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Sunday, July 4, 2021

W.MS- Of the GOAT and Gluttony on the Middle Sunday

No tennis. But more hot dogs.









=MIDDLE SUNDAY NOTES=
If someone had the audacity, wherewithal and, well, stomach to check his loafers, they might discover that Joey Chestnut does indeed walk on hooves. For he is the G.O.A.T., the greatest of all-time.

Of course, we already knew that.

If last year's pandemic couldn't keep Chestnut and the preeminent celebration-of-overconsumption competition down *last* summer during the COVID pandemic -- the event was held indoors without fans, with Chestnut winning his 13th Mustard Yellow Belt and breaking his own record with 75 hot dogs and buns consumed in ten minutes -- then what stood the chance of "devouring" either of them *this* year? NOTHING, of course.

While this year's usually-just-off-the-boardwalk competition *still* wasn't able to be held in its traditional spot on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, it did take place in the noon hour of Independence Day about 500 steps away at Maimonides Park, home of the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team, with approximately 5000 fans gathered in front of the performance platform and in the stands.

While there was little no suspense when it came to whether or not Chestnut would win his 14th championship, there was the issue of whether he'd break his own record yet again. There was at least a hint of a "Beamonesque" quality to Chestnut's 2020 mark, as (much like New York native Bob Beamon's 1968 long jump record having the benefit of having taken place at high elevation in Mexico City, leading to the mark not being bettered for 23 years) last year's temperature-controlled indoor competition removed the (possibly consumption-limiting) summer heat from the equation. Was "75" the hot dog eating equivalent of "24" in tennis terms?

But, come on, we're talking about Joey "Jaws"... we should have known what the outcome would be.



In the 105th anniversary edition of the traditional July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York, 37-year old mega-eater Chestnut carved another notch into the well-worn belt encircling his still-burgeoning career girth, virtually ingesting the "competition" with a 26-hot dog victory over his nearest foe (I mean, other than indigestion) and further expanding the stomach contents of his legend by downing a *new* record 76 dogs and buns in the timed ten-minute frame, one more than his record "inside meal" of a year ago. It was a positively Chestnutian feat.

Usually, this is the point when Chestnut's records are compared to, say, the clay court dominance of Rafael Nadal. But even the Spaniard -- still with a paltry *13* RG wins -- couldn't keep up his run in Paris this year. Chestnut now has *no* competition, from within the hot dog eating world nor from afar on the greater sports landscape.

Raise a cold drink to the G.O.A.T., everyone.

As usual, Chestnut was a dominant force on the stage of battle. One minute in, he'd already consumed twelve hot dogs and buns, four more than his closest chaser. He hit the 25 mark in 2:11, and at the midway point stood at 46, some fourteen better than the contest's second-place lagger. He hit 50 at 5:31 in, just a second off his record pace from a year ago. Chestnut's pace slowed a bit it the middle portion of the race, but once more the ingestion gods were ever in his favor as, when the clock had ticked down to 00:00, they bestowed upon him the honor of yet another gluttonous record. Yes, he did it yet again.



Somewhere, a humbled Tom Brady surely hung his head and wept. And Michael and Rafa, too. Greatness recognizes greatness, after all.



Well behind, but breaking a significant barrier, was Geoffrey Esper with 50, a total that would have been in the thick of the battle for the belt in every Nathan's competition prior to the start of the "Chestnut Era" in 2007, and would have won outright or matched the winning total in all but three years of the event up to 2006.

*NATHAN'S HOT DOG EATING MEN'S CHAMPS - since 2000*
2000 Kazutoyo Arai
2001 Takeru Kobayashi
2002 Takeru Kobayashi
2003 Takeru Kobayashi
2004 Takeru Kobayashi
2005 Takeru Kobayashi
2006 Takeru Kobayashi
2007 Joey Chestnut
2008 Joey Chestnut [def. Takeru Kobayashi in 5-dog "Eat-Off"]
2009 Joey Chestnut
2010 Joey Chestnut
2011 Joey Chestnut
2012 Joey Chestnut
2013 Joey Chestnut
2014 Joey Chestnut
2015 Matt Stonie
2016 Joey Chestnut
2017 Joey Chestnut
2018 Joey Chestnut
2019 Joey Chestnut
2020 Joey Chestnut
2021 Joey Chestnut

[competition record]
76 - Joey Chestnut, 2021
75 - Joey Chestnut, 2020 (*-held indoors)
74 - Joey Chestnut, 2018
72 - Joey Chestnut, 2017




Earlier, in the women's competition, a new champion was crowned. Of course, such a thing was a given considering that the only two women who'd ever won the decade-old event didn't compete. Three-time winner Sonya Thomas retired last year, while pregnant reigning champ Miki Sudo sat this year out (though she did broadcast the event on ESPN3, saying that she simply couldn't stay away). Sudo vows to return in '22.

Last summer, Sudo downed a record 48.5 hot dogs and buns to win her seventh straight title.

With the "draw emptied out of seeds," Sudo's friend and past training partner Michelle Lesco stepped into the winner's circle, though she came up just short of her personal best of 32 dogs/buns. Tucson, Arizona native Lesco's 30 and 3/4 total comfortably took home the Pink Belt, though hers was the lowest total of any previous winner, over second place finisher Sarah Rodriguez's 24. Last year's runner-up, Larell Marie Mele, came in third with 18 and 3/4.



*NATHAN'S HOT DOG EATING WOMEN'S CHAMPS*
2011 Sonya Thomas
2012 Sonya Thomas
2013 Sonya Thomas
2014 Miki Sudo
2015 Miki Sudo
2016 Miki Sudo
2017 Miki Sudo
2018 Miki Sudo
2019 Miki Sudo
2020 Miki Sudo
2021 Michelle Lesco

[competition record]
48.5 - Miki Sudo, 2020 (*-held indoors)
45.0 - Sonya Thomas, 2013
41.0 - Miki Sudo, 2017
40.0 - Sonya Thomas, 2011

One has to question why the women's competition never gets the noon-hour live treatment on the ESPN broadcast, and is instead relegated to the streaming ESPN3 at around 11:45. The situation was even further muddied this year when the live-on-network show included a second "competition" in which longtime competitor Eric "Badlands" Booker downed a gallon of Nathan's Famous Lemonade with ease (he stopped to burp a few times) to defeat a competitor seemingly a few decades younger and about 1/4 the size of himself. It seems as if the time could have been better utilized by giving the women's competition wider coverage. I'm just sayin'.

But, to paraphrase the now late Donald Rumsfeld, “You watch on July 4th for the hot dog eating contests that you have, not the hot dog eating contests that you might want or wish to have at a later time.”

...the junior grasscourt competition at Roehampton has crowned a champion, and it's Linda Fruhvirtova. The 16-year old Czech became the third girl from her nation (first since 2010) to pick up the Grade 1 crown.



The #8 seed, Fruhvirtova staged a comeback from a set down in the final to defeat fellow Czech Linda Klimovicova, 4-6/6-2/6-3. Unseeded Klimovicova had upset top-seeded Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in the semifinals. The other Czech girls to win the event in the past were Petra Kvitova (2007) and Kristyna Pliskova (2010).

Seven of the last ten Roehampton champs have gone on to win the follow-up Wimbledon junior title, as well, including Pliskova, Genie Bouchard (2012), Belinda Bencic (2011) and Alona Ostapenko (2014).

In all, nine of the event's previous twenty-four champions, starting with Amelie Mauresmo in 1996, have pulled off the Roehampton/SW19 double, and another three reached the junior final at the AELTC a week later. Former Roehampton winners Mauresmo and Kvitova went on to eventually win the Ladies title at Wimbledon in their pro careers.

Coco Gauff, the '18 Roehampton champ, fell in the QF of the girls event that season.

...Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina picked up the title at the week's top ITF event, winning a $60K clay court event in Montpellier, France with a 6-2/6-3 victory in the final over Egypt's Mayar Sherif. It's Kalinina's third circuit crown of the season.

Elsewhere, Bannerette Elli Mandlik was the lone U.S. singles winner of the week on Independence Day weekend (though Anastasia Nefedova won the WD in the same event). Mandlik, the 20-year old daughter of two-time Wimbledon finalist (1981/86) Hana Mandlikova, won her third career title at a $15K challenger in Monastir, Turkey, defeating Italian Angelica Raggi in the final.





...HOT DOG HISTORY ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FANS ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...ESPN HAD *ONE* JOB ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...A LOOK BACK (w/ POST-MATCH MEDIA) ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...WHERE I WENT TO THE BEACH AS A KID, TODAY ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...NEWS ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:




...ON DECK ON THE MIDDLE SUNDAY:










SW19 Memories...


Serena Williams and Simona Halep meet for the first time in the Wimbledon 2nd Round, with Williams winning 3-6/6-2/6-1 [2011]




In their second meeting on grass, Halep defeats Williams 6-2/6-2 to win her first Wimbledon title [2019]





















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*ROEHAMPTON CHAMPS, w/ WIMBLEDON JR. RESULT*
1996 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA = won Wimbledon Jr. title
1997 Brie Rippner, USA = lost Wimb.Jr. F
1998 Jelena Dokic, AUS = lost Wimb.Jr. SF
1999 Lina Krasnoroutskaya, RUS = lost Wimb.Jr. F
2000 Aniko Kapros, HUN = lost Wimb.Jr. QF
2001 Gisela Dulko, ARG = lost Wimb.Jr. 3r
2002 Vera Dushevina, RUS = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2003 Allison Baker, USA = lost Wimb.Jr. QF
2004 Michaella Krajicek, NED = lost Wimb.Jr. SF
2005 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN = lost Wimb.Jr. 1r
2006 Kristina Antoniychuk, UKR = lost Wimb.Jr. 3r
2007 Petra Kvitova, CZE = lost Wimb.Jr. 3r
2008 Melanie Oudin, USA = lost Wimb.Jr. 2r
2009 Kristina Mladenovic, FRA = lost Wimb.Jr. F
2010 Kristyna Pliskova, CZE = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2011 Indy de Vroome, NED = lost Wimb.Jr. SF
2012 Genie Bouchard, CAN = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2013 Belinda Bencic, SUI = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2014 Alona Ostapenko, LAT = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2015 Dalma Galfi, HUN = lost Wimb.Jr. 1r
2016 Anastasia Potapova, RUS = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2017 Claire Liu, USA = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2018 Coco Gauff, USA = lost Wimb.Jr. QF
2019 Daria Snigur, UKR = won Wimbledon Jr. title
2021 Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE = ???

*2021 TOP JUNIOR EVENT CHAMPIONS*
SVYATOPETRIVSKE VILLAGE UKR J1: Anastasiia Gureva/RUS
SALINAS ECU J1: Natalia Szabanin/HUN
ASUNCION BOWL PAR J1: Petra Marcinko/CRO
PORTO ALEGRE BRA J1: Natalia Szabanin/HUN
BANANA BOWL BRA GA: Oceane Babel/FRA
BARRANQUILLA COL J1: Johanne Christine Svendsen/DEN
SAN DIEGO USA J1: Alexandra Yepifanova/USA
VILLENA ESP J1: Diana Shnaider/RUS
PLOVDIV BUL J1: Michaela Laki/GRE
YELTSIN CUP RUS J1: Alina Shcherbinina/RUS
RICANY CZE J1: Julia Middendorf/GER
BYTOM POL J1: Dominika Salkova/CZE
ROLAND GARROS: Linda Noskova/CZE
ROEHAMPTON GBR J1: Linda Fruhvirtova/CZE
WIMBLEDON: ?

*2021 ITF TITLES*
4 - Weronika Falkowska, POL
4 - Nuria Párrizas Díaz, ESP
3 - Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
3 - Cristina Dinu, ROU
3 - Beatriz Haddad Maia, BRA
3 - Dea Herdželaš, BIH
3 - Anhelina Kalinina, UKR
3 - Anna Kubareva, BLR






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All for the Middle Sunday. Back to Wimbledon on Monday.
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