WIMBLEDON -- Oh, great. As if sitting through a week of rain-interrupted tennis and having a match called because of darkness and getting stuck in the hinterlands of the outside courts where the cheers from the big stadium erupt just as you're trying to serve -- as if all that weren't enough for Todd Martin, today he gets to be the most hated man at Wimbledon, and the enemy of all England.Great."Are you aware or interested in who you're playing in the quarterfinals?" a British reporter coyly asked Martin on Tuesday.
WIMBLEDON, England -- You see lots of ponytails in women's tennis. Some of them will fool you. Take Monday at Wimbledon, a wet, cloudy day that was the grass-court equivalent of a soggy biscuit.Across the net at Centre Court stood two female players, both in short white skirts and designer tennis tops -- and both in ponytails. But on Martina Hingis, who's 15, the hairdo was an extension of her teenage exuberance. On Steffi Graf, 27, the ponytail was all that remained of a carefree life.
Of all the scenes I can picture in my mind -- and with an imagination like mine, that's a pretty nasty collection -- I cannot envision anyone throwing a rat at Jack Nicklaus.
Welcome, welcome, yes, you're in the right place, the U.S. Open, at Oakland Hills -- hey, you with the sandals on, it's OK. Stop hiding in the corner. No one's going to kick you out. This might be the most exclusive country club in the metro Detroit area, and on most weeks they wouldn't let you near here with a bazooka, but today, everyone is love 'n' knickers. That's the great thing about the U.S. Open. It's American! You pay for a ticket, they have to let you in -- no matter how badly you're dressed.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
