Australian Open Finals Week: Federer vs Nadal Possible Again 🎾

Both Federer and Nadal are alive in the draw entering finals week — a matchup tennis has not seen at a Slam since 2011. The Norman Brookes and Akhurst Cups will lift Sunday. What perpetual-cup briefs can borrow.

Pineapple Finial Has Eight Decades of Reach

The Norman Brookes Cup carries a small pineapple at the top — a Victorian symbol of hospitality borrowed from Wimbledon’s Gentleman Cup. Eighty-three years later, that detail still photographs cleanly. The lesson for your perpetual cups: borrow one small heritage element rather than a whole derivative look. The reference signals taste; the copy signals laziness.

Two-Stage Lift Is Coached, Not Spontaneous

Watch any Slam final and the champion lifts the cup low first, then high — never just heaves it overhead. Slam organizers brief winners briefly before the trophy ceremony. For your own perpetual cup, the awarder should walk the winner through a lift pattern 30 seconds before the camera rolls. Iconic photos are coached.