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…
Tag: Tennis History
US Open Final Weekend a Preview of a Post Fedal World
Golden Age Many words have been written about how great Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been for tennis. Each has been nearly omnipresent on the big stage for many years. Both players are respected by fans and the media alike. Most importantly, each appeals to different sensibilities. Nadal draws on the gritty hustle driven…
Federer Gets to 20 Slam Match Wins Again
My apologies for not having my picks for today posted, but I had some difficulties with WordPress. My readers will just need to trust that I picked every match today correctly and check in tomorrow for my Day 7 picks. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras failed to win 20 Grand Slam Matches during…
Sampras Turns 41 and Federer Turns 31
Familiar Faces By some luck for tennis junkies, Pete Sampras was born on August 12, 1971 and Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981. The two men are almost exactly 10 years apart in age. Tennis fans waited from Borg’s retirement to Sampras’ ascendency to see a player win over 10 slams in his…
Olympic Tennis Review: 2000 Venus and YK Reign in Y2K
Like the Seoul Olympics of 1988, Sydney fell after the US Open. The easier schedule along with a somewhat solid 1996 for tennis led to another successful games. Venus’ 2000 Dominance Venus Williams won Wimbledon and the US Open in 2000. She posted a 35 match winning streak that spanned Wimbledon through the US Open…
Olympic Tennis Review: 1992 The Women Delivered & The Men Did Not
The 1988 Olympic Games brought tennis back as a medal sport. Steffi Graf completed a “Golden Slam” in 1988, and the overall success of the tennis events brought about a great deal of excitement for the 1992 games. These games were held in Barcelona, Spain so Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario looked to be a major factor. The…
Olympic Tennis Review: 1988 Graf was Golden
Preview Olympic Tennis has had a lot of ups and downs. During some Olympic years, the tennis events have seemed at best like a 500 point tour level tournament while other years have produced high drama for the sport. With Davis Cup, Federation Cup, Hopman Cup, World Team Cup, and tennis’ four majors being held…
Newport Semifinal Predictions
Predicted Winner in BOLD John Isner 1 vs. Ryan Harrison 6 John Isner has stopped some of his recent bleeding by winning some matches in Rhode Island, but I sense that the big man is just not playing very well. He has accomplished one goal in terms of getting more match play on grass courts…
Review of Signature Series: Rod Laver by the Tennis Channel
The Tennis Channel’s Signature Series: Rod Laver was an excellent episode for tennis fans. A few things stood out to me. Tennis as a Blue Collar Sport in Australia The documentary explained that tennis was a blue collar sport in Australia. Laver and his family built their own court, and Rod looked at tennis as a…
Federer’s Ability to Rebound
Olympic Years Most tennis fans can remember the result of Wimbledon 2008. Remember 2008, the year of the last Summer Olympic Games? Roger Federer had a tough June and July in 2008. He was throttled by Rafael Nadal in Paris. Going into a highly anticipated Wimbledon final due to the 5 set thriller of 2007,…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 