Van Sias's Articles

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

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

In all of Grand Slamdom (or at the very least, since the Majors started seeding 32 players), has there ever been a two-day stretch like this?

Maria Sharapova's loss to Alla Kudryavtseva has to be one of the most shocking defeats I've ever witnessed. I've been reading the stories (among them Kudryavtseva dissing Sharapova's tux) and I didn't realize Alla has had some… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 26, 2008 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

A Perfect Day*

So, how's about that Marat Safin? What a great win for him. But dude, on behalf of tennis fans everywhere, please, PLEASE keep it going! Not just here at Wimbledon, but the rest of the year, and if it isn't too much to ask, the rest of your career!

I'm looking at that section of the draw, and it looks like a truck hit it. Who's going to come through? I would say based on just pure talent, it would be Safin. However, the best grasser (Is that phrase that I coined catching on? If not,… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 25, 2008 at 8:13pm — 2 Comments

Lurking in the Grass

Watch out Kuznetsova, Kateryna Bondarenko's comin' for ya! Yesterday at Tennis Talk, Anyone?, I picked out what I thought were going to be some intriguing matches. Today, I'm going to flag some matches for tomorrow that I think are upsets in the making. Some may sound far-fetched, others might really be quite conceivable. But hey, I'm a risk-taker, so why not go for it!…

Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 24, 2008 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

I Hate to Say I Told You So ...

...But I told you so, Wimbledon seeding committee!

Why, oh why, was Nikolay Davydenko made the number-four seed over Andy Roddick? I KNEW this would happen when the seedings were released. All it would take was someone with a pretty… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 24, 2008 at 10:31am — 2 Comments

Sister Act 3 (Wimbledon Women's Quarterfinal Predictions)

It doesn't matter if she hasn't come within a mile of even making a final this year: When it gets around Wimbledon time, you'd have to be hard-pressed to go against Venus Williams winning. Everything's all good when she gets on the grass, and that's why I'm going with her to win her fifth title. (Vote here if you agree or disagree.) And I'm expecting her to play a pretty familiar foe in the finals—baby sis Serena. But this time, it's Venus'… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 22, 2008 at 12:44pm — No Comments

The Joy of Six (Wimbledon Men's Quarterfinal Predictions)

He's only won two titles this year. He got waylaid in the French final. His chief rivals are playing better than ever. Despite all this, I'm still going with Roger Federer to pick up his sixth Wimbledon title in a row. (Vote here if you agree or disagree.) But I don't like to just try and predict the winner: It's much more fun to take a closer look at the draw and write how I think it's going to go down, from the quarterfiinals on. So here we… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 20, 2008 at 9:00am — 2 Comments

Seeds of Discontent

Not that the All-England Club has to run anything by me, but if it was to have asked my opinion, I would have definitely done the seeding differently on the men's side than it did.

Wimbledon is the only Slam that seeds players based on their past records at the tournament and their grass-court ability. That being said, the organizers made a MAJOR screw-up as far as I'm concerned: How do you hold to the rankings among the top seven… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 18, 2008 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Caught With My Pants Down (or the Latest Installment of "Oh Yeah, I Play Tennis, Too)

Aside from the pros, at my blog, Tennis Talk, Anyone?, I like to get feedback on my game and share some of my experiences. Well, let me tell you about something I've never experienced on the court before in my 20 years playing: It was a "clothes" call, indeed!

Today, I made my first appearance since September at the racquet club I belong to. I've been on the disabled list for a while with pretty bad Achilles tendinitis, and had to do… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 17, 2008 at 11:29am — No Comments

Just Taking Five

Both tours are playing their final warm-ups before hitting the All-England Club for the biggie: The men are in Nottingham and the women in Eastbourne, and both are in s'Hertogenbosch for a co-ed affair they like to call the Ordina Open. But while taking a look at the draws for the two women's tournaments (and last week's, too) I noticed something: Where are the five top contenders to come away with the Wimbledon crown? That being Maria… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 16, 2008 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Lawn Jockeying

The promoters of the Artois Championships must be thinking this is the perfect 30th anniversary gift with the matches they'll end up with over the last three rounds! With that quarterfinal lineup having been such a monster, of course you're going to get the same for the semis! Here's my little rundown of what I think will happen there:

David Nalbandian vs. Novak Djokovic: Nalbandian came through in a tough third-set tiebreak against… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 13, 2008 at 11:58pm — No Comments

Major Turf Battles

In my last post, I was kind of pondering and lamenting the state of grass-court tennis, but I have to admit, the quarterfinal lineup at the Artois Championships is pretty amazing for any tennis fan, even if there is guys in it that would've never been there 10 years ago! This could easily be the quarterfinal lineup at Wimbledon, sans Federer, who's playing over in Halle.

Since it looks like it's worthy of a Slam, I thought I'd do a… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 13, 2008 at 6:17am — No Comments

Whatever Happened to Grass-Court Tennis?

As the pros gear up for the big "W" by playing grass-court tournaments in England and Germany, I have an important question, one that's been nagging me for a few years:

Why isn't grass-court tennis like it used to be? Vote here and let your feelings be known if you're like me and you miss the good old days or if you think it's fine how it is now!

Remember, though, just a few years ago when the clay-courters would skip the… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 11, 2008 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

My Concession Speech

My fellow tennis fans, in the spirit of the election season, I am finally ready to admit that I have been defeated. It's been a long and well-fought battle in the blogging realm, but I have come to accept the evidence that has been recently proved time and time again across a variety of different locations: Dinara Safina is a legitimate tennis player and therefore should be endorsed by my blog, Tennis Talk, Anyone? as the favorite for the… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 5, 2008 at 11:08pm — No Comments

Gael Force!

Waaay back when this little thing we call the French Open started, I took a look at the draw (as I'm apt to do for the Majors) and started making my picks. I usually do it on my own anyway, but I had even more incentive to do it for the Tennisopolis team in the Pick 'Em Challenge. Here was my train of thought when I saw that Gael Monfils was to play Arnaud Clement (since I love sharing my inner thoughts with… Continue

Added by Van Sias on June 4, 2008 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Van Sias's Articles (102)