Laurie's Tennis articles

Last Sunday I watched the Rogers cup final between Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams.   Radwanska won the match in straight sets to claim her first title in Canada. However, it was the conversation between commentators Sam Smith and Anne Keothavong which got me thinking. Venus went for a bathroom break so to pass the time Sam and Anne had a “natter” as Sam put it.   The conversation focused on Radwanska and her skill on court.   Keothavong said that although Radwanska had grown up on clay, 10 of her 13 titles had come on hardcourt (11 by the end of the match) Keovathong thought that on clay Radwanska would be a “nightmare” to play against.   Sam Smith concurred by saying Radwanska won the junior French Open and destroyed the field but so far on the WTA didn’t have the power to contend with the other top players.   Sam Smith mentioned the quicker courts in Madrid and Rome didn’t suit her but went on to say that the court in Canada suited her beca...

Recently I watched a rerun of the 1993 Wimbledon quarterfinal on DVD between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.   After the great matches at Wimbledon this year including the semifinal between Dimitrov and Djokovic and the final between Djokovic and Federer, I was inspired to watch this match.   For some reason this is an often overlooked match in their rivalry, one of two which went to five sets at grand slam level. I was intrigued because even though this is a totally different era, we had the match up of the talented shotmaker against the talented baseliner, much in the way of this year’s Wimbledon semifinal and final.   The dynamics going into this match were also interesting for a number of reasons.   Sampras was ranked number 1 for the first time in his career two months earlier in April of 1993.   That proved to be controversial because the argument was how can a player who hasn’t won a major for almost three years be ranked number 1 in the world? ...