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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 […]
July 5, 2009
Those are words I thought I’d never type. But his post-match speech was revealing. Pretty pathetic praise for Andy. I heard no words about how great Andy played, nor did I hear much respect for Pete Sampras. Just a few words about wishing Pete would show up at Wimbledon more? Shame on you Roger. Shame, […]
June 9, 2009
“A top athlete’s beauty is next to impossible to describe directly. Or to evoke. Federer’s forehand is a great liquid whip, his backhand a one-hander that he can drive flat, load with topspin, or slice — the slice with such snap that the ball turns shapes in the air and skids on the grass to maybe […]
February 18, 2009
Dubai resident Roger Federer will not be playing in the tournament next week due to a back injury. I take him at his word. But it is a convenient out for the big guy. Fed originally started hanging in Dubai when he was being coached by Tony Roche and was looking for a halfway point […]
February 3, 2009
At the end of 2008 I thought Roger was ok with his status as world #2. I thought the fall had been jarring to him, but that he ultimately was embracing the less-pressure inherent in the second spot. But from the moment he showed up in Australia I knew he was still in deep denial. […]
July 10, 2008
Bodo wrote a book with Pete Sampras that was published last month. Today he published a short interview with Pete on his blog for Tennis magazine about Pete’s reaction to Nadal-Federer. Two all-time greats, at their prime, playing great on the best court on earth. if you wrote a script it couldn’t have been any […]
July 7, 2008
And the Great London Circus. There was a moment today, right before the rains came (the first time), when I had to take a deep breath to realize what we were witnessing. Rafa, who was favored by many to win Wimbledon, was taking out Roger like so much trash. And Roger – normally so brilliant […]
June 2, 2008
Programming note: For an enhanced blog experience, today’s posts are meant to be read while listening to the New York Philharmonic play George Gershwin’s An American in Paris. ________________________________To properly assess American failure and success in Paris, we need look no further than Robby Ginepri. The 80th ranked Ginepri made the fourth round! He is […]
April 4, 2008
So far in 20008 fans of Roger Federer have been in “what-me-worry” mode while glancing quickly from side to side to see if anyone is noticing them sweat. Despite well-reasoned articles and posts (like mine) calmly explaining that Federer’s successes are slowing down but he will still beat Pete’s record, his fans (and Roger) reacted […]
April 4, 2008
For just the second time in his career, Andy Roddick defeated Roger Federer tonight in Miami, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3. Roddick is now 2-15 against Roger. There have been times when Roddick was so close to beating Roger, most notably in that Wimbledon final. But not lately. His game matches up miserably with TMF and their […]
January 31, 2008
Oz has come and gone but I didn’t want to forget about Joker’s victory over Tsonga to win the title. Tsonga has all the tools. Now comes the hard part: dealing with sudden fame, learning about consistency, figuring out how to use all those tools to win matches, and staying healthy. To be fair we […]
January 25, 2008
This brief video shows Tsonga’s Samprasian tendencies. His instinct is to follow huge groundstrokes into the net. This aggression is important against Nadal. In fact, last year Sampras said he didn’t understand why Roger stayed at the baseline during his clashes with Nadal, since the way to neutralize him was to blast him off the […]
Passing Shots 
September 3, 2009
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