How do you beat a better player? More specifically, how do beat someone who plays very much the way you do, but who is faster, more consistent, just as motivated, and who fully expects to win? The simple answer is, you need to ride a high wire from start to

That was the warning we read in a thousand tweets on Friday, after Nadal announced that he was withdrawing from the French Open with a wrist injury and joining his old rival, Federer, on the sidelines. With that, the Golden Era’s sun seemed to sink a little lower in the

INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—“Oh, no, not this.” These are the first words out of the mouth of a man in the lower seats of the main stadium here today. He’s been sitting down for all of two seconds, and he’s heard his first “Woooooo” come from the mouth of Victoria Azarenka.

The days start late here. One o’clock, nice and civilized, is the designated hour for a coin toss and a warm-up. Why do it earlier? There’s plenty of time, Americano. The spring night is long. The day sessions stretch out into early evening, when the sun, bright and hot all

“Is this a match, or a friendly?” The question came from former tennis and soccer player John McEnroe, who was commentating on the fourth-round encounter between Viktor Troicki and his fellow Serb Novak Djokovic. Troicki had just held his racquet up in Djokovic’s direction after a Hawk-Eye replay. McEnroe said,

NEW YORK—It had been 16 years since I first saw Tomas Berdych on Court 13 at the US Open. That was 2003, and he was a long-haired 17-year-old making his Grand Slam debut. He entered the main draw as a lucky loser, and he exited it quickly, to Juan Ignacio

So . . . did you know the clay season is starting? This is the last of the Crystal Balls, I promise. Here are the final four contenders and pretenders that I'll assess before we get down to it in Monte Carlo on Monday.

“If you’re Dominic Thiem,” ESPN’s Brad Gilbert said near the end of the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday, “you’re scratching your head, thinking, ‘What’s this guy going to do next?’” “This guy” was Daniil Medvedev, and Gilbert was right: Over the course of his 4-6, 7-6

“Thiem Surges into St. Petersburg Semis” “Cibulkova Has Ivanovic’s Number Again” As of 10:30 A.M. in New York on Friday, these were the lead stories on the ATP’s and WTA’s respective websites. As far as headlines go, neither qualifies as banner-level stuff. Instead, they serve as a reminder of what

NEW YORK—Yesterday we looked at the players and performances that we’ll remember from this year’s U.S. Open. Now it’s time to render a verdict, before it's too late, on those that we’re probably going to forget. I’d even forgotten a couple of them myself before I wrote this. When a

No, that’s not how anyone described last week’s WTA Championships, though it was supposed to feature the eight best women in the world. Rather, that’s how, with an awkward twirl of her arm, Lindsay Davenport described the glorious high-rise hotels of Dubai a few hundred times over the last few

What does a tennis prodigy need most? “Weapons” are high on everyone's list, and for good reason. Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova: The most successful players can create their own pace and fire their winners from anywhere. Movement has become ever more crucial over the last 10

These days, when I see Jack Sock walking from one side of the court to the other, with his baseball hat high on his head and a wry smile on his face, the words “ambling into history” come to my mind. That’s the title of a biography of George W.

PARIS (AP)—Wind blew in her face, kicking up flecks of clay, and Maria Sharapova stood at the baseline, knowing she needed one more point to reach her first French Open final and return to No. 1 in the rankings. She rotated her right shoulder, the one surgically repaired 3 1/2

Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur will meet for the women’s title Saturday at Roland Garros. Reporting from Paris, Peter Bodo answered some questions about this surprising French Open final. * What do you think each player needs to do to win the match?* Well, job No. 1 for Francesca

I can’t wait to see the new chick flick Leap Year, starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. Sure, only 13 percent of the reviews have been positive, but I’m willing to spend $12 on dreamy Mr. Goode, who first grabbed my attention five years ago when he played the tennis

HOME—I play tennis at a club in Wilton, Conn., about 20 minutes from my home in Danbury, a city hugging the state line. I moved to the area just over two years ago, not knowing much about the state besides its preeminent college basketball team, the University of Connecticut Huskies.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—It was all about the serves at Wimbledon on Thursday, and it was Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova who survived the ups and downs on Centre Court to reach the final. The fifth-seeded Sharapova, who won the first of her three Grand Slam titles at the All England

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Top-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4, winning the final three games of the match to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. Ana Ivanovic earned a spot in the women’s semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marion Bartoli, the 16th-ranked Serb’s

During his semifinal with Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros last week, Carlos Alcaraz stepped up to the baseline to serve on an important point. At the same time, his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, sat forward in his seat on the other side of the court, put his hands together, and