Tennis is a year-round sport. The men used to play right into December. One of the worst decisions ever made was to put the Australian Open in December, often starting right around Christmas. As if it wasn't hard enough to convince pros to make the long trip to Australia, try making that trip during the
Today was a day of disaster which started off with a litany of injuries. Steve Darcis, who beat Rafael Nadal, had a shoulder injury and could not play his second round. Isner managed two games, but then retired in his match against Mannarino. Cilic did not play his match against Kenny de Schepper. Tsonga retired
Ernests Gulbis entered this match with a 13 match win streak over two tournaments including qualies in both rounds. He felt confident he could play with Rafa despite Rafa being able to claim 2 titles and 1 final on the "golden swing". That was clay, however, and this is hard courts. Here, Rafa is more
Novak Djokovic isn't the only one on a streak. A player that once trained at the same academy as the number 1 player is also on a streak, namely, Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis is certainly a mercurial player. Think Safin, Ivanisevic, or perhaps McEnroe from days of old. His career looks like the recovery parts of
There is a Greek myth story of Tantalus who was punished. There was a lake that would recede every time he would get too close. There were branches of fruit that would lift higher each time he tried to reach for it. From the character Tantalus comes the word tantalize. This is the promise of
There are three tournaments being played now. Two are ATP 500 events and one is an ATP 250. The ATP 500 events are Dubai and Acapulco. Four of the top 5 players in the world are playing in those tournaments. Djokovic and Federer played in Dubai. Nadal and Ferrer are playing in Acapulco. This leaves
The semifinals had to be all the tournament organizers could hope for. Federer, Djokovic, Berdych, and del Potro all made the semis as if they had a plane to catch. They won efficiently. That left the semis. On one half, there was 3-time champ, Novak Djokovic facing Juan Martin del Potro. On the other, there
If you hadn't watched Murray's first round match, a 62 64 61 straight set match over Alex Bogomolov, you would have thought he had a comfortable win, without too much stress, but it was anything but. Bogomolov was able to break Murray 4 times, quite impressive, given the lop-sided score in the Russian's favor, but
Everyone was pointing to how many matches Federer has won at Wimbledon and how few matches (like 0) that his opponent, Albert Ramos, had won. Given the effort Federer took to win matches at Roland Garros, he must have been thrilled giving up only 3 games. Defending champ, Novak Djokovic, fell an early break
John McEnroe looked at Donald Young and found a lot to like. He had been a number 1 junior. He's a lefty like Mac. He's a junior like Mac. And, he's African American. The women have the Williams sisters. The men, well, they had James Blake, but he peaked for a few years and is
