Audible Obscenity: The Legend of Sesil Karatantcheva

As night fell in Bulgaria’s capital, a sickly sinister haze swept across its streets, swooping and swirling as it stole into every home, indiscriminately engulfing each inhabitant in turn and dragging them under some deathly trance. The clouds rapidly assembled with military efficiency, and before long were unleashing a torrent of showers; the rain drops seeking out every last millimetre of the…

How Victoria Azarenka Became Great

It was 2007 when near-mute whispers of the rising new generation fast transformed into ear-splittingly loud warning sirens. First came Agnieszka Radwanska, who immediately found success – and daft comparisons to Martina Hingis – as she broke the elite glass ceiling, scaling her first Grand Sam quarterfinal and securing a myriad of notable scalps. Caroline Wozniacki’s slow but seamless rise up…

Has Professional Tennis Peaked?

Since the dawn of the Open Era, the greatest of greats have filtered into the world of tennis in a steady and unbroken flow. The likes of Laver, Newcombe, Ashe were quickly replaced by names like Borg, Connors, McEnroe and more. Then came Wilander, Becker, Lendl and Edberg who were eventually usurped by the supreme dominance of Sampras and Agassi. The year of Agassi’s final slam doubled as the…

The Martina Years http://wp.me/p1GzOl-1jN

Not for the first nor the last time, the heavens gleefully opened up over Flushing Meadows and threatened to swallow the first Saturday of the 2000 US Open whole. As usual, the players briskly scuttled to the welcome shelter of the players lounge and settled down in resigned anticipation of the familiarly monotonous wait that would follow. As the typical hustle and bustle of a rain-decimated day…

Benoit Paire And The Pursuit Of Sanity

On some cold winter’s day once upon a time, a tennis coach found himself in the bizarre position of attempting to convince his charge to undertake exactly what he had hired a coach for – competing at a tournament. The player in question asserted that he had no intention of traveling to this tournament, but the coach persisted and the pair quietly argued amongst themselves. Eventually growing…

Serena Williams Changes Her Spots Again

There she stands again; trophy in hand, smile on face and right leg bent just that tiny bit at the knee as she assumes thepose. As always, Serena Williams is accompanied by a taller but less enamored blonde who carries the consolation plate for walking helplessly into yet another defeat by the American. On days she is dispatched with ease, there is usually a smile too. As the loser takes her…