An ominous atmosphere often accompanies the early stages of an Iga Swiatek match. If you’re a tournament director, or a TV commentator, or a paying ticket-holder—anyone with an interest in seeing a competitive contest that lasts for more than an hour—you’re quietly rooting for Swiatek’s opponent not to fall behind

For those of you interested in the junior game (that would be the kind of folks who knew, two weeks ago, who Marcos Baghdatis is, and what he’s capable of doing), I’ve de-briefed Colette Lewis, who’s here in Australia as the eyes of SMASHmagazine and blogging the junior game for

Steve Tignor will return to Rally next week; in the meantime, Ed McGrogan and Richard Pagliaro exchange thoughts about another high-profile return—that of Roger Federer, who unexpectedly announced that he'll play in Switzerland's first-round Davis Cup tie against Serbia. Richard, Davis Cup just got a little more interesting with the

*51968183 by Pete Bodo As anyone on the planet who's even remotely interested in tennis knows, Marat Safin is now officially retired from tennis. It's the last we'll see of him. I'm not sure I'd take that one to the bank. More than one tennis player has left the game

by Pete Bodo The best adjective to describe the situation at the top of the ATP is "turbulent," or perhaps even "chaotic." One of the many interesting aspects of the present reality in pro tennis is the way the WTA and ATP have engaged in a sudden and dramatic game

Don't try this at home, kids! On Saturday, Elina Svitolina posted a blooper of fiancé Gaël Monfils standing in the firing line of the couple's friend, Roger Federer, at the back of a practice court. “I know it’s a big challenge for you, but try to relax your arm and

Never a fan of Hawk-Eye, Roger Federer says that line-calling system makes the sport less interesting "What I like without Hawk-Eye is just the players challenging the umpires more often,” he told reporters in Dubai. "The umpires had to be very aware. People today don't lose any energy over arguing

Those you you who read my recent Check it Out! post know that I recently did a treatment on Ana Ivnaovic's serve for a feature of the New York Time's quarterly sports magazine, Play, in an interesting department called, The Gift. That's where the magazine breaks down the outstanding talent

Monday’s men’s final capped a great U.S. Open. Here are a few things that made it interesting. SEAT YOURSELF. Arthur Ashe Stadium was fairly full, but if one looked closely there were empty seats here and there. The reschedule to Monday likely kept some fans from attending. Lucky for me,

Tennis fans are an interesting breed. In my few years covering the sport full time, I quickly learned never to underestimate the serious fan’s knowledge or passion for the sport. No matter how deep you dig on a subject, there’s sure to be someone lurking on tennis Twitter who has

PARIS (AP) — Leave it to others to decide whether Rafael Nadal is playing the best tennis of his career as he comes off a 10th French Open championship, his 15th Grand Slam title in all, and now turns his attention to Wimbledon. Those sorts of comparisons do not interest

NEW YORK (AP) So there's at least one person with zero interest in watching the Williams sisters play each other in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Tuesday night, with Serena's bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam on the line. Their mother, Oracene Price. ''It's just hard to see them both going

I guess that with Rafael Nadal having clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking before the round-robin portion of the ATP World Tour Finals is over, the three uber-elite players (Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer) needed to do something to keep the media fires stoked. In this, they succeeded. Perhaps

He's watching, always watching! Despite retiring from the tennis tour last fall, Rafael Nadal is still keeping tabs on current events—and has been loving the performances of two of his namesake tennis academy's students at the Miami Open. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong have

⬆️ Our men's Roland Garros futures Line Call: Casper Ruud to win his quarter of the draw (+325) 👉 For a complete list of Roland Garros odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, CLICK HERE The men’s side of things at Roland Garros will be more interesting than usual this year. Most of

It may have been the last thing anyone expected, or even wanted, out of an evening of charity tennis, but the Hit for Haiti got suspiciously interesting last night. Leave it to the loudest and baldest of its participants, Andre Agassi, to make it happen, by taking the whole event

News, gossip and other items of interest from the world of tennis: What’s been going on since the U.S. Open? In short, some ATP players participated in Davis Cup ties. Some won challengers (Congrats to Taylor Dent!). One had a parade thrown in his honor. Melinda Czink won her first

Mornin'. Based on the comments regarding my last post (The Lonely Game), I decided that instead of trying to get another post up today or tomorrow, I'll tackle this coaching series fresh when I get back from vacation on Feb. 23rd. Meanwhile, if you're interested in my thoughts on the

NEW YORK—Italians are famous for their sense of style and dramatic flair, and lately Italy’s female players have found a way to bring those qualities to bear on the tennis court, transforming them from merely “interesting” players into highly successful ones. The first in this recent wave were Flavia Pennetta

NEW YORK (AP) So there's at least one person with zero interest in watching the Williams sisters play each other in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Tuesday night, with Serena's bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam on the line. Their mother, Oracene Price. ''It's just hard to see them both going