Normally, during the time all the major tennis players in the world are hanging out in Cincinnati’s suburbs, my friend Diane and I are out there every day. This year, we managed only one day – the Thursday, which means all the Round of 16 matches are going on everywhere. So we got to see all our heroes winning, and lots of other folk besides, both the men’s and women’s matches.
Diane roots for Rafael Nadal and I root for Roger Federer, so we each had plenty of good rooting to do. And we bought great seats, since one day was all we had. For the evening match, which brought Roger Federer together with Andy Murray, we were in the lower box seats – just a few feet from the court, able to see every move and every ball.
And Roger was and has been playing like the Roger of 10 years ago. It is quite wonderful. He has continued those winning ways, winning more tournaments this year than any of the other big guys. Now, yesterday, he played in the O2 in London in the ATP Year End Finals, winning against Milos Raonic. It’s a Round Robin tournament, so he plays Kei Nishikori on Tuesday, and on Thursday, Andy Murray. Group A, with the Djoker and others, is doing the same on alternative days. I’m just focused on Roger. Long may he reign.