I won’t go into all the details of the Wimbledon draw now, but I like what I see. First, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal wound up on separate sides, which might be bad news for Roger Federer who gets the third-seeded Djokovic while Rafa contends with Nikolay Dayvdenko as his highest seed in his half.

I allow myself to briefly occupy the mythical Commissioner of Tennis Chair that John McEnroe publicly campaigns for now and again. Johnny Mac campaigned long and hard to be the U.S. Davis Cup captain only to quit after one year, but when should reality ever hurt speculation and offering advice? Here are my 5 (best?) […]

“There is a burning desire in Roger to break my record, and when he does it I would like to be there,” Sampras told the BlackRock Tour of Champions. “I told Roger to just make sure it’s in New York or London! Australia is a long way to go! If it worked out like that, I would fly there. I would just let him enjoy it as it’s his moment but (I would want to be there) just to respect the record and what he was able to do and to just say ‘congratulations.'”

“After reviewing the situation, the ATP Supervisor has withdrawn Dmitry Tursunov from the singles tournament at the Slazenger Open,” the ATP released in a statement.

In January Roger Federer’s remarkable all-time streak of reaching 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals came to an end. Reaching the equivalent of 2 ½ years of Grand Slam finals is an insane number. Federer continued a second streak by reaching his 16th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal on Wednesday June 4. Such a streak amounts to reaching the Final Four at 4 years of Grand Slam events. Putting those numbers into perspective in the world of sport is difficult.

Dick Enberg will work his 25th Wimbledon to call matches, sharing the duty with Cliff Drysdale — the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist who has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979. They will team with analysts Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver. In addition, Brad Gilbert, an ESPN analyst 2004 — 2006, returns after a two-year coaching stint. Shriver will frequently be utilized as a roving reporter covering play in “outer courts” and as a sideline reporter, as will Luke Jensen who will also appear on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio and ESPN.com. Chris Fowler, who has served as ESPN’s studio host for Grand Slam tennis events since 2003, will host and call select matches. In addition, legendary tennis journalist and commentator Bud Collins, who joined ESPN in August 2007, will make his Wimbledon debut for ESPN.

During the French fortnight, Wilander asserted, “What I understand because my career is over and what Federer doesn’t understand because his isn’t, is that the day he beats Nadal on clay is the day he will never lose to Rafael Nadal again.” That scenario wasn’t plausible then, and it’s impossible now. As John McEnroe remarked, “Federer now seems farther away than ever from winning this.” Mary Carillo posed and answered the real question: “What’s to stop Nadal from carrying all this confidence into Wimbledon in a couple weeks?” And can Federer, who barely staved off rampaging Nadal in the 2007 Big W final, stop him and Djokovic there?

Can you imagine Andy Roddick coming into Rafael Nadal’s house at Roland Garros and stealing a match? That is exactly what Nadal did at Queen’s, beating the four-time winner and defending champion in straight sets, as well as toppling the serving machine Ivo Karlovic in three consecutive tiebreaks during the week.

Rafael Nadal is getting scary good.

With one week of grasscourt play left prior to Wimbledon, Top 10ers David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet head the field this week at the Ordina Open in s’Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. ADHEREL The Ordina Open also marks an appearance by former French Open finalist Martin Verkerk, who this year has been competing mostly at Futures and […]

Top seed Radek Stepanek gets a rude welcome this week in his opening-round match when he faces big-serving American John Isner at The Slazenger Open in Nottingham, England. ADHEREL No. 2 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu also opens with a tough one in rising Croat Marin Cilic. Other seeds in Nottingham are Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, defending champion […]

With the clay season behind us – don’t tell Nikolay Davydenko that, though – time to shift focus to grass.

In the early part of the movie “Troy”, Brad Pitt as Achilles strikes down a giant with his sword, and then yells out at the stunned opposing army, “Is there no one else?” That scene reminds me of just how good Rafael Nadal is on clay.

“I had obviously a strategy in mind, but I couldn’t do it because of Rafa’s play,” Federer said. “He’s so hard to stop once he’s on top of you. The moment I step off this court I will think of grass — I’m looking forward to the grass, that’s for sure.”

“The last two Grand Slam finals were a great learning experience for me,” Ivanovic said. “I’m only 20 and it was my third final already, so that kept some pressure off me. I was just trying to enjoy it. Obviously there were a lot of emotions inside, but until the last point I tried not to think about the occasion and just focus on my tennis. I was really happy I managed to do that today.”