If Roger Federer were a carpenter, his serve would be a saw, the handiest tool in the kit. But his forehand? That would be the wood itself. It’s the very essence of his game. Federer, 41, announced his retirement last week, marking the end of 24 years of professional tennis in which he played more […]
Serena Williams described her desire to be “perfect.” “I know perfect doesn’t exist,” she wrote in Vogue earlier this month, announcing her plans to leave professional tennis. “But whatever my perfect was, I never wanted to stop until I got it right.” Williams’s serve — the most elementally sound component of her game — might […]
When Iga Świątek won her second French Open this month, she also won her 35th consecutive match, tying Venus Williams’s run in 2000. This week, Świątek will aim to keep her streak going at Wimbledon, where she is the top seed. Świątek is enjoying one of the best runs in WTA history. Earlier this year, […]
Seventeen years ago, a sculpted Spaniard tore through the French Open draw. Rafael Nadal was only 19 in 2005 when, wearing his sleeveless green top and capri-length pants, he won the first of his 13 French Open titles. But might this be the year the King of Clay is finally unseated at Roland-Garros by a […]
Happy 30th birthday, Marin Cilic! Don’t worry about feeling over-the-hill: You’re still the youngest Grand Slam champion active on the men’s tennis circuit — the most unexpected, and improbable, phenomenon in the sport’s history. For the first time ever, male pros ages 30 and up own all the major singles titles won by currently active […]