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Many thanks to Tim Byrnes for setting up a live stream and a graphics template to produce the flyer. Tim is A/Prof in quantum physics at NYU Shanghai https://nyu.timbyrnes.net/
Just a coincidence
Is it just a coincidence that both the words `greenbug’ and `earthnut’ can be obtained from environmental activist Greta Thunberg? And what about `legalist’ as the longest word obtained out of former barrister and now independent MP Zali Steggall? Given that John Foreman is musical director and conductor for carols by candlelight in Melbourne, then why does John wear a maroon jacket when conducting when Santa turns up in a red jacket? Is it merely (ho ho!) the fact that `maroon’ can be obtained out of John Foreman and not `red’? Further, does the word `menorah’ within John Foreman suggest that carols are suitable for Jews as well as Christians given that Jesus was Jewish? But of course, `justice’ can be obtained out of Jesus Christ or `justices’ if one was trying to use all their letters in scrabble to obtain the 50-point bonus. And further, John’s puppy dog named Fred lends itself to a composition titled `Fred is a four-letter word’ in F major given that `nonmajor’ is the longest word obtained out of John Foreman. On the tennis front since `tennis’ can be obtained out of Tristan Barnett, where Tristan graduated with a PhD in tennis algebra in 2006 and thus must imply that `algebraist’ can be obtained out of Ashleigh Barty. Also, Wimbledon commenced on the 26th June in 2006 which coincides with Tristan’s birthday where a triple bagel 606060 can be obtained out of 26062006. But if both `saint’ and `sinner’ can be obtained out of Tristan Barnett does this imply that Jannick Sinner is a saint or a sinner given that `vodka’ can be obtained out of Novak Djokovic and `ashtray’ out of Ashleigh Barty? And is it just a coincidence that Alcaraz is missing a `t’ for tennis to form the infamous Alcatraz prison in reference to Jannik Sinner (`Sinners’), Alex de Minaur (aka `Demon’) and Casper Ruud (`Ghosts’ from Casper the Ghost)? And what about COVID? Can algebra be used to obtain how many slams Novak Djokovic was expected to win due to being denied entry in 2 slams for not being COVID vaccinated and 2020 Wimbledon cancelled altogether? Well firstly COVIDjok is an anagram of Djokovic. To complete the phrase, e is a transcendental number equal to 2.7182818284……… and thus Novak was expected to win due to COVID a transcendental number of slams. If one was to speculate on who is the GOAT, again why not rely on logic and simply search for players that have the word `GOAT’ within their name. Thus, call me Mr Coincidence but the record number of slams is 64 which belongs to Margaret Court where the word `GOAT’ can readily be obtained. Also, a GOAT cannot be a BULL which eliminates one dimensional clay specialist Rafael Nadal and similarly a GOAT cannot be a HORSE and thus eliminating Phar Lap assuming tennis polo is a sport. Tennys Sandgren is a professional tennis player but unlike Tristan Barnett the word `tennis’ cannot be obtained in the real space but only in the imaginary space. The imaginary number i=√-1 and thus should Tenn√-1s Sandgren be playing lawn or beach tennis given that beach tennis is a recognized ITF sport played on sand? Okay some politics. Given that `archangel’ is an anagram of Rachael Gunn without the UN, should we then simply abolish the UN? Bandt is displayed sequentially in Bandicoot and Albo sequentially in Albatross. Thus, the titles Bandicoot Bandt and Albatross Albo kind of sound poetic in reference to political leaders Adam Bandt and Anthony Albanese (known colloquially as `Albo’). Susie O’Neill, former gold medalist swimmer was nicknamed `Madame Butterfly’ in reference to her peerless quality as a butterfly swimmer and butterflies are typically depicted as elegant and gracious animals (even though butterflies cannot swim but could potentially drown if immersed in water). If we assume there is a God in which around 40% of the world’s population would agree then God loves all his creation including the minuscule ant and (drum roll) Prime Minister Ant Albanese. Thus, would nicknaming Susie O’Neill or other personalities including Adam Goodes with names containing Ant, Bandicoot, Albatross etc. be in good taste or offensive given that again to reiterate that Susie O’Neill was nicknamed `Madame Butterfly’, God loves all his creation including the minuscule ant and a further 900 million Hindus believe in reincarnation where we were other species animals, plants or otherwise in previous lives? Thus, based on the above is it in good taste or offensive to nickname former PM John Howard as `Warthog Howard’ given the coincidental word `war’ within Howard and Australia with Howard as PM supporting the 2001-2021 wars in Afghanistan? And is it just a coincidence that there are three political leaders mentioned above where their names resemble species of animals and thus why didn’t we just mention the obvious name of former PM Bob Hawke from the outset?
Is the Davis Cup ½ full or ½ empty?
Consider a single game of tennis on a cold and rainy day, since taking the dog (or horse) for a walk around the local park is no longer an option. Then by applying elementary methods of counting paths, Binomial theorem, Markov Chains and summing an infinite geometric series one can readily obtain the probability of player A winning a game of tennis as a function p (given p+q=1) of player A winning a point as f(p)=p4(1+4q+10q2)+20p5q3/(p2+q2). This simplifies to f(p) = p4(1+4q+10q2/(p2+q2)) since 30-30 and deuce are equivalent states, and thus how many times can one remember playing competition or even club tennis where a confrontation has taken place on whether the score is 30-30 or deuce? Further, advanced methods using absorbing Markov chains represent f(p)=p4(1-16q4)/(p4-q4), where it appears that p=½ is undefined since the denominator equals 0. However, on closer inspection the numerator also equals 0 for p=½, and we end up with the equation 0/0=½, for p=½. Using a mathematics software package, factorization follows as f(p)=p4(3-2p)(4p2-8p+5)/(2p2+1-2p), and the roots p=0 of multiplicity 4 and p=1½ can readily be obtained. Agree that probabilities must be between or equal to 0 and 1, but this is a piece of poetry rather than a mathematics course so let’s just be a little bit creative for the purposes of identifying as many instances as possible of a ½ appearing in this passage given that the probability of winning the coin toss is ? Continuing to obtain further roots of f(p), the quadratic equation can be applied to obtain two complex roots in conjugate pairs p=1+½i and p=1-½i. Now that we have established the roots of the function f(p), the next task is of course differentiation and anti-differentiation (integration) where with a bit of elbow grease or a mathematics software package, f(p) has a minimum turning point at p=0 and a maximum turning point at p=1 which intuitively is what you would expect. Likewise, f(p) has a non-horizontal point of inflection at p=½. Naturally we choose to integrate a game of tennis in the region from 0 to 1, but before proceeding with the mathematics it can be observed that the area of a rectangle = base (b).height (h). The graph of f(p) from 0 to 1, is visualized as a line that is symmetric about a rectangle with area 1 given that b=1 and h=1 (which is in fact a square). Note that differentiation gives the gradient function, whereas integration gives the area under the curve. Since the graph of f(p) from 0 to 1 is symmetric about a square with area 1, then the area under the curve should be equal to ½.1 = ½ and verified using a mathematics software package. And similarly applying this piece of symmetry theory to a cup such as the Davis Cup, one can pour water into the cup whereby tilting the cup until the water is just touching the rim, would then determine whether the Davis Cup is (drum roll) ½ full or ½ empty.
MATHS MATTERS @ KHS 30th reunion
On the 21.09.24, Tristan attended the 30th reunion Killara High School for the class of 1994. Since, 21+9=30 and 30-24=6 (where 6 is a perfect number 3+2+1=6), implies that maths was taught in class 30 years ago. Both tennis and maths are major likes for Tristan as documented in the class of 1994 yearbook and this is most applicable in the real-world through Novak Djokovic, where e=2.7182818284……… is a transcendental number, COVIDjok is an anagram of Djokovic and Novak was denied up to 3 slams due to COVID. Thus, how many slams was Novak expected to win due to COVID to complete the Novak COVIDjok? Also documented in the class of 1994 yearbook is Tristan’s hero chemistry teacher Matthew (Matt) Murphy, which is quite fitting since bitartrates (an anion which is the conjugate base of tartaric acid) is the longest word obtained out of Tristan Barnett. Now Tristan turned up to the 30th reunion to reflect his likes of maths and tennis using the Novak COVIDjok2.7182818284……… with nail polish in the order of 2 white, 7 gold and 1 white. It is also noted that Don White was Tristan’s maths teacher in 1994 and Michael Gold was the principal. Thus, how can maths be used to highlight Matthew, Don and Michael using the Novak COVIDjok2.7182818284……… with Tristan’s nail polish in the order of 2 white, 7 gold and 1 white? Solving the first part of the problem is relatively simple given the gold and white references. Michael has 7 letters and Don has 2+1=3 letters, which are reflected by the arrangement of Tristan’s nail polish of 2 white, 7 gold and 1 white given the last names of Gold and White from Michael and Don respectively. The second part of the problem to reflect Tristan’s hero Matthew Murphy requires ingenuity, such that Dan Murphy’s is a liquor chain and vodka can be obtained out of Novak Djokovic (or dovak anagram). Now Matthew has 7 letters (in reference to the 7 gold) and Dan has 3 letters (in reference to the 3 white). MATHS MATTERS
Saving Jannik Sinner with the night-time cap
As of the 14th October 2024, Jannik Sinner holds a 2-0 win record over Casper Ruud in reference to ‘Casper the Ghost’. Sinner also holds a 7-1 win record over Alex De Minaur (aka “Demon”) and noting the match that Sinner lost to De Minaur was a w/o. Thus, Sinner (where a sinner refers to a person who commits a sin and in a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities) has defeated both Demons and Ghosts in all 9 matches noting that Casper is ranked 9 and De Minaur ranked 11. And further, Sinner has won 2 grand slams and has spent in total 18 weeks as ATP world No. 1. How is this possible and has religion or spirituality played a role given the references of ‘sinner’, ‘ghost’ and ‘demon’ from above? If we look at amazing feats in tennis, then a couple of highlights include Michael Chang as the youngest male player to win a singles grand slam and Margaret Court with a record 64 slams including a record 24 singles slams. Both players of course were highly religious with a Christian perspective. Now stating the obvious Sinner is Italian and the Vatican along with the current pope `Pope Francis’ are in Rome. Roman Catholic bishops (including cardinals, archbishops, and popes) are well-known for the head covering called a ‘mitre’. And incidentally Sinner also wears a head covering as simply a ‘tennis cap’ even at night-time and this is well-known. Now, Sinner has won 2 slams, r+2=t (on the standard alphabet), replacing the ‘r’ in sinner with a ‘t’ gives ‘sinnet’ and ‘sinnet’ reversed is ‘tennis’. DIVINE
Anyone for basketball?
An interesting proposition amongst the sporting prowess is how well would a player perform in other sports given their chosen signature sport? For example, Ash Barty had a high level of success in both tennis and cricket, and was even contemplating professional golf since her retirement from tennis in 2022. Team sports can be interesting in the way players with different skill sets come together to try and win the overall match. Basketball epitomizes this objective, and thus we attempt to fit a basketball team using elite tennis players based on their unique skill sets as performed in a tennis match. Firstly, basketball requires precision and accuracy in shooting baskets – ideally behind the 3-point line. This facet can be paralleled to players in tennis serving a `high’ percentage of aces and thus no better than Mr Ace man Goran Ivanisevic who arguably won the 2001 Wimbledon championships as a wildcard based on the high proportion of aces served throughout each of his 7 matches. In contrast to a 3-point shot is the ability to slam dunk, and although Goran could potentially have success as this facet with a height of 1.93 metres, the player exhibiting features from tennis to perform a slam dunk is no other than the Pete Sampras overhead ‘slam dunk’ where tennis forums have identified that Pete could potentially dunk a hoop 10ft from the ground. The Nick Kyrgios tweener could be handy for ball skills along with the Boris Becker dive volley for ball recovery. But the handiest player (which would make up a 5-person basketball team) given the trajectory of the basketball from one end to the other is of course Novak Djokovic and his ability to bounce a ball an ’unlimited’ number of times as depicted by Novak bouncing the tennis ball 29 times! before serving at match point against Andy Murray in Miami Masters 1000 final. Many said it´s his record.
Much ado about Tristan Barnett
Michael Jackson died on Tristan’s birthday 26th June in 2009 (25th June in the US exactly 6 months from Xmas). Chris Isaak in 1956 and Ariana Grande in 1993 were born on Tristan’s birthday. Tristan’s birth date 26th June 1977 is tennis orientated given that Wimbledon commenced on the 26th June in 2006, 60/60/60 can be obtained out of the 26062006, 1977 is 100 years after the start of Wimbledon 1877 and Tristan graduated with a PhD in tennis statistics in 2006. The name `Tristan Barnett’ is also tennis orientated. Tennis can be obtained out of Tristan Barnett, St Rinat is an anagram of Tristan, saint can be obtained out of Tristan, Tristan and Rinat were dating in 2006 and went on a date to watch the Australian Open in 2006, and again Tristan graduated with a PhD in tennis statistics in 2006. Shakira, Emma Pask, Ada Nicodemou and Schapelle Corby were born in 1977; and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Elvis Presley died in 1977. Notably, both Emma Pask and Tristan celebrated their 30th KHS school reunions during the weekend 20th-22nd September 2024, where Emma attended Kirrawee High School and Tristan attended Killara High School. Simon Tedeschi (4 years below Tristan) and Elle Macpherson (13 years above Tristan) both attended Killara High, and Stirling Mortlock was in the same year as Tristan at Lindfield East Public School. Whilst compiling this dissertation about `Tristan Barnett’, Jerome Laxale was the federal MP for the seat of Bennelong (Tristan’s federal electorate where Tristan’s middle name is `Jerome’) and Jordan Lane was the state MP for the seat of Ryde (Tristan’s state electorate where Tristan’s former puppy dog was named `Jordan’). At the 2025 Australian Open tennis, Tristan Schoolkate and Tristan Boyer lost to Jannik Sinner and Alex De Minaur (aka `Demon’) respectively in the 2nd round. Thus, the two Tristan’s at the Australian Open lost to `sinners’ and `demons’. Also, whilst compiling this dissertation about `Tristan Barnett’, Rachael Gunn (aka `Raygun’) is an academic at Macquarie University, the same university that Tristan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. And incidentally, if the United Nations (abbreviated to just `UN’) are abolished then `archangel’ is an anagram of `Rachael Gunn’ (once the letters `UN’ are removed from `Rachael Gunn’). And finally, whilst compiling this dissertation about `Tristan Barnett’, Penny Wong was the Minister for Foreign Affairs (where Penny always saves the day in reference to the former television series Inspector Gadget). Thus, what are the chances that Tristan regularly watched Inspector Gadget as a kid whist growing up?
The Double Prestige in tennis
“The Prestige” is the final part of a magic trick, where the magician provides a resolution that reveals the hidden secrets and unveils the true nature of the illusion. It delivers a satisfying conclusion that ties everything together, leaving the audience amazed and admiring the magician’s skill and creativity. Disclaimer: in order to achieve “The Prestige” in tennis or in fact “The Double Prestige”, it is important for the audience to read the passage from front to cover, otherwise it would be like watching `Titanic’ the movie where someone has already informed you of the ending. Now since the days of Wimbledon from its origins in 1877, the classical or advantage set has been abolished completely from tennis 145 years later, and thus the 2021 French Open holds a legacy of being the last tournament to play advantage sets (or in particular the final sets in singles matches were played as advantage rather than a tiebreak set). James H. Van Alen (aka “Jimmy”), an American benefactor and founder of the Tennis Hall of Fame in Rhode Island, proposed the tiebreak in the early 1950’s to resolve the issue of lengthy matches. The first official use of the tiebreak in a Grand Slam tournament was at the US Open in 1970, by adopting all tiebreak sets. The other three Grand Slams shortly followed but still played a final advantage set in keeping with some level of tradition. The dominance of the serve in tennis over the years particularly in the men’s game primarily due to racket technology, has resulted in `long’ final advantage set matches even since the introduction of the tiebreak set in 1970. For example, Ivanisevic defeated Krajicek 15-13 at Wimbledon in 1998, Philippoussis defeated Schalken 20–18 at Wimbledon in 2000, Roddick defeated El Aynaoui 21–19 at the 2003 Australian Open, and Isner defeated Mahut 70-68 at Wimbledon in 2010. The latter match took a world record total of 11 hours and 5 mins of playing time, and the only `positive’ aspect about this match was that it was played over 3 days due to light constraints. Thus, if the audience missed the match on the first day then they could have watched the match on the second day, and likewise if the audience missed the match on the first and second days then they could have watched the match on the third day. Now the biggest change in the tennis scoring structure after the introduction of the tiebreak set at the 1970 US Open, was the No-Ad game in 2006 (where a sudden-death point is played if the score reaches deuce). Thus, at most 7 points is played in this type of game. The No-Ad game replaced the deuce game in doubles on the main tour (except for Grand Slam matches). Now consider an alternate game called the 50-40 game where to win a game the server wins the standard four points but the receiver only has to win three points. Thus, the 50-40 game is imbalanced in favour of the receiver and at most 6 points is played in this type of game (in comparison to the No-Ad game where at most 7 points is played and the deuce game which has no finite boundary where typically deuce games have known to last up to 25 minutes of playing time, where a world-record 37 deuces was recorded on the 26th May 1975 between Keith Glass serving against Anthony Fawcett). Note also, that due to the dominance of the serve in tennis (particularly in the men’s game), the 50-40 with its unbalanced structure will be more evenly contested in comparison to the deuce and No-Ad games, and thus creating more breaks of serve. And evidently, this would reduce the length of a `long’ final advantage set if one was to be played using the 50-40 game in comparison to the deuce and No-Ad games. For example, consider the chances of player A with a 74% chance and player B with a 72% chance of winning a point on serve. Note that the chances of both players winning a point on serve in this range 72%-74% and even higher are likely to occur in `long’ final advantage sets as typically occurred in the above `long’ four matches. Now tennis can be modelled using Markov Chains by assuming constant probabilities of each player winning a point on serve. And thus, the chances of reaching say 12-12 in an advantage final set is 21.7% by playing a deuce game, 13.6% by playing a No-Ad game and (drum roll) only 2.0% by playing a 50-40 game. Thus, the traditional advantage set that was abolished from tennis completely (with the 2021 French Open being the last tournament to play advantage sets), could potentially be brought back to tennis as a final set in Grand Slam matches by playing as `A Game Changer’ (pun intended) the 50-40 game – and voila “The Prestige”. Further, the average number of points to be played in a deuce, No-Ad and 50-40 game using the 72%-74% serving parameters within a best-of-5 all tiebreak sets match are 274, 249 and 212 respectively. The chances of the stronger player winning the match from the outset in a deuce and No-Ad game within a best-of-5 all tiebreak sets match are both 61.1%. However, the chances of the stronger player winning the match from the outset in a 50-40 game within a best-of-5 all tiebreak sets match has increased to (double drum roll) 61.8%. Thus, by adopting a 50-40 game, not only can the length of the match be reduced but counter-intuitively the chances of the stronger player winning the match can increase in comparison to the deuce and No-Ad game. And from above, the advantage final set can be brought back to tennis in keeping with tradition (which was abolished from tennis completely with the 2021 French Open being the last tournament to play advantage sets) by playing the 50-40 game which is not feasible with the deuce and No-Ad games – and voila “The Double Prestige”.
Backpackers Down Under – Fraser Island and beyond
Whilst travelling on a 4-monther Greyhound Bus backpacker style from Melbourne to Darwin in 2024 (via Cairns and Alice Springs), and 10,000+ km later, the writer was just a little bit curious as to why backpackers would plan their entire trip around Fraser Island (in comparison to other big features such as do an Uluru and sick gorg possibly spewing jumping crocodiles out of the Adelaide River Top End). Here are several reasons. Firstly, Fraser Island is a major highlight in the Australia Lonely Planet Guide and every tourist alike not just backpackers would note Fraser Island on the bucket list as things to do. Secondly, Fraser Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and at 122km long it is the world’s largest sand island. Thirdly, the island’s proximity from the major cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and nicely positioned on the East Coast of Australia (home of the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsundays) is convenient for all types of backpackers including nomads, gypsies, hipsters, surfies, musos, clubbers, poets, filthy mullets, fruit-loops, swifties, drifters and couch surfers. Fourthly, assuming backpackers arrive in Sydney and depart from Cairns, then a Lonely Planet route could entail from south to north – Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Summer Bay (also known as Palm Beach without Marilyn Chambers and Mr Stewart), Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Rainbow Beach, Airlie Beach and Mission Beach (although you are more likely to see a cassowary on the beach than a missionary); where Rainbow Beach is the gateway and closest mainland to Fraser Island. Fifthly, overseas marketing, branding and `product pleasure’ can drive traffic to destinations and thus contributing to the half a million visitors to Fraser Island each year. Familiar and now popular branding towards backpackers include Wake Up (in reference to Jack Dawson in the movie `Titanic’ but unable to say to much as to not spoil the ending), Nomads Magnetic Island (with an Adults Only Olympic Games interactive night), The Arts Factory Byron Bay (where one can deepen their own self-awareness with mother-nature such as making a bracelet out of a blade of grass), Gilligans Backpackers Cairns (known as party central and Gilligan’s Island is a well-known pinball game), Spank Me in the Whitsundays and voila Dingo Tours glamping on Fraser Island playing patented dorm-only UNO Flip with 4 players given that 6 is a perfect number (that is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive proper divisors), where the total number of ways that a group of 4 objects (be it balls, cards or even backpackers) can be arranged 2 at a time (known as the binomial coefficient 4C2) is equal to 6 – perfecto!
Three Little Birds and the Bees
`Three Little Birds’ is a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released on the album Exodus in June 1977. The only three former Australian politicians that come to mind with last names representing types of birds are Andrew Peacock, Bob Hawke and Wayne Swan. The 31st Australian Prime Minister is Anthony Albanese (often referred to as just `Albo’). Incidentally the word `Albo’ could be interpreted as `Albo the Albatross, where `Albatross’ cannot be obtained out of the letters of `Anthony Albanese’ but rather a ridiculous four other types of animal species namely – ants, bees, abalone and hyenas. Now playing off the colloquial expression `the birds and the bees’ and based on information obtained above we can deduce the rather elegant expression `Three Little Birds and the Bees’. Now incidentally, one of the longest words obtained out of `Anthony Albanese’ is nanotesla. It is readily accepted amongst public discourse including academics, politicians and former politicians, that ants are minuscule. From above and stating the obvious `Anthony’ can be abbreviated to just `Ant’, and given the `nanotesla’ reference from above lends itself to another rather elegant expression that the PM Anthony Albanese could be referred to as `The Minuscule Ant’ in preference to `Albo the Albatross’. Now also incidentally, `AA’ are the initials of `Anthony Albanese’, where `aa’ is an actual word defined as a type of lava and lava is known to symbolize `love’. Thus, if one loves `ants’, then one will like all of God’s creation since (drum roll) ants are minuscule.
To be or not to be with Li Na or Na Li
Li Na is a Chinese former professional tennis player and quite impressively the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam (2 in total) by winning the 2011 French Open and 3 years later the 2014 Australian Open. Now let’s digress to chemistry given the obvious `love’ reference in tennis and the not so obvious Australian Open (abbreviated to AO `Adults Only’) and the smoking ash reference from Ash Barty. On the periodic table of elements, lithium (abbreviated to Li) has an atomic number of 3 and sodium (abbreviated to Na) has an atomic number of 11. Na is directly below Li on the periodic table and thus it is intriguing that although Li Na reads naturally from top to bottom on the periodic table; there is an argument that Na Li could be an icebreaker discussion at say an end of year school prom for argument’s sake based on Na Li winning the 2011 French Open and 3 years later the 2014 Australian Open where Na 11 + Li 3 = 14. Let’s continue with the chemistry theme and you may like to grab yourself a hot chocolate given `Hot Coco’ within `hot chocolate’ in reference to the 2023 US Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff. Now again referring to the periodic table of elements, Rutherfordium (abbreviated to Rf) has an atomic number of 104 and Roger Federer with initials and international branding also RF (by noting the capital F) has won 103 titles. Therefore, by equating the two identities produces Rf-RF=104-103=1, and with some grunt and fancy footwork we derive the equation R=1/(f-F).
One-Dimensional Rafael Nadal
The 2025 French Open featured a special tribute to Rafael “Rafa” Nadal 14 titles on the opening night 25th May. The 14 French Open titles are by far the most number achieved by any tennis player, not only at the French but at any grand slam event. The next best is Margaret Court’s 11 Australian Open titles with Novak Djokovic coming in third with 10 AO titles (and it would make sense that an Australian would achieve the most number of AO titles given home ground advantage is likely to exist). Now Rafa won a total of 22 grand slams with a breakdown of 2/22 (9.1%) at the Australian Open, 14/22 (63.6%) at the French Open, 2/22 (9.1%) at Wimbledon and 4/22 (18.2%) at the US Open. Thus, Rafa has won significantly more grand slams at the French Open than the other three grand slams combined – 63.6% v 36.4%. Now for a breakdown of Rafa’s wins across the different surfaces, where Rafa played a total of 1326 matches, winning 1091 (82.3% of total matches played). Rafa won 79.5% of matches played on hard court, 90.2% on clay, 67.9% on indoor hard court, 47.6% on carpet and 78.4% on grass. Note Rafa won a significantly higher percentage of matches on clay (90.2%) than on any other surface. Also note the relatively low percentage of matches won on indoor hard court (67.9%) in comparison to hard court (79.5%), as an indication that Rafa performs relatively poorly indoors. And this is ‘magnified’ by Rafa winning a `bagel’ 0 end of year ATP Finals played indoors in comparison to Novak Djokovic with a record 7 ATP Finals and Roger Federer 6 ATP Finals. Thus, based on Rafa winning a record 14 French Open titles in comparison to winning the other 3 grand slams of 8 in total, along with Rafa’s relatively poor performance on indoor surfaces, suggests that Rafa could be One-Dimensional – only performing on clay surfaces played outdoors. These results suggest that if tennis was played indoors as typically was the case with its predecessor of Royal Tennis, then Rafa may not have won as many French Open titles if any as given by a record of 0 titles at the end of year ATP Finals played indoors (in comparison to Djokovic and Federer winning 7 and 6 ATP Finals respectively). Now given Rafa’s special tribute at the 2025 French Open and retirement from tennis just after the 2024 Paris Olympics, suggests that his next project and journey in life could involve clay, as opposed to spray painting the car `Pro Hart’ style for argument’s sake. Thus, what would be more appropriate than Rafa Nadal taking up pottery-making and could be a great ambassador for this craft-making ‘art sport’ if we assume that physical sports apply to tennis, cricket and the likes, and mind sports apply to chess, poker and so on. Further, if there was indoor and outdoor pottery-making then Rafa’s performance outdoors could possibly be better than indoors if tennis is anything to go by given that Rafa won a ridiculous world record 14 French Open titles played outdoors and thus has a ‘feel’ for the clay. Now an obvious reference to pottery-making is of course from the 1990 film ‘Ghost’ with lead casts Sam Wheat as played by Patrick Swayze and Molly Jensen as played by Demi Moore. “Hey Google what is the pottery-making scene in the 1990 film Ghost” – well Tristan “the pottery scene is a moment of quiet sensuality, where physical touch and intimate proximity are central to the narrative. As Sam, in his ghostly form, gently guides Molly’s hands on the spinning clay, the viewer is invited into an intimate space of vulnerability”. Now it is rather convenient that there is an alias `Ghost’ on the tour through Casper Rudd (where Casper was the name of a ‘friendly ghost’ in a theatrical animated cartoon series) and it is also convenient that Casper Ruud like Rafael Nadal also performs best on clay in comparison to grass and hard courts. Thus, although Rafael Nadal appears to be the superior in tennis to Casper Ruud on all surfaces, it would be intriguing and make great spectator curiosity for which tennis player would be better at pottery-making where both indoors and outdoors day-time and night-time (LOL) could be utilized accordingly. On the contrary Roger Federer’s tennis record with a record 8 men’s Wimbledon singles titles and 6 end of year ATP Finals suggests that Federer in his retirement could be best suited to say indoor grass lawn mowing. And finally, Novak Djokovic is good on all surfaces grass, hard and clay indoors and outdoors with a particular talent for bouncing the ball an unlimited number of times before serving, and thus Novak could also be competitive at both pottery-making and lawn mowing both indoors and outdoors day-time and night-time. However, given the ability to bounce the ball an unlimited number of times suggests that Novak should avoid street performing as a juggler.
Beyond serenity in Israel/Palestine combined
The author decided to play around with words and scrabble games from the 7th June 2025, to find even just a slight hint as to whether the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict could eventually be solved with `findings’ that appear to be somewhat magical or even `spiritual’ given their coincidences. The findings are as follows. Israel was declared `State of Israel’ on the 14th May 1948 by the United Nations (UN). Rachael Gunn (aka “Raygun”) was somewhat controversial as a competitor in breakdancing at the 2024 Paris Olympics based on her style of dancing. “Raygun” received zero points by the judges and she did not progress past the first round. If we abolish the UN then amazingly the word `archangel’ is an anagram of `Rachael Gunn’. On a similar word puzzle, former tennis player Mark Philippoussis (aka “Flip”) won 0 slams. Once again if we abolish the UN from the card game `UNO Flip’ then we are left with O Flip (or Flip winning 0 slams). Therefore, if the UN had not declared a `State of Israel’ in 1948 or the UN never existed in the first place (to be `abolished’), then would the Israeli/Palestinian conflict have ever occurred where the current Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,677 Palestinians and wounded at least 125,530, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry? The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest serving Israeli PM in history for over 17 years in total. One of the longest words in `Benjamin Netanyahu’ is `antihuman’, which scores based on its net value a total of 14 points in scrabble. The word `humanity’ can also be obtained out of `Benjamin Netanyahu’, which scores 16 points in scrabble. The word `antihuman’ is defined as being opposed or hostile to humanity. Given that `humanity’ scores more points than `antihuman’ in scrabble maybe gives an indication for the future that `humanity’ is more likely than `antihuman’ in Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the longest words in `palestine’ is `penalties’ and an anagram of `israel’ is `sailer’. The UN has imposed sanctions on the Israeli government and for Benjamin Netanyahu to face the International Court of Justice for war crimes. In June 2025, a British-flagged yacht named `Madleen’ as part of the Freedom Flotilla mission was intercepted by Israeli forces on the 8th June whilst sailing to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid relief to the Palestinian people. Given that `greenbug’ and `earthnut’ can be obtained in `Greta Thunberg’, is just fitting that the 22-year-old climate activist and humanitarian was amongst the crew on the sailer ship to Gaza. Given that neither of the above `missions’ were successful may help to explain why the `reverse’ of words have occurred above such that `penalties’ apply to Israel according to the UN and `sailer’ to Palestine as in the `sailer’ ship to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid relief to the Palestinian people. The very fact that the `reverse’ occurred appears somewhat `magical’ since if one or both `missions’ were successful then the word puzzle would not actually make sense, and thus maybe these two outcomes with Benjamin Netanyahu not facing the International Court of Justice for war crimes and the `Madleen’ ship to Gaza being aborted by Israeli forces is the best outcome for long term resolution to the conflict. The word `serenities’ can be obtained out of `palestineisrael’ – defined as the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled. The word `serenity’ resonates with the `public’ as depicted in the Australian film `The Castle’ with the iconic line “How’s the serenity?” – being associated with the Kerrigan family’s holiday home in Bonnie Doon. But `serenity’ cannot be obtained within `palestineisrael’ but rather the plural form `serentities’ where generally a plural form is more powerful or beyond the singular form. Maybe an indication or a `sign’ that beyond serenity can exist in Israel/Palestine combined?
All about ants
If one likes ants then one will like all creation for the following reasons:
1) ants are the most primitive of animal life
2) ants are the most abundance of animal life (possibly around 13,000 species of ants)
3) everyone associates very well with ants and somewhat amazed by their abilities for such a minuscule creature
4) ants are social insects
Thus, if one does not like ants are they then classified as being `anti’? And what about Spider-Man in the sense that if there are no `ants’ around, has Spider-Man then killed off the ants including Ant-Man given the word `ant’ within quANTumania? And thus, is Spider-Man really just the Anti-Man? But God loves all his creation including the minuscule ant and thus is PM Ant Albanese minuscule given that `nanotesla’ is one of the longest words obtained in `Anthony Albanese’? And can kangaroos really fly given that `ant’ is obtained within qANTas and not kangaroo? In any case ants are abundANT, have ANTennas but can’t play tennis, are anything but ANTisocial, quite brilliANT, fANTastic, importANT, relevANT and pleasANT, association with Shakespearean plays with one-liners `Wherefore Ant thou Cleopatra’ and could be worth an archaeological exploration particularly places of ANTwerp and ANTarctica – where if unsuccessful one could quote ‘they were clearly there but did not see any ants because they are minuscule’.
Finding the GOAT
If we assume that the GOAT is based on the number of Grand Slam wins then the problem is multidimensional given that there are 3 formats in tennis at a Grand Slam level (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) and there are 4 Grand Slams played on different surfaces. Thus, in determining the GOAT based on Grand Slam wins it is necessary to compare for the leading Grand Slam winners statistics such as the total number of Grand Slams, total number of singles, total number of doubles, total number of mixed doubles, maximum number out of each of the 3 formats, maximum number out of each of the 4 Grand Slams and the maximum number out of each of the 3 formats at a particular Grand Slam. Below have been identified as contenders for GOAT based on their Grand Slam results.
- Margaret Court 64 slams (24 singles, 19 doubles, 21 mixed doubles, 23 Australian Open titles, 11 Australian Open singles)
- Martina Navratilova 59 slams (18 singles, 31 doubles, 10 mixed doubles, 20 Wimbledon titles, 9 Wimbledon singles)
- Novak Djokovic 24 slams (24 singles, 10 Australian Open singles). Denied 3 slams due to COVID?
- Rafael Nadal 22 slams (22 singles, 14 French Open singles)
- Rod Laver 20 slams (11 singles, 6 doubles, 3 mixed doubles). How many slams would Laver have won when competing as a professional between 1963-1968?
- Ken Rosewall 18 slams (8 singles, 9 doubles, 1 mixed doubles, 7 Australian Open titles, 4 Australian Open singles). How many slams would Rosewall have won when competing as a professional between 1956-1968?
Regulations
Scoring Systems
- Extend the length of Grand Slam tournaments from 14 days to 15 or 16 days
- Replace the deuce and NoAd game with a 50-40 game (server has to win 4 points and receiver only has to win 3 points) in all tennis formats
- Adopt a final advantage set in men’s and women’s singles Grand Slam events (assuming a 50-40 game is implemented)
Performance
Match Statistics
- Match statistics data can be obtained from OnCourt (oncourt.info) for most matches on the ATP and WTA tour since 2003
Point-by-point data
- Point-by-point data can be obtained from OnCourt for most matches on the ATP and WTA tour since 2003. A programmer could extract the data into a spreadsheet or database package
Resource Allocation
- A player should increase their effort on the more important points such as 30-40 in a game, points in a tiebreak game and near the end of close matches. This can be achieved by chasing down every ball. A player should decrease their effort on the lesser important points such as being ahead on the set score and down a break in the current set. This can be achieved by taking more risk on the 2nd serve, finishing the point faster by taking more risk and not expending all efforts to chase down every ball.
Serving Strategies
- Using OnCourt data and live match statistics, game theoretic analysis can be used to determine how often a player should take more risk on the second serve prior and throughout a match in progress.
Game Theory Strategies
- Game theoretic analysis can be used to determine how often a player should serve-and-volley, chip-and-charge to the net and the direction of the serve.
Yoga Strategies
Roger Federer was winning a higher percentage of points on serve than his opponent but still losing Grand Slam matches due to not winning the important/pressure points and hence some degree of `choking’. By following yoga processes Federer would have won at least 4 more slams and potentially up to 10 more slams; and taken Federer to a total of at least 24 slams to put him somewhat ‘on par’ in total grand slams with Djokovic and Nadal (24 and 22 slams respectively). Given that every player has a certain level of anxiety, every tennis coach could adopt these yoga strategies amongst their coaching regimes (where players could be `close’ to being free of all anxieties known as Samadhi or Enlightenment and hence `very little’ choking on critical stages of the matches). To achieve results it has been identified that at least 7 years and possibly up to 11 years of yoga processes are required by an individual athlete. Hence, talent identification is required at a young age. These yoga processes have been identified below.
- Avoid meat, egg, mushroom, onion, garlic, chives, shallots, leek, alcohol, smoking, cannabis, caffeine, gambling, illicit drugs and illicit sex
- Milk products are necessary as you need your animal fats
- Weekly gardening, wrestling and swimming (preferably at the beach)
- Weekly hatha yoga, mindfulness, puja, kirtan, Japa, Arati, Tai chi, dharma talks, Bhagavatam talks, mathematics and arts-and-crafts
- Listen to music frequently
- Don’t accumulate wealth (build or donate to a foundation)
- 6 hours of sleep maximum per night
- Eat prasadam (spiritualized vegetarian food) and karma free milk products
- Read Krishna Consciousness books including the Bhagavad Gita As It Is (at least 3 times)