If you were to watch clay court tennis from the 1970s or the 1980s, you'd find a style of play that would seem a bit quaint by today's standards. The best clay courters of the day were using heavy topspin because the clay would allow those shots to jump up and it allowed consistency. When
I'll do one preview now and maybe a modified preview once the draw is out. This preview is primarily based on how players are playing now. Let's start with the top contenders for the French Open. Favorites Rafael Nadal You have to give Rafa the nod heading into the French. Although there were some issues
Now that the most important clay court tournaments are conclude (Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid) and Rafael Nadal has become the first player to win all three titles, we must ask: who can beat Nadal on clay? Before we try to answer that question, let's look at clay court tennis. You only have to go back
Although the Bryan brothers are as much the face of men's doubles, they know they play second fiddle to the big show, the first meeting between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in a year. This overshadowed a record-tying accomplishment. The Bryan brothers, who beat their rivals Zimonjic and Nestor, won their 61st title together. This
All things considered, Federer played pretty well. Expected to lose to Nadal, Federer actually broke Nadal a few times, had him in trouble. Nadal seemed poised to take a stranglehold in the match, but then Fed would break and leave the result in doubt. It always seems Fed was a bit behind and needed to
So it's come to this. A Federer-Nadal final. You'd think this would have happened some time ago, but it's been a year since they last met. At the time, Federer had a relatively straightforward win over Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals who, up to then, had not had a great clay season. Nadal,
There was something that was going to give. Either Federer's 9-0 record over Ferrer would end, or Federer would show he's still got some game left. There was some thought Ferrer might be able to topple Federer, partly because he's been the most "successful" clay court player this season, if you measure success purely by
Well, the final that people were hoping for, but thinking they might not get, might actually happen. At the beginning of Madrid, Roger Federer had lost to Albert Montanes, a player not even in the top 20, in the semifinals of Estoril. Federer's game in Estoril looked pretty much liked it did in Rome, which
It's fair to say that the Federer playing in Madrid is not the same Federer playing the last few months. But it's fair to say that this Ernests Gulbis was not the same that played Roger Federer a mere two weeks ago. Ah, the journey of Ernests Gulbis. Two years ago, many touted this man
Oh Roger, how could we doubt you? Just because you've been mishitting balls since Indian Wells, and then Miami, and then Rome, and then Estoril. You kept telling us "everything is fine--I'm having good practices", telling us not to panic. But how were we to know? If you could play like today, then what was
