Hail, Amelie

Congratulations to Amelie, on a well-earned and well-deserved Australian Open title. Circumstances have forced me to focus my thoughts on the loser in this final, and I regret that, but we all know how hard you’ve worked, over the years, to reach this moment in your career. You not only played like a champ today, you carried yourself like one. In fact, nobody’s every worn the mantle of a champion with more class and dignity. I guess some things come hard, and some easy. Thanks for giving us your all.

A footnote: Much has been made here of the priceless bottle of 1937 Bordeaux Sauternes Amelie Mauresmo purchased for her wine cellar some years ago, vowing to save it until she won her first Grand Slam. Well, she's about to uncork that sucker. My German buddy, Wolfgang Scheffler, of Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung, went to a German website and found a report from a wine lover who has tasted that particular vintage.

He wrote: "At the moment I took my first sip, my eyes filled with tears and I felt as if I had passed through the portals of paradise..."