CBSSports.com: Last year's darling Oudin out early -- can she fight back?

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- She seemed equal parts intensity and innocence, a teenager who was quintessentially American and, with a lot of hustle and enough of a forehand, worked her way into the quarterfinals and into our hearts.

Melanie Oudin was the shining star of last year's U.S. Open, the kid from next door -- actually, from the suburbs of Atlanta -- who wrote "BELIEVE" on her sneakers and wrote a new chapter in tennis, knocking off three seeded Russians before finally falling to the eventual runner-up, Caroline Wozniacki.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: While heat rages, Day 2 at Flushing Meadows is about survival

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- The endless summer, tennis in the heat of the day and night, matches with athletes looking for shelter and service breaks, a U.S. Open that on the second day seemed destined never to close.

"Somebody in the stands over there kept saying, 'Hang on, hang in there,'" remembered Novak Djokovic. "So that's exactly what I did."

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Sweat and Panic Fill Big Apple Summer

in ,
By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- Hot, baby. Maybe not enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but plenty hot. Literally -- on-court temperature Tuesday afternoon during the U.S. Open was something like 110 degrees -- symbolically, as the headlines indicate.

This is always the best time of the year in, to modify that Snapple commercial a bit, the best sporting place on earth. There's sweat. And panic, the two staples of a New York sporting summer. There's variety.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: Venus lone woman to carry Stripes at U.S. Open

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Not so very long ago, Venus Williams was a tennis ingenue, the kid with beads in her hair and fire in her serve. Now, as U.S. women's tennis sinks to levels once unimagined, she has become the savior.

It's hard to believe that with her younger sister Serena, the world's top player, missing because of an injury, Venus is the only American among the 32 seeded women in the U.S. Open.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Maria Is Just Fine; How's Serena?

in ,
By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

STANFORD, Calif. -- It's easier to get information out of Washington than the WTA, which used to be called the Women's Tennis Association, an organization which keeps secrets with ways the White House only wishes it could.

The ladies are in Northern California this week, at the Bank of the West Classic on the Stanford campus, where if the importance doesn't quite equal that of Wimbledon or the upcoming U.S. Open, the setting is far more enticing.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: Nadal a level above the rest as Spain's memorable run continues

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- The reign of Spain stays mainly wherever Rafael Nadal swings a racquet, whether the clay of Roland Garros or the grass of Wimbledon.

Oh, that wrap-around top-spin forehand. Oh, that gleeful fist pump. Oh, that unusual somersault at Centre Court.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports: Sensational Serena brings Williamses' Wimbledon dominance to new level

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Maybe they should rename the tournament "Williams-don."

Those sisters have a forehand grip on women's singles and that beautiful plate, the "Venus Rosewater Dish," given to the champion.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Brits' dubious streak intact as Murray fails to deliver

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- And so the streak remains unbroken. Unlike Andy Murray's serve.

Not much changes around here. People still say braces when they mean suspenders. Beer is served cool instead of cold. And a Brit is unable to win Wimbledon.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Champ slipping on court, starting to miss at class too

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- The champ left like a chump. The man who always made the shots this time became the man who could only make excuses. Roger Federer knew how to win. Someone ought to teach him how to lose.

It was a poor showing by Federer on Wednesday, but less so on the court in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. He simply was beaten by Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, but he also lost points in the interview room during the post-match press conference.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Eclipse of Venus leaves Serena last hope for fading U.S.

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Little Sister is the Last American. It's up to Serena now if there's to be a Wimbledon champion from the United States.

"It's not mine to lose," she insisted. "It's mine to win if I can get it."

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: England Can't 'Wait 'Til Next Year'

in , ,
By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- The pain isn't going away soon. This isn't Brooklyn in the 1940s. You can't say, "Wait ‘til next year.'' The next World Cup is four years away, four years for England to stew and grumble and wallow in the self-pity for which the English are famous.

"It's English custom,'' wrote Simon Barnes in The Times, "to seek someone to blame.''

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: Tennis analyst Gilbert feels for struggling local teams

in ,
By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — He’s here, watching Roger Federer succeed and thinking about the Raiders’ inability to succeed.

He’s here, raving about Serena Williams picking up her game and moaning about the Warriors picking up Ekpe Udoh in the NBA draft.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

CBSSports.com: Lu -- who? -- loss looks like Roddick's last Wimbledon stand

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- The plot invariably differs, but every ending is the same. Andy Roddick doesn't win Wimbledon.

It doesn't matter if he loses gallantly to Roger Federer in the final, as he did last year and twice before that, or stunningly to someone named Yen-Hsun Lu, as he did Monday in the fourth round.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Not bad for a tweener: Middle Monday at Wimbledon as good as it gets

in ,
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Eight pages in the Sunday Telegraph, 11 in the Sunday Times. All on football, their football, soccer. All on the World Cup, which had overwhelmed Wimbledon, even with Isner's celebrity and Rafa's frailty.

No longer. Tennis is back, as if it really ever left.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Here's hoping for a repeat of Serena-Sharapova from 2004

in ,
By Art Spander
Special to CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Time-lapse stuff, this Wimbledon. For the ladies, nothing could be more enticing. Serena against Sharapova, back after injuries and titles, facing each other and giving the All England Championships another jolt.

As Andy Roddick correctly pointed out after his win Friday, if we're struggling for story lines at this 2010 Wimbledon, we need to get a different job -- and fast.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Roddick seems destined to face familiar foe in semis

in ,
By Art Spander
Special to CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- They call them Nearly Men over here, athletes who get so close but can't reach the top. At Wimbledon, where he has lifted hopes but never the champion's trophy, that description might be appropriate for Andy Roddick.

Or it might not.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: A Shame Someone Has to Lose This Match

in ,
By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- "Somebody had to lose,'' said the winner, John Isner. "That stinks.'' His words were on target, as was that final backhand of a tennis match which when compared to all the others ever played was matchless.

This one was a gem, an epic, a memory.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: Isner has greater ambitions, but this one's tough to top

in ,
WIMBLEDON, England -- He'll be remembered for this, John Isner will. As will Nicolas Mahut, the man he finally beat in a match of history and perseverance that lasted a bit more than 11 hours, the time it takes a jet to fly from San Francisco to Paris.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.