by Pete Bodo It's both perilous and easy to draw comparisons between various sports, even while understanding how different they are and how deceptive the parallels may be. Still, every once in a while you come across a story, issue or development that seems to resonate across the boundary lines,

“She’s looking very relaxed!” Martina Navratilova, commentating in a TV booth above Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday, sounded frankly surprised to be uttering these words. It wasn’t hard to understand why: She was talking about Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic is a former No. 1 and Grand Slam champion, but “relaxed” is

On May 15, 2006, the notoriously divided world of tennis found something that it could agree on: that the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, after simmering for two years, had come to a boil over the course of a five-hour final at the Foro Italico in Rome. More

Andy Murray hasn’t had it easy against Novak Djokovic recently. Before Sunday, the last time the Scot beat the Serb, in the 2013 Wimbledon final, he had to survive what may have been the most hair-raising, heart-stopping final game in tennis history. And in the two years since that match

Courts, players, tournaments, arenas: They shift in your mind even as they appear, seemingly unchanged, on your TV screen through the years. It’s not an evolution; that would imply improvement and some kind of an endpoint. My relationship as a spectator, with, say, Mikhail Youzhny, has traveled in a sort

Each day this week, Peter Bodo will review action from Cincinnati and preview upcoming matches. These "Good Morning Cincinnati" posts will be published around 10 am EST, and we encourage you to discuss the day's play—along with Pete's thoughts—in the comment section below. Yesterday: Last week seemed remarkable to me,

PARIS—Two of the more volatile and complex players in men’s tennis got together in the quarterfinals of the French Open, and by the time they hashed out their business they could barely find each other at the net for the handshake, it was so dark out there. This three-hour and

Okay, let’s start things off with a confession; covering my “home” Grand Slam (I’m both an American and a New Yorker) just doesn’t feel the same. Roll out of bed, go to the hardware store and get shelf-liner, wait for the babysitter to show up, jump in the car and

by Pete Bodo Afternoon, everyone. Cruising through the comments on my last post (Blow-ing It, below) I had an epiphany of sorts. I realized that the term "role model," while sounding nice and relevant in a Sociology 101 kind of way, is freely used to describe a relationship and a

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—If you’ve ever suspected that the pros are fundamentally different from the rest of us—more assured, less anxious, tougher all around—Sunday’s two finals here should make you think twice about that notion. Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic each raced through the first set of their matches and stood

Something wonderful is suddenly happening in Great Britain, what with all those British tennis players gaining traction in the rankings, the media, and the public eye. Andy Murray, double-medalist at the London Olympics and recent U.S. Open champ, is at the head of yet another, different “British invasion.” Then there’s

For a few summer months in the early 2000s, the Knickerbocker Field Club was a mythical place to me. Literally. I knew the address, I knew someone who played there, I had even read about its century-long history online. But I couldn’t find it. This wasn’t unusual. The first person

In this edition of The Rally, Steve Tignor and Joel Drucker talk about the significance of Novak Djokovic breaking the men’s record for weeks at No. 1, and how he has made the most of playing in the same era as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Hi Joel, I was

“I mean, in a way I know I sound like and I feel like a little kid, like this is the first time ever happening. I don’t know, I love the feeling. I’m really happy.” NEW YORK—Mirjana Lucic-Baroni had waited a long time for this moment. The 32-year-old made her

Rafael Nadal is indisputably the best male clay courter in history. Only four players have won more total Grand Slams—period—than Nadal has won French Opens (nine). Some of the sport’s all time greats—Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi among them—have won fewer majors than Nadal has won in Paris

BELGRADE, Serbia—All the world's a stage, and the leading men made sure the opening act of this Davis Cup final stayed on script. Novak Djokovic denied seven of eight break points he faced in dispatching Radek Stepanek, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, to post his 23rd consecutive victory and stake Serbia to

by Pete Bodo A bit of housekeeping first: this morning, I received a note from a long-time reader and weblog editrix Aaress Lawless (cool name, huh?). TennisWorld has been nominated in On the Baseline's annual awards, in the weblog category. I've never paid much attention to "official" awards or contests,

*91189456 by Pete Bodo Madrid, as most of you know, was the brainchild of Ion Tiriac. That he was able to turn his vision into reality ought to give you a pretty good idea of the degree of the clout and expertise - promotional, financial and political - that this

To watch all of the matches from the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro on demand, click here. SEMIFINALS Fiona Ferro d. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 David Goffin d. Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6 (6), after saving a match point in the tiebreaker. "He won, a few times, the tournament in real life. So

From first ball to last, keep up to date with the latest from Roland Garros every day on TENNIS.com. We'll have match updates, photos, video highlights and more in our daily notebook: Passport to RG. Hugo Gaston prevailed, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, over 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka to the