Last year, at this time, Nikolay Davydenko was coming off a great end of 2009 and looking to continue his winning ways in 2010. He had been on a hot streak, winning Kuala Lumpur, winning in Shanghai over Djokovic and Nadal, and winning the year-end championship beating Nadal, Federer, and del Potro, the three Slam
Ivo Karlovic is one of those unusual players. He grew up poor, so he didn't get all the lessons the top juniors got and practiced the one thing you can practice by yourself: his serve. Karlovic not only hits the biggest serve in tennis, he is pretty consistent too. Like Roddick, Karlovic hits about 70%
Looking every bit like a sandy brown Apollo Ohno, soul patch included, or perhaps that faithful stoner buddy of Scooby Doo, Lukas Lacko, the Slovak Shaggy, had Rafael Nadal on the the ropes. Lacko (pronounced Lack-so by the announcers) is not exactly a young player. At age 23, he's been on the tour for a
The post-US Open tour, for those of you that are paying attention, can be split into two parts: the Asian swing, that heads to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, exotic locales for the adventuresome tourists, to the more traditional Beijing and Tokyo, before heading to Shanghai. After Shanghai, the tour moves back to Europe and into
The last time Roger Federer played Stockholm, almost ten years to the day, he was looking forward. Never one to be overly modest, Federer knew he was talented, but could he win a Slam? Could he win Wimbledon? A few years later, he would embark on a journey to become the most prolific Slam winner,
Roger Federer rarely plays ATP 250 events. Most of the times, he does it because it's a tuneup for a major. He might play, Doha, for instance, just before the Australian Open. He might play Estoril, a few weeks before the French Open. He might play Halle, just before Wimbledon. Roger Federer is the top
When the temperature starts dipping from the infernal heat and humidity of summer, when American collegiates put on football helmets on and their professional counterparts do the same, the American tennis-watching public tunes off tennis and turn their attentions elsewhere. It's the post-season in baseball. College and pro (American) football is starting up. Basketball and
Everyone understands how you must be beat Nadal. You've got to take the game to him. Even a player like Andy Murray, more inclined to defense than offense, knows to play Nadal, you must take charge. Nadal is better than anyone in the world punishing you for mistakes. Leave a ball short, and he'll pulverize
I remember, during the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, watching beach volleyball. Volleyball has long been a staple of the Olympics back to the days when diving Japanese women were a daring novelty, showing women could throw their bodies around in pursuit of a win. However, beach volleyball is more of a surfer culture
Don't feel bad, Juan Martin. Djokovic feels your pain too. Juan Martin del Potro's comeback was halted in a close loss to Olivier Rochus, 7-6(7), 6-4. Perhaps the surprise was that the match was actually pretty close given how many months del Potro has been off tour. del Potro fired 16 aces in his loss.
