Tennis

With its origins dating back to the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, tennis has become one of the most popular sports in the world, with its four Grand Slam tournaments often one of the most viewed championships on the annual sporting calendar.

Out of the four majors, perhaps the most illustrious tennis tournament is Wimbledon in England, which was the first ever Grand Slam championship. Professional male tennis players play in the ATP tour while female tennis players participate in the WTA tour.

Some of the greatest ever tennis players from both genders include Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, and present superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Samantha Stosur’s tennis transformation has hit a new high as she cracked the world top 10 and her coach says there’s better in store.
Stosur became only the second Australian woman in more than two decades to reach a coveted top 10 ranking after brushing aside defending champion Vera Zvonareva 6-2 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals [...] Read article

Former world top-tenner John Alexander has pinpointed what many good judges believe is the real reason behind Australia’s dramatic decline from tennis superpower to Davis Cup minnow.
While several disgruntled greats led by Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Cash have condemned Tennis Australia for not retaining the services of esteemed coaches like Tony Roche and Darren Cahill, [...] Read article

Australia is poised to regain a foothold in the Davis Cup World Group after a 5-0 whitewash of Taiwan in their Asia-Oceania playoff at Melbourne Park.
Teenager Bernard Tomic completed a flawless Cup debut on Sunday when he won his second singles match, defeating Hsin-Han Lee 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-3.
Earlier Peter Luczak beat Tsung-Hua Yang 6-3 [...] Read article

Australia’s hopes of regaining a Davis Cup World Group spot brightened with a comprehensive win over Taiwan and news that Lleyton Hewitt could return for the next tie.
Australia clinched their Asia Oceania tie at Melbourne Park 3-0, winning both singles on the opening day on Friday and the doubles on Saturday.
The match was wrapped up [...] Read article

Potential supporters of Paul McNamee in last year’s Tennis Australia presidency battle were allegedly told voting for him could jeopardise million dollar television rights, the ABC reports.
In the Four Corners program State of Play, Dean Williams, the president of Tennis West which represents 190 tennis clubs in Western Australia, claims he was approached by Tennis [...] Read article

Roger Federer says the worst is over for his “good friend” Tiger Woods and hopes to see him back on the golf course. “Tiger is a good friend of mine,” Federer told the English language daily The Gulf News.
“What’s happened to him has been hard to watch over the last three months, right down to [...] Read article

I have my own theory on why the crowds stayed away from the ODI cricket match at the MCG the other night. And the nation’s new infatuation with Twenty20 bash and barge is only part of the story.
There is only so much the human body can take, not to mention our purse strings. Yes, Virginia, [...] Read article

Australia is on the cusp of returning to the pinnacle of women’s teams tennis after heroic feats from Samantha Stosur sealed a memorable Fed Cup triumph over Spain.
Stosur featured in all three of Australia’s victories against Spain in Adelaide as the host nation claimed the tie three-two on Sunday.
Stosur’s blemish-free achievements were the cornerstone of [...] Read article

The 2010 Australian Open has again proved to be an enormous success attendance-wise, and it will need to continue to be if the first Grand Slam tournament on the tennis calendar is to remain Down Under.
China have recently showed interest in hosting the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific, and it seems their bid will [...] Read article

Billie Jean King, the tennis legend, has played tennis all her life and fought for the course of women in the tennis world in between.
But there is a problem with that kind of extraordinary focus and obsession on a simple thing like chasing down a little green ball and returning it to sender. You [...] Read article

World No.1 Roger Federer on Monday anointed Andy Murray a grand slam champion in waiting despite the vanquished Scot heading home shattered after his straight-sets drubbing in the Australian Open final.
Murray’s 6-3 6-4 7-6 (13-11) loss on Sunday night was his second to Federer in a major final, having also gone down in three sets [...] Read article

Following on from his fourth round exit at the Australian Open, Lleyton Hewitt had surgery to repair a torn labrum cartilage in his right hip.
The surgery is expected to keep the former US Open and Wimbledon champion out of action for three months.
It is the last thing that Hewitt needed following a somewhat positive showing [...] Read article

Roger Federer’s victory in the Australian Open has got him to sixteen Grand Slam victories, making him, without doubt, the greatest tennis player of all time. But where does he rank alongside names such as Ali, Jordan, Woods, and Schumacher?
Here is my Top 10 sportspeople between the period 1975-2010:
1. Roger Federer (tennis)
2. Tiger Woods (golf)
3. [...] Read article

The tennis history book has become Roger Federer’s personal diary and the Swiss maestro penned another chapter on Sunday night with a crushing victory over Andy Murray in the Australian Open final.
Vintage Federer outclassed Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6 (13-11) to secure a record-extending 16th career major and heap yet more misery on successive-starved British tennis [...] Read article

Britain has traditionally done humour far better than tennis. And so it was with Andy Murray on Rod Laver Arena.
“I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him,” quipped Murray, as the weight of a nation’s unfulfilled expectations reduced him to tears following a straight sets loss to Roger Federer.
Masking [...] Read article