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Novak Djokovic is still looking for a first French Open title, and he’s also searching for a second Wimbledon after losing to Andy Murray last year. The losses in major finals have piled up for Djokovic since June of 2012. It’s time for the Serbian superstar to make a stand and show a level of resilience that was missing in the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals against Federer.

U.S. Open: Andy Murray has a lot to prove in New York

If Novak Djokovic fails to win the 2015 U.S. Open, he still has two majors in the bag this year; more Masters 1000 titles than anyone else; and the year-end No. 1 ranking. He successfully defended a major title outside Australia for the first time in his career. He is, by any measure, the best […]

U.S. Open Men’s Draw Analysis

The U.S. Open men’s draw is out. Here’s your bracket sheet. * See the cover image above? That’s the new look this year for Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof which will cover the court in future years is not in place, but the outer portion of the structure has been erected. This points to the […]

Aug 23, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Serena Williams (USA) holds the Rookwood Cup after defeating Simona Halep (not pictured) in the finals during the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Federer and Serena Win Cincinnati, But There’s More To The Stories

Before telling you about tennis over the past few weeks in North America, take just two minutes to appreciate the site of Roger Federer’s and Serena Williams’s victories on Sunday afternoon. * Cincinnati, for the international readers in the crowd, is an American sports city starving for a professional sports success story. The Reds are […]

5 Takeaways: The ATP At Wimbledon

The ATP side of the Wimbledon divide offered plenty of fascinating stories. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will get their own stand-alone treatment, so here are the five big non-final observations from the past two weeks at SW19: * 5 – CANADIAN SUNRISE  There was no Canadian Sunset at Wimbledon — not when one realizes […]

Novak Djokovic Displays a Greater Greatness, And Could Become Even Greater

In the 2009 Wimbledon final, Roger Federer — down a set — fell behind in the second-set tiebreaker, 6-2. He improbably won a point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5 in that tiebreaker and eventually won the tiebreaker. Federer won the third set and then outlasted Andy Roddick in one of Wimbledon’s greatest championship matches. […]

Roger Federer Isn’t God, But He Played One On TV

In January of 2003, another old man — in tennis terms — won a major title. Andre Agassi, three months short of his 33rd birthday, became one of the oldest ATP major champions in the Open Era of professional tennis. His opponent in the final of the 2003 Australian Open, though, was not Andy Murray, […]

The Way Forward For Rafael Nadal: Respecting Limits

Those who watched Pancho Gonzales, at age 41, win a Wimbledon match in 1969 with sets of 46 (!), 30, and 20 games might regard him as the greatest fighter men’s tennis has ever known. (That 1969 match with Charlie Pasarell helped usher in the era of the tiebreaker one year later, an interesting side […]

Wimbledon 2015: Men’s Draw Analysis

The gentlemen’s singles draw for Wimbledon 2015 has been released, with seeded players in white: Here are the items of foremost importance after the revelation of the brackets: The biggest question in the men’s draw, in terms of pointing the path to the eventual champion, was whether Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer (the top two […]

Wimbledon Pre-Draw Preview: Murray Seeks A New Moment

When Stan Wawrinka won his second major a few weeks ago in Paris, he forever banished the possibility that his only major title would come against a physically compromised opponent in the final. Wawrinka registered an achievement which will rightly change the way we think about him as a tennis player. Something else Wawrinka did […]

The Top 10 Stories From the 2015 French Open

The 2015 French Open figured to be crazy… and it was. Let’s review the past two weeks, shall we? * 10 – WOZNIACKI’S WOES — NOT TO BE OVERSTATED, BUT NOT TO BE IGNORED, EITHER The (lack of) fortunes of Caroline Wozniacki in 2015 should not be given too much play after Roland Garros — […]

Novak Djokovic, Switzerland, and the Doorstep of History

It’s all so deliciously historic, spiced with the flavor of recent tennis years at Roland Garros. Sunday in Paris, Novak Djokovic will play for a piece of immortality in the sport he has mastered so fully. The world No. 1 will get a chance to complete the career Grand Slam because he typically steeled himself […]

Quarter-Masters: Men’s Tennis Prepares For Nadal-Djokovic And 3 Other Showdowns

Every tournament takes on a life of its own, in any sport. Some tournaments become interesting from the very start and stay that way. Others start brightly but then slow down and descend into dullsville, with a predictable forced-march of a denouement giving fans and pundits very little to chew on. Still other tournaments gain […]

French Open: Post-Draw Men’s Preview

The men’s draw for the 2015 French Open has been announced. A one-word summary of the draw: KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The doomsday scenario arrived for legions of Spaniards and Serbs on Friday in Paris. Rafael Nadal, seeded sixth at this tournament due to his struggles over the past few months, was slotted to play Novak Djokovic, the […]

French Open Men’s Preview, Part I: Before The Draw

In the Southwestern United States, Cox Communications has been running a series of commercials for a number of years. The point is rather simple: Cox guarantees its products in ways that competitors are prohibited from making certain statements: This is what a lot of tennis journalists and commentators (though not all of them) are doing […]

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