While Justine Henin’s victory over Yanina Wickmayer stole the show in the women’s singles portion of the 2010 Australian Open, Sunday’s men’s singles showdowns hardly disappointed, either. Two titantic tilts headlined a delicious day (and night) of action at the Melbourne Park tennis complex. In the match of the afternoon, reigning U.S. Open champion and [...]
Juan Martin del Potro has to carry a rangy, lanky, 6-foot, 6-inch frame around a tennis court. He doesn’t have the smooth, gliding footwork of Roger Federer, whose rather compact frame enables him to reach shots with relative ease. He lacks the thick, muscular build of Marat Safin, a man who probably had the greatest [...]
QUESTION: Can Nikolay Davydenko break through? Much like the Kim Clijsters-Justine Henin debate on the women’s side, tennis aficionados are wondering if Davydenko, the sixth-seeded Russian, can become a force at major tournaments, beginning with this event. Davydenko has defeated Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in two separate events over the past two months, at [...]
Serbian superstar and national icon, Novak Djokovic, maintained his number four ranking at a time when he seemed poised to make a run at the top. Known as a moody player who sometimes lacks the will to overcome minor setbacks, Novak continued to struggle in his Grand Slam appearances while prospering in his regularly scheduled [...]
In Israel, a land attuned to the ancient texts of the world’s monotheistic faiths, the words “my cup overflows” possess a considerable amount of historical weight and meaning. That phrasing comes from scripture, of course–it’s no small thing in the Holy Land to encounter a lavish and abundant blessing. Now, 108 years after the Davis [...]
After all he’s been through in his life, Tommy Haas finally found reason to smile at the end of another long journey on a tennis court. The German, along with Croatia’s Marin Cilic, produced a third-round match of considerable quality at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. The slugfest evolved into a sprawling and soaring showcase that [...]
Aside of Lleyton Hewitt’s upset win over Juan Martin del Potro, not much happened on Day 4 of the Wimbledon Championships. The All England Club featured some brief eruptions of action, but virtually no results that would cause a stir in the crowds who flocked to SW19. As the second round came to a close, [...]
The not-so-secret key to tennis success lies not in one’s shots, but in the footwork needed to set them up. Juan Martin del Potro might know how to move his feet on hard courts and clay courts, but on a Thursday afternoon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the South American found [...]
When Roger Federer won his fourteenth Grand Slam singles title a few weeks ago in Paris, the number one storyline for the 2009 Wimbledon Championships became etched in stone. But as the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament gets set to start in suburban London, the gentlemen’s singles competition now owns a second supreme theme: Life’s [...]
Throughout his storied career, and especially over the past three years, Roger Federer possessed feet of clay in the men’s singles final of the French Open. The second-best claycourt performer in the latter half of this decade showed a manifest ability to play for championships on the terre battue of Paris, but the Swiss legend [...]
