Year after year, experts repeat the same mantra about the Australian Open: expect upsets. “Tennis’s annual surprise party,” read one headline years ago about the first Grand Slam of the tennis year. But in the past decade, compared to the other majors, the Happy Slam has resembled more of a Somber Slam for underdogs. Despite […]
Playing the Australian Open at age 39, Serena Williams is trying again to lock down one of the last puzzle pieces of her magnificent career. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players ever, Williams’s only remaining snag is the Grand Slam record of a troublesome Margaret Court, who played in an era with […]
For the first time since 1945, there will be no Wimbledon this year. And there’s no guarantee that the coronavirus pandemic won’t yet cancel the U.S. Open, scheduled to start in late August, and the French Open, which was postponed from May to September. If the rest of the 2020 tennis season is abandoned altogether, […]
The match was riveting and intense, lasting 3 hours and 59 minutes. But in the end, the result was what we’ve come to expect: The old men of tennis still rule. Novak Djokovic beat Dominic Thiem on Sunday in a 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 final at the Australian Open. The win gave Djokovic his […]
No matter what happens in the Australian Open final, American women are returning to the top of the game — and they could remain there for many years to come. American Sofia Kenin upset Ashleigh Barty — No. 1 in the world — to reach the major final, where she will face Garbiñe Muguruza of […]