Van Sias's Articles – July 2008 Archive (8)

How About 'None of the Above?'

So, I've had this poll going on at my blog, Tennis Talk, Anyone? for the past few days on who deserves to be number 1 on the WTA tour and I'm wondering after last night's matches at the Rogers Cup if those four should be considered.

Maria Sharapova going three I understand: Her arm's about to fall off, which is sad because it's going to be tough to navigate around that as her career goes on. She just pulled out of the Olympics and is… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 31, 2008 at 4:06pm — 2 Comments

'Bite Me, Van! What Do You Know?'

You know, if he knew me or read my blog, Tennis Talk, Anyone? sometimes, Rafael Nadal could easily say that to me!

Over the course of the past couple of years, I haven't given him much credit for what he's done:

• He's won four French Opens in a row? "Big deal, there's always been clay-court specialists," I've thought before. "He just happens to be a really good one."

• He's won Wimbledon: "So? No way he… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 29, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

It's Only Going to Get Harder

So both tours dipped their toes into the summer hard-court season last week with the men playing in Indianapolis and the women in Stanford.

But as far as things go for the men, the situation's definitely about to pick up. The sixth stop on this little thing they like to call the Masters Series is in Canada right now. And this is possibly the first of four big ones the big three—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (vote here… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 22, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

In the Spirit of the Games

That quest for Olympic Gold sure is powerful!

It's enough to bring moms out of retirement, a la Lindsay Davenport, and to me, this shocker of shockers: Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes (pictured) are teaming up for some tournaments this summer before the Olympics, which I thought would basically be the equivalent of hell freezing over, pigs flying, whatever metaphor you would want to use. They pretty much could have been a new metaphor for something unlikely happening! ("You want me… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 17, 2008 at 5:55am — No Comments

Where Would YOU Be Without Michael Chang?

If you're a tennis fan, think long and hard about it.

Michael Chang, one of the Hall of Fame's newest inductees, has to be one of the most, if not THE most, revolutionizing players in tennis in the past 20 years. Here's just a few of the ways he changed the game for the modern fan:

• First of all, thinking about what he did at the 1989 French Open, and the way he went about playing throughout his career, forced you to dig a little deeper: whether you were playing your… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 13, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments

A Dirty Deed, Indeed

Now that the grass-court season has (almost) come and gone—the men are playing in Newport this week—it's time for the players to start getting ready for ... the clay again?

There's three tournaments on the dirt this week that the men are playing in, and two for the women. The men are playing in Switzerland, Sweden and Stuttgart, while the women are in France and Palermo.

Something, though, has really stuck out to me on the… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 9, 2008 at 1:45pm — No Comments

The Day After

Can any storylines the rest of the year possibly top what happened yesterday at the All-England Club?

Everyone knows how devastated Roger Federer is. I have a big question, though, in regard to his state of mind:

What's next? And here's another: Will he break Pete Sampras' Slam record? (Vote here… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 7, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

The Elite Eight

It's down to the quarterfinals at the All-England Club, and while many of the pre-tournament contenders (Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, etc.) got knocked out way early, there will still be some great matches on tap.

Personally, four out of eight of my original quarterfinal picks are still alive, which is about all you can hope for with the way this tournament has gone! Here's a preview of what I… Continue

Added by Van Sias on July 1, 2008 at 11:37pm — No Comments

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