The ATP, as you probably are aware, decided to crack down on slow play this season. The tour has had a 25-second time limit between points for years, but in the past it was very loosely enforced. Its edges have been pushed and often overrun for years by many players, including two of the best, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
It's a sign of the times that only two of the ATP's big four reached the semifinals at Indian Wells. Next up is Miami, the second leg of tennis' monthlong, cross-country hard-court tour; two-time champion Roger Federer and newly crowned Indian Wells champ Rafael Nadal are absent; they are skipping this Masters event.
Petra Kvitova made the Dubai hard court look like a sand box. Kvitova's deep blasts displaced opponents who looked like they were spinning their wheels on sand in a futile effort to gain ground on the 2011 Wimbledon champion.
NEW YORK -- He sprinted out to the service line at Madison Square Garden as the applause swelled. Cliff Drysdale is 71 years old and has spent most of his life playing, organizing and broadcasting tennis, his sport of choice.
Petra Kvitova made the Dubai hard court look like a sand box. Kvitova's deep blasts displaced opponents who looked like they were spinning their wheels on sand in a futile effort to gain ground on the 2011 Wimbledon champion.
Great athletes often become known by a number. Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game. Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs. Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors; Roger Federer has won 17. The movie about Roger Maris was called -- what else?
Of all the tournaments Rafael Nadal could have made his return at, the VTR Open in the Chilean resort town of Vina del Mar is one of the least likely, based on the Spaniard's scheduling history.Nadal's South American sojourn got me thinking: What other unlikely tennis happenings might come to pass under the right circumstances?
Maria Sharapova indulged her sweet tooth in launching her signature candy line, Sugarpova, before the 2012 U.S. Open. The player behind the brand will enter next week's Australian Open with more than maintaining a sugar high on her mind.
It all seemed to be going to so well for the U.S. Open, at least for a minute or two.The tournament has been heavily criticized by players and media in recent years on at least two fronts: (1) for not having a roof in place, even as rain has forced the event to go a day longer than scheduled on five straight occasions; and (2) for clinging to the television-driven concept of Super Saturday, which makes it the only Grand Slam that forces the men's and women's finalists to play on consecutive days.
The past few days could not have been easy for John Isner.On Saturday night, with a spot in the national title game on the line, his beloved University of Georgia football team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Alabama.
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