Roger Federer’s 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over Juan Carlos Ferrero got me thinking about an earlier match between the two in which far more was at stake 2004 Federer vs. Ferrero in Melbourne It is easy to forget how well Juan Carlos Ferrero played in 2003. At the end of the 2003 season, a split…
Category: Lleyton Hewitt
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…
Australian Open Sweet 16: Men’s Predictions
As much as I love the early rounds of Grand Slams, the matches that lay ahead of us all look to be of a high quality. Grand Slam events are set up a lot like the NCAA college basketball tournament. Rather than wait for a sweet 16 in March, we have one in January. …
Australian Open Day 6 Men’s Picks
Quick Picks Predicted Winners in Bold Jo-Wilfried Tsonga already advanced so no need to pick here. Andy Murray should beat Michael Llodra in straight sets. Llodra has enough talent to take one set, but I don’t expect Murray to be troubled. Novak Djokovic should win easily vs. Nicolas Mahut. David Ferrer should beat Juan Ignacio…
2012 Australian Open Day 4: Lendl and Murray + Hewitt v. Roddick
6 Quick Hits Petra Kvitova lost a set and Chris Evert stated that she is not yet fully fit and will likely not win this Australian Open. This is something to follow. Novak Djokovic looks solid, and a showdown with Milos Raonic seems like a great round of 16 match. Kei Nishikori could surprise people…
2012 Australian Open Day 2 – French Advancement, Harrison and Raonic Impress & Stosur Stumbles
The early rounds of Grand Slam play tend to be a lot of sparring and feeling out from the perspective of an avid fan. Top players typically advance, but form and attitude are things to gauge. Day 2 Down Under showed that Novak Djokovic looks healthy. Given how well this surface meshes with his game,…
Jim Courier The Entrepreneur Former Australian Open Champions Part 2
Jim Courier: the Entrepreneur The 1992 and 1993 Australian Open Men’s Champion Jim Courier has been a strong presence in tennis since retiring without overshadowing active players. Although Courier made his Grand Slam breakthrough in Paris on red clay, I think the Australian Open best meshed with Courier. His off season preparation left Courier ideally…
Previewing the Men’s Australian Open
Interesting Potential Early Matches 8 Mardy Fish vs. Gilles Muller 1st Round 4 Andy Murray vs. Ryan Harrison 1st Round Andy Roddick vs. Robin Hasse 1st Round Andy Roddick vs. Lleyton Hewitt 2nd Round Andy Roddick vs. Milos Raonic 3rd Round (If the first two don’t get Andy, I think Raonic will) Juan Monaco vs….
How Roger Federer avoided the Eddie Felson Trap
The Huslter chronicles a pool player named “Fast” Eddie Felson who seeks to play pool at a level never before reached, but whose personal failings and poor judgment in terms of associations contributed to his banishment from the game he plays like no one ever has. This scene and abbreviated quote below demonstrate Fast Eddie’s…
Andy Murray’s Next Big Move?
What We Should Expect 3 of the 4 matches have gone deep into the 3rd set. 2 of those matches went to 3rd set tiebreaks. The player with the better ranking won 3 of 4 matches to this point. World #1 Novak Djokovic struggled with Thomas Berdych, but held up under pressure better than the…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 