Subscribe:
RSS feed
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Serena apology, take 2: “I want to amend my press statement of yesterday and want to make it clear as possible – I want to sincerely apologise first to the lineswoman, Kim Clijsters, the US Tennis Association and mostly tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst,” Williams said. “I’m a woman of great pride, faith […]
September 14, 2009
The men’s final is just underway. A few notes on Delpo’s chances: Remember when Safin shocked the world by beating Pete Sampras in the US Open final? Veteran player playing on less than a day’s rest, youngster who had the power to blow him right off the court. Just putting it out there. His play […]
September 14, 2009
I told you non-tennis folks would weigh in on The Incident and make it more complicated than it was. I told you they would claim that Serena was treated worse than John McEnroe and that everyone would conveniently forget that McEnroe was defaulted for similar conduct after tennis decided that it would no longer tolerate […]
September 13, 2009
How’d She Get That First Code of Conduct Penalty? By attacking her racquet. Did You Know Part 1: Clijsters is the only player to beat both Williams sisters in the same tournament more than once. Others who beat them in the same tournament include Davenport, Hingis, Graf, Sanchez-Victario and Henin. Henin was the last player […]
September 13, 2009
Once upon a time I got to write a post called Serena and Andre: Joined by Bike Pants. Didn’t think I’d live to use a headline like that again, but after tonight, how could I not? Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports was the first journalist to report the substance of Serena’s obscenity, and it’s a […]
September 13, 2009
So. Women’s tennis is still entertaining for all the wrong reasons! Actually, there has been good tennis played in between the psycho-weirdness that breaks out inside every women’s match. Now that all hell has broken loose over the ending of the Clijsters/Serena match, let’s get correct information out there. Because we all know the non-tennis […]
September 10, 2009
This just in, alert the Four Letter: Roger Federer isn’t playing well. If ESPN can be said to have one style that dominates every broadcast of every sport it is this: decide the sporting event is about ONE story and beat the ONE story into the ground until the event is over. This may work […]
September 10, 2009
Melanie Oudin did not cry on court after her quarterfinal loss to Caroline Wozniacki. That is a positive sign. It shows strength, it shows resolve, it reminds one of the steeliness of Chris Evert. It will make her work harder. But that’s not the main reason I think not advancing to the semis and final […]
September 9, 2009
In a performance that Jon Wertheim called “weirdly timid”, Andy Murray fell to Marin Cilic in straight sets yesterday. Two days ago he looked like the class of the tournament. There is no shame in losing to Cilic, who will be a permanent fixture in the top ten in the imminent future, but it leads […]
September 9, 2009
Rafael Nadal broke Monfils’ glass jaw tonight, knocking him out shortly after Monfils won the first set in a tiebreak. Nadal won the next set 6-1 and had Monfils bent over in exhaustion and pain after extended rallies. Wait, I thought Nadal was the one coming off a two month layoff? See what I mean […]
September 9, 2009
After the Nadal-Monfils match, Rafa was packing up his equipment when a man ran onto the court and took Rafa’s picture. Rafa brushed it off. This is on the heels of a guy running onto the court straight up to Federer during the French final. And at the Australian, I praised their security for handling […]
September 8, 2009
Associated Press UPDATE BELOW Everyone except for the humorless Roger Federer enjoyed Joker’s player impersonations, that’s why I thought it was a shame when he stopped doing them. Stopped until Monday night, that is. After his surprisingly easy win over Radek Stepanek, a mischievous Nolle tried to lure coach and NY fan favorite Todd Martin onto […]
September 8, 2009
This was before the US Open in a promotional event at Bryant Park. The other players are John McEnroe and Murphy Jensen; thankfully we don’t see much of them dancing. I was expecting Venus to start breakdancing any second. Serena, come on, some of those moves are almost as bad as mine. Was that inspired by Riverdance […]
September 8, 2009
I haven’t spent much time reading tennis media this tournament, so I figured it was high time I did a little policing to see how things are going. First, the Good. I don’t know who Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports is, but I’m following him now. Here’s Chase on Zvonareva’s classic meltdown: After blowing six […]
September 7, 2009
Now that we’ve arrived at week two of the US Open, there are four men’s players I want to call out: Gael Monfils, Jo-Willie Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro and Novak Djokovic: Dear Boys 2 Men: Well done, boys. I mean men. God knows, you’re all in your early 20s now and by some measures […]
September 7, 2009
1. Roger’s hypothetical faux-slam. Seriously people, he hasn’t won three in a row yet, but you’re already hyping him up for Australia and four in a row, which is being called the completion of a Grand Slam? Some nerve. Martina Navratilova completed the faux-slam but didn’t get credit for it… because it isn’t a grand […]
September 7, 2009
And Sports Illustrated’s Jon L. Wertheim said it, by Tweets, no less! Jonstennistweets: clijsters woodshedding venus….comeback to comeabout 7 hours ago from webJonstennistweets: we;ll say it again: what wta lacks in clean tennis, it makes up for in drama. this clijsters-venus match is nuts… about 7 hours ago from web Perfect example…a classic match? No. Entertaining. […]
September 6, 2009
Sure seems like it. The minute I saw the draw I said “oh no.” Because drawing Big John Isner, no matter where he’s ranked, is a big task for the 3rd round at a grand slam tournament. Despite the summer success of Lleyton Hewitt, ask any player if they’d rather play Lleyton or Isner in […]
September 6, 2009
Melanie Oudin has a legitimate chance to make the top ten. Notice I didn’t say she would win grand slam titles or become #1. It is far, far to soon for anyone to make those predictions. So media people, just calm down! For now focus on one key component of this story: at 17, Oudin’s […]
September 5, 2009
Well, the porcupine haircuts of Taylor Dent and Ivan Navarro aren’t what we love. Really guys, the 2001 called, it wants the spikey hair back. Honestly though… that match, won by Dent 7-6 in the fifth set, is why we love tennis. It’s especially why we love the US Open: *A day match that stretched […]
September 3, 2009
Is there anyone in the women’s tournament who can beat Serena Williams when she plays like she did tonight? No. We’ve grown accustomed to watching Serena meander through the early rounds, even when she’s having an “on” year. She rarely plays her best when she isn’t pushed. Not tonight though. This was Serena at her […]
September 1, 2009
Want to know why ESPN got an A- instead of an A? ESPN’s minus comes from its commentators’ early proclamation that Venus would never, ever fake an injury or take an injury timeout in order to freeze her opponent. I was willing to let that slide, since Venus and Serena are different in their use […]
September 1, 2009
The Four-Letter has come a long way over the last three years. So far, in fact, that I was quite pleased to see the network take the US Open away from USA Network, which had grown complacent. The multiplicity of voices on ESPN works for me. The jury is still out on host Hannah Storm, […]
Passing Shots 
September 14, 2009
0