It's becoming an annual summer question: Where is Mardy Fish heading? The American, who enjoyed a post-Wimbledon surge in 2010, has now cracked the Top 10 for the first time at 29 years old. But his prospects remain hard to gauge. In the last month alone, he has experienced a

View image | gettyimages.com This is the first year in a decade that I haven’t been at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for its busy opening weekend (I get there on Wednesday). Watching from home, I was reminded of what a TV-friendly event the BNP Paribas Open can be in

Pondering this weekend’s Davis Cup final, the last professional tennis event of 2006, my first thought is: Is this the end of the same season where Marcos Baghdatis made his breakthrough run at the Australian Open? In front of his homies from Cyprus, in the rain and all that? That

Andy Murray may never win a major. If he doesn’t, there’s a very good chance he’ll go down as the best player not to do so. His game has its flaws and its holes—the biggest one being that he can’t close his eyes and belt his way out of trouble—and

It’s this the one? Has the U.S., after 10 long years of sliding helplessly around gloomy indoor arenas all over Europe, found a World Group clay tie they can win? It’s been a solid decade since they beat Brazil away on dirt. Since then the Davis Cup scenario has been

“Nothing,” John McEnroe said in the commentary booth in Rod Laver Arena, “would suggest this was about to happen.” McEnroe said these words slowly, for emphasis, in an attempt to communicate just how fantastical the scene before us really was. No one watching needed to be reminded. Denis Istomin, world

The first in an occasional series about the glories and nightmares of tennis competition. For pro ball, see my post on David Nalbandian (yes, David Nalbandian) at ESPN.com. The club I belong to is about as “city” as tennis clubs get—there’s nothing “country” about it. It’s wedged between an outdoor

She would have been forgiven if they had, of course, given that her older sister Venus withdrew from the tournament 24 hours earlier and revealed a recently diagnosed immune system disease. Focused as ever, Serena absolutely overwhelmed Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-0, 6-1 to reach the third round, showing

With more than a month to go until its official conclusion, the 2009 tennis season already has been one of the most memorable on record. Roger Federer completed the career Grand Slam in Paris, formerly the site of his annual undoing, and claimed a record-setting 15th major title with an

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—Six-time champion Roger Federer was upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second straight year Wednesday, squandering a two-set lead for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament and losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Federer barely looked challenged while winning the first

• 201205061655609001986-p2@stats_comby Pete Bodo* **NEW YORK—Melanie Oudin has a flight to Paris this evening, but on this humid, rainy, Wednesday afternoon, she's just finishing up a final practice session on green Har-Tru clay, one of four courts under the giant white bubble that stands like a tethered cloud in the

Picby Pete Bodo In keeping with our desire to leave no stone unturned in our coverage of the French Open, I'm going to parse and comment on the post-match press conferences that have become an everyday part of life for ATP and WTA players. While post-match thoughts and remarks are

Nole by Pete Bodo Novak Djokovic won the biggest tennis match of his life yesterday in Madrid. It isn't like the title, or even the win over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal trumps an Australian Open title, a Davis Cup championship, or back to back hard-court Masters wins (over the

89264551 by Pete Bodo There must be a higher purpose in Dinara Safina's life than serving as part of Serena Williams's fitness regimen (Safina has been her heavy bag, to borrow from the sweet science), or the object of scorn and derision that might be better directed at the WTA

* by Pete Bodo* It appeared to be the same old story. The same old sad story. The same tale we've seen played out on courts all around the globe in this frequently, predictably cruel sport. Samantha Stosur crept to the edge of victory against Serena Williams and peered over

NEW YORK—Tennis is a sport with serious heft these days because it is blessed with the “Big Three” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic), but one of the more intriguing subtexts in the sport is that it wouldn’t take all that much for tennis to be all about a “Super

We’re wrapping up our “best of” matches list here at TENNIS.com, although to me it’s just as much fun to look back at the “worst of” the year as well. Just call me Grinch. But really. Truly horrific matches are as much a part of the pro game as certifiably

This admittedly isn’t the best of times for U.S. tennis. It seems like the bad news outweighs the good news time and again, at least on the men’s side of the ledger. Given how mired down the nation is in mediocrity, even an idea that once looked like a sure

by Pete Bodo It's only a World Group II, Round 1 match-up (who among you even knows exactly what that means?). It pits the U.S., the most successful team in Fed Cup history, against a Russian satellite republic, Belarus, and if you can name the four nations that border Belarus

PARIS—Victoria Azarenka used to create the impression on court she was contending with more than an opponent. There seemed to be demons at play as well. Consider her fourth-round meltdown against Nadia Petrova at Wimbledon in 2009. She began mimicking her own movements before sarcastically shaking a linesperson's hand and