Watch highlights as Rafael Nadal beats Nick Kyrgios for his second China Open title in Beijing. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com. Photo: China Open/VCG.
Steve Johnson has been an Angels fan for as long as he can remember. “Since the day I was born basically,” he attests. Living just down the road from Angel Stadium, the Johnson family frequently attended the MLB games, with Steve growing up idolising the likes of Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson, David Eckstein, and Jered Weaver. On one of those perfect Orange County evenings out with the family, a 13-year-old Johnson even managed to snag a foul ball. The couple sitting next to them had vacated their seats when the errant ball flew their way. “The foul ball came off pretty fast, smacked their seats pretty good, so I'm glad they weren't sitting there because it probably would've hurt a...
A tennis champion is one who doesn’t just win matches, collects trophies or plays in an aesthetically pleasing way, but in the eyes of fans globally embodies professionalism, commitment and sportsmanship on and off the court. In an era when superlatives are thrown around, when players are categorised and all-time lists are compiled, there are those gilded few, in living memory, from Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who are lionised. Not just for who they are, but what they represent. Nadal has sat on a pedestal, living in the spotlight for much of the past 17 years – from the tennis prodigy who practised three times a week from the age of 14 with...