On a day when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hoped to move one step closer to a rematch with Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals, the fifth-seeded Frenchman found his path blocked by another Spaniard. Before Nadal even had a chance to avenge last year’s loss to Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco vexed the man who reached the 2008 [...]

Third seeded Russian stalwart, Dinara Safina, would have none of it! The six foot powerhouse stood tall against the heat and an animated gallery in a beautifully played women’s singles match that came down to the last set, the last game and the last groundstroke. With on-court temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit, Safina’s new training [...]

It would be unfair to say that Andy Roddick does not deserve to be in the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open. In the same breath, it also has to be said that Novak Djokovic was dealt a bad hand by Tennis Australia and a tournament referee who fiddled while the defending champion burned on [...]

Fitness is part of the bargain tennis players make with themselves and their competitors. All the talent in the world means nothing if it can’t be supplemented by a durable physique and a calm mind. If the human body can’t deal with the physical stresses of the sport or the mental challenges provided by difficult [...]

Fernando Verdasco has been training in Las Vegas. In his round of sixteen match against heavily favored Andy Murray, he rolled the dice and let it all hang out. The result is that the UK will be without a long-awaited Grand Slam Championship for a while longer. Verdasco shocked the field by eliminating the hottest [...]