Last year, Andy Murray had a bit of luck winning Shanghai. The draw was set for Murray to meet Nadal in the semis. Except Nadal never got to the semis, losing early to Jurgen Melzer. Murray didn't face his first true tough competitor until the finals, but Murray dispatched Roger Federer pretty easily. And, to
China, the site of the Shanghai Masters, has been on a quest. They want to produce a top 200 male player. Obviously, top 100 would be great too. They've done plenty fine producing good women players, most notably, French Open champion, Li Na. And they've done well enough producing players that can win a few
Shanghai is the penultimate (that means "next to last") Masters 1000 event of the year. Due to its late position, it can be a challenge to get all the top players here. In particular, Federer announced some weeks ago that he would be skipping Shanghai. Djokovic announced last week that he, too, would skip Shanghai.
There was a thought that maybe Nadal would discover something to beat Djokovic. With Uncle Toni being the brain trust, he and Rafa would find a way. Initially, the strategy seemed to be several fold. Be more aggressive. Change up the height and pace of the ball. Use the slice backhand and hope that Djokovic
In the chaos of Super Saturday, there was one title being decided that went somewhat unnoticed, at least by me. Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner, who teamed up to win the Wimbledon title last year, were again in the finals facing unheralded Polish team of Frystenberg and Matkowski. Melzer and Petzschner had been playing pretty
While September 11, 2001 is something indelibly inked in the minds and hearts of Americans, it also happened shortly after the conclusion of the 2001 US Open. On September 9, 2001, Pete Sampras was still looking for his elusive 14th Slam. He had had chances the year before. On his way to the 2000 finals,
OK, so this Brit wasn't Andy Murray. Instead, it's Oliver Golding. British teens made 3 of the 4 semifinalist. Oliver Golding (pictured on the left) upset the top seed, Jiri Vesely, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Andy Murray also won the junior US Open. There are maybe 3-4 Brits that are looking to create their own British
Sometimes the finals is best looked through the lens of those who don't make it. On paper, Federer and Murray can commiserate together, though both in their own way. On the one hand, Roger Federer has won 16 Slams and still feels he's so close to getting back to where he's used to being. This
There's long been a lament that British tennis is too nice to win. Before there was Andy Murray, there was Tim Henman who pretty much overachieved for his ranking. He never got to the finals of a Slam, but he reached the Wimbledon semis numerous times and even reached the French semi once. Before that,
John McEnroe would point to you the first time he ever won a Slam was on clay. That is, in mixed doubles. John McEnroe and Mary Carillo teamed up to win the French Open mixed doubles title back in 1977, the same year he made a dream run to the Wimbledon semis as a qualifier.
