open Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
These Players Will Not Beat Rafael Nadal: A Largely Pointless French Open Preview
We’re going to proceed on the assumption that Rafael Nadal will (literally) sink his teeth into the French Open trophy, as he has nine times since 2005. ...
Nick Kyrgios Is In No Shape For The French Open
In each of his last two matches, Nick Kyrgios has clutched at his injured hip a whole lot, and, with time, effectively given up. One of those losses was understandable—even at full health, he had slim chances of stalling Rafael Nadal’s freight train through clay—but today’s 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 upset by w...
Andre Agassi Will Coach Novak Djokovic At The French Open
Andre Agassi, the eight-time Grand Slam winner who has largely kept his distance from the tour since retiring in 2006, is about to take on his first-ever coaching project: the slumping Novak Djokovic. The world No. 2 revealed this new partnership after his loss to Alexander Zverev in the Italian Ope...
How Dominic Thiem Broke Rafael Nadal's 17-Match Winning Streak <em></em>
“One tournament he can win is Roland Garros. So we’ll see. Hopefully not this year,” Rafael Nadal recently said of today’s opponent, Dominic Thiem, with a wink. It now feels like he willed that version of Thiem—the genuine French Open threat, the hardest-hitting guy on clay—into existence....
Juan Martin Del Potro Earns His Best Win Of The Year
One of 2016's best storylines was the resurgence of Juan Martin del Potro, a U.S. Open winner who sank below No. 1000 during his long absence from the tour to deal with wrist injuries. But his ascent slowed this year, as the 28-year-old Argentine, whose No. 34 ranking still grossly undersells his ta...
Andy Murray Can't Move
Andy Murray fell to Fabio Fognini yesterday in his second-round match at the Italian Open, 6-2, 6-4. While Fognini’s multifaceted game is much bigger than his No. 29 ranking might suggest—he’s one of two people to take a set off Rafael Nadal this clay season—that’s little solace for Murray, who was ...
Maria Sharapova Will Miss The French Open Because The French Tennis Authorities Are Dipshits
Maria Sharapova was not granted a wild card entry to the French Open’s main draw or qualifying rounds, French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli announced on Facebook Live today....
Grigor Dimitrov Thoroughly Ruins His Racket
Grigor Dimitrov lost to Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the Italian Open today. He hit some nice shots in a disappointing first-round exit, but saved his finest technique for this two-part racket devastation: First the spike, then the bare hands....
Roger Federer Pulls Out Of The French Open, And Rafael Nadal's Practically A Lock To Win It
Good news for Rafael Nadal: Roger Federer isn’t going to the French Open....
Rafael Nadal Owns The Dirt And Anyone Standing On It
Watch this guy here, the blond guy playing frantic, brilliant tennis, tracking down a lob for a whirling dervish winner....
Pablo Cuevas Hits Incredible Behind-The-Back Winner, Downs Alexander Zverev
Early in the second set of 31-year-old Pablo Cuevas’s three-set quarterfinal win over young phenom Alexander Zverev in the Madrid Open, the veteran Uruguayan chased down a lob on the baseline and nailed this incredible no-look, crosscourt winner....
Grigor Dimitrov And Dominic Thiem Played The Best Tennis Of The Week And It Was Infuriating
For the better part of this week, it looked like Grigor Dimitrov was ready to shake himself out of his stupor—he’d lost his opening match at the last three tournaments, c’mon man—and make these frenzied blogs look a little less stupid. He started this Madrid Open looking like a whole player again, b...
Borna Coric, Lucky Loser, Puts Slumping No. 1 Andy Murray To Bed
It’s been an extremely Andy Murray series of events. The ornery Scot played blisteringly good, 28-wins-straight tennis to finally claim the No. 1 spot for the first time in his career, but has since looked much easier to topple, taking losses to names you wouldn’t immediately recognize: older broth...
Novak Djokovic Is Flying Solo And Looks No Steadier
Playing his first match after firing his whole coaching staff, Novak Djokovic struggled. Today, in the second round of the Madrid Open, he squared up against world No. 76 Nicolas Almagro—a player he had defeated in all four previous matches, losing only one set in a tiebreak—and teetered on the brin...
Roger Federer Went To The Met Ball In A Sweet-Ass Cobra Tuxedo
Rafael Nadal kept himself busy in April, regaining his form on clay and raising trophies at Monte Carlo and Barcelona—freakishly, his 10th time winning each. What has his rival Roger Federer been up to in the meantime? Playing corny charity matches with Bill Gates and the guitarist from Pearl Jam, a...
Maria Sharapova Is Almost Certainly Going To Get A French Open Wild Card
The French Open has a dilemma: Do tournament organizers grant two-time French Open winner, five-time Grand Slam champion, and recently returned doper Maria Sharapova a wild card into the main draw, ensuing she’s part of the tournament when the first round begins on May 28? Should she receive a wild ...
What The Hell Did Rafael Nadal Do To This Ball?
Allow me to remove my foot from my mouth: Rafael Nadal is still the King of Clay, fine. He claimed his 10th title at Monte Carlo last week, and looks set to take his 10th Barcelona Open title too, unless Andy Murray snaps out of his daze or Dominic Thiem manages the upset. Maybe his 10th French Open...
Andy Murray Is Out Here Breaking Ankles
Andy Murray, who’s looked sloppy and out of sorts in today’s Barcelona Open quarterfinal, broke Albert Ramos-Vinolas’s ankles on this point in the final set, and it may have even saved his match. As the chuckling commentators note, this is tennis’s equivalent of a crossover. ...
Report: Maria Sharapova Won't Get A Wild Card For The French Open
How will women’s tennis welcome back Maria Sharapova—formerly its richest star, if not its most successful—after her 15-month ban for breaking its doping rules, however absurd those might be? Her return was bound to be messy. Because all of Sharapova’s ranking points dissolved during her absence fro...
Sex Noises Briefly Derail Tennis Match In Florida
A tennis match today between Frances Tiafoe and Mitchell Krueger at the Sarasota Open was temporarily interrupted by the sounds of some fucking....