2011 U.S. Open: Thoughts on the Women’s Draw During the Middle Weekend

We’ve arrived midway through the U.S. Open, and the draws are slowly being whittled away in Flushing Meadows. I’ve been sitting on the opposite side of the country, catching snippets of coverage in between the day job and covering college football over the weekend. Labor Day presented a day away from work, with nothing else dominating the sports calendar, and CBS and ESPN combined for a full day of coverage from all the courts of the Billie... Read More

Previewing the 2011 French Open: Women’s Edition

The women’s game is in an absolute state of flux heading into the French Open, with many of its top draws absent or ailing or slumping. Nobody seems to have that killer instinct that would have her grab the sport by the ears and pull it up to her level of play. Even the #1 player in the world still carries the stigma of earning her top-dog status without even a single Grand Slam to her name. The two sisters that have redefined women’s... Read More

Momentous Moments from Melbourne

Australian tennis fans would have loved nothing more than to see one of their own win their Grand Slam. It has been thirty-three years since the host nation saw a compatriot hoist the trophy in triumph, since Chris O’Neil concluded that last great era that introduced other greats such as Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court and Kerry Melville Reid on the tennis world. It has been even longer for the gentlemen, Mark Edmondson concluding the... Read More

2010 U.S. Open – Women’s Preview

In the absence of Serena Williams, winner of two of the three Grand Slams held so far this year, the field is theoretically wide open. But perhaps more surprising than the withdrawal of Williams, still recovering from surgery to repair damage from a cut on her foot, is the fact that last year’s champion didn’t vault up into the top seed. But Kim Clijsters is back to attempt her repeat nonetheless, the Belgian having returned to the sport... Read More