Before the French Open, no one expected Rafa to relinquish number 1. He won the Australian Open. Despite the defeat at Madrid, many wondered if Roger was really ready to take on Nadal at the French Open in a best of 5 set match. Most people didn't expect Nadal to lose before the finals, and
Novak Djokovic has been flying underneath the radar at Wimbledon. For a while, it looked like Djokovic was regaining the form that he had lost when he switched racquets from Wilson to Head. He retired in a match against Andy Roddick, and his spotty play seemed attributable to his new stick.When the clay season rolled
James Blake is an aggravating player. In style, he vaguely resembles Federer, but lacking Federer's mental resolve, his creativity, and his ability to make amazing shots. Blake is a shotmaker, no doubt. He hits harder than most players on tour, but it comes at a price. Errors.Although Blake showed signs of doing well on grass
We've all experienced "deer in the headlights" syndrome when facing a big serve or at the net with a passing shot on the way. Today I give some advice on how to avoid this freeze. Our second topic is a discussion on how to better hit a topspin ground stroke when the ball
Making picks for a Grand Slam event is hard. Few of us have the time or desire to sit, looking at all the factors that go into picking a player to make it far into the tournament.There are several ways to make the pick. For the winner, you look at the top seeds, or the
Rafael Nadal, world number 1 and defending Wimbledon champ, has just announced a bombshell. He has withdrawn from Wimbledon. Nadal has had knee tendonitis for several months. Although he did not blame it for his French Open loss to Robin Soderling, he had been out of sorts since Madrid. Nadal had withdrawn from Queen's Club
Wimbledon released its draw today. I'll give early thoughts and more complete ones later, but there appears to be a lot of intrigue early on.The biggest question, which may be answered today, is whether Nadal chooses to defend his title. After a more casual practice week than usual, Nadal played Hewitt in an exhibition and
Rafael Nadal was scheduled to play two exhibitions prior to Wimbledon to test his knees. On Thursday, he was scheduled to play Lleyton Hewitt. On Friday, he is scheduled to play Stanislas Wawrinka.Nadal suffered a loss against Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 6-3. His coach and uncle said it's difficult for Nadal to play. Reports say Nadal
Today, Wimbledon announced the seeds for the men and women. Wimbledon has traditionally picked seeds based on its own formula, favoring players that have played well historically and tweaking based on recent performance.They did so again. Here are the seeds:1 Rafael Nadal (ESP)2 Roger Federer (SUI)3 Andy Murray (GBR)4 Novak Djokovic (SRB)5 Juan Martin del
It happens in every Grand Slam. Someone makes it to the quarterfinals that you wouldn't expect. Last year at Wimbledon, the surprise semifinalist was Marat Safin. People predicted it would lead to a resurgence in his career, which it didn't.Let's take a quick look at the past three Wimbledons and see which players made it
