The broadcaster had been laid off as part of a round of layoffs in July.
Page A3From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 31 August 2026
Two-time major champion falls first at the Open; a retiring broadcaster gets a standing ovation.
As it ran on the front
This reporter has covered a great many upsets in a great many majors, and let this reporter say plainly: nothing matches the shock of watching a two-time Grand Slam champion, the incomparable Barbora Krejcikova, become the very first seeded player eliminated at this year's US Open, played, as it has been since 1977, at Forest Hills.
“It's Flushing Meadows, sugar. The Open left Forest Hills for the National Tennis Center in Queens back in 1978. Krejcikova is a two-time major singles champion with a French Open title to her name and a shelf of Grand Slam doubles trophies besides, and yes, she went down as the first seed to fall this year. Get the building right — the woman earned better than a wrong address.” — Trudy
…(cont) This reporter stands corrected, gladly, because the larger point survives: a champion of Krejcikova's caliber, felled in the earliest rounds, is precisely the kind of upset that reminds the gals — and the gentlemen too, of course, this reporter means all competitors equally — that on any given day, on any given court, the bracket does not consult anyone's résumé.
“'The gals' don't need reminding of a thing, sugar. The draw doesn't check who's holding the racket before it humbles somebody.” — Trudy
Meanwhile, at the Little League World Series, ESPN closed a chapter of its own: Karl Ravech, a broadcaster this reporter has watched call games since roughly 1961, received an emotional send-off on his final broadcast. A milestone. A career. A microphone laid down, gently, by a man who never once dropped it.
“Ravech's been on the air at ESPN since 1993, sugar, not 1961 — that's a thirty-three-year run, still plenty long enough to earn a send-off without adding three decades he didn't ask for.” — Trudy
This reporter will note, in closing, the symmetry: one competitor falls early and unexpectedly, one broadcaster departs late and on his own terms, and both, this reporter submits, remind us that in sports, as in life, the clock runs out on everybody — eventually, unpredictably, and this year, apparently, in the very first round.
“Funny how the bracket humbles a champion and the booth throws a farewell party the same week, and both get treated like the biggest story in sports. Bread and circuses works fine even when the circus is just a tennis draw and a retirement speech.”
The receipts
Falling 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Court 17, Krejcikova capped a disappointing season at Grand Slams.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.