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Novak Djokovic is just not fair

When a remarkable athlete performs at his best, a turn of phrase which most readily comes to mind is “a cheat code.” That’s what Novak Djokovic has become. He reminded us of this reality on Thursday night in Melbourne. In 2011, Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final in four sets. With the […]

Absence, Presence, and Ascension: Angelique Kerber figures it out

What does it look like when a talented player finally puts the pieces together in the moment when she most desperately needs to do so? Samantha Jane Stosur did this at the 2011 U.S. Open against Elena Dementieva on one Sunday, and then against Serena Williams one Sunday later. Francesca Schiavone, after many years of […]

Milos Raonic Leaps Into The Australian Open Semifinals

Tennis fans have waited years for another men’s tennis player to take the proverbial leap, becoming a player not necessarily on the level of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray, but clearly a step above the rest of the top 20. We might be watching Milos Raonic make that move. The Canadian dispatched Gael […]

The economy of tennis and the “next match fallacy”

One relatively common, pervasive and durable component of tennis analysis — especially in relationship to the practice of predicting outcomes — is the citation of a player’s form. He’s the more in-form player at the moment. Based on current form, she should be the favorite. The idea is easy enough to understand, and it’s not […]

Australian Open: Nigel Sears, Andy Murray’s Father-In-Law, Collapses During Ana Ivanovic’s 3rd-Round Match

The scene at Rod Laver Arena during day six of the Australian Open suddenly became about far more than tennis. Early in the second set of Saturday’s third-round match between Ana Ivanovic and Madison Keys, Ivanovic’s coach Shriver added that Ivanovic knew about “a history” of health issues which may have explained the incident and likely […]

Ranking the Australian Open’s first-round upsets

Between the men’s and women’s draws, 17 upsets emerged in the first round if viewed strictly through the prism of seeded players losing–five from the men and a whopping 11 on the women’s side. Some of these came out of nowhere, some were more-or-less expected, some were in between. In order of most expected to […]

5 Takeaways From the Australian Open Men’s Draw

The draw for the 2016 Australian Open is here, and everyone has been poring over it since it was first announced. So, without further ado, here are the five things that most jumped out to me when I first looked at the draw: 1. Lleyton Hewitt Has the Perfect Opportunity However much this tournament will […]

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