HE READS BOOKS TOO: Mardy Fish after beating Roger Federer last week in Indian Wells: “Actually when I won that first set I remembered something from James’ (Blake’s) book. It was a quote from [Fish’s former coach] Todd Martin who told him, ‘If you can win one set, you can win two.’ So I stuck […]

The Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras sold-out exhibition at Madison Square Garden generated a tremendous amount of buzz,

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
World No. 1 Roger Federer has been pumped about the Beijing Olympics, but now the Swiss is backing off on his commitment to play based on painful memories of past Olympics where he actually had to sit next to people in transportation and talk to other athletes: “It was quite […]

Part One of this story addressed what happened with the women’s game in 2007 — and what I see is a powerful lesson to be learned by recreational adults, juniors, parents, and coaches.

2007 Aussie Open Preview
The list of players injured before the Aussie Open even starts is long, and the list of possible withdrawals from Melbourne, even longer (Rafael Nadal? David Nalbandian? Nikolay Davydenko? Nadia Petrova?), but it’s summer in Australia and the Aussie Open starts Monday (event if Roger Federer says it should be pushed back […]

Serena Loses, Didn’t Play Well, Yada Yada
When a Williams sister loses a match, generally they will say they played poorly or their opponent played far above their level. But apparently both were in effect Wednesday in Hobart, Australia, the site of Serena Williams’ return to tennis where the American, appearing heavier than her Grand Slam-winning […]

Nadal, Srichaphan, Petrova Injured
On Tuesday pro tennis was reminded that injury will again play a prominent role in 2007 when three marquee players retired from matches with various work stoppages, putting their Australian Open campaigns in jeopardy.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, thwarted in his attempt to gain his first title of the year last week […]

   New ATP President Etienne de Villiers took a wrong turn this week at the Masters Series-Paris.But that’s OK.
   de Villiers has made a number of positive, bold moves since taking over the reins of the ATP, and he’s been on a steep learning 
   curve, immersing himself over the last couple years in a sport […]

Some mid-week quick hits:
NEEDY RODDICK: After his US Open success failed to translate to Europe, Andy Roddick showed up this week in Madrid with part-time coach Jimmy Connors in tow. The Roddick-Connors camp previously said Jimbo wouldn’t join Andy again in 2006 unless he qualified for the Masters Cup, but you have to assume A-Rod […]