Kindle Pick of the Week: The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer

Chris Clarey with a great effort.

A major biography of the greatest men's tennis player of the modern era.

There have been other biographies of Roger Federer, but never one with this kind of access to the man himself, his support team, and the most prominent figures in the game, including such rivals as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Roddick. In The Master, New York Times correspondent Christopher Clarey sits down with Federer and those closest to him to tell the story of the greatest player in men's tennis.

Roger Federer has often made it look astonishingly easy through the decades: carving backhands, gliding to forehands, leaping for overheads and, in his most gravity-defying act, remaining high on a pedestal in a world of sports rightfully flooded with cynicism. But his path from temperamental, bleach-blond teenager with dubious style sense to one of the greatest, most self-possessed and elegant of competitors has been a long-running act of will, not destiny. He not only had a great gift. He had grit.

Christopher Clarey, one of the top international sportswriters working today, has covered Federer since the beginning of his professional career. He was in Paris on the Suzanne Lenglen Court for Federer's first Grand Slam match and has interviewed him exclusively more than any other journalist since his rise to prominence. Here, Clarey focuses on the pivotal people, places, and moments in Federer's long and rich career: reporting from South Africa, South America, the Middle East, four Grand Slam tournaments, and Federer's native Switzerland. It has been a journey like no other player's, rife with victories and a few crushing defeats, one that has redefined enduring excellence and made Federer a sentimental favorite worldwide.

The Master tells the story of Federer's life and career on both an intimate and grand scale, in a way no one else could possibly do.

Kindle Pick of the Week: A Runner's High

Dean Karnazes does it again!

I talked with Dean about his new book last week.

New York Times bestselling author and ultramarathoning legend Dean Karnazes has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits, from running in the shoe melting heat of Death Valley to the lung freezing cold of the South Pole. He’s raced and competed across the globe and once ran 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 consecutive days.

In A Runner’s High, Karnazes chronicles his extraordinary adventures leading up to his return to the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in his mid-fifties after first completing the race decades ago. The Western States, infamous for its rugged terrain and extreme temperatures, becomes the most demanding competition of Karnazes’s life, a physical and emotional reckoning and a battle to stay true to one’s purpose. Confronting his age, his career path, and his life choices, we see Karnazes as we never have before.

For Karnazes, the running experience is about the runner and the trail. It is not the sum of achievements but a story that continues to be told each day, with each step. A Runner’s High is at once an endorphin-fueled adventure and a love letter to the sport from one of its most celebrated ambassadors that will leave both casual and serious runners cheering.

NFL Draft Tonight

ESPN going all in on NFL Draft tonight, but other outlets have been covering it non stop as well.

2021 Kentucky Derby

2021 Kentucky Derby Facts & History:

30K – Number of attendees expected for the 2021 Kentucky Derby (at half capacity due to COVID-19).
 
$122 Million – Ticket revenue loss during Derby Week in 2020.
 
$126 Million – Total amount wagered on the 2020 Kentucky Derby (50% less than in 2019).
 
$500 to $1,000 – Price of a high-end Kentucky Derby hat (90% of female spectators wear hats).
 
$805 Million – Sales of thoroughbred horses in 2020 (down 26% from 2019).

Current Masters Odds with Spieth on the Rise

Masters odds updated:

Check out the full list of 2021 Masters odds (as of April 5) courtesy of BetOnline.ag.

Dustin Johnson 9/1
Jordan Spieth 10/1
Bryson DeChambeau 11/1
Justin Thomas 11/1
Jon Rahm 12/1
Rory McIlroy 18/1
Patrick Cantlay 20/1
Xander Schauffele 22/1
Brooks Koepka 28/1
Collin Morikawa 30/1
Patrick Reed 35/1
Tony Finau 35/1
Viktor Hovland 35/1
Daniel Berger 40/1
Paul Casey 40/1
Sungjae Im 40/1
Webb Simpson 40/1
Cameron Smith 45/1
Lee Westwood 45/1
Tyrrell Hatton 50/1
Hideki Matsuyama 55/1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 55/1
Scottie Scheffler 55/1
Sergio Garcia 55/1
Tommy Fleetwood 55/1
Jason Day 60/1