Carlsen Retains World Chess Champion Title By Winning Tiebreak

Wow! On his 26th birthday, Magnus Carlsen was able to defend his world chess championship title over a challenge from Russian Sergey Karjakin by winning the 4-game rapid chess (25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move) match 3-1 today. After two draws, Carlsen won the last two games, finishing the very last game with a flashy Queen sacrifice which forces mate in two moves! (Do you see it?)

2016 World Chess Championship Tied At 6-All; Tiebreaker Games To Be Played Wednesday

The 2016 World Chess Championship is going on right now in New York City. The current champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who turns 26 on Wednesday while the challenger is Sergey Karjakin is already 26 and was born in the Ukraine but is representing Russia.

After 12 games (with only 2 decisive games, Karjakin won game 8 with Black while Carlsen won game 10 with white) the two are tied with 6 points each. On Wednesday, they will play in several short tiebreaker games to decide who the new World Champion is. Carlsen is expected to have the slight edge, since he has won the World Rapid Championship twice.

EYE CANDY: Fabrice Lemonnier (reprise)

Fabrice Lemonnier has appeared as Eye Candy once before (October 24, 2016). He is a bodybuider and model from France. He has accounts on Instagram (@fabricelemonnier) and snapchat (fabcherry78).  That last screenname would give the impression that he was born in 1978, which would make him 38 but I have no confirmation of any information (age, height, weight, sexual orientation) regarding Fabrice. (If you know any thing about him, drop a note in the comments!) Regardless, I love that ink!

2016 DAVIS CUP: Argentina Stuns Croatia As Delpo and Delbonis Win Last 2 Matches To Clinch Nation's 1st Win

Wow! The 2016 tennis season ended with a bang on Sunday as Argentina won its very first Davis Cup (in its 5th appearance in the final) when Juan Martin Del Potro and Federico Delbonis won two must-win matches to give their country a 3-2 win in the Davis Cup final over Croatia, in Zagreb.
The day began with Del Potro coming back from 2 sets to none down for the first time in his career against World #8 Marin Cilic to win in 5 sets: 6-7(4), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in 4 hours 43 minutes. This is the third time this year Cilic has had a 2-0 set advantage in a five-set match and ended up losing it (Wimbledon quarterfinal against Roger Federer and the USA vs Croatia rubber versus Jack Sock.)

But Delbonis' feat was even more amazing. He had to win a live fifth rubber against a higher ranked opponent, playing at home. The 26-year-old lefty Argentine is ranked 41 in the world and is known as a solid clay court player but he defeated the 37-year-old 6-foot-11 Ivo Karlovic (World #20) in straight sets: 6-3 6-4 6-2. Karlovic leads the tour in aces and has the #2 best serve (behind John Isner) but it was Delbonis who never had his serve broken in the match.

Argentina was in the Davis Cup final in 1981, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2016, finally winning it for the first time this year. Croatia won it once before in 2005. Last year Great Britain won

THE EXPANSE (S1E08): "Salvage"

The eighth episode of season 1 of The Expanse was titled "Salvage" and aired for the first time on January 26, 2016.  Here (finally!) is my review of this episode. I rewatched "Salvage" again the weekend after Thanksgiving

S1E08: Salvage.

The title of the episode most likely stems from the fact that the crew of the Rocinante finds a deserted ship, the Anubis, attached to a barren rock at the remote coordinates Fred Johnson sent them to on a rescue mission. On boarding the craft, which looks identical to the powerful and stealthy space ships which destroyed both the Canterbury in episode 1 ("Dulcinea")  and the Donnager in episode 4 ("CQB"), the crew discovers that it is abandoned and deserted. However, when they turn the power on, a strange blue glowing organism (which looks alien to my eyes but which no one on the show describes as such) appears to start growing (and glowing) more energetically. They hurriedly leave the ship and over the objections of the spy/hostage/stowaway Kenzo they fire a missile at the Anubis, turning it to fiery slag as they head towards Eros. 

Eros is where Miller is going, having been fired in episode 7, he is continuing with his obsession with finding out what happened to Julie Mao, albeit now as a private citizen with a lot of friends in law enforcement due to his status as an ex-cop himself. He runs into Sematimba, an Eros cop, who bails him out after Miller beats up a guy to get information on where Julie's ship, the Anubis 1A is docking and where the registered owner, "Lionel Polanski" is holed up. Of course, that's the same name of the person that Holden and crew are looking for and they both arrive at a flophouse where a bunch of very heavily armed thugs attempts to put bullets through every member of the crew. (Earlier in the episode we had seen that Errinwright on Earth confirmed to Avasarala that his attempt to assassinate Holden was going to take place on Eros, which he referred to as the murder capital of the Solar System.) Holden and his crew are saved by Amos' quick instincts and Miller's entry into the battle at a crucial moment. Finally, Miller and Holden,the two protagonists of the two key threads of the story meet, and of course immediately clash. The entire crew (plus Miller) go up to Polanski's room and there they find Julie, clearly dead for days, with very strange (clearly) alien growths coming out most of her orifices.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The fight sequence at the Blue Falcon Hotel is really well done, as the tension rises higher and higher as the audience knows that a "hit" is going to happen and so we view every passer-by with suspicion (which appears to be what Amos does as standard operating procedure). The eventual gun battle is bloody but exciting.
• The dialogue between Holden and Naomi as they navigate through the eerily empty (but clearly dangerous) environment of the Anubis is a fun signal of future development in their relationship because it shows they have clearly moved from blatant hostility to grudging respect and perhaps even camaraderie.

LOWLIGHTS

• Avarasala only appears in one scene this episode but she infuses it with great emotion as she discovers that her friend, the former Ambassador to Mars (whom she betrayed in order to get useful intelligence for Earth about Martian intelligence) has been found dead, listed as a suicide.

GRADE: 8/10.

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Is People's Sexiest Man Alive

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been named the 2016 People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. Johnson, 44, is 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds and is the largest person to receive this recognition. According to The New York Times, he is currently Hollywood's highest paid male actor. Interestingly, other people who have been named the Sexiest Man Alive are Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon and Denzel Washington.

BOOK REVIEW: A Night Without Stars (Chronicle of the Fallers, #2) by Peter F. Hamilton

A Night Without Stars is the sequel to The Abyss Beyond Dreams, which is the latest entry in Peter Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. The Commonwealth saga takes place in the fictional Universe of some of Hamilton's greatest works, whch include the great duopoly Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained and the Void trilogy (The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void).

A Night Without Stars is a somewhat inconsistent but very enjoyable entry in the Commonwealth saga. There is a very strong ending (with cameo appearances by some of the most famous and beloved figures in Hamilton's recent oeuvre) rescues this entry in the Commonwealth saga from relative obscurity.

One of the most exciting aspects of this new duopoly is the completely new setting of the planet of Bienvenido and the interesting possibilities for new plots and characters this allows a grandmaster of science fiction like Hamilton to create. There is a huge twist that happens about halfway through A Night Without Stars that I kicked myself for not seeing (it's even hinted at in the prologue!) which guarantees that any Hamilton fan will enjoy reading this book. However, there are some definite drawbacks in the book as well. There are some clumsily written (heterosexual) sex scenes between some of the new primary characters that were a bit cringe worthy.

Hamilton's primary strength, in my opinion, has typically been his imaginative portrayals of a technologically complex world, coupled with intensely violent and action-packed conflicts between (often alien) intelligences with competing (and competitive) ideologies. There are definite stretches of the book which are pulse-pounding scenes of action, but there are also stretches of the book bogged down in prosaic depictions of political intrigue with one-dimensional characters.

Overall, I'm very glad that Hamilton is writing in the Commonwealth universe again and would LOVE him to write many more books in this series. However, the way the book ends, it feels like he is ready to move on to something else, However, for some reason this doesn't bring me sadness, it makes me feel gratitude at how much he has already created that I have enjoyed for so long.

Title: A Night Without Stars (Chronicle of the Fallers, #2).
Author: Peter F. Hamilton.
Paperback: 720 pages.
Publisher: Del Rey.
Date Published: September 27, 2016.
Date Read: October 13, 2016.

GOODREADS RATING: ****.

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A.

2016 ATP YEC: Murray Beats Djokovic To Win Title, Claim Year-End #1

Defying expectations and predictions, Andy Murray was able to defeat Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 to win his very first ATP World Tour Finals in London on Sunday. The win cemented the British player's hold at #1 and insured that he will end the year ranked #1 for the very first time. It was Murray's 24th consecutive match win and he now improves to 11-24 against his chief rival.

Amazingly, Andy's brother Jamie Murray is ranked #1 in doubles (with partner Bruno Soares), so the two have become the first brothers to simultaneously top the tennis rankings in singles and doubles.

This is how their mother Judy Murray marked the occasion:

The way they were....... pic.twitter.com/oSJVs5fEC9

— judy murray (@JudyMurray) November 20, 2016

Congrats, Andy!

EYE CANDY: Joshua Benoit (reprise)

Joshua Benoit has appeared as Eye Candy once before (October 17, 2016). He is a Haitian-American model and body-builder. Yes, those are 20" arms. Joshua is listed as being 6-feet tall and 215 pounds.

Enjoy!

2016 ATP YEC Final: Djokovic-Murray XXXV To Decide Year-End #1 Ranking

The race for the year-end #1 comes down to a historic meeting between world #1 Andy Murray and World #2 Novak Djokovic in the very last  tour match of the year! After playing against each other in two major finals (2016 Australian Open and 2016 French Open) this year the two will play their 35 career ATP match in the final of the 2016 ATP year-end championship. Murray is playing in his very first ATP Tour Finals final while Djokovic is trying to win his 6th year-end championship and for the fifth consecutive year!

Murray has won his last 23 matches in a row, which has led him to a career-high #1 ranking but in the last six months where he has been ascendant (winning Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics singles gold medal and multiple Masters shields) he has not had to face any other members of the big Four (Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were injured and Djokovic was curiously  unproductive this fall). However, in his semifinal match, Murray played an intense 3-hour-38-minute match with Milos Raonic (who will end the year at World #3), saving 1 match point in the third-set tiebreaker and winning 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(9) in what some are calling one of the best matches of the year. (It was the longest match ever at the year-ending championship, a record that Murray had set just a round before when he won another epic match in 3-hours-21 minutes against Nishikori. In contrast, Djokovic dismantled World #5 Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-1 in just over 66 minutes to get the right to retake the World #1 ranking and end the year at the top for the third consecutive year.

I'm glad that this is a 3-set match. Despite the fact that Djokovic has a 24-10 head-to-head record and appears to be playing some of his best tennis right now I still think this is Murray's best chance to beat him in a long time. It should be noted that 2 of the 3 major finals Murray has one he did it over Djokovic. But it will not be easy. I think the more likely result is a straight sets win by Djokovic. If Murray wins the first set, then I think he has a slightly better than 50% chance to win the match. But Djokovic has beaten Murray in all 4 indoor hard court matches they have played and leads him 3-1 in the four finals they played so far this year.

MadProfessah's pick: Djokovic.

2016 ATP YEC: Semifinals are Djokovic vs Nishikori, Murray vs Raonic

The semifinals of the ATP Tour Finals in London are now set with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori reaching the final four of the year's most prestigious tournament. Surprisingly, 2016 US Open champion Stan Wawrinka did not make the semifinal round for the first time in his five appearances in the year-end championships.

Both Murray and Djokovic won their respective groups by winning all three of their matches in the round-robin portion of the tournament. Murray beat Nishikori, Wawrinka and Marin Cilic while Djokovic beat Raonic, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin (who substituted for Gael Monfils). Murray is now on a 22nd match winning streak, and is now the #1 player in the world. He will face Raonic in the first semifinal (a reprise of the 2016 Wimbledon final won by Murray) and he has won their last 7 meetings and leads the head-to-head 8-3. Djokovic faces Nishikori, whom he has beaten 7 times in a row since losing the 2014 US Open semifinal match, and leads the head-to-head 10-2.

If they both win their semifinal matches the two will face each other for the 35th time, with the year-end #1 ranking going to the winner. Djokovic leads their rivalry 24-10 and has beaten Murray in most of their most crucial meetings (including in 4 major finals) but Murray is playing the best tennis of his life and if there's any time he can turn this rivalry around it is in London while riding a career-high win streak. An exciting end to the tennis year!

TENNIS TUESDAY: ATP YEC HALFWAY OVER, CZECH WIN FED CUP

ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS HALF OVER: Murray, Djokovic, Raonic, Thiem, Nishikori All Notch Victories
The year-end championships of the ATP tour are underway in London with the 8 players who had the best results in 2016. Novak Djokovic has won this tournament the last four consecutive years and needs to do so again in order to end the year ranked #1. Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka are in one round-robin group (named after JohnMcEnroe). The other round-robin group, which is named after Murray's coach Ivan Lendl, contains Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils. Halfway through the tournament, everyone except Monfils, Cilic and Wawrinka have won at least one match.

Czech Republic Captures Fed Cup After Bravura Performance From Strycova
As I mentioned on Sunday, Babrora Strycova demonstrated her nerves of steel for the second consecutive year, coming up victorious in the fifth doubles rubber to power the Czech team for its 3rd consecutive Fed Cup and fifth title in 6 years. (In 2013 Italy beat Russia 4-0 to win the title.)

Andy Murray Relishes His 2nd Week As World #1, Trying To Win 9th Title in 2016
Andy Murray became World #1 last Monday after he reached the finals of the Paris Masters tournament. Murray eventually won his 8th title of the year by defeating John Isner in the final.

QUEER QUOTE: President-elect Trump Says His Position on Same-Sex Marriage is "Irrelevant"

Today's Queer Quote is from President-elect Donald Trump who  on said in an interview that aired on 60 Minutes last Sunday night that his position on marriage equality is "irrelevant" because the issue is "settled." He might want to alert Vice-President-elect Mike Pence of this public policy position.

This excerpt from the transcript of Trump's remarks regarding marriage equality are our Queer Quote for today:

LESLEY STAHL: Well, I guess the issue for them is marriage equality. Do you support marriage equality?
DONALD TRUMP: It---it's irrelevant because it was already settled. It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it's done.
LESLEY STAHL: So, even if you appoint a judge that---
DONALD TRUMP: It's done.  It -- you have -- these cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled. And--I'm--I'm fine with that.

The National Organization for Marriage clearly doesn't agree with Trump that this issue is "settled." We shall see!

EYE CANDY: Aaron Turner

D. Arnez is the name Aaron Turner seems to go under when he models. He is another find from the fine folks at Pop Glitz.  He is active on multiple social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter (@DeeoneeArnez) and Instagram (@d.arnez).

2016 Fed Cup: Czech Wins 3rd Year In A Row; 5 of last 6

For the third year in a row the Czech Republic won the Federation Cup, the annual country-based tennis competition on the women's tour. Just like last year, the title came down to the fifth tie, the doubles match, and again Barbora Strycova was the Most Valuable Player, in providing the third point for her team and country.

This year, Czech faced France, and although Caroline Garcia was able to upset 2-time major champion Petra Kvitova and 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova she was unable to win the doubles tie with her partner Kiki Mladenovic when Pliskova teamed with Strycova.

Czech Republic has now won the Fed Cup title every year except 2013 since 2011.

4 Days After #ElectionDay: Clinton 228, Trump 290. MI(16),NH(4) Uncalled!

It is now 4 days after Election Day and the full results in the presidential election are still not known. Donald Trump is the president-elect of the United States because he has won more vote in enough states to claim more than 270 electoral votes. However, Hillary Clinton now leads by over  600,000 votes in the popular vote total; this is expected to swell to over 1 million by the time California certifies its results in December. Currently, they have only tabulated roughly 9 million votes in a state where 12 million people votes in 2012 and Clinton leads 2-to-1.

Since I blogged last on Wednesday, Arizona (11 electoral votes) was called definitively for Trump on Friday even though he won there relatively handily 49-44 in what used to be thought of as a non-swing state. In Michigan, Trump leads by roughly 13,000 votes out of 4.7 million votes cast. In New Hampshire (4 electoral votes) Clinton, is ahead by a narrow total of 2528 votes out of 700,000 cast. The U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire (which, at an estimated total of $100 million spent, was the most expensive of the year) was decided in Governor Maggie Hassan's favor over incumbent Kelly Ayotte by a mere 743 votes! Ayotte has surprisingly conceded the race without requesting a recount.

Stay tuned!

2016 ELECTION: Trump 279, Clinton 228. AZ(11),MI(16),NH(4) Uncalled

Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the United States  last night this morning when Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were called for the GOP candidate, eliminating Hillary Clinton's path to 270 electoral votes, as Trump surpassed that threshold.. Like in 2000, the Democratic candidate will win the popular vote, but lose in the electoral college. The 27 electoral votes of Arizona (11) and Michigan (16), New Hampshire (4) are still close to call but Trump is leading there. He also won a rare electoral college vote in the North East by wining Maine's 2nd congressional district.

SCRUFF Poll Of #GBTQ Men: 79% Clinton, 11% Trump

Somehow I was contacted by the good guys at Scruff (one of those location-based mobile phone apps that gay men use to connect with each other) to present some "Scrufftistics" about a non-scientific poll they conducted from October 28-31, 2016 about the 2016 election with nearly 13,000 respondents. It shows that among "GBTQ" (gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) men that 79% would vote for Hillary Clinton while only 11% would vote for Donald Trump. It should be interesting to see what exit polls of the electorate say about the LGBTQ vote and how (and whether) there will be a difference between these polls (I expect there will be).

There's a now-famous map from 538.com starkly depicting the gender gap between the 2016 presidential candidates. If only men voted the electoral map would look like this:

However, the Scruff data shows that if only gay men voted the map would look like this:

Although the Scruff data also indicates that in 5 states Trump would get more than 20% of the GBTQ vote Louisiana (28.32%), Wyoming (27.78%), North Dakota (23.08%), Alabama (20.48%)
and Delaware (20%).

Again, note that this is a non-scientific poll. There's no guarantee the respondents actually have any correlation with the broader population of GBTQ men in the United States (for example, 95% of respondents said they were registered to vote). Scruff asked age information (over 55% were between 35-54), income information (over 30% claimed over $100k annual salary) and religious affiliation (over 50% said they were not religious) but did not ask about race/ethnicity, which in my opinion was a lost opportunity.

Overall, I found the scruff survey contained an interesting snapshot of the LGBTQ community. I hope to see more information like this in the future.

Today is #ElectionDay! Clinton 0.716, Trump 0.284

Today is (finally!) election day in America. The final 538.com election prediction has a 71.6% chance of winning for Clinton-Kaine and a 28.4% chance of winning for Trump-Pence. This is slightly up from previous days in the last week, when 3 days ago Trump's chances of becoming president were just above 35%. All will be revealed tonight!

1 Day Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.658, Trump 0.342

Tomorrow is Election Day! With 1 day of the 2016 presidential race remaining, Clinton-Kaine have a 65.8% chance of winning, while Trump-Pence have a 34.2% chance of success, according to 538.com.

EYE CANDY: Camell Page (black/white)

Camell Page has appeared as Eye Candy before (October 3, 2016). Camell is described at his website as a "Football player turned fitness trainer turned model." His stats are 5-foot-11, 185-pounds with an age range of "24-30." Whatever age he is, he's still phyne!

2 Days Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.649, Trump 0.35

Today's snapshot of the 538.com probability of who will win the election on Tuesday November 8th is being posted late because I travelled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The current numbers are Clinton-Kaine 64.9% and Trump-Pence 35%, which are essentially unchanged from yesterday but very different from what they were 2 weeks ago.

2016 PARIS MASTERS: Murray Reaches World #1, Will Face Isner in Final

Andy Murray will be the new World #1 on Monday November 7, thanks to a withdrawal by Milos Raonic from the 2016 Paris Masters, allowing him to reach the final, which gives him just five more ATP ranking points than former World #1 Novak Djokovic. If he wins the final, Murray will gain another 400 points. Murray is 72-9 on the year and has won 7 titles so far (tied with Djokovic, who achieved the career grand slam earlier this year). Murray had held the #2 ranking for a total of 76 weeks (in 7 discontinuous stints) before reaching #1.

From ATPworldtour.com:

On Monday, at 29 years, 5 months and 23 days, the Dunblane native will be the 26th player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since 1973) and the second-oldest player (John Newcombe, 30 years, 11 days, on 3 June 1974) to debut at No. 1 in the official rankings in men's tennis. He is the 15th European player to rank No. 1 and owns the ATP World Tour record for most time between becoming No. 2 and No. 1, having debuted at No. 2 on 17 August 2009.

Murray is the 26nd person to hold the #1 spot in the history of the ATP rankings (since 1973). Now the entire Big Four Djokovic (223 weeks), Roger Federer (302 weeks) and Rafael Nadal (141 weeks) have all reached the Top spot. It is likely that the battle for the very top of men's tennis will be between Djokovic and Murray for the next few years, two rivals who were born just 1 week apart in 1987.

On Sunday the new #1 will face John Isner, who defeated Marin Cilic (in straight sets!) in the final of the Paris Masters. Isner is playing in his 3rd Masters final while Murray is trying to win his 3rd of the year an dis playing in his 21st Masters final overall (13-7). Murray has a 7-0 undefeated head-to-head record against the top-ranked American, and has beaten him twice this year without losing a set. Isner is playing some of his best tennis of the year and is currently at World $#19 and could end the year at #15 if he wins the title.

MadProfessah's prediction: Murray.

3 Days Until #ElectionDay : Clinton 0.647, Trump 0.352

2016 PARIS MASTERS: Cilic-Isner and Murray-Raonic In Semis With #1 Ranking In Play

The semifinals of the BNP Paribas Paris Masters have now been set. The first surprise that Novak Djokovic is not there--he was upset in straight sets by Marin Cilic, which means that Andy Murray can become new World #1 if he reaches the final. The semifinals are Cilic versus John Isner (who dismissed fellow American Jack Sock in the quarterfinals to retake the American #1 slot) and Milos Raonic versus Murray. Murray dismissed Tomas Berdych, ending the Czech's chances of qualifying for the year-end championships, while Raonic did the same for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That mens that the 8th and final slot will be take by Dominic Thiem.

4 Days Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.684, Trump 0.315

Source: FiveThirtyEight.com

WATCH: Final Trailer for Arrival (In Theaters 11/11)

Next week, Friday November 11th is when Arrival finally hits movie theaters! The other half and I will be in Arlington but I definitely intend to see it on opening day. The movie is helmed by one of my favorite directors Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario) and stars Oscar-nominated actors Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker. It's about the sudden arrival of aliens and the importance of communication.

5 Days Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.669, Trump 0.331

Source: FiveThirtyeight.com

6 Days Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.707, Trump 0.292

Source: FiveThrtyEight.com

TENNIS TUESDAY: Murray Gunning For ATP #1; Kerber Ends Year As WTA #1; Domi Dazzles

DOMI CIBULKOVA RELISHES HER WTA TOUR FINALS WIN
Dominka Cibulkova won the biggest title of her career by blowing out World #1 Angie Kerber in straight sets in the finals of the WTA Tour Finals in Singapore. The result brought her to a career-high ranking of World #5, which was a significant increase from her start at the beginning of the year at #38. The 6-3 6-4 win brought her more prize money in one match than she had won for the rest of the  year. And she looked fabulous afterwards!

ANDY MURRAY KEEPS RACE FOR #1 ALIVE WITH VIENNA TITLE WIN
Andy Murray now has a plausible way of finally reaching the World #1 ranking before the end of the year. Because current World #1 Novak Djokovic has not had his typically excellent fall tennis season while Murray is currently on a 14-match winning streak, and has reached 10 finals in the last 11 matches. If Murray wnis the Paris Masters this week and Djokovic fails to get to the final then Murray will have more ranking points as the ATP World Tour finals begin on November 13.

ANGIE KERBER ENDS 2016 AS SINGLES #1; MIRZA ENDS YEAR AS DOUBLES #1
After Serena Williams decided not to compete in the WTA Tour Finals, Angelique Kerber was essentially ceded the year-end #1 ranking. The #1 doubles ranking for 2016 ended up going to Sania Mirza who earned it despite not defending her 2015 WTA Finals doubles title with Martina Hingis. If American Bethanie Mattek-Sands could have reached #1 if she and Lucie Safarova  had not lost the final agaist the Elenas (Makarova and Vesnina) who added to the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal with the 2016 WTA Tour final title.

RAFA NADAL CUT CORD ON 2016 SEASON AND OPENS UP HIS TENNIS ACADEMY
Rafael Nadal announced on October 20th that he would not play again this year. The 30-year-old, 14-time major champion had a 39-14 record in 2016 and won two titles. Rafa opened his official tennis academy in his hometown of Manacor, Mallorca the day before. Roger Federer, his great rival, who cut the cord on his 2016 season in July, was also present at the grand opening of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar.

1 Week Until #ElectionDay: Clinton 0.738, Trump 0.262

The 2016 presidential election is just one week (7 days!) away. The 538.com forecast shows a significant movement towards the Trump-Pence ticket from last week's numbers. Right now, Clinton-Kaine has a 73.8% chance of winning the presidency, while Trump-Pence is 26.2% (which is up from last week's 13.8%).