Los Angeles Times: Serena Williams is a little nervous in return to Indian Wells

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By Art Spander
Los Angeles Times

It was all about timing and about Time, the magazine. It was about the act of forgiveness, which Serena Williams, after the years and the memories, said she at last found a reason to offer.

Fourteen years ago, in 2001, Williams, a teenager but already a champion, was booed at Indian Wells, booed in a final by a crowd angry that in the scheduled semifinal two days earlier older sister Venus defaulted moments before the start because of announced knee tendinitis.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times: Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki comes out ahead in the long run

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By Art Spander
Los Angeles Times

She's the Wizard of Woz, the woman who ran the New York City Marathon — "You don't know what the wall is until you hit it," she said — who posed, tastefully, for the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue . . . who once was ranked No. 1 . . . who only Sunday won the Malaysian Open, her 23rd WTA tournament victory,

Caroline Wozniacki, one of the many stars at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, at age 24 has done almost everything. Other than win a Grand Slam tournament.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

Bleacher Report: Cilic-Nishikori Final at 2014 US Open Shows Rough Road Ahead for Men's Tennis

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — They figured it out a long time ago in Hollywood and just across the river from here on Broadway: You need a star. It didn’t really matter if a famous actor could act, only if he was famous.

Whether that was because of what he did on or off the screen was insignificant.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Men's Tennis Begins New Era with Kei Nishikori-Marin Cilic Final at 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Up at the Stadium, they said farewell to Derek Jeter on Sunday, gave the Yankee shortstop of 20 years his special day, a couple of weeks before retirement. Twenty-four hours earlier and a few miles away, across the East River, we said goodbye to an era in tennis.

So long to a Grand Slam men’s final which had Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. So long to what we knew. So long to what we expected.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Roger Federer Misses Last Chance to Win a Grand Slam Title at 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Suddenly, Roger Federer looked older. It wasn’t so much the creases in his face, the age lines. It was the creases in his game. It was the inability to handle Marin Cilic, to whom he never before had lost.

It was the comments after his defeat, the lack of belief to do what he had done for so many matches over so many years, which is make a comeback.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Dominant Serena Williams Silences Skeptics in 2014 US Open Semifinal Rout

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — She’s rolling now, crushing opponents and symbolically all those who doubted her. (Blush!) A season that seemed destined to go nowhere for Serena Williams, a season that made some of us suggest that at almost 33 years old her best days were over, is now headed to the stars—and the record books.

Was she ever any better than she was Friday afternoon in a semifinal of the U.S. Open? Was she any more dominant, more overwhelming more — yes — awesome? Maybe, but probably not.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: US Open 2014: Roger Federer Defies Age, Shows Champion's Grit in 5-Set Thriller

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — He was down two sets to none, and even Roger Federer thought the end might be near, that he could be knocked out of the U.S. Open, that his chances for that one last Grand Slam had vanished.

Not that he would ever show it on the court.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic Affirms Status as World's Best in 2014 US Open Win vs Andy Murray

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — It was warm. It was late. But heat and time couldn’t stop Novak Djokovic. Neither could Andy Murray. On a night that rolled into the wee small hours of morning, Djokovic verified his standing as the No. 1 men’s player in tennis.

He wasn’t perfect and had his lapses, but as John McEnroe — who was once in the position Djokovic now stands — pointed out on the ESPN telecast after midnight, all players have their lapses. The question is how many and for how long.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: How the US Open Became the Biggest, Boldest Tournament in Tennis

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We’ll borrow those familiar lyrics, about making it here, making it in the Big Apple, making it in the city that never sleeps — or shuts up. They’ve made it here, created an event that fits the city like a traffic jam on Lexington Avenue. And truly, it doesn’t matter if they make it anywhere else.

The United States Tennis Association has a tournament that’s seemingly endless, incredibly noisy and wonderfully exciting, perfect for New York, perfect for the most boisterous and unavoidable of the four Grand Slams.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray QF Will Give 2014 US Open Its 1st Great Men's Match

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Now it gets serious. Now the men’s game, existing almost in a vacuum while the ladies battered each other and the seedings — joyful confusion, you could call it — grabs its rightful place at the U.S. Open.

Now the big names display what they hope are their big games.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc. 

Bleacher Report: Revived Caroline Wozniacki Eyes 2014 US Open Title After Maria Sharapova Upset

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We called her the Woz, a word play on the Wiz, and on a court Caroline Wozniacki certainly looked like a wiz, a winner, even if she didn’t own a Grand Slam. There wasn’t a shot she couldn’t chase down; there wasn’t a ball she couldn’t return.

She was No. 1 in the women’s rankings for 67 weeks, and in 2009 she made it to the final of the U.S. Open. A loss to Kim Clijsters seemed only a blip, a hiccup as the tennis people say. The Woz was 19, and had to get better.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Meet CiCi Bellis, the 15-Year-Old Tennis Phenom Breaking Out at the 2014 US Open

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — The lyrics are oh so true. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And in a few sparkling hours, Catherine Cartan Bellis — best known as CiCi — made it big here. To borrow another very New York label, she’s an overnight success.

They love their new stars. On stage. In sports. But who doesn’t? Especially when that newest star, Mademoiselle Bellis, is a teenager, American and pulled off one of the great surprises in tennis.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in Wimbledon men's final

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

It wasn't Novak Djokovic's first hurrah, his victory Sunday in the Wimbledon men's final, but it might have been Roger Federer's last.

A month from his 33rd birthday, Federer was out to get his eighth All-England title. Djokovic had that in mind and also hoped to rid himself of the doubts about his play in championship matches.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Epic Novak Djokovic-Roger Federer Wimbledon Final Delivers Unforgettable Drama

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — Roger Federer thought it was going to be enough. Except it wasn't — for him.

For tennis, for those who love any sport for the beauty and tension of competition, for those who love athletic brilliance, it was more than enough.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Petra Kvitova wins Wimbledon women's title

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — It was less a match than a mismatch, 55 minutes of tennis so one-sided the winner was moved to tears by her domination and the loser felt compelled to offer a partial apology.

Petra Kvitova won her second Wimbledon women's singles Saturday, crushing 20-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 before a Centre Court crowd which hoped for better.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved. 

Bleacher Report: Djokovic vs. Federer Wimbledon Final Highlighting the Big 4's True Greatness

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — The French had their era and their group. “Les Quatre Mousquetaires” (The Four Musketeers) were tennis champions in the late 1920s and ‘30s. The most famous was Rene LaCoste, nicknamed “The Crocodile,” a logo that went on his clothing line.

Australia took over in the 1950s and ’60s with Frank Sedgman, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Lew Hoad and the man who may have been the finest ever, Rod Laver. That’s four plus two, but a justifiable exception.

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Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — Old guys rule. In tennis, of course, that means men in their late 20s, like Novak Djokovic, or early 30s, like Roger Federer.

The talk the last few days at Wimbledon was of the new generation, of the kids taking over. It won't happen this year.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Ageless Roger Federer Silencing Doubters with Dream Run to 2014 Wimbledon Final

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — It was March, the time tennis players look in the future — bright or bleak — and try to accept where they might go compared to where they had been. In the California desert, Roger Federer sounded like a man of acceptance.

“If I can’t play for No. 1,” he told the media at the BNB Paribas tournament in Indian Wells, “I’ll play for winning titles.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Eugenie Bouchard, 2011 champ Petra Kvitova reach Wimbledon final

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — The cliché about Canada is that it is a great place for beer and hockey players. The line needs updating. Add tennis players. The nation has its first Wimbledon finalist.

In what could be called an upset, Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal defeated Simona Halep of Romania, 7-6 (5), 6-2, Friday in the second semifinal. Bouchard will meet a former Wimbledon winner, Petra Kvitova, in Saturday's final. Kvitova beat fellow Czech and close friend Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (6), 6-1, in the first semifinal.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Will the Next Generation of Men's Tennis Stars Take over at Wimbledon 2014?

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — Rafael Nadal issued the warning a couple of weeks back. He said the generations in tennis don't last a generation, that before you know it, there's a new group of stars coming on — the way Nadal and Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer arrived seemingly moments ago.

The people we know, the champions, will take their leave, as champions inevitably do. Djokovic is only 27, Nadal 28, but they're looking over their shoulders. And playing as hard as they can against the guy across the net and that pest Father Time.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.