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Sunday, August 26, 2018

Wk.34- Boom Goes the Belarusian

With time running short, Aryna Sabalenka finally made her way into the summertime winner's circle.



It won't be her last such experience in her career. Or, who knows, maybe even this summer.




*WEEK 34 CHAMPIONS*
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT USA (Premier/Hard Court)
S: Aryna Sabelenka/BLR def. Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP 6-1/6-4
D: Andrea Hlavackova/Barbora Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Hsieh Su-wei/Laura Siegemund (TPE/GER) 6-4/6-7(7) [10-4]
ASIAN GAMES (Palembang, Indonesia)
WS Gold: Wang Qiang/CHN def. Zhang Shuai/CHN 6-3/6-2
WS Bronze: Ankita Raina/IND, Liang En-shuo/TPE
WD Gold: Xu Yifan/Yang Zhauxuan (CHN) d. Angel Chan/Latisha Chan (TPE) 6-2/1-6 [11-9]
WD Bronze: Danilina/Ainitdinova (KAZ), Kato/Ninomiya (JPN)
MX Gold: Aldila Sutjiaci/Christopher Rungkat (INA) d. Luksika Kumkhum/Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 6-4/5-7 [10-7]
MX Bronze: Danilina/Nedovysesov (KAZ), Hayashi/Uesugi (JPN)




PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR
...if Sabalenka had left North America without her maiden tour title it simply would have been a shame. Thankfully, the 20-year old Belarusian took care of that detail in New Haven, recording two *more* Top 10 wins along the way. By the way, that's five such victories for her this summer, four on hard courts in recent weeks, with three of them coming in 7-5/7-6 3rd sets, and two after she came back from being down MP. Carrying over her Montreal (3rd Rd. - win over Wozniacki) and Cincinnati (SF - wins over Konta, Pliskova, Garcia and Keys) momentum, Sabalenka went about her continued attempts to corral her blistering, fearless and exciting (but sometimes rollercoaster-y) game. Needless to say, it went quite well. After opening with a victory over Sam Stosur, she knocked off defending champ Dasha Gavrilova (her second win over a DC in '18, the most on tour), LL Belinda Bencic, Julia Goerges (her one straight sets Top 10 win this summer) and Carla Suarez-Navarro in straights in her fourth career final (third this year). In all, after having to save MP in three wins over the last few weeks, Sabalenka dropped just one set (a 2nd set TB vs. Gavrilova) in New Haven, and then staved off a late spirited attempt by CSN to force a 3rd in the final. The youngest winner at Yale since Wozniacki in 2010, Sabalenka will slip into the Top 20 on Monday as she assumes the #26 seed slot at the U.S. Open.

[The seventh picture in Sabalenka's Instagram series here is the money shot...]



The fact is that Sabalenka might be too tired to carry over her steamrolling push toward New York and turn it into a deep slam run. But, of course, no one thought Sloane Stephens' upward summer trajectory could possibly result in a sudden major title grab at this time last year, either, did they? If she can avoid the first week three-setters (she leads the tour in those in '18), one could hardly say they'd be shocked if Sabalanka is still in the mix at the tail end end of the Open. Latvian Thunder got hot in Paris and never cooled down, laying down the blueprint for an immediate "major land capture" on The Most Interesting Tour. Belarusian Boom is more than capable of doing the same. Who knows, maybe she hasn't *yet* even reached her summertime peak.
===============================================
RISER: Wang Qiang/CHN
...Wang has proven to be one of the most improved players of 2018 (though you'd have a hard time telling it based on the lack of care her bio receives on the WTA site -- which doesn't even list her match results or ranking history). She reached her career high in January, posted her first career Top 10 win (Venus) at Roland Garros en route to the 3rd Round (career best slam), then won her maiden tour title in Nanchang last month. This past week, she got the chance to back up one of her better early results, a Gold medal run at the Asian Games in 2014. At this year's edition in Indonesia, Wang successfully defended her throne, dropping no sets en route to a second Gold. After taking out local favorite Aldila Sutjiadi in the QF, she knocked off junior Liang En-shuo and #1-seeded Zhang Shuai to complete the sweep.


===============================================
SURPRISES: Aldila Sutjiadi/INA and Ankita Raina/IND
...one wouldn't have rightfully expected 23-year old Kentucky Wildcat Sutjiadi to become a big story on the other side of the world this week, but that's just what happened. With Indonesia hosting this year's Asian Games, the Jakarta-born Sutjiadi was thrust into the spotlight as the local rooting favorite in the tennis competition. It'd been 16 years since the nation won a tennis medal in the event (held every four years) -- a team Gold in '02. A winner of her first pro singles challenger title in July, Sutjiadi put up a fight in singles by reaching the QF after a win over #5-seeded Miyu Kato, but it was in mixed doubles that she had a hand in ending her nation's tennis medal drought. Combining with Christopher Rungkat as the #11-seeded pair, they made a Gold medal winning run through the draw, three times knocking off higher seeded duos to get the win in front of the home crowd. A 3rd Round win over #8 Lertpitaksinchai/Sa.Ratiwatana (THA) was followed by a 10-6 3rd set TB win over #4 Raina/Bopanna (IND) in the QF. In the final, another deciding TB (10-7) finished off #5 Kumkhum/So.Ratiwatana (THA). And... name made. S-U-T-J-I-A-D-I.



Raina has seen a slew of career bests and firsts come her way in 2018, from her tour-level MD debut in July which followed her first slam qualifying appearance (RG) and maiden win (Wimbledon) to her initial Top 200 ranking and biggest career victory (over Yulia Putintseva in Fed Cup). In the Asian Games, the 25-year old was the only honored Indian in the tennis competition, taking her first career medal (a Bronze) after reaching the semis with wins over #9-seed Eri Hozumi and Eudice Chong before ultimately losing to top-seeded Zhang Shuai 6-4/7-6.



Sania Mirza won Silver (2006) and Bronze (2010) in singles in recent editions of the Asian Games, as well as Bronze in doubles (2014) and two Golds (2010/14), a Silver (2010) and a Bronze (2002) in mixed. She went right to social media to congratulate Raina on following in her footsteps.


===============================================
VETERANS: Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP and Julia Goerges/GER
...CSN had one of the strangest trips to a singles final in New Haven you're ever likely to see. After opening with a good win over Barbora Strycova, the 29-year old Spaniard received a walkover from Johanna Konta in the 2nd Round. In the QF, Petra Kvitova retired after just one set. In the SF, Monica Puig also retired -- after eight games. Still, it put Suarez-Navarro into her first tour final since she won her biggest career title in Doha in February '16 (def. Alona Ostapenko). Unfortunately for her, she faced off with a *very* in form Aryna Sabalenka. After getting blitzed early on, she settled into the match in the 2nd and very nearly pushed the Belarusian into a 3rd set, only to fall 6-1/6-4. After struggling to win her first career tour title (she lost her first five finals from 2009-13) despite consistently finding slam success (six QF with her '18 AO run, plus eight more Round of 16's), CSN finally won her first in 2014. #2 came in Doha two and a half years ago. This loss drops her career mark in WTA finals to 2-9.

Meanwhile, Goerges might be the most under-the-radar Top 10 player in Flushing Meadows this coming week. After retiring from her Cincinnati 1st Round match vs. Kristina Mladenovic a week earlier, there was a hint of concern for the German as she headed to New Haven just ahead of the Open. As it turned out, it was a false worry. She recovered quickly to post wins over Dominika Cibulkova, Dayana Yastremska and Ekaterina Makarova to record of fifth SF-or-better result of the season, and seventh since last year's U.S. Open, where she lost in three sets to eventual champ Sloane Stephens in the Round of 16. Goerges is 27-8 on hard courts dating back to the start of her great fall run to close out last season.
===============================================
COMEBACK: Monica Puig/PUR
...two summers ago in Rio, Puig put on a truly epic performance while claiming Puerto Rico's maiden Olympic Gold, defeating both Garbine Muguruza and Angie Kerber (in the final -- in 2016!). Since then, inconsistency and injury have led to a string of disappointments for the former world #27 (Sept.'16). In New Haven, she posted just her second Top 10 win since Rio with her QF victory over Caroline Garcia (the other came over Wozniacki in Miami in March) to reach her first semi since playing in the Luxembourg final last October. 1-5 in her last six going into the week, Puig qualified with wins over Monica Niculescu, Andrea Petkovic and Margarita Gasparyan, then followed those up with MD victories over Timea Bacsinszky, Anett Kontaveit and Garcia (coming back from 5-2 down in the 1st to take the set, then win in three). Unfortunately, she was forced to retire after just eight games in her SF match-up with Carla Suarez-Navarro. After finishing '16 at #32, Puig fell to #58 last year and was #72 heading into New Haven. She'll be at #55 in the new rankings.


===============================================
FRESH FACES: Dayana Yastremska/UKR and Anna Danilina/KAZ
...after twice failing to qualify for her first slam MD appearance this season (AO/WI), as well as coming up a win short in a $100K challenger final that would have earned her a SW19 wild card, former Wimbledon girls finalist (2016) Yastremska entered the week finally ranked high enough to be assured of a 1st Round spot in New York (she'll face qualifier Karolina Muchova, with the Muguruza/Zhang Shuai winner awaiting). So she was able to head to New Haven to get in a few additional matches before her Flushing Meadows debut. She made it through qualifying with wins over Bernarda Pera, Magda Linette and Belinda Bencic, then posted a MD victory over Danielle Collins (21-7 in N.A. HC in '18 coming in) before going three sets with Top 10er Julia Goerges. We'll soon see if her maiden slam experience will have been immediaely worth the wait.

«? ??? ?? ?? ????? ??????? ???????????? ????????».

A post shared by Dayana Yastremska (@dayana_yastremskay) on



At the Asian Games in Indonesia, Moscow-born Florida Gator Danilina, 23, picked up *two* Bronze medals for Kazakhstan. The #3 junior 2013, Danilina won up her biggest pro doubles title (w/ Berfu Cengiz) at a $80K challenger in Astana in July. Her AG runs this week were attained with Gozal Ainitdinova in WD, and Alexandr Nedovyesova in MX.


===============================================
DOWN: Karolina Pliskova/CZE
...another week, another "iffy" Pliskova result on summer hard courts. A former U.S. Open Series winner, Cincinnati champ and U.S. Open finalist (she was the #1 seed a year ago) in the last few years, the Czech performed well on hard courts in the early months of '18, going 14-6 and post a trio of QF finishes in Melbourne, Indian Wells and Miami, as well as a semi in Brisbane. Her summer in North America hasn't gone well. Her 1 & 3 loss in the 1st Round in New Haven dropped her to 2-3 since Wimbledon after going a combined 18-7 the last three years during the same stretch. Of course, it should be noted that two of those HC losses this summer came to Bertens and Sabalenka, so at least they're "quality" defeats. After jettisoning coach Tomas Krupa before play in Cincy, Pliskova notched a long-time-coming win over Aga in her first official match with new coach Rennae Stubbs, but has dropped two straight since. With Stubbs so busy during the Open, Conchita Martinez will fill in for the Aussie at Flushing Meadows. Hmm... fill-in Spanish coaches for slams (CM for Mugu, AMG for Alona) have worked out pretty well recently. No prediction, but I'm just sayin'.


===============================================
ITF PLAYERS: Wang Xiyu/CHN and Fernanda Brito/CHI
...17-year old Wang Xiyu's efforts on the pro level once again has produced a title, this time in a $25K in Tsukuba, Japan with a 3-6/7-5/7-5 victory over China's Zhang Kailin in the final. The #6-ranked junior reached her third straight challenger final, winning a second to go along with the $25K crown she grabbed in Nonthaburi, Thailand two weeks ago. Last week, the Wimbledon junior semifinalist lost to her doubles partner Wang Xinyu (#4 junior who teamed with her to win the SW19 GD last month) in another Nonthaburi final. Wang Xiyu will crack the pro Top 300 for the first in the new rankings.

Meanwhile, Brito continued her remarkable recent run of challenger success. In Lambare, Paraguay the 26-year old Chilean defeated Jazmin Ortenzi in three sets in the final to complete her third straight singles/doubles title sweep in recent weeks. She's won thirty straight singles matches on the ITF level, and reached a combined fourteen finals in her last seven events, going 11-3.
===============================================
JUNIOR STARS: Katie Volynets/USA and Liang En-shuo/TPE
...(non-British Katie) Volynets won the Prince George's County International Hard Court Championship (G1) in College Park, Maryland. The 16-year old girls #32, the #5 seed in the event, never faced a player seeded higher than #7 (Sada Nahimana of Burundi in the SF) en route to the title. She defeated #16 seed Hurricane Tyra Black 4-6/6-3/6-4 in the final, adding this title to the B1 Easter Bowl championship she won in March while defeating the likes of Caty McNally and Alexa Noel. Volynets reached the girls QF at the U.S. Open a year ago, falling to Coco Gauff.



At the Asian Games, Liang was at it again. In January, the 17-year old became the first junior slam champ from Taiwan when she won the Australian Open girls title, and swept through the doubles competition with Wang Xinyu, as well. Since then, she's won her maiden ITF title (Incheon), made her tour-level debut in Nanchang (qualifying and reaching the QF) and climbed into the Top 300. This past week, she made her Asian Games debut as the #11 seed and picked up a Bronze medel by reaching the singles semis with wins over #7-seed Karman Thandi and #13 Zhang Ling. She lost to eventual Gold medalist Wang Qiang.
===============================================
DOUBLES: Andrea S.-Hlavackova/Barbora Strycova (CZE/CZE) and Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan (CHN/CHN)
...for two tennis players born in Plzen, Czechoslovakia just four and a half months apart in 1986, one might have expected Hlavackova and Strycova to have partnered up in doubles quite often over the years. Fact is, though, before they finally teamed up in Miami in March their experience as a WD duo was limited one 2014 Fed Cup match and a $100K challenger in 2008. As the season has gone on, though, the partnership has produced some very good results. After reaching a QF (Cincy), two SF (Madrid & RG) and a final (RG), they finally won their first title together this week in New Haven, surviving a pair of 3rd set TB (12-10 vs. Rosolska/Spears in the SF, then 10-4 in the final vs. Hsieh/Siegemund) to claim the win and improve their record together to 16-9 in '18. It's Hlavackova's 26th career WTA title, and Strycova's 22nd. Strycova won in Indian Wells earlier this year in a first-time partnership with fellow New Haven finalist Hsieh Su-wei.

First Wta Titel for Plzen girls!?? #fight #emotions #victory

A post shared by Barbora Strycova?? (@barborastrycova) on



At the Asian Games, Xu & Yang were awarded the Gold medal in the women's doubles, the first AG honor in the games for either woman. The #2 seeds, they won a 10-7 3rd set TB over Lertpitaksinchai/Plipuech in the QF, took out #3 seeds Kato/Ninomiya in the semis and then handled the top-seeded Chan sisters in an 11-9 3rd set TB to take the Gold Medal Match, saving two MP. Xu is the regular tour doubles partner of Gaby Dabrowksi (winning in Sydney and Eastbourne in '18), while Yang won the Dubai title in February with AG Silver medalist Angel Chan.


===============================================
WHEELCHAIR: Sabine Ellerbrock/GER
...42-year old WC #4 Ellerbrock claimed the singles crown at the Birmingham Canadian Wheelchair Classic in Mississauga, Ontario, her second consecutive title run after winning the Belgian Open last month. The #1 seed, the German knocked out #4 Dana Mathewson in the semis, then defeated unseeded Manami Tanaka (at #13, Japan's second ranked player behind Yui Kamiji), who was seeking her biggest career title. A year ago, Ellerbrock defeated Tanaka in the semis, only to fall to Kamiji in the final.
===============================================


Exactly... but you can rest assured that the tour would never actually take this angle on a marketing campaign, no matter how obviously perfect it is.




1. New Haven Final - Aryna Sabalenka def. Carla Suarez-Navarro
...6-1/6-4. Sabalenka is the seventh maiden champ on tour in 2018, and the fourth to be crowned since Wimbledon (after Danilovic, Wang Qiang and Buzarnescu).


===============================================
2. Asian Games Gold Medal Match - Wang Qiang def. Zhang Shuai
...6-3/6-2. Defending AG Gold medalist Wang wins the latest all-Chinese final in an event of note. In April, Zheng Saisai defeated Wang Yafan in the WTA 125 event in Zhengzhou, then lost to Wang Qiang in the tour-level Nanchang final last month.
===============================================
3. New Haven 2nd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka def. Dasha Gavrilova
...6-3/6-7(6)/7-5. The defending champ at Yale, Gavrilova falls to #32 after losing her champion's points. Sabalenka's previous '18 win over a DC was vs. Karolina Pliskova in Eastbourne.
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4. New Haven 1st Rd. - Aliaksanda Sasnovich def. Kristina Mladenovic
...7-6(6)/6-7(3)/6-2. Sasnovich didn't end the week like her BLR Fed Cup teammate did, but she started it pretty well. In a nearly three-hour affair, she climbed out of a 2-0, 40/love 3rd set hole, saving six BP in the game and going on to sweep the final six games of the match. She won 22 of the last 26 points as Mladenovic was bothered by an injured thigh. If Kiki had won, she'd have faced off with fellow Pastry Caroline Garcia in the 2nd Round in their first meeting since Mladenovic's social media and public attacks on Caro follow the whole Fed Cup dust-up early last year. They *could* meet in the 3rd Round of the U.S. Open, though.
===============================================
5. New Haven 1st Rd. - Monica Puig def. Timea Bacsinszky
...7-5/6-1. You can't take the Swiss star off the court forever, but Nasty Tennis Twitter Trolls are eternal. Apparently.


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HM- Asian Games 2nd Rd. - Eudice Chong def. Luksika Kumkhum
...4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(1). The four-time NCAA D-3 singles national champion notches a big win over '14 AG Silver medalist Kumkhum. Kumkhum went on to reach the MX final, taking home another Silver. The '14 Gold medalist in WD (w/ Tanasugarn), Kumkhum didn't participate in that event at these AG. Despite a history of early-round slam upsets, Kumkhum has decided to skip the U.S. Open. Not that she'll long for the experience -- she's never played a MD match there, the only slam missing from her resume, and lost in qualifying four straight years from 2013-16, winning just one match.
===============================================


G-O-L-D.



Ummm... not G-O-L-D? Brave, though.




1. Asian Games Gold Medal Match - Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan def. ANGEL CHAN/LATISHA CHAN
...6-2/1-6 [11-9]. The Chans held a MP here, but failed to secure their first AG Gold as a WD pair, instead picking up the Silver to add to their the Bronze in women's doubles in '14. They shared the Gold experience via Taiwan's Team competition win four years ago, as well. In all, Latisha has eight AG medals: 4 Golds ('06 Team/'10 WD/'10 MX/'14 Team), 3 Silvers ('06 WD/'10 Team/'18 WD) and 1 Bronze ('14 WD). Angel has the three she won along with Latisha ('14 Team Gold/'18 WD Silver/'14 WD Bronze).
===============================================
2. $15K Budapest HUN Final - GABRIELA PANTUCKOVA def. MAGDALENA PANTUCKOVA
...6-3/3-0 ret. At the expense of her 19-year old sister, 23-year old Gabriela takes her fourth '18 challenger title. All have come since mid-June, including another victory over Magdalena in what was her first title run this season. In all, Magdalena leads their head-to-head 3-2, but Gabriela has claimed two of their three final match-ups.


#4thfinalthisyear?? Biggest thanks to my mummy??LOVE YOU!

A post shared by Magdaléna Pantucková (@magdalenapantuckova) on


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3. New Haven QF - KAROLINA PLISKOVA/KRYSTINA PLISKOVA def. NADIIA KICHENOK/ANASTASIA RODIONOVA
...6-4/5-7 [10-5]. That's a *LOT* of tennis sisters on one court.
===============================================


Want to see Suzanne Lenglen turn over in her grave?


Well...




Hmmm, so Bernard Giudicelli is a tyrannical, attention-hungry, sexist (possibly racist, but I think people might be reaching for that in this case) dick. Color me shocked.

(And, by the way, the people -- and there were quite a few, some of them very well known, too -- who posted photos of Anne White wearing a bodysuit at Wimbledon in 1985 as some sort of proof that this was a race-based decision. It *may* have been, but, well, since *that* time the outfit was immediately deemed "scandalous" and banned by the prudish AELTC it sort of rules it out as evidence for use in this case, I'd think.)

Truthfully, it's Giudicelli's timing that's truly fishy. In the wake of an unpopular (especially with many French players) Davis Cup decision and his role in it, this move by the FFT sure did manage to distract from his previous public relations problems, didn't it? Hmmm, so a loud, bullying tyrant used words that were taken as sexist/racist/or one of many other "ist/ic" words by many managed to distract enough people, and pit some against each other, to change a subject of discussion that wasn't to his advantage in the days leading up to a grand slam? I believe I've said before that Giudicelli has many of the same qualities as a certain orange-skinned politician. His actions this week seem ripped from a very familiar playbook.

In the end, it goes without saying... (though it never hurts to actually say it):













@wta ?????? #WTAnimoji

A post shared by Jelena Ostapenko (@jelena.ostapenko) on







































*2018 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS*
Indian Wells: Naomi Osaka, JPN (20/#44) - d. Kasatkina
Rosmalen: Aleksandra Krunic, SRB (25/#55) - d. Flipkens
Mallorca: Tatjana Maria, GER (30/#79) - d. Sevastova
Moscow MO: Olga Danilovic, SRB (17/#187)- d. Potapova
Nanchang: Wang Qiang, CHN (26/#78) - d. Sai.Zheng
San Jose: Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU (30/#24) - d. Sakkari
New Haven: ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (20/#25) - d. Suarez-N.

*2018 WTA FINALS*
6 - Simona Halep, ROU (3-3)
5 - Petra Kvitova, CZE (5-0)
3 - Elina Svitolina, UKR (3-0)
3 - Elise Mertens, BEL (3-0)
3 - Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (2-1)
3 - Kiki Bertens, NED (2-1)
3 - Sloane Stephens, USA (1-2)
3 - Mihaela Buzarnescu, ROU (1-2)
3 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (1-2)

*2018 YOUNGEST WTA FINALISTS*
17 - Anastasia Potapova, RUS (Moscow MO-L) - 17,4m
17 - Olga Danilovic, SRB (Moscow MO-W) - 17,6m,1w
19 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Lugano-L) - 19,11m,1w
20 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR (Eastbourne-L) - 20,1m,3w
20 - ARYNA SABALENKA, BLR (NEW HAVEN-W) - 20,3m,2w
20 - Naomi Osaka, JPN (IW-W) - 20,5m
20 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (Dubai-L) - 20,9m,2w
20 - Alona Ostapenko, LAT (Miami-L) - 20,9m,3w
20 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS (IW-L) - 20,10m,1w

*ASIAN GAMES SINGLES MEDALISTS since 1994*
[GOLD]
1994 Kimiko Date/JPN
1998 Yayuk Basuki/JPN
2002 Iroda Tulyaganova/UZB
2006 Zheng Jie/CHN
2010 Peng Shuai/CHN
2014 Wang Qiang/CHN
2018 Wang Qiang/CHN
[SILVER]
1994 Naoko Sawamatsu/JPN
1998 Tamarine Tanasugarn/THA
2002 Tamarine Tanasugarn/THA
2006 Sania Mirza/IND
2010 Akgul Amanmuradova/UZB
2014 Luksika Kumkhum/THA
2018 Zhang Shuai/CHN
[BRONZE]
1994 Yayuk Basuki/INA and Chen Li/CHN
1998 Li Fang/CHN and Yi Jingqian/CHN
2002 Shinobu Asagoe/JPN and Choo Yoon-Jeon/KOR
2006 Li Na/CHN and Aiko Nakamura/JPN
2010 Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN and Sania Mirza/IND
2014 Misa Eguchi/JPN and Eri Hozumi/JPN
2018 Ankia Raina/IND, Liang En-shuo/TPE



Hmmm, I GUESS this is a good thing? Or maybe not.



Yes, yes and... maybe a little longer wait, honestly.



I think Esther Vergeer is eligible, so she'd *better* be picked as quickly as possible. I mean, what *more* could she do?






And, finally (because I would be angry with myself if I didn't take a step back from tennis for a moment)...




Fact is, I *have* had problems with John McCain over the years, but he's one of few politicians who could legitimately be called a "hero" in the current age of corruption, hypocrisy and, now, outright cruelty on the political stage. He wasn't perfect, but never purported to be, and had no problem pointing it out, unlike many below, on equal standing with, and above him on the political ladder in the U.S. during his time in the public eye. I only wish the "maverick" McCain of 2000 (whose Straight Talk Express campaign was essentially run off a cliff by dirty politics by those supporting George W. Bush in the South Carolina primary) had been able to fully thrive on a national political scene. As a Democrat, but with many Independent leanings and a few conservative ones thrown in on occasion that have never put me at any particular place on the political ideological spectrum, *that* McCain was a great mix.

You're never going to agree with any politician on everything, and if you do then there's definitely something hinky going on. Really, you should be able to have faith that, in the end, there will be a recognition (and willingness to act upon it) that doing "the right thing" for the sake of the country and those in it will win out. It may be a journey for them to get there, but some politicians are too flawed to *ever* find their way. With McCain, that was never the case.

McCain wasn't one to see things without shading, or with a proclivity to join the likes of so many we see now who rush to one side of the national argument, disassociate themselves from those who went the other way, then demonize and attack them for political gain or their own jollies in order to make up for whatever personal foibles or fears they possess, in a desperate attempt to stand as whatever they might consider "proud."

I've always voted Democratic in presidential politics, but if McCain had been the GOP nominee in '00 it would have been a very tough vote on this end. His GOP primary campaign excited me that year, probably more than any other in my voting lifetime. While *every* issue didn't line up, it was clear he didn't walk in lockstep with the forces ruining the political landscape, and possessed an honor worthy of the confidence that he did know that the fate of the country was ultimately more important that which side won, by how much, and whether someone was getting credit for it.

By the time he *was* a presidential nominee eight years later, he'd had to sell (at least temporarily) his political soul in order to be accepted by his party, and his choice of an unprepared and know-nothing-movement-inspiring VEEP (which wouldn't have happened if left to his own devices) will likely go down as the worst ticket decision ever by a major party nominee. By that point, he was no longer the national candidate he'd been eight years earlier. But even then, he maintained his humanity in the face of it all, and once the campaign was over he went back to being a force who could rankle both sides of the political aisle, but also work with them for the betterment of all.



With the political and social landscape on which the U.S. now resides, with the Oval Office occupied by a personality with the fragile ego of a grade schooler, autocratic desires and a megalomaniacal core, whose actions are never about country, law, or peace, and instead are *only* for the benefit and praise of himself, and for whom personal loyalty and a willingness to shield himself from punishment rule the day, we need all the institutional checks possible, as well as individuals with enough backbone to stand up against a bullying force who has operated in full view for decades while wallowing in the base belief that his own selfish goals are the only ones that mattered.

McCain was a rare voice of reason and truthfulness in the debate. Often, the only one in a party whose so-called leadership group is now overflowing with sniveling cowards who, for self-preservation and ideological gain, turn a blind eye to the flaunted lawlessness of an individual who wields bluster and cruelty as weapons against anyone who dare point out the vast collection of unsightly insecurities and prejudices that he wishes to conceal.

Even in his final weeks, McCain stood stronger against such a force than any of his surviving colleagues. Whose voice will replace his? *Will* it be replaced? If so, it's difficult to imagine the individual with enough stature for it to make a difference, let alone the willingness to stand for nation over party or, really, self.




At least McCain will be spared what may be to come, and the depths to which his country can still sink until, finally, a sufficient number of people say "enough."



And on that note... let's start the U.S. Open. :)


All for now.
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