Two months ago, you'd be hard-pressed to say Novak Djokovic was going to defend his title in Dubai. Players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko were expected to play. Indeed, if you were to preview Djokovic's form playing Dubai, you might wonder if he could defend. But luck has a way of
In preparation for the upcoming finals of the 2010 Australian Open, I'll briefly review the match DVD from TennisDVDWarehouse of the 2005 Australian Open Semi-Final between Marat Safin and Roger Federer... It was a dazzling 4 and 1/2 hour five set thriller and one of the best matches in recent memory in Melbourne, in my
When Andy Roddick looks back at his career, he may not be able to point to many Slams. So far, his Slam resume has been stuck at one for a very long time, the 2003 US Open. But perhaps the one thing he'll be proud of is staying in the top 10 since then. Since
New Year 2010 is the 60th year anniversary of Bill Tilden's classic book, first published in 1950, How to Play Better Tennis: A Complete Guide to Technique and Tactics, (Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1950), reprinted in 1973 by Cornerstone Library. Tilden wrote the book at the close of his record-setting career, having been voted by
I. Introduction It's been said that the mind is always with you or against you...Self-talk in us humans is instinctive, spontaneous and eternal. And perhaps so is our need for it. In fact, one commentator remarked that if we opened up a person's head, we would see a popcorn machine full of thoughts and emotions
I recently completed reading Eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi's highly publicized autobiography with some of those shocking revelations about recreational drug use and lying to tennis authorities about it. Frankly, I was disappointed. Although I have great respect for Agassi's on-court accomplishments and skills, his magnificent work for charity and the sport, and his
Now that the tennis season is over, let's take a quick look back at 2009 and a quick look forward. Roger Federer. Federer started off 2009 making it to yet another Slam final. Although he started 2009 much like 2008, that is, struggling to find form, he still did his part by reaching the final.
Andre Agassi once said that before him, there were players that could hit hard, and players that could hit on the rise, but none that could do both. Clearly, his short-term memory forgot about Jimmy Connors, but we forgive you, Andre. It was, however, Jimmy Connors' rival, Bjorn Bjorg, then the father of modern power
In tennis, if you want to be the best of the best, you must achieve a level of consistency. Your game must be consistently good day after day, week after week. This may be the reason a player as hard hitting as Gonzalez has never moved much higher than about 10 in the world. Possessing
Third time's the charm, they say. Sam Querrey has been on a roll,but it's not quite the kind of roll he wanted. Querrey had reached two consecutive finals prior to Los Angeles, once in Newport and once in Indianapolis. Twice, Querrey found himself with solid opportunities, playing opponents ranked lower than himself in the final.
