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Japan’s Kei Nishikori reacts after losing his men’s fourth round match against France’s Richard Gasquet at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris on May 29, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE LOPEZ

For Nishikori and Cilic, 2014 becomes an increasingly distant memory

0 comments by on 6/1/2016

Remember when Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic knocked off Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the same major tournament’s semifinal round? Nishikori was 24 years old when he reached the 2014 U.S. Open final, and Cilic was 25 when he won it. It’s true that Cilic permanently eliminated the burden of having to win a […]

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

0 comments by on 1/27/2016

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 […]

Novak Djokovic: the greatest in 2015, with the gates of history opening wide

0 comments by on 9/14/2015

One set all. 4-4 in the third set. The U.S. Open final. The two best ATP stars in the world, playing their hearts out before 23,000-plus spectators (many of them poorly behaved, but that’s another story). This is the moment every professional tennis player dreams of. It’s the moment every tennis pro tries to reach. […]

Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, holds up the championship trophy after beating Roberta Vinci, of Italy, in the women’s championship match of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/David Goldman) ORG XMIT: USO190

20 for 2015: 20 Notable Players At This Year’s Major Tournaments

0 comments by on 9/13/2015

We did this last year, and we’re going to do it again right now. Without commentary or analysis, here’s how 20 notable WTA and ATP players performed at the majors in 2015. Review the year at the majors solely through the lens of results. Commentary can be found in our other U.S. Open wrap-ups and […]

Simona Halep of Romania celebrates after defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in their quarterfinals match at the U.S. Open Championships tennis tournament in New York, September 9, 2015. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Simona Halep and an allowance for the unexpected

0 comments by on 9/9/2015

It was supposed to be Victoria Azarenka’s time again. At least, it felt as though the one nicknamed “Vika” was in great position to record a victory on Wednesday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Azarenka has stood up to Serena Williams better than anyone else on the WTA Tour over the past three years, certainly […]

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 08: Serena Williams (L) of the United States hugs Venus Williams of the United States after defeating her in their Women’s Singles Quarterfinals match on Day Nine of the 2015 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 8, 2015 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Serena defeats Venus, saying more about us than her tennis

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Just a few days before September 11, 2001 — when the world and America’s perception of it were quite different — Serena and Venus Williams met in their first major final. That meeting, in the 2001 U.S. Open final, was significant enough in its own right and on its own terms. More than 40 years […]

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 07: Kevin Anderson of South Africa celebrates after defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain during their Men’s Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2015 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2015 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Kando can do it: Kevin Anderson crosses a threshold, ending a long struggle

0 comments by on 9/8/2015

Kevin Anderson — whose wife is, like me, a tennis blogger (and that’s pretty much where the similarities between our lives end) — surely heard the voices in his head. “Oh no — not again. Not this time. No, it can’t be. Please, God, no. I’ve worked too hard for this. I’ve come too close. […]

Glorious suffering, screaming ironies, and Simona Halep’s classroom

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Anyone who has played tennis with at least some desire to win a match — no matter how relaxed or recreational the setting — could relate to what Simona Halep was going through on Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open. No one who has played tennis in a purely recreational context could possibly relate to […]

Bracketology for tennis: Change for its own sake, or needed reform?

0 comments by on 9/5/2015

Tennis fans might not resist change as a regular inclination. Plenty of fans (and commentators as well) are entirely comfortable with the idea of on-court coaching during the four major tournaments. That’s not allowed at the present time, but if the sport moved in the direction of more on-court coaching, you’d find plenty of support […]

Fabio Fognini, Rafael Nadal, and the exceptional moment

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Before those of us who write about sports made the decision (or were granted the opportunity) to write about sports, we were fans first. Whether as a writer or a fan, anyone who follows sports — for pleasure or for a living — remembers where s/he was when something truly remarkable happened. Truly remarkable. Epic. […]

Seeds of discontent and the search for identity in tennis

0 comments by on 8/31/2015

A few weeks ago, the global tennis community left Canada dazed and exhausted after a ridiculously absurd yet entertaining week crammed with surprises and plot twists. One of the basic themes of that week, however — lurking beneath headline-grabbing events from the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Belinda Bencic, and Andy Murray — was that the […]

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