With the ATP World Tour Finals concluded, it's a good time to look back at the year in tennis. Yes, yes, there's still a Davis Cup final to be played, but we know enough to start looking back. Where we thought we were heading in 2012 At the end of every year, fans prognosticate about
Although Grigor Dimitrov has been called "Baby Fed" for some years, and was considered a promising junior having won two junior Slam titles (Wimbledon and US Open) back in 2008, his pro career has only really taken off since 2012. Up until then, he was struggling, like many pros, to play up to his moniker.
Before the semifinals started, some were asked who had the better chance for the upset: Richard Gasquet or Stan Wawrinka. Almost unanimously, it was Stan Wawrinka. Of the two, Wawrinka actually had tour wins over Djokovic, admittedly, only two, and admittedly, only early in their career. Gasquet, by contrast, was 0-10 against Nadal dating back
My discussion about Nadal will be mercilessly short, much like Nadal's match was over Tommy Robredo. Fans love trends--almost too much so. When Robredo beat Roger Federer (or more properly, when Federer beat himself), some fans felt Nadal was ripe for the picking, ready for defeat. After all, if Federer could go down, why can't
One stat that came up frequently prior to this match was the 10-0 record Federer had over Tommy Robredo. However, eight of those victories came in 2007 earlier. Since then, the two have only met twice, once in 2009 and once in 2011. Most of that has to do with issues that have afflicted many
Before we get started with how two of the top four players did today, let's review what happened this week. The grass season is among the shortest in the tennis calendar. There's the week after the French Open where Queen's Club (officially, the Aegon Championships) and Halle (officially, the Gerry Weber Open) are played. There's
There's something about Nadal that makes Federer fans edgy. Anytime they see an issue, say, a 4-set win over Brands or a 4-set win over Klizan, they think Nadal is vulnerable. They're waiting for him to falter. Surely, he can't recover. They create scenarios in their head about someone making that upset. People forget that
Andy Murray has always said clay is his weakest surface. He plays on the surface anywhere from 3-4 tournaments a year, and he didn't grow up on the surface. Prior to his work with Lendl, the clay didn't support his flatter, less aggressive style. Although Murray has been classified as a counterpuncher, he doesn't spin
The Cinderella story would have had aging Tommy Haas, frequently injured, getting some of his just due by beating world number 4, David Ferrer. Avid tennis fans will tell you that David Ferrer squeezes every bit of talent out of his diminutive body. Fans respect David Ferrer, but when push comes to shove, fans seem
With 2 of the "big 4" not playing Miami, and Djokovic upset by a player older than him, only Andy Murray headlines this tournament. Miami has chosen a peculiar form of night scheduling. At the US Open, they generally favor some Americans, and otherwise, top seeds. At Miami, they seem to put lower seeds, esp.
