Players get frustrated. Racquets get bounced. Umpires are questioned or yelled at. Umpires have even been threatened, as in the 2009 US Open women's semifinals where Serena Williams infamously yelled at a lineswoman who had called foot fault on a second serve. Even then, Serena lost due to a point penalty at break point caused
It's rare for a match to end in a default. Even the famous Serena blowup incident where she threatened to shove a tennis ball down a ball-lady's throat in a semifinal against Kim Clijsters was not ended by a default (it was a point penalty that lead to a break of serve which ended the
Few people, outside the US, realize just how long the clay season is. The clay season begins just after the Australian Open with a swing through South and Central America. There is a small break as the two US Master 1000 hard court events are played in Indian Wells and Miami in consecutive weeks. Then,
It's funny how, in tennis, people like comparing pros of different eras. Perhaps if you put a gun to McEnroe's head, he would tell the truth, but Mac likes to say that Nadal and Borg would be about even and they would play long points. Even Tennis Channel had a show wondering how pros of
Ah, time zone differences. The continuation of the men's final was scheduled at 1 PM in Paris. This would be 7 AM in the east coast, but somehow I forgot I was in Central time (being at an ET clinic) which pushed the time to 6 AM. By the time I start searching for the
The last time Nadal was this dominant heading into a French Open final was 2008. He beat Thomaz Bellucci, then a qualifier, in the first round, then Nicolas Devilder, also a qualifier, then Jarkko Nieminen the 26th seed, then 22md seed and fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco. Nadal only dropped 3 games against 19th seed and
If Novak Djokovic wins his fourth consecutive Slam, not only will he achieve a career Slam, but also have won four consecutive Slams, he'll have beaten the same opponent in all four finals. The last time a male player won four consecutive Slams was the last time someone won a calendar Slam, and that was
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the top 3 women players were practically guaranteed smooth sailing until at least the quarterfinals. Players like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Steffi Graf would lose a game or two in early rounds when women could either not keep up with the consistency or the power or these top
Today, 3 of the 4 quarterfinalists were Spaniards. On the one hand, there was Rafael Nadal against Nicolas Almagro. Almagro's a hard hitter, but Rafa's battled with hard hitters and does a great job moving his opponents around. Add to that, he's never beaten Rafa. Rafa's played and beaten many a hard hitter including Berdych,
It was nearly a once in a lifetime event. Venus crossed the path of the sun in front of the Earth. And Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were nearly both upset on the same day at roughly the same time. French Open organizers were criticized for scheduling two big matches at the same time, though
