MELBOURNE—We were sure of one thing: it was going to be close, and it was going to be long. Which champion was going to win? On that, opinions were divided in the Media Centre at Melbourne Park. But a shattering, obliterating 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win for Novak Djokovic in his

Naomi Osaka frequently refers to herself as a vessel throughout her eponymous Netflix docuseries, which debuted on the streaming service Friday. It’s the thesis of her opening narration, suggesting she began playing tennis too early in life for it to be something she chose completely for herself. It’s how she

` So...what just got into Jack Sock? The 25-year-old American had reached one semifinal since April. He had won one match, combined, at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open this year. In 32 previous Masters 1000 events, he had made the semis twice, and never advanced to a

What makes the U.S. Open unique among the Grand Slams? Size, of course, is the first answer that comes to mind, and it’s the only one that’s necessary. From its vast, teeming, city-like grounds to the hulking monstrosity known as Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Open is staged, for better and

In 2007, the U.S. beat Russia to win the Davis Cup in Portland. Afterward, in the beery post-clinch press conference—we could hear the team chanting “U.S.A.!” as they marched down the hall together—Andy Roddick and James Blake laughingly demanded that reporters ask their non-playing teammates Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish

There was much that was the familiar about the third Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. But there was one welcome difference: This one, finally, had some spark. The winner was the same. Djokovic, in a roller-coaster that turned into a rout, took home his fifth Aussie

It's that time again, time to spill the extras, the minutiae, the less-than-useful observations and wisecracks that no self-respecting editor would have allowed into print back in those days "before the Internet." Why do we insist on saying we miss those days so much? Really, have you tried to write

A simple question: When are we going to start controlling the weather? Would it be that difficult? I ask because this summer I spent 10 days at the beach, and on seven of them pesky local clouds kept the sun from doing its job and shining on me. This is

Do you think people who live in sunny weather most of the year are happier than the rest of us? Has there been a study done on this? Just the fact that I have a pretty good idea what the weather will be like on any given day when I'm

As I threaded my way through the overstuffed grounds at Flushing Meadows in the early evening yesterday, I caught the sound of John McEnroe’s voice on a café television. The New York native was saying that it felt like one of those special nights at the Open, when there was

“I don’t expect anyone else to believe in me,” Venus Williams said over the weekend in Miami. “I expect to believe in myself.” By now, three months shy of her 35th birthday, Venus has become as reliable at dispensing worldly wisdom as she has at cracking first serves past her

Have you ever stood and listened to a tennis match? I tried it for a few minutes yesterday. You can’t do it with just anyone; you need a pair of opponents with special talents to make it entertaining. The distinctive thud and thwack that Marat Safin and Richard Gasquet make

MELBOURNE—“Just a few points here or there.” We know the phrase well; that’s all there is, sometimes, between winning and losing. But rarely has a big-time tennis match turned so quickly and decisively on a point or two as Victoria Azarenka’s 6-3, 6-0 win in the Australian Open final over

PARIS—For the better part of four hours, in weather that had been unremittingly foul, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had wrestled with nerves, errors, each other’s hard-nosed games, and a long-faced Roland Garros referee. Finally, at 5-5 in the fourth set, after another burst of light rain had brought the

It was a weekend of small surges and modest triumphs. Lucie Safarova flashed across the radar screen again in Paris, her Selesian bashball game and preposterously youthful features unchanged since we last saw her. Sam Querrey returned to form in San Jose, where, by extending Andy Roddick to a third-set

If you’re like me, you’ve already read a few best-of lists for tennis in 2005. If you’re like me, you also enjoy these kinds of things. So here’s one more before I take the next couple of weeks off. I’ll be back with a 2006 preview column on December 30.

The racquet I grip and hold in front of my face has a hole in the middle of it. A string broke in July, the last time I hit a ball. Since then I’ve snipped a few more of the blue polyester mains and white synthetic crosses near the center.

If you came in after the first few games of any of Dominic Thiem’s matches last week in Acapulco, you might have thought the young Austrian had turned into the Marco Rubio of tennis. For those of you who are (blessedly) unfamiliar with the race for the Republican presidential nomination

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic remembers just how close Serena Williams came to a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 before coming up short at the U.S. Open. He recalls chatting with Williams during that tournament about all that went along with a bid for the rare achievement, which has

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—When most players at the Dubai Championships finish their matches, they mingle in the clubhouse eating and chatting. For Shahar Peer, it’s back to a guarded compound where she watches movies with her father Dov. But it could be worse for Peer. She was denied a