Montreal 2019: Semifinal Predictions UPDATED

Predictions in BOLD Medvedev vs. Khachanov: From Russia 6-Love? This match features two tall, both stand 198 cm/6’6″ tall, 23-year-old Russians.  Their head-to-head is tied 1-1 with both contests coming on indoor hard courts.  Both players are powerful and smart on the court.  Obviously, this should be a close match.  I do think Medvedev’s strong…

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Is Tennis Dying in the US? Part 3 – Mixed Signals

Prelude Is Tennis Dying in the US? Part 1 Is Tennis Dying in the US? Part 2 – Prognosis Negative The Good Places like The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN have great facilities and more importantly have a lot of great people teaching and promoting tennis.  Tournaments such as the Derby City Championships present the…

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Playing Smarter Doubles is a Process

Federer and Wawrinka had to play as a team to win this match despite both being vastly (VASTLY) superior at moving, striking the ball, and playing singles  For most of my tennis life, I have preferred singles by a wide margin to doubles.  That gap is closing as I have gotten older and coached 9…

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Can My Tennis Game be Upgraded? A Sequel

Reanimating the Bones of My Tennis Game is Done, but Can I Climb Higher? On October 20, 2017, I wrote Can My Tennis Game be Salvaged?  Due to some medical issues that arose with my now nine-year-old child, I stopped playing tennis for roughly 3-years.  This hiatus was not something I consciously chose.  It just…

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Pickleball: Friend or Foe?

Prelude I first encountered pickleball when playing tennis nearly 10-years ago at a public park.  There were two courts on an upper terrace and one on a lower terrace at this particular park.  My opponent and I took the first available court and were on the upper terrace.  When the lower court cleared, a man…

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The Extremely Interesting 2019 Hall of Fame Class

Congratulations on your @TennisHalloFame induction, @KYevgeni! 👏🎉 — ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) July 21, 2019 My Memories of Mary Pierce, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Li Na The 2019 class of the International Tennis Hall of Fame admitted three qualified players this year. My Most Vivid Memory of Each: It’s official! I’m so grateful for this honor from…

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A Mechanical Man? Reviewing Love Means Zero

How does on reach the biggest stages in tennis?  What are the costs? Not, if you have one in the extreme, you become very unscientific; if you have another to the extreme, you become, all of a sudden, a mechanical man, no longer a human being. – Bruce Lee I don’t know Nick Bollettieri.  I…

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Studies Show that Playing Tennis Helps You Live Longer

One doesn’t have to be as good as David Ferrer to reap health benefits from playing tennis Given that the US has various negative health indicators as a population (I would check some of these boxes myself), I think the USTA and public health groups should be pushing tennis hard.  Parents and grandparents who play…

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Tennis Wisdom I have Heard and Read over the Years

Carlos Moya’s (pictured above at Roland Garros 2019) coaching has helped Rafael Nadal in his 4 most recent major titles.  I have not done anything like that, but I still think the quotes below are worth considering if one plays or follows tennis. “Great shots win points, but good shots win matches.”  – Don Isaacs,…

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