In disappointing news for tennis fans everywhere, the London Times is reporting that Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the ATP’s year-ending championships in London next week:
The American world No.6 has withdrawn from the eight-man extravaganza – which starts on Sunday at the 02 Arena in south-east London – having been unable to overcome [...]

Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, the Williams sisters and others have responded to Andre Agassi’s “shocking” confession that he used crystal meth and lied to the ATP about it after a drug test came back positive.
UPDATE: Rafael Nadal was less moderate than others in his reaction to Agassi’s confession. He wonders why “now that he is [...]

We’ve been following the (never ending?) story of the tennis players vs. the tennis schedule this week, as both Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal have said that current scheduling commitments are hurting the players. Roddick, who retired from his second round match in Shanghai, offered some solutions to the problem via Twitter today (I cleaned [...]

“What kind of sportsman are you, what kind of man are you?” – Marat Safin

The ATP’s Grumpy Season is in full swing at the Shanghai Masters (no wonder Roger’s sitting it out). Even Marat Safin, who is saying adios to the tour in just a few weeks, is taking the opportunity to settle some scores. [...]

Are the top seeds staging a walk-out at the Shanghai Masters? Fourth-seeded Andy Roddick retired yesterday with a mysterious knee injury during his second round match against Stan Wawrinka. The 3rd and 7th seeds followed today, as Juan Martin del Potro retired with a wrist injury against Jurgen Melzer, and Ivan Ljubicic defeated Fernando Verdasco [...]

REUTERS/Nir Elias (CHINA SPORT TENNIS) via Daylife
It’s official – the Grouchy Season has started.
Here’s Nadal complaining about the long season to reporters in Shanghai on Tuesday:
“It’s impossible to play 1st of January and finish 5th of December. It’s impossible to be here playing like what I did the last five years, playing a lot of [...]

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the Japan Open title on Sunday, beating Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour. It wasn’t the most dramatic match, but it’s always nice to see the top seed make good, especially when that top seed is the gallant Jo-Wilfried. And we were treated to a snazzy trophy, too – [...]

World No. 15, Marin Cilic, steamrolled Rafael Nadal in Beijing, winning 6-1, 6-3. Here’s an interesting post-match comment from Rafa:
“I can accept to win and I can accept to lose but mentally probably I wasn’t there. If you’re losing 6-1, 6-3 then there’s something wrong.”
It is very rare for Rafa not to be “there” in [...]

Perhaps this was the best tennis party of all time, but the photos from the China Open player’s reception turned out. . .awkward. They look exactly like photos from every office party I’ve ever attended – the cliques, the loners, the forced moments of hilarity.
***UPDATE*** This description from the ATP website confirms that this party [...]

No. 5 seed and defending champ Andy Roddick lost to No. 143 ranked Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot in the second round of the China Open on Tuesday: 2-6, 4-6. After the match, the American joined the late-season chorus of jaded, worn out tennis players (and tennis bloggers) who wish that the season would just be [...]

I blame the waffle fries. Or maybe it’s the chicken fingers. Something made the top contenders queasy this Saturday at the US Open.
Maria Sharapova lost to Melanie Oudin. Oudin was supposed to have used up her underdog mojo when she beat 4th seeded Elena Dementieva in the second round. The 17 year old from Georgia [...]

The men put in a good day’s work on Day Four of the US Open on Thursday, including some solid wins by Tommy Haas, Fernando Verdasco, Novak Djokovic and Tommy Robredo. Here are some of our snapshots.
*fellow bloggers are more than welcome to use our photos, please link us if you do.