Douglas Robson
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Tennis
List of articles
January/February, 2010

Mixed Opportunities
If established doubles partnerships are like marriage—and many players describe them as such—mixed doubles is the equivalent of the occasional assignation. The man woman pairing is infrequent, often hastily arranged and rarely lasts.
January 11, 2010 USA Today

Sharapova opens 2010 healthy, motivated ... and still golden
Six seasons since a little-known 17-year-old triggered a worldwide commercial revolution by capturing Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova's Madison Avenue magic continues to keep sponsors spellbound.
December 29, 2009 USA Today

Former No. 1 Henin believes she can be better than before
Will a more mature Justine Henin be better? That is among the questions at stake when the pint-sized former No. 1 from Belgium jumpstarts her comeback in Australia next week.
November 9, 2009 USA Today

Agassi opens up about his life, tennis and new book
The book, Agassi said a few days ago in an interview at his eponymous charter school, is a "love letter" to those that stood by him as he tried to find himself and a blueprint for others who feel trapped by circumstances.
September 22, 2009 USA Today

Another unretirement in tennis: Do players need sabbaticals
Justine Henin's announcement Tuesday that she would return to competition after a 16-month break adds to the growing list of high-profile but temporary retirements in the sport.
September 15, 2009 USA Today

Clijsters happy to be champ, but there's still some disbelief
NEW YORK — A little more than 12 hours after Kim Clijsters consummated one of the great comeback stories this decade, she was busy cutting vegetables for the travel-size steamer she and her husband, American basketball player Brian Lynch, use to prepare lunch for their 18-month-old daughter, Jada.
September 9, 2009 USA Today

Getting to the top in tennis, stats say, is all about the return
NEW YORK — When Andy Roddick bombed his way to the 2003 U.S. Open title, it signaled the rise of another dominant server in a sport where first delivery always has been paramount to success. In reality, it signaled an anomaly in the evolution of the sport.
August 30, 2009 USA Today

Twin pursuits drive Federer: Family, the push for history
MASON, Ohio — It's an hour past sunrise on a muggy Midwest morning near Cincinnati, and Roger Federer already is drilling two-on-one against his traveling coach, Severin Luthi, and retired pro Justin Gimelstob.
July 24, 2009 USA Today

Federer ready to adjust after wife gives birth to twin girls
With Pete Sampras' majors mark behind him, Roger Federer's latest hurdle involves the personal realm: dealing with not one but two new additions to his family.
July 17,2009 USA Today

Second act: Clijsters back for many more returns
When Kim Clijsters returns to the women's tour next month, don't expect the preternaturally pleasant Belgian to snarl at the competition like a mother bear with a newborn cub — even if her 17-month-old daughter, Jada, will be in tow
June 26, 2009 USA Today

Two Americans find size isn't all that matters at Wimbledon
Wimbledon's slick grass has long been a boon to power players, where height and wingspan create added leverage in two key areas: serving and net coverage.
June 21, 2009 USA Today

22 and counting: U.S. men struggle to find Slam success
WIMBLEDON, England — Lost amid Roger Federer's chase for history entering this year's Wimbledon is a record of more dubious distinction: the 22 majors (and counting) American men have gone without winning one.
May 20, 2009 USA Today

Can anyone stop Nadal's drive for five at Roland Garros?
Rafael Nadal is so ridiculously dominant on clay that theories on how to beat him have become tennis' theater of the absurd.
April 9, 2009 The Advocate

She's Got Game
Women's professional tennis has cleared the way for an intersex player to compete on the tour. But with all of the questions her case raises about gender and biology, is women's tennis ready for Sarah Gronert?
March 31, 2009 USA Today

10,000 appeals later: replay, challenges routine in tennis
Jamea Jackson perhaps won't fill many pages in the annals of tennis history, but in one regard the U.S. player who's 260th in the world ranking will always be first: She opened the instant-replay era with an unsuccessful challenge.
March 15, 2009 USA Today

After the sadness, Haynes is finding joy on the court
Angela Haynes is showing signs that a career derailed by personal tragedy is slowly getting back on track.
February 2009 The Advocate

Match Point
Ten years ago, Amélie Mauresmo came out of the closet after her breakout run to the finals at the Australian Open. Two Grand Slam titles and several dives in the rankings later, is she putting her formidable backhand to bed forever?
January 18, 2009 USA Today

Grand Slams' popularity creates space squeeze for tennis fans
When the gates were flung open at the Australian Open today, organizers were confident a global economic recession would do little to keep record crowds away.
September 8, 2008 USA Today

Back at No. 1, Serena aims to stay on top
NEW YORK — The days when Serena Williams showed up at majors far from her best shape and wondering if she could pull off the title are in the past.
August 26, 2008 USA Today

'Learning curve' finally starts to bend the right way for Querrey
The body of work for Sam Querrey is still a work in progress. But the 20-year-old with the aw-shucks persona and laid-back 'tude wastes no time in pinpointing the low point of his young career.
June 22, 2008 USA Today

Federer's reign hinges on yet another run at Wimbledon
The sword of Damocles dangles over Roger Federer's head, held up by a blade of grass.
June 22, 2008 USA Today

Still standing: Williams sisters ready to pounce at Wimbledon
Throughout their careers, Venus and Serena Williams' pursuit of outside interests and light playing schedules have been questioned. By being less committed, some critics have said, the sisters have failed to maximize their talent.
June 9, 2008 USA Today

New book allows tennis ace Sampras to open up, speak out
Throughout his record-setting career, Pete Sampras revealed himself only in fragments as he adhered to a "disciplined quest to accumulate Grand Slam titles," he writes in his new memoir, A Champion's Mind.
May 21, 2008 USA Today

King Rafa readies for return to clay-court palace
The French Open's playing surface is a complex arrangement of distinct materials: crushed pebbles, ash, limestone and a fine coating of crushed brick that gives the clay its burnt-orange hue.
May, 2008 Tennis Magazine

The Doyenne of the Dollar Bill
Gladys Heldman,the driving force behind the first women's pro tour, lived and died on her own terms.
March 30, 2008 USA Today

Israeli doubles team says little on Dubai no-show
Following their groundbreaking win at January's Australian Open, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram spoke eagerly and publicly of their intention to become not only the first Israelis to win a Grand Slam event but also the first from their country to play an ATP Tour event in the Persian Gulf.
February 15, 2008 USA Today

Peace and tennis? Israeli Peer to play in Qatar
Can rackets and balls help abate bombs in the Middle East?
January 17, 2008 USA Today

Five-set success indicates fitness, little more on court
When Roger Federer bounced back from a fifth-set deficit vs. Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last July, it represented a statistical aberration. It improved Federer's career five-set mark to a pedestrian 10-10.
December 18, 2007 USA Today

Match-fixing allegations put tennis officials on high alert
As tennis takes its seasonal breather this month, the governing bodies have little time to exhale in the wake of this year's gambling revelations that hint at dangerous cracks in the sport.
November 27, 2007 USA Today

Patrick McEnroe has quietly become a renaissance man
The caption for the 1971 Tennis USA group photo identifies John McEnroe as the nation's seventh-ranked 12-year-old and "at right, younger brother, Patrick, 5."
June 22, 2007 USA Today

All that racket: Players have appreciation of wooden past
Novak Djokovic held it lightly, feeling the contours as if he were examining a T. rex bone at a natural history museum.
March 9,2007 USA Today

Jaeger now in service to next calling ... helping kids
Andrea Jaeger darts around the fourth floor of Childrens Hospital like she once sprinted along the baseline when she tore up the women's tennis tour in the early 1980s.
January 9, 2007 USA Today

New spin on the old tennis game
For a sport distinguished by its glacial pace of change, tennis has hit a global-warming trend
November 2006 Tennis Magazine

Early Warning
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In 2006, the U.S. failed for just the second time since 1988 to produce a Grand Slam champion. Was it a blip, or a sign of things to come?
May 24, 2006 USA Today

Borg still making the shots
As the front man for the explosion of tennis in the 1970s and early 1980s, Bjorn Borg was iconic and enigmatic, cameras flashing wherever the blond-locked, bowlegged superstar went.
April 18, 2005 The Washington Post

Professional Tennis at Age 15: Too Much to Young?
Many Wondering If Joining the ATP Hurts, Not Helps Teen's Progress
June 2006 Tennis Magazine

The Game in Spain
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The Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, training ground of Andy Murray and Svetlana Kuznetsova, is Europe's answer to Bollettieri's. What's the secret to its success?
May 24, 2005 Tennis Week

Les artistes
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Let the stat freaks worry about the match points the french win; we're more impressed by their style points
November 18, 2003 USA Today

Tennis legend ages in style
Thirty years after her pro debut and nine years since retiring, Prague-born Martina Navratilova again is representing her adopted country on the tennis court.
2004 Deuce

Finnish flag bearer
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Unlike his nordic neighbors from Sweden, Jarko Niemen hold his nation's tennis fortunes on his own racquet. But the rising APT star is the right man for he job.
June 28, 2006 USA Today

Jackson finding stroke in streak
Don't refer to her as the instant replay girl. Jamea Jackson has bigger ambitions
August 25, 2003 USA Today

Open door for Clijsters
With champion athletes for parents, a boyfriend who is a two-time Grand Slam winner and tomboy charm, Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters embraces being a jock.
June 25, 2006 USA Today

Grass welcome sight for Roddick
With his supercharged serve, edgy personality and eagerness to promote tennis, Andy Roddick has willingly and effectively played lead guitarist for the current generation of American male stars
November 2003 San Francisco Magazine

Grand Master Slam
Best known for remaking an underachieving Andre Agassi, Bay Area native and tennis Svengali Brad Gilbert has taken 21-year-old Andy Roddick under his wing
June 26,2006 USA Today

Venus Williams lifts her game in attempt to rise back to top at Wimbledon
For Venus Williams, grass is greener. A dozen years into her future Hall of Fame career, Williams doesn't snap up titles like she used to — she's won five in 34 months.
September 28, 2004 Tennis Week

Brace yourself
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Five of the world's Top 10 players are russian, but it was one of the least known, Svetlana Kutznetsova, who was the last woman standing as she captured her first major
August 27,2006 USA Today

Nadal's passion should play well
For a kid used to the carefree cadence of soft Mediterranean breezes, Rafael Nadal seems ill-equipped for the chaos of New York.
 
 
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