First congratulations to Rafael Nadal and his legion of supporters. The Spaniard has waited a long, very long time to get the top of tennis and he’s finally done it.

I gave Roger Federer a pass for his performance at the start of year, buying into his mono as a reasonable explanation for his poor play.

The names conjure up the biggest championships in sports: The Super Bowl, The World Cup, The World Series, The Stanley Cup, golf’s The Masters.
In tennis, the year-end championship is more like a quiz show even hardcore fans struggle to keep up with.
The man-on-the-street quiz:
Q: What is men’s tennis’ year-end championship called?
A: “Ummm…wha?”
ADHEREL
You see, every few [...]

Welcome to the last week of regular-season play on the ATP and WTA tours. Doesn’t it seem like yesterday was January and you were anticipating the return of Martina Hingis after her three-year hiatus? Or are you thinking ‘Thank (fill in your god or preferred deity)! Let’s get Tommy Robredo eliminated and get on with [...]

Tim Henman finally shows an interest in coming back to the British Davis Cup fold, and Andy Murray says no thanks?
Andy Murray says maybe it’s time to let the younger guys have a shot?
Who’s that, Andy? Alex Bogdanovic, currently ranked outside the Top 100? Or next-in-line Richard Bloomfield, ranked outside the Top 200? Is this [...]

There are two more weeks of tournaments before the year-end WTA Tour Championships, but the eight-woman field is essentially set.
The first six positions have been clinched by Justine Henin-Hardenne, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, and Elena Dementieva. That looks like half the year-end field will be Russian, for thoe concerned that the [...]

If you’re ever lonely for death threats from 12-year-olds or e-mail in-boxes full of character-slandering abuse, just publicly question a record that world No. 1 Roger Federer possibly can’t achieve.  
In this case, Pete Sampras’ six consecutive years ending the ATP Rankings at No. 1.
Federer is half way there after already clinching this year’s top spot. [...]