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Much has been written and said lately about Novak Djokovic’s gluten-free diet as one reason for his monumental winning streak, so I thought I’d look into it.  I could afford to drop a few pounds and wouldn’t mind improving my game. All it requires giving up? According to the Mayo Clinic, just these few items: [...]

Mac Styslinger, a native of Mountain Brook, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham, reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open juniors, and saw his ranking skyrocket into the ITF’s top 100.   The following profile of  Styslinger written by Will Hightower, a  junior at Mountain Brook High School, ran in the March issue Village [...]

Big-time comeback for Roddick on the red clay in Chile today — now on to Austin, San Antonio or Albany for the next round this summer.
With the top dog Texas-resident back on the team, it’s got to be Austin or San Antonio when the Spaniards come calling in July.  (The USTA wouldn’t snub Andy and [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]