And in a blink the 2014 season is upon us. After a month or so of total shutdown during which we saw a flurry of high profile coaching moves, the tennis landscape remains pretty much unchanged with the top guys still on top as we enter the new year and further distance the sport from the heralded Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal period.

Now led by surprise new coach Stefan Edberg, Federer, though, …

Following a consolation win yesterday over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Abu Dhabi exhibition, Rafael Nadal admitted that his oft-injured left knee is not 100% healthy. At least not right now but the World No. 1 hopes to be in perfect shape by Melbourne.

“I had treatment on the knee to keep it improving,” Nadal told the National. “When I started two weeks ago it was very slow and the first …

John Isner’s 2014 preparation has taken him to the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia where in addition to getting tennis ready for the new season, the American giant is also working on his basketball game.

At 6-foot-10, Isner should be a natural on the hardwood and based on the video of his shoot-around with countryman and Perth Wildcat star James Ennis, he sure is.

“Basketball was my first love,” Isner told …

Even though he won the award in England, Andy Murray admits he’s not Mr. Personality, far from it in fact. During some downtime in Doha earlier today, Murray decided to charm his fans today with a fun 2-hour Q&A session of “#AskAndy” on twitter.

Murray revealed he plans to get smashed on New Year’s Eve (kidding I’m sure), his childhood crush was Halle Berry, he’d love to see a tournament with …

Roger Federer’s incredible off season of news continued this weekend in Brisbane where the 17-time Grand Slam champion played the role of city tourist, visiting several of the local attractions including the Koala Sanctuary.

Ahead of his first match later next week, Federer met some Koala bears and Kangaroos as he soaked the Australian wildlife.

Sunday night Federer is scheduled to meet former great Rod Laver during a special event.

Playing Brisbane for …

QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN
Doha, Qatar
Surface: hard

Seeds: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco

Floaters: Lukas Rosol, “Dr.” Ivo Karlovic, Gael “Force” Monfils, Nikolay Davydenko, Alexandr Dolgopolov

Notes: Nadal opens against Rosol who famously ousted him at Wimbledon a couple years ago…Other tough starts for (4) Berdych vs. Dr. Ivo, and (2) Ferrer vs. the pesky Dolgopolov…Ferrer beat Nadal last week at the Abu Dhabi …

Roger Federer landed in Brisbane yesterday and shortly thereafter the 17-time Grand Slam champion met the media at the airport. It’s been quite an off season for Federer with news of a new baby on the way, a new agency and a new coach.

Federer revealed no timetable or further details on Mirka’s pregnancy, but he did say he hopes she doesn’t have to sit through another epic match like the …

Just days after announcing a new baby is on the way, Roger Federer just made it official that his tennis family is also growing by confirming that 6-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg has been hired to coach him starting in Melbourne.

Here’s what Federer just wrote in a facebook post: “I am happy to announce that beginning in Melbourne, Stefan Edberg will join Severin Lüthi on my coaching …

With boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov in tow, Maria Sharapova has arrived in Brisbane and says she’s finally back to good after missing the end of 2013 with a shoulder injury.

“I gave it enough time to recover and get better, that was extremely important for me that’s why I had to miss a big chunk of the end of the season but in order to come here feeling strong I had to …

Rafael Nadal says he’s not following the recent trend of hiring past champions because he’s sticking with his team.

Two years ago Andy Murray hired Ivan Lendl. And recently Novak Djokovic added Boris Becker to his stable while Roger Federer trialed Stefan Edberg earlier this month. Kei Nishikori has signed on with Michael Chang and Sergi Bruguera will now captain Richard Gasquet. However, Nadal, who’s been with Uncle …

Speaking in Abu Dhabi following a win today over Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray sounded optimistic about the state of his game and his recovery from back surgery.

“I didn’t feel that bad when I got up today, which was a great positive because we finished very late yesterday. Playing in heat also helps when you are coming back from an injury. Heat makes a good difference. It was nice and I …

The 2014 season begins right where 2013 left off – with high-paying exo dough being paid to the game’s brightest stars. Yes, the rich do get richer. Those taking advantage of this special yearly Christmas bonus in Abu Dhabi include the last three Grand Slams champions – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka and JW Tsonga are also on hand in a supporting role, but to …

Is there a better Christmas present than the Tennis-X year-end awards? Short answer — of course there isn’t. Rafa got his presents, and Roger has a baby on the way, so here’s your present wrapping up the best (and worst) tennis gave us in 2013:

MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR — Rafael Nadal
Plagued by chronic knee problems, the Spanish former (and now again-current) No. 1 looked done for 2013 when he …

Roger Federer announced today via twitter that wife Mirka is pregnant with the couple’s third child.

Mirka and I are very happy to share the news that Myla & Charlene will be big sisters in 2014! Happy Holidays…..🎅

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) December 24, 2013

Roger did not release a due date for the new baby or if it’s a boy or a girl. The Federer’s already …

Add David Ferrer to the long list of top players making coaching changes this off season. After finishing No. 3 behind one of his best seasons, Ferrer has parted ways with 15-year coach Javier Piles.

“Tomorrow I will make a statement because I ended my relationship with my trainer Javier Piles three or four days ago,” Ferrer said via translation. “I’m sad because it was a family relationship and begin …