Prologue: History in Flux A lot of record breaking events have come in tennis ever since Andre Agassi won his Career Grand Slam in 1999 and Pete Sampras won his then record 13th Grand Slam singles title in 2000. Sampras of course took a 14th major in 2002. Since then, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and…
Category: Tennis History
How to assess Tomas Berdych’s 2015?
If at first you don’t succeed Tomas Berdych has been a model of consistency in 2015. Berdych was runner-up at Doha and at Rotterdam. He was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, at Dubai, and at Masters Miami. He was a quarterfinalist at Indian Wells. The Big Czech finds himself in the semifinal round of…
Andy Murray’s 5 Most Clutch Victories
Andy Murray left Melbourne with a 2-6 record in Grand Slam championship matches. Strangely, he’s played all 8 of these matches against 2 men: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Federer throttled Murray in 2008 when Federer looked vulnerable most of that summer after losing an epic 5 set clash with Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. Murray’s…
The Importance of Nadal vs. Kyrgios 2014
Both Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios have punched tickets for the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Australian Open. That fact has caused me to revisit their match at Wimbledon last year even though they still each have to win to set up a sequel. Their Wimbledon match was not the match of the year by…
Federer Throttles Dimitrov and Reaches First Final of 2015
Roger Federer collected his third career win versus his shadow Grigor Dimitrov. I am not going to read too much into Dimitov’s one-sided loss, but at 33 Roger Federer is someone Dimitrov should press a bit more than he has to date. Dimitrov only won 4 games in this match and is now 0-3 (0-6 in…
Why in my Mind Novak Djokovic is Number One for 2014
I have never hidden the fact that I enjoy Roger Federer’s play and his winning as much as I’ve enjoyed watching or rooting for any player in tennis history. I try to be fair, but I think objectivity is a fictional location that, like Utopia, does not exist for human beings. Roger Federer trails Novak…
US Open 2014: Men’s Coaches Grand Slam Head-to-Head Records
For the first time ever (I would imagine), four Grand Slam semifinalists are coached by 4 former Grand Slam Champions. Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker each hold 6 Grand Slam singles titles. Michael Chang and Goran Ivanisevic each won a single Grand Slam title and had 3 other Grand Slam runner-up finishes. Goran and Michael…
US Open Memories: Rafter vs. Sampras 1998
This was a great match and maybe one of the last great clashes between two guys making their way toward the net with great frequency. Before tennis conditions began to slow down and strings began to make passing shots easier to hit, some attacking players were serve and then volley if necessary players. Sampras and…
Can Hewitt exact some Revenge on Karlovic for 2003?
Karlovic has been a hard nut to crack for Hewitt Lleyton Hewitt entered Wimbledon 2003 as the defending champion and as the top player of the New Balls generation. His peers were making inroads prior to Wimbledon 2003. Juan Carlos Ferrero was an Australian Open quarterfinalist and won Roland Garros. Andy Roddick was an Australian…
Federer or in Some Ways it is Always 2003
Nole will need to make Federer feel the grass and dirt After Nick Kyrgios’ explosive performance versus Rafael Nadal, I wrote about how that win brought me back to Boris Becker’s 1985 Wimbledon victory. Becker’s early years helped inspire me to play tennis so I am always fascinated to see a player breakout and become…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 