Rackets, Rivals -- and Regrets

I texted my friend Greg to see if he could fly in for the premiere of "Chris & Martina: The Final Set" at the Tribeca Film Festival next month but sadly he's got other plans. I later told him I was re-reading the book about their famous rivalry -- Greg and I first met when we had to play against each other in a club tournament in 1980! -- and mentioned how I don't remember any of the "new" details I had first learned in 2005. (Does anyone else seem to forget most of what they read? He -- and Damian -- ended up concurring, so I felt a little better.)

After finishing, I moved on to the imported Steffi Graf book my brother Bill had gotten me for Christmas some 30 years ago, which I feel like I had only skimmed at the time. 

Nothing monumental, other than finally confirming to me that her gross father had not, in fact, fathered a child out of wedlock plus the grim realization that in addition to sexy race-car driver Michael Bartels (above), Fräulein Forehand had also dated dreamy German tennis pro Alexander Mronz, who reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 1995. 

Andre Agassi is clearly Steffi's Aristotle Onassis, because how else do you explain trading in either of the other guys?

Side note: If Steffi had wound up with Mronz, her brother-in-law would have been sports and events manager Michael Mronz, seen above on the left with his longtime partner, Guido Westerwelle, who served as foreign minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and as Germany’s vice-chancellor from 2009 to 2011, becoming the first openly gay person to hold either post. Westerwelle attended Merkel’s 50th birthday party in 2004 with Mronz, marking the first time he attended an official event with his partner. (Sadly, he died in 2014 after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.) 

My Roland Garros program from my 1987 trip to the event can be seen above

This prompted Greg to send me a photo of his tennis book collection, below, and me to send mine in reply. Although we both have a number of good ones -- note the two YA Tracy Austin books I may have pilfered from the Rhodes Junior High School library and the WTA media guides that changed my young life -- it got me a little blue remembering that I had been offered Bill's sizeable tennis library after he died in 2017 but I wasn't thinking straight -- and lived in a much smaller third-floor walkup -- so demurred. How I wish I could go back.

On Greg's shelf I spy an Evonne Goolagong book I would love to check out, as well as John McEnroe's "You Cannot Be Serious," which is on my list as I want to hear his side of things after reading what Tatum O'Neal had to say about him in "A Paper Life." 

Please tell me which tennis books I should be adding to my collection in the comments!

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Jannik Sinner and Marta Kostyuk cleaned up in Madrid. Full report plus all the ATP beef -- including Tommy Paul's hot friend's ass -- that's fit to post BELOW.

Kenneth From the (313)

 

Just a periodic reminder that I'm active (for my age) on Instagram, Threads and Facebook. 

P.S. Was anyone at the 25th anniversary celebration of Unitard last night at Joe's Pub? Congrats to Nora Burns, Mike Albo and David Ilku!

Remains of the Day (05/01)

Socialite Life: Benito Skinner shares "Overcompensating" Season 2 filming news -- with a shirtless pic to prove it

Interview: Alexis Stone brought Joan Rivers back from the dead for one night only

The Caftan Chronicles: Porn star Hawk McAllister's journey back from self-destruction began with a teddy bear

PinkNews: I find it very hard to believe that Helena Bonham Carter and Sandra Bernhard wouldn't clash 

Saturday 'Stache: You know he smells good ... 

Town & Country: A look inside the late Lee Radziwill's Upper East Side apartment (ICYMI)

Advocate: Colorado takes new shot to curb harmful conversion therapy abuse

MetroWeekly: Everyone knows the Second Amendment is sacrosanct ... unless you're trans?

Gr8er Days: Eve Plumb auditioned for "The Exorcist"! 

Speedo Sunday: Male pageant contestant’s viral swimsuit walk sparks body image debate

Psychology Today: I love that "Why Mary Richards's second apartment always bugged me" actually made it into print (ICYMI) … In fairness, I think we all were devastated by her move! 

Out: NYC Pride picks Bernie Wagenblast, voice of the subways, as a grand marshal

Greg in Hollywood: Perry King definitely didn't help me not be gay

GLAAD: Must-see LGBTQ TV premieres and returns for May

Out: Adult models Joey Mills and Drake Von star in sexy new reality show "Ultimate Boys Trip"

Hot Cat of the Day: His life "literally revolves around 9 lbs of raw chicken."

Book Tour: Join music journalist Barry Walters for the launch of his new book, "Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000," at Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby St, NYC, on May 6 at 7 p.m. (and elsewhere)

Murder, He Wrote: Gay "SNL" writer Jimmy Fowlie says the police told him his missing sister was the victim of homicide -- but the LAPD disputes the claim

Notes From My Nightstand

I'm still plugging away at "Helter Skelter" -- and have "In Cold Blood" waiting in the queue -- but here's what I've been reading lately:

"A Paper Life" by Tatum O'Neal: A fascinating memoir for a Gen Xer like me, who grew up on a diet of "The Bad News Bears" and "Little Darlings." Her childhood was even more harrowing than I knew -- and I wish I could say I was surprised to learn that John McEnroe is an awful lot like (fellow narcissist) Ryan O'Neal, or at least was back in the day. This book would have been a lot easier to swallow if I didn't already know the tragic post-publication "ending," where our flawed protagonist winds up overdosing and nearly dying in 2020, lucky to be alive as a shell of the person she once was.

"The Harder I Fight the More I Love You" by Neko Case: A childhood that rivals Jeannette Walls's goes a long way to explain why the gifted musician is the way she is -- yikes. Warning: she literally mentioned the New Pornographers once in passing(!).

"Then Again" by Diane Keaton: Not at all what I was expecting, which probably makes perfect sense coming from this idiosyncratic woman. Wish it hadn't been a "dual" memoir shared with her late mother -- start it and you'll see what I mean -- but now that Diane is someone's late mother, it did make for a haunting read.

"What Falls Away" by Mia Farrow: I think it's safe to say that NO ONE will ever live the life she did -- are we sure she wasn't the inspiration for "Zelig"?! -- and while I still maintain that she's a bit nutty, I would like to go on record saying that I have long let Woody Allen off the hook more than he deserved as he seems like a truly awful person whether he's a child molester or not. To her credit, she questions what it says ABOUT HER that she stayed with him after so many red flags, many of which I was not aware of. 

"My Mother's Keeper" by BD Hyman: I've had this "Bette Davis tell-all" for decades since hearing about the infamous Stouffer's macaroni and cheese incident but finally got around to finishing it. While it's certainly no "Mommie Dearest," it frequently provided LOL moments due to the acting legend's complete inability to act like a normal person around her family or anyone else!

"In Her Sister's Shadow: An Intimate Biography of Lee Radziwill" by Diana Dubois: I've been on a Princess Lee kick -- does everyone know about turn as Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story," her disastrous made-for-TV remake of "Laura" (opposite Farley Granger) and her attempt to be a talk-show host ... and why isn’t it all on YouTube? -- and am hoping there's a sequel that covers the balance of her life after this book's publication in 1995.

Tell me what you're reading in the comments!

On the Rag, Vol. 905

This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Kieron Moore, Vladimir La O Moran, Chico's Angels, Sam Morgan, Jacob Elordi, Charlie Puth and more BELOW.