SI.com's Jon Wertheim breaks down the men's and women's seeds at Wimbledon. Read on for the top first-round matchups, dark horses to watch and his predicted winners.
He stands 6' 1", weighs 185 pounds and can send a tennis ball pretty much anywhere he pleases. He's won on a variety of surfaces, collecting Grand Slam singles titles at a breakneck pace. He projects professionalism and grace and a distinctly European dignity. For all his success, he remains modest and grounded, uninterested in the usual trappings of modern celebrity, attracting attention only with his play.
How long until we see a major championship in Asia? Asia (China specifically) is such a large market for tennis to expand into that it seems like a wasted opportunity to not have a major there every year. -- Jeremy, Marietta, Ga
Nadal made a successful debut in Olympic singles Monday, overcoming numerous missed chances by sweeping the final four games to beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
If you're interested in having your son support you in your old age, here is my vocational advice to you: starting when he's in the crib, turn him into a left-hander, and then train him to become a relief pitcher. There's always a well-paying place for layabout southpaw relievers, well up into their athletic dotage. You see, while lefties moan that the world at large discriminates against them, our sinister brethren have all the advantages in sports whenever they directly face right-handers. Now an engineering professor named David Peters has come up with some basic statistics, which show what we righties always knew anyway, that baseball in particular is a gauche paradise. And that ain't no left-handed compliment.
SI.com's Jon Wertheim breaks down the men's and women's seeds at Wimbledon. Read on for the top first-round matchups, dark horses to watch and his predicted winners.
He stands 6' 1", weighs 185 pounds and can send a tennis ball pretty much anywhere he pleases. He's won on a variety of surfaces, collecting Grand Slam singles titles at a breakneck pace. He projects professionalism and grace and a distinctly European dignity. For all his success, he remains modest and grounded, uninterested in the usual trappings of modern celebrity, attracting attention only with his play.
How long until we see a major championship in Asia? Asia (China specifically) is such a large market for tennis to expand into that it seems like a wasted opportunity to not have a major there every year. -- Jeremy, Marietta, Ga
Nadal made a successful debut in Olympic singles Monday, overcoming numerous missed chances by sweeping the final four games to beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
If you're interested in having your son support you in your old age, here is my vocational advice to you: starting when he's in the crib, turn him into a left-hander, and then train him to become a relief pitcher. There's always a well-paying place for layabout southpaw relievers, well up into their athletic dotage. You see, while lefties moan that the world at large discriminates against them, our sinister brethren have all the advantages in sports whenever they directly face right-handers. Now an engineering professor named David Peters has come up with some basic statistics, which show what we righties always knew anyway, that baseball in particular is a gauche paradise. And that ain't no left-handed compliment.
Let's start with the fallout from the men's final in Paris. There were a lot of questions about the Nadal-Federer match and its consequences. In the interest of economy, I'll condense to five thoughts.
Like skid marks at a crash site, tracks in the clay told the story of the 2008 French Open. Want to know why Rafael Nadal won his fourth straight title, humiliating Roger Federer in the final? All you had to do was look at the court. It was streaked and slashed, indicating the lengths Nadal had raced to retrieve balls. Forward, back, at odd angles, into the courtside geranium boxes.
As I write this, I'm 40,000 miles above ground hitching a ride on a private plane with tennis legend Pete Sampras. We're headed to Boston, where he'll be competing in the Outback Champions Series, and I'll be covering the tournament for television.
SI.com's Jon Wertheim breaks down the men's and women's seeds at the U.S. Open. Read on for the top first-round matchups, dark horses to keep an eye on and his predicted winners.
He is the second best tennis player in the world. Now the Spanish master of the clay courts will try to beat out No. 1, Roger Federer, in the upcoming U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal will now take your questions
Roger Federer moaned, and everyone knew: It would end soon. Grunting and screeching are tennis staples, of course, but not for Federer. Usually he embodies the quaint notion of striving quietly. But he had just made his final desperate run at Rafael Nadal and the 2007 French Open title, muffing the last of 16 break points he'd let slip this day. It was 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, in the second game of the fourth set, and after Federer rolled a backhand wide, his first groan echoed across the clay. On the next point Federer shanked another stray backhand and yelled in despair, and the 15,166 fans jammed into Court Philippe Chatrier knew it was done. Nadal had cracked him open for all to hear. Again.
S.L. Price is covering the French Open for Sports Illustrated and SI.com. We caught up with him following Rafael Nadal's 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Roger Federer on Sunday to get his impressions of the final weekend of the tournament.
Technically it didn't count. So Rafael Nadal didn't extend his winning streak of 72 consecutive matches on clay courts. Nor, for that matter, did he snap Roger Federer's streak of 48 straight victories on grass. But Nadal's 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 triumph over Federer in a May 2 exhibition titled The Battle of Surfaces may have provided a trailer of sorts to tennis's feature presentations this summer.
Since clay-court season is upon us, I was wondering who you think is the greatest dirt-baller to play the game. Bjorn Borg? Guillermo Vilas? And where would Rafael Nadal fall in that category? -- Andrea, Richmond, Texas
A couple of years back, you did an article on Fernando Gonzalez. Looking back at his evolution from the big gun 'n' forehand guy to the current player who beat Rafael Nadal, what has changed? -- Rex Jim, Leipzig, Germany
Do you think Rafa Nadal's career may follow a similar arc to Jim Courier's? Both made their names by imposing their gritty, physical games on opponents. This led to early success for both, especially at Roland Garros. But Courier's career peaked early as other players began to figure out how to play (and beat) him. It appears that Nadal is in a similar situation. Maybe I should wait until after the clay season to make this metaphor, but after his loss to Xavier Malisse, Rafa looks to have lost some momentum. -- Jay Lassiter, Philadephia
The page you requested cannot be found. The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Please try the following:
• If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.
• Open the www.cnn.com home page and look for links to the information you want.
• Use the navigation bar above to find the link you are looking for.
• Click the Back button to try another link.
• Enter a term in the search form below to look for information on CNN sites or the Internet.
