Where Have All the Black Male Tennis Pros Gone? (Part III)
Oops again. Victoria Duval, an unseeded 17-year-old, took full advantage of her qualifying berth in the U.S. Open Tuesday in stunning fashion, ousting the 2011 [...]
Where Have All the Black Male Tennis Pros Gone? (Part II)
Oops. In Monday's blog, I failed to mention that No. 225 Sachia Vickery, is another African American competing at the U.S. Open. That makes seven. [...]
Where Have All the Black Male Tennis Pros Gone? (Part I)
When I covered tennis for USA Today in the late 1980s through 2001, at times I saw more than a dozen African American pros compete [...]
USA Today’s Robert Robinson ends 40 year career
Three weeks ago, I joined more than 60 of my former USA Today colleagues and family members at a surprise retirement party for Robert Robinson, [...]
Week 2 Begins with Djokovic and Williams Favorites to Collect Wimbledon Crowns
Thousands camped out overnight for ground passes. There were rain delays and upsets aplenty. Scandalous tabloid headlines spotlighted the private lives of the top pros [...]
In Tennis, Baseline Battles Are The Norm, Even at Wimbledon
Wimbledon used to provide sports fans and casual players with an annual refresher on how to play serve-and-volley tennis. In recent years, however, the absence [...]
Doug Smith’s U.S. Open Picks
Men Novak Djokovic – Novak is quite a showman and the bigger the spotlight, the more he seems at ease, indeed at home. The 25-year-old [...]
2012 US Open Starts Tomorrow
The sports world flicks its spotlight on tennis beginning Monday when the game’s top pros gather way off Broadway in New York for the year’s [...]
Sloane Stephens at 2011 US Open
Switch to serve-and-volley style might make rising tennis pro Stephens even better Based on a surprising U.S. Open performance last week, tennis experts, coaches, [...]