In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier today announced his lineup for the match in Chile on March 4-6.  I’m surprised he’s taking the Bryans — not that they won’t dominate and win their match for sure, but with the Davis Cup format, if Roddick or Isner get hurt [...]

Since you were probably sleeping at 5:30 a.m. this morning and missed it, Bob and Mike Bryan added their tenth Grand Slam trophy to their display cases Saturday, solidifying their claim as the greatest doubles team of all time.  (I recorded it and watched it when I woke up; they dominated, serving 83 percent on [...]

Shame on me for echoing the pack of headlines worldwide following the Roddick loss that said all of the American players had been ousted from the Australian Open.  Supertwins Bob and Mike Bryan are seeded first and in the men’s doubles quarterfinals, and are set for the second match on the Margaret Court Arena starting [...]

OK, I don’t know if the ousted American players in America have  hangovers down in Australia, but staying up to 3:45 a.m. Saturday with the John Isner marathon loss to Marn Cilic saddled me with one on this fiercely cold Philadelphia weekend.  It was a fun match to watch up until Isner double-faulted twice in [...]

Georgia Bulldog John Isner beat the very tough Radek Stepanek in four, joining Andy Roddick as one of only two American men in the round of 32.  It gets tougher, Marin Cilic in the next round, and then, if he survives, most likely Nadal.  There ain’t no gimmes in the Australian Open.  A hot day, [...]

Watching matches the past two nights from Melbourne, I’m struck by how many awesome unseeded players there are in the men’s game.   With 32 seeds, it would seem the talent would drop down after the seeds end, but it’s far from the case.
Just ask Roger Federer about Gilles Simon, ranked 34th now, but who only [...]

I am, and I’m taking the U.S. win of the Hopman Cup as a good omen for John Isner and the other three American men in the top 20.  Look for the draw up soon on the Australian Open’s web site, and tennis from the land of January warm weather starting Sunday night in the [...]

What a treat last night to flip on the TV about 11:30 to see Australian tennis fans in summer clothes watching a live rematch of the John Isner-Nicholas Mahut marathon classic from Wimbledon (Isner won this time 3 & 6 in a quick 90 minutes).   Also a treat to listen to the Australian announcers for [...]

It has been a good year for Topspin Blog, with more than 10,000 readers in 2010 despite my lack of regular postings at times.  Thanks for reading, and keep coming back.  Next year looks promising for American tennis, especially the Davis Cup team, so see you in 2011!

All my life I have been playing tennis and reading Tennis Magazine, so it was a thrill two years ago when Peter Bodo published an essay I wrote about searching for Bill Tilden’s grave in the U.S. Open issue. Earlier this year I happened to play Anna Mamalat, a 15-year-old girl with a professional world [...]