John Isner and Intentionally Slower Surfaces

Wimbledon decided to look into slowing its courts down and increasing the length of points after the 1998 men’s final.  The rest of the tour tended to follow Wimbledon’s lead as outdoor and indoor hard courts were slowed down, indoor carpet events went away, and tennis balls were slowed down too.  It may not be…

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My Last Male GOAT Column for at Least 5 Years

I admit it.  I am bored with speculating about who is the greatest of all time (GOAT).  Has any topic gotten more ink or pixels in the tennis universe over the past 20 years? It started with Pete Sampras closing in on Roy Emmerson’s then record 12 major titles.  Then Andre Agassi won the career…

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A Real Dispute About Tennis by Two Philosophers

Chang lost the point but won the match in part by “pushing” during certain points Philosophical Divide A friend of mine named David who has his doctorate in philosophy relayed to me a story about a dispute that broke out after he played tennis with a friend who also has a doctorate in philosophy.  David…

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Strokes of Genius Documentary Airs on July 1st

While I consider Novak Djokovic’s 5 set 2012 Australian Open final victory over Rafael Nadal to be the greatest match ever played (to this point?), this should be an interesting documentary.

Is Tennis Dying in the US? Part 1

  A couple of weeks ago, a strong junior player asked me, “Don’t you think tennis is a dying sport in the US?” My first reaction was to think no followed by I hope not.   I didn’t vocalize either of those views though.  I tried to think about things as this is a complicated question. …

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Food for Thought on Nadal’s Grand Slam Haul

Howard Bryant of ESPN pointed out after the 2017 US Open that those dismissing Nadal as only a threat on clay are wrong due to Rafa having as many non-clay majors as Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. 11 Roland Garros Titles = Borg + Wilander + Courier’s Haul or 11 Roland Garros Titles = Borg…

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French Open Memories: 1991

I already wrote about the 4-year Courier-Agassi Wars of 1989-1992.  There was another memorable clash of US players in 1991.  Jimmy Connors took on 1989 Roland Garros champion Michael Chang.  On paper, this didn’t look like much of a match.  Jimmy Connors did win the 1976 US Open on Har-Tru/green clay, but it was 1991…

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