They are in a hurry, this younger cohort of tennis stars, with no interest in waiting their turn to take over their sport, or respecting their elders. On a warm Sunday evening in Rod Laver Arena, Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old fast-rising star from Italy, became the latest member of the ‘next generation’ to win a …
Australian Open: Ben Shelton, the American With the Blinding Serve, Returns
It all started with a simple text message that, if Bryan Shelton’s memory serves him, went something like this: “That coulda got really interesting,” wrote his then-20-year-old son, Ben, moments after he won a fifth-set tiebreaker against Zhizhen Zhang at last year’s Australian Open, clinching that first-round match. Had it not been for that win, …
Rafael Nadal is focused on clay – and other things we learned from the first Australian Open warm-up week
For months, Rafael Nadal has been trying to temper expectations for his comeback, telling the world that he had little sense of whether he would ever return to his championship form or anything approaching it. On Sunday, Nadal showed the world why he was so cautious. At 37 years old, he knows how brittle he …