The big clay court tournaments are done. There were three Masters 1000 tournaments: Monte Carlo, Rome, and Madrid (which replaced Hamburg).The top players are taking the week prior to the French to get ready for the second Grand Slam major of the year.There are, of course, some minor clay court tournaments being played this week,
Is Fed really back?If you were Federer's coach--and he's had none in quite a while, despite overtures to Darren Cahill--what would you suggest Federer do?You'd probably tell him to run around his backhand to counteract Nadal's constant barrage of serves to his backhand. You'd probably tell him to play long points and learn to be
The clay season leading to the French Open is nearly over. The third of the Masters 1000 clay events will have its final tomorrow. The three tournaments in 2009 are: Monte Carlo, Rome, and Madrid. Madrid was an indoors event but was recently changed to clay, held at the new Magic Box arena, replacing Hamburg
Madrid is the third and final Masters 1000 clay court tournament leading up to the French Open. Monte Carlo was the first and Rome was the second. Madrid was an indoors event last year, but it was moved to a clay tournament this year. Meanwhile, Hamburg was dropped from the Masters series. The official name
2008 was a big year for a number of players on the men's tour. Juan-Martin del Potro came from nowhere to land in the top 10. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga used an Australian Open finals appearance and a solid indoor season to move there too. Countryman, Gilles Simon, played remarkably steady during the hard-court and indoor season
Commentators recently pointed out that Andy Murray plays "classic defense". This is far from the truth. Classic defense was predicated on getting the ball back one more time. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was a superb classic defender. She didn't beat her rival, Steffi Graf, often, but when she did, it was due to her speed and ability
Estoril, Portugal ATP 250 1. Simon 2. Davydenko 3. Ferrer 4. Blake 5. Nalbandian 6. Fish 7. Montanes 8. Serra My Pick: David Ferrer Underdog Pick: JC Ferrero (great draw) As with most ATP 250's, it's weak. These are the sort of events that in the past Nalbandian and Davydenko have picked up their points,
Tennis was perhaps never so popular in the US as it was in the 1970s. The 1970s was a period of feminism and the fight for equal rights. No sporting event epitomized that more than the so-called Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs. On September 20, 1973, Billie Jean beat the
Barcelona Open, ATP 5001. Nadal2. Verdasco (pictured)3. Davydenko4. Ferrer5. Gonzalez6. Robredo7. Nalbandian8. Wawrinka9. Stepanek10. Almagro11. Safin12. Andreev13. Gasquet14. Soderling15. Berdych16. LopezMy pick: Nadal, of courseUnderdog pick: RobredoWell we're near the end of this tournament with some great matches and I'll say, few suprises. Gonzalez d. Verdasco in 3 tight sets. Not too much of a
Barcelona Open, ATP 5001. Nadal2. Verdasco (pictured)3. Davydenko4. Ferrer5. Gonzalez6. Robredo7. Nalbandian8. Wawrinka9. Stepanek10. Almagro11. Safin12. Andreev13. Gasquet14. Soderling15. Berdych16. LopezMy pick: Nadal, of courseUnderdog pick: Robredo... (no I'm not going out on much of a limb there)Into the round of 16, the seeds are holding strong and things are going to get pretty interesting.
