Without any second thoughts, I would say that Jack Kramer was the single most significant figure in the history of his game, tennis.
Maybe Andy Roddick hasn't recovered as well as we all think from his loss at Wimbledon. Look at the losses he has had since then. He lost two tight matches to Juan Martin del Potro, in Washington, D.C., and Montreal. I think the one in D.C. ended in a third-set tiebreak. He lost to Sam Querrey in Cincinnati in two tiebreak sets and now to John Isner in a fifth-set tiebreak. I get the feeling when things get close in the end, he just doesn't have the confidence to pull it out. What do you think of his losses? -- Beth D., Brooklyn, N.Y.
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 watch and his predicted winners.
Since advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon in late June, Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., has continued her rise to a career-high ranking of No. 68 on the Sony Ericcson WTA Tour. In a recent interview with SI.com, the 17-year-old discussed life as a qualifier, her decision to be home-schooled and her views on grunting.
1. Wimbledon I don't remember my first brush with Wimbledon, but my mom does. I was 3 years old in the summer of 1975 when Arthur Ashe defeated Jimmy Connors in the men's final, a moment that she celebrated by picking me up, holding me in front of the television and telling me, "He looks like you! He looks like you!" This was my mom's way of telling me that anything in life was possible -- that I, too, could grow up and do anything I wanted. She was right. I wonder what it would be like to sit at Centre Court and see the grass and watch Federer, Nadal and the Williams sisters. I'm sure I would think about Arthur Ashe. I'm sure my mom would, too.
The grassroots renaissance of tennis in the United States was the subject of an Associated Press feature that appeared online and in many newspaper sports sections over the weekend. The story argues, among other things, that "today's dearth of top American professionals" hasn't curtailed the sport's post-2000 growth:
While the 16 remaining players in the men's draw competed at Wimbledon on June 29, Richard Gasquet was a few miles from the All England Club, fighting for his career at a tribunal hearing. Three months earlier, the French player had tested positive for cocaine, triggering a two-year ban under the World Anti-Doping Agency code. In a sport with no guaranteed contracts and a short career shelf life, this was, potentially, akin to a professional death sentence.
It's always struck me as shabby when a commentator or columnist ignites controversy and then slips away like Laura Dern in the last scene of Citizen Ruth. Last week, I took issue with Roger Federer's Wimbledon attire -- and, more specifically, the Nike taste-makers who determined Federer's dignity and humility required more edge.
It's always struck me as shabby when a commentator or columnist ignites controversy and then slips away like Laura Dern in the last scene of Citizen Ruth. Last week, I took issue with Roger Federer's Wimbledon attire -- and, more specifically, the Nike taste-makers who determined Federer's dignity and humility required more edge. The responses, pro and con, were as intense as they were numerous.
While mourning Mathieu Montcourt and thinking how downright creepy it is that two players penalized recently by the ATP for petty gambling infractions --Federico Luzzi is the other -- have died ...
Andy Roddick had just taken the first set from Roger Federer in Sunday's Wimbledon final, inducing roars from the Centre Court spectators, when my wife-to-be posed a perfectly sincere question.
CNN's Errol Barnett sat down with Roger Federer after claiming his record 15th grand slam win and sixth Wimbledon title.
The Wimbledon grass has always been a bit of a yoga mat for Roger Federer, who routinely moves around Centre Court at mental and physical ease while his more bruiser-like counterparts clip-clop on its blades.
Four things we learned while watching the all-American women's final at the All England Club on Independence Day ...
ITN's Damon Green reports on fake tickets for Wimbledon matches being sold on internet for big bucks.
This is our last "crumpet" for Wimbledon 2009. Time to do magazine work (though I'll continue periodic tweeting and podcasting). If you'd like, you could read this tomorrow; think of it as tape-delay. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. We'll be back Sunday with a Wimbledon wrap-up!
WIMBLEDON, England -- While marveling at Venus Williams's play on grass....
A total of 28 staff at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships have been asked to stay at home with suspected swine flu.
Two years are tattooed on the English sports consciousness like scarlet letters of anguish and self-pity. One is 1966, the first and only time the Three Lions hoisted the World Cup. The other is 1937, the last time a British player won at Wimbledon.
WIMBLEDON, England -- Here's a Monday baguette, or, as reader Art Wong suggests we call it during Wimbledon, "a crumpet." While wondering what Roger Federer is making of the prospect of facing Ivo Karlovic...
Four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman talks to CNN's Pedro Pinto about the 2009 tournament hopefuls.
From the book, STROKES OF GENIUS: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played, by L. Jon Wertheim. Copyright © 2009 by L. Jon Wertheim. Published by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
This story appears in the April 13, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated
In July 2008, a month before China grabbed the sporting headlines for the Beijing Olympics, Zheng Jie made her own bit of sporting history for China.
It was the match of the year. It was the match of the decade. It was, one could certainly make a credible case, the greatest match in tennis history. On the first Sunday in July, Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4. 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 in the finals of Wimbledon, the most important match of the most important tournament.
Federer or Nadal, who's your pick at the U.S. Open? -- Chas, New York
An unconditional Roger fan, I also felt crushed. Still I was able to come up with the following positives: 1) What Rafa did to win the match was extra-terrestrial and such a performance must be rewarded; 2) Roger is more rational than I am in interpreting the meaning of his wins and his losses; 3) Roger is not Justine, he will not disappear because the competition fundamentally suits his body and his mind. -- Barbara Katzenberg Lexington, MA
That was unquestionably one of the greatest tennis matches I have ever witnessed. But let's digest it a little bit and let the heat of the moment pass before we dub it "the greatest of all time." This one had a lot at stake, with a lot of underlying stories attached to it on the most prestigious stage in all of the sport. But I'm not ready to dismiss Agassi-Blake in the 2005 Open quarters just because we saw a match of its equal. -- Steve, New York, NY
Cleaning out the Wimbledon notebook while still in awe of that final.
The stylish couple went courtside to root for pal Roger Federer – but to no avail
Spain's Rafael Nadal dethrones five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer. CNN's Pedro Pinto reports
The emotional impact of Nadal's victory over Swiss champion Federer, as seen by TIME's reporter at the Centre Court
Five things we learned from women's final Saturday at Wimbledon:
For Wertheim's audio roundup of today's matches, click here or scroll down below.
For Wertheim's audio roundup of today's matches, click here or scroll down below.
Five years since their last title matchup, the Williams sisters are back in the Wimbledon final with another Grand Slam championship -- and family bragging rights -- at stake
For Wertheim's audio roundup of today's matches, click here or scroll down below.
Hi Jon. How do the Wimbledon organizers decide the schedule of play? Specifically, what are their criteria for selecting who will play on Centre Court or Court 1? I ask this because it seems a little disrespectful to make Venus and Serena (who have six Wimbledon trophies between them) play on Court 2, while Kuznetsova-Radwanska and Vaidisova-Chakvetadze get to play on Centre Court and Court 1, respectively. These four have never gotten past the quarters at Wimbledon, and don't exactly generate the amount of interest that Venus and Serena do. So if it's not past performance or popularity, what is it? -- Nancy Ng, Montreal
After six days of play, here are our midterm grades from the 2008 version of Wimbledon:
Wimbledon 101updated: Fri Jun 20 2008 13:26:00
The world's oldest tennis tournament retains many of the same customs and quirks 131 years after it was first staged. It's the only Grand Slam event still played on grass, despite perennial moans from the clay- and hard-court specialists who struggle to adjust. Players--who are always referred to as "gentlemen" and "ladies"--must wear predominantly white, and the courts are unsullied by conspicuous corporate logos.
Tennis star Martina Hingis says she has been accused of testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon, an accusation she calls "horrendous," the Associated Press reports.
NEW YORK -- He is the British number one, a designation that carries little weight in New York but the weight of the world at Wimbledon.
The kid assumed he was being punk'd. After a fine freshman season as Florida's No. 1 singles player, Jesse Levine was luxuriating at home in Boca Ratonlast month when his cellphone chirped. An IMG agent was calling in search of a practice partner for Roger Federer, a few days removed from winning Wimbledon for the fifth straight time. Would Levine meet Federer at his training base in the United Arab Emirates? "When I realized it wasn't a joke," says Levine, "I was like, 'Yup. That works for me.'"
Once upon a time there was a surface called "grass." It rewarded aggressive play, and people who served and volleyed and returned and came in did very well. People who sliced and came to the net, like Martina Navratilova, were almost unstoppable when they got on a roll. Since the grass at Wimbledon is so slow, wouldn't it be "fair" to speed up the kitty litter-like surface called "clay" that the rest of the world is so enamored with?
WIMBLEDON, England -- Cleaning out the notebook from a wild and wet Wimbledon. Some random notes and thoughts, trying to incorporate as many of your questions as possible.
Let's pretend you are, say, an insurance salesman. You're damn good at your job, world-class even. You clock in every day. You miss family functions on account of work. You try like hell to improve your performance rating and keep ascending the ladder. But there are these two colleagues -- siblings, no less! -- blocking your progress. They seem to pop into the office only when the mood strikes. They miss all the meetings and those insufferable "team building" outings because they're off acting or designing clothes or doing Lord knows what else. They take lots of sick leave, too. But when there's money on the table, they're the best around. They swoop in, perform with breathtaking skill and close the biggest accounts. Argh!
One-on-one with Roger Federer
WIMBLEDON, England -- In the sheltered world of professional athletes, sometimes we need a reality check. Outside of the locker rooms, practice courts and VIP lounges we inhabit on a daily basis, there's a world that exists that we seem to be protected from and even ignore from time to time. Until it becomes personal.
A quick baguette while still sitting in awe of Venus Williams' current level of tennis ...
A quick Baguette, while waiting out still another rain delay ...
WIMBLEDON, England -- I can tell you from first-hand experience on Monday that life doesn't always imitate art.
LONDON -- Wimbledon means Roger Federer time. The world's No. 1 player has won the last four and is undeniably the favorite for a fifth. Beyond him is a small, elite group of players who are capable of hoisting the trophy at the end of the fortnight.
For all the tradition coursing through Wimbledon -- the lords and ladies in the Royal Box, the queuing for grounds passes, the Pimm's cups with side orders of strawberries and cream -- this may be the most hidebound ritual of them all: Everyone in Great Britain becomes irrationally optimistic at the prospect of a homegrown male winning the tournament for the first time since Fred Perry in 1936. And then, when the player doesn't prevail, the entire country reacts with disproportionate anguish. When Tim Henman reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2002, a headline in the Daily Mirror read: NO PRESSURE, TIMBO, BUT CHOKE NOW AND WE'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. When Henman fell to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt, the next day's headline was NATION OF LOSERS. Even the staid London Observer once described rooting for British players at Wimbledon as "a national spasm of patriotic agony."
LONDON -- Grass-court season has arrived, and I couldn't be happier. Once June arrives, the clay-court shoes of spring are tossed aside in exchange for the pimpled-bottomed soles for the grass court of England.
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.
SI.com: A change at the topupdated: Tue May 15 2007 16:29:00
Your thoughts on Roger Federer's split from his coach? I say good! -- Natasha, Toronto
A Mailbag as Pete Sampras returns to the tennis forefront:
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