After an injury-riddled 18 months, Stan Wawrinka says he’s finally fit and healthy. The 3-time Grand Slam champion is opening his 2019 season in Doha this week.

“I feel good,” Wawrinka said Monday. “I’m very happy to be back. I arrived on Wednesday here. I have been practicing really well. I had two great months practicing and some good preparation physically. So I’m happy, I’m fit, I’m ready for the season …

After a 6-month dominant stretch that saw him win two Slams and vault to the No. 1 ranking, Novak Djokovic says he’s not that far ahead of his main rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“I don’t think I’m well ahead of my rivals,” Djokovic said Monday in Doha. “I try to focus on what I need to do in order to get myself in the best possible shape and form …

Novak Djokovic officially opened his 2019 season in Doha today rolling past Damir Dzumhur 61, 62 in just 55 minutes.

The 2-time Doha champion was pleased with the result.

“I tried to do everything right from the first moment, have a good focus and intensity and not allow my opponent to really feel like he has a chance to get back in the match and I was there basically every game, every …

The first big name to pull out of the Australian Open is world No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine fractured his knee last fall in Shanghai and has yet to recover from the injury in time to go to Australia.

“I hope you have a great 2019. Recovery is going great and I will tell you later where I will be making my comeback,” he posted on twitter. “Unfortunately …

Roger Federer sounds about as good as a 37-year-old can be. Speaking after a 61, 61 opening match win over Cameron Norrie at the Hopman Cup exo, the Swiss says he’s injury-free and ready for the new season.

“I’m happy in all aspects of my game,” Federer said. “Things were working. Footwork, offensive play, serve return it was all there so I think it was it was a great match for …

Speaking earlier today at the Hopman Cup, Roger Federer said he doesn’t know yet if he’ll play the clay season.

“That’s just part of the things that I really have to set in stone right now,” Federer said when asked about playing the French Open. “It’s just figure out the American summer, the clay, then the grass and how would that work, or is it just better to keep it like …

After a disappointing 2018, Grigor Dimitrov is hoping to have a turnaround for the new season. Among the changes he has made is the addition of Andre Agassi who will be with Dimitrov in Melbourne and other events down the line.

“Priceless,” Dimitrov said of having Agassi. “Nothing can put a price on that. We’re spending a crazy amount of time together and it’s not
just about the tennis after all it’s …

The Australian Open has announced a new extreme heat policy which goes in effect when the tournament opens a week from Monday.

Instead of relying on the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index (WBGT), officials have created a new measure called the AO Heat Stress Scale (AO HSS) which takes into account air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed.

Developed by Tennis Australia medical personnel in conjunction with the Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory …

One of the topics of the moment in tennis is Rafael Nadal’s shortened service motion which we saw during a loss to Kevin Anderson at the Abu Dhabi exo.

See here:

I can see a new Serve motion here…🤔 pic.twitter.com/0dIwT7H02u

— Hombre Nadal 1️⃣1️⃣ (@Rafa_Minato99) December 28, 2018

But, perhaps since this just was an exo, maybe Nadal wasn’t going full on his his serve?

It …

After an injury-riddled end to 2018, Rafael Nadal is hopeful for good start to the new season.

The 32-year-old who didn’t play after the US Open due to an ab injury and his knee, is in Abu Dhabi this weekend playing the lucrative Middle East exo. And he spoke about his

“I am not making steps back, just steps forward all the time, taking care of my body after a while without …

Andy Murray opens his 2019 season in Brisbane next week, but all is still not well with the former No. 1s hip which underwent surgery almost a year ago. Earlier today he met the media at the event.

“I still have some pain in my hip but I need to play matches and see how it feels when I am able to play three, four, five matches in a row and …

Marin Cilic begins his 2019 season under an injury cloud. The Croat who is set to defend his Australian Open final in a few weeks, had to withdraw from the Pune event next week due to a knee issue.

“I am sad to announce I have had to pull out of the @maharashtraopen,” Cilic wrote on Instagram. “My sincerest apologies to the fans and organizers. I was looking forward to returning, …

Just last week, the WTA officially made a rule change allowing their players returning from childbirth to use a special protected ranking for up to 12 months or three years. It was a welcome change especially for Serena Williams who just gave birth to her daughter Olympia 13 months ago.

“I think it’s great,” Serena said in Abu Dhabi where she played and lost to sister Venus in an exo match.

“Women …

What was worse, the atrocious picks this year, or the atrocious job of figuring them out?

Injuries to Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, then Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios flaming out ruined just about everyone’s Top 10.

“Wawrinka is selected at number 1 spot because he is returning from knee surgery and we know what knee surgery in Switzerland can do!” wrote t4t.

Not.

David Goffin also hurt a lot, if not all of, …

Non-tennis posts for December go here.