VENUS AT THE WHEEL HAS A COLLISION, BUT SERENA’S STILL HERE DESPITE HERS
MELBOURNE – Rafa Nadal, who has come here as the man to beat, says he likes this city (even though he hasn’t won the title here in four tries). “It is big but calm. Very clean,” he says. It is. Venus...
View ArticleREADY OR NOT, HERE WE GO AGAIN — CAN ANYBODY BLOCK THE 1-2 PUNCHES OF...
Can’t even fully digest 2010 as 2011 springs into view, the 44th year of open tennis – or the 134th year since Wimbledon cranked up the original tournament. Everybody ready? Probably not. Not enough...
View ArticleIT’S HOME FOR THE AUSSIES BUT NOT SO SWEET FOR HEWITT
MELBOURNE — Where have all the Aussies gone? Or the Etruscans and Aztecs for that matter? Lost civilizations that I miss, but maybe the Australian tribe will yet revive and make us remember their...
View ArticleONE MAN’S DREAM IS ANOTHER MAN’S VICTORY AS NADAL CRUISES ONWARD
“It was a dream,” said Ryan Sweeting. Ryan Sweeting, a tall Floridian who plays tennis for a living – and says he does make a living, $ 164,423 last year – walked onto the blue asphalt court of Rod...
View ArticleTHE PARTY IS OVER FOR THE AUSSIES BUT TOMIC CREATES BUZZ
MELBOURNE – It was inevitable. After only the sixth day the last Australian bodies were carted away, and the once-proud Aussies were once again shut out of their own championship. This is hardly news....
View ArticleIT SEEMED LIKE FOREVER AS SCHIAVONE AND KUZNETSOVA TRAVEL A 4:44 ROUTE
MELBOURNE – A couple of very nice young ladies went out to play a game of tennis at Melbourne Park Sunday. They’d done it before. Twelve times over eight years. But they weren’t ready for what...
View ArticleWINNING IS OK, BUT LOSER FRANCESCA OFTEN CAPTIVATES AS THE DEFEATED PLAYER
MELBOURNE – The star of the show did not win. Yes, she won the crowd of 15,000 at the Australian Open. And she won the praise of her colleagues, foremost among them No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. But it...
View ArticleA PAIR OF HORRENDOUS AUSSIE LOSSES – RAFA, JUSTINE, SHE SADLY FOREVER
MELBOURNE — Call it Woeful Wednesday. It was the day the Australian Open lost its leading man very unexpectedly – Rafa Nadal. And professional tennis lost one of its most appealing champions. For...
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