Michael Steinberger: Dimitrov Proved He's No Longer a Choker with His ATP Finals Title Win

Monday morning, the first morning of what passes for tennis’s off-season, brought sad news: former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna had died of cancer at the age of 49. She had passed away the day before, at her home in the Czech Republic. It is not a littl

Michael Steinberger: Jelena Dokic's Autobiography Reveals Her Father's Horrific Abuse

This isn’t mean to sound as crass as it probably will, but Jelena Dokic could not have timed her memoir any better. In the six weeks since The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés about Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual predation, this ha

Michael Steinberger: The Next Gen ATP Finals Was 'Appallingly Sexist and Tacky'

The Next Gen ATP finals, being held in Milan this week, made headlines even before a point had even been played. But as you probably know, the headlines were not flattering. At the draw ceremony on Sunday night, the eight players were brought on stage by m

Michael Steinberger: Martina Hingis Leaves with a Complicated Legacy

Given that it was going to be the third time she retired from tennis, Martina Hingis was probably smart just to spring the news on us rather than announce it in advance. There was no need for a long farewell tour; the sport had already bid her goodbye twic

Michael Steinberger: Let's Appreciate Venus Williams' Enduring Greatness

When the present era in tennis endsand, sadly, it will come to an endthe game will be thrust into a period of mourning the likes of which maybe no sport has ever experienced. Forgive the cliché, but this has been tennis’s greatest generation, and when Roge

Michael Steinberger: Tennis Needs to Be Affordable, Accessible for All Kids

Last week, the U.S. men’s soccer team suffered a humiliating defeat to Trinidad and Tobago, a loss that cost the Americans a spot in next year’s World Cup in Russia. It is the first time since 1986 that the United States has failed to qualify for the month

Michael Steinberger: Here Is How Tennis Calendar Can Be Reimagined

After succumbing to yet another injury, this time a strained calf, suffered in Tokyo last week, Milos Raonic suggested that the pro tennis calendar ought to be revamped. “Scheduling, the length of the year, and how spread outgeographically and throughout t

Michael Steinberger: Is Cheating in Junior Tennis a Growing Problem?

Amid all the happy chatter generated by this year’s US Open and also by the Laver Cup, The Washington Post struck a discordant note a few weeks ago with a story about cheating in junior tennis. The takeaway: cheating is pervasive, an endless cycle of bad c

Michael Steinberger: NFL's 'Take a Knee' Protests and Laver Cup Show the Power of Players

I think it can reasonably (and euphemistically) be said that last weekend was an eventful one in the sports world. I certainly can’t recall another instance in which the national anthem overshadowed the games. While the NFL found itself at the center of a

Steinberger: "Battle of the Sexes" Is About Tennis as an Instrument of Social Progress

This is normally the time of year when tennis fades from the headlines. Not so this year: The film Battle of the Sexes opens Friday, putting the spotlight back on tennis two weeks after the U.S. Open ended.Hollywood seldom turns its fickle gaze to tennis,

Michael Steinberger: Kevin Anderson Created His Own Luck

Everyone is chiming in with their U.S. Open summations. I’ll chime in, too:-Last year was an abysmal one for tennis. It began with the match-fixing controversy that erupted just as the Australian Open was getting underway, continued with Maria Sharapova’s

Michael Steinberger: Watching My Kids Watching Federer on Arthur Ashe

Two nights ago, Juan Martin del Potro dashed hopes for a first-ever U.S. Open meeting between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. His four-set quarterfinal victory over Federer deprived the Open of its most eagerly anticipated showdown and torpedoed what may h

Michael Steinberger: 'It's Time We Just Let Kyrgios Be Kyrgios'

Last year, I wrote a profile of Nick Kyrgios for The New York Times Magazine’s annual US Open issue. Kyrgios headlined the night session on the middle Saturday of the Open, so I took my two kids to see the guy who had kept their dad preoccupied for much of

Michael Steinberger: Citi Open Doesn't Need the 'Big Four' or the Williamses

Earlier this week, I spent a day at the Citi Open in Washington. It was a terrific daythe sun was out, it was warm but not especially humid (a rare treat in Washington this time of year), and although none of the top seeds were playing that afternoon, the

Michael Steinberger: Federer Has Never Given Us Reason to Regret Cheering for Him

It is nearly two weeks since Wimbledon ended, and I’m still suffering withdrawal symptoms. You too? I think I know what our problem is: we’re coming off Federer Highs. Federer, I’ve come to realize, has a narcotic effect on many of ushe induces feelings of

Steinberger: In Sports as in Life, the Key to Success Is to Seize Opportunity

As clichés go, few are more shopworn than the idea that sports is a metaphor for life. But most clichés become clichés because they contain a kernel of truth, and there is no denying that with its challenges, cadences, and capriciousness, athletic competit

Michael Steinberger: Feel the Bern

Although the sun was shining, the grass shimmered in the light, and there was no shortage of good tennis, Tuesday was a tough day at Wimbledon. Five matches ended in retirements, including the two marquee matches on Centre Court, one featuring Roger Federe

Michael Steinberger: 'World Champion' - The Greatest Theme Song Ever

If you’re old enough to remember when Wimbledon matches were shown on tape delay here in the United States and late-round matches were pretty much all you saw of the tournamentand I am old enough to remember those dark timesyou will surely agree that these

Michael Steinberger: Should Tennis Coaching Be Specialized?

I didn’t watch much of golf’s U.S. Open last weekend. What little interest I had in golf has evaporated with Tiger Woods’s demise. In retrospect, I wasn’t watching golf when Woods played; I was watching him, and now that’s he's sidelined, possibly for good

Michael Steinberger: Murray - One of Tennis’s All-Time Great Overachievers

In all the French Open postmortems, hardly anything has been said about Andy Murrayyou know, the guy ranked number one in the world and who came within four points of reaching the final in Paris for the second consecutive year. Fulsome tributes have been p

Michael Steinberger: Why Tennis Fans are OK with 'Big Four' Domination

If you follow the NBA, you are no doubt painfully aware that this year’s playoffs have been a total bust. It’s been a soul-deadening slog of blowout games and one-sided series, all leading to an outcome that was inevitable from the start of the season: a r

That Nadal's Most Wins Are on Clay Doesn't Detract From His Greatness

It is often said that being a pundit means never having to say you are sorry or to concede that you were wrong. In the brief time that I’ve been commentating in this space, I don’t think I’ve written anything that requires an apology. But it appears I may

Steinberger: Deford Is Arguably the Finest Sports Writer of His Generation

Frank Deford announced yesterday that, after 37 years as a sports commentator on NPR, he is stepping away from the mic. Deford, who is 78, had a great voice for radio, full of warmth and mirth, and millions came to know him through his three-minute spots o

Steinberger: Dzumhur Got His First Taste of Tennis on a Makeshift Court

It is a trite observation, but with so much attention focused on tennis’s biggest stars, it is easy to forget that there are compelling stories down the ranks. We know there’s more depth to the pro game than ever before and that the guy ranked 90th in the

Michael Steinberger: On Sharapova - Winning Is One Way to Put Doping Episode Behind Her

Maria Sharapova will achieve an ignominious distinction next week: when she takes the court for her opening match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she will become the first tennis superstar ever to return to action after being suspended for u

Steinberger: Coaching Gigs are Short-Lived and Often Dissolve in Acrimony

It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that coaching tennis at the professional level is a thankless job. The perks are pretty good: you get to travel the world, meet interesting people, and maintain a year-round tan. It definitely beats pouring cement. B

Michael Steinberger: Tennis v Boxing - The Excitement of a Title Fight

This week is the 30th anniversary of the fight that ended of my childhood love of boxing. On April 6 1987, after years of build-up, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, two of the greatest fighters of their eraand two of the greatest of all times

Steinberger: 'Watching Federer Right Now Is a ... Hallucinatory Experience'

If, back in September, someone had asked me which was likelier to happenDonald Trump winning the election, the wrong film being announced as the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, or Roger Federer winning the 2017 Australian Open and reestablish

Michael Steinberger: 'The Racket He Used in Sofia Had a Small Hole in the Frame'

The Saturday before last, the Wake Forest University men’s tennis team had an away match against the University of Texas. Alex Lazarov could have been in Austin with the Wake Forest team but wasn’t. Instead, he and his father drove 11 hours that weekend fr

Michael Steinberger: Should Miami Open Remain in Miami?

Going from Indian Wells to Miami is a transition from west coast to east coast; from desert to ocean; from hot, arid weather to hot, humid conditions; and from a flourishing tournament to a troubled one. The fate of the Miami Open has been in doubt for a c

Michael Steinberger: So What’s Eating Novak Djokovic?

Joe Louis kept fighting into his late thirties. Once, near the end of his career, he was asked about the challenge of boxing past 35. “My age, what happen all depend on how you feel when you get up that day,” he replied. It was an answer that spoke to the

Michael Steinberger: February Not Just the Official SI Swimsuit Month

Thanks to some freakishly mild weather, tennis nuts on the east coast, including yours truly, were playing outdoors, in shorts and t-shirts, last weekend. Work permitting (or even if not), some of us will be out there again tomorrow and Friday, as temperat

Michael Steinberger: CoCo Vandeweghe Is No Shrinking Violet

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and the Williams sisters turned this year’s Australian Open into an extended version of Old Timers' Day. However, younger players weren’t entirely eclipsed. Coco Vandeweghe, the 25-year-old American firebrand, took out a murder

Michael Steinberger: Wawrinka - Tennis’s Never-Say-Never Guy

You know that State Farm commercial, the one in which the guy says he’s never getting married, is never having kids, is never moving to the suburbs, and so forth? Maybe I’ve got too much tennis on the brain, but every time I see that ad, I think of Stan Wa

Michael Steinberger: There's No Place Like Oz

There is an argument to be madeand it has been made many timesthat the Australian Open is scheduled too early on the calendar. We’re still taking down Christmas ornaments (or putting off taking them down) when the first ball is struck in Melbourne. No ques

Michael Steinberger: Picking up the Pace

In the summer of 2008, I spent a week at the beach with my wife and kids. The first day of our vacation coincided with the Wimbledon men’s final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.As I settled into the couch that morning to watch the match, I assured m

Michael Steinberger: Wawrinka - Tennis’s Never-Say-Never Guy

Michael Steinberger: The GOAT Open

The Australian Open produced such a feel-good, cathartic final weekend that it seems almost beside the pointand small-mindedto talk about what the results mean. Roger Federer suggested as much during the trophy ceremony last Sunday night, when he said he w

Is Djokovic's Downward Spiral Rooted in His Unrequited Love for Fans?

It is not often that the loser of a match nudges the winner out of the headlines, but Novak Djokovic did just that last Sunday in Rome. After losing to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Italian Open, Djokovic announced in his post-match press conference

Michael Steinberger on WTA: 'What Is It with the Women’s Game These Days?'

You know that part in Sleeping Beauty where the evil Maleficent casts a spell on Rose (or Aurora) and gets her to touch the spindle, sending her into a deep sleep? My 12-year-old daughter long ago outgrew Sleeping Beauty. I, apparently, have not, because t