The building blocks of our culture stop us seeing the famous as people. That is not the function we have assigned themNaomi Osaka gave a press conference on Friday night. She’s started doing them again, by the way; I mention this only because after opting out of media duties during the French Open this year, lots of people immediately decided that she was weaponising her own mental health as a sly ruse to evade media scrutiny. Still, a lot of red-faced talk-show hosts and newspaper columnists got to lecture a 23-year-old woman on her personal choices, so maybe that was the most important thing.It was a tough watch. Osaka had just lost in tempestuous circumstances against Leylah Fernandez at the...
The world No 1’s coach believes the player can now cut loose after showing new maturity to beat Sloane Stephens at the French Open for her first major titlePerhaps Darren Cahill, the coach of Simona Halep, put it best. “She’s been close these last couple of years, she’s worked really hard for it, she’s been kicked in the stomach a couple of times, when she’s had chances. They say the destination is more beautiful if there’s a bit of a bumpy road and you eventually get there, and that’s what happened to her today. It’s a magical moment for her, she did it the hard way against a great opponent and I’m just really proud of her, and really happy for...
It’s not hyperbolic to say the game in the States is alive because of African American players like the Williams sisters and Sloane StephensThere’s been no shortage of anxiety over the future of American tennis over the last decade.Andy Roddick’s abrupt retirement during the 2012 US Open left the United States without an active men’s grand slam champion for the first time in 129 years, since the inception of what then was called the US National Championships. And while Venus and Serena Williams have combined for 30 major singles championship, 121 WTA titles and 173 finals appearances – and counting – the hand-wringing over their successor on the women’s side persisted. Related: Sloane Stephens’ win over Madison Keys warms hearts...