The U.S. holds the distinction as having the most fat kids in the world, but India is catching up, so doubles whiz Leander Paes in leaping into action — as a super hero.

If the powers-that-be are trying to raise the popularity of tennis in the U.S., they’re not getting a lot of help from the ATP.

There’s a method to the seeming madness in the WTA Tour announcing a second season-ending tournament to start in 2009 in Bali, Indonesia.

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: […]

After complaints by world No. 1 Roger Federer and other top players regarding back-to-back weeks of Masters Series events on the ATP calendar, there was a peculiar vote by player representatives to uphold the event’s calendar positions on the planned 2009 schedule. ADHEREL At the ATP Player Council meeting this week during the French Open, […]

Alright Euro-punters and U.S. off-shore tennis betters, you know who you are and probably so does your government — Friday’s picks for quarterfinal play at the Masters Series event in Monte Carlo, where you know a tournament is bringing serious entertainment when they feature Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, AND are in the process of […]

Yesterday the ATP’s U.S. media maven, Greg “The Remorseless Eating Machine” Sharko told me that the news that came from a spokesman out of the ATP’s international office in regard to the Masters Series events receiving the same number of ranking points as the Grand Slams under the tour’s new 2009 calendar was incorrect. Shark(o), […]

If the ATP, which governs the men’s tour, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which governs the four Grand Slam events, had become buddy-buddy over the last few years — even joint-sponsoring the year-ending Masters Cup — that love was lost this week when the ATP announced it would elevate its Masters Series events on […]

The difficult-to-follow experimental round robin format on the ATP circuit took a bizarre turn at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas when ATP Chairman Etienne de Villiers stepped in to reverse a rule, putting James Blake into the quarterfinals, then the next day before the beginning of play reversed his decision, sidelining Blake and […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

It could be years before you see an American player crack the Top 10 after the retirement of Lindsay Davenport and the endless injuries that constantly seem to sideline the Williams sisters. The struggling state of American women’s tennis was illustrated Monday in the Australian Open warm-up event at Gold Coast where both Americans in […]

Williams Lie-A-Thon Approaches Finish Line As you attend Christmas parties and do your last-minute shopping, the Williams Family Unhappy Christmas Special continues to be played out in a West Palm Beach, Florida court, with this week’s 11th-hour witness adding to the drama. Lots of lying has gone on in the trial to determine whether poppa […]

While a industry source earlier this week said ATP Senior Vice President-Communications David Higdon was leaving the ATP of his own free will, the Tennis Week website today reported Higdon is officially out as a victim of “restructuring” at the tour. “Following a restructuring of the ATP communications and marketing departments, David Higdon has left […]