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The Czechs are in Spain for the Davis Cup final starting Friday, and I’m betting the first match on Sunday between Rafael Nadal and Radek Stepanek (aka “The Worm”) could be a humdinger, with a likely 2-1 lead for one team looking to close it out and the other looking to stay alive for a fifth and final match.  It’s [...]

I woke to my alarm at insane setting of 3:30 a.m. today, but it was well worth it.  The Nadal-Federer match in the Australian Open was resplendent tennis for the first four sets, with rallies of seemingly impossible angled groundstrokes.  Nadal’s strength and speed is machinelike, so strong that he forced even Federer to get tight, ultimately stumbling in the fifth set when [...]

In a mighty struggle to see who the best lefthanded Spaniard in tennis was on Friday, Fernando Verdasco hit 95 winners, and still lost to Rafael Nadal.  Click here to check out the amazing match statistics from the Australian Open semi-final.
Next up, a rematch of the greatest match ever played.  Forget about the Super Bowl, this [...]

When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal meet in Melbourne on Sunday, the endless discussion of the announcers will again turn to the debate of who is the GOAT — Greatest of All Time.  Fitting, then, that the match will be played in Rod Laver Arena, named for the diminutive redhead with the powerful forearms and holder [...]

I spent about four weeks at Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy in Bradenton, Fla., in 1981-1982 over the Christmas holidays, when many of the real stars went elsewhere.  While I was there, most of his work was with Brian Gottfried, Jimmy Arias and Chip Hooper, but Nick ventured way out to my practice court one time [...]

    The ultimate year-end showdown of the best eight male tennis players in the world starts Sunday with the Masters Cup in Shanghai—make that the best players ranked two through nine.  World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled out due to injury and the need to rest before Spain travels to Argentina for the Davis Cup [...]

The American defense of their 2007 Davis Cup championship ended in a bull ring in Madrid on Sunday.  World No. 1 Rafael Nadal trounced Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 to put Spain place in the 2008 Davis Cup final against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Had Roddick been able to pull out a win in his five-set [...]

Match report from the Davis Cup website:
Americans Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish kept the defending champions’ hopes alive, defeating Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 4-6 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-4, spoiling Lopez’s 27th birthday celebration and Spain’s dream of a 3-0 sweep in the Davis Cup. Bryan, playing Davis Cup doubles without twin brother [...]

The Americans put up a tremendous effort Friday, with Sam Querrey pushing No. 1 Rafael Nadal to four sets and Roddick losing in a heartbreaking five-setter to David Ferrer, dropping the final set 8-6.  The Roddick-Ferrer match was a brilliantly played contest, with both players hitting 80 winners each and making only 55 or fewer [...]

Sam Querrey won the first set against the world No. 1 in his Davis Cup debut but that was the end of the red dirt road for him.  Rafael Nadal ultimately won 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the first match being hosted in Madrid’s famous bullfighting arena.  See the Associated Press story for more [...]