Craig Hickman's Tennis BlogCraig Hickman's Tennis BlogIrrevent musings of a tennis fanatic. ATP, WTA, ITF. On the court. Off the court. Articles
Homeboy Federer Clenches Year-End No. 1
2007-10-28 18:23:00 Roger Federer defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-3 in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in his hometown of Basel. By defending the title, Federer clenched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive year. Fans are speculating that he will now withdraw from the BNP Paribas Masters which began play today. I'm going to go against the trend and say he'll still play in Paris in order to add some More About: Year
Hantuchova Wins Linz; Qualifies for Madrid
2007-10-28 18:16:00 Daniela Hantuchova defeated Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2 to take the Generali Ladies Linz title, her first title outside of Indian Wells and only her third career title. The victory ties her with Maria Sharapova for second place in the Race to the Championships. If Pova withdraws, she'll get directly in. If not, it's up to the discretion of the tournmanet organizers who will play. I'll go out on a More About: Madrid , Wins
Battle Royale de Lyon
2007-10-26 01:09:00 Today at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon , Olivier Rochus of Belgium defeated American Mardy Fish in three grueling tiebreak sets, 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(15). I followed the battle royale on the scoreboard. It wasn't even featured in the Internet live feed on channelsurfing. The combatants had only played once and that was way back in 2002 at the now defunct Long Island tournament. Fish won that More About: Battle , Battle Royale , Royale
Live Tennis on the Internet
2007-10-25 14:41:00 As you know, there are three ATP indoor events and one WTA event in Europe this week. If you'd like to watch live feed of the ATP events go to http://channelsurfing.net/ and scroll down the page. TLM is airing Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Eurosport is airing Davidoff Swiss Indooors, and an unknown channel is showing the St. Petersburg Open. Sometimes only a marquee matchup is shown so More About: Internet , Live , The Internet
Another Year, Another Open Letter
2007-10-22 22:34:00 by Savannah I used to say pretty much whatever I wanted when I wanted on tennis boards. What did it matter? I was hiding behind a screen name so no wild-eyed fan of a particular player was going to show up at my door and try to bash my head in with a Babolat racquet or send hate mail. I was anonymous. When I started blogging my attitude changed somewhat. Not that I use my real name but I look More About: Open , Letter , Open Letter , Year
Madrid Day 7: Easy As Two-Three-One
2007-10-21 19:52:00 He came into the event with a 19-17 record. He leaves it as a champion. A champion who made an historic run as the first unseeded player ever to defeat the top three players in the world to win a title, only the third man in history to climb such a mountain. And to make it more amazing, it is his first regular-season TMS shield and only his sixth career title. David Nalbandian's new More About: Madrid , Easy
Of Fifth Slams and the USTA
2007-10-21 17:26:00 by Savannah Lisa Raymond on Women’s Tennis in the United States Lisa has written a thought provoking article about why the United States isn’t producing female players able to compete at the highest levels in her sport. I think that between us, Craig and I have talked about every issue she raises. It’s just nice to see your opinion validated by someone on the “inside”. The article is excerpted
Madrid Day 5: Surprise, Surprise
2007-10-20 13:42:00 Before yesterday, all we could do was imagine what the matchup would look like. How would one of the tour's best tacticians, armed with clean ball striking, fare against the tour's toughest warrior with the strongest will? It was no contest. David Nalbandian beat Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour to a crowd so stunned, it hissed at the Argentine during the match for playing so well. More About: Madrid
Roddick Qualifies for Masters Cup
2007-10-19 16:43:00 For the fifth consecutive year, Andy Roddick has qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup to be held in Shanghai. His position in the elite eight was certainly solidified by the draw drain in Madrid earlier this week. Andy withdrew from Madrid before the draw ceremony citing a knee injury. Roddick started the year strong with a run to the Australian Open semifinals, then fell off a bit before More About: Aster
Madrid Day 4: Reign in Spain
2007-10-19 05:31:00 No, he hasn't won the tournament. But in his effort against Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal delivered a regal performance in his 7-5, 6-4 victory. In the best (televised) match since the US Open, Rafa and Andy the Younger covered more real estate than a broker and came up with shot after shot of scintillating madness. After a career-threatening wrist injury, Murray seems to be back to his retrieving More About: Madrid , Spain , Reign
Madrid Day 3: Eight Seeds A Falling
2007-10-18 01:19:00 After a long day of tennis, thanks in large part to the Novak Djokovic - Fernando Verdasco match, which didn't seem like it would ever end, no less than eight seeds were upset in Madrid today. James Blake, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Ivan Ljubicic, Carlos Moya, and Mikhail Youzhny were all unceremoniously dumped by lower ranked opponents in today's action. All More About: Seed , Seeds
Monaco Upsets Haas in Madrid
2007-10-17 02:50:00 A week after losing to Tommy Haas in straight sets in Stockholm, Juan Mona co exacted revenge and ousted the No. 11 seed 6-4, 7-5 at the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid . Haas had break advantages in both sets before the Argentine fought back to secure the victory. He'll play the winner of Nicolás Almagro and Fernando González , on the schedule for tomorrow. Top seed Roger Federer showed little More About: Upset , Naco
Serena Qualifies for Madrid
2007-10-16 17:42:00 No, this hasn't beocme a Serena Williams fansite. But when Serena plays three events three weeks in a row after an injury plagued summer, and qualifies for the Season Ending Championships in Madrid on the strength of her European indoor performances, not to mention her Australian Open and Miami crowns, as well as her run to the quarterfinals of the other Slams, well, she's bound to get a lot of
Octoberfest: Tennis, Tennis, Tennis
2007-10-10 19:10:00 This week, there are three men's events, two women's events, including the joint event at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. This should guarantee that the final qualifiers for the year-end championships on both tours show up on one leg with one arm tied behind their backs. As I prepare for a presentation at an adoption conference in Pittsburgh over the weekend, it's too much to follow and cover. This More About: Tennis
Comment of the Week: Asian Tennis
2007-10-08 15:28:00 From Tuesday Tirade: Where's the (Asian ) Tennis ? rabbit said... As an asian (Indian), I have to say I strongly disagree with injecting unqualified players into tournaments because of their race. That being said, I have been very disappointed in the rise of Asian players in the ATP and WTA. I'll speak about India, because I don't know about other asian countries. When Sania started winning More About: Week , Comment
The Week Ending October 6
2007-10-08 02:01:00 by Savannah Mr. Etienne de Villiers has let us all in on the reasons behind his changing the ATP tour into the WWE. I keep expecting Vince McMahon to step out from behind the curtain. We should all work just for one person and he's a 45-year-old living in Bedfordshire called John Smith. He is our tennis fan and he is the only person we should be working for. Ultimately, that informs the More About: Week , Ending , October
An Old-Fashioned Mugging in Tokyo
2007-10-07 06:43:00 David Ferrer snuck up on Richard Gasquet, pulled out his weapon, and stole all the Frenchman's money. In broad daylight. 52 minutes is all it took for David to score a 6-1, 6-2 victory and the Japan Open final was complete. It was a comprehensive shellacking. I don't know that I've ever seen David play so well. And this after his amazing performance against Rafael Nadal in the US Open round of More About: Tokyo , Old Fashioned , Fash
David & Richard
2007-10-07 03:57:00 In the story of David and Karlovic, top seed David Ferrer slayed the giant Ivo Karlovic 7-6(3), 6-3 to advance to his first final at the Japan Open in his second appearance. He lost in the first round in 2002. Uncannily, by the exact same scoreline, right down to the points won in the tiebreak, Richard Gasquet upset No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych in a match featuring great rallies and scintillating More About: Char
Upset In Tokyo
2007-10-06 19:56:00 by Mad Professah Virgine Razzano, a 24-year-old player from France ranked No. 33 who won the Guangzhou International Women's Open last week, defeated 6-time grand slam champion and world No. 8 Venus Williams 4-6 7-6(7) 6-4 to win the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships today. Venus held 3 match points at 6-3 in the second set tiebreak, after coming back from being down 2-5 in the second set. More About: Tokyo , Upset
Down And Out
2007-10-06 00:19:00 Perhaps that's why you appeared to have played so poorly, Serena Williams. You chose tennis, not track and field. But even still, you didn't get out of the starting blocks with any authority, donating your first service game after holding a game point with a mere 38% first serves in, a double fault, and no aces. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who refused to blink throughout the entire match, apparently
Winning Streaks
2007-10-04 22:44:00 US Open Champion Justine Henin's good fortunes continued today at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She extended her winning streak going back to Toronto and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of Dinara Safina for the second time in as many months. Roland Garros finalist Ana Ivanovic wasn't so lucky. Her indoor winning streak came to a shocking end at the hands of More About: Winning
Sister Secrets?
2007-10-04 04:07:00 STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) — Australian Open champion Serena Williams plans to ask sister Venus for advice how to beat second-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova ahead of their quarter-final clash at Stuttgart's WTA tournament. Sixth seed Williams reached the last eight with a 7-5, 6-2 second-round win over Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko on Wednesday evening at Stuttgart's Porsche Arena and now faces the More About: Secrets , Sister
Serena Serves Up Double Bagel
2007-10-03 04:57:00 Lucky loser Zuzana Ondraskova, who replaced an injured Elena Bovina, didn't stand a chance. Serena Williams ended the Czech's luck in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix without dropping a game. "I think I played really well. Most of all I am excited to be back at the tournament," said Serena, who hasn't played this event since 1999 when it was held at Filderstadt. Next up: More About: Double , Serve
Tuesday Tirade: Where's the (Asian) Tennis?
2007-10-02 17:30:00 Players attend the player's party during day two of the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships on October 2, 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. From left: Venus Williams, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Sania Mirza, Lleyton Hewitt. It's the post-US Open who's-playing-where-and-who-really-cares- about-tennis time of the year. Most casual fans in the States don't know anything about the Asian swing More About: Tuesday
Serena Returns to Action in Stuttgart
2007-09-30 23:57:00 Serena Williams made a liar out of me. And I couldn't be happier. Somehow I thought after the US Open, she would sit out the rest of the year. But clearly, she wants to qualify for the Season Ending Championships, maybe even improve her ranking so that she doesn't have to draw her archrival in the quarterfinals of all the Slams next year. What was it Jelena Jankovic said about the Slam draws? More About: Action , Stuttgart , Serena
Gasquet Wins in India
2007-09-30 20:51:00 Richard Gasquet didn't drop a set in nagging his fifth career title at the Kingfisher Airlines Open in Mumbai, India . In the final, he dismissed Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4. More About: Wins
Venus Victorious at Korea Open
2007-09-30 15:24:00 Venus Williams beat Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to win the Hansol Kore a Open in Seoul today. When I called them fashionistas, I had no idea we'd see them in traditional South Korean garb for the trophy ceremony. How beautiful. All this pomp and circumstance for a Tier IV event? Perhaps they need an upgrade. Now if only we could see some of these matches on the Asian swing in the United More About: Venus
Tursunov Takes Thailand Open
2007-09-30 15:19:00 Dmitry Tursunov of Russia is presented with the trophy by President of Thailand Tennis Association Suwat Liptapallop after winning the Thailand Open tennis tournament Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007 in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand. Tursunov thrashed Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 6-1. Now if only we could see some of these matches on the Asian swing in the United States....
Idle Chit Chat
2007-09-29 19:20:00 by Savannah This just in from totally FAUX NEWS: From Tennis Entertainment Network reporter Canu Topthis: Have You Been Offered a Bribe? It seems that every player not ranked in the top ten has come forward to confess that yes, he has been approached to throw matches but that due to the strong moral fiber built into him by his parents, coaches, agent and publicist, he felt the need to come More About: Chat
Fashionistas Into Seoul Final
More articles from this author:2007-09-29 14:43:00 Venus Williams and Maria Kirilenko will bring their fashion flair to the court along with their tennis for the Hansol Korea Open final tomorrow. Williams, who unveiled EleVen, her new line of sportswear at the US Open, made quick work of Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2. Kirilenko, who sports Stella McCartney originals, sent Eleni Daniilidou packing 7-5, 6-0. Not bad for a Tier IV final. Venus has More About: Final , Fina , Seoul , Fash 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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