In honour of last night’s marathon Australian Open final (nearly six hours long!), we thought we’d share this great video of the time tennis player Robert Seguso yelled out to God — and God replied. Perhaps Rafa just needs to shout louder next time.
Tennis
The end of the road for lil’ Lleyton Hewitt?
Surely now, even the hyper-competitive little man from Adelaide — who has more than made up for his physical shortcomings in 14 years of Grand Slam tennis with an unparalleled strength of mind — must see the writing on the wall: his days of winning the biggest tournaments are over.
The strange case of Janko v Horacio
Janko Tipsarevic, of Serbia, and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos faced off in the Kremlin Cup. Zeballos won. Nothing too strange about that, except the manner in which the match unfolded soon raised alarm bells and red flags, says Jonathan Howcroft.
Finally it’s time for strawberries and cream
John Isner finally emerged as the winner of the three day, 12 hour, epic Wimbledon battle with Nicolas Mahut. The longest match ever contained the longest set, the most games and the most aces.
You go girlfriend: the Sam Stosur French Open thread
“Our” Sam has made the Grand Final of the French Open at the legendary Roland Garros, where she’ll play Italian Francesca Schiavone. Neither has won a Grand Slam final. Can she win it?
A world without Roger Federer
Which tennis stars would have won Roger Federer’s 15 Grand Slam titles if he’d never been born? Grog’s Gamut does the calculations and finds Andy Roddick would be a much richer man.
Anyone for tennis?: Libs candidate John Alexander too busy for Bennelong
John Alexander, the Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Bennelong, apparently cannot speak to the media about his campaign because he is too busy commenting on the tennis.
The Open heart of tennis
Tennis isn’t like other sports, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the Australian Open, writes Michael Visontay, from the no name wildcards to the centre court stars.
The Australian Open: vent your spleen
The Australian Open kicked (Hit? Volleyed?) off in Melbourne this week. Who will win? Do the Aussies stand a chance? Does anyone actually care about the mixed doubles? Have your say on Crikey Sports.
Andrew Agassi: no more heroes anymore?
Five-times Grand Slam champ Andre Agassi’s new autobiography is getting lots of attention for all the wrong reasons, with revelations he used crystal meth, took speed before matches, and his ’90s mullet was a fake. Neil Walker laments another sporting hero’s fall from grace.
Tennis: like ballet but with balls
I suspect that most dance-lovers (and, I have a feeling, most particularly ballet-lovers) adore tennis, writes New York Times dance critic Roslyn Sulcas. Both require athleticism, power and fancy footwork.
Tennis’s top earner
Who’s the highest earner in tennis? The man who’s now won the most Slam titles, and just happens to have the kind of personality companies want to sign 10-year contracts with: Roger Federer.
Why are there so many Russians in the US Tennis Open?
Of the hundred and twenty-eight women in the main draw of this week’s U.S. Open, at press time at least fourteen were from Russia, more than from any other country. How come?
US Open tennis: All grunt, no tweet
If you’re a player at the US Open, you can do many things. You can grunt and groan but you cannot tweet.
Roddick and Federer’s Shakespearean saga
The Wimbledon men’s final was a performance of drama, skill and guts. This wasn’t tennis: it was Shakespeare.
Why Wimbledon grass is greener for Hewitt
There is a frantic grace to Hewitt on grass and he never looked like losing the third set, writes Mikey Stafford of Lley Lley’s third-round Wimbledon win.
Federer’s fashion faux pas
Federer’s clothing line, all showy embossed gold, is at odds with the understated nature of the man until, that is, the game begins.
Ugh! Tennis officials to crack down on grunters
International tennis officials are considering a ban on players grunting too loudly during matches.
Nadal suffers first ever French Open defeat
World tennis number-one Rafael Nadal was undefeated in 31 matches at Roland Garros — until now.
Wimbledon’s new retractable roof unveiled
The closing of a Wimbledon roof in seven minutes, four seconds drew 15,000 pairs of eyes upwards with the sense of wonder that normally overcomes a first-time visitor to the Sistine Chapel.
The decline of Roger Federer
Who predicted that Federer’s decline would be this dramatic?
Dokic admits to beating Jelana
Damir Dokic is back in the headlines, admitting he beat tennis-star daughter Jelana… and also that he’s in the market for some rockets.
Davis Cup in crisis after Australia allows free passage to India
Australia’s decision to forfeit their tie with India over security concerns could signal the end of Lleyton Hewitt’s distinguished Davis Cup career and has far wider ramifications.
Bet fixing in Monte Carlo ATP match?
The spectre of the dreaded “m” word — match-fixing — continues to linger over tennis following an extraordinary round-one match in the Monte Carlo Masters this week.
Australian tennis is stuffed
The extraordinary brilliance on display in the Wimbledon men’s final only served to highlight the paucity of the current Antipodean offering, writes Charles Happell.
