"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Thursday, September 7, 2017

I Was Wrong

     . . . about two things. First, I said in my recent post Reading Between the Lines that none of the qualifiers would make it past the first or second round in the U. S. Open. Well, last night I turned on the TV and was surprised to find Kaia Kanepi playing at Arthur Ashe stadium. She had made the quarterfinals!

     She was beaten quite handily by 22-year-old Madison Keys of the United States. Nevertheless, that's a fantastic run for the woman from Estonia who was ranked No. 421 in the world coming into this tournament.

     The other error:  I said the Americans are not as strong as they used to be in the top ranks of professional tennis. We remember Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Chrissy Evert. Well, I was right about the men. This year the U. S. Open semifinals feature no Americans. Instead, there are two players from Spain, one from South Africa and one from Argentina.

     But the women have come through, big time, for the United States. The women's semifinals promise an all-American event. Tonight 37-year-old Venus Williams, who won the Open back in 2000 and in 2001, will play fellow Floridian 24-year-old Sloane Stephens for a berth in the final round. In the other bracket Madison Keys, also from Florida, will go up against the volatile 25-year-old, CoCo Vandeweghe from California.

     These should be great matches. Given my track record, I will not try to predict who's going to win, much less who's going to fight her way to the championship on Saturday . . . other than that the winner will be an American.

     As for the real message of "Reading Between the Lines," a shared interest in a sport is a great way for us parents to stay connected with our grownup children -- whether the sport is tennis, baseball, football or anything else. Last week I did not meet my son on the tennis court. We instead met for a round of golf -- another opportunity to spend some quality time with my 30-year-old child.

6 comments:

Olga said...

Your a big man to admit you were mistaken.

stephen Hayes said...

It does seem like female athletes are on the rise. Women were always good but now they're getting a chance to show their stuff. Unfortunately, they still haven't earned equal pay with their male counterparts.

DJan said...

Somehow I missed that earlier post. I'll have to go back and read your predictions. I never try to predict anything because it always seems to backfire on me. :-)

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Glad sports works. My family is a foodie bunch always wanting to head fo vsomething tasty.

Anuj Agarwal said...

Hi Tom,

My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Sightings Over Sixty has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 75 Baby Boomer Blogs on the web.

http://blog.feedspot.com/baby_boomer_blogs/

I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 75 Baby Boomer Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!

Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.

Best,
Anuj

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Tom, now you've been spammed! I think that Billie Jean King is partly responsible for lighting the fire under girls to play tennis, and Title 9 enabled the interest. In my family, food plays a part in our infrequent gatherings. Although my husband a little golf (most of his golf buddies have died on him) and he and one of our daughters watch sports on TV, they are NOT rabid fans. I came from a family where listening to baseball on radio was "the thing". We kids were complete nerds, totally eschewing sports other than chess (now you may snort in derision!)
Cop Car