2009

London is Calling... From Russia With Love

The ATP World Tour Final took place in London this year, on an indoor hard court, after its former location, Shanghai, relinquished the year ending honors to the famous Wimbledon host country... read more »

The Rumors Are True - Justine Is Back!

Speculation has been going on ever since Justine Henin (the former world number one)'s retirement in May 2008 following her loss in the 2007 Wimbledon semifinal against Marion Bartoli. At the time she was stacking up Grand Slam title after Grand Slam title, had already reached seven at the young age of 25, and looked to be on the path to many more... read more »

An Embarrassing Moment for Tennis

The long anticipated semifinal between the unseeded Belgian mom Kim Clijsters, returning from a 27 month break as mom, and the American powerhouse Serena Williams, finally took place after a long rain delay Saturday night. The match was intense, and very tight, but Kim's outplaying of the favorite Serena was overshadowed by a controversial outburst at the end of the match... read more »

Kim is Back!

Kim Clijsters, Belgian mom and one of the nicest women on the WTA tour according to fellow players and colleagues, is back with a vengeance. Entering the U.S. Open on a wildcard, she plowed through the draw, dropping Russian after Russian before encountering the dreaded, usually unbeatable in a Slam American powerhouse, Serena Williams... read more »

Federer Family Welcomes Twins

The athlete that many consider to be the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer, and his wife Mirka, welcome two baby girls, Charlene Riva Federer and Myla Rose Federer, on July 23, 2009. First, we at Tales of Tennis would like to take a minute to congratulate the Federer family on the beautiful new additions to their household... read more »

A Battle for the Ages

No one saw it coming - with Nadal out of the picture, everyone thought Roger Federer would be on cruise control to secure his 15th grand slam on the lawns of Wimbledon, 2009. His 15th Grand Slam would give him the most of any player in the ATP, beating Pete Sampras' previous record of 14. But whew - it was closer than anyone expected... 

  read more »

No Double Header on Grass for Nadal This Year

After losing exhibition matches in the last couple days against Hewitt on Thursday and Wawrinka today, Nadal has announced officially that he will not be competing at Wimbledon this year to defend his title. His knees, specifically his tendinitis, is simply giving him too much trouble. He would have also had to face a tough 2008 quarterfinalist, and hometown favorite - Arnaud Clement - in the first round... read more »

Federer Finally Wins Roland Garros

I don't know about you, but this is about the last year I expected Roger to win the French. Given his performance leading up to the French Open, I thought he would, at best, reach the quarters. Even if the Nadal work to injure himself, which, given the troubles he's had with his knees - is always a possibility, I didn't think Federer was playing up to the level it would take to win another major. Granted, he is hands down the second best clay court player on the tour. He proved that when he took down Nadal in Madrid... read more »

The Bull Gets Bulldozed

Who would have thought that Andy Roddick would make it into the second week of the 2009 French Open, while the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, would not? In the fourth round of Roland Garros on Sunday, May 31, 2009, Rafa's undefeated French Open streak (32 matches) would come to an end at the hands of Sweden's Robin Soderling... read more »

Battle in the Desert

Indian Wells is the first Masters series tournament following the Australian Open Grand Slam. It takes place in the blistering desert heat of Indian Wells, California, and is the first in a series of ATP Master level tournaments for which the champion receives 1000 ATP points - the most after a Grand Slam. Most of the players on the men's side entered the tournament. In fact, all of the top 20 players are entered, and 48 out of the top 50 players... read more »