Although Grigor Dimitrov has been called "Baby Fed" for some years, and was considered a promising junior having won two junior Slam titles (Wimbledon and US Open) back in 2008, his pro career has only really taken off since 2012. Up until then, he was struggling, like many pros, to play up to his moniker.
Tennis is a year-round sport. The men used to play right into December. One of the worst decisions ever made was to put the Australian Open in December, often starting right around Christmas. As if it wasn't hard enough to convince pros to make the long trip to Australia, try making that trip during the
ESPN couldn't have asked for a better pair of finals this past weekend. After "The Body" issue featured two tennis players, John Isner and Aga Radwanska, made it to the finals of Atlanta and Stanford on the same weekend. For Isner, Atlanta is the tournament that vexes him. Twice, he's been runner up to Mardy
Before we get to Ivo Karlovic, let's head across the pond to Hamburg and recap the events that happened there. Hamburg is a tournament that used to be at the Master 1000 level. Perhaps due to Spain's increasing prominence on clay or due to Ion Tiriac's business savvy or some other factor, there was a
The major fallout of grass's demise as a competitive surface is the lack of a venue for grass court specialists to make a name for themselves. There are plenty of clay events around, small and large, that let players like Carlos Berlocq make a nice living on the tour. Let's quickly talk about the Argentine.
What do Roger Federer, Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils, and Nicolas Mahut have in common? It's a toughie. Three of the four players listed have reached the semifinals of a Slam, and of course, in Roger Federer's case, he's won 17 Slams. Mahut, however, seems to be the odd man out. The answer? All four have
Two of the "big four" have decided to forgo grass tennis prior to Wimbledon. In particular, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have chose not to play any tournaments heading into Wimbledon. However, the other two, Roger Federer and Andy Murray both decided to play. Roger Federer managed to get his match first because he didn't
Poor Stan Wawrinka. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Stan Wawrinka played two epic matches this year and came up second. In what most experts considered the best match of the Australian Open, Stan Wawrinka pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets. He came out of the gates fast, but then had to hold on for
You know it's the 2010's. Back in 2001, Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon, their only meeting. Federer was a teenager, and such upsets were often caused by teenagers on the rise. Today, there are no bright teens waiting to upset the top players. In 2012, Lukas Rosol upset Rafael Nadal in the second round of
Today, two big men went into finals of clay events hoping to win a title on clay. One man did. John Isner combined a play of hard serving with consistency to get a win over Nicolas Almagro. Despite Almagro's rank as a top clay courter, the two have played each other close on clay. Despite
