Day six of the 2010 Australian Open could have been compared to an exhausted runner who, after finishing a race and drinking ample fluids, immediately finds a soft bed and blacks out for 10 hours of deep, reviving sleep. Indeed, the end of the third round in the year’s first major tournament marked a point [...]
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 [...]
As Roger Federer keeps winning Grand Slam matches, the history of tennis will continuously be rewritten. Most professionals play for numbers that deal with money; for a champion like Federer, the meaningful numbers can be found in the milestones he attains each time he steps on court. Federer made more record-keepers and stat geeks happy [...]
It’s surprising enough that Tommy Haas finds himself in his first Wimbledon semifinal at the age of 31. It’s far more remarkable that a tormented soul defeated his frail nerves en route to the final four at SW19. Haas not only turned back fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic in Wednesday’s quarterfinals; the 24th-seeded German did much to [...]
The ladies had their day on Tuesday. Now, the gentlemen will own the Wednesday spotlight on Centre Court and Court No. 1, as The Championships continue. Who’s to be taken seriously as the round of eight arrives? The short answer: A majority of the field. The longer answer: Keep reading. Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals – All Matches [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Novak Djokovic had his work cut out as he defeated Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus to reach the Halle tournament final with a 7-6 6-4 win on Saturday. The world number four will play Germany’s Tommy Haas who had earlier edged past Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets. Despite reaching the final and beating Rochus in straight [...]
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 [...]
Andy Murray, who always feels at home on the hardcourts of the United States, did well to reach the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. However, when the world No. 3 cracked the round of 8 for the first time at Roland Garros, there was little he could do against a man with a golden gun. Fernando Gonzalez shot [...]
