I said I would refrain from reading Rafael Nadal’s tealeaves until next season, but Peter Bodo at tennis.com offered this provocative analysis after this weekend’s Shanghai final:
So the real issue, looking to Nadal’s future, is: To what degree can he recapture the form and aura he enjoyed until a few weeks after the Australian Open?  [...]

With Roger’s big win(s) in Cincinnati this weekend, it’s getting crowded on the Federer Express. Next stop, US Open. Here are some choice quotes:
Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated sums it up:
Was it really about three months ago that the Fed Express appeared to be sputtering, as the eponym was lacking a single title in 2009, [...]

Robin Soderling has competition – Chair Umpire Mohamed Lahyani may be the best thing going in Swedish tennis right now. Tennis nuts have often remarked on Mo’s cheerful, yet decisive, style: he’s charming with the players and shows no fear on the overrules. Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill of ESPN have started calling him “Number [...]

Friday was quarterfinals day in Montreal, with Andy Murray advancing over Nikolay Davydenko,  del Potro showing Rafael Nadal the door and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga winning a game of choking chicken against Roger Federer. Sure, Roger’s loss was a shocker, but the result that really struck me was Andy Roddick’s straight set win over Novak Djokovic: 6-4, [...]

Sam Querrey beat Tommy Haas on Saturday evening at the LA Tennis Open, 6-3, 7-5. The towering American was surprisingly fleet of foot, hit serves consistently in the 130s and rushed the net when he could. It was a great win for Sam, who is now in his third straight ATP final, having played Sundays [...]

It’s not easy choosing the G.O.A.T. Like American Lit exams, it’s more essay question than multiple choice. And even if you’re tennis’s answer to Mark Twain, those snarky Sartre-types can always blow smoke in your eyes and snarl: “What a futile exercise. It’s obvious that the G.O.A.T. is a media construct and not reality.”
Can you [...]

Maria Sharapova made an all-too-brief return to the WTA tour today at Indian Wells after a seven month injury layoff. She and Russian partner, Elena Vesnina, lost their first round doubles match: 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek.

The upcoming Miami tournament is likely NOT on her schedule, at least for singles [...]

A recent Newsday article (click here) about the upcoming BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup in Madison Square Garden had some intriguing news about the growing interest in exhibition tennis as a marketing tool for our sport. Jerry Solomon – organizer of the BJK Cup and last year’s Sampras vs. Federer exo [...]

Serena beat Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter finals of Dubai today, setting up a semi final match with her sister Venus Williams. This is what she had to say about the all-Williams match-up:
“We are both the best players on the tour right now.”
I wish Serena was right  – that would mean that [...]

I felt a little sorry for the poor suckers in the crowd last night who paid good money to watch the sublime Serena dismantle Safina 6-0. 6-3 in the championship match of the Australian Open. It probably took everyone present about twice as long to take the tram to Rod Laver arena, buy a coldie [...]

I say yes, hallelujah! Roger Federer is back to his old self. By that I mean his pre-mono, pre-2008 self. His No. 1 self, to be exact.
This is not something I say without deep consideration. Mark, an insightful commenter, asked me today why I hadn’t gone apesh*t over Rog’s double bagel win over del Potro [...]

There’s been some buzz that Argentine Davis Cup Captain, Alberto Mancini, made some serious blunders during the Davis Cup final against Spain and showed a lack of leadership. After all, without Nadal on the Spanish team, the Argentines playing at home were considered favorites for the Cup. Knowing that hindsight is always 20/20, I’m wondering [...]