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.
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Sharapova lost in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Friday against fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, snapping an unbeaten 18-0 [...]

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
India’s Davis Cup team is refusing to play unless Leander Paes is ousted as captain…
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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 has always been [...]

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…
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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 Taipei…
Mardy Fish [...]