Everybody loves Frances Tiafoe. We love his inspirational backstory. We love his 1,000-watt smile. We love his tip-toey walk, his curious forehand take-back, his blazing serve and the sometimes unfiltered, rambling commentary he delivers in his gravelly, basso profundo voice. The trouble with all the love we shower on Tiafoe,

If you’re a tennis fan who also happens to be a technophobe—i.e., if you fear that robots will soon be running our lives—the next few weeks might be tough for you. In the eternal battle between man and machine, the machines are on the verge of claiming a major, long-awaited

Complete commitment. An unwavering desire to succeed. Conviction in one’s abilities. Recognition to adapt with conditions. Respect for the opposition. The will to fight until the final point has been claimed. Before I pursued a career in a sport boasting these collective qualities, I was first exposed to this set

Four years ago, Roger Federer was asked to assess the new generation of players who were moving—tentatively—up the rankings ladder behind him. Federer wasted no time in singling out a then-22-year-old Milos Raonic. What did he think set the 6'5" Canadian apart? His missile serve? His unflappable demeanor? His flawless

Three games in, my buddy B.J. had already detected a troubling trend. “They’ve each already missed two down-the-line backhands,” he said. “If you haven’t played in a while, why would you even try a shot like that so early in the match?” B.J. is an engineer, as analytical and logical

As we saw in the final, from a skills perspective, the sky is the limit for the Russian. Davydenko put on a display of epic efficiency against Nadal. His basic tactic was to push Rafa wide to his backhand side with sharp-angled forehands. What was surprising was how he set

Has there ever been a turning point as unlikely, and temporarily unfortunate, as the one that finally led to Nick Kyrgios’ first-round win over Denis Istomin on Tuesday? The match had reached the middle of the fourth set. Kyrgios had won the first two in tiebreakers; Istomin had won the

So far we’ve discussed, among other things, the players, matches, points, disappointments, and train wrecks of the year on this web site. But what about its phrases? In the age of social media, the players' most memorable bursts, and outbursts, of words become a linguistic shorthand for fans. I mean,

NEW YORK—Maybe it’s the day off that Wimbledon, in a last, futile bow to the spiritual, schedules for its middle Sunday, but I think I’ve been programmed to need a few hours of rest at the mid-point of a Grand Slam. With that in mind, I skipped the hour-long subway

Rs Here’s another first entry in an occasional series. Can you tell it's a little slow around the office? I'm happy to have a chance to give this blog more time.

NEW YORK—You never know what the millennial generation is going to get up to next. They helped elect President Obama and looked ready to save the planet, but somehow got distracted by their Instagram feeds along the way. This morning they seem to have sunk to a new low, at

What was the most impressive aspect of Serena Williams’ win over Victoria Azarenka in the Rome final on Sunday? There were the big serves and the winning ground strokes, of course; few players have dominated their closest competition as thoroughly as the women’s No. 1 has this spring. But while

LONDON—A Simon & Garfunkel song comes up on my mental jukebox as I return to the O2 Arena a year after I left: Hello darkness, my old friend … The crowd here in the upper levels are kept in darkness (except when roving spotlights polka-dot the audience after a winner)

104504342 by Pete Bodo As the long season winds down, I'm thinking there are a few things I'd really like to see more of before the season-ending championships and Fed Cup and Davis Cup finals come to a conclusion, and a few things I've had quite enough of for one

*98170347 by Pete Bodo Justine Henin is to tennis what the tank watch is to the timepiece crowd, Carhartt overalls are to the workingman, and the Gibson electric guitars is to rock musicians. She's a classic. She seems to incorporate, in that petite frame and with those classic, old-school strokes,

It was all pretty simple, wasn’t it? The irrepressible on the verge of the incredible yielded to the inevitable. Roger Federer, the master puppeteer, had the strings tangled for a bit, but he finally got them all sorted out – as he has a few times this past week –

By TW Contributing Editor Andrew

*TW at IW By Jackie, TW Social Director I'm back! Indian Wells was everything I'd dreamed of ... and more. I must warn you that I'm not quite settled yet, having just flown back from California two days ago. (Post-IW, I visited a friend in LA. The highlight was our

by Pete Bodo It's always a good idea to hold conventional wisdom up to a critical light and give it a good once-over with a fresh eye, although most of us just aren't sufficiently alert or conscious to do it on our own as a matter of habit, the way

A raging Fabio Fognini didn't exactly look like a man with his mind on his work as he repeatedly slammed his blue Babolat to the red clay, snapped three strings in a four-game span, picked away at a festering blister on his index finger and railed at both chair umpire