Andy Roddick had just taken the first set from Roger Federer in Sunday's Wimbledon final, inducing roars from the Centre Court spectators, when my wife-to-be posed a perfectly sincere question.
This is our last "crumpet" for Wimbledon 2009. Time to do magazine work (though I'll continue periodic tweeting and podcasting). If you'd like, you could read this tomorrow; think of it as tape-delay. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. We'll be back Sunday with a Wimbledon wrap-up!
updated: Wed Jun 24 2009 04:04:00
Zheng made history in 2008 making it to the semi final of Wimbledon and inspired a new generation of Chinese tennis stars.
As Wimbledon 2009 gets under way this week, sports commentators and tennis aficionados will closely watch China's tennis superstar, Zheng Jie.
Tennis superstar Roger Federer and longtime partner Mirka Vavrinec are expecting their first baby this summer, the Swiss ace revealed on his personal Web site on Thursday.
The UAE denies Shahar Peer, an Israeli, a visa to play in a joint WTA/ATP tournament, when she was placed in the main draw. What does this mean for the future of tennis in this region? What is the appropriate response for the WTA and the other players? There can be little tolerance for this kind of behavior, right? -- Aaron Mayfield, Chicago
I know how Roger Federer feels. For years, I could not beat Priest Holmes in chess. You might remember Holmes, the star running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, the guy who led the NFL in rushing in 2001, the guy who seemed to score three or four touchdowns every week when you were playing against him in fantasy football. We had a weekly chess match for a while.
Rafael Nadal claimed his first Australian Open title and denied a tearful Roger Federer his 14th grand slam crown after another epic five-set victory, 7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2 in Melbourne on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal reached his first Australian Open final after a marathon five-set victory over Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco which ended in the early hours of Saturday morning in Melbourne.
Jelena Jankovic is making a reputation for herself as one of the hardest working women in tennis.
updated: Wed Jan 28 2009 19:26:00
From a childhood in Serbia to being the best in the world, Jelena Jankovic discusses what it took to get where she is today.
Holder Novak Djokovic is through to the last 16 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, but the Serb's four-set victory over Amer Delic was marred by crowd disturbances between fans of both players.
Jelena Dokic produced late night heroics on the Rod Laver Arena to upset Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 6-7 6-3 and extend her Australian Open comeback into the third round.
Novak Djokovic's preparations for the Australian Open suffered a further setback as he was upset by Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the semifinals of the ATP Tour event in Sydney.
Tournament favorite Andy Murray has been seeded only fourth for the men's singles at the Australian Open in Melbourne next week.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova has been forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to a shoulder injury.
Triple grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport has pulled out of next month's Australian Open because she is pregnant with her second child.
Rafael Nadal will become No. 1 in the rankings Monday, and he is No. 1 at the Olympics.
Michael Phelps may rule the American sports universe for these Olympics, but in China, ask local fans who they're supporting and you'll start hearing names like Lin Dan (badminton), Zhang Yining (table tennis) and Zhao Ruirui (volleyball).
Hi Jon. How do the Wimbledon organizers decide the schedule of play? Specifically, what are their criteria for selecting who will play on Centre Court or Court 1? I ask this because it seems a little disrespectful to make Venus and Serena (who have six Wimbledon trophies between them) play on Court 2, while Kuznetsova-Radwanska and Vaidisova-Chakvetadze get to play on Centre Court and Court 1, respectively. These four have never gotten past the quarters at Wimbledon, and don't exactly generate the amount of interest that Venus and Serena do. So if it's not past performance or popularity, what is it? -- Nancy Ng, Montreal
Top seed Roger Federer has been handed a testing opener as he bids to win the French Open, the only grand slam to elude him.
World number one Justine Henin is quitting professional tennis with immediate effect, she told a press conference in Belgium on Wednesday.
Roger Federer lifted the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award for the fourth straight time on Monday when Justine Henin made it a tennis double by taking the women's accolade for the first time.
updated: Fri Feb 29 2008 12:46:00
CNN's Pedro Pinto sits down with Roger Federer and discusses his aim to beat the record books.
They call it the Zone. It's that mystical state most athletes are lucky to achieve a few times in their careers. The mind is cleansed. The body is free. The unity of time and space comes undone. Brilliance is elevated to perfection.
Five quick observations after watching Maria Sharapova win her third Grand Slam title, taking out Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Is it me, or is that the best anybody has seen Maria Sharapova play since she won Wimbledon? It is not easy beating Justine Henin 6-0 in a set. Sharapova was hitting powerful backhands with great angle. Also, it seems her serve is a lot better. Maybe, the shoulder injury really did affect her in 2007. I would say she is the favorite to win going on her current form. What do you think? -- Bob Diepold, Charlotte, N.C.
MELBOURNE, Australia -- One of the most compelling stories of the 2008 Australian Open is the revival of Lindsay Davenport's career after the birth of her first child, son Jagger.
Venus Williams joined her sister Serena in the second round of the Australian Open as she saw off a spirited challenge from China's Zi Yan in a night match at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Andy Roddick cemented his Australian Open preparations with a third straight Kooyong Classic title on Saturday, defeating Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-3 in the final in Melbourne.
Experienced Frenchman Fabrice Santoro sent twice-champion and third seed James Blake crashing out of the Sydney International tournament.
Dominik Hrbaty has pulled out of the Australian Open after announcing that he will be forced to undergo a new operation on his right elbow.
Tennis Australia has announced anti-corruption plans for next month's Australian Open in Melbourne.
Justine Henin leads the walking wounded contingent of top women's contenders into the U.S. Open tennis championships on Monday, with the season's grand slam bragging rights at stake at Flushing Meadows.
A quick Baguette, while waiting out still another rain delay ...
The French Open begins in exactly a month, and inevitably, the speculation over the Holy Grail of tennis -- the Grand Slam, where the same player wins all four major championships in the same calendar year -- will heat up.
Tennis number one Roger Federer was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the third year in a row on Monday.
Former Australian tennis professional Scott Draper won his first golf tournament on Sunday with victory in the New South Wales PGA Championship.
Title-holder Tommy Haas of Germany and American top seed James Blake eased through to the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach International despite blustery on-court conditions.
Lleyton Hewitt's hopes of winning his home grand slam disappeared for another year as an inspired Fernando Gonzalez knocked him out in a third round match at Saturday.
Serena Williams overcame a stuttering start before moving into the third round of the Australian Open with a 7-6 6-2 win over Luxembourg's Anne Kremer in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic became the first major casualty on the opening day of the Australian Open, falling 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-4 to American Mardy Fish on Monday.
About 150 tennis fans were ejected from the Australian Open on Monday after Croatian and Serbian supporters became rowdy, police said.
The waning influence of the once all-conquering Williams sisters in women's tennis was pulled into sharp focus on Wednesday as Venus was forced to pull out of a second successive grand slam and Serena lost to unheralded Sybille Bammer in Hobart.
Top-seed Amelie Mauresmo was swept aside by Serbia's in-form Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals of the Sydney International on Wednesday.
Lleyton Hewitt has appointed former Davis Cup team-mate Scott Draper as his coach after being left in the lurch when Roger Rasheed quit last week.
World number one Justine Henin-Hardenne will miss this month's Australian Open because of "personal family reasons".
Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne were named on Monday as the International Tennis Federation's world champions for 2006.
Well it's been another fabulous year of tennis, and although I know many of the top players want a longer off-season, for me it seems too long. Just like a summer of no football. Awful!
Martina Navratilova crowned her magnificent career by teaming up with Bob Bryan to win the U.S. Open mixed doubles final on Saturday.
Justine Henin-Hardenne hit back from breaks of service down in both sets to win the all-Belgian women's semifinal against Kim Clijsters at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Former Australian Open tennis chief Paul McNamee has been appointed as the new head of the Australian Open golf championship, it was announced on Tuesday.
Paul McNamee has quit as chief executive of the Australian Open, Tennis Australia said on Saturday.
Top seed Maria Sharapova powered past American Lisa Raymond 6-4 6-4 to join Martina Hingis in the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals.
Yan Zi and Zheng Jie became the first Chinese players to reach a grand slam tennis final as they won through in the Australian Open women's doubles on Wednesday.
Second seed Kim Clijsters survived a brave fightback from comeback queen Martina Hingis to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Roger Federer had tennis aficionados drooling as he took apart giant Max Mirnyi to waltz into the fourth round of the Australian Open Saturday.
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was forced off court in Hong Kong for 11 minutes with a left hip problem before downing Indian teen Sania Mirza 6-3 6-3.
Andre Agassi is concerned an ankle injury may force him to miss next month's Australian Open - while he has also decided to miss the French Open in 2006.
The finals of two major lead-up tennis tournaments to next January's Australian Open will be played at night, Tennis Australia has announced.
Mark Philippoussis is expected to be given a wildcard entry to next year's Australian Open tennis tournament, despite a slump in form, officials have said.
China made it a clean sweep of five gold medals at the table tennis world championships in Shanghai with victory for Wanq Liqin in the men's singles the highlight Friday.
French Open champion Anastasia Myskina needed just 58 minutes to book her place in the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, easing to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Czech Kvete Peschke.
Lleyton Hewitt stretched his winning streak to 18 at the Sydney International Thursday to set up a semi-final showdown with the 'Beast of Belarus' .
Red-hot favorites Russia tumbled out of contention in the mixed teams Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth, Australia, as big-hitting star Marat Safin again flopped in their second straight loss.
Lleyton Hewitt has decided upon a different Australian Open build-up as he bids to become the first home winner in 29 years.
Tim Henman reached his first U.S. Open quarterfinal on Monday when German opponent Nicolas Kiefer retired in the fifth set of their fourth round match at Flushing Meadows.
Former women's world number one Serena Williams has pulled out of the Athens Olympics.
Tennis will be played on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon for only the third time in its history, All England club officials said on Saturday.
Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson ended Greg Rusedski's run at the Nottingham Open, beating the defending champion in the quarter-finals.
Martina Navratilova returns to Wimbledon singles this month a decade after bowing out after being given a wildcard by organizers on Friday.
Serena Williams has been pushed up the seedings by French Open organizers from her world ranking of seven to number two behind Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Martina Navratilova will play singles at a grand slam event for the first time in 10 years at the French Open later this month, organizers said in Paris.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is to return to competitive singles action at the age of 47.
American seed Chanda Rubin has crashed out of the Australian Open, falling in a three-set battle Monday to Russian sixth seed Anastasia Myskina.
Top seed Andy Roddick destroyed Taylor Dent 6-2 6-0 6-2 to reach the Australian Open fourth round in an awesome display of power and precision.
Argentine David Nalbandian hit form ahead of the Australian Open when he thrashed Andre Agassi 6-2 6-3 to take the Kooyong International crown in Melbourne.
World No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne sounded a warning to her Australian Open rivals with a straight sets win over Amelie Mauresmo of France in the final of the Sydney international.
Carlos Moya still hopes to play in next week's Australian Open despite quitting Saturday's Sydney International final against Lleyton Hewitt through injury.
Former Australian Open champion Mary Pierce has withdrawn from this year's event, the French Tennis Federation has announced.
Venus Williams will be given a preferential seeding at this year's Australian Open after the withdrawal of her sister Serena, tournament officials said.
World No. 15 Jelena Dokic has withdrawn from next week's Auckland Classic women's tennis event, hitting her build-up to this month's Australian Open.
A first-round showdown between newly-engaged tennis stars Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters will grab center-stage in the Hopman Cup mixed team event in Perth, which starts on Saturday.
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