How complex and contradictory is Dinara Safina’s career? One only needed to consider how the woman ranked No. 1 in the world managed to advance to her first-ever Wimbledon semifinal on Tuesday afternoon.
Laboring for two and a half hours on a sweltering summer day in England, Safina played–by any reasonable standard–a grubby, patchy, subpar quarterfinal [...]

While Venus Williams enjoys a heaven-sent draw in the top half of the ladies’ singles bracket at Wimbledon, the bottom half of the draw is about to have its heavyweight encounter.
On the best day of the entire tennis calendar–when every round of 16 match is played in both the ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles fields – [...]

Remember what was said yesterday about the elusiveness of consistency in women’s tennis? Saturday’s play at the All England Club only affirmed the theme.
Shortly after sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic got taken out by no-name American Melanie Oudin, fifth-rated Svetlana Kuznetsova–the reigning French Open champion–succumbed to the firepower of Germany’s Sabine Lisicki. Unseeded but quite dangerous, Lisicki [...]

Did anyone outside Melanie Oudin’s family members, close friends, and coaches know about a 17-year-old from the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia, before the 2009 Wimbledon Championships began?
Didn’t think so.
But now, this uncommonly resourceful teenager is on the minds of every pundit, scribe and broadcaster at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Oudin [...]