No Repeat of 2009 in 2013 There should be no question mark in the title as Nadal has announced he won’t be playing. Still, at least two major questions are raised by this announcement. If this is simply a matter of illness and not practicing, why announce on December 28 when the Australian Open does…
Category: Australian Open
Djokovic Got One He Needed
Novak Djokovic was going to be number one for 2012 regardless of how his match versus Roger Federer to conclude the World Tour Finals. Prior to the World Tour Finals Djokovic had reached 3 Grand Slam finals in 2012 and 6 Masters 1000 finals. That consistency made him number one for the year. Number One…
Andy Roddick in Retrospect
Roddick Start to Finish I first heard of Andy Roddick during the 2000 US Open final when the announcers mentioned the winners of the junior US Open events. I saw Andy Roddick’s final match as he lost to Juan Martin del Potro. I will miss seeing Roddick in major draws. It became apparent after some…
2012 Men’s French Open Final: #1 Novak Djokovic versus #2 Rafael Nadal – Can Godzilla Be Stopped?
This match is what every tennis fan has been wanting since the conclusion of the 2012 Australian Open. Nadal pushed Djokovic for nearly 6 hours (6 hours!) in Melbourne. Can Rafa reverse the tide of 3 consecutive Grand Slam final losses to Novak? If Monte Carlo and Rome’s results are to be taken seriously,…
Men Who Stare at Tennis GOATS Part 5 – The Usual Suspects: Rafael Nadal
Part 1 Laid out Key Questions Part 2 Looked at Bjorn Borg’s Credentials and the Difficulties of the GOAT Debate Part 3 Looked at Pete Sampras’ Credentials Part 4 Looked at Roger Federer’s Credentials Rafael Nadal Why Rafael Nadal Might be the GOAT – Rafa’s claim to the GOAT title revolves around three areas of…
Assessing 2012 To This Point
ATP Overview – Novak’s World Djokovic is still dominating Novak Djokovic is indeed still the man in the world of tennis. His 60 Minutes interview helped introduce him to a broader audience. He does not have the win-loss record he had at this point in 2011, but Novak has won the biggest event of 2012…
Who Will Win Djokovic vs. Murray at the Sony Ericsson 2012? (Poll)
Round 1 to Djokovic Round 2 to Murray Round 3?
Tennis’ Big Four – A > B > C > D > A?!?!
Andy Murray deserves congratulations for avenging his Australian Open loss to Novak Djokovic with a straight set victory over the dominant force in tennis. Nole will not have to wait until May to absorb his first loss this year. Roger Federer deserves congratulations for beating Juan Martin del Potro for a third time in 2012…
Men Who Stare at Tennis GOATS Part 4 – The Usual Suspects: Roger Federer
Part 1 Laid out key questions Part 2 Looked at Bjorn Borg’s Credentials and the difficulties of the GOAT Debate Part 3 Looked at Pete Sampras’ Credentials Roger Federer Why Roger Federer might be the GOAT – Roger Federer has a compelling case to make on both fronts of the GOAT argument. He holds many of…
Men Who Stare at Tennis GOATS Part 2 – The Usual Suspects: Bjorn Borg
Setting Difficulties Aside In part 1, I asserted that the GOAT question is hard to answer, but that two separate but related questions contribute to the process of naming a GOAT. Who played tennis at the highest level and who accomplished the most in his or her career are rarely the same thing. No one…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 