Joel Drucker: Returning to Us Open Final, Juan Martin del Potro Nears His Redemption

NEW YORK—An apocryphal story has a woman asking Pablo Picasso to paint her portrait. Five minutes later, the work was finished. How much? Five thousand francs. Five thousand francs? But it only took you five minutes. No, Madam, it took me my whole life. In earning a 7-6 (3), 6-2 retirement win over Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the US Open, world No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro had taken two hours and one minute to reach the second Grand Slam singles final of his career.

Joel Drucker: Dream Come True - Osaka Beats Keys to Set up Final Against Serena

NEW YORK—You don’t expect a Grand Slam semifinal to be decided in the fourth game of the match. But there it was, Naomi Osaka serving to Madison Keys at 1-2, love-40. And there it went, Osaka winning three straight points, the third the result of Keys missing a backhand return off a 76-m. p. h. second serve. Osaka erased another break point and soon leveled the match at 2-all. Keys would call it “a sloppy game. ” But it also proved the pivotal moment in Osaka’s 6-2, 6-4 win.

Joe Drucker: Madison Keys Cruises into Us Open Semifinals for Second Straight Year

NEW YORK—There is so much to like about the way Madison Keys plays tennis. From her exquisite serve—unquestionably one of the finest motions in contemporary tennis—to her powerful groundstrokes, Keys at her best is as forceful as any player in women’s tennis. Runner-up at the US Open a year ago, tonight the 14th-seeded Keys advanced to the semis for the second-straight time, beating the 23rd seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-4, 6-3, in 83 minutes. But much as Keys can compel, she can also confound.

Joel Drucker: Nishikori Assembles a Five-Set Win over Cilic in US Open Quarterfinals

NEW YORK—The way tennis player logic works is that you apply the data in your favor. Headed into their afternoon US Open quarterfinal, seventh-seeded Marin Cilic and 21st-seeded Kei Nishikori had played one another 14 times. Nishikori drew strength from knowing that he’d won eight of them, including the most recent, a three-setter in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo earlier this year.

Joel Drucker: Rafael Nadal Survives Fifth-Set Tiebreak over Thiem at the US Open

NEW YORKThis was one of those evenings when Rafael Nadal proved why he’s the player you’d want to play for your life. In four hours and 49 minutes, in a match that finished at 2:05 a.m., Nadal earned a quarterfinal win over Dominic Thiem by the remarkable

Joel Drucker: Sevastova Knew How to Make Stephens Uncomfortable in Upset at US Open

NEW YORKWatch a defending Grand Slam champion struggle and out comes the microscope. What is going on? Why is she missing so much? Who is this vexing interloper?It was so hot early this afternoon at the US Open that junior matches were postponed. Inside Ar

Joel Drucker: Osaka vs. Sabalenka - Osaka Draws First Blood in Rivalry of the Future

NEW YORKTwenty years from now, Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka will cross paths, perhaps as Fed Cup captains, perhaps as commentators, perhaps even as inductees of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Hopefully, they will look back at Labor Day 2018, whe

Joel Drucker: Naturally, Nadal Labors in Win over Basilashvili on Labor Day Weekend

NEW YORKWhen Nikoloz Basilashvili walked on to Arthur Ashe Stadium to play Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 today at the US Open, it appeared that he faced an untenable pair of choices. The only time this 26-year-old man from Tbilisi, Georgia had played Nad

Joel Drucker: As Richard Gasquet Saw First Hand, the Novak Djokovic of Old Is Back

NEW YORKSeveral years ago, a tennis father I know refused to let his son learn the two-handed backhand. He insisted that the boy be taught a one-hander, as in the father’s eyes the one-hander was a far more elegant shot. And shouldn’t tennis, as such a spo

Joel Drucker: Kevin Anderson Ends Spirited Denis Shapovalov's Run in Five Sets in NY

NEW YORKKevin Anderson is a rather low-key, soft spoken, unassuming fellow. But the tranquil nature of Anderson’s persona belies the extensive drama he has brought to majors of late.Recall Wimbledon, where victories over Roger Federer and John Isner each w

Joel Drucker: Sevastova's Knife Was Too Much for Makarova's Fork at US Open

NEW YORKOpen the kitchen drawer, regard your utensils and you will begin to sense what happened during an intriguing third-round match between 19th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova and a past US Open semifinalist, Ekaterina Makarova.Consider Sevastova a knife,

Joel Drucker: Roger Federer's Pressers Show Why He's King Both on and off the Court

NEW YORKAt 5:40 p.m. this evening, less than an hour after his second-round win over Benoit Paire, Roger Federer strolled into his post-match press conference. While most players, including Federer, usually enter the media interview room in some form of te

Joel Drucker: At the US Open, Rafael Nadal Might Be More Oppressive Than the Weather

NEW YORK“On some nights New York is as hot as Bangkok,” read the opening lines of a novel written by that great American author, Saul Bellow. In the wake of his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss this oppressively warm summer evening to Rafael Nadal, Vasek Pospisil could

Joel Drucker: Azarenka Flashes Championship Form in Win over Gavrilova at US Open

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter EmailWATCHExtreme conditions really impacting players at US Open:NEW YORKThe 79th-ranked woman in the world beat the 25th seed. But given the two players involved, only someone who’d never heard of tennis would consider i

Joel Drucker: Blistering Heat Made Tuesday at the US Open a Survival of the Fittest

NEW YORKFor Novak Djokovic, an astute decision by the USTA and a swift ice bath helped him turn the corner. For his opponent, Marton Fucsovics, it plunged him into the abyss. For Jelena Ostapenko, air-conditioning saved the day. For the matter-of-fact Ange

Joel Drucker: Djokovic Turns It on Late in Win over Fucsovics in US Open Return

NEW YORKReturning to the scene of past triumphs is supposed to be a rather cool experience. But for two-time US Open champion Novak Djokovic, back in New York after missing last year’s tournament, it was anything but. At 1:30 p.m., roughly 30 minutes befor

Joel Drucker: Heat Forces Auger-Aliassime to Retire Against Shapovalov at US Open

NEW YORKFor more than two hours, these Canadian mates who’d known each other since they were seven years old, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, had gone toe-to-toe. But now, suddenly, all too suddenly, it had ended, Auger-Aliassime retiring at on

Joel Drucker: Venus Overcomes Match-Point Misses in Three-Set Win over Kuznetsova

NEW YORKShe was well into her 30s now, a savvy but still powerful and aggressive veteran who’d won the US Open, taken a title earlier this summer and appeared fit enough for a fine New York run. On most days, that kind of track record would have put the Ar

Joel Drucker: Borna Coric Outlasts Taylor Fritz in a Windy Affair at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.The most compelling aspect of Wednesday’s fourth-round match between American Taylor Fritz and Croatian Borna Coricthe two youngest players remaining in the drawwas that the stakes were supremely high for each.Fritz, playing what he’d a

Joel Drucker: Roger Federer Measures, Then Counts—Another Victory

Indian Wells, CAThe protagonist was Roger Federer. The antagonist, at least in theory, was Filip Krajinovic. Let it be noted that Krajinovic was seeded 25th at this year’s BNP Paribas Open and ranked No. 28 in the world.By the time this 58-minute encounter

Joel Drucker: Life on the WTA Tour - Eight Takeaways from This Year's Australian Open

1) From was to wizardCaroline Wozniacki not only won her first Grand Slam title, but she returned to the world No. 1 ranking. She’d last held the top spot six years ago, on January 29, 2012. The six-year gap is the longest gap in WTA history.2) Movers over

Joel Drucker: Emotional and Powerful, Roger Federer Collects 20th Slam in Five Sets

MELBOURNEIt was 1:10 a.m. Monday morning when Roger Federer walked into the main media room, located on the fourth floor of Melbourne Park’s new media center. A year ago, he had also won a five-set Australian Open singles final, over Rafael Nadal. The corn

Joel Drucker: Finally, the Trophy - Wozniacki Edges Halep with Everything on the Line

MELBOURNEAs the top two ranked players in the world, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, entered Rod Laver Arena Saturday night to play the Australian Open final, all were aware of how binary and stark the certain outcomes were. For one, an answer cherish

Joel Drucker: Chung's Retirement Shouldn't Dampen Federer's Latest Extraordinary Run

MELBOURNEElastoplast is an Australian-based website that offers tips about woundcare, footware, beauty and, in the site’s words, “your active life.” According to Elastoplast, “Blisters form on hands and feet from rubbing and pressure.”The blister that had

Joel Drucker: Similarly Seeking Slam, Wozniacki & Halep Reach Career-Defining Final

MELBOURNEAmnesia and memory. A pair of contradictory attributes, vying for cooperation within the minds of Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, the two women who today advanced to this year’s Australian Open final.Or better yet, is the struggle between for

Joel Drucker: Michael Stich and Helena Sukova Elected into Tennis Hall of Fame

MELBOURNEExceptional versatility, including everything from excellent serves to penetrating groundstrokes to sharp volleys, were among the attributes that have helped Helena Sukova and Michael Stich be elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (IT

Joe Drucker: An Interview with Sportscaster and Former Tennis Player Mary Carillo

Mary Carillo took time this week to talk with Joel Drucker about a number of topics, including a significant, lesser-known aspect of her background that explains why she so loves coming to Melbourne. Joe Drucker: An Interview with Sportscast

Joel Drucker: Hyeon Chung Showed It All, While Tennys Sandgren Said All He Wanted

MELBOURNEHyeon Chung continued his incredible run through the Australian Open, at 21 years old becoming the first Korean to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament, courtesy of a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over another Australian Open Cinderella, Tennys

Joel Drucker: Rafa Retires with Injury in Fifth Set, Sending Cilic to Semifinals

MELBOURNE Sunday afternoon, Rafael Nadal led a match by one set to love and a service break in the second, only to surrender the break and eventually lose the set. The same thing happened here on Tuesday evening. But while squandering that lead the first

Joel Drucker: A Clijsters Devotee, Belgium's Mertens Nears Her Own Aussie Open Final

MELBOURNEWith control, power, depth and adroit forward movement, Elise Mertens dispatched fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 6-0, in a brisk 73 minutes in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Mertens hit 26 winners, nearly double Svitolina’s count o

Joel Drucker: More Fearless Than Ever: Keys to Face Kerber in Quarterfinals in Oz

MELBOURNE – “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” read the lines of the T.S. Eliot poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” For Madison Keys, the revelatory metric might well be her Australian Open credentials. Keys first came to this event

Joel Drucker: Grigor Dimitrov's Growth Continues with High-Wire Victory over Kyrgios

MELBOURNEOn Sunday night, the tennis classroom officially known as Rod Laver Arena witnessed two students furiously scribbling in their notebooks as each issued one question after another. Between them, they would strike 140 winners over the course of near

Joel Drucker: Nadal Outlasts Schwartzman in a Battle That Lasts Nearly Four Hours

MELBOURNEHere in Australia, it was time for the tournament to head downhill. On a muggy Sunday afternoon, the temperatures at Melbourne Park were in the 80sstill far more temperate than the triple digits of Thursday and Fridaythe roll towards week two was

Joel Drucker: Up Close and Powerful - Marin Cilic Tops Ryan Harrison in Straight Sets

MELBOURNEWhile such stylists as Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can reveal their visceral and layered qualities even when watched on smart phones, Marin Cilic can appear robotic and monochromatic. But viewed up close, this man from Croat

Joel Drucker: None like It Hot - The Weather in Melbourne Has Been Brutal This Week

MELBOURNEThe joke about the weather in Melbourne is that it’s possible to face four seasons in a day. But no one was laughing yesterday. It had become blistering hot in Melbourne. During a second-round match between Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils Thursday

Joel Drucker: A Tale of Two Drop Shots - Red-Hot Kerber Beats Vekic in Straight Sets

MELBOURNE Whoever invented the drop shot was a genius. In a sport where depth and power have historically told the tale, the drop shot is capable of tilting the table. Add to that what was in play today at Melbourne Park: on-court temperatures north of 10

Joel Drucker: Sharapova Dispatches Sevastova - The 2008 Ao Champ Is Rolling Thus Far

MELBOURNE – Maria Sharapova began her second-round match versus 14th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova as if she were double-parked. A brisk 13 minutes into the match, Sharapova dashed across the court to hit a leaping running backhand swing volley to go up 4-1.

Joel Drucker: On a Triumphant Night, Dimitrov Edges No. 186 Mcdonald, 8-6 in Fifth

MELBOURNEUnforgettablefor different reasons. That single word is how third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and Mackenzie McDonald, an American qualifier ranked 186th in the world, will each remember their second-round match at the 2018 Australian Open. Over the cou

Joel Drucker: Down 2 Match Points and 1-5, Wozniacki Wins Last Six Games to Top Fett

MELBOURNE The temperature on Rod Laver Arena was more than 100 degrees. Even more sizzling were the shots coming off 21-year-old Croatian Jana Fett’s racquet. As she piled up point after point in the third set of her second-round match versus Caroline Woz

Joel Drucker: Back to Work - Djokovic Sharp in First Match Back, at Australian Open

MELBOURNEOne of the pet sayings of Novak Djokovic’s former coach, Boris Becker, was that tennis years were like dog years. If we accept Becker’s assessment, then what to make of the half-year that had passed since Djokovic had last played a tournament matc

Joel Drucker: Konta's Kindly Countenance Was on Display in Day 2 of Australian Open

MELBOURNEAustralia was where it had all began for Johanna Kontanot just in tennis. She’d been born in Sydney, and lived there until she was 14 before relocating to Great Britain. Australia had also been where Konta had reached her first Grand Slam semifina

Joel Drucker: Aussie Lads Prove It All Day - No Worries in Melbourne Park

MELBOURNEIn the southeast corner of Show Court 2, the war cries came on every changeover.“Come on Taylor, come on Taylor, come on Taylor.”“Let’s go Taylor, let’s go Taylor, let’s go Taylor.”There they sat, eleven young men. All were clad in white tennis cl

Bencic Soars Through Venus: Inside the 20-Year-Old's Statement Win

As recently as last July, Belinda Bencic was unable to hit a tennis ball, the result of left wrist surgery she’d had on May 3, 2017. Only in August did Bencic start to hit backhands, beginning five minutes a day with smaller racquets and soft balls. “The

Joel Drucker: Once an Outsider, Pancho Segura Moved with Tennis and into Our Hearts

If you start with the premise that the chance to live a life is a miracle, then you’ll understand why Pancho Segura conducted himself with such passion and generosity. This was a man of relentless engagement, for 96 years dedicated to showing anyone he met

Joel Drucker: Tennis Congress - What Endures?

Call it the Immersive Tennis Experience (ITE). Long a staple of the recreational tennis life, the ITE can take on many forms. There’s a USTA league team, off to the sectionals or nationals. There’s the exotic journey, millions of balls hit in a sun-drench

Joel Drucker: How the Rocket Soars - Rod Laver Among the Players

Less than a month earlier, inside an arena in Prague, clad in a crisp blazer and tie, Rod Laver had sat courtside to watch the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Sam Querrey play the Laver Cup. There had been drama and shot-making, the

Joel Drucker: Flashback Friday - Boris Becker in the Cauldron

There was an odd symmetry to what Boris Becker accomplished twice on this day. In both cases, he won indoor finals versus the reigning world number one. In both cases, Becker snapped his opponent’s 21-match winning streak. And in both cases, Becker rall

Joel Drucker: In the Orbit of Emmo

He has won more Grand Slam titles than any man in tennis history, 12 in singles, 16 in doubles. He’s one of only two men to have won the singles at each of the majors twice, the other one being his dear friend, Rod Laver. He was once so popular in his na

Joel Drucker: Day One of Tennis Fantasies with John Newcombe and the Legends

Monday morning and it is 5:30 a.m. in New Braunfels, Texas (30 miles from San Antonio). The setting is the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch. The event is Tennis Fantasies with John Newcombe and the Legends.More than 100 recreational male players have gathered f

Joel Drucker: Where Was Home When Billie Beat Bobby?

“The more you know about history, the more you know yourself. And the more history you know, the more you can both appreciate what’s happened and maybe shape it too.”- Billie Jean KingThere’s the scene in “Battle of the Sexes” when Billie Jean King decide

Joel Drucker: TBT - Tennis in the Olympics – A Game-Changer That Should Also Be Changed

Over the last 20 years, more and more countries have made their mark on tennis. Nations such as Russia, Serbia, China, Brazil and many others have surfaced in a big way – be it with players, events, playing styles, color, flavor.Why?One major reason has to

Joel Drucker: Maria Sharapova - Never One to Go Lightly

Book ReviewUnstoppable: My Life So FarBy Maria Sharapova with Rich CohenReviewed by Joel DruckerLikely, it will never be the easy way for Maria Sharapova. She had been conceived in the wake and shadow of a nuclear disaster, the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown. S

Joel Drucker: A Day at a Challenger Event

Were you a member or guest of the Tiburon Peninsula Club (TPC), you’d be delighted. TPC is located in Marin County, the affluent bedroom community just north of San Francisco. There’s a pool, a clubhouse, 12 well-maintained hard courts.But were you a pro

Joel Drucker: "Battle of the Sexes" - Lornie Kuhle and the Doctorate in Riggsology

The contest. That was the term Bobby Riggs liked to employ. The contest – the thrill of playing for money, even if but for a dollar here, five dollars there, on to thousands more. The action, the competition; but not the gamble, oh no, not the gamble.

Joel Drucker: "Battle of the Sexes" - Meet Rosie Casals

As the broadcast of the “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs got underway, ABC play-by-play man Howard Cosell draped his arm over the shoulders of his female analyst, Rosie Casals (in the newly released film, played by Natalie Mor

Joel Drucker: Heart Over Mind, Nadal Over Federer

One reason tennis is so compelling is that the relationship between viewer and player is highly intimate. It’s a one-on-one connection, an affinity of projected values conscious and unconscious, visceral and intellectual, self and desired self, hate and l

Joel Drucker: Where Once Tennis Giants Walked the Earth

It was 4:35 p.m. in Queens, New York. In the US Open women’s final, Sloane Stephens had just consolidated an early break of Madison Keys’ serve to go up 4-2 in the first set.Just over three miles to the west, also in Queens, the chairs at the bar of the W

Joel Drucker: An Old Champ Brings New Life to Doubles

Twenty years ago yesterday, on September 7, 1997, Gigi Fernandez and her longstanding doubles partner, Natasha Zvereva, lost the US Open women’s doubles final to Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotna. Fernandez was 33 years old. She and Zvereva were still t

Joel Drucker: Heady Thoughts About Roger Federer Headlines

In a powerful and strange way, the affinity between a media outlet and its audience forms a glue of a certain flavor and color. Consider that glue a reflection of what the readers demand from the outlet and what the outlet thinks the readers are really fe

Joel Drucker: The Coco Turnaround

A prologue for my newfound appreciation of Coco Vandeweghe: Just about any time I hear a tennis player praised as a good athlete, I recoil and resist. How do we define athlete? Just because someone, say, like Coco Vandeweghe, can show up at a public park

Joel Drucker: Sloane Stephens Comes of Age

Even before they had reached the decisive tie-breaker, there had come a time early in the third set when Sloane Stephens and Anastasija Sevastova had entered the territory of the unforgettable. It had been the situation, a US Open quarterfinal. It had be

Joel Drucker: Oh Racquet Match-Maker – Make Me a Catch, Find Me a Match

Ideally, it will feel comfortable in your hands. It will prove solid when you want, flexible as desired. Even should you unravel, it will hold steady, a source of joy and engagement. But the sober truth is that finding the right fit is not easy. You kn

Joel Drucker: Roger, Rod, Pete: What a Week for Tennis Birthdays

A week of incredible tennis birthdays concludes today. On Tuesday, August 8, Roger Federer turned 36. The next day was Rod Laver’s 79th birthday. And today, August 12, Pete Sampras turns 46.In no particular order, the three are the greatest tennis playe

Joel Drucker: Labor Day - Tools of the Trade

This being Labor Day, you might be interested in the tools of the trade that comprise a life in tennis media. We concede that this is hardly a zone for the environmentally conscious. Each day, a tournament puts out so much paper that you could kill enoug

Joel Drucker: The Wozniacki Conundrum

How to assess Caroline Wozniacki? A year ago, prior to the US Open, she had plummeted to #74 in the ranks, the Dane’s decline the result of injuries and also, perhaps, the inherently defensive qualities of her playing style.Then came a rebound. Wozniacki

Joel Drucker: League Tennis - Troubled but Redeemable

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece about the poison around league tennis. Much dialogue was triggered – email notes, Facebook comments, phone calls, conversations.Many indeed agreed with my assessment. More sad stories surfaced. There was the tale of

Joel Drucker: John Barrett and Wimbledon's Circle of Time

Just over a fortnight ago, I arrived at Wimbledon on a Friday morning. It is always a zombie-like feeling, to get off a flight from San Francisco to London and by afternoon be on the grounds of the All England Club. Some years, all I can do is stagger.

Joel Drucker: Bellis of the Ball

The last two singles of the day at Friday’s Bank of the West Classic represented a study in contrasts. First, a labored but eventually triumphant effort from Madison Keys, the 22-year-old American beating Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-3, in a match that proved on

Joel Drucker: League Tennis - Possible Solutions

Two days ago, this space cited aspects of the poison that infects league tennis. Today, thoughts on the solution. Here are a few modest proposals that could theoretically make league tennis more fun for all:+ Consider making it strictly a sectional-level

Joel Drucker: Denis, Anyone?

It had to have been a little unnerving for 20-year-old Alexander Zverev in Montreal this past Saturday night to look across the net and see that his semifinal opponent, Denis Shapovalov, was even younger. Such is the generational saga of tennis. One minu

Joel Drucker: Throwback Thursday - Graf’s Last Match

It had been a glorious two months for Stefanie Graf. On June 6, 1999, she had won the singles title at Roland Garros, her first major in more than two years. Eight days later she’d turned 30 and gone on to reach the finals at Wimbledon. On August 1, she

Joel Drucker: Wimbledon Flashback - Federer’s First

An odd aura hung over Roger Federer as the 2003 edition of Wimbledon got underway. He was only 21 years old, but had long been touted as a potential multi-Slam champion. In 1998, he’d won the Wimbledon junior title. Three years later, he’d signaled the

Joel Drucker: Book Review: Trophy Son -- Or, the Plot to Save a Tennis Player’s Soul

Elegantly written, reasonably informed, “Trophy Son” is a highly enjoyable tennis novel, an engaging literary exploration. Make that clear: Do not expect a novel to provide the same degree of data-rich accuracy (whatever that means) of a journalistic acco

Joel Drucker From Newport: Fact and Truth

This piece begins at 5:30 a.m. on a Friday morning inside a hotel room in Newport, Rhode Island, a short distance from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. I have come here this weekend for the Rolex Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend, to honor great pla

Joel Drucker: Three Past WTA Champions Ready to Reclaim Their Glory

Between them, these three have only played 23 matches this year. But they have also collectively won nine Grand Slam singles titles. Each is powerful, at her best, as forceful and oppressive as any WTA player.The three at hand are Petra Kvitova, Victoria A

Joel Drucker: Craig O’Shannessy Knows Your Game

Sports analytics was destined to be a dynamic field. Why guess when you can count? And to my mind, in recent years, no one tallies and interprets better than Craig O’Shannessy (braingametennis.com).To call O’Shannessy a tennis zealot is an understatement

Joel Drucker: Talk of the GOAT Gets My Goat

Of course Roger Federer is great. But the greatest of all-time? That’s not even the right question. The “GOAT” concept has long bored and irked me, largely because it lacks nuance and scarcely raises anyone’s consciousness about the game’s history.My an

Joel Drucker: Angles & Drop Shots

+ Nice to see Madison Keys win the Bank of the West Classic, the WTA tournament held on the campus of Stanford University. After dropping the first set of her opening match against a qualifier, #212-ranked Caroline Dolehide, Keys won eight straight sets t

Joel Drucker: Happy Birthday, Nick Bollettieri

It doesn’t matter that he turned 86 years old today. As always, he bounded out of bed long before dawn. Pushups. Situps. Stretch. Go. Go. Go. There were people needing his help, lessons to be given, talking to be done. Always, talking to be done.He

Patrick Rafter Became World No.1 On This Day

It was 18 years ago, on July 26, 1999, when Patrick Rafter - a two-time US Open champion, and one of the most popular players in the sport’s history - became the World No.1 on the ATP World Tour.Having won his first major at the 1997 US Open, beating Greg

Joel Drucker: First-Time Matchup for Keys & Vandeweghe

Today’s matchup in the Bank of the West Classic singles final could well be a sign of even better things come. The two finalists, Americans Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe, have for several years been touted as potential Grand Slam champions.Each had a ma

Joel Drucker: Sharapova Beaten - Exile's Return Halted

Those 15 months of exile had deprived Maria Sharapova of what she lived for: the chance to compete in front of thousands; millions when you counted those watching on television in every corner of the globe. “You can’t replicate that anywhere,” Sharapova s

Joel Drucker: To the Ends of the Earth - Love, Loss and the US Open

It might well be my fatal flaw that I treat life too much like tennis, and tennis too much like life. But when you ponder the intersection of passion and tragedy that tumbled and collided seven years ago today, you might understand.Picture a 12-inch black-

Joel Drucker: Where The Players Roam

We can only tell you so much about the place we will now take you. Among special US Open spots, only the locker rooms are more discreet. There will be no pictures.Head with me on a tour of the player’s lounge area.There are three distinct parts to this

Joel Drucker: Djokovic’s ’17 Is Over - A Few Questions

The vast majority of press releases list the name and phone number of a contact person. Often they are also printed on letterhead, showcasing the newsmaker’s organization, affiliation or management company.But this one came on stark white paper. No conta

Joel Drucker: Clock Strikes Midnight for Kerber

It took just 65 minutes. It was scarcely surprising. It was the first round exit of defending US Open champion Angelique Kerber, beaten 6-3, 6-1 by a hard-hitting teen, 19-year-old Naomi Osaka.The last 50 weeks had been a hard time for Kerber. Not since

Joel Drucker: How Anyone Can Learn From Federer

Roger Federer is more popular than ever. As if his years of supreme success weren’t enough, he is now, just short of turning 36, enjoying a late-career resurgence. Having not won a Grand Slam title since 2012, Federer this year has won two. It’s a remar

Drucker: Wimbledon Flashback Day 11 - Men’s Semi – Borg & Connors Light Up Centre Court

Upon reaching the 1981 Wimbledon semifinals, Bjorn Borg had won an astounding 40 straight matches at the All England Club. To reach the finals for the sixth straight year, he’d have to get past one of his most formidable rivals, Jimmy Connors.For much of

Joel Drucker: Grazing at the Tennis Buffet

It was 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. This third day of the tournament was a spectator’s delight – a full slate of second round matches, as well as a hearty batch of first rounders that due to yesterda

Joel Drucker: Bellis and Isner - The Short and The Long of It

Soon enough, it won’t be like this. This was Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. On the day before the tournament got underway, there was a certain languid quality in the air. Groundskeepers, TV crews, technicians, merchandise ve

Joel Drucker: Wimbledon - A Place to Play

Amid all the pomp and elegance, hope and glory that attend this competition known such as Wimbledon, an overlooked quality of this host nation is its joyful, playful engagement with the tennis -- and how that passion plays out at this event.It can be spott

Drucker: Wimbledon Flashback - Ladies’ Singles Final - Venus Takes Her 1st Wimbledon

Her first Wimbledon had come in 1997, the same month she’d turned 17. So nervous was Venus Williams at her Wimbledon debut that she’d even served a ball with a broken string.But three years later, she was a seasoned warrior, primed to take the title her fa

Joel Drucker: First Grand Slam Win for American Sofia Kenin

Oh, the angles we journalists seek. Ninety minutes had passed since eighteen-year-old American Sofia Kenin had beaten #32 seed Lauren Davis 7-5, 7-5. It was a prototypical day one story. Kenin had been the second-ranked junior in the world two years ago

Joel Drucker: Happy Birthday, Tony Trabert - A Personal Memory

If you start to play tennis, the hope is that you’ll soon enough come under the influence of someone who can help you understand tennis in a deep way, someone who will show you not just how to hit the ball, but to richly grasp the sport.The one I was lucky

Joel Drucker: The Poison Inside League Tennis

From the deck of his tennis club, the league team captain cast his eyes towards a distant court. He inspected a new member with the intensity of a U-boat commander assessing the high seas. All he needed was a pair of binoculars.“I wonder if this new guy is

Joel Drucker: Big-Time National Junior Tourneys Underway

Two iconic junior tennis events are underway this week. Kalamazoo, Michigan has been the site of the USTA National Boys 18 & 16 Championship since the 1940s. Every notable American male has competed in this event, from Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith, to Jimm