Nikolay Davydenko has been struggling with his game ever since he came back from a broken left wrist around Wimbledon of last year. Things were so bad that, during a Davis Cup match in Russia, Davydenko wanted to take himself out of the reverse singles and was only convinced by his wife to continue to
Ah, who would have thought? Roger Federer was good enough to get to the finals of the French Open, and he was scheduled to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who has only beaten him once, and that was due to a meltdown on Federer's part with a 5-1 lead in the third. And he had a two
Sometimes Brad Gilbert is wrong. Perhaps more often than he expects. He thought that Roger Federer would steamroll over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He had only lost to Tsonga once, in a meltdown with a 5-1 lead in the fifth set. Federer took an early break and rode that to a first set. Then, he took the
Now that we're through "Manic Monday", the day where all fourth round matches are played, we're getting to the business end of this Slam. Let's look at the matchups. Nadal vs. Fish Tomas Berdych was the expected seed, but despite not having dropped a set, Berdych's place has gone down since Wimbledon. Berdych clings to
del Potro must know what Andy Roddick felt like when he faced Roger Federer in the finals of Wimbledon in 2009. Roddick had not been broken all day long, but at 14-15, he finally cracked and lost serve and with it, his best opportunity at winning a second Slam. del Potro has lost to Nadal
The Federer generation's first success didn't start with Federer. It started with Marat Safin. The Federer generation includes Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick, and Roger Federer. Excluding Roger Federer, this group has won 6 Slams (Safin and Hewitt with 2 each, Ferrero and Roddick with 1 each). The key
Sometimes a good head-to-head is all you need to feel good about your chances. Hewitt lead Soderling 3-1. However, 2 of the wins were in 2004 when Soderling was starting on tour and Hewitt was still closer to the top of his game. They didn't play again until 2009 when Hewitt won in Cincy in
What do the four semifinalists at Queen's Club, now dubbed The Aegon Championships (and they have 2-3 other similarly named tournaments have in common). The red, white, and blue! Oh, so you thought Americans were the only country to have red, white, and blue in their flag? Obviously not. The British also have the same
As the hour headed to about 7 PM, there was a battle brewing on Court Philippe Chatrier. The ESPN announcers astutely observed that if Tsonga didn't win the match in straight sets, he would lose in 5 sets. The reason? Stamina. Tsonga, like his countryman Monfils, is susceptible to injury. When you're injured, it can
Before I talk about today's early results, I want to talk about yesterday's results. Tennis really needs a better way to report its scores. Scores are fine, but they really don't tell you the story. I'll give you three examples from yesterday, two from women's matches. Maria Sharapova is down 6-3, 4-1 down, double-break. It
