Roger Kaplan, a Washington-based writer, covers the Middle East and Africa (and tennis) for The American Spectator.
It was perfectly stupid of French President Emmanuel Macron to say nice things about Marshall Philippe Pétain as commemorative ceremonies were getting under way to mark Armistice Day. General Pétain, as he then was, commanded French forces during the year-long battle of Verdun in 1916, World War I. About a million men died, with neither […]
In early 1971, General Creighton Abrams, the head of MACV (U.S. military command in South Vietnam), ordered the interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the network of roads and warehouses that ran through Laos and Cambodia practically to within an artillery shot of Saigon. The trail was used by the North Vietnamese to supply their armies and the Viet Cong (southern Communist led guerrillas). The latter were much reduced in numbers and effectiveness after frustrating years of efforts by the U.S. and South Vietnamese leaderships to devise a winning strategy.
Charles Aznavour gave his all to French literature, and it was a good thing he lived to a great old age, because his gifts were good ones, they will last. The world famous singer, who died a couple days ago at 94, wrote his own songs. They were about everything — everything he felt. You […]
Commenting on our U.S. Open coverage, a reader observes that a penalty is not the same as a warning during match play and we spun the beginning of the drama in the women’s final, when the queen of Queens — six-time winner Serena Williams — scolded umpire Carlos Ramos for enforcing the rules and turned […]
In a major boost for American tennis in the year’s last Grand Slam, it was Yankee Doodle Dandy in the three doubles draws. Mike Bryan won in the men’s doubles, ably aided by Jack Sock standing in for injured brother Bob. This makes it two Slams in a row for the team that also won […]
The United States Tennis Association, owner of the U.S. Open, held at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows-Corona, by tradition honors our servicemen on the tournament’s second Monday, Labor Day with a ceremony at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Ashe himself needs no special day of remembrance, but the rest of us do: a […]
John Isner cannot wait to be a first-time father, and claims that if his wife Madison McKinley goes into labor before the baby’s due date, September 22, he’s outta here. This might be a shame for American men’s tennis, because with his admirable five-set win over Milos Raonic on Sunday, Isner is the only American […]
What you have to do against Frances Tiafoe is stand your ground. He is going to hit hard, and then harder. But he has learned a lot of strategy since exploding out of the juniors, and he can do much besides aim for the lines if necessary — move to the net, endure the long […]
Temperatures stayed high at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y., upper 90s on the grounds and well over that on the courts. The newly rebuilt Armstrong Stadium, like Ashe Stadium, gets quite uncomfortable in these conditions because of their retractable roofs. These are marvelous feats of engineering, and of course they serve […]
Fast, with a good eye, a classic left-handed sweep, and equal facility from either wing, Adrian Mannarino is a tough competitor of the old school, whose dictum is “Be sure yours is the last ball to go over the net.” René Lacoste, who subverted Bill Tilden’s dominance of the sport in the 1920s, was the […]
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