Can “Dr.” Ivo rain down the aces on clay? The nod goes to Croatia as Blake is 0-4 in live ties on clay and Fish has only one win in the same situation. Marin Cilic should dictate this tie, but the Bryan brothers will do their best to keep it a live tie by Sunday.

The sport has changed enough in a short period of time to ask if tennis fans can accurately compare eras right next to one another.

Serena Williams at the French Open: “I’m like one of those girls on a reality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don’t want to be that girl.”…

Unfortunately the meeting is not to be, as after Nalbandian won his match on Thursday, he withdrew from the event citing an injured hip.

“The clay court portion of the USTA Pro Circuit schedule has served players for much of the last three decades to develop specific aspects of their games to achieve the next level of world-class play,” said Brian Earley, Director, USTA Pro Circuit.

According to the Miami Herald, one-third of the spectators at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami/Key Biscayne have a net worth of $1 million or more. With the event drawing approximately 300,000 patrons during the tournament, that’s a lot of cash coming through the gate…

In the final Serena will face Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, who overcame a bout of choking to defeat another mentally-challenged opponent, Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

“It’s not really you. You’re basically trying to make a facade for the people. You’re never gonna please everybody, anyway. Somebody’s gonna say, ‘This guy’s a dick.’ Somebody’s gonna say, ‘He’s a nice guy.’ If they catch you at a bad time and you snap and say something bad, you’re not being polite, they form an opinion of you basically being an ass. When you’re in a happy mood, you’re the greatest guy out there. It’s kind of a difficult time to be in the public eye because everything you do is under a microscope.”

Conscious control of the racquet needs to be maintained within the backswing. There are a few ways that players can do this: hold a penny or other coin in the palm when you serve. Unless you have a very sweaty hand, the coin will usually fall to the ground if you switch grips on the backswing. Just having the coin in your hand is usually enough to help a player maintain conscious feel of the grip.

After losing the replay point, Ljubicic lost the next point to lose his serve, walking to his chair for the changeover while the Indian Wells crowd booed the electronic line call. Ljubicic had argued to no avail with the chair umpire that the make the electronic line-calling system had made was “ridiculous.”