The myth used to be that big men prefer faster surfaces. Grass and hard courts were better for big guys who had big serves but lumbered around. Clay courts, by contrast, were bad for big men who allegedly lacked big groundstrokes. Indeed, as in basketball where big men were told to play center and close
2005 was a key year for Americans and it culminated in the US Open run of Andre Agassi, the last hurrah of America's last great champion. This event felt like a passing of the baton. Agassi beat young James Blake in 5 sets in the quarters of the US Open and beat Robby Ginepri in
There is a Greek myth story of Tantalus who was punished. There was a lake that would recede every time he would get too close. There were branches of fruit that would lift higher each time he tried to reach for it. From the character Tantalus comes the word tantalize. This is the promise of
There are three tournaments being played now. Two are ATP 500 events and one is an ATP 250. The ATP 500 events are Dubai and Acapulco. Four of the top 5 players in the world are playing in those tournaments. Djokovic and Federer played in Dubai. Nadal and Ferrer are playing in Acapulco. This leaves
The semifinals had to be all the tournament organizers could hope for. Federer, Djokovic, Berdych, and del Potro all made the semis as if they had a plane to catch. They won efficiently. That left the semis. On one half, there was 3-time champ, Novak Djokovic facing Juan Martin del Potro. On the other, there
Fans love the best of the best. They want to see Federer. They want to see Nadal. They want to see Djokovic. They want to see them face each other. But the tour is more than the top few players, and sometimes, in the smallest of matches, there are stories behind the match. John Isner
Kei Nishikori, Japan's best player, played a good amount of tennis in the US training at Nick Bolletieri's during his formative years, so in a way, the US is his home away from home. Nishikori won the biggest title of his career by winning Tokyo on home soil over Milos Raonic. This event is an
The semifinals on Saturday were mostly meh. Berdych crushed Tursunov in one semi. Anytime he went for a big shot, Tursunov made an error or couldn't reach the shot. Gilles Simon didn't fare much better against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga making more errors than usual. Neither loser won more than 4 games. The final, by contrast, was
Bernard Tomic almost didn't get out of the first round, facing one of last year's new upstart, Martin Klizan, but he managed a third set win. He had a comfortable win against Somdev Devvarman in the second round. But his big challenge was the top-ranked Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Last year, Tomic showed a great deal
Bernard Tomic seemed to be continuing a disconcerting streak from last year. Plays well in Australia. Plays indifferently outside the country. To be fair, last week, in Rotterdam, he was pitted against Grigor Dimitrov, who has been having a great year, moving into the top 40 with a semifinal appearance last week. This week, Tomic
