On the heels of the news that Rafael Nadal will not play the US Open, the top seeds were on court at Cincinnati after receiving byes in the opening rounds. Last year, unknown Alex Bogomolov beat Andy Murray during one of his slumps. That victory was still enough to boost the former and now Russian's
When Roger Federer was slated to play Julien Benneteau in the third round of Wimbledon, few expected that the journeyman Frenchman would push the Swiss maestro to the brink coming within 2 points of the upset. After all, Federer rarely loses to players his age. So when Benneteau was slated to meet Federer after his
There are players on tour that have been there for some number of years. Not everyone who plays pro tennis hoists trophies week after week. Some labor even when titles are scarce. After all, they are still among the top 100 or so players in the world. More than ten years ago, Gilles Muller, from
More European clay results. In Hamburg, top seeded Nicolas Almagro beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 75 75. Juan Monaco over Jeremy Chardy, 63 75. Marin Cilic over Albert Ramos, 64 76. Wildcard Tommy Haas over Florian Mayer, 61 64. In Gstaad, Switzerland, top seeded Janko Tipsarevic beat Jan Henrych, 61 61. Paul-Henri Mathieu over Ernests Gulbis, 46
You have to give credit to Lleyton Hewitt. For some reason, Federer's generation produced players whose bodies have broken down, most notably, Tommy Haas, but yes, Lleyton Hewitt. Many of his generation's stars play infrequently now or are retired: Hewitt, Haas, Ferrero, Nalbandian. Some of his generation continue to plod along working in the top
As many a tennis journalist will remind you, Brian Baker had no ranking a year ago, had asked for a last minute entry into a Pittsburgh event--which he had to drive from Nashville and to qualify for--an event that he won, that spearheaded Baker's unprecedented rise through the ranks. A year later, he had entered
Two years ago, when Roger Federer lost to Tomas Berdych, he admitted that he was looking forward to a long break where he could rest his back and leg. As Roger heads closer to 31, he's had to manage back issues. This is something that has affected many players, including Andy Murray's coach, Ivan Lendl.
Today, the Americans played. On court today were Brian Baker, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, and Sam Querrey. But before we start, the upset of the tournament has, alas, gone down. Lukas Rosol, who showed no nerves, in a boldly played fifth set, and took the number two seed and ostensibly, the favorite, out, found himself
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
Players get frustrated. Racquets get bounced. Umpires are questioned or yelled at. Umpires have even been threatened, as in the 2009 US Open women's semifinals where Serena Williams infamously yelled at a lineswoman who had called foot fault on a second serve. Even then, Serena lost due to a point penalty at break point caused
