Thoughts on Men’s Draw Before U.S. Open Semifinals

The chalk held, that’s all that we can say when we look at the final four that survived the first five round of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows. There were no real surprises in the end, nothing out of the ordinary that would really leave anybody with a legitimate suspicion that things are in disarray in the men’s game. There’s the world’s top player, Novak Djokovic, is there after Janko Tipsarevic withdrew from their quarterfinal... Read More

Stats and Sensibility: Three Ways to Rethink Serve Stats

  I decided to wander over to the ATP World Tour website for no other reason than to see if the leaders in the various statistical categories were the leaders in the rankings. By and large what I saw was what I expected to see. There were a few oddities there at the top of some of the categories, for sure, but for the most part the top players in the game were the statistical leaders as well. Do the statistics really tell the whole tale of greatness?... Read More

A Teatime Preview of Wimbledon

This time of year is a whirlwind of activity for tennis, as the Orwellian odyssey in Paris and London yields two Grand Slam champions in a month’s time. It was just a few short weeks ago that we wrapped up the clay-court season at Roland Garros, and already we’re just a day away from the start of lawn tennis’ pinnacle tournament. The All-England Lawn Tennis Club is set to host the 125th edition of The Championships, Wimbledon, beginning... Read More

Previewing the 2011 Australian Open: Men’s Edition

We’re mere hours from the start of the 2011 Australian Open. The preview is coming late, and this is the first time in four years that I’m not linked into cable television for the tournament. (For all my gripes about television, the main one is the cost — yet somehow it ended up that my wife and I were plugged at that moment in three different domiciles in three consecutive years.) I’m also without internet at the house still, over a month... Read More