The city of love is falling for Melanie Oudin and the feeling is mutual. Oudin, who captured the hearts of tennis fans with her stirring play at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, has found her game on the Paris stage. 2010 has been a fairly rude wake-up call for the young American. After first round [...]

When you think of stylish Swiss tennis, you think of Roger Federer, but before the “Basel Dazzle” became the greatest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era, a Swiss Miss made her own mark on the world of Major tournament tennis. Martina Hingis is not yet 30 years old, and yet she’s in many ways [...]

The first thing that needs to be said about Marat Safin is that 99.5 percent of human beings would love to have this enigmatic Russian’s problems. This magnetic Muscovite with movie-star looks, a body tailor-made for tennis success, and a full assortment of formidable skills won over $14 million, traveled the world, won two Major [...]

Justine Henin stood on Mount Olympus, playing tennis from the gods. Serena Williams realized, though, that even tennis legends are mortal. That’s why one great champion turned back another in a deliciously dramatic Australian Open women’s singles final. Serena Jameka Williams and Justine Henin entered their ultimate Saturday showdown in Melbourne with 18 Major singles [...]

The 2010 Australian Open is the Major tournament of the South Pacific, and so it’s entirely fitting that in one of the world’s most ethnically diverse nations, just west of the international dateline, the women’s singles tournament has witnessed the rise of China. Before tonight’s women’s semifinals get underway at Rod Laver Arena, it’s worth [...]

There will be a time and place to celebrate the winners of the first two men’s singles quarterfinals at the 2010 Australian Open. (In the next post, actually!) But one can’t comment on two riveting spectacles at Melbourne Park without addressing the acute agony of the valiant competitors who lost on Tuesday. Andy Roddick and [...]

If the bottom half of the women’s draw at the 2010 Australian Open could be viewed as a battle of two nations, the one country that has created as much newsworthy activity as Belgium is clearly Russia. While Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer caused much ink to be spilled after their Friday exploits, [...]

In a match that reminded tennis fans of another epic encounter, Marcos Baghdatis returned to prominence at the tournament that first made him a household name. Three and a half years ago, at the 2006 U.S. Open in New York, Baghdatis – the colorful Cypriot with an endlessly expressive personality – warred with Andre Agassi [...]

Worthwhile developments and especially newsworthy scores after a packed day of action at Melbourne Park: FIVE-SET THRILLERS ABOUND The losses of Robin Soderling and Juan Carlos Ferrero (mentioned elsewhere on this blog) weren’t the only five-setters witnessed on a rather contentious Tuesday in Australia. Other extended wars dotted the landscape on the blue plexicushion courts [...]

Maria Sharapova’s injured right shoulder received a lot of medical attention last year, but a player with plenty of fighting spirit is still learning how to re-tool her game and rebuild the form that carried her to three major championships. The 2010 Australian Open began on Monday in Melbourne, with stormy skies and soggy weather [...]