We can only hope for a turnaround, but this seems unlikely.
A N Christie
Rotorua
Lantern dangers
On Tuesday morning I found a half burned-out Chinese lantern on my lawn.
Yes, nothing remarkable about that apart from wondering why anyone would want to light a lantern in the rain we had last night.
But it did set me thinking; suppose it had not been raining, suppose it had been like Australia, hot and dry?
Maybe this practice is okay in places that have very little dry countryside, but we are expecting a hot, dry summer - will we want burning lanterns floating around the countryside in those conditions? Just a thought.
Jim Adams
Rotorua
Federer meltdown
I enjoyed Joe Kay's tennis article, about Novak Djokovic beating Roger Federer in Cincinnati, but I thought he missed the point (Sport, August 21).
Kay opens by telling us that Federer has been Djokovic's nemesis (when in fact Djokovic leads in wins head-to-head).
Then we are treated to a quote from Djokovic thanking Federer for letting him win but the real story is the complete meltdown of Federer, as his game was thoroughly destroyed over the course of the match, leading to a code violation for swearing at the crowd.
Anyone who knows tennis knows that this is the end of an era. Federer, like the Colossus of Rhodes has fallen.
Until now Federer has been the untouchable darling of the well-to-do, the perfect gentleman who never breaks a sweat, the immaculately coiffed icon of A-List product lines: but his untimely, bad-tempered loss has added dross to his golden patina.
The real story is where will the smart sponsorship money go now? Who will the socially mobile support in 2019?
GJ Philip
Taupo
