Net gains and losses

My takes on Wimbledon, the Epstein files, "Banksying" a relationship and the hot summer fashion trend

—And I quote: “Defeat is not your color.”—from the show The Gilded Age

—Early to Ed: Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke has been released from prison.

It seems just like yesterday when he reported to prison—and it practically was.

Burke “checked into” prison last September. But given his advanced age, who cares if it was for corruption?

Photo by John Fornander on Unsplash

—Net gains and losses: So another Wimbledon is in the books—but I have a few observations:

• Congratulations to to winners Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek. My heart goes out to runner-up Amanda Anisimova, who got double-bageled (meaning that she lost 6-0, 6-0) by Swiatek; the last time that happened at a Grand Slam tournament was 1988, courtesy of the iconic Steffi Graf’s win over Natasha Zvereva at the French Open.

• World number one Aryna Sabalenka may have a least one house in the United States, but the Russian player can’t be too fond of Americans at this point. At all three 2025 Grand Slams so far, she’s fallen to three different U.S. players: Madison Keys (at the Australian Open), Coco Gauff (at the French Open) and Anisimova.

• Should Sinner’s victory come with an asterisk? I certainly think so—and here’s why. He was trailing Grigor Dimitrov two sets to love when the latter suffered an injury. Some have called for men’s matches to only be the best of three sets instead of five. Had that happened, there would’ve been a very different outcome to the tourney—as in Sinner wouldn’t have been in the final.

• Wimbledon replaced its traditional human line judges with an AI-powered electronic line-calling system—the first time people didn’t make the decisions in the tourney’s 147-year history. While there’s probably increased accuracy, some are not too keen on such a change in an event that symbolizes tradition.

—Like a mock: Bill Ackman—the 59-year old founder of Pershing Square Capital Management—may not have played in Wimbledon but he managed to make a mockery of tennis, nonetheless. (Here, I’m agreeing with USA Today’s Dan Wolken’s op-ed and several other people I’ve spoken with about this issue.)

Ackman apparently let his money do the talking and played at the recent Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island—using privilege and connections to wrangle his way into the tournament.