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One-Hit Wonders of the Open Era: Volume II - Adriano Panatta and Sue Barker

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:41:57 GMT

]]>]]>Part two of our series on players who won just one Grand Slam title during the Open Era.

Adriano Panatta, French, 1976
Twenty-six years old in 1976, Rome's Adriano Panatta had one big claim to fame on the clay courts of Roland Garros in his early days. He was the only player alive to have defeated Bjorn Borg at the French Open, having done so in 1973.

He entered the 1976 French Open after winning Rome on clay with a come-from-behind victory over Guillermo Vilas.

His great story almost ended before it began at Roland Garros, as he was pushed to the limit by Czechoslovakia's Pavel Hutka before escaping with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, 0-6, 12-10 win.
He swept his next two opponents and needed four sets to get to the quarterfinals, where Borg awaited again, fresh off back-to-back titles and his own big scare, surviving in five sets against 16th-seeded Francois Jauffret in the fourth round, including a 10-8 fifth set.

In the quarterfinals, Panatta worked his magic again, shocking Borg 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6. Borg would never lose at Roland Garros again, and for his career at the French Open, he was 1-2 against Panatta, 48-0 against everyone else.

At the other end of the quarterfinals, American Harold Solomon was pulling a similar shock job on second-seeded Guillermo Villas. Panatta swept American Eddie Dibbs, the sixth seed, in the quarterfinals, and cruised to a four-set win over Solomon, 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, for his only career crown.

Sue Barker, 1976 French Open
Sue Barker wasn't just a one-hit wonder, she caught lightning in a bottle like few players in a big tournament ever have.

Twenty years old in 1976, the British national limped into Paris that may with a 5-8 overall record, having played the event just once.

She left it with $204,000.

Barker seemed on the verge of destruction in every round from the second on, which she won 7-5, 7-6. From then on, it was all three-set matches for the young phenom, none more dangerous than her 4-6, 6-2, 8-6 victory over Czechoslovakia's Regina Marsikova in the quarterfinals.

In every round, she not only lost a set, but lost it badly - falling 6-1 to Virginia Ruzici in the second set of the semifinals and 0-6 to Renata Tomanaova in the second set of the final.

But through it all, she kept bouncing back in those third sets, and the future sports presenter of the BBC, who tallied 11 singles and 12 doubles titles in a career that saw her reach No. 3 in the world, came through in the final.

She would never do better than the second round at Roland Garros for the rest of her career, although she reached the semifinals at the Australian Open twice and Wimbledon once.

One-Hit Wonders of the Open Era

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:16:48 GMT

]]>Day One: Andres Gimeno and Manuel Orantes
]]>We all know Roger Federer has 16 Grand Slam titles, Pete Sampras has 14 and Steffi Graf racked up 22, but sometimes the lesser-known champions can have the most interesting of stories.

WIth that, we begin a series of looks at the one-hit wonders of the Open Era - those players who won just a single Grand Slam title, and never made it back to the top of the heap.

We'll exclude anyone who's won their first Grand Slam title in the last five years - because Juan Martin Del Potro, Ana Ivanovic, Francesca Schivaone, Li Na, Petra Kvitova, Samantha Stosur and Victoria Azarenka are still quite active on their respective tours.

That leaves 21 men and 10 women who tasted the sweetest fruit but once, and perhaps it was that much sweeter for being so rare.

We'll progress in chronological order, two entries per day, beginning with Spaniards Andres Gimeno and Manuel Orantes.

Andres Gimeno, Spain, 1972 French Open
Spain's Andres Gimeno was 34 years old in the spring of 1972 and was into his 12th year of professional tennis. He had had a grand career to that point in time, with four titles, an appearance in the 1980 Wimbledon semifinals and a trip to the 1969 Australian Open finals in which he was thoroughly smoked by Rod Laver in straight sets.

He was seeded sixth in the 1972 French Open, but the field widened considerably when second-seeded Ilie Nastase and fifth-seeded Bob Hewitt both suffered first-round upset losses.

Gimeno didn't lose a set in the first two rounds, then rallied past 11th-seeded American Clark Graebner 3-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round.
He faced off against American powerhosue Stan Smith in the quarterfinals, with Smith seeded third, a returning finalist.

It was one of six times that Gimeno and Smith would square off in 1972, and the only time Gimeno would emerge victorious, in one of the most bizarrely scored major matches, he took a 6-1, 7-9, 6-0, 7-6 victory.

The road never got any easier for Gimeno. He needed five sets to edge the Soviet Union's Alex Metreveli in the semifinals, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, setting up a final against the ninth seed, France's own Patrick Proisy, who had upset Manuel Orantes in the semifinals.

At 22 years old, Proisy was younger and faster than Gimeno, but was playing under considerable pressure, trying to be the first Frenchman to take Roland Garros since Marcel Bernard.

Proisy looked on his way to being elevated to sainthood by taking a first-set victory, but Gimeno responded with three straight easy victories to take the 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 title.
Gimeno remains the oldest man to win the French Open.

Manuel Orantes, 1975 US Open
Spain's Manuel Orantes could empathize with the Andy Murrays, Tomas Berdychs and Robin Soderlings of today's game.

He was an extremely good player in an era that had several all-time greats active.
Between 1969-1982, Orantes won 33 singles titles, but largely struggled at the majors, other than a pair of semifinal appearances in 1972 and a finals trip at the French Open in 1974. Playing in the era of Laver, Bjorn Borg and Arthur Ashe was wont to do that to a guy.

Orantes was ranked in the Top 10 as the Open Era dawned, but had slipped back into the teens by 1975. He started the season red-hot, with four titles before flubbing in the first round at Roland Garros.

He bounced back to win Bastad and Indianapolis without dropping a set, and added a title at the Rogers Cup to enter the US Open on one of the best rolls of his life as the third seed.

He dismissed of his first two opponents in straight sets, but needed three sets each (back in the pre-best-of-five days) to reach the quarterfinals.

There he faced eighth-seeded Illie Nastase and took a 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory to enter a final four that included defending champion Jimmy Connors, legend Borg and Argentina's Guillermo Villas, who would end his days with four Grand Slams.

While Connors again denied Borg the US Open title in one semifinal, Orantes performed a remarkable comeback in the other, rallying to a 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Connors was the heavy favorite, both via the odds and the fans, but Orantes took control of the match early and cruised to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win.

Four for Four: A Historical Quartet of Women's Winners

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:18:41 GMT

]]>]]>Today's statistical anomaly is brought to you by: the WTA tour.

For the first time in Open Era history, four consecutive Grand Slam titles have been won by women who have never won a major crown before.
Victoria Azarenka cemented the record with her victory at the Australian Open last Sunday, following 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur, 2011 Wimbleon champ Petra Kvitova and 2011 French Open victor Li Na into the record books.

Only twice before had three straight majors been won by three women who had never taken a Slam before. In 2004, Russia's Anastasia Myskina took the French Open - her only Slam ever - followed by fellow Russians Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon (first of three) and Svetlana Kuznetsova at the US Open (first of two).

In 1978, Australia's Chris O'Neil won her only career Slam by taking her native Australian Open and Romania's Virginia Ruzici won her only major at the French Open. The pair were followed into the winner's circle by a young Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon, who won her first of 18.

Novak Djokovic's Historical Number Sense

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:13 GMT

]]>]]>Statistics aren't as big in the moment in tennis as they are in other sports.

Telling someone that a guy has hit 81% of first severs for winners doesn't really mean that much if he's also got 37 unforced errors, unlike in baseball where if a guy is 3-for-3 with 3 RBI you can assume he's having one heck of a ballgame.

But when it comes to historical significance, the numbers don't lie in tennis, and with his recent defense of the Australian Open crown, Novak Djokovic's place in tennis history is starting to loom mighty large.

By winning his third straight Grand Slam title, following last year's US Open and Wimbledon feats, Nadal became just the fifth man to win three in a row in the Open Era, joining Rod Laver (four in a row, 1969); Pete Sampras (1993 Wimbledon - 1994 Australian Open); Roger Federer (2005 Wimbledon - 2006 Australian Open and 2006 Wimbledon - 2007 Australian Open); and Rafael Nadal (2010 French Open - 2010 US Open).

More impresively, Djokovic joined only Sampras, Federer and Nadal as the only men to win four out of five consecutive Grand Slam titles.

Federer did it best, taking six out of seven between Wimbledon in 2005 and the 2007 Australian Open to cement himself as the greatest player in history. Sampras did it starting with Wimbledon in 1993 and finishing by winning the event again in 1994, and Nadal did it from 2010-2011, missing only Djokovic's 2011 Australian Open title in that sequence.
With five Grand Slam titles to his credit, Djokovic is now tied for 12th in the Open Era for major titles with Australia's Rod Laver and John Newcombe. Next in his sights, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker with six each tied for 10th.

Even repeating his crown at the Australian Open puts Djokovic in elite company in the Open Era, joining the likes of Ken Rosewall (1971-1972), Guillermo Villas (1978-1979), Mats Wilander (1983-1984), Ivan Lendl (1989-1990), JIm Courier (1992-1993), Andre Agassi (2000-2001) and Roger Federer (2006-2007).

Djokovis is also making history quickly - in the Open Era, his four-year span between winning his first Grand Slam title and his fifth is tied for third-fastest to reach the achievement.

It took Roger Federer only two years to win his first five Grand Slams and Rafael Nadal and Ivan Lendl needed three. After that, Djokovic is part of an elite corps that includes Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras - all of whom gobbled up five Grand Slams in a four-year period.

Marcos Baghdatis Angry! Marcos Baghdatis Smash!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:45:12 GMT

]]>In case you didn't stay up late / get up early to see Marcos Baghdatis take on Stanislas Wawrinka on Wednesday, you missed a sideline performance that was half John McEnroe, half Bruce Banner.

During his 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 loss to Stanislas Wawrinka, Baghdatis let his temper get the best of him and smashed four straight racquets while seated during a change over.

Australian Open, Day 2: Three to See

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:39:01 GMT

]]>Chris Oddo breaks down the three upcoming matches that you need to see!Here are three of what promise to be many must-see matches at the Australian Open today.]]>

1. Andy Murray-Ryan Harrison, 3^rd match Hisense Arena

Andy Murray’s quest to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam since 1936 continues this week in Melbourne, with a new wrinkle and some high expectations. The three-time Grand Slam finalist has added eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl to his coaching box, and the hope is that the union will provide Murray with the impetus to take the next step. Meanwhile, brash young American Ryan Harrison, will be doing everything he can to spoil Murray’s party when they meet today. But it won’t be easy for the Shreveport, La. native. Harrison, one of three remaining teenagers in the draw, has lost all nine of his previous matches against top ten competition.

2. Maria Sharapova – Gisela Dulko, 2^nd match, Hisense Arena

The thing we’re all dying to know: how will Sharapova’s ankle hold up? The former Australian Open champion (2008) is making her first appearance since withdrawing from the WTA Championships in October due to a gruesome ankle sprain suffered in Tokyo the previous week. To make matters worse, she’s facing a pesky opponent who upset her in a tight three-setter the last time they met at Wimbledon. But Dulko, who has pulled her share of Grand Slam upsets, is coming off an injury-marred second half of 2011 as well. Sharapova is one of five players in the draw with multiple Grand Slam titles to her name, while Dulko has never been past the fourth round. Still, this one has the potential to be an upset special.

3. Radek Stepanek vs. Nicolas Mahut, 3^rd match, Court 8

Fans that make the effort to trek out to Court 8 could be in for a doozy, as these two wildly entertaining serve-and-volleyers will surely tangle in some of the most highlight-worthy points of the day. Stepanek, 33, is a quirky old-school baller, who hits flat, loves to rush the net, and plays with a style reminiscent of a bygone era. Mahut, a fan favorite ever since his marathon tussle with John Isner at Wimbledon, also plays a beautifully-crafted brand of attacking tennis. It’s a crying shame this match hasn’t been scheduled for a showcourt.

The best of the rest:

Serena Williams vs. Tamira Paszek, 2^nd match night session, Rod Laver Arena

The question: How is Serena’s ankle?

Andy Roddick vs. Robin Haase, 4^th match, Hisense Arena

The question: Will Roddick’s fauxhawk help his backhand?

Samantha Stosur vs. Sorana Cirstea, 3^rd match, Rod Laver Arena

The question: The last two women to win Grand Slams (Li and Kvitova) were unceremoniously bounced from the first round of their very next Slam. Can Stosur overcome the jinx?

Australian Open, Day 1: My Favorite Things

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:38:28 GMT

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Join us each day throughout the Australian Open as we reflect on the moments that made the day special in Melbourne..

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Blog by: Chris Oddo Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

1. Gin and Tomic – Shortly after ESPN’s Brad Gilbert christened his new nickname for Bernard Tomic, the 19-year-old Aussie turned a lot of doubters into believers when he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. The crafty, soft-balling Tomic eventually persevered in an angst-ridden four-hour and 11-minute thriller that had the crowd at Rod Laver Arena mystified. After Tomic aimlessly blew three set points in the second set, things looked bleak at best. A few hours later, with a little help from the crowd and a lot of help from Verdasco, a relieved Tomic was through to the second round. “I really don’t know how I did it,” Tomic told Jim Courier after the match. Neither do we, Bernard, but you did.

2. John Isner, Rocking Lacoste – Seeking his best Australian Open performance ever, big John Isner got off to a relatively smooth start while wearing his new French duds, defeating Australian Benjamin Mitchell, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (1). The match itself went predictably, with Isner serving 19 aces and surrendering only one break, but seeing Isner in a collared shirt, now that was something special.

3. Top Women Holding Serve – Chaos is typically an integral part of the script in the women’s draw, and that’s all well and good. But sometimes it’s good when the big name top seeds hang around until the second week. That’s why it was so enjoyable to see Na Li, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline Wozniacki winning easily today. Of the three, Clijsters showed the most rust, most likely due to the recent hip muscle sprain she suffered in Brisbane. In spite of a shaky first set, the Belgian was happy to move on. “I don’t think anybody plays a Grand Slam playing seven perfect matches,” she said. “So you have to fight your way through it sometimes and find that little something extra on the most important points.”

4. The Steady Progress of Christina McHale – Not many people realize that the 19-year-old New Jersey native trails only Serena Williams when it comes to American women in the rankings. She’s No. 42 and rising, so maybe it’s time to take note of McHale, who is one Grand Slam removed from the best performance of her career at a major. Today, she pulled one of the bigger upsets of the day when she beat the No. 24-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 6-4.

5. The Transcendent Footwork of Roger Federer – It wasn’t a competitive match tonight as Roger Federer scored an easy 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev in the first night session of the tournament – all the more reason to spend some time studying the silky stylings of one of the smoothest technicians to ever step on a tennis court. Simply put, the man walks on air. He’s balanced, explosive, intuitive, efficient, and every step he takes has purpose. If you’ve never done it before, I urge you to try it. Spend a few games watching only Federer’s feet.

Fearless Australian Open Predictions: Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova to Win it All

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:10:56 GMT

]]>Now granted, the Australian Open started yesterday if you’re a State-sider like me, but considering that there almost no first-round upsets and given the fact that we’ve had dehumidifiers and fans running 24 hours a day in our home by way of a rusty nail in the water line, I think I merit a free pass on some tardy predictions.

So even as I type that I believe Andy Murray will win the men’s singles title at the Australian Open, I find myself thinking back over the past 18 months, and how I would have asked if I had lost a bet or somehow hit my head on the pavement as to the reasons I was taking said pick.

I’ve never been a Murray fan, but his move to employ Ivan Lendl as his new coach has me playing a different tune. Murray seems to have finally grown up, and realized that this tennis is some serious business, and while being in the Top 5 in the world is tremendous, anything but No. 1 is unsatisfactory.

To the point, he has dispensed with all previous coaches – Leon Smith, who led him from ages 11-17; Brad Gilbert; Miles Maclagan, head of his “team of experts” in 2007; Alex Corretja and even his mom, in favour of a man who knows how to win intimately, having done so at a time when some of the true greatest players of all-time were at their peaks.

In many team sports, being a great player rarely translates into being a great coach, as the NBA’s Magic Johnson and Larry Bird; the NFL’s Mike Singletary and MLB’s Ted Williams all found out at one time or another.

But tennis is a fiercely mental and psychological game, and neither one of those areas is something Murray has been well known for during his early years on the tour.

Here in Australia, he is the hottest player going, following his impressive victory at Sydney. Seeded fourth, he avoids facing a higher seed until the semifinals, where defending Novak Djokovic would await if he can avoid injury or upset from a host of would be regiciders including Milos Raonic, Andy Roddick, Janko Tipsarevic, Richard Gasquet and David Ferrer.

Murray’s route seems considerably less precarious after facing American man-boy Ryan Harrison in the first round. From there, he’s unlikely to face a real challenge into Gael Monfils in the fourth round or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.

The good news there is that if there’s one thing the British enjoy doing, it’s whipping up on the French.

If he can get by Djokovic or have someone else take out the top dog, he’s left with either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in the final – both of whom he has played particularly well against of late. Murray is 2-1 in his last three matchups with Federer and is 8-6 against the Swiss overall. He also defeated Nadal in the pair’s last matchup, at Tokyo near the end of 2011.

On the women’s side, the popular pick is Petra Kvitova (say that three times fast), so why do I find my thoughts veering northeast of her native CzechRepublic to mother Russia?

Yes, it’s Maria Sharapova that calls to me from the WTA field, despite her recent maladies and her difficult first-round matchup against drool-worthy Gisela Dulko.

If she doesn’t slip early, Sharapova has a favourable route to the quarterfinals. She could face some very good young talent – particularly German’s Sabine Lisicki and Angelique Kerber – but neither has the kind of big-time experience that Sharapova brings the table.

If she makes it to the final eight, she’ll probably run into fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva or rival Serena Williams.

If it’s Williams, Sharapova will have to be on her best to advance, as she’s not beaten the American in six straight attempts dating back to 2004, while things have come a bit easier if it’s Zvonareva, who Sharapova owns a 7-3 margin against with three straight wins.

From there, Sharapova could see Kvitova in the semifinals, followed by Caroline Wozniacki, or one of last year’s finalists – Li Na or the resurgent Kim Clijsters for the title.

Lifestyles of Tennis' Rich & Famous

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:52:09 GMT

]]>]]>Tennis players make more money than you.
It's just a fact.

Don't worry, they make more money than I do too. In fact, any competitor who makes it to the fourth round during the next fortnight's Australian Open will pick up a check vastly superior to my yearly salary.

And while none of us are ever going to enjoy the life of luxury that our favorite tennis players do, we can at least take a sneak peak into what they're doing with all that money courtesey of the slick website Virtual Globetrotting, which combines the best of Google, Bing and Yahoo Maps with an extraordinarily impressive Custom Google Search engine to zoom you into anybody's backyard.

I found this lovely site while doing an earlier piece on Mats Wilander's Idaho estate being up for sale.

Since then, my wife and I have been typing in every celebrity's name we can think of to see where they're plopping down their big checks for housing.

Here are a few of my favorites.
Andre Agassi

John McEnroe's place on the beach in Malibu

Chris Evert's place in Boca Raton - note to Chris Evert, I am free to house sit, forever

Ivan Lendl's place in Vero Beach, a far cry from Czechoslovakia

Jimmy Connors, not a big fan of having neighbors in Belleville, Illinois

More to come!

Mats Wilander's Idaho Estate? Yours for $5.9 million!

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:01:37 GMT

]]>]]>If you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, Mats Wilander has good news for you: He'd love to sell you his house.
Wilander, who won seven Grand Slam titles during his illustrious career, is selling his home, estimated at $5.9 million In Sun Valley, Idaho.
Wilander's house has a little over 10,000 square feet including a chef's kitchen, seven bedrooms, a sauna, wine cellar and a soundproof music room.
If 10,000 square feet seems like it might leave you not much room for a yard, no worries, it sits on an 80-acre lot with the famous Bald Mountain, a skier's dream with a 9,150 foot summit, in the background.
A pond outside the estate doubles as an ice rink in the winter, but there's also a normal pool and a hot tub.
Che Wilander has been on the market since last June, when it was listed for $8.5 million. Sun Valley boasts a full-time population of a whopping 1,406 people, but if you grab the house, you can rub potential elbows with many of its famous part-time residences such as Tom Hanks, Demi Moore, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Dreyfuss, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tony Robbins.

Andrea Petkovic: You Can't Dance If You Want To

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:48:36 GMT

]]>What is this, Footloose?
]]>Look out tennis fans, the fun police are on the prowl early in 2012. A torrent of criticism has pushed Germany's Andrea Petkovic to her breaking point, and the fun-loving WTA star in the making has announced she will no longer perform her "Petko Dance" following victories. To add injury to insult, Petkovic has suffered a lower back stress fracture, which will cause her to miss the Australian Open, making the subject of the dance a fairly moot point for the immediate future.

Petkovic told the Sydney Herald on Wednesday that she kept getting asked the same question over and over, wondering if she felt it was disrespectful to her opponent.

She cited celebration dances and routines done by football (soccer) players across the world, but said that tennis' conservative nature was her celebration's undoing. While the dance will go on indefinite leave, Petkovic has promised to replace it with the "Petko Dunk," which she calls an homage to the basketball shot goal celebration of countryman Bastian Schweinsteiger, who plays football for Germany's Bayern

Munich.

Petkovic added that Schweinsteiger has promised her that he will pay homage to the dearly-departed Petko Dance next time he scores a goal.

Putting the pressure on an affable young player who clearly enjoys interacting with the fans is just one more reason that professional tennis struggles to compete with TV ratings, advertising money and space on SportsCenter.

As for Petkovic, on the billion-to-one shot that she's reading this blog, may I share with you some advice that was first given to me 30 years ago by Ivan and Stefan Doroschuk and Allan McCarthy, better known as Men Without Hats.

You can dance if you want to.

You can leave your friends behind.

Cuz your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance,

Well, they're no friends of mine.

Take it away, Turk.

Top 5 Fashion Statements in Tennis

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:46:00 GMT

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Glossy Guys?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:48:44 GMT

]]>A frightening look at the bio pictures of some of the top ATP players in the world. Are they using lip enhancing substances?!
]]>Has anyone else noticed when you look over some of the male players bios, some of the players look like they use lip gloss or lipstick? We’ve put together a small list of players. Take a look and tell us what you think. Seriously, you can’t argue Tobias Kamke doesn’t look like he’s sporting a cherry lip gloss!

The Five Best Tennis Video Games

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:56:47 GMT

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5) Mario Tennis 64 (Nintendo 64)
4) Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 (Playstation 2)
3) Virtua Tennis 2 (Dreamcast)
2) Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour (SNES)
1) Top Spin 4 (Xbox 360)

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No, A Top 5 Player Will Not Win The Australian Open

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:40:57 GMT

]]>The Australian Open is up for grabs this year...or is it?
]]>The Australian Open is only a few weeks away. We’ve all pretty much given the title to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer by now. I for one haven’t. I’ve been watching the tournaments that are currently going on and I’m really starting to think there could be another player in the mix when things start to heat up in Melbourne.

You might think I’m going to mention Andy Murray or even David Ferrer, but I just don’t see either one of them winning it all. Murray has struggled mightily in Brisbane, needing to go the distance to get by Gilles Muller and Mikhail Kukushkin, dropping the first set in both contests.

Scotland will have to wait a little while longer for a Grand Slam champion if Murray doesn’t solve his early match woes soon. David Ferrer decided not to take part in this week’s Australian Open warm up tournaments, but I bet we’ll see him in action next week in Aukland.

The player I’m looking to really excel Down Under is Tomas Berdych. The talented Czech recently defeated top American Mardy Fish in straight sets at the Hopman Cup.

He also had a nice showing at the year-end finals event, downing David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Berdych plays very well from the baseline and while the courts in Australia aren’t the fastest in the world, he’ll definitely enjoy the moderate pace.

With wins over Roger Federer, Tsonga, Fish, and Fernando Verdasco in 2011, Berdych is a guy who can beat anyone, but at times will play down to the competition. If he can get through the first week without a letdown, I look for him to really make an impact in the second week.

Your thoughts?

Fixing the Tennis Ranking Systems: My Two Cents

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:35:17 GMT

]]>It is broke, so fix it!
]]>I’ve read a lot about the debate for modification of the current points ranking system in ATP and WTA tennis, and as crazy as it sounds coming off my fingertips, the most viable solution for me is to emulate college football.

That’s right, college football, which has one of the most screwed up ranking systems of all time.
Of course, it’s not the ridiculous BCS formula I want to adopt with all of its margin of victory and strength of schedule mumbo-jumbo.

What I want to see is the ATP and WTA stop punishing players for failing to live up to their previous year’s success and rewarding them for the here and now.

My anger at the current system hit an all-time high at the end of 2010, when Kim Clijsters won the US Open for the second straight season, and was "rewarded" by dropping from No. 2 to No. 4 in the rankings.
To that end, my proposed system would see no more defending of points from year to year. Let the past be the past, as my man 25 TA LIFE once said.
Where the ATP and WTA need to emulate college football is by not releasing any rankings until after the Australian Open is over, i.e. at the end of January.

In my vision, every single player starts the new year at zero points. The first few tournaments of the year are welcome to seed players however they choose – last year’s finishing rank, most followers on Twitter, whatever.

On the subject of points, the tournament weights need to be changed. The four Grand Slams are the top events in the world and should be treated accordingly. Bump up the winning player’s total from 2,000 to 2,500. The World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments can remain just that, but the 500s and 250s need to be downgraded to 250s and 125s a piece.

Winning four 500-point tournaments shouldn't be the equivalent of one Grand Slam. Very rarely is the field anywhere near as impressive, and there aren't as many rounds, nor are they best-of-five sets.
Players who like staying active and making some extra walking-around money will still have the right to play in as many tournaments as they wish during a season, but they won't be allowed to pile up the points doing so.

Only a certain number of 250 and 125-point tournaments will apply to a player's ranking. Remember those great college classes where you could drop your worst test grade? The same thing applies here.
Perhaps most importantly, the year-end championships don't have a point value. It's solely a cash grab for the players and advertisers and a joy for fans.

And finally, Challenger, Futures and ITF events don't count in the ATP and WTA standings at all. Those are the minor-league tournaments of tennis. Players who compete largely in these tournaments can have a separate rankings list that shows the best young players in the game.

What's your thought of what rankings system works best? What changes, if any, would you like to see the ATP and WTA make to their current formats?

Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka Dance for Charity

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:37:27 GMT

]]> The legendary Macarena dance had its 15 minutes of fame in 1996, a year in which Caroline Wozniacki was four years old and Victoria Azarenka was seven.

The two leading ladies of tennis brought the dance back into popular culture Sunday when they performed it together following an exhibition match in Hua Hin, Thailand, as part of the World Tennis Charity Invitation to raise money for the victim of that country’s floods.

Azarenka won the match 6-2, 7-5.

'Thank you so much for having me in

Thailand

,” Azarenka said after the match. “You know, it was the first time and I enjoyed my time. I hope everybody enjoyed our match and I hope to be back soon

Coaching Change: Is Ivan Lendl the Cracked Mirror Image of Andy Murray?

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:17:54 GMT

]]>The similarities are astonishing
]]>If Andy Murray knows his history, and given his intelligence level, you would think he does, he should be commended for taking all-time legend Ivan Lendl as his new coach with the 2012 season right around the corner.

If Lendl is as cerebral in his new charge's game as he was in his own during the late 1970s to early 1990s, he's no doubt already appreciated the similarities between the two.

Even though he has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, Murray has never won a Grand Slam title. The pressure to do so is particularly crushing because Murray represents the United Kingdom, itself Slam-less since 1936.

Murray recently completed his seventh full season on tour. In those seven campaigns, he has reached three Grand Slam finals and lost all three in spectacularly-bad fashion.

Lendl's seventh season was when he finally broke through, shocking John McEnroe at the French Open final after losing the first two sets. In the process, he broke McEnroe's undefeated streak to start the season and, although he could not know it at the time, kept McEnroe from taking three major titles in 1984.

Getting Murray to that point is the missing piece in the puzzle that Lendl must put in place. Lendl was 24 when he finally broke through against McEnroe. Murray is 24 now, and won't turn 25 until the 2012 Australian Open is in the books and the French Open is halfway done.

In 2011, he reached at least the semifinals of all four Grand Slams, but still could not break through to the winner's circle in any of them.
It is a feeling that Lendl knew all too well early in his career. Between his third and fifth season on tours, Lendl won 26 tournaments, but flamed out repeatedly in the Slams, making only one major final.

The breakthrough against McEnroe changed everything for Lendl. It began a six-year span in which he won at least one Grand Slam every year and was the undebatable best player in the world - starting with the 1985 US Open, which he won, he reached at least the quarterfinals of 14 straight Grand Slam tournaments.

Tennis' 2011 Wedding Bells, Baby Bonnets and Dating Dalliances

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:07:31 GMT

]]>The best of the best off the court
]]>It's not all about rankings, prize money and Grand Slam wins. Tennis players have lives off the court just like the rest of us (well not just like, but close enough).

Here's a closer look at the social comings and goings of the ATP and WTA tour members.

And Baby Makes Three...
Ivan Ljubicic and his wife Aida welcomed a daughter, Zara, in November 2011. The pair also have a three-year-old son, Leonardo. No word if future sons will be named Rafael, Donatello and Michaelangelo.

Wasting no time after getting married, American doubles star Bob Bryan and his wife Michelle are due to bring their first child into the world in January 2012.

Anastasia Myskina, 2004 French Open champion, has announced she is pregnant with her third child. As with her first two children, both boys, she has not named a father, although she has previously dated hockey players Aleskandr Stepanov and Konstantin Korneyvev.

Former Top 10 South African player Johan Kriek and his wife Daga have announced they are expecting their second child this year. Kriek is 53 years old. It is Kriek's third child, the second with Daga. He also has an 18-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. They are expecting their second child next year.

Wedding Bells Ring
The social event of the season was the wedding of long-time Top 10 player Elena Dementieva to former NHL player Maxim Afinogenov. Dementieva, classy throughout her playing days, hung it up at the end of 2010 and started the "normal life" phase with a wedding of athletic royalty featuring Dinara Safina, Maria Kirilenko, Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

As previously mentioned in this blog, Kevin Anderson married his college sweetheart Kelsey O'Neal at the golf course where her father is club pro in Illinois.

She might have dropped off in the rankings, but Kateryna Bondarenko enjoyed a fine time when she married businessman Denis Volodko

Angering men and breaking hearts everywhere, Argetine doubles beauty Gisela Dulko married Argetine soccer player Fernando Gago, who plays in the midfield for Real Madrid.

Off the Market ... for now
Former sexiest man alive James Blake (still sexy, still alive) got engaged to publicist Emily Snider (not to be confused with Elsa Snider, the female villain in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and the two have tentatively set a November 2012 wedding date.

Lovely Russian Maria Kirilenko has upgraded in the boyfriend department from No. 115 ATP player Igor Andreev to mutli-time NHL all star Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. It was a good run, Igor, but let's face it - you were way out of your league.

Top 10 Tennis Tweets and Quotes of 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:17:04 GMT

]]>They Said What?
]]>10. "We're outnumbered now."
-- Lleyton Hewitt, referring to the status of he and his wife after the birth of their third child.

9. They had a question on Espn2: "Who do you think is the best server in tennis? Isner, Roddick or Federer?" What do you think? -- noticing someone missing from the list. -- @ivokarlovic

8. If you know James Blake's num text him right now. He is in Europe and it costs him 50 cents -- @MardyFish

7. "Mr roddick my mom wants your autograph. You're her 3rd favorite player." From a 9 year old at breakfast....... Lie to me kid!!! -- @andyroddick

6. "Umpires are like emotional girlfriends -- once they make up their minds, there's no point in arguing." -- Janko Tipsarevic

5. "I am gluten tolerant." -- Janko Tipsarevic, questioned about his diet after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray hailed the gluten-free diet.

4. "I'm not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I'm amongst the best. That's true. That's enough for me."-- Rafael Nadal

3. "Seems to me a lot of people have evolved as has the Bible, unfortunately Margaret Court has not. Her myopic view is truly frightening as well as damaging to the thousands of children already living in same gender families." -- Martina Navratilova

2. "I would rather die than retire, so the decision was quite easy for me." -- Andrea Petkovic on deciding to play in the Western & Southern Open despite a tear in her meniscus.

1. "Because we are not named Serena or Venus Williams doesn't mean we don't know how to play tennis." -- Marion Bartoli, reminding the media that the WTA Tour has more than two players.

Handicapping the Hopman Cup

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:24:56 GMT

]]>Rockin' Round Robin
]]>The Hopman Cup kicked off Saturday in Australia with the United States as the defending champion, but nowhere near the No. 1 seed.

For the uninformed, the Hopman Cup is a best-of-three matchup featuring one man and one women player from each of a number of countries. The format is women's singles, men's singles and then mixed doubles with a first-to-10 tie-breaker.

There are four seeded squads and four wild cards split into two groups. The teams play a round-robin format within their own groups and the teams with the best records play each other for the championship.

Here's a breakdown of the two groups as the 2012 season winds up.

Group A - (1) Czech Republic; (4) USA; Denmark, Bulgaria
Analysis: The Czech Republic squad of WTA #2 Petra Kvitova and ATP #7 Tomas Berdych is the overwhelming favorite to win. Kvitova was phenomenal in 2011 with seven titles, the Wimbledon crown and a 60-13 record. Berdych won once and was 53-23. Kvitova matches up quite favorably with the three other women in her group, undefeated against American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova and 2-3 against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. Berdych is on the other side of the coin, 0-2 against his three male counterparts.
The fourth-seeded US squad has history on its side. America has won six Hopman cups and both Mattek-Sands (2010) and Mardy Fish (2008) have been part of title squads. Make no mistake, Mattek-Sands is here for her doubles prowess (27-12 in 2011), and not her singles game (0-5 against her three opponents). Fish went 43-25 on the year and beat Berdych at Wimbledon.
For Denmark to advance, it must get something unique out of Frederik Nielsen, who is ranked No. 236 in the world and played only seven matches on tour last year. Wozniakci meanwhile was 63-17 and won six titles.
That leaves Bulgaria, led by No. 46 Tsvetana Pironkova and No. 76 Gregor Dimitorv. Pironkova is only 1-6 against her rivals, while Dimitrov owns a win over Berdych in 2009.

Group B: (2) France; (3) Spain; Australia, China.
Analysis: Like the Czech Republic, France is the clear-cut favorite here with two players in the Top 20 - the 58-25 Bartoli, who has a least a .500 if not a winning record against the other three women in her group; and Gasquet, who has battled Spain's Fernando Verdasco 11 times and won five of them.
Verdasco suffered a down year, failing to win a title, while Medina Garrigues won two and moved up to No. 27 in singles, No. 30 in doubles. Hometown favorites Jarmila Gajdovosoa and Lleyton Hewitt will have the fans behind them, but if Hewitt isn't 100% healthy, they'll be in trouble.
Meanwhile China's Li Na is joined by Wu Di, the obscure #421 in the world who has never played any of the other three men and went 3-1 on tour in 20111.

Biggest Tennis Player Fades of 2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:22:56 GMT

]]>]]>Everyone is quick to exult on the new stars and high risers when they do their year in reviews, but what about the players who caught our attention for a few moments, only to fade back into the middle of the pack?

Here's a look at eight players who started strong and then fell into obscurity in 2011.

Jurgen Melzer - Melzer finished 2010 ranked eighth and was high as No. 7 halfway through the season. A first-round loss at Stuttgart started a downturn that included an injury withdrawal in the first round at Washington D.C and eight straight losses to players outside the Top 40. He finished the year 33rd.

Mikhail Youzhny - Ranked 8th in the world in 2008 is seeming like a distant memory for the 29-year-old following an up-and-down, 27-24 2011 season. Youzhny was ranked 10th as late in the season as February 7. Twenty-one of his 24 losses were to players outside of the Top 20, the worst a 4-6, 3-6 defeat to No. 327 Michael Lammer at Basel. Youzhny finished the season ranked 35th.

Ivo Karlovic - The tallest man to ever play professional tennis at 6 feet 10 inches, Karlovic got his name back in the spotlight in March when he won the first set of a quarterfinal match against then-No. 1 Rafael Nadal and pushed the 10-time Grand Slam champion to three sets before falling 7-5, 1-6, 6-7(7). He slammed 23 aces past the mobile Spaniard in a draining match that preceded Nadal's eventual loss in the finals to Novak Djokovic. The loss to Nadal came after Karlovic had defeated No. 6 David Ferrer and No. 31 Giles Simon in consecutive matches. Karlovic made the semifinals at Houston two weeks later, defeating popular American John Isner 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 7-6(9) in the quarterfinals, then suffered four first-round losses in a row, ultimately losing seven of eight matches.

David Nalbandian - Five years ago he was the No. 3 player in the world, and he was No. 19 in the world as late as mid-April of 2011 thanks to an appearance in the finals at Auckland and a stint in the Buenos Aires quarters. Nagging injuries cost himn three months between the Davis Cup and Queen's Club, and a first-round upset loss to James Blake at Washington D.C. saw him plummet 24 spots in the rankings. He struggled the rest of the way, ending the year with an injury withdrawl at Stockholm.

Sam Querry - Was it just a little over a year ago that America had five men in the Top 25? Querrey was 17th in the world in early February, but injuries ate up most his summer and cost him appearances at Wimbledon and in the US Open series, which dropped him from 26th to 125th. He came back via the Challenger route and defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in reaching the Valencia quarterfinals to regain a spot in the Top 100 by year's end.

Maria Kirilenko - She ended 2010 ranked 20th in the world and was ranked as high as No. 18 in 2008. She had a banner 2010, making the Australian Open quarterfinals and at least the third round of the other three Grand Slams. She continued to impress in the majors, but the overall effort was less than impressive as she went 29-22, including a loss to No. 560 Galina Voskoboeva in Pattaya City. She was beaten in the first round on six different occasions and finished the year 28th.

Shahar Peer - The Isralei was No. 13 at the end of 2010 and reached No. 11 thanks to a third-round performance at the Australian Open. She followed that with a quarterfinal appearance at Dubai and again at Indian Wells to complete a 10-5 start. From there, she couldn't even tread water, going just 13-16 the rest of the way, falling out fo the Top 20 after a first-round loss at Roland Garros to No. 86 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. She lost int he first round at Wimbledon to No. 89 Ksenia Pervak before surging to the finals at Washington D.C., where she lost to Nadia Petrova. She ended the year ranked 37th.

Kimiko Date-Krumm - After an amazing Top 50 finish in 2010, the 41-year-old Date-Krumm finally showed her age in 2011. She started the season 1-6 en route to a 23-28 campaign, taking the biggest tumble from 68th to 81st after falling in the first round of the Tokyo-Pan Pacific, a tournament she won last year. She wound up 87th on the year, playing in three ITF tournaments at year's end - reaching three finals and winning one title.

Six Young Players To Watch For In 2012

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:55:04 GMT

]]>

Womens:	Mens:
3) Laura Robson	3) Ricardis Berankis
2) Christina McHale	2) Grigor Dimitrov
1) Polona Hercog	1) Cedrik-Marcel Stebe

]]>

Tennis With Friends - The Top 10 ATP and WTA Scrabble Names

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:46:04 GMT

]]>And just think of the triple word scores!
]]>Sure Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki are No. 1 on their respective tours, but how do they hold up on a scrabble board?

Suprisingly well, according to an on line Scrabble score generator that can spit out the point total for any combination of letters at a moment's notice.

Here are the Top 10 Scrabble Names out of the Top 100 Players on the ATP and WTA Tours

ATP
Philipp Kohlschreiber 43
Philipp Petzschner 42
Mikhail Youzhny 41
Mikhail Kukushkin 40
Novak Djokovic 37
Alex Bogomolov Jr. 37
Sergiy Stakhovsky 37
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 37
Thomaz Bellucci 34
Janko Tipsarevic 33
Alexander Dolgopolv 33

WTA
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 58
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 54
Anastasia Pavlyuchenova 43
Bojana Jovanovski 41
Michaella Krajicek, 41
Agnieszka Rawanska 40
Stephanie Foretz Gacon 40
Svetlana Kuznetsova 37
Caroline Wozniacki 37
Jelena Jankovic 37
Jarmila Gajdosova 37
Klara Zakopalova 37
Virginie Razzano 37

Anna Chakvetadze Talking Comeback ... Again

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:10:23 GMT

]]>Politics even less fun than playing Caroline Wozniacki
]]>Plenty of athletes have left the playing arena for politics, but rarely do they come back.
Not so, Anna Chakvetadze.

The former Top 5 Russian player has decided to return to the tour after failing to win elected office to her country's parliament.
If she had won, she would have joined former men's top dog Marat Safin , who was one of a host of colorful Russian celebrities to gain a spot at the Duma (the Russian parliament).

Still just 24 years old, Chakvetadze began the year ranked 56th and was leading No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-5 in the second round at Dubai when she collapsed on the court.

She was given medical treatment during a seven-minute delay, returned for one more point and then forfeited, with tournament officials calling it the results of a stomach illness.
Whatever the reason, she didn't return ot the court for nearly a month, then bowed out in the second round to Maria Kirilenko at Indian Wells, retiring again.

She lost her last three matches, the finale at Wimbledon in miserable form (2-6, 1-6) to Maria Sharapova to finish the season 6-8, nose-diving to No. 234 in the world.

It was the first time she had finished outside the Top 100 since 2003.
Chakvetadze's best season was 2007. She started off the season with a victory at Hobart, reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, won at 'S-Hertogenbosch over then-No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, won Cincinnati and Stanford back to back and reached the semifinals of the US Open - her best Grand Slam finish ever.

She also reached the semifinals of the Tour Championships, peaked at No. 5 and finished No. 6 overall with a 59-20 record.

EA Grand Slam Tennis 2 game cover features Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic and John McEnroe

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:44:58 GMT

]]>Big Mac finds his way into the limelight again
]]>What's normally thought of as a jinx in the realm of John Madden Football games is still pretty much an honor in every other sport - and that honor has been given to Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic and John McEnroe - the three cover players for EA's new Grand Slam Tennis 2.

McEnroe's inclusion might get some queries of "who is this?" from younger fans of the game, but a big point of the game's marketing standpoint is the ability to play with all-time great players from the past as well as current stars.

Unlikely the most popular player, it's hard to argue that McEnroe isn't among the most well-known in the sports history. Despite having not played on the ATP tour in 20 years, he has kept himself a fixture in the national spotlight with his political views, TV appearances, role in the US Davis Cup team, color commentary, WTT and exhibition play and numerous advertising campaigns.

Djokovic is a slam-dunk choice for current men's players, considering he had one of the greatest all-time seasons and won three Grand Slam titles.

And there's no woman's player more popular than Sharapova, who returned to the Top 5 this year, just missing Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon.

In addition to McEnroe, users can take the court as former playing legends Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash, Pete Sampras, Michael Stich, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert, Justine Henin and Martina Navratilova.

Serena Williams Rocks a Bikini On Christmas Eve in Miami

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:34:19 GMT

]]>Straight out of a Vanilla Ice lyric
]]>Leave it to Serena Williams to have people talking about her choice of swimwear on Christmas Eve.

The 13-time Grand Slam singles winner and former No. 1 player was spotted on Miami Beach with family and friends on Dec. 24

Looking a good deal slimmer than earlier appearances this year, Williams told reporters that she had "swapped steak for salad" in her diet.

The paparazzi photographed Williams on a raft ride with friends in the two-piece bikini.

Williams missed the first 8-1/2 months of the 2011 season from complications of a foot injury suffered just after winning the 2010 Wimbledon title.

Showing next to no rust upon her return, she won two tournaments in the US Open Series and reached the finals of the US Open, but was upset by Samantha Stosur.

She finished the year with a 22-3 record and is expected to play in the Australian Open in January.

Grand Slam Slumps - the Worst of the Worst

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:25:48 GMT

]]>]]>Americans tend to get a bad wrap when it comes to winning tennis tournaments, but there's one thing they do better than their compatriots in Paris, Sydney and London - win their own Slams.

While the United States is struggling to keep its own players in the Top 10, it is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition when it comes to defending its own turf.
Of the four countries that host a Grand Slam event, America is the only country to produce at least one male and female winner in its native major in the past decade - Andy Roddick in 2003 and Venus Williams in 2001 and Serena Williams in 2002 and 2008 at the US Open.

Once you start spanning the globe, the native winners get more and more hazy in one's memory, even though France, Australia and England have produced a long list of notable players in recent memory.

Here's the breakdown of Grand Slam slumps by host country.

Australia (Australian Open): WTA slump - 33 years. Last winner: Chris O'Neil, 1978. O'Neil won just one Grand Slam, and did it as an unseeded player, the first woman to do so in the Open Era. She was 21 years old at the time and upset third-seeded American Beth Norton in the second round, and seventh-seeded American Betsy Nagelsen in the final.

ATP slump - 35 years. Last winner: Mark Edmonson, 1976. Edmonson is the stuff by which every longshot thrives - the lowest-ranked winner of a major since the introduction of the rankings system. He was # 212 in the world and not surprisingly, unseeded to start the tournament. He was down two sets to one in the first round and needed 13 sets to get past his first three opponents. In the semifinals, he stunned Australian fan favorite and No. 1 seed Ken Rosewall in four sets, then did likewise to No. 2 John Newcombe in the final.

France (Roland Garros): WTA slump - 11 years. Last winner: Mary Pierce, 2000. Pierce was 24 in the spring of 2000, five years removed from her big splash at the Australian Open in 1995 and six years removed from her 1994 finals appearance at the French Open. She entered the 2000 field as the sixth seed in a top-heavy tournament that saw second-seeded American Lindsay Davenport stunned in the first round. Pierce did not drop a set in her section and put together two of her finest performances back to back in the final eight, rallying past third-seeded Monica Seles 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Martina Hingis 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the semifinals before sweeping Conchita Martinez in the final. She was the first French woman to win the title in 33 years and also teamed with HIngis to win the doubles crown.

ATP Slump - 28 years. Last winner: Yannick Noah, 1983. The wildly-entertaining Noah had never been further than the third round of a major before his sixth season on tour, but right around his 23rd birthday he got red hot, becoming the first Frenchman to win at Roland Garros in 37 years. Like Pierce, he was the sixth seed and stormed through the opening rounds. In the quarterfinals, he bageled Ivan Lendl 6-0 in a clinching fourth set, then took out fellow Frenchman Christophe Roger-Vasselin, who had stunned No. 1 Jimmy Connors in straight sets. Noah terrorized his countryman to the tune of a 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 drubbing, then swept defending champion Mats Wilander in the final.

England (Wimbledon): WTA slump - 34 years. Last winner: Virginia Wade, 1977. Wade was the empire's favorite daughter at the time, but seemed a distance longshot despite being the No. 3 seed, due to the fact that Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were seeded ahead of her. More over, Wade's best days seemed behind her at age 32 - she had last won a major in 1972 at Australia and it was a full decade since she had grabbed the US Open crown in 1968. She breezed through the early rounds and stunned top-seeded Evert in the semifinals 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Navratilova was upset by The Netherlands' Betty Stove in the quarterfinals, and even after the Dutch grabbed the first set, Wade rallied to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win.

ATP slump - 75 years. Last winner: Fred Perry, 1936. One of the most famous dry spells in sports history is England's lack of success at producing a male champion at any of the four majors. Perry won three straight Wimbledon crowns from 1934-1936, crushing Germany's Gottfried von Cramm 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in 1936. Perry lost only one set during the entire tournament, losing the first to American Don Budge before rallying for a four-set victory in the semifinals. Von Cramm fell in three straight Wimbledon finals, but won the French Open twice and served for the Nazis in World War II.
Perry won eight Grand Slam titles total, taking the US Open later in 1936 to achieve the career Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic Third in AP Male Athlete of the Year Voting

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:07:23 GMT

]]>Those darn Cheeseheads ...
]]>Novak Djokovic might have had the greatest year in recent tennis history, but it wasn't enough to earn him 2011 Male Athlete of the Year honors from the Associated Press.

Djokovic finished a distant third in the voting behind NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the the Green Bay Packers, who won the award with 112 votes out of 212 ballots.

American League Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander finished second, receiving 50 votes.

Djokovic was third, followed by NFL rookie quarterback Cam Newton, who won the Heisman Trophy a year ago while winning the national championship at Auburn University.
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart finished fifth with five votes.

John McEnroe was the last male tennis player to win the award, taking it in 1981. Prior to that, the last male tennis player to win the award was American Don Budge, who took the award in 1937 and 1938.

With far less professional leagues, there have been vastly more female winners of the award.
In all, a woman has won the award 28 times since 1931 -- Helen Jacobs, Helen Wills Moody, Alice Marble, Maureen Connolly, Althea Gibson, Maria Bueno, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams.

Top 5 Best Matches Of 2011

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:51:08 GMT

]]>
5) Sabine Lisicki d. Li Na 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 Wimbledon second round

4) Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) French Open semifinal

3) Francesca Schiavone d. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 Australian Open fourth round

2) Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 US Open semifinal

1) Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1 US Open final.

Did we leave any out? Let us know below!
]]>

Ana Ivanovic Challenges Caroline Wozniacki for golfer boyfriend supremacy

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:54:26 GMT

]]>]]>Look out, Wozilroy, here comes Scottovic.

Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy's seemingly ironclad hold on the best-looking tennis/golf burgeoning romance is being challenged by Serbia's Ana Ivanovic and Australia's Adam Scott.

The 24-year-old Ivanovic, ranked by many as the most beautiful woman on the WTA tour, is dating the 31-year-old Scott, after breaking up a year ago.

Scott has been ranked as high as third in the world on the PGA tour and was crowned the champion at the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this August, collecting a $1.4 million paycheck in the process.

In a recent interview, Ivanovic cited Scott's laid-back attitude and domestic abilities as her favorite aspects of his character.

"I like the relaxed, laid-back Australian mentality," Ivanovic said. "And I also feel like he's very helpful around the house.

Eight Great Players Who Never Won a Grand Slam

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:09:46 GMT

]]>So close, yet so far away
]]>For better or worse, you're no one in tennis until you've won a major tournament. And while players are ranked No. 1, win year-end chapionships and make the Hall of Fame, without a shiny trophy from Roland Garros, the Australian Open, the Centre Court or Flushing Meadows, most fans believe a career is a bit incomplete.

Here's a look at six former players and two present ones who are still lacking that last piece of the resume.

Pam Shriver - One of the first successful six foot women on tour, Shriver played 18 years and won 21 WTA tournaments, but not a single one was a major. Despite that lack, she finished in the top six at the end of three different seasons.
She reached eight Grand Slam semifinals, and one final, but could never break that threshold in her long career. At the Australian Open, she reached three straight semifinals in the early 1980s, but the way was barred shut by Martina Navratilova each and every time, unable to win even a single set off the legend.
Shriver never had a better opportunity to win a Grand Slam title than when she was 18 years old and the 13th seed at the 1978 US Open. She stormed her way to the semifinals without losing a set, then knocked off top-seeded Martina Navratilova 7-6, 7-6 to reach the final.
But fellow wunderkind Chris Evert proved too much to handle, taking a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Shriver. Shriver would make the US Open semifinals twice more in her career, losing in three sets to Hana Mandlikova in 1982 and to Navratilova in 1983.
Wimbledon was the site of three Shriver near misses. In 1981, she upset Tracy Austin in the quarterfinals before falling to Evert in the semis; in 1987 she was crushed by young riser Steffi Graf 6-0, 6-2 in the final four; and in 1988, it was Graf again, in dominating 6-2, 6-1 fashion.

Marcelo Rios - Rios is the rarest of male players - ranked No. 1 in the world without the benefit of a Grand Slam title. Granted, he held that rank for only six weeks - all of them coming in 1998 - the season in which he lost the Australian Open final and fell in the Roland Garros quarterfinals. They were his two best chances, he would reach the quarterfinals at the French Open again in 1999 and the same round at the Australian Open in 2002.

Elena Dementieva - The consumate professional, Dementieva retired a year short of her 30th birthday in order to enjoy married life after spending 11 straight years in the Top 20, seven of the final eight in the Top 10.
Her best shot Down Under came in 2009, when she entered as the fourth seed and advanced to the semifinals before being cut down in straight sets by No. 2 Serena Williams.
A strong clay court player, Dementieva reached the Roland Garros final in 2004, a wild tournament that saw her taken to three sets in the opening round and lose her third-round opening set 0-6 before wining by retirement. She eventually reached the final, and was blasted by Anastasia Myskina, 6-1, 6-2. Dementieva made the French Open semifinals in her final year on tour, when an injury felled her against eventual champion Francesa Schiavone.
A favorite at the US Open, Dementieva was painfully close to achieving immortality on American soil. She reached the semifinals in 2000 as an 18 year old, ranked 25th in the world, losing to No. 2 Lindsay Davenport.
She made the final for the first time in 2004, taking out three Top 10 seeds before tumbling against Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. It was the semifinals again in 2005, including an upset of No. 1 Davenport in the quarters, before a disappointing loss to Mary Pierce.
She made one last push in New York in 2008, reaching the semifinals before falling to No. 2 Jelena Jankovic.
Wimbledon was not Dementieva's favorite tournament early on, but she found her stride later in her career, reaching the semifinals in 2008 and 2009, but falling to Venus Williams one year and Serena Williams the next.

Todd Martin - The powerful-serving, giant of an American reached No. 4 in the world in 1999, won eight ATP titles and won 177 more matches than he lost, but never could grab that elusive Grand Slam title. He made his Grand Slam debut in 1990, but didn't reach a quarterfinal until 1993 when he entered Wimbledon ranked 30th in the world and made the final eight.
He fought his way to the Wimbledon semifinals a year later, losing to No. 1 Pete Sampras in four sets; and did the same at the US Open, losing to Andre Agassi.
The next season at Wimbledon, Martin engaged in one of the most memorable matches of all time, and not just because a streaker interrupted play. He battled fellow American MaliVai Washington for five sets before falling 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(6), 3-6, 8-10.
The 1999 season proved to be the pinnacle of Martin's career, but also the most painful in terms of near misses. He fell in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, then battled his way to the US Open final, making a remarkable comeback in the fourth round, dropping the first two sets against Greg Rusedski 5-7 and 0-6 before rallying for wins of 7-6(3), 6-4 and 6-4.
Agassi waited in the final though, and in an American classic, the world's No. 2 player took a stirring 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2 victory. Martin would make one last push - the following year a the same tournament - but fell to Marat Safin in straight sets in the semifinals.

Mary Joe Fernandez - Mary Joe Fernandez was a dominant player in the early 1990s, finishing in the top eight five times between 1990 and 1995. It was quite remarkable that Fernandez did not manage to win a major in that time frame, as she reached the final four of the Australian Open three times, the French Open twice, Wimbledon once and the US Open twice.
She was 18 when she broke through to reach the Australian Open in 1990, upsetting No. 4 Zina Garrison in the quarterfinals before being stopped by Steffi Graf in the final.
In 1991, she reached the semifinals before losing to Monica Seles, who beat her again in the 1992 final. She made the semifinals again in 1994, falling to No. 4 Martina Hingis.
On clay, Fernandez had two great shots at taking the Roland Garros crown, making the semifinals in 1989 as the No. 15 seed, with an upset of second-seeded Gabriela Sabatini, and reaching the finals in 1993 as the fifth seed, taking out third-seeded Sabatini in the quarterfinals and second-eeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semifinals before losing a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 heartbreaker to Graf in the final.
At the US Open, she reached the semifinals in 1990, losing to Sabatini 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and again in 1992, where she lost to No. 1 Monica Seles.
Of the four majors, she had her least success at Wimbledon, but reached the semifinals in 1991, falling to Graf, 6-2, 6-4.

Tim Henman - The pain of Henman's failure to win a Grand Slam in his native United Kingdom overwhelms all the good he did - reaching No. 4 in the world in 2002 and earning 11 ATP titles and more than $11.6 million in prize money. Henman's best event was always at home at Centre Court, and he came achingly close to the final a number of times without success.
In total, he fell four times in the semifinals and four more times in the quarterfinals, also reaching the US Open semifinals in 2004.
At Wimbledon, his semifinal appearances came in 1998 - a four-set loss to No. 1 Pete Sampras; 1999 - again a four-set loss to Sampras; 2000 - when he squandered a 2-1 set lead and fell victim to No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic; and 2002 - crushed in straight sets by No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.
In 2004, he reached the semifinals of a non-Wimbledon Grand Slam for the first time, but was destroyed in straight sets by Roger Federer.

Mark Philippoussis - The powerfully-built Australian lasted 14 years on tour, won 11 titles and peaked at No. 8 in the world, but could never break through the final barrier, falling in two Grand Slam finals. The first came on American soil in 1998, when as the No. 22 player in the world, he fell to fellow Australian Patrick Rafter in the final - the first All-Australian Grand Slam final since Mark Edmondson defeated John Newcombe in the 1976 Australian Open.
His other big shot came at Wimbledon in 1993, when, ranked No. 48 in the world, he shocked No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round in five sets,but ultimately became the first Grand Slam victim of Roger Federer, who defeated him in three with a pair of tie-break set wins.
He made the Wimbledon quarterfinals on three other occasions, but never made it past the fourth round of his native Australian Open.

Andy Murray - If Tim Henman ever wants to have a beer at the pub with someone who can understand his sorrow, Murray is the guy. The 24-year-old Scot has replaced Henman as Her Royal Majesty's best hope to break the kingdom's Grand Slam drought - soon to be entering its 76th year.
Murray has bee ranked as high as No. 2 in the world and taken 21 career titles and more than $19 million in prize money, but the one thing that will grant him sport immortality - and perhaps a future life as Sir Andrew - has thus far eluded him.
Unlike more than a few of the entrants on this list, Murray has made several Grand Slam finals, but that has made him look worse in the eyes of many critics, because of the way he has played in the title matches.
His first major final came in 2008, when Roger Federer dripped about two mililiters of sweat in crushing Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. He put up more of a fight against Federer at the 2010 Australian Open, but it was still another sweep, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11). He returned to the Australian final in 2011, and while the opponent was different, the result was the same old, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 brow-beating at the hands of Novak Djokovic.
Murray went on to reach the semifinals of the other three Grand Slams in 2011, winning exactly two sets in three losses to Rafael Nadal.
Nadal has been his big-time nemesis in Grand Slams, also dismissing him in the 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinals (in straight sets) and the 2010 semifinals (you guessed it, straight sets).

Caroline Wozniacki - Just 21 and with a long career still hopefully ahead of her, Wozniacki's lack of major crowns usually overshadows the fact that she's been ranked No. 1 nearly non-stop for 15 months and has racked up 18 career titles on tour. She has only one Grand Slam final to show for it, losing the 2009 US Open to Kim Clijsters. She was upset by a red-hot Li Na last year at Australia, her first time past the fourth round there.
She has made it to the final eight just once at Roland Garros, falling to eventual champion Francesa Schivaone in 2010; has never done anything of note at Wimbledon and has had three bittersweet experiences at Flushing Meadows, losing in the semifinals each of the past two years.

American teenager Madison Keys earns Australian Open wild card

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:09:17 GMT

]]>Keys to Victory Down Under?
]]>Precocioius American Madison Keys has battled her way to a wild card for the upcoming US Open by winning the USTA playoff on Sunday, defeating Gail Brodsky 6-3, 6-4.

The 16-year-old native of Boca Raton, Florida, turned pro in 2009 and became the seventh-youngest woman to ever win a WTA match that same year, defeating Nadia Petrova at Ponte Vedra Beach at age 14 years, 48 days.

After that auspicious debut, Keys went 18-5, starting the year by winning the ITF tournament in Cleveland, defeating the No. 8, 4 and 3 seeds in the process.

She followed it up with semifinal trips to Atlanta, Amelia Island and Evansville and reached the final at Bayamon.
Things didn't go as swimmingly in 2011, as Keys went 10-10.

Ivan Lendl's Tennis Academy off to a Flying Start

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:14:05 GMT

]]>Giving back to the next generation
]]>Sports Illustrated once famously called Ivan Lendl "The Champion No One Cares About", but far be it Lendl to return the favor.

Lendl is four months into running the show at the Ivan Lendl International Junior Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina and apparently having a blast according to a recent magazine interview.

"I just love it when kids do sports," Lendl said. "It keeps them out of trouble. It teaches them values. It teaches them fairness. It teaches them hard work."

It's not just tennis that Lendl preaches to kids, as evidenced by the activities of his own children. Two of his daughters are members of the University of Florida's golf team, another plays golf for the University of Alabama and a fourth is on the Crimson Tide's rowing squad. His fifth daughter, Nikola, is involved in equestrian competition.

There's more to Lendl's school than smashing a ball as hard as one can.
The academy includes academics, health and fitness classes and devloping a firm mental game.

Lendl used power and precision to become arguably the greatest player of his generation, staying at the No. 1 spot int he world for 270 weeks, a streak surpassed only by Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

He played in 19 Grand Slam finals in his career and won eight of them, missing a career Grand Slam by failing in two Wimbledon finals in 1986-1987.

Lendl's seemingly cold exterior might have come largely because of the men he often competed against - Americans Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe and Germany's Boris Becker.
"It hurt. It wasn't fair," Lendl said of the attitude about him during his playing days. "But that was a long time ago."

ATP's biggest losers are also big winners

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:57:58 GMT

]]>]]>Tom Petty once sang that even the losers get lucky some time, but when it comes to the players with the most losses in ATP history, you'd be suprised to find so much success.

Here's a quick run down of the 10 players with the most losses in the Open Era.

10. Jakob Hlasek, Switzlerand, 331 - Hard to call a guy a loser when he finishes more than 100 matches over .500 for his career and climbs as high as No. 7 in the world, but that's why Hlasek is only 10th on this list. He played 14 years on the pro tour, his last match a loss to then-No. 6 Boris Becker in the Grand Slam Cup in Germany in 1996. His only Grand Slam success was reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 1991. He also reached No. 4 in the world in singles in 1989.

9. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 333 - Impossible to call a Wimbledon champion a loser, but Ivanisevic's longecity puts him on this list as well. On the otherside of those 333 wins are a whopping 599 wins all time, 22 career titles, eight trips to at least the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments and a high ranking of No. 2 in the world in July of 1994.

8. Tomas Smid, Czechoslovakia, 333 - Smid won nine career titles and 516 matches, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1983 and Wimbledon in 1994. He was most reknown for his participation in a stunning 31 Davis Cup ties for Czechoslovakia between 1977-1989, winning 22 singles matches and 20 doubles matches. Smid won more than twice as many doubles matches as he lost, taking two Grand Slam titles - the US Open in 1984 and the French Open in 1986. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles in 1984.

7. Javier Sanchez, Spain, 335 - He played 14 years, but he could never quite break .500 for his career, finishing 327-335 with four career titles and two quarterfinal appearances at the US Open (1996, 1996). The Sanchez family is much more famous for Javier's younger sister, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who was the youngest-ever winner of the French Open at age 17 in 1989 and wound up with 13 Grand Slam titles in all. In addition, Sanchez's older brother Emilio won three Grand Slam doubles titles. Emilio defeated Javier in 1987 in Madrid, the first time that two brothers had ever met in a top-level tour tournament.

6. Rainer Schuttler, Germany, 337 - That's 337 losses and counting for Schuttler, who turned pro in 1995 and is still plowing along, despite being ranked No. 128 at the end of 2011. He peaked at No. 5 in 2004 and reached the finals of the 2003 Australian Open and the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2008.

5. Francisco Clavet, Spain, 340 - Unlike the prior two men, Clavet finished above .500 for his career at 388-340 with eight titles, but only cracked the Top 20 once, doing so in 1992. He's become more famous of late for coaching countryman Feliciano Lopez.

4. Marc Rosset, Switzerland, 351 - A giant of a man at 6 feet, 7 inches, Rosset played in three different decades, debuting in 1988 and shutting things down in 1995. Again, it's hard to call him a loser, since he took the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games and was ranked in the Top 10 in 1995. The gold medal came largely due to an upset of Ivanisevic in the semifinals following a stunning win over top seed Jim Courier in the third round. He reached the Roland Garros semifinals in 1999 and the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1996.

3. Vincent Spadea, USA, 359 - The 37-year-old American proved that as long as you're having fun and doing what you like, the wins and losses aren't all that important. He finally called it a career in 2010 after 17 years, 309 wins and one career title, peaking at No. 18 in 2005. He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1999, is one of only four players to ever beat Roger Federer 6-0, 6-0. In 2000, he notched quite a few of his losses in a ATP record 21-match losing streak.

2. Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden, 362 - Bjorkman's losses stacked up late because his passion for the game didn't wane until well into his 30s - he retired in 2008 after 17 seasons and more than $14 million in prize money. He made two Grand Slam semifinals in his career and peaked at No. 4 in 1997. He was vastly more formidable as a doubles player, going 708-304 all-time with nine Grand Slam titles.

1. Fabrice Santoro, France, 444 - Another three-decade warrior, Santoro managed to win more than he lost, with 470 career wins, a fervent fan following and some of the best trick shots in the world. In addition, he defeated 18 players who were No. 1 in the world at some time in their careers, won two men's doubles titles at the Australian Open and reached No. 17 in the world in 2001.

Ana Ivanovic to fellow WTA players: Lighten Up!

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:54:56 GMT

]]>Ana just wants to have fun
]]>Ana Ivanovic has been a lot of things in her young career on the WTA Tour - the first player to be ranked No. 1 without a Grand Slam title, the most searched female athlete on the Internet, 2008 French Open Champion and UNICEF National Ambassador.

Now, she's telling her fellow women players to mellow out just a bit.
"The game of us women would be better if we could perhaps be more relaxed and we let ourselves go a little more on the court," Ivanovic said in a recent interview.

"The difference with the men's tennis is that they appear more relaxed and it seems they do not think the little things."

Although a bit of a broad statement, there is plenty of merit in Ivanovic's words. Plenty of female players feel pressured to be more than players - many are pushed into modelling, working as spokespeople and find themselves hounded by paparazzi like Hollywood stars rather than athletic competitors.

It's particularly true in comparison to their male equivalents - seldom do we find the mainstream international media cueing up to snap photos of anyone outside of Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, but the women, given their blend of fashion/beauty symbols and athletic competitors, means having to be "on" quite a bit.

ATP legend John Newcombe stays Djokovic will struggle, Federer will rise in 2012

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:31:08 GMT

]]>And what about Rafa?
]]>John Newcombe knows a thing or two about winning, and he thinks that not only Novak Djokovic struggle to do so at the same hectic pace in 2012 that he did in 2011, but also that 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will be the one re-taking the No. 1 ranking.

"Djokovic is really going to struggle the first six months of next year—he's really knocked himself out,'' Newcombe said in a recent magazine article.

"Since the U.S. Open, there's injuries, a sore shoulder, a sore back, and when you watch him playing, he's running on three cylinders, so I'd say that his body, it's given in. I think it will be a superhuman effort for him to repeat the six months that he had. It was an amazing run, and that is very hard to defend. It's not going to surprise me if, by the end of July next year, Roger is very close to being No. 1 again."

Federer won the year-end Barclays ATP Championships for the second consecutive year in November, with Djokovic eliminated in round-robin play and No. 2 Rafael Nadal thrashed by Federer in the semifinals.

Nadal seems to be even more of a question mark for Newcombe than Djokovic, particularly given that he lost to the Serbian six times in 2011, including at the finals of the US Open and Wimbledon.

"With Rafa, it's like the heavyweight champion of the world that's never been knocked out, and suddenly, gets knocked out six times within the space of six months by Djokovic," said Newcombe.

"He doesn't have the same self-belief any more. All of a sudden he's having to face things, questions, that he's never doubted. So it's a question of can he get his head around this whole thing, and come back to where he was?"

Newcombe won seven Grand Slam titles in singles, two in mixed doubles and 17 in doubles between 1965 and 1976. He is one of the very few players to have been ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles at some point his career.
Along with Rod Laver, Newcombe is one of only two men to ever win the US Open and Wimbledon men's titles as both an amateur and a porfessional. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976, and is also famous for being future President George W. Bush's drinking companion when the latter was charged with DUI that same year.

Kim Clijsters vows to take things easy after injury-plagued 2011

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:15:27 GMT

]]>]]> It's a decent trivia question to ask tennis fans who won the 2011 Australian Open women's singles title, because by year's end, the player in question had vanished from the Top 10.

Belgium's Kim Clijsters was as hot as a player can be when she won Sydney last year, her second consecutive major, fourth overall, and combined with her year-end win at the WTA Championships, it allowed her to briefly take over the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Injuries - specificially an ankle, wrist, shoulder and foot - plagued the rest of her campaign, and she didn't play a lick after pulling out of Wimbledon in late June.

"The start of 2011 was really good. But after that I made some decisions I no longer would make now," Clijsters said on her own website last week.
"After a physically and psychologically very strenuous Australian Open, the indoor tournament in Paris was the one event too much. Now, I'll be listening to my body much better."

Clijsters had planned to make 2011 her final full season before making a run at the 2012 Summer Olympics being held at Wimbledon to wind down her career in hopes of having a second child.
Now she isn't sure what her schedule will be like in 2012, although the Olympics appears to still be her No. 1 objective, even to the point of not playing in the Fed Cup to focus on the pursuit of gold.

"I'll see how things are after the Australian Open," Clijsters said. "Should I do as well as last year, it might all be a bit much, but should things go not too well Down Under, the Fed Cup might be an appropriate challenge."
Unable to defend her crowns at Flushing Meadows or the year-end championships this fall, Clijsters slid to No. 13 in the world at year's end.
If she falters early at the Australian Open, she'll really take a dive in the rankings.

She will return to official tour action on January 1 at the season-opening tournament at Brisbane.

Top 5 Weirdest Racquets

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:27:38 GMT

]]>Tennis has been around for a long time, which has given would be innovators plenty of time to come up with quirky and unusual racquet designs.Although they're different from the norm, people who have played with some of these designs absolutely swear by them.

So to celebrate the quirky, weird and different, Tennis Now will take a look at five of the most unusual tennis racquets around. ]]>

Marat Safin Elected to Russian Parliament

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:52:51 GMT

]]>Holding Serve on a Brand-New Court
]]>Marat Safin scored a number of huge wins on the court during his career.
Earlier this week, he garnered a big win off of it.

The 31-year-old Safin was elected to a set in Russia's lower house of Parliament.
"This is a completely new life, a new way of thinking, new way of doing things that's nothing to do with tennis or sports at all," Safin said.
Safin will officially take office on Dec. 21, at which time he will meet Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

Safin isn't the only former athlete entering Russia's parliament. He'll be joined by former boxer Nikolai Valuev and Olympic wrestler Alexander Karelin.

Safin's news reached halfway around the world to former rival Pete Sampras, who Safin defeated for the 2000 US Open crown.
"In 20 years, Marat will be the President of Russia. Trust me, this guy is going to go a long way," Sampras said.
"Marat is very intelligent, articulate and well-spoken, so I think it's great that he's getting involved in government in his homeland."

It wasn't all wine and roses for Safin and his fellow new electees, however. Protests featuring tens of thousands Russian citizens have filled the country over the past two weeks, calling for an investigation into potential voter fraud.

Dr. Mikhail Youzhny Earns PhD

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:57:44 GMT

]]> Number thirty-five ranked Mikhail Youzhny can breathe a sigh of relief. In front of sixteen members of the scientific council in Russia, Youzhny answered multiple questions about his studies and was awarded his PhD in Philosophy.

]]>"There were some professors from the university there. I was a bit nervous because it was something new, it’s not like a tennis match I’m going to play, which I do every week. I was answering questions and reasoning, so of course it’s different. But actually, when I think about what I said, it’s my life, what I’m doing every day on court."

The Russian had been studying and schooling for the high degree at the University of Moscow while competing on tour as well. The program usually takes three years to complete, but with Youzhny’s commitment to tennis, he was able to finish in six years.

"I didn’t mind if it took 5, 6, 7, 8 years, when I had some free time I could do it slowly. I feel good because I took the time to do what I wanted to do, I finished it, and I’m happy with that,” he explained to the ATP.

Youzhny believes his PhD will help aspiring coaches and players to understand all aspects of tennis. Through his studies he has written how he sees situations and what could be changed to move tennis in the right direction.

"This is my life; I have played tennis on the ATP World Tour all my life," said Youzhny. "I wanted to explain to young players and give them some information about what I think about tennis. So it is mainly for young players and young coaches”

No matter how long it took him, receiving a PhD while being a top-ranked player on tour is quite a feat. The Muscovite did not strive for the degree to better himself as a tennis player, but to help others.

"I didn’t do the degree to help my tennis career on the court, but maybe it can help some coaches working with young players. I speak about it to some young guys I see and how I think they’re doing, but it is mainly for young coaches who want to be a good coach."

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Tim Henman Hopeful of Roger Federer's Return To Dominance

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:42:18 GMT

]]>Climbing to the top of the rankings is no easy task. Staying there is even tougher. With Roger Federer at No. 1 for 285 weeks and one week away from Pete Sampras' all-time record, the king was dethroned. He's now on a quest to take back the crown and Tim Henman thinks it's a doable task.
]]>Former British No. 1 player Tim Henman thinks highly of Roger Federer. So highly in fact, that he believes the Swiss will win more Grand Slams and regain the number one spot in the rankings by 2012’s end. Henman justifies his claim with the notion that Federer trails Pistol Pete’s record of 286 weeks at No. 1 by only one week, and wants the record badly.

"He is just short of Sampras' record for most weeks at World Number One. I know Roger will really want to break that record, so I think it’s possible. I think he will win more Slams, I really do. If the conditions favour him then Roger at his best is still better than anyone else."

Seeing how Federer played toward the end of the year (winning his last 22 matches, including the ATP World Tour Finals), there’s no reason to believe he doesn’t have the ability to regain the top spot.

He showed the world his dominance in a thrashing of No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-0 in a seemingly short 61 minutes at the World Tour Finals, before going on to win the title in three sets against a stingy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He’ll look to stay in form for the 2012 season and Henman hopes he does, being a Roger fan himself.

"My highlight of 2011 has to be Federer winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London. I've always been a Federer fan because I love the way he plays,” Henman added.

Australian police say Bernard Tomic is both fast, furious

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:54:41 GMT

]]>]]>Australian teenager Bernard Tomic is known on court for his lightning fast serves, but driving at the same rate of speed is getting him in trouble in his native land.

Tomic claims Sydney police are targeting his rather loud (both in color and noise level) orange BMW M3, a $150,000 sports car which he has been granted a special exemption from his provisional licence to drive to and from his tennis training.

A provisional licence is given when an Australian turns 17 and is valid for three years, but has strict conditions including a no alcohol tolerance.
Tomic said he was pulled over Sunday night for "hooning" - the Australian term for illegal street racing.

Tomic added fuel to the fire by claiming that the officer who did the stopping has a vendetta against him.
"He doesn't like me for some reason, he's always on my tail," Tomic said, adding that the officer is "jealous".

Way to downplay it, kid.

The police of the Gold Coast have dismissed Tomic's claims and informed him that he only has the right to drive the car to tennis practice, although the star said he was informed he could also take it to "training, gym, massages and meetings."

Australia's Barty Girl? 15-year-old scores Open wild card

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:13:45 GMT

]]>A is for Ashleigh
]]>With Samantha Stosur struggling, Bernard Tomic battling the law and Lleyton Hewitt just downright terrible lately, Australia has been searching for a fresh face to lend its support to for next month's Australian Open.

Aussie fanatics got their wish last weekend when 15-year-old Ashleigh Barty shocked the field at the Australian Open wildcard play-off tournament, beating Olivia Rogowska 7-6(8), 6-2.

Barty was glib when asked about her chances on the big stage.
"I don't really want to think about it yet," she said. "I'll probably go out there and play some horrendous tennis and be really nervous, but I'll just go out there and have some fun."

Born in 1996, Barty will easily be the youngest player in the field, and won't be 16 until April.
She went 3-3 in ITF play in her 2010 debut, then made back-to-back ITF quarterfinals to start
2011. She finished the season 8-4.

Although it's about as much of a long shot as Australia sinking into the ocean overnight, if Barty were to win the Australian Open title, she would be the youngest woman to ever do so, breaking the record of 16 years, 4 months set by Martina Hingis in 1997.

New game theory paper delves into tennis' "shadow effect"

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:03:30 GMT

]]>]]>A new study has been released revealing that lesser players are more likely to pull the upset, if both competitors realize that a top player is waiting in the next round.

Using game theory, researchers have examined 28,000 matches from 2001-2010 spanning 600 men's pro tennis tournaments including all four Grand Slams.

The found phenomenon is called "the shadow effect" and centers on what researchers call a conservation of effort.

If the match favorite is aware that he is likely to face a top-flight opponent, say Novak Djokovic, in the next round, he is more likely to conserve energy against his current opponent, theorizing that he will need the extra burst to win in the next round.

Thus, the next opponent is casting a "shadow" over the match being played in the present.
In turning effort into energy, and tennis into math, says that energy conservation in the present hurts the higher-ranked player more than his lower-ranked opponent, because the better a player is, the more he gains from additional effort.

The lower-ranked player is likely to play all out in all circumstances, and having his opponent play at less than 100% gives him more opportunities to make up for the disparity in talent.

The study showed that the converse is also true. If a higher-ranked player knows that his next opponent is a weaker player, he has a decided advantage in the current match because he feels free to expend more effort and energy on the thought process that the next round will be less stressful.

The paper is called "Selecting the Best? Spillover and Shadows in Elimination Tournaments" and is presented by Jennifer Brown and Dylan B. Minor to the NBER.

The paper also touches on the effect fatigue has on players, which rings true to frustrations many pros have talked about it in regards to the US Open, where the semifinals and finals are held on consecutive days, on the rare occasions where weather delays are not an issue.

"NEXT" report card - a review of future tennis stars tabbed by ESPN

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:49:08 GMT

]]>]]>It was a remarkable thing to have four tennis players honored by ESPN in its annual "NEXT" issue recently.

The Magazine began predicting the athletes of tomorrow way back in 1998, but in the 12 years leading up to this issue, only seven netters had been given the honor of gracing those pages.
After lauding the 2012 editions of ESPN's "NEXT" phenomenon, I decided to take a look back at the players who have come before.
Here's how yesterday's versions of tennis' "NEXT" are living up to the hype.

Melanie Oudin (2009) - Oudin was the first tennis player named to the "NEXT" list in five years when she graced the pages alongside a remarkable display of young sports talent - the NBA's Kevin Durant and John Wall, baseball phenom Steven Strasburg and football record-breaking running back Chris Johnson.
When she graced the issue in December of 2008, Oudin was the No. 2 ranked junior in the world.
She did the magazine proud the next season with a Oudin stunning 39-17 campaign that saw her rise from 173rd to 49th in the rankings, topped by a remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Oudin got off to a rough start to 2010, failing to record a win until she found her game in Paris, reaching the semifinals there and the quarterfinals at Memphis. A trip to the Charleston quarterfinals saw her rise to No. 31 in the world.
She was unable to repeat her success at the US Open, and it cost her 30 spots in the rankings, finishing the season 25-24 and ranked 65th.
Oudin's slippery slope hit a very rough stretch in 2011 as she plummeted to a 10-33 record and fell drastically out of the Top 100.
She lost her first match in 18 tournaments and made only one quarterfinal on the entire season.

Before Oudin, the last tennis player honored in a "NEXT" issue was Maria Sharapova, who in 2004, was trying her best to not be compared to Anna Kournikova.
Her class was quite hit and miss - with the slam dunks - Michael Phelps, Larry Fitzgerald, Dwight Howard and the airballs - Kaz Matsui and whoever the hell Randolph Morris is.
Unlike Kournikova, Sharapova had already won two WTA titles by the time she finished her 2003 season, one in which she went 38-13.
She erupted into the big time in 2004, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, winning Birmingham and then taking Wimbledon by storm, crushing Serena Williams in the final 6-1, 6-4, adding the Tour Championship title at year's end to finish fourth, one of six Top 10 finishes in her career.
Since that appearance in 2003, Sharapova has won three Grand Slam titles, reached at least the semifinals of nine others and racked up 24 titles and more than $16.6 million in earnings.

With a name like Paradorn Srichaphan, it's easy to be memorable, and the pride of Thailand was among the honorees in 2003, along with cover boy LeBron James, baseball hurler Josh Beckett, and NFL bruiser Brandon Jacobs.
Paradorn was a relative unknown until 2002, when he stunned Andre Agassi at Wimbledon and fought his way into the Top 30.
By the end of 2003, he had rode the success wave to just outside the Top 10, with a fourth-round appearance at the US Open. His fame spread across Asia, where he was Thailand's final flag bearer at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
As popular as he was, Paradorn's body couldn't keep up. He missed nearly all of 2007 due to injuries, dropping like a stone to near the bottom of the rankings.
He fought his way back, but 2010 would mark the end of his career when a motorcycle accident saw him break both his hands and one wrist.

A year before Paradorn made the ESPN pages, it was Juan Carlos Ferrero's turn. He appeared in the magazine in 2002 and had made good on that promise within a year, winning the French Open title the following spring and taking over the No. 1 ranking in the world that September.
It would be the pinnacle of his playing days, although he won a further 15 titles and reached the final of the 2003 US Open and the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2004.
Ferrero's year was a good one for the "NEXT" class - he was joined by legendary linebackers Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers, speed skater and "Dancing with the Stars" legend Apolo Ohno.

Ferrero was the second straight "NEXT" performer to reach No. 1, following Marat Safin in 2001. With 7-foot, 6-inch Yao MIng on the cover, it might have been easy for Safin to get lost in the shadows, but he overcame it quickly by ending the 2000 season with a victory at the US Open that propelled him to the No. 1 ranking mere days after the issue debuted.
Safin was erratic on and off the court, but entertaining in both venues as well, racking up 15 titles, winning the 2005 Australian Open, smashing rackets and launching into emotional outbursts.

But the gold standard of tennis success was set in 1999 when Venus and Serena Williams were featured alongside cover boys Randy Moss (success!) and Keith Van Horn (well, at least he retired rich), not to mention Vladimir Guerrero, Jaromir Jagr, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tim Duncan.
Serena, the younger, has established herself as a modern-day contender for the greatest woman to ever take the court. Serena has 13 singles Grand Slams, two mixed doubles crowns and has combined with her sister to take 12 Grand Slam doubles crowns, along with two Olympic gold medals.
While Venus has never finished a single season ranked No. 1, she has earned the top ranking and has compiled seven Grand Slam singles titles and two in mixed doubles.

Top 5 Men's Comeback Wins Of 2011 (With Video Of Course)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:03:19 GMT

]]>It has been a historic year in tennis as we witnessed one of the best season's ever as Novak Djokovic dominated, winning three of four grand slams. We don't want to overlook the best comebacks of 2011 though, so here they are. The Top 5 Comeback Wins of 2011.

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(December 13, 2011) The year is coming to a close and as tennis fans we’ve been blessed with unbelievable matches. Whether your favorite player is Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic, you can only appreciate the efforts of every player on tour when they dig deeper than they ever have before to shock their opponent. Let's take a look at the Top 5 Comeback Wins of 2011.

1. Novak Djokovic trailed two sets to none, but fought his way to a fifth set where he was down a break and two match points. No one could have predicted what followed.

2. Again, Roger Federer finds his way on the wrong end of an epic comeback. The Swiss had been 179-0 when leading an opponent two sets to none. That all changed at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon when Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shocked the world to take down Federer in a 5-set thriller.

3. Andy Murray was down a set in the Finals of Tokyo to Rafael Nadal and everything was going the Spaniards way. So it seemed.

4. Robin Soderling trailed Lleyton Hewitt in the 2nd round of Wimbledon two sets to none, while the Aussie showed flashes of greatness. The tides would turn as the match began to slip away from Hewitt.

5. Andy Murray makes the list again as he was in serious trouble during 2nd round play at the US Open against Robin Haase. The Scot calmed commotion as he fought back from a two set to none deficit.

It's been a wild year in 2011 and all we can hope is 2012 brings some of the same. Do you agree with these comebacks that made the list?

Sacramento Capitals' former owner saves franchise from foreclosure

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:25:46 GMT

]]>Ramey Osborne to the rescue!
]]>Facing the prospect of dropping out of the league for good, the Sacramento Capitals were given new life earlier this week when they were bought by a new ownership group.

The Capitals are the longest-running franchise in World Team Tennis history, having competed in 26 seasons and won a league-best six titles.

On Thursday, Capital Sports Management purchased the team. The group is led by Ramey Osborne, who also owned the Capitals from 1987-1999.

Former owner Bob Cook looked like he might let the team fall completely apart when he filed for personal bankruptcy in August of 2011. Cooks is a local developer in Sacramento.

Osborne will keep general manager Matt McEvoy in place.

"I love tennis, and I've enjoyed it from the day they came, and so I want to keep it going," Osborne told a local newspaper. "When I realized or saw that there some problems with the past owernship, I thought that somebody needed to step up, and so I did."

Sacramento used a late-season push to qualify for last summer's playoffs and reached the Western Conference finals led by Mark Knowles and Vania King.

Americans Christina McHale, Sloan Stephens top ESPN's "Next" List

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:01:57 GMT

]]>Who's Got Next?
]]>Every year, ESPN The Magazine trumpets its own name by offering its "Next" issue, where it hails a few young athletes as the future of that sport.

The issue is quite obviously hit and miss, nobody can predict the future, no matter how many networks they might try to cram down our throats.
At the same time, getting prime real estate in one of the most read sports magazine in the country is a lightning rod of exposure for any young player, and this year's lucky quintet are the USA's Sloane Stephens and Christina McHale, Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, Lithuania's Richard Berankis and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

McHale and Stephens are fairly well-known names in American tennis circles. McHale took a big step forward toward real prominence in 2011, asserting herself as a young woman who can consistently make an impact at a tournament instead of a hopeful who occasionally makes good use of a wild card.

McHale's fan following reared its mighty head this year at the US Open, when she reached the third round with an upset of France's Marion Bartoli. McHale grew up in nearby New Jersey, went to the Open as a kid and trains now at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Stephens' young life to date, has had all the elements of a soap opera - great joy, great tragedy and a great mom.

Stephens' mother, Sybil Smith, made a pact with her daughter when Sloane was only 11, telling World Tennis Magazine, "We agreed she would try to have the best attitude she could, and I agreed to supor her no matter what. One of these days, we're going to have it framed."

The tragedy struck in 2010 when her father, former New England Patriot John Stephens, was killed in a car wreck during first week of the U.S. Open. Stephens flew to Louisiana for the funeral, then returned to New York the next day, having made the decision that her father would not have wanted her to miss out on the major.
Not only did she win that match, she ended up winning the junior doubles title at Flushing Meadows, something she had also done at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in 2010.
Not surprisingly, Stephens' idols are the Williams sisters. More surprisingly, she not only likes playing on clay, she does it quite well.

Like American Donald Young's connection with John McEnroe, Lithunia's Richard Berankis has the envy of every young male player in Europe after being invtited by Roger Federer to train before the 2011 season began.

Does the greatest player of all time see something of himself in the younger man? Certainly his impressive fitness is a good place to start.
Berankis won the US Open junior title when he was 17 without dropping a single set, and in 2010, he was the youngest player in the Top 100.
Unlike a majority of current stars, Berankis is no golden child with the gift of years of academies and camps behind him. His mother works at the post office, his dad is a taxi driver.

Bulgarian 20-year-old Grigor Dimitrov has his own connection to Federer, he is coached by Peter Lundgren, who guided the Swiss legend to his first Wimbledon crown close to a decade ago.
Lundgren scarily diagnoses that Dimitrov has more talent than Federer at the same age, and Dimitrov brings the swagger to back it up, telling a London newspaper, "I definitely believe I can be the world No. 1. I can do anything on any surface."
He backed up that talk in 2008, winning the junior titles at the US Open and Wimbledon.

If "Words with Friends" allowed you to use your own name as a word, no one would ever want to play with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is worth 35 points on the board and has already notched three WTA titles.
Like a lot of phenoms who destroy the competition early on, Pavlyuchenkova was in for a rude awakening when she turned pro at age 16 after having won the junior titles at the US and Australian Opens in 2006, and Australia again in 2007.
"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I won everything in the juniors," she said before last year's French Open. "When I turned pro at 16, I had to learn how to lose. I started racking up disappointment after disappointment and I wasn't used to it."
Instead of getting down on herself, Pavlyuchenkova got better, and quick, winning two titles as a teenager in 2010 and going 40-22 on the year to wind out just outside the Top 20.
She took another title in 2011, made the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows, and has one of the finest athletic pedigrees on tour - her grandmother was an Olympic basketball player for the former Soviet Union, her mom was a competitive swimmer and her father a world-class canoeist (whatever that level is).

Is Rafael Nadal losing his passion for tennis?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:25:01 GMT

]]>Has Toni Toni Toni Done It Again?
]]>Even though he helped Spain win the Davis Cup last week, Rafael Nadal had admitted in an interview that he doesn't have the same flair for the game he did in the past.

“I have lost a little passion for the game. I have been a bit more tired than usual… I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. We can find excuses, we can find problems, but I have not been happy about a few things this season," Nadal said in a recent interview.

After looking close to perfect in his 71-10, three-major 2010 campaign that saw him end the year ranked No. 1 for the second time in three seasons, Nadal slid back to No. 2 in 2011.

Nadal actually reached more finals (10) in 2011 than he had in 2010 (9), but lost seven of them, six to Novak Djokovic, the man who took over his No. 1 ranking.

At least part of Nadal's frustration appears to be stemming from uncle/coach Toni Nadal, who has been known for his outbursts during matches.

“I don’t necessarily have to listen or take notice any more of what Toni says to me. I can make my own mind up now," Nadal said. "Am I frustrated? That’s not the right word. In a career you come back or you go down. This is not my best moment and I need a lot of things to change. Small things, but these can change a lot of things at the end of the day.”