Newport’s Tennis World
By Jane Voigt Newport, RI, July 10, 2014 — Sixty years ago, The National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame was founded and built at the Newport Casino, a social club designed for and patronized by wealthy people that visited this historic community in the summer. These socialites are long gone, as are the white pants and dresses…
Tennis Hall of Fame
A Step Back in Time Newport’s Tennis World The Grass Is Greener and Softer The Highest Honor in Tennis Third Times a Charm for Hewitt Newport, Rhode Island, July, 2014 — The International Tennis Hall of Fame show court transports visitors to the early 20th Century in appeal and authenticity. On the left is a statue of…
Federer Closes In at ATP World Tour Finals, 2014
By Jane Voigt For the love of tennis what the heck is going on at the ATP World Tour Finals? The first five round-robin matches have been straight set wins, with two yesterday earning breadstick awards, meaning two of these elite players could only muster one game per set. Pathetic! This tournament isn’t for babies. Each player…
A First for Federer
By Jane Voigt Roger Federer won his first-ever Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament today. It seemed odd that the man with the most Grand Slams (17) and number of weeks at number one had not won this one title. But, facts are facts. And, there are more hills to climb for the man who ascends to…
Streak Interrupted
By Jane Voigt Roger Federer has a way of getting in the way of Novak Djokovic. In 2011, the Swiss star ended the Serbian’s 41-0 winning streak at the semifinals of Roland Garros, interrupting Djokovic’s chance to win the only slam not in his resume. Today, Federer shattered Novak’s 28-0 winning streak in China. Djokovic…
Benny
By Jane Voigt When Julien Benneteau plays Roger Federer diehard “Fed” fans gasp. They shouldn’t. The record book solidly favors Federer. Their head-to-head is 5-2 Federer, meaning … it’s not likely the Frenchman will win any match against the maestro. Let’s call that the Zen perspective. Anyone, though, with a lick of pro tennis insight knows that…
Tennis Expansion Is A Rocky Road
By Jane Voigt With inaugural matches for the new International Tennis Premier League (I.P.T.L.) to begin at the end of November, ATP’s President Chris Kermode called the organization “exhibitions.” Questions about the new league, the men’s game, and long-term plans from the ATP, including expansion of markets in Asia, were raised, during the press conference yesterday. “What players…
Lyrics Capture Today’s Tennis
By Jane Voigt “Well maybe it is just the time of year/Or maybe it’s the time of man/I don’t know who I am/But you know life is for learning/We are stardust/We are golden.” Joni Mitchell’s prophetic lyrics in her classic, “Woodstock,” delivered its message in Shanghai today nearly 45 years after it hit the airwaves. “And we’ve…
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Shanghai
By Jane Voigt Chinese Wild Card Chuhan Wang beat Fabio Fognini, the No. 15 seed, in Shanghai today, proving once again that anyone in the top 1,000 can beat an elite player. Wait … that’s not how it goes. It’s supposed to be, ‘that anyone in the top 100 can beat an elite player,’ Fognini…
Asian Tennis Time
By Jane Voigt It’s easy to forget how lucky some of us were when summer tennis put us within a couple time zones of tournaments. That’s not so true now. Tennis has shifted to Asia, which is at least 12 hours ahead of New York City, the site of the last Grand Slam of the…