Neither Venus Williams nor Kirsten Flipkens has played much tennis lately, and at frequent intervals of their first-round match at the Rogers Cup it showed. Flipkens, seeded No. 13, had been sidelined by a sore knee after her impressive semifinal run at Wimbledon. Williams was out for even longer with

It illuminates history with a modern mode. Walk inside and you’re transported through time—while at the same time experiencing cutting-edge hospitality. It seems fitting, then, that the Hotel Viking is but a short walk from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. These two Newport institutions are inexorably linked, and exemplify

If I told you a player had double-faulted at set point in a tiebreaker, double faulted again and been broken while serving for the match, and had his forehand get so tight at certain stages that he could barely get the ball to the service line, would you believe he

Long before zombies became the TV stars of choice for so many viewers, tennis has loved them. Give me a player who has survived a match point to win and I’ll give you a dangerous contender brimful of new life. Agnieszka Radwanska proved the theory once again today. In the

In a storybook world, Rafael Nadal would have led Spain on one last, rollicking ride to a seventh Davis Cup title before the delirious home fans in Malaga. But in a storybook world, Roger Federer would have won his last Wimbledon final in 2019. Serena Williams would have gone all

Peter Bodo continues his year-end awards—12 in all, for 2012—with the best performances in doubles. He previously made selections for Coaches of the Year, which includes an explanation of the process and his choices for Player of the Year. You can see rest of the awards, and the dates they'll

• Tmfby Pete Bodo*

The ballyhooed Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, deserve everything they get as accolades and positive energy go. They are exceedingly nice gents, they have stood the test of time in their careers, and, quite simply, they've got game. Here, on the occasion of their 37th birthday, are 30-odd factoids celebrating

“She did all the great volleys and all the doubles stuff,” 18-year-old Belinda Bencic said after helping Switzerland clinch its first-round Fed Cup tie against Germany on Sunday. The “she” in that sentence was Martina Hingis, Bencic’s teammate, idol, and sometime-coach. Fourteen years after her first retirement from tennis, Hingis

EASTBOURNE, England—Despite wind, rain, and big-hitting left-handed opponents, Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber progress into the semifinals on Thursday in Eastbourne. I’ve been saving writing about the quirky Bartoli all week, deferring it like a treat you know will be gone all too quickly once you finally give in to

[Mornin' Tribe - Here's a Tournament Report from Beth, our ever-enthusiastic Palos Verdes Supermom. I will also be posting a live report from Rosangel, who decided on a whim to pop over to Stuttgart. Hope you're having a great weekend, feel free to use this post to call matches wherever

Welcome to the Year of the Tiger (tattoo) To the top of the rankings, Sabalenka, she flew With a chilled ‘MargAryna’ in hand, we would toast For titles in Melbourne, in New York, she’d boast ‘A lot of hard work, a little bit of TikTok’ The maiden from Minsk surmised

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—Andy Roddick knows a number that sounds even better than reaching his 50th career ATP tournament final. “Better than 50 finals would be 30 wins,” Roddick said Saturday. “I think that’s what I have ahead of me. Certainly a pretty big number. Not sure how many guys have

If the signal attribute of the early stage of Novak Djokovic’s career was mercurial talent, and the outstanding quality of his sublime 2011 was bottomless determination, the striking characteristic of his 2012 record, particularly in the late stages, was perseverance, or grit. That gift may be a close cousin to

Taylor Townsend’s hands were still shaking. Philadelphia coach Craig Kardon said it looked like his hands after five cups of coffee. That’s the effect a heart-stopping, come-from-behind win over the 53rd-ranked singles player can have. Townsend erased a 1-3 deficit and saved four match points to defeat Sorana Cirstea 5-4

Tennis seasons go in waves. The players ride a swell for a week or two or three, but eventually it crests and dumps them back on the beach. All they can do is pick themselves up, paddle back out, and try to latch onto another ripple of momentum. Only the

There's a breeze swirling around the center court as the first semifinal begins at Indian Wells, but it isn’t bothering Roger Federer. He whips two quick forehand winners and finishes his first service game with an ace. Federer and his opponent, Andy Murray, switch sides. In his own first service

News, gossip and other items of interest from the world of tennis: **Ankling for an Injury In her new memoir, On the Line (due in bookstores September 1), Serena Williams reveals that her 2003 left knee injury—the one that required surgery and knocked her out of tennis for eight months—was

by Pete Bodo LONDON—Petra Kvitova was about to toss the ball to serve at 3-1, 40-love in the fifth game of the first set today at Wimbledon when an alarm went off in Centre Court, causing her to pull up momentarily. Both the source of and reason for the siren

Question: What’s the toughest assignment you can give a professional tennis player from the United Kingdom? You might be right if you rolled your eyes and muttered, “winning Wimbledon.” On the other hand, champions including Pete Sampras have said that the only thing more difficult than winning a major is