Van Sias's Articles – February 2010 Archive (2)

The year was 2002, and playing in the finals of the indoor tournament in Memphis was James Blake--making his ATP final debut--and Andy Roddick, already a perennial top tenner at that point. Roddick won in three tight sets, but it was like a breath of fresh air for U.S. men's tennis.

Now, eight years later, these two are playing in the first round of the same event, where Roddick is the top seed and Blake enters outside the top 50. The years since that final-round matchup have…

Five-and-a-half years? I could do that standing on my head: Try 20 and we'll talk!

Feliciano Lopez won his first title in more than five years at the South African Open, beating Stephane Robert in the finals in straights. His game has some holes in it (mainly that topspin backhand), but he does have a lot of versatility that should've resulted in more than two tournament wins to this point. But I can't be too hard on the guy, because in a way, I really…