MELBOURNE—Great players win when they need to win. Yes, we know this, but Roger Federer took the concept to extremes in the first set of his first-round match against Alex Kudryavtsev today at the Australian Open. For 11 games, Federer rallied with the 26-year-old Russian currently ranked No. 172 in

Twenty-nine aces, forty-eight winners, eighty-four minutes: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga delivered a magnificent victory over Fernando Gonzalez today, beating the Chilean 6-3 6-4 6-3. After a battle royale in his previous match against Grigor Dimitrov, the 12th seed showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, he hit another level entirely. The

For a while there, it looked as if people who wanted to watch a little tennis in Atlanta were going to get just that, with the emphasis on "little." John Isner jumped on Mardy Fish's second service game of the Atlanta final and, in his signature manner, went into sleep

Spidercam was stuck on its Kevlar cable above the court due to a brief power outage in the second set, while Caroline Wozniacki was treading a tight rope amid an audacious power surge from Bojana Jovanovski. The 19-year-old sent the world No. 1 scurrying in a series of sideline-to-sideline sprints,

Overwhelmed by Robin Haase in the first set, Andy Roddick retaliated by playing over Haase’s head in the second. Swooping toward the net midway through the second set, Roddick rifled a forehand at Haase’s head with the force of a man intent on branding the ball right between the eyes.

1. Lopez extends both arms and keeps the ball at the throat of the racquet, holding it in his fingertips. The beginning of your service motion should be slow, loose, and rhythmic. Lopez is calm and relaxed in his ready position. He leans back slightly, bending his left knee and

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—It was the matador versus the bull today in the first Indian Wells men's quarterfinal, and the matador got gored. With elan and style, Nicolas Almagro plays like a cape-puller, striking out-of-nowhere winners from seemingly troublesome positions. His opponent on the day, Novak Djokovic, is the tour's bull,

VIENNA (AP)—Robin Haase, a Dutchman ranked No. 63, upset top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Saturday to set up a final against Tommy Haas at the Erste Bank Open. The second-seeded Haas rallied past Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0). The German, who won in

Despite having been stopped cold twice by Gael Monfils at this same tournament before, Rafael Nadal triumphed in three sets over the Frenchman today, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, to capture his 61st career title—and his first at the Qatar Open. The first set was over in 23 minutes, a mere

MELBOURNE, Australia -- If Bob and Mike Bryan could put any positive spin on their earliest exit from the Australian Open in 11 years, it's that their loss shows how competitive the doubles game has become -- and perhaps how wrong John McEnroe was in his assessment of it. The

MADRID -- Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal breezed into the Madrid Open third round with their title defenses facing little strain on Wednesday. Williams broke Shuai Peng three times in a 6-2, 6-3 win that was her 14th straight on the clay of the Magic Box tennis center, where the

Howdy. Just got a nice note from my friend, Malka Wickramatilake (try saying that three times, fast!), who's over in Paris working with the ASAP transcription services crew. Those folks - Jamie, Tracy, Pam, a shout out to y'all! - do great work. BTW, I'm supposed to appear before a

Over the next two weeks, as the new season begins and the Australian Open nears, our panel of writers and editors will debate the five burning questions on each tour. ED MCGROGAN, Senior Editor: Yes. The Big Four’s collective armor was pierced more so than ever before in 2014, but

The Lady in Red, aka Martina Hingis, had a very solid run at Surfer's Paradise (don’t you just love that for the name of a town?) before she lost to Flavia Pennetta in the Australian Women's Hardcourts. Yesterday, she met Justine Henin-Hardenne—the first of the Big Cats that’s she’s encountered

WATCH: Riske won an all-American battle with CoCo Vandeweghe to kick off her San Jose campaign.

Fourhand is the Daily Spin's occasional roundup of various hits and misses on tour. IVYPOVA: If Maria Sharapova actually ends up taking her two-year suspension from tennis sitting down, it may be at a desk. A scholastic sabbatical appears on tap for the current WTA No. 35, who is planning

​Jim Courier stepped aside before Friday's PowerShares Series showdown at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to talk about the ongoing champions tour, as well as a couple of his cohorts on it. Here are excerpts from that conversation, including the 43-year-old's high praise for Indy's PowerShares champion, John McEnroe, and

Upping your whole-grain intake is a speedy way to improve your diet. No supermarket food is hotter than whole grains. According to a 2011 report from the Food Marketing Institute, the most sought-after health claims on food packages today relate to benefits of whole grains. And store selections are growing:

With a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, Juan Martin del Potro is the first man into the semifinals of Madrid. I thought Dolopolov might pull off the upset today, as his game seems ideally poised to take advantage of the quick, slippery blue clay. He has a super-aggressive style

Following his 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Andy Murray is eager to get back to working on his game. Murray, who had not dropped a set coming into the contest, never looked to be in the match except for portions of the second