The Coaching Arms Race is On Andy Murray has been working with Ivan Lendl for 2 years. This partnership has yielded 1 Wimbledon title, 1 US Open title, 1 Gold Medal, 1 Wimbledon runner-up finish, and 1 Australian Open runner-up finish. Becker is Back Murray’s successes with Lendl plus Nadal’s improbable dominance after knee injuries…
Category: Roger Federer
World Tour Finals 2013: Semifinal Predictions
Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer Roger Federer has had an interesting year. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open, was runner-up in Rome, runner-up in Basel, made a number of final 8 or better showings at Masters 1000 events and won Halle. He now finished second in his…
Power Ranking 2013: Paris to London
Power Ranking 2013 #14 1. Rafael Nadal – I said Rafa had locked up the #1 slot on my Power Ranking for 2013 after the US Open. If Nole wins out, I will have to revise that pronouncement. Rafa has not done anything wrong since the US Open ended, but this time of year has…
Bercy 2013 Semifinal Predictions: Djokovic v. Federer & Nadal v. Ferrer
The Masters 1000 event in Paris is always good, but having all 8 World Tour Finals participants in the quarterfinal round was something. Here are my picks: 2 Novak Djokovic vs. 5 Roger Federer Federer has played well to get to this point. Beating Kevin Anderson, Phillipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Martin del Potro in succession…
44 Majors since 1990 by the Numbers: Roland Garros
Prologue Part 1 of this series looked at how Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won 44 of the 96 majors held since 1990. If Rafa, Roger and Pete don’t add any majors in 2014, they will have won 44% of the Grand Slam events held since 1990. That is a remarkable accomplishment…
Counterpunch – This is Not the Golden Era
As a fan, I have never enjoyed a period of tennis as much as I have from 2004-present. 2003 was a generational shifting year in which the New Balls players won 3 of the 4 majors. In 2004, Roger Federer gave a dominating and aesthetically pleasing game to this new era. 2005 saw Marat Safin…
44 Majors Since 1990 by the Numbers: Australian Open
Pete Sampras won his first Grand Slam at the 1990 US Open and eventually broke a long standing record for the most Grand Slam titles in men’s tennis in 2000. Sampras added one more slam in 2002 to set his total at 14. Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’ record in 2009 and tallied an additional…
The Lighter Side of Tennis 2013
Dimitrov: He’s Got the Kavorka One might say that Grigor Dimitrov has the lure of the animal based on both his recent relationship with Serena Williams and his current relationship with Maria Sharapova. I would not be shocked to see a Bulgarian Orthodox priest helping Dimitov shed this problem to help his tennis ranking rise….
Tennis Power Ranking 2013: Mallorcan Conquistador
Power Ranking 2013 #12 A lot of movement after 2013’s FInal Grand Slam 1. Rafael Nadal – What can be said. He missed the Australian Open and lost at the first round at Wimbledon. Heck, Rafa has lost 2 clay court matches this year. All of that is true, and Rafa has locked up the…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 