Ever since the draw came out, a draw that was partly determined by Murray's slip in the rankings from 4 to 5, and Murray found himself in the same quarter as Nadal, this quarterfinal matchup was the most hotly anticipated. On the one hand, there was Andy Murray. Long touted as the most talented of
Andy Roddick is a man playing against time. For him, 2003 must seem like forever ago. Back then, he was young. He was impetuous. He was on top of the world. He had won his first Slam, at the US Open, over Juan Carlos Ferrero, and he had no reason not to believe more titles
With less than a week before the finals, the tournament heads into the second week. This is a good time to look at the contenders and see how the field is doing. Let's go from top to bottom. Roger Federer had a tough opening round, nearly pushed to five sets against Igor Andreev. Although Andreev
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had never played Nicolas Almagro. It almost didn't seem like a fair fight. Almagro, after all, had a broken wrist. But fortunately, it was his left wrist that was broken, and he's a righty with a one-handed backhand. Almagro's known for his big serve and power hitting, but Tsonga is the flash Frenchman.
For those who don't know Nikolay Davydenko's record against Fernando Verdasco, they might think the flashy Spaniard would have a good shot beating Davydenko. And yet, the head-to-head record is 6-1 to Davydenko. Historically, Davydenko's ability to take the ball off the rise has neutralized the big-hitting Verdasco. Still, Verdasco is in the top 10,
When Andy Roddick looks back at his career, he may not be able to point to many Slams. So far, his Slam resume has been stuck at one for a very long time, the 2003 US Open. But perhaps the one thing he'll be proud of is staying in the top 10 since then. Since
Sometime in the 1990s, Mary Carillo, she of the flowery phrases, coined a term "big babe tennis". Carillo was already observing a trend in women's tennis. Dainty, petite players like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin were being supplanted by big women. Big often implied two things. "Big babes" were tall, often around 6 feet tall
They say the second week of any Slam is where the big boys come to play. Nowhere is this more literal than Day 7 of the Australian Open. Today, the tallest men left in the draw were all on tap. First up, John Isner. John Isner stands 6'9" with some claiming he's taller than that.Â
Day 6 saw the top men in a game of one-ups-manship. Anything you can do, I can do better. Roger Federer played 31st seed Albert Montanes. Montanes is a veteran of the tour having played for a little over 10 years. Perhaps like Ivo Karlovic, Montanes is playing some of his best tennis ever. Sure,
Looking through the draw of any Slam, you're likely to notice a lot of Spaniards. And a lot of Frenchman. Who knew the Pyrenees would divide two prolific tennis playing countries?  You wouldn't see a lot of Americans, certainly, not many top 50 Americans, and it might lead you to ask "What happened to all
