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Samantha Stosur will go into January’s Australian Open a much different player to the one that crashed out in round three in 2011 and she insists that she fears no-one. The 27-year-old was seeded fifth for her home Grand Slam when crashing out at the third round, in straight sets to Petra Kvitova, but she recovered to enjoy the best season of her career. The Queenslander made three regular WTA Tour Finals over the course of the year, but the highlight was her victory at the US Open....
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Roger Federer has received glowing recommendations from two of the best tennis players in Australia's history; Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.The pair visited Queensland, Australia, the site of the upcoming Brisbane International, recently, and were asked for their favourites for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open.Laver, who is known as the 'Rockhampton Rocket', owing to the town of his birth, said that the Open would be "a good place" for Federer to re-discover his title-winning...
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After only winning three games during a straight sets defeat to Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals this week, Rafael Nadal has admitted that the Swiss star was too good for him on the day. Federer took only an hour to win the match 6-3, 6-0 as he gave an indoor master class to a capacity crowd at the O2 Arena. It was only the third time he had beaten Nadal in the last 12 meetings and the Spaniard was in a reflective mood afterwards. Following the defeat, Nadal said: “It's not the...
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Andy Murray believes Novak Djokovic is unlikely to dominate the men’s game again in 2012, after a sensational year in which he picked up three Grand Slam titles. The Serbian enjoyed a stellar year in 2011, which started with victory at the Australian Open, where he beat Murray in the Melbourne final. Those looking at the men's tennis betting will be wondering if he can do the same again. Djokovic continued to dominate and won his second Slam of the year, when defeating Rafael Nadal to win at...
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Andy Murray was looking in hot form in the late part of the season but finally his 17-game winning streak came to an end. The Scot will now be looking to bounce back and end his campaign on a high at the ATP World Tour finals. The 24-year-old has enjoyed some great fortunes since the US Open and won three successive tournaments in Asia, to take his tally to five titles for the year. Murray, who is bidding to finish the season as world number three for the first time in his career, had gone...
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Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a sensational 2011 to date but expecting him to win the ATP World Tour finals could be a big ask as he makes his return from a problematic wrist injury.The Serbian has risen to number one in the world this year, thanks mainly to his incredible record of winning 43 consecutive matches up until a loss to Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals.That tournament was the only Grand Slam Djokovic did not triumph in and he has the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open...
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In an era when elite-level British tennis players are an increasingly rare commodity, Elena Baltacha continues to fly the flag for the UK.Baltacha, who was born in the Ukraine, moving to Ipswich in 1989, will end 2011 as the only British woman in the Top 50 on the official rankings board – for the second year running.To put that achievement in perspective; the last UK female to maintain a place in the upper echelons of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for two consecutive years was Grand...
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Spain have announced that world number two Rafael Nadal will play in the opening rubber of their Davis Cup semi-final on Friday against France.The side's face off on the clay in Cordoba at the weekend and Spain they will be looking to progress to the final after losing their title last year having won in both 2008 and 2009. Those following the sports betting online will be wondering if they can do it.Nadal's participation had been in doubt following his loss to Novak Djokovic in the US Open...
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Not too long ago, winning the French Open and Wimbledon double was one of the hardest tasks in tennis (in one year or in a career). However, in recent years, success at both Grand Slams has become much more common, even to the point where fans expect most of the same players to be top contenders at both events. This article looks at the increasing number of players who have success at both tournaments in the same year. It then flashes back to 1993 and examines Jim Courier's effort in the...
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Now that Masters 1000s are only best of three sets, the US Open is the only tournament that uses a tiebreaker in the 5th set. This can result in the most tense of situations, perhaps the most famous being Pete Sampras' 9-7 final set tiebreaker win against Alex Corretja in the quarter-finals of the 1996 event. Sampras went on to win the championship that year. This article looks at other big matches decided by a final set tiebreaker as well as the top 40's record in these situations (...
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