Rafael Nadal makes an appearance on Tuesday morning’s Today Show o NBC.

The first two Masters Series events of the year obviously help set the tone for the tennis year. When Jim Courier won consecutive Super 9 titles at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne in 1991, it helped him gather momentum headed into the French Open, and Courier won his first Grand Slam title. Michael Chang pulled […]

Andy Roddick Saturday in his post-match conference in Miami, talking about a requested line-calling video replay when the Hawk-Eye replay system would not work:

Hot on the heels of world No. 1 Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova shocked the tennis world over the weekend by withdrawing from next week’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, complaining of fatigue. ADHEREL Sharapova lost in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Friday against fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, snapping an […]

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS India’s Davis Cup team is refusing to play unless Leander Paes is ousted as captain… ADHEREL The only other player of note in the women’s singles game to hit two-handed off both sides, Marion Bartoli of France reminisced on Monica Seles being her hero after Seles’ recent retirement: “Monica […]

Who’s Got the Funk…

Andy Roddick says the younger American players need to up their work ethic: “There’s no substitute for hard work. To be honest with you, that’s one of the things that lacks when you see the young American players. It puts a different dynamic on things when you’re playing tennis to find a way out of the country as opposed to playing for fun.”

The bristle-haired Novak Djokovic defeated Muhammad Ali-lookalike Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final on Sunday night at the Australian Open, ending the streak of 11 straight Slams won by either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

Justine Henin said before her match against Maria Sharapova she needed to up her level, were she to stand a chance against the in-form Russian.

Has the whole world forgotten about Tomas Berdych? The hard-hitting 22-year-old, once considered a sure-shot elite player for years to come, is now on the highway to underachievementville.

Rafael Nadal will have to beat a third straight Frenchman to reach the Australian Open fourth round… ADHEREL Justine Henin has now won her last 31 matches. In case you are wondering, the longest win streak on the WTA is 74 by Martina Navratilova in 1984. Henin will now face qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese […]

Roger Federer has lost just six games in two matches at the Australian Open. That’s the fewest the Swiss has ever lost through the second round at a Slam, and the fewest anyone’s ever lost en route to the third round at the Australian Open… ADHEREL Roger Federer has won 16 straight matches at the […]

Justine Henin has won her last 30 tour matches since losing to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon… ADHEREL Serena Williams has now won 25 of her last 26 matches at the Australian Open… How the hell does the tallest doubles team pairing ever, 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic and 6-foot-9 John Isner, lose to two Argentines in doubles?… […]

Roger Federer has won his last 15 matches at the Australian Open, and 15 straight Grand Slam matches… ADHEREL Former world No. 2 Ivan Ljubicic has reached the second week at a Grand Slam just twice in 34 majors… Lindsay Davenport’s only career win over Maria Sharapova was a double bagel. Sharapova has beaten the […]

Justine Henin has won 29 straight matches dating back to her semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli… Serena Williams has won 24 of her last 25 matches in Melbourne… Andy Roddick was broken twice by former doubles specialist Lukas Dlouhy… ADHEREL During the broadcast, ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez called Nicole Vaidisova’s application for a marriage license […]