Yesterday, Djokovic seemed a bit edgy. It was getting dark. del Potro was clocking the ball. Djokovic's timing seemed a hair off, and he was spraying balls just fractionally wide. Would the former top tenner take his biggest victory and the streak stop? Djokovic must have wondered how del Potro, a man who pretty much
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
It's rare for this to happen. Roger Federer was scheduled to meet the winner of two wildcards. Normally, wildcards are ranked too low to get into the main draw. If this were Wimbledon, the wildcards could easily be ranked 300 or worse since UK has a dearth of quality players. However, France has a plethora
OK, this is a theory and may not be completely valid, but I think Djokovic's transformation comes partly from learning how Davydenko beat Nadal. (For the curious, this was last year in London after a round-robin match. They swapped shirts like soccer teams often do). Up to Davydenko, the way to beat Nadal was to
Let's quickly review Day 1. The French Open is the only Slam that starts on a Sunday. Presumably, they do this to get three weekends in and make a bit more money. This year, they decided not to have any "top" pros play on Day 1. They also decided to switch balls to Babolat which
There's was a point, late in the third set of the semifinal match against Andy Murray that Djokovic played a few bad points to lose his serve, just as he had managed to break even. It just seemed like Djokovic had decided he didn't want to win anymore. If he got past Murray, his reward
On paper, Murray didn't have a chance. OK, he had a small chance. After all, he is a top 4 player who has beaten Djokovic. But clay is Murray's weakest surface. Even so, give Murray enough time and he comes up with ideas. He wasn't ready to beat the new Djokovic in Melbourne, but it's
If the Foro Italico was set in the peak of ancient Rome, perhaps Nadal would be the star gladiator. Alas, its history is a bit more recent, having been constructed under the eye of Mussolini. Even so, Nadal has shown his capacity to win this title over and over. This will be Nadal's sixth final.
It's hard to say how well Robin Soderling is playing. He started the year really well with his new coach Claudio Pistolesi. He won Brisbane, then Rotterdam, then Marseille. Since then, he hasn't fared nearly as well, though two losses come at the hands of Juan Martin del Potro who is still trying to regain
