Afternoon Greg: Roger Federer and other tennis star worship; D-List returns; Tony Award leftovers

It’s a day of catch up. So much happened yesterday that it is taking all damned day to process it all, transcribe notes and write about it. And yet it’s als0 very rich and satisfying because Sunday was a day dominated by two of my great passions in life: theater and tennis.

I was so tired from waking up at 6 a.m. to watch the French Open men’s final with my dad at his house in Huntington Beach that I nearly blew off attending the LA Tony Awards party thinking I’d maybe stay at dads and sleep the afternoon away then live blog as the telecast aired. Instead, bought a Diet Pepsi the size of my large head, got on the freeway and headed over to Skirball Center for the party.

So, so glad I did. I will have interviews trickling out over the next few days from the event so stay tuned!

FEDERER WILL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS: I can’t tell you how glorious it was to see Roger Federer win the elusive French Open. So satisfying for his legions of fans who have come to so admire this elegant superstar as he continues to make the case for being the greatest player of all time.

It’s not usual to root for a star who is dominating the game so now that Federer is ranked number two in the world and loses more these days, his support is even more immense because it makes him a bit of an underdog – especially against the powerful top player Rafael Nadal.

But even when Federer was on top, he still had that big support and was/is such a popular champion. It’s just one of those things: a player somehow connects with the public at certain times in their careers. Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert – top players in the 70s and 80s – are the only two stars who I can remember rooting for in any match they ever played.

Other favorites of mine happened over time. Martina Navratilova, for example, was a real villain to me in the mid-80s when she was beating Chrissie like clockwork. She was also an open lesbian and my closeted self at the time somehow resented her for it. But by the early 90s, I came to respect Martina for who she was on and off the court in a way I have no other player. She’s more than a superb athlete and champion, she is a hero. and her example of being out and proud when it was not easy to be was quite inspiring in my life. And I’m so lucky to have been able to interview Martina several times in recent years and to be able to tell her that.

I also rooted against Steffi Graf initially – including all during her grand slam year of 1988. But she won me over with her absolute courage in the 1991 Wimbledon final when she was on the brink of defeat against Gabriela Sabatini and found a way to win 8-6 in the third. From then on, I was firmly in Steffi’s corner because her competitiveness and never complain, never explain  manner. I agonized over her losses like the French Open finals in 1992 to Monica Seles and the 1994 US Open final to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. And when she had great epic victories, like Wimbledon 1995, US Open 1995, French Open 1996 and French Open 1999, i found myself in an exceptionally good mood for a day or two.

And so, with Federer’s victory still so fresh, I am in quite a good mood today.

KATHY GRIFFIN IS BACK: Well, she never went away but she’s back tonight with the Emmy-winning show that has given her a whole new kind of career: My Life on the D-List. Up until a year or so ago, Kathy was still maintaining that she was on the D-List which she indeed was on when the show debuted four years ago. But now she headlines at Madison Square Garden and the Kodak Theatre, wins Emmys, is nominated for Grammys, and hosts things like the A-List Awards and CNN’s New Year’s Eve show with Anderson Cooper.

Further cementing her A-list status: the divine Bette Midler is guesting on tonight’s fifth season premiere on Bravo.

“It’s kind of silly to make the show about what it was four years ago, which was I can’t get a job, I’m going to go do stand-up at gay rodeo,” Kathy said in an interview with The Boston Herald. “I mean, there are parts of that that are my life, but there’s also parts where, you know, I get to play two nights at the Wang. It’s a very different place than I was in four years ago.”

So this season, Griffin visits, among others, Lily Tomlin, Paula Deen, T.I., Gloria Estefan and Paris Hilton to get a glimpse into their lives. Hmmm. Paris Hilton? Maybe the show is retaining its D-list status after all.

“If you’re a celebrity and you’re even in my eye line or said hi to me, look out,” she said. “I will use trickery. I will do whatever it takes to get you on the ‘D-List.’ ”

TONY AWARD MISHAP: I apologize for not posting about the Tony Award show stage mishap that is being buzzed about today. I’ve been all immersed into the theater legends like Chita and Liza that I just didn’t much care about Poison singer Bret Michaels who was hit by a stage prop while performing a number from Rock of Ages. Above is the video of the moment.

ONE MORE TONY ITEM: One of Neil Patrick Harris’ more inspired Tony moments just went right over my head during the telecast. He returned from a commercial break eating sushi and said: “This gives you so much energy. You could do show after show, night after night.” It was a rather clever dig at actor Jeremy Piven who caused a real uproar during his brief time on Broadway by abruptly quitting Speed-the-Plow after complaining that he had gotten mercury poisening from – you guess it – eating too much sushi!