ROME, Italy—It started as a joke, but Taylor “Claylor” Fritz is deadly serious about his clay-court confidence at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. “For me, clay season's a huge part of the season,” he said after a 6-2, 6-7 (11), 6-1 win over Grigor Dimitrov. “It's three Masters, some other tournaments,

There are many ways to end a tennis match with a flourish: You might do it with a line-clipping ace, a fearsome forehand, or even a tweener. On Tuesday in Rome, Coco Gauff, who ran track in high school, did it in her own, unique way: With an improvised version

“I don’t know if Roland Garros has a special relationship with me,” Petra Martic said after her 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova at the French Open on Friday, “but I have it with Roland Garros. I really love this tournament. I love this surface. I really

Normally, the sight of a Grand Slam draw isn’t cause for amazement. It has to happen, so it happens. But nothing can be taken for granted at this year’s Australian Open. After two weeks of quarantine, and a COVID-19 scare on Wednesday, seeing the players’ names in brackets feels like

“His winners look like they should count for two points.” That’s what a 1970s-era tennis writer said of Jimmy Connors as he watched the brash basher play a Wimbledon final. It was a compliment, but also a warning: Jimbo’s full-throttle backhands were thrilling, but risky. Perhaps unfortunately, you don’t get

The latest in reader questions. If you have one for this column, please email me at stignor@tennismagazine.com

Here's the latest from roving TENNIS Magazine intern Troy Venechanos. This week he's in Madrid watching the WTA Championships. Hi Steve, Thursday at the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships seemed to be a day of new beginnings. Not only new beginnings for the players, but even for the tournament itself. Serena

How do you know when someone is playing really well? You start to get just a little sick of hearing from the TV commentators about how good they are, how brilliant they are, how perfect they are. It happened for me with Roger Federer many years ago, and it began

NEW YORK—This morning, on the platform of the No. 7 train at Flushing Meadows, I saw two people who appeared to be waiting anxiously to meet someone. When they finally saw him, all three began to clap, happily and rapidly, in celebration. It sounded like a tiny pep rally. And

OK, here's a new report from Troy Venechanos, who is winding up his excellent European indoor tennis adventure this weekend in Madrid. Hi Steve, In a year-ending championship, every match counts. The world's best players, the last tournament of the year, an extremely large purse—all of these are ingredients for

If you’re looking for a dual-gender tennis tournament where a woman, rather than a man, has been the most consistent and bankable star over a long period of time, Miami is the place. This week Serena Williams will return to what she calls her home event, where she is already

If you were following my Aussie Open blogs, you know I made a few critiques of the coverage by ESPN. I usually do: The broadcasts themselves are all part of the experience, and I know tennis fans have particularly strong feelings when it comes to their commentators. I generally thought

MELBOURNE—Seagulls, locusts, Aussie fanatics, Serbian fanatics: There was a little bit of everything in Rod Laver Arena tonight, including enough humidity that, by the time Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt walked onto the court, the air in this mostly indoor stadium smelled a little like a locker room. It got

What had once been a refreshing Davis Cup final has turned more than a little nerve-wracking. Great Britain and Belgium, two of the more unlikely finalists in recent years, last played in the championship round 111 years ago. But after waiting so long for a rematch, the two teams and

Roger Federer and Guillermo Cañas should get together every week. They're good drama. I thought Federer played better yesterday than he did in Indian Wells, but he looked a little flat-footed and unsure of his positioning, especially in the first set—both of those are signs of nerves. Credit the Argentine

This week the men to join the women—excuse me, the ladies—in the desert tennis kingdom. It’s about time, too. Almost a month has passed since that two-week season-within-a-season known as the Australian Open. I typically think of the other desert showdown, in Indian Wells, as the start of the year

As it was, Naomi Osaka would have been one of the most-watched, most-discussed, most-supported athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. She's the highest-earning female athlete in the world, a tennis superstar and represents Japan, making her a strong medal contender for the host country. Then, of course, came the series of

MONTREAL (AP) — Bianca Andreescu tumbled out of the National Bank Open on Thursday night, hours after fellow Canadian Rebecca Marino's surprising run ended. Ons Jabeur of Tunisia beat the second-seeded Andreescu 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 in a match interrupted by rain for about an hour in the middle of

Eleven years passed since Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer last met at Wimbledon, when Nadal prevailed to win the 2008 title in an iconic classic that stands the test of time. On Friday, the two reunited on Centre Court, meeting in the semifinal stage for the first time at the

We know Iga Swiatek is the Queen of Clay. We know, now that she has four titles and a 35-2 record on the terre battue at age 23, that she might even be the Next Rafa at Roland Garros. That’s not something I ever expected to say, about anyone, until