The Self-Similar Nature of Tennis

Tennis can be thought about at a number of levels, but each level is of a similar complexity to the level above or below it.  I will look at 3 of these levels. The Level Most People Talk About: Individual Skills One’s technique when hitting the ball, one’s movement on the court, and one’s conditioning…

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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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Is Tennis Dying in the US? Part 2 – Prognosis Negative

Note – On one hand, this column is quite anecdotal.  On the other, there are a lot of wrecked public tennis courts across this country. This sign should read “Courts Are for Tennis Play and the Cultivation of Plants that can Crack Decoturf II Only” Klondike Park is attached to Klondike Lane Elementary School in…

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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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