at the Dakar Rally and the joy of drones in sport1) Cody Parkey was left feeling like the loneliest man in the world after watching his last-gasp potentially game-winning field goal bounce off the upright and crossbar in the Chicago Bears’ playoff defeat by the Philadelphia Eagles (keep an eye on the mascot in the background, too). Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by Parkey’s supposed misfortune. He has a knack when it comes to finding the woodwork. Here he is clattering the goal-frame four times from four kicks in a match last November. And here are those doinks immortalised in Tecmo Super Bowl. Parkey still has some way to go before he matches...
The men’s champion and Caroline Wozniacki withstood the intense temperatures which affected so many playersThis turbulent Australian Open has been about longevity, endurance and iced towels, three of the defining features of the modern game.The wonder of Roger Federer’s victory against the 29-year-old Marin Cilic on Sunday was not just that it gave him his 20th major in a record 30th final but that the 36‑year‑old Swiss fashioned a fortnight of such sweet perfection to get there, spending less than 11 hours on court while his younger rivals laboured in the killing heat for much longer. Cilic clocked up 17hr 3min en route. At the end it showed. Related: Caroline Wozniacki ends years of doubt with maiden grand slam | Simon Cambers...