What began as an idle observation among the tour players transformed with time into an unspoken rule, and then a spoken rule, then a generally incontrovertible fact.
It didn’t start out as an active decision, for Jannik. At first, of course, he wasn’t playing in any finals. Sure, he won a few matches, but the sixth set isn’t for winners. It’s for tournament winners. Champions. And their runners up.
Later, when he won, he declined. When he lost, he was declined. No one desired him in that way. Long and lanky. Too quiet. Too cold. Too alien. An outlier. By the time that changed, helped along by a grand slam title and a gucci sponsorship, it was too late.
By that time, Jannik was untouchable.
Poised and professional, pious in his dedication to the game. Aloof, ascendant, and apparently all too alluring as a result.
The fact remains. Jannik Sinner doesn't play the sixth set. Because he doesn’t lose.
happy death race bonus scene: carlos is in his time loop and it's not going great
It's windy on Mont Agel.
"My cousin, he did eyeball therapy," Carlos shares.
Charles nods with understanding. "Caco got LASIK."
"No, no. Not him. My other cousin. We think he was, you know. A hit man. He had trauma. His therapy, you look at things or blink or something. It fixed his brain. I think I need eyeball therapy for my brain."
"Follow my finger," Charles encourages. He traces lines through the air with his index finger. He says, in a low, hypnotic voice, "Ferrari strategy will improve."
Carlos shakes his head morosely. He looks into the dolorous dawn of another day. "No, not that. I am plagued by death."
"Honestly, I just stopped checking world news," Charles discloses. "Why are your eyeballs doing that jumping thing? Did you start your hit man therapy already, Carlos?"
"Mucha cocaína," Carlos explains. "Will you be my pretend boyfriend? There will be no consequences."
Charles narrows his eyes and looks Carlos over in dubious consideration. "No. It may wake up something in me."
"One kiss. I beg you."
"It is possible. I'll call Alex."
"You have four minutes to decide. Vamos."
Carlos checks that they're in the right spot, dusts his shorts off, and makes some kind of rock nest like he's a penguin dad. He kicks it over.
Charles returns. "She says one kiss is fine, but she worries also that it may awaken something in me."
There are footsteps coming up the path. Carlos says, "Pretend I am ugly," and surges forward to capture Charles's mouth with his. He rucks up Charles's shirt, slots their legs together, and groans recklessly.
Behind them, Oscar says, "Oh. Shit. Sorry."
Charles springs back and almost falls off the mountain. He blinks owlishly.
"Oh. Sorry," Oscar repeats, mouth staying open after speaking. "Sorry," he says again, backing up. "I won't, like, I'm, um. Discreet. Yeah. Cool. Congrats. You're both, um. Very attractive. Like, a good match. Good for you. Sorry. So. Cool. Um, my sister is also---yeah, cool. I'm gonna--go."
When he disappears, Carlos smacks Charles's shoulder. His blood feels full of fizz. "Attractive," he repeats smugly. "Did he look jealous?"
"Jealous?" Charles is breathing rapidly. "What? No." He bends on his haunches and breathes through his knees. "But I fear I am awake."
i think the reason im so unmoved by kimi antonelli and his success this year is that in his f1 career, there has been little to no struggle and that makes him fundamentally unrelatable to me. dont get me wrong, im completely astounded by his ability to perform on track (even if its helped by his luck and having the fastest car) but being the championship leader in his sophomore season is infinitely less compelling to me than his counterpart, george, who has clawed his way up from lower teammate and earned his spot at a top team only to be brushed off as automatic second seat to his seven time champion teammate but then when he finally has the opportunity to prove himself as a first seat driver at an incredibly fast team, hes pushed to the side by his prodigy teammate. george winning would be an amazing case of proving everyone wrong and being the best DESPITE the people hes been measured up again, DESPITE what people think and say about him, DESPITE every obstacle put in his way. winning in the face of adversity, of hardship, of extreme unluckiness, thats such a testament to keep trying, to continuing on, to getting up and getting closer when youve been pushed aside time and time again... is that not far more relatable to any regular person rather than being the best from the jump? i dont know. to me, it is.
I mean... has anyone seen any reports from Fox a month ago about Max asking Charles if he'd like to join in GT races together, but Charles couldn't because of his Ferrari contract🤯🤯
