The ESPN network, which is showing 100 hours of live US Open tennis on ESPN2 (and 400 online at ESPN360.com), hosted a conference call recently with two familiar voices from the commentary booth: Cliff Drysdale and Pam Shriver. Both had some interesting things to say on the biggest, fattest and meatiest stories going into the [...]

John McEnroe said the use of injury timeouts is “absolutely an epidemic” on the tour, speaking Wednesday via an ESPN2 conference call.
The latest outbreak of timeout-itis occurred last weekend in Montreal, when Juan Martin del Potro called the trainer twice and took a bathroom break during his championship match against Andy Murray. The Argentine had [...]

Ana Ivanovic lost to Sam Stosur, 6-3, 6-2, on Thursday at the LA Women’s Tennis Championships. After the match, the always-thoughtful Ivanovic was disappointed, but still feeling positive about her first tournament back since Wimbledon:
“I really went through a lot in the last couple of months,” said Ivanovic, who could be referring to a number [...]

Dinara Safina beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round of the LA Women’s Tennis Championships.
“It was my first match here in America. It was a solid match” Dinara said of her 2009 US Open Series debut.
Solid is a good way to describe Safina’s play all year, and this consistency has been [...]

Yesterday I had a chance to sit down with Vera Zvonareva, the No. 7 ranked player in the world and the No. 2 seed at the LA Women’s Tennis Championships. Vera is coming back from an on again/off again injury layoff, that started in April when she badly injured her ankle chasing down a ball [...]

“Reality stinks sometimes,” said Maria Sharapova after beating Jarmila Groth 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the LA Women’s Tennis Championships on Monday.
Of course, reality is relative when you’re talking about the life of a glamorous tennis superstar and self-proclaimed global “brand.”
“As a 22 year old, you’re almost finding yourself on the old wagon.“ [...]

The LA Women’s Tennis Championships kicks off today in Carson, California, a WTA Tour Premier Level event with a solid draw that includes Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova.
The top seeds attended today’s all-access media hour, here’s some of what they had to say:
Ana Ivanovic on moving up and down [...]

Marat Safin and Tommy Haas played Friday night’s marquee quarterfinal at the LA Tennis Open. There are two “Major” differences between these two friends – Marat has two slams, Tommy has never made it to a major final – otherwise, they have a lot in common: flashy backhands, over a decade on tour, and the [...]

For some tennis fans, the main draw at the LA Tennis Open isn’t the Main Draw but the “Legends.” Pete Sampras (a two time champ in L.A.) played an exhibition against Marat Safin on Monday night before an enthusiastic crowd. Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier and Michael Chang – all past champs in Los Angeles – [...]

“I’d rather come here (to L.A.) without tennis. It’s much more pleasant than coming here and playing tennis. Even though the tournament is great.”
So said Marat Safin after beating Ernests Gulbis, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday at the LA Tennis Open.
For Marat fans, Wednesday’s match was a rare gem – a hard-fought, hard-hitting, rollercoaster ride [...]

To the die-hard Pete Sampras fans who are mourning the loss of his greatest record – stuck down by Roger Federer at Wimbledon this year – you have reason to cheer! Pete Sampras, at age 37, is still a great champion: humble, thoughtful and just a touch melancholic. Oh, and Sampras can still S&V with [...]

Yes, I know we’ve had our fill of Roger Federer Wimbledon videos (right?) but this is probably one of the best video interviews I’ve ever seen of him. Roger talks frankly to Boris Becker and Greg Rusedski about being amongst legends, watching Mirka in the stands and how he feels about breaking the records.
I would [...]