Oh, I had to do it. This is what happens when you have a name that ends in a word in the dictionary. Milos Raonic was, once again, in the semifinals of a tournament. He already had two solid wins. He beat Verdasco for the second time in consecutive tournaments in the opening round at
Perhaps Verdasco could have been forgiven for a loss to upstart Milos Raonic who made a splash with a fourth round appearance in the Australian Open as a qualifier. He had never played him before, and lost playing great service games, but was unable to win the tiebreaks, despite a 6-2 lead in the first
This one ended with a fan screaming during the serve causing Verdasco to miss the return. Even so, Raonic raised his hands in victory. Few people knew who Raonic was until the Aussie Open when he qualified then took an improbably trip to the fourth round only to lose to veteran, David Ferrer. It was
Robin Soderling, ranked number 4 in the world, reached that rank by playing consistently well in Slams and Masters 1000 events. He hasn't, however, won that many tournaments. Last year, he won Rotterdam (over Youzhny) and he won Paris. That was it. This year, barely a month into the new year, Soderling has won two
This is a bit of a surprise. del Potro already in the semifinals! Although Lleyton Hewitt is not quite the number 1 player he was a decade ago, he is still a guy that fights. But the one part of del Potro's game that contributed to his rise to the top 5 is also the
It's hard to recall the last time a player ranked as high as del Potro (a top 5 player) that was sideline for most of a year. del Potro played 3 tournaments in all of 2010. He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, then lost in two first round tournaments in the Asian swing
Wikipedia is an amazing resource for tennis. Whoever updates information about tournaments (and there are probably several people) do it lightning quick. Results are often posted in Wikipedia minutes after each round is complete. If you ever scan back to the mid 1980s and check the roster for the US Open, you'll see that up
Sometimes you watch a pro, and you see the way they plan to win. Other times, you wonder, how do they do it? Let's look at the number 1 and 2 in the world. How does Rafa win? Rafa wins with speed, precise hitting leading to instant offense, great shots on defense, and tenacity. Most
It was last year after a semifinal win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during a post-match interview with Jim Courier that Roger Federer said "I know he'd like to win a first for British tennis in, what is it? 150,000 years?". It was a light-hearted moment that was, nonetheless, a dig at his opponent, one that he
Roger and Rafa have made many players' lives miserable. That is, if you feel the best of the best should win Slam titles. The 2008 Australian Open was the last Slam that didn't have either Roger or Rafa in the final. Roger lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Roger had had mono and was
