Before we get to Ivo Karlovic, let's head across the pond to Hamburg and recap the events that happened there. Hamburg is a tournament that used to be at the Master 1000 level. Perhaps due to Spain's increasing prominence on clay or due to Ion Tiriac's business savvy or some other factor, there was a
The major fallout of grass's demise as a competitive surface is the lack of a venue for grass court specialists to make a name for themselves. There are plenty of clay events around, small and large, that let players like Carlos Berlocq make a nice living on the tour. Let's quickly talk about the Argentine.
Ah, Wimbledon Wednesday, the day all the men play their quarterfinal matches. Unlike previous years, the quarterfinal matches were more of a surprise. No Nadal, no Federer, and no Tsonga will do that to a tournament. The matches are played two at a time. Two played on Centre Court, and two played on Number 1
Hopman Cup Let's start with an exo, only because I caught the tail-end of this. This is like a mini-Davis Cup. One man. One woman. Two singles. One mixed doubles. The finalists, this year, were Spain and Serbia. Of course, with Novak Djokovic, Serbia won the men's singles. Anabel Medina Garrigues then won a touch
This was a strange match, and Murray explained some of the reason he looked so lethargic in his win over Feliciano Lopez. Great Britain isn't known for its sunny, hot weather, so players like Murray generally heads to some place warmer--for Murray, it's Miami, so he can acclimate his body to the heat and humidity.
Roger Federer knows how dangerous it can be to play Alejandro Falla. Back in 2010, Federer was pushed to the brink, nearly losing to Falla in the first round of Wimbledon. Falla plays close to the baseline, has a pretty flat style, returns well. Basically, Falla plays a bit like Federer. Federer says that he
Tournament organizers must have crossed their fingers for a Djokovic-Nadal final. When Nadal fell to countryman, FernandoVerdasco, organizers must have hoped that the Federer-Djokovic semi would have to do. Only Djokovic didn't accommodate. Like Nadal, Djokovic had complained about the surface. And like Nadal, who lost to a countryman, Djokovic also lost to a countryman
Apparently, the late Vitas Gerulaitis once said "No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row" when he claimed a victory over Jimmy Connors. In those days, it was hard to find head-to-head stats, so Vitas may have been guessing how many times Connors had beaten him. In any case, good friend, Bjorn Borg
It was an improbable journey for both finalists at Delray Beach, as it often is. Two years ago, Ernests Gulbis won the event over Ivo Karlovic, and spearheaded one of his best starts in his troubled career. He would go on to beat Roger Federer and take a set off Nadal on clay which is
Here's a little discussion concerning off-court talk. First, there was the remarkable comeback by Bernard Tomic over Verdasco. Aussie commentator Darren Cahill felt like Verdasco's fitness would be too much especially as he went up two sets to none. Cahill was very impressed by Tomic's ability to hang in which Tomic attributes to playing possum.
