All About Adam and Eve (Not Adam and Steve)

Australian Open Buzz: Day 9

Lleyton Hewitt was never the most popular player in the locker room or the press room.  His repeated shouts of “C’MON!” haven’t always endeared himself to opponents.  The ultra-competitive Aussie has been an unwitting recipient of the Prix Citron at Roland Garros, the dubious annual award that is presented to the tour’s No. 1 sourpuss.  [...]

It’s All In the Wrist: DelPo Advances, Monfils Pulls Out

Argentine Dominant Despite Wrist Pain; Frenchman to Miss 4-6 Weeks

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — In a much-anticipated clash of former Grand Slam champions, Juan Martin Del Potro showed few ill effects from wrist surgery in dismantling Lleyton Hewitt in the SAP Open quarterfinals 6-2, 6-3 on Friday.

Hewitt and Roddick: Two Birds of a Feather

Former No. 1s Still Carry Torch For Shrinking Tennis Powers

The Age’s Greg Baum recently took a swipe at all things Australian tennis when he observed, “Sartre once said, ‘In football, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposition.’ Australia knows what he meant.”

Bach On Moog Synthesizer, Joyce On iPhone

MYER-ED IN HUMOR: Of the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut Wimbledon marathon, ESPYS host Seth Myers said, “No one has spent that much time on grass since Cheech and Chong.”  Added the SNL funnyman, “By the time the match ended, the ball boys were ball men.” AND THEY SAY WE AMERICANS ARE A LITIGIOUS BUNCH: Lleyton Hewitt [...]

When Piledriver Forehands Turn to Pattercakes

QUICK!  WHERE’S THE NEAREST SALVATION ARMY?: Hugh MacDonald said that Andy Murray “walks with the gait of someone who has just realized he left his winning lottery ticket in the trousers he donated to the charity shop.” HAPPY IN VICTORY/HAPPY IN DEFEAT: After falling to Sam Querrey in the Queen’s final 7-6(3), 7-5, Mardy Fish [...]

Notebook: ‘When You Can’t Move, It’s Difficult to Win’

CHRISSIE VS. MARTINA: In his new book “Rivals! The 10 Greatest American Sports Rivalries of the 20th Century,” author Richard Davies lists the storied Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova clashes among the fiercest rivalries in sports.  Here are the others: Ohio State-Michigan football, Yale-Harvard football, Duke-UNC men’s basketball, Red Sox-Yankees, Bears-Packers, Dodgers-Giants, Celtics-Lakers, Joe Frazier-Muhammad [...]

This Kerfuffle is Getting Out of Hand

Nikolay’s No Looker…Stockholm Sins...Quotebook

WILANDER TO STEP DOWN: Mats Wilander‘s days as Sweden’s Davis Cup captain have come to an end.  The seven-time Slam champ, who cited “private reasons” for his decision to step down, has headed team Sweden since ’03.  Said the Hall of Famer, “It was a difficult decision.” MORE NEWS FROM SWEDEN: Swedish police say two [...]

The Nutcracker (Starring Middle-Aged Men of Average Dexterity)

Geithner the Net Rusher...Scud Shops His Wedding...Quotebook

TCHAIKOVSKY WOULD BE HORRIFIED: The New Republic’s Noam Scheiber revealed that President Obama‘s economic advisory team is a group of hardcore tennis fanatics.  Among the regulars are Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (“He can materialize at net so quickly it feels like he served from mid-court.”), the president’s chief economic adviser, Larry Summers (“Basically, he hits [...]

Numbers Game

Federer Ups Record Against Hewitt to 16-7; Moves On to 4th Round

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Some numbers you just can’t ignore.  For Lleyton Hewitt, 7-15 was among them.  It was his record against Roger Federer coming into Saturday’s third-round matchup at the U.S. Open.  A subpar win-loss ratio that included a lopsided defeat to the Swiss No. 1 in the ’04 final, in which Hewitt was [...]

Of Gorillas, Elephants and Other Beasts

AND NOW A WORD FROM COACH STEFANKI: After Andy Roddick’s clutch five-set win over Lleyton Hewitt, his coach, Larry Stefanki (who has worked with John McEnroe, Tim Henman, Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez, among others), said that Andy was now a man – that he showed great maturity at crunch time.  A quietly elated Stefanki, [...]