Some early round news before we head to today's quarterfinals. Many of last week's players that did well in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok faded this week showing how hard it is for players outside the top few to maintain levels of excellence from week to week. Often, a player ranked in the teens who wins
Ivan Lendl had it rough. When he started, he was the new kid on the block. There was Connors. There was Borg. And although he and McEnroe were quite close in age, McEnroe matured earlier, so there was McEnroe. Lendl played well starting about 1981 when he reached the French Open final. He would make
In his third round match, Murray struggled a great deal in the heat and humidity. This allowed Feliciano Lopez to take big swipes at the ball and hit a larger share of winners. Murray had to resort to hitting shots up the middle of the court and to Lopez's backhand so he could stay in
Many top players have a last hurrah. Kim Clijsters said at the start of the year that she planned to retire at the US Open, so people knew, ahead of time, that this was it for her. No one expected she would lose in the second round to Laura Robson, but so it goes. The
Paolo Lorenzi is no young'un on the tour. The Italian is about to turn 31 which means he's around the same age as Roger Federer. He's generally not done well enough to get out of qualifiers, but 2012 has been good to him. His rank has given him enough to get into the main draw.
As they say, stats lie. Andy Roddick's head-to-head with Novak Djokovic showed a 5-3 lead for the American. However, the two hadn't played each other since 2010 prior to Djokovic's breakout year in 2011. And Roddick's ranking has taken a tumble to roughly 30, before his recent success at Eastbourne and Atlanta which has elevated
Of the top four, Nadal has looked the most solid. In three matches, he has not dropped a set, and most of the wins have been comfortable. Dolgopolov was expected to be a tough guy to play. With his change of pace and big forehand, Dolgopolov troubles many opponents. But he produced too many errors
2010 was a good year for Jurgen Melzer. A contemporary of Roger Federer, Melzer had stuck in the top 40 for many years, but when it came to Slams, Melzer just didn't do well. Melzer played his first Slam in 2000, but until 2010, Melzer had never even made it to the fourth round of
One reason Nicolas Almagro has been in the top ten is the number of titles he's won. The ATP clay circuit can be broken into three parts. There is the South/Central American swing that is played starting a week or so after the conclusion of the Australian Open and runs until Indian Wells. Then, there
And that's why no one plays serve and volley anymore. Michael Llodra is perhaps the last of a dying breed. The serve-and-volleyer. It isn't a coincidence that Llodra is just north of 30 years old. I know, I know, veterans will tell you that everyone's forgotten how to volley. You have to be around 30
