Marathon Man Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka earned himself the epithet of Marathon Man over many long fought five set matches in Grand Slams. But he has been running a marathon for years; being Swiss, he has been ranked number 2 in Switzerland for many years behind Roger Federer. Unlike others I could name, he never complained about playing in an era of outstanding tennis players.

Stanislas Wawrinka

Many a great tennis nation would love to call Stanislas Wawrinka as their number one tennis player. Currently ranked at 10 in the ATP ranking, he is (still) behind Roger Federer at 7. That a tennis dwarf nation like Switzerland is able to have two men in the top ten ranking is an outstanding achievement. And it is testament more to a dogged work ethic of the Swiss number 2 than to the outstanding brilliance of Roger Federer.

Stanislas Wawrinka is an outstanding sportsman. Widely ignored by tennis commentators and even by the press in his homeland Switzerland, he never begrudged Roger Federer his place in tennis history or complained about how difficult it made things for him. Contrariwise, he always held up Roger Federer as the idol and driving force of Swiss tennis.

Davis Cup for a country like Switzerland is a no win situation. As a small nation, it is almost impossible to find enough players to fill a team with the aim to win it. Stanislas Wawrinka never hesitated to play in the thankless tasks set him in that contest, and usually he was the number one in the team. On the rare occasions where Roger Federer made an appearance, he handed over to him without hesitation and without complaint. Sportsman like, he put the aim of the team above his ego.

This year, he had probably his best season ever so far. Reaching the quarter finals in the US open is no mean feat; now he has to face Andy Murray to take it one step further. The present form of Stanislas Wawrinka is the bad news for Andy Murray, as is his own form that has not yet reached the peak. And the Scot isn't really comfortable with the game of the Swiss at any time. We might be able to see a titanic match tonight; and few would grudge Stanislas Wawrinka an upset over Andy Murray.

Further reading
Giving up: The Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis: Mr Darcis Says Nada

Carl Hirschmann’s Home Theatre

Carl Hirschmann’s name is normally banded about in the gossip and crime columns, but this time he managed to get into the cultural pages. A press conference hosted by him and the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich was aimed at promoting a new play to be put up by the theatre.

Carl Hirschmann party boy

A press conference hosted by Carl Hirschmann guarantees the attendance of a bevy of journalists mainly from the gossip department. They were sorely disappointed this time, as there wasn’t a shred of scandal about the announcement to be made.

Carl Hirschmann opened the press conference with a short statement, and then left immediately sparking an exodus of gossips. Theater Neumarkt’s co-director Barbara Weber quipped ‘and now they’re all leaving’ to the laughter of the remaining real journalists.

The opening statement had covered the main fact that the former Club Saint Germain in Zurich would be hosting the Theater Neumarkt for several months up to the end of this year. Carl Hirschmann had closed his VIP night club venue following the death of his father end of last year while his rent contract will keep on running to 2014.

Now the club will host the play A.N.D.Y., a production put up by Theater Neumarkt based on Andy Warhol’s 1975 book Andy Warhol’s Philosophy: From A To B & Back Again. As Andy Warhol and his set were regulars at one of history’s most decadent disco venues called Club 54 in New York, putting the play into the rooms of the equally decadent Club Saint Germain gives it a certain authenticity.

Also in the Club Saint Germain, Theater Neumarkt will put up the play Vestire Gli Nudi (Clothing The Naked) by Luigi Pirandello. The play tells the story of love, treason, attempted suicide and the involvement of the gossip press in it all. The stories of the protagonists and the press crisscross and contradict each other exposing them all as liars to the point where the real story is never told. In view of Carl Hirschmann’s past, the play gets some additional validation from the venue as well.

Theater Neumarkt’s co-director Rafael Sanchez said that the theatre had been looking for a suitable venue for several months prior to contacting Carl Hirschmann when he announced to close down Club Saint Germain. He had been intrigued by the idea and when the matter of money was broached, he declared to Sanchez that they would not be able to afford the rent of the first class venue at Zurich's prime address at Bahnhofstrasse 66. Theater Neumarkt will receive the use of the rooms rent free.

While Carl Hirschmann had been running Club Saint Germain, he had lived in the Grand Hotel Dolder in Zurich; he had been evicted from there after his arrest, but is now back in residence. During that time, the club was more his home than the hotel, giving home theatre a completely new meaning.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Poor Rich Boy: Carl Hirschmann
Zurich is More Than Banks

How Not to Win a Grand Slam

Andy Murray is following in Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s footsteps. He just broke the first long standing tennis record. He is the first player to have lost his first three appearances in a grand slam final without winning a single set. That is not the kind of record to inspire confidence in his ability to win one.

Andy Murray, tennis boy

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have made it part of the game to break records so regularly, chance is if you blinked you missed it. Now Andy Murray has finally set his first all-time record, and it’s not one to be proud of. To have reached three grand slam finals normally would be no mean feat, considering that there are usually two reserved tickets for Roger and Rafael. But to lose all three of them without ever winning a set is not the way to do it.

Watching Andy Murray in the Australian Open final was memorable. If ever young players have to be instructed in how not to win a grand slam, these pictures will serve perfectly well for them. Andy’s performance was deplorable, and so was his body language. Even walking out on court, defeat was already written all over him. It seemed that he knew that Novak Djokovic in his present form would walk all over him.

British media have been writing Andy’s tennis abilities up for two years now. They are doing him disfavour on two counts: His tennis is not as good as they portray it; while it is adequate to be secure in the top ten, he lacks the last edge to take him to the very top. Add to this the constant pressure the pile on him to win a grand slam (after 115,000 years in Roger Federer’s reckoning), and you’ll see that they’ll manage yet to make another Tim Henman of him.

While the media write Andy Murray’s tennis up, they write that of other players down as if they could replicate damaged British society as advocated through schools. I don’t know how far Andy has been damaged by the British educational system which is in shambles. Instead of asking the most of pupils and make them excel, the system has been constantly downgraded to let even the laziest pupil have a positive grade. Let’s hope that Andy knows that the rest of the world will not lower their tennis standard to do him a favour.

Roger Federer once said that talent can be learned, all it takes is a lot of work; with Rafael Nadal, you see that he is working his body to breaking point (and beyond); and now Novak Djokovic has put off his baby nappies and accepts the lessons to be learned from the two top workers in the business. Andy Murray on the other hand wants to take a few days off after having done nothing in the final to win it. He should rather spend more time on the training court, one would think.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have pushed each other to unprecedented heights in tennis; and Novak Djokovic seems to gear up to join the club of excellence. All three players share something in common: Roger was allowed to develop in a small country (a tennis dwarf called Switzerland) to burst on the scene fully confident of what he might be able to do; Rafa hid behind the Swiss (and still likes to do that) to keep out of the wind; and Nole is again the product of a tennis dwarf (Serbia).

Will Andy be able to overcome the handicap of coming from a nation with an exalted notion of its tennis abilities? Will he be able to overcome the constant carping for a grand slam win? Right now, this is highly dubious.

Further reading
Giving Up: Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis With Gay Appeal in London

10 Best Earning Corpses

They are dead and earn millions every year. Celebrities from the recent and not so recent past are still generating huge income. Meet the ten corpses who earn more in a year than you will in a lifetime. Some of their names you will easily recognize, some of them maybe not.

Heath Ledger cover

He was one of the all-time greats of Hollywood and gave a new face to the Western genre: Steve McQueen. His cool demeanour was his label and made him an idol for young actors and fans worldwide. His first film appearance was in Somebody Up There Likes Me in 1956. His fame was made with The Magnificent Seven. One of his most famous movies was Getaway where he starred besides Ali McGraw. His yearly average income these days is estimated at $6 million.

Her name stands for the word sexy: Marilyn Monroe. Her first film appearance was in Dangerous Years in 1947. Her fame was made with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. One of her most famous movies was Some Like It Hot. Privately she was unhappy and lover to a President and his brother. As a singer she was just plain awful. Her yearly income these days is estimated at $6.5 million.

His name is synonymous for pop art: Andy Warhol. His colourful screen prints of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, or Audrey Hepburn are known to everybody. Actually he was very talented as painter, photographer, and videographer, but these expressions of his art are widely ignored. He is estimated to earn $9 million a year.

His name is a legend in itself: John Lennon. He is one of the members of the unforgettable Beatles, husband to the aristocratic and eccentric Yoko Ono, a fighter for peace. After the split of the Beatles, he became successful as a singer and songwriter in his own right. Just imagine he is still earning $9 million every year.

His most famous figure is the Grinch: Dr. Seuss. His children’s book The Cat in The Hat is still a favourite in the United States. His many books and comics are still selling. Estimated income from his writing and drawing is at $12 million a year.

One of the most famous producers ever was Aaron Spelling. His series are cult. Whatever he took a hand to was made to money. Starsky and Hutch was a big hit even in German, after all the fun had been translated out of it. And of Charlie's Angels we must face further spinoffs, I think. His income a year is estimated at $12 million.

His name is used instead of the word genius: Albert Einstein. His physical theories changed the way we look at the world today. He was not only one of the most brilliant scientists of all time, but also one of the best earning ones as well. Put in relation to the income of the top earner of this list, it’s relatively small, but his income these days is $18 million a year.

Brokeback Mountain put his name on the map: Heath Ledger. Coming to the screen in some rather quirky films, he made it big with Brokeback Mountain. He was nominated for an Oscar for the role of a gay cowboy in that movie. His last role as Joker in Batman – The Dark Knight made a legend of him. His income this year is estimated at $20 million.

Peanuts are money, too: Charles M. Schulz. His Peanuts conquered the world and have enriched children for it. They also generate a yearly income of $33 million.

The King: Elvis. Even though he lives, he tops this list with ease. Even his awful films are still being shown. His acting potential was on a par with Marilyn Monroe’s voice power. His estimated income is at $52 million a year.

Further reading
Daniel Radcliffe
Justin Bieber
Zac Efron

Roger Federer's Interview on Swiss Television

A summary compiled on the interview given by Roger Federer on Swiss Television on October 19, 2008. Roger Federer comments on the season, on press, on marriage, on Stanislas Wawrinka, and his plans for the Davis Cup.

Roger Federer tennis

This is neither a transcript nor a direct translation from Roger Federer’s native language Alemannic (often referred to as Swiss German) to English as that would be too complicated to accomplish. It is rather a summary of what Roger Federer said in the interview given on October 19, 2008, on Swiss Television.

Roger Federer commented on the season 2008 so far: That the beginning of the current season had been very difficult for him, as he didn’t know at the time he played the Australian Open that he was actually seriously ill. He had only noticed a heaviness of mind and slowness on the court which he couldn’t really explain to himself. He stated that in general terms he had been quite satisfied with the season so far considering the circumstances. What was very stressful to the former number one tennis player was that he had to reshuffle his training sessions to get back to form after the illness. The combination of this reshuffling with more tournaments to play including the Olympics was taking its toll on him.

As opposed to the last three years, it meant he had to intersperse hard training sessions between the tournaments instead of having a few days off. This in turn caused him to arrive at tournaments not at the peak of his abilities, as opposed to the two previous years, when he usually was in perfect timing to get his best tennis onto the court at the tournaments.

He said he still had been far behind with his training in Paris when he lost Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal. Therefore it had not surprised him that he had lost that final nor actually the result of it. To win against Rafael Nadal one can’t play 90% and expect to win anything.

As to Wimbledon, it had been very hard on him to lose that title to Rafael Nadal, but on the other hand he himself had certainly played the best match of his life. He rather suspected that Rafael Nadal had done that, too. He declined to comment on the press hype about the best match ever played.

He also commented on the press coverage on himself during this year. He stated that he had been a bit hurt when after losing to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open he had already been written off by the papers or at least into crisis. It had surprised him even more that they had been so negative after Wimbledon and that this was not quite in keeping with the hype about the match. He was especially negative about ‘certain commentators who had played no mean tennis themselves and talked like this was the end, when they should know better, having had their problems in their time as well’.

For him the Olympics Gold medal together with Stanislas Wawrinka had been for him a turning point in a season he had been satisfying but not a highlight. After that he knew that he was going to be back in form again for the American Open. The Olympics medal in tennis double had been very special for playing in team and had been psychologically very satisfying. It also boded well for the future concerning the Davis Cup. He wanted to have it clearly stated that he had not said that Switzerland would win the Davis Coup, but that he was considering a serious attempt in that direction if Stanislas Wawrinka was willing.

Queried on his being seen in a jewellers’ shop in Dubai, he laughed. Plans for marriage are not ripe. But it didn’t surprise him at all that he had been seen there as it was one of the best known addresses for Europeans to shop. Queried again on how it felt to be permanently in the public eye, he said that it was not too bad for them (meaning himself and his life partner former tennis player Mirka Vavrinec). In Switzerland in general the press is very respectful towards his private life. People in Switzerland are very reticent and do him the favour of ignoring him when meeting him on the road somewhere.

Commenting on the Swiss Indoors tournament commencing in Basel this week, he said he was definitely playing and willing to win. He also thinks that his fitness and preparation is sufficient to win it discounting any negative influence of having lost against Andy Murray. He said that he tournament in Basel was certainly the most difficult for him not to play it being his hometown. As an added plus he added that he enjoyed it immensely to be home again and to meet with family and friends while here.

One of his major joys, he said, was organising the Pizza dinner at the end of the tournament with the ball boys and girls, as he himself had first done that at the age of 13. He remembered being extremely nervous at that time to come so near to tennis greats like Boris Becker. His next highlight had been playing in the Qualifying round a few years later. As Wimbledon Junior Champion he had received a wild card the following year and received a lesson from André Agassi, but it was just great, he said.

He finally commented on the placement of Stanislas Wawrinka and that he was very happy for him. He hoped to meet him in the final of Basel, this being necessary for Stanislas Wawrinka to be able to take part in Shanghai’s Masters Tournament.

My text is neither complete nor word perfect. Any faults in understanding or translation are mine.

Further reading
Djokovic Plays Top to Nadal Bottom
Bernard Tomic in Roger Federer Jubilee Match
Tennis With Gay Appeal in London