When Andy Murray lost to Nicolas Mahut, many felt Murray was still struggling with his game. Unlike Nadal, fresh off a French Open win, Murray wasn't given the benefit of the doubt that his loss was to keep him fresh for Wimbledon. Unlike Andy Roddick, who also had an early loss, then begged for a
It was nearly a once in a lifetime event. Venus crossed the path of the sun in front of the Earth. And Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were nearly both upset on the same day at roughly the same time. French Open organizers were criticized for scheduling two big matches at the same time, though
Let's get caught up on other news before addressing the subject at hand. Two matches were postponed due to lateness. The shorter of the two matches was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Stanislas Wawrinka. Tsonga was up 4-2 in the fifth before the match was called. Wawrinka was able to break and tie it up at 4-all,
Having heard that David Goffin, Roger Federer's fourth round opponent, had posters of him in his room, Federer recalled a match he played against Patrick Rafter. He took a set off of the Aussie, but the Aussie claimed the next 3 sets. He felt, once Goffin claimed the first set, that it was his job
It was shaping up to be a fairy tale ending. Xavier Malisse was the last man to beat Brian Baker in a Slam in the second round of the 2005 US Open. Stan Wawrinka beat Baker in the finals of the French Open junior title two years earlier. Had Baker gotten past Simon, he would
Andy Roddick had been on the top of men's rankings for so long that it seems a shame to see how far he's fallen. Injuries have meant that Roddick has missed a few weeks or more each year. A noted hard-worker, Roddick's training may have lead to additional injuries. Roddick did not play any of
With the favorites, Nadal and Djokovic, out of the tournament (Murray opted to skip due to injury), it was up to Federer to rescue the tournament. Federer had an easy win over Tipsarevic, relying once again on some aggressive net-charging, a strategy he seemed to abandon when serve-and-volley fell out of style. While he wasn't
Tournament organizers must have crossed their fingers for a Djokovic-Nadal final. When Nadal fell to countryman, FernandoVerdasco, organizers must have hoped that the Federer-Djokovic semi would have to do. Only Djokovic didn't accommodate. Like Nadal, Djokovic had complained about the surface. And like Nadal, who lost to a countryman, Djokovic also lost to a countryman
Apparently, the late Vitas Gerulaitis once said "No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row" when he claimed a victory over Jimmy Connors. In those days, it was hard to find head-to-head stats, so Vitas may have been guessing how many times Connors had beaten him. In any case, good friend, Bjorn Borg
Three tournaments were played on clay this week in the lead up to Madrid, which will be played on blue clay. Madrid and Rome are two Masters 1000 events and are back-to-back events. The three events are Munich, Estoril, and Belgrade. Let's start with Belgrade. Normally, this is the Novak Djokovic tournament. He has won
