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‘You are a terrible player’: Tennis sportsmanship battle spills off court, onto Twitter

Jay Busbee — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:07:58 PDT

These are fine days we're living in, friends. Spats between athletes don't end when they leave the court. No, they can go on and on for days ... and we're all invited to participate.

The scene: a Brussels Open qualifier between No. 99-ranked Coco Vandeweghe and No. 105-ranked Yulia Putintseva. The 18-year-old Putintseva won, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, and according to Vandeweghe, was not exactly sporting in her postgame comments.

Vandeweghe, the niece of former NBA'er Kiki Vandeweghe (yes, Kiki and Coco), took to Twitter to explain:

I have never played a person with worst sportsmanship... Putintseva...

— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) May 20, 2013

...How can anyone comment on my game style after you have already won the match in such a negative way is unbelievable!... — CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) May 20, 2013

Her exact words were "You are a terrible player only serve. I win all the rallies" that comment is totally uncalled for... — CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) May 20, 2013

...and on top of it your father clapping while you say this haha, unreal! #venting — CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) May 20, 2013

Ah, but Putintseva has her own Twitter account, and she responded in kind. So did she say what Vandeweghe said, or not? The jury remains out:

And by the way saw a twit of Coco... Wont comment much!Really surprise that people can act like that after losing to younger player:p

— Yulia Putintseva (@Yulka1995P) May 20, 2013

@jakedavi5 haha i did:D i think she is angry coz before the match she thought that im not her level of player:p lol — Yulia Putintseva (@Yulka1995P) May 20, 2013

And by the way no matter who is at the other side i am respecting that person! And always shaking hand in the end of the match!

— Yulia Putintseva (@Yulka1995P) May 20, 2013

@willlebeau of course i didnt!I won a match why would i say that?:DShe didnt shake my hand and said that im terrible and ridiculous player:p — Yulia Putintseva (@Yulka1995P) May 21, 2013

As For The Win notes, this isn't the first time Putintseva has been accused of poor sportsmanship, having been cited during Grand Slam events for conduct unbecoming. So, you know, bear that in mind.

Bottom line: Twitter wars are much better than tennis ones. Even if they don't make quite as much sense.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Viktor Troicki has four minute epic meltdown at the Italian Open (Video)

Shane Bacon — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:39:11 PDT

They say tennis is one of the loneliest sports, a man or woman out on an island beating ball after ball back at an opponent that is going through the same mental checklist on each shot in hopes of reigning supreme. In some cases, that solitarily can lead one to a bit of a breakdown.

Enter Viktor Troicki, a 27-year-old Serbian with one career ATP title and now one career-defining meltdown that took place during his second-round match at the Italian Open against Ernests Gulbis. Troicki had dropped the first set 6-1 and was facing a break point in the first game of the second set when chair umpire Cedric Mourier overruled a backhand by Troicki that lost him the game.

That, apparently, was enough for Troicki who started yelling, screaming and pointing at Mourier for the next four minutes.

How bad did it get? Troicki eventually grabbed a cameraman and pulled him over to the spot that he thought the ball landed, instructing the man to do a close-up of what he thought was the in-spot of his shot.

The whole thing is incredible for a number of reasons, but this entire quote is just golden.

"No, come on, Cedric, you know you’re wrong," Troicki said during his meltdown. "Come on, you know you’re wrong. Come on, please. You know that you’re wrong. You called it and now you don’t want to overrule yourself. Come on, there is no space. You know there is no space. Come on, no, I don’t want to play like this. There is no space. There is zero space. … You don’t want to correct yourself … because you always think you’re right, but you’re not."

Troicki eventually lost the match 6-1, 6-1 and while he is out in Rome, this video will live forever.

Maria Sharapova offers message to the prying paparazzi: ‘How did you catch us?’

Jay Busbee — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:51:58 PDT

Maria Sharapova is dating fellow tennis player Gregor Dimitrov, a fact brought to light earlier this week when paparazzi snapped a photo of Sharapova and Dimitrov sharing a tender moment on the streets of Madrid. Both are playing in the Madrid Open, where Dimitrov upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, so, yeah, it didn't exactly require CIA-level espionage tactics to catch them together.

After winning her own quarterfinal in Madrid, Sharapova joked about the revelation with a bit of impromptu camera lens art. She wrote, "How did you find us???" with a handy marker, smiling all the way. Hey, better this than enraged denials, smashed cameras or lawsuits.

Alas, Maria made the common mistake of failing to account for reversed letters, the same affliction that befell a Florida State fan who apparently painted her face in the mirror last fall. It's cool, we knew what you meant anyway.

[Via FTW.]

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Bernard Tomic’s father, John, charged with assaulting his son’s hitting partner in Madrid

Shane Bacon — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:56:03 PDT

Details continue to emerge of an incredibly ugly incident out of Madrid, where Bernard Tomic's father, John Tomic, headbutted the 20-year-old Australian's hitting partner before the team was scheduled to board an airplane.

The story goes that Thomas Drouet, the hitting partner of Bernard, got into an altercation with John after he told Drouet that he wouldn't be paid or allowed on the flight, going after the playing partner, spitting in his face and then headbutting him, breaking his nose and leaving him unconscious outside the player's hotel in Madrid.

From the Herald Sun report ...

Drouet said they were both outside their Madrid hotel when Tomic Sr asked him to walk with him.

"After 100m or something like this he was looking around and then he started again. I thought he was going to say sorry for the verbal abuse, but no.

"He spat in my face, then walked away, and said he wouldn't pay me any more.

"I said, 'OK, John, you are a real man. That's fine. Bernard will pay me'.

"And he headbutted me.

"Every day he treat me like a dog for six months, with disrespect and then this. But he need to be off the ATP (tour)."

The story doesn't get much better, as Drouet admitted to seeing John punch Bernard in the mouth last week, leaving him in tears. Drouet is now calling for the ATP to ban John from all tennis circuit events, and if he gets found guilty of assault could spend three years in prison.

This isn't the first time that the father-son team has made the news for something out of the ordinary. Last year at the Australian Open Bernard asked the chair umpire, during a match, to eject his father from the stands because, "he's annoying me."

Here is a report from The Morning Show on the incident ...

Sloane Stephens rips Serena Williams in latest interview

Shane Bacon — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:05:53 PDT

Remember a few months back when Sloane Stephens went up against Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and stories upon stories were made about how the student was finally getting to face her mentor?

Well, apparently that wasn't so much the case. In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, Stephens held nothing back in how she feels about Williams, basically tearing apart any semblance of a relationship the two American tennis players might have had.

[Also: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn hit the red carpet in NYC]

Here is a part of the story that comes out on May 13 ...

“She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia,” Stephens says emphatically. “And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.”

Her mom tries to slow her down, but Sloane is insistent. “Like, seriously! People should know. They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that — no, that’s not reality! You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?”

Stephens went on to pound on any rumor that Williams was the person she looked up to as she was becoming the tennis player she is today. Sloane mentioned the infamous poster of Serena that she had on her wall, saying she waited three hours as a 12-year-old for Williams to sign it, but both Serena and sister Venus walked by without so much as an autograph.

And speaking of all that mentor stuff? Listen to what Stephens said about who she really loved to watch as a child.

“I’ve always said Kim Clijsters is my favorite player, so it’s kind of weird,” she says.

[Also: Senator makes hole-in-one while golfing with President Obama]

It's rare to see an athlete like Stephens really let loose on a fellow competitor, but it seemed Sloane had an agenda with this interview with Marin Cogan and that was to let the world know she isn't a huge fan of Serena in any capacity.

The French Open kicks off on May 21. I'm assuming if these two meet again, the stories will take on a completely different tone than when the tour was in Australia.

Monica Seles was stabbed 20 years ago, forever affecting her and tennis alike

Jay Busbee — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:14:05 PDT

On April 30, 1993, then-world No. 1 Monica Seles was playing Magdalena Maleeva in the Citizen Cup, an undistinguished event in Germany. Seles was up 4-3 in the second set after having won the first, and appeared to be within minutes of taking the match and moving onward.

And then, during the changeover, the entire world of tennis changed in an instant. Gunter Parche, an unemployed 38-year-old, leaned over and stabbed at Seles with a nine-inch blade. Parche later admitted an obsession with Steffi Graf, Seles' rival, and sought to end the rivalry himself.

"I remember sitting there, toweling off, and then I leaned forward to take a sip of water, our time was almost up and my mouth was dry. The cup had barely touched my lips when I felt a horrible pain in my back," Seles would later write in her 2009 autobiography "Getting a Grip." "My head whipped around towards where it hurt and I saw a man wearing a baseball cap, a sneer across his face. His arms were raised above his head and his hands were clutching a long knife. He started to lunge at me again. I didn't understand what was happening."

Here is video of the aftermath:

Security and spectators restrained Parche before he could stab again. Seles was fortunate; the incision was only about an inch and a half deep, and Parche just missed her spinal cord or other organs. Seles was only slightly injured physically, but one could argue that the psychological scars never healed.

It's impossible to overstate how the Seles stabbing affected not just her career, but the entire game of tennis and, to some extent, pro sports as a whole. Seles was, in both ranking and demeanor, atop the world. At age 19, she was coming off a run of 22 straight singles titles, and held eight Grand Slam tournaments. She and Graf appeared poised to give tennis fans a rivalry to echo Evert-Navratilova and Sampras-Agassi.

But in the wake of the incident, Seles would stay away from the game for more than two years. While Seles would win one more major, as well as an Olympic bronze medal in 2000, Graf, without a true rival, completely destroyed the women's game, winning a total of 22 majors in her career.

Astonishingly, Parche received only a suspended sentence and probation, as the German court charged with rendering judgment dismissed an attempted murder charge. A later court upheld the verdict, in part because Seles did not want to come back to Hamburg and sit in a courtroom with Parche.

"I think that [got to me] more than anything, that there was no kind of punishment," Martina Navratilova told ESPN. "The judge was like, 'Oh, he won't do it again so I'll let him go so he can really kill someone.' It was insane and so nationality driven. If someone had done that to Steffi so Monica would win, they'd have thrown away the key."

Seles would eventually retire in 2008, although she hadn't played her last competitive match in five years. She would be elected to tennis' Hall of Fame the next year.

Fortunately, there have been few cases of fans getting onto the field and directly assaulting athletes since then. Perhaps the most notable was an incident in 2002 when a father and a son ran onto the field during a White Sox game and tackled Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa; a pocketknife was found at the scene of the incident. But the players' vulnerability remains.

And even in tennis, the players are not completely safe. A fan charged Roger Federer at the 2009 French Open, prompting NBC's Ted Robinson to remark, "there should be zero tolerance for that, and of all sports, this one is the one that experienced the absolute worst with the nightmare of Monica Seles."

Seles remains in the public eye, having appeared on "Dancing With the Stars" and penned both an autobiography and an upcoming children's book. Still, her every move is haunted by what might have been.

"She was dominating Steffi Graf, who, prior to Seles, dominated everyone else," Pam Shriver told ESPN. "The sad thing about the whole thing to me was that besides the physical and emotional harm that was done to Monica, one of our great champions, is that this guy, in the end, got exactly what he wanted."

Rafael Nadal hits a tweener during his finals win on Sunday at the Barcelona Open

Shane Bacon — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:26:12 PDT

Remember when Rafael Nadal was the battered champion that some thought might never return to the form that has picked up 11 Grand Slam titles in his career? Yeah, that isn't exactly what has happened.

Nadal returned to tennis in February, and hasn't just hit the ground running, he's blown the game wide open. Since coming back, Nadal has reached the finals in all six events he has started, winning four of them including the Barcelona Open on Sunday.

His 6-4, 6-3 win was impressive, but it was this tweeter shot he hit late in the first set that was easily the shot of the day.

Nadal came in, Nicolas Almagro lobbed one over his head, and Nadal retreated, pounding it back down the line between his legs and eventually winning the point.

Tommy Haas did something on Tuesday night that hasn’t happened in 30 years

Shane Bacon — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:25:40 PDT

Tommy Haas is a guy that has been in and out of our tennis lives for a number of years. Ranked as high as No. 2 in the world back in 2002, Haas is now 34-years-old and a far cry from the player he used to be.

That was, until his fourth round match against No. 1 in the world Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night at the Sony Open.

The funny thing about men's tennis these days is that upsets, real, true upsets, happen about as often as Roger Federer looks fatigued. We get around the Grand Slams and the final four almost always look the same, with the finals being some revolving door of Federer, Djokovic, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal. But on Tuesday night, Haas pulled off an upset for the ages.

Haas beat Djokovic 6-2, 6-4, an absolute thrashing in tennis terms especially considering that a guy Haas' age hasn't beat a No. 1 in the world since 1973.

It was a "turn back the clock" performance by both players, really. Haas was on his game, smashing his one-handed backhand and pushing Djokovic around while the six-time major winner looked like he did back in his shoulder-slumping, sulking days before he became the force he is today.

So how did the upset happen?

There are a number of theories, with the top one being that Djokovic just played terrible, terrible tennis ("It’s definitely the worst match I have played in a long time," Novak said afterwards).

The other one that is floating around deals with the unseasonably cold conditions that swept through the Miami area. It was in the low 50s during the Tuesday night match, and Haas basically used the cold weather to his advantage, beating up on Novak by keeping the ball low and forcing Novak out of position and out of his comfort zone.

So Djokovic is out at the Sony Open, and Haas moves on as the 34-year-old feel-good story of the year in tennis. Haas now gets Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals. I bet I know what weather he's rooting for when the balls come out in Miami on Wednesday night.

Agnieszka Radwanska’s no-look drop volley is an early candidate for Shot of the Year

Shane Bacon — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:46:00 PDT

Seriously, what more can you say about this shot by Agnieszka Radwanska in her quarterfinals match against Kirsten Flipkens? Serving up 2-0 in the second set, Radwanska came to net only to have Flipkens' pass catch the tape.

No worries, as Radwanska did a full turn, no-look drop shot for the winner.

I know it's early, but this could easily be the Shot of the Year in women's tennis.

Jennifer Capriati charged with stalking, battery

Jay Busbee — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:52:25 PDT

Jennifer Capriati, now 36, has had a tough road since her days as a teen tennis prodigy and a stint atop the world rankings. Although she's a three-time major winner and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she's had difficulties off the court, with arrests ranging from shoplifting to marijuana possession.

And the problems continue. Capriati now faces battery and stalking charges in Palm Beach County, Florida stemming from an incident with an ex-boyfriend on Valentine's Day. According to North Palm Beach police, Capriati approached her ex-boyfriend, Ivan Brannan, at a gym and began screaming at him. When he tried to leave by going to the men's locker room, Capriati allegedly blocked his path and punched at his chest. The summons indicates that she "actually and intentionally touch[ed] and [struck]" Brannan and "willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follow[ed], harass[ed]" him.

According to county records, Capriati has been summoned to appear before a judge on April 17. However, she has not been arrested.

Capriati's summons is linked below.

Capriati PDF

Here is Caroline Wozniacki doing her best Rory McIlroy impersonation

Shane Bacon — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:22:23 PDT

While Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn might have stole the headlines this week for power athletic couple, there is still Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki.

Wozniacki made it to the finals of last week's BNP Paribas Open, losing to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2, and while she might not have been all smiles after that, she sure was at the player's party on Tuesday night at the Sony Open in Miami.

Caroline posted the picture above to her Twitter on Wednesday, showing us her best McIlroy impersonation while standing next to her beau. Wozniacki is in the field this week while McIlroy skipped out on the Arnold Palmer Invitational also in Florida.

I think she looks pretty good with the wig, almost like a dark-haired "Annie" standing next to Mr. McIlory.

Your thoughts?

LMFAO star will attempt to qualify for U.S. Open

Shane Bacon — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 09:00:25 PDT

If you've paid attention to the WTA recently, you've probably seen a guy with some goofy hair and interesting wardrobe following Victoria Azarenka around.

That guy is LMFAO's Redfoo, her boyfriend and tennis fanatic. How obsessed is the musician with the game? So much that he's attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open this year ... as a player.

Redfoo has signed up to play in the USTA Northern California Sectional qualifying tournament in California and is attempting to make it to the bright lights of New York in both singles and mixed doubles. Redfoo will play under his real name, Stefan Gordy, and will be going at it in mixed doubles with 17-year-old Ayaka Okuno, who Redfoo coaches at the game.

''It's always been a dream of mine to play professional tennis,'' Redfoo told the Associated Press.

So what are Redfoo's chances at getting into the final Grand Slam of 2013? You tell us. Below is a video of his skills at the BNP Paribas Showdown this year at Madison Square Garden, when Azarenka pulled him out of the stands to hit with Serena Williams.

It wasn't bad, but it did seem like the pressure of that huge crowd got to him.

If nothing else, you can't help but appreciate someone famous taking his lumps with the regulars trying to make it big. If he qualifies it would be a huge story, but it will simply be interesting to see in June when he takes on the other participants at the sectionals just how long he can last.

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Rafael Nadal takes down Roger Federer but little else resembled this storied rivalry

Shane Bacon — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:59:57 PDT

It's true that on Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer on a court that featured two guys with a combined 28 Grand Slams between them. And it's true that the tennis world, and sports world, looked on to see how Nadal would come out in his first huge match since his return from a knee injury that kept him out of last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open.

But nothing else really looked like what we've come to expect from a Nadal versus Federer match. Federer was battling an ailing back and Nadal seemed to be finding his groove on the toughest surface his knees will face and right from the start it seemed like what we hoped would be an epic non-Grand Slam match was simply going to be a great champion far from 100 percent going up against a younger legend finally getting healthy.

Nadal won the match 6-4, 6-2, dominating the entire match to the point that it wasn't even entertaining, if that is possible when these two face each other. In just two sets, Nadal had 11 break points, converting four of them, and basically played out points until Federer would hit a ball in the net, or one long.

It's easy to credit Nadal for winning the match, but you have to tip your cap to Federer for playing tough throughout the match even though he was far from healthy. This sport is full of players that retire during matches when their body just isn't there, but Federer battled on into a second set that was all but over just as it was getting started. Down early in the second, Federer broke Nadal to give himself a glimmer of hope and show that he hadn't given up. Nadal quickly grabbed momentum back but it was that break that showed the type of player that Federer is, not like he needs to prove anything to anyone at this point in his career.

Nadal now advances and we will see how his knee holds up deeper into this tournament, but for the first time this year he has beaten one of the biggest names in the sport and that has to feel good, no matter the health of the guy he took down.

Andy Murray was not a fan of Carlos Berlocq’s grunting

Shane Bacon — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:43:28 PDT

If there is one thing we're used to in women's tennis, it's the loud sounds that come from either side of the court. Maria Sharapova made them famous, Serena Williams uses her grunting as a form of intimidation and it's pretty universal at this point.

But men's tennis? The yells are becoming a thing of the present and Andy Murray isn't a fan.

In his fourth-round match against Carlos Berlocq, Murray lost it after being broke in the first set, telling chair umpire Steve Ullrich that the noises were "ridiculous."

"It’s ridiculous. He’s grunting and I’m still hitting the ball. It’s a joke," Murray said as he sat in his chair. "Absolutely ridiculous. His grunting is ridiculous. Never heard anything like it on the men’s tour before. Never."

Murray went on to win the match 7-6 (4), 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals, but was Murray right about the grunting? Watch video below of the entire match and let us know what you think. Were the noises justified or was Murray right to be upset?

Watch the top-five players in the game get quizzed about each other

Shane Bacon — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:38:14 PDT

We know the best athletes in the world as individual specimens, set to eliminate each other as best they can, but in reality they mostly are just guys that happen to be the best in the world at tennis.

And some of these guys might even consider one another friends. But how well do you know your friends? The BNP Parbias Open wanted to find out, so they asked Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer questions about the others.

The answers are good, but the best part is anytime the camera stayed on Murray for long enough for him to add a joke or two after answering. Also, how in the world have I never received a cow for one of my accomplishments? Such a bummer.

Watch a 9-year-old overshadow the stars at the BNP Paribas Showdown

Shane Bacon — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:24:22 PST

It takes a lot to be the main attraction on a tennis court that includes Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro and movie star Ben Stiller, but that's what happened on Monday night in New York City.

At the BNP Paribas Showdown, an exhibition at Madison Square Garden, Nadal grabbed Stiller out of the crowd to hit with him against del Potro and a partner. The thing was, del Potro didn't have a partner, and was left searching the crowd for someone to go up against the two big names.

He found 9-year-old Rebecca Suarez, who ran onto the court, gave her a weapon and put her at the net to face Stiller. What happened was the highlight of the night, with Rebecca smashing any ball that came close to her over the net with solid form, winning points, the crowd and the announcers.

Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro both hit ‘tweeners on the same point

Shane Bacon — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:36:20 PST

The between-the-leg shot in tennis might not be the smartest, or even the toughest to pull off, but it definitely is the type of shot that gets the biggest reaction from the crowd.

In the Dubai semifinal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro were battling when Djokovic hit a drop shot that Del Potro had to come in to get. The next shot was over his head, which forced Del Potro to hit his shot between the legs. What came a few points later? The same shot, but this time, by Novak. It sailed wide, the point went to Del Potro but the match ended with another Djokovic win.

Still, not a lot of chances to see two guys hit the between-the-leg shot on the same point.

h/t Beyond the Baseline

Serena Williams gets in trouble for taking photos of Tiger Woods at golf tournament

Jay Busbee — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:55:22 PST

You're Serena Williams, you're not used to being told "no," right? Especially on something so commonplace as taking a picture. But as Serena learned on Friday at the Honda Classic golf tournament, the PGA Tour plays no favorites ... everybody's got to toe the line. On Twitter, Serena was in the gallery at the 17th tee. (The Golf Channel's Randall Mell reported that Tiger "did a double take" when he saw her there.) Serena took out her camera and prepared to shoot. Not so fast, Missy...

Ok at this Golf tournament. Just saw @tigerwoodsI understand NO golf Apparently u can't take pics. This security for mad and yelled at me — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 1, 2013

That's a brave security guy, yelling at Serena. Anyway, she tried to offer a defense:

Apparently u can't take pictures of golfers. In my Defense peeps always take pics of tennis players.

And, guess what ... she took the photo anyway: Yeah! Fight the power, Serena!

-Follow Jay Busbee of Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Andy Roddick sues a charity for more than $100K, promises to give money back to charity

Shane Bacon — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 05:58:17 PST

Now before you get huffy about the fact that now-retired and not ranked 40th in the world anymore Andy Roddick is suing a charity, there are probably some details you need to know.

The charity Miracle Match Foundation was set to pay Andy Roddick $100,000 for an appearance fee at an exhibition match last September, and while they gave the former U.S. Open two checks for $50,000, both checks bounced and Roddick had to take matters into his own hands.

Roddick sued the company for the $100,000 they owed him, and while it might seem a little strange to sue a charity, it isn't what you think. First, Roddick has promised to give the money he is asking for back to charity (all of it), and while Miracle Match Foundation might sound like something incredible, they haven't been giving much back to the community themselves.

According to a report by a Michigan television station, the charity that was founded in 1997 "has generated few funds for sick kids or leukemia research," and in '04 "was able to spend only $3,616 on "sick kids/family support" and nothing for research, while listing a negative balance of $377,000 for that year."

On top of that, according to Beyond the Baseline, the IRS doesn't even consider Miracle Match a non-profit because it has been so late with their financial statement reports.

“I simply expect Miracle Match Foundation to live up to their word and obligations,” Roddick said to Tennis.com. “They have repeatedly had issues paying the participants of their matches and very little of the money raised from these events actually goes to charity. 100% of the money I win in this case will go to the charities, which were originally supposed to benefit from that night.”

So basically Andy Roddick was promised a set amount of money to do some outings for a charity that was already struggling with money, and while he did his part the charity didn't do what they promised, and now he's taking matters into his own hands by trying to simply get the money to the people it was intended to in the first place.

Face it, Roddick doesn't need $100,000, but if you were promised something like this and the company backed out, wouldn't you be a little upset, especially if the whole idea under the umbrella was to help people? I know I would, and I think Roddick is handeling the situation rather admirably.

Rebecca Marino quits tennis because of bullying on social media

Shane Bacon — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:59:55 PST

Think back to those days as kids when you were standing on a basketball court or a putting green or a tennis court day-dreaming about what it would be like to one day be a professional. A kid's mind wonders to Fenway or Augusta or Wimbledon, creating a fantasy world where you are the person everyone is watching and rooting for and that shot you take or that putt you hit is somehow superimposed on that huge stage.

And then imagine you get there. Hour after sweaty hour you spend on your backhand and serve and you slowly improve to one of the best in the world. And once you get there, you keep getting slammed by people you don't even know and that forces you to eventually leave the game you worked so hard to enter.

Meet Rebecca Marino, a 22-year-old Canadian tennis player who has been ranked as high as 38th in the world in women's professional tennis. Marino has a 150-107 record in her WTA career, with no wins and one runner-up back in 2011. This week, Marino announced that she would be retiring from professional tennis because she was struggling with all the online abuse she was getting from "fans" that berated her on social media.

[Also: Andy Roddick rises in tennis rankings despite retirement]

Marino admitted during a conference call this week announcing her retirement that she has been battling depression for over six years and all the negative energy from the social media outlets just pushed her into a darker place instead of improving her outlook on life.

“Social media has also taken its toll on me," Marino said, saying that she would receive numerous tweets that tell her to "go die" and "go burn in hell" and even scold her for costing her money if people had bet on her during certain matches.

Basically Marino admitted that tennis wasn't fun for her anymore, and there is no point to continue something, even at such a high level, if it isn't fun.

I feel for people like Marino. Anyone in any public position is going to get flak from random people on the Internet (heck, even us writers get hundreds of comments on certain stories calling us out for being "idiots") and while some people can just brush it off, there is a large group of people that see that stuff and have a hard time looking past it. Imagine if you just lost some big match and the first thing you see is people scolding you and telling you to die? That wouldn't exactly be the warming blanket you were hoping for.

Sadly, this is the world we live in. It's almost too easy to get after someone on the Internet these days without any repercussions, and while a lot of people wish there was something that could change this, there simply isn't. Marino is making a life change for the better, and whatever she decides to do I hope it makes her life easier and less stressful and maybe she will find that love for tennis again somewhere down the road.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Despite retiring in September, Andy Roddick rose two ranking spots this week in the ATP

Shane Bacon — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:00:22 PST

Want to know when your rankings system needs to be revamped? When a guy that hasn't played a competitive match in six months moves up in the rankings despite, ya know, not playing the game he's improving his number in.

Deadspin has the report (thanks to a tweet from Tennis Stats) who noticed that Andy Roddick, the man that stepped away at the U.S. Open after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2012 U.S. Open, moved from 42nd to 40th in the world despite spending most of his time this month at Pebble Beach playing golf, not tennis.

How in the world did this happen? Well, it's complicated in the sense that the ATP rankings are insane and make no sense. Basically the rankings are a review of the past 52 weeks of play, so Roddick, who won twice before Wimbledon last season, is riding that success in the rankings despite, ya know, not playing anymore, and two guys ahead of him (Viktor Troicki and Nikolay Davydenko) dropped down due to poor play.

It's so ridiculous that even Roddick retweeted the line from Tennis Stats, and I'm sure got a good chuckle out of it as he continued to not play competitive tennis, and with the drought that is mens' American tennis, maybe Roddick is still our best hope to break into the top-10 if people continue to fall early in tournaments.

Keep hope alive, Andy!

Update: Well, this won't last long. The USA Today is reporting that Roddick has filed his retirement papers, meaning he won't be around in the rankings starting next week.

Just heard that Roddick has filed his retirement papers ... He will be out of the rankings next week. :(

— Joe Fleming (@ByJoeFleming) February 19, 2013

NBA video from Yahoo! Sports:

Rafael Nadal’s new on-court timepiece? $690,000

Shane Bacon — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:11:45 PST

Remember back in 2010 when Rafael Nadal started sporting a watch on court and everyone wondered what it was? And then we found out the Richard Mille watch was worth $525,000 and we all gulped about as loud as you can possibly gulp when hearing that a watch someone is wearing to play sports in is worth more than what a lot of people will make in their lifetime.

Well, Nadal's wrist just got a little more expensive. Richard Mille came out with a new timepiece for the tennis player to sport on court, and it will ring in at a whopping $690,000. Seriously.

The initial watch was model RM027, which weighed just 20 grams, but the new model has dropped a gram of fat and somehow that makes it $100,000 more expensive.

This is from the Forbes report on the new watch ...

"Part of the point of the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal watch is to prove that the piece can survive the torture. A new system in the 2013 watch makes it even less prone to damage. Richard Mille rates the watch to work in situations of up to 5000 Gs of force. A new system of suspension cables holds the watch in the case without being traditionally mounted with screws. This helps to further protect the delicate movement against shock and other tennis related trauma. This is probably the first watch of its kind to ever have such a mounting, and it is beautiful too. It goes without saying that the simple act of constructing this movement requires a great deal of finesse."

This is a pretty crazy price tag for a watch, but Nadal isn't the only athlete to get the support of Richard Mille. Bubba Watson, the 2012 Masters champion, has been sporting a $525,000 watch by the same brand since 2011 on and off the golf course.

Richard Mille plans to make just 50 of the new Nadal pieces and the number you see above is how much you'll have to pay to tell time like a Grand Slam champion.

Fantasy baseball video from Yahoo! Sports:

Video: Watch this ridiculous get by Gael Monfils against Juan Martin del Potro

Shane Bacon — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:34:09 PST

Gael Monfils is one of those players you either love or hate, but even if you hate the Frenchman you can't help but love his hustle when he's really trying his hardest.

In the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in the Netherlands, Monfils was up against Juan Martin del Potro and while del Potro won the match 6-3, 6-4 it was Monfils who pulled off the shot of the match.

The camere angle is a little strange, but just look at the speed of Monfils to get this ball and hit a winner out of it. Seriously, just look at the contortion of his body when he gets to that ball. Monfils definitely will see your tweener and raise you a level of difficulty.

h/t Beyond the Baseline

Rafael Nadal wins his first singles match after seven months away from tennis

Shane Bacon — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:28:52 PST

The interesting thing about the men's tennis these days is that while we have plenty of characters, not a lot actually have Grand Slam potential. Every big event seems like it comes down to the same Novaks or Andys or Rogers and while that isn't great for the rest of the guys out there, it's always impressive tennis at the back-end of events.

And then there is Rafael Nadal. Only 26, Nadal has been sidelined for the last seven months with a knee injury that forced him to miss the 2012 U.S. Open and last month's Australian Open and while each final without him has been dramatic, there is still a feeling that something is missing.

Nadal returned to the court this week and won his first singles match in what seemed like ages, taking down Argentina’s Frederico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2 at the VTR Open in Chile. It was a solid win for a guy that has been away from the game so long, and while it's just one step in the right direction he moved on the clay surface like the guy we've seen in the past.

His motivation is obviously preparing for the French Open, an event he has won seven times including the last three, and if he's going to be ready for that he must settle in at some lower-level events like this one (No knock to the VTR Open, but Delbonis was a qualifier ranked 128th in the world, so it isn't like Pete Sampras was facing him at net).

It wasn't the cleanest of wins for Nadal, who missed some pretty easy shots and looked a little hesitant to plant on that left knee. But still, if he can keep it up, it would be a shock if he didn't win his first event back to the game.

Video: Lukas Rosol goes between the legs for a winner in Davis Cup match

Shane Bacon — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:17:25 PST

The beauty of the between-the-legs shot is that while it is incredible to watch, it rarely produces anything positive. It's a fun shot to try and hit when the match isn't in the last points of being over, but everyone enjoys a good attempt.

Lukas Rosol did that one better in his Davis Cup match against Stanislas Wawrinka. Going back and forth in an incredible point, Wawrinka hit a lob over Rosol's head, and as he ran back you could feel the tweener coming. It did, and the cross-court winner was good enough to make just about every highlight reel.

Sadly Wawrinka was able to hold off Rosol but that doesn't change the fact that this shot was pretty darn incredible.

h/t Beyond the Baseline

Video: Watch Venus and Serena Williams as pre-teen sensations

Shane Bacon — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:31:42 PST

The great folks at Trans World Sport have been rolling out videos from the past of superstars that were filmed when they were kids. Tiger Woods was one of the first they pushed, and now we have Serena and Venus Williams as 11 and 12-year-olds.

It's a great look at the sisters at a young age, and at one point you learn that at the time of the interview Venus had won 63 of 63 junior tournaments and Serena was 50-for-52.

Watch it, enjoy it, and hey, you'll get to hear a ton of Richard Williams.

Video: This was the coolest shot of the Andy Murray-Roger Federer semifinal

Shane Bacon — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:01:58 PST

The five set semifinal match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray produced some incredible shots by two of the best in the game, but none were more precise, and as lucky, as this lob that Murray hit in the fourth set.

Federer seemed to have Murray on the ropes, but the eventual winner flipped the ball over Federer's head, who couldn't even go between the legs to get this one back.

The shot had the crowd on their feet, and was one of the cooler shots we've seen this tournament.

Video: The best racquet throws of the 2013 Australian Open

Shane Bacon — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:28:32 PST

The 2013 Australian Open is coming to a close, but we here at the Busted Racquet wouldn't be doing justice to our namesake, and forefathers (I see you, Chris Chase!) if we didn't give you this compilation of the best racquet smashes of the tournament.

You obviously have the Serena Williams meltdown in her loss against Sloane Stephens, but there are some pretty big names letting go of their favorite tennis tools.

A piece of advice to those that feel the need to throw a racquet -- always helicopter it; a lot less chance of it breaking, and it's just fun to do!

h/t Beyond the Baseline

Andy Murray beats Roger Federer to advance to Australian Open final

Shane Bacon — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:13:14 PST

There are hurdles in professional sports that few will ever get to jump. Win a championship, beat your childhood idol, or finally take down the guy that seemed to always have your number in the big events.

That's what happened on Friday at the Australian Open, when Andy Murray was finally able to beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam in a five set match that most won't soon forget. Murray won 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, with the last set being a bit of a letdown after the comeback that Federer mounted in a fourth set that seemed all but over for the four-time Australian Open champion.

Federer was in command of the fourth set, serving at 4-2 after a break of Murray and it seemed a fifth set was inevitable, but at 0-30 Murray fought back and broke Roger. He broke him again at 6-5 to serve for the match, but Federer, back to the wall, with what seemed like nothing left to throw at Murray, broke back to head to a tiebreaker and force the fifth set (the momentum change happened when a little exchange happened between the two that both downplayed after the match ended).

[Also: U.S. teen Sloane Stephens' Aussie run ends in controversy]

The strange thing about this semifinal match is if you took a few seconds to look at the stat sheet you'd probably be wondering how in the world Federer forced this thing to go the distance.

Murray came out pounding his serve in the first, racking up five aces to none for Federer as he cruised to a 1-0 lead. The second set wasn't much different, with Murray carding more aces and winners than Federer, but it seemed anytime a big point came along, Federer was able to pull it out (and he was helped by a shot Murray tried to play in the tiebreaker that was both impractical and, bluntly, out if he had let it pass).

The third set was more of the same for Murray, and then came that decisive fourth set that seemed like more will than ability for Federer.

Friday's match wasn't the prettiest tennis from Federer. He hit too many balls in the middle of the court and not enough serves out of Murray's reach. He could never find a return game to get comfortable with because of how solid Murray was serving the ball (the best I've ever seen him serve it), and if it was any other player on the planet this side of Novak Djokovic this match probably ends in straight sets.

[Also: Sloane Stephens' Aussie run ends in controversy]

But yes, Murray finally took down Federer in a Grand Slam, and yes, it will be the matchup in the finals that most thought would happen, but for a split second, when the fourth set tiebreaker was coming to a close, you felt like the 31-year-old had one more push in him to remind Murray, and the world, that he wasn't going anywhere. The match just went one set too long for Roger.

Anytime Federer walks off a Grand Slam court waving to the crowd a loser you start to wonder. How many more times can he do this? How many more times can he advance to the finals against all these young players that keep coming at him knowing no matter who the top ranked player in the world is, this is Roger Freakin' Federer and they want a piece of him? It's incredible, really. Tennis is as much for old men as basketball is for short ones, but Federer keeps showing up at Grand Slams with the game good enough to bring him to this point. The problem is, this point isn't where he wants to be, and as he exited Rod Laver Arena on Friday you have to wonder how many more of these runs does he have left in him.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Video: A reminder that Novak Djokovic is fairly good at tennis

Shane Bacon — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:54:54 PST

Lost in all the excitement of this year's Australian Open seems to be the two-time defending champion. If you toss out his five set win over Stanislas Wawrinka, not a ton of press has been thrown Novak's way with all the other story lines that have popped up in Melbourne.

But just a reminder, Novak is still pretty nasty at tennis. On Thursday he dismantled David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to his third straight Australian Open finals, and he did it with shots like the one you see above.

There are plenty of thinks Djokovic does better than almost anyone in the game, but his ability to not only run down balls but hit winners like this might be the most impressive. Not only did Ferrer not see that coming, but I don't think I did even the second and third time I watched it.

Djokovic will play the winner of the Andy Murray-Roger Federer match that takes place Friday.

Australian Open, Day 11: The day Azarenka cheated tennis

Shane Bacon — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:34:07 PST

Tennis is a game of strategy. Like chess, you hit a shot here or there not to actually win the point, but set yourself up a few plays later to win the point. It's a mind game against your opponent that can bring out the best and worst in players that are struggling against their foes and against themselves.

But we don't need this. Not what Victoria Azarenka did on Thursday at the Australian Open.

Azarenka is the No. 1 player in the world. She won the 2012 Australian Open for her only Grand Slam title, and has gone through an almost Andy Murray-like turnaround in her career to become the player she is today. She's incredibly solid and intimidating to play and has plenty of talent to get past opponents no matter how talented they are. But her tactics against American Sloane Stephens in the semifinals just seemed dirty.

Azarenka won the first set against Stephens handily on Thursday, beating the budding star 6-1 and putting her just a single set away from her second straight Aussie Open final. Her game looked sharp and Sloane looked drained and it seemed the effects of beating someone like Serena Williams might weight down the 19-year-old and keep her out of her first ever Grand Slam finals.

But Stephens never quit. After being broke in the second game of the second set, the young American held tough and kept fighting as Azarenka was falling apart. The forehand went missing for the top ranked player and the jitters were setting in just like they had to Sam Stosur last week in Melbourne. Azarenka was frustrated, yelling when she missed shots and slamming balls when she lost games. It wasn't the best look for Azarenka but it was understandable considering the pressure.

And then came the move that everyone is talking about. Azarenka, who had five match points lost because she couldn't seem to figure out how to close this one out, left the court up 5-4 with Stephens set to serve. An injury timeout, sure, but Azarenka was gone for 10 minutes while Stephens just sat in her chair, eyes fixed on a point straight in front of her, wondering why for the second match in a row her opponent was inside while she was just waiting.

And she waited, and waited, and waited, and finally, Azarenka came out. The match ended there with Azarenka taking the second set, but it was the quotes after that didn't add up. Officially Azarenka went with the trainers inside because of a chest and back injury, but her first quotes immediately showed that wasn't true.

“I couldn’t breathe, you know,’’ Azarenka said on court after the win. “That game, you know, I just had chest pain, like getting a heart attack or something out there. I just needed to make sure it’s okay cause I really couldn’t breathe.’’

Basically Azarenka admitted that she left the court because she was falling apart mentally and needed a minute to recoup. This would be the equivalent of a quarterback driving down the field in the AFC Championship, tied game, and calling a 10 minute timeout because he wasn't sure he could handle the moment.

"This injury timeout rule needs to be thoroughly re-examined,'' ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said. "Leaving the court for any amount of time because of nerves is unacceptable.''

Stephens was as impressive after the match as she was in the run up to this weird ending to her Australian Open. Sure, she looked annoyed, but she answered questions, saying she "loves Vika" and that she was sure "we'll talk."

The fact of this semifinals match is that Stephens probably wasn't going to win. She got pummeled in the first set and while she kept fighting back in the second, she didn't have a ton of things to build on that would suggest she'd turn it on in the third set and overtake the top seed to make the finals. But she still deserved a chance to go at a player that was struggling with the internal fight that is tennis.

Azarenka was getting to the point that she was beating herself and instead of sitting on the court and taking the punches, she retreated to the shadows in hope that the tennis goblins would go away.

Stephens was a fan favorite when she beat Williams to advance to the semifinals, but I think she might have earned even more fans after this match that seemed to be taken away from her.

Super Bowl video from Yahoo! Sports:

Serena Williams tweets out a picture of her incredibly swollen ankle

Shane Bacon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:09:09 PST

No, that is not something you might see on "The Nutty Professor," that is actually Serena Williams' right ankle, courtesy of Serena's Twitter feed late Wednesday evening.

Williams lost to American Sloane Stephens in her quarterfinals match at the Australian Open, the first time a younger American had ever beaten Serena and while it was a huge upset a lot had to do with the health of Williams.

And as you can see, it was justified.

Williams spoke after the loss on Wednesday saying, "I’ve had a tough two weeks between the ankle, which is like this big every day," and motioned to something that you might consider that big, but wow, that looks painful.

Hopefully the ankle, and Serena, return to form when the French Open rolls around in late May.

Video: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga jokingly takes a racket swing at Roger Federer

Shane Bacon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:25:20 PST

It must be frustrating to play someone like Roger Federer. At 31 the man can still move like a teenager and hits multiple shots per match that have to make the opponent just roll his eyes in dismay.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga understands what I'm saying. During his quarterfinal loss to Federer on Wednesday at the Australian Open, Federer hit a drop shot that clipped the net and left Tsonga gassed and on Federer's side of the court.

In jest, Tsonga appeared to make a fake racket-hitting motion at the 17-time Grand Slam champion to which Federer responded with a smile.

It might be pressure-packed tennis, but have a little fun every now and again, right?

h/t Game On!

Australian Open, Day 10: Serena upset, Federer slides past Tsonga

Shane Bacon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:31:13 PST

There are few times that an entire country can appreciate how big an upset in a Grand Slam event really is. We've seen big names go down because of injury before, but to see a young American in Sloane Stephens take out the biggest name in the women's game (and one of two sisters that brought women's tennis back to the United States) is pretty remarkable.

What Stephens did on Wednesday night shouldn't be soon forgotten. Sure, she had Williams on the ropes because of injury, and catching her at such a vulnerable point is pretty lucky for the 19-year-old, but it wasn't like Williams was planning on retiring at any point in the match (The best example of this came when Stephens was serving for the second set up 5-4 and after going up 30-0 had to watch Williams repeatedly bang winners off Stephens' second serve, showing that while she might not have a ton of mobility at that very moment, she could still sting a forehand).

It wasn't a win with an asterisk for Stephens. She beat Williams in the quarterfinals of a tournament that has seen Serena leave as the champion five different times. The win was important for the American youth, who haven't showed a ton of promise in years and could use a face to lift the game of tennis back up to where it was over a decade ago. Sloane is definitely the underdog in her next match, but what she did was impressive and no injury to her opponent should take away from that.

Federer survives the Tsonga scare -- There are few opponents that Roger Federer probably isn't excited to see before making it to a Grand Slam semifinals, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is one of them.

Tsonga, who upset Federer in 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinals, might have dropped the first set tiebreaker, but a bounce back win in the second set and a match-saving win in the fourth forced this match to, like that Wimbledon upset, go five sets.

Before Wednesday, Federer had yet to drop a single set in Australia (he hadn't even been broken until Tsonga got him late in the first set), but the great champion found an extra gear in the last set and was able to overcome Tsonga.

The best news of all this? Federer goes up against Andy Murray in an incredibly exciting semifinals, with the winner most likely going on to play Novak Djokovic, who plays David Ferrer on Thursday for a spot in the finals.

Key Match Times Tonight (ESPN2)

Na Li vs. Maria Sharapova - 9:30 PM ET (approx.)

Victoria Azarenka vs. Sloane Stephens - Immediately after Li-Sharapova match

Novak Djokovic vs. David Ferrer - 3:30 AM ET

ESPN really thought Serena Williams won the Sloane Stephens match

Shane Bacon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:10:31 PST

A lot of the times with favorites you can just put them into the next round without really watching the match. It happens early on with guys like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and women like Maria Sharapova and, yes, Serena Williams.

But on Wednesday at the Australian Open, Williams didn't advance to the semifinals in Melbourne, Sloane Stephens did. The match was an epic win for the teenager and was the upset of the tournament.

Unfortunately nobody told ESPN's graphic guy. The above screengrab, courtesy of Romi Cvitkovic, shows Serena in the semifinals.

Oh well, at least it's still an American, eh?

Sloane Stephens upsets Serena Williams at Australian Open

Shane Bacon — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:22:40 PST

There are few moments when you can physically see the changing of the guard happening. One that comes to my golfing mind was Jack Nicklaus standing on the Swilcan Bridge, waving to the crowd during his last British Open as Tiger Woods was teeing off, prepared to win at St. Andrews.

And while this might be different as Nicklaus was past his prime, it had a little bit of the same feel. Sloane Stephens, a 19-year-old American who has the eyes to be a champion and the stamina to live up to it, was paired against Serena Williams, possibly the best American women's tennis player to ever hit a yellow ball on a court that has seen five trophy ceremonies set for Serena.

The match ended with Stephens upsetting the elder Williams 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, but there was plenty of action in between those numbers.

Williams dominated, struggled, left the court and broke a racket from start to finish, but it was the teenager who kept her cool the entire match and was able to leave the winner on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena.

[Photos: Sloane Stephens upsets Serena Williams]

The match started out like you'd expect. Serena, who was a day removed from losing her doubles match with sister Venus in the quarterfinals, wasn't as aggressive as she normally is but allowed Stephens to make the mistakes late in an early set you might expect from someone trying to get to a point she's never been in a Grand Slam.

The set ended with Williams winning and was quickly opened with a break by Serena that had tennis fans expecting the expected. Williams would win, of course, and it was on to the next as the future American star would leave at the hands of our constant American champion.

But the second set would be the decider. After Sloane broke back, the set got to 5-3 with Stephens serving to take it to a third set but nerves finally settled in and as we've already seen in this Australian Open, a professional couldn't find the ability to finish off an opponent.

Williams would win that game, but it was when she was down 4-5 that Serena had to leave the court with what appeared to be that nagging ankle injury that upset her during her doubles match. Trainers later reported that Serena had suffered a back injury on a point close to the net that she put away, and it never seemed that Williams was the same.

After the match, Williams told reporters, "A few days ago (my back) got really tight and I had no rotation on it and I went for this drop shot in the second set and it locked up on it, and I couldn't really rotate after that."

Her first serve after returning to the court was a surprising 89 miles per hour, but Serena somehow held at love and forced Stephens to serve at 5-5. She held, and it was then that the teenager showed that she wouldn't let the hobbled Williams get away with just smashing winners at her discretion.

Stephens broke Serena to win the second set, and after holding at 2-1, Williams let some of her frustration out on a racket. She smashed it a few times on the court, saying after, "Oh yeah, did you see it? I even had a wry smile on my lips after that."

The match would slowly slip from Serena's grasp. She fought as hard as her injured back and ankle would let her, but eventually the young Stephens was too much, prevailing in the final set, saying after about advancing to the semifinals, "It's a new thing, but it's fun."

Stephens might still be a teenager, but she's incredibly talented and you see it in all parts of her game. Her fourth round win was solid but professional, and after she opened up on court like the 19-year-old she is.

She now faces the No. 1 seed in the tournament in Victoria Azarenka and most will expect her to lose but do you know the final thing she said in her post-match interview with ESPN before heading to the locker room?

"I hope to have a lot more Twitter followers, too!"

She's still 19, but her game is aging quickly.

Outside the Game from Yahoo! Sports:

Video: Serena Williams smashes racket during Australian Open match against Sloane Stephens

Shane Bacon — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:35:45 PST

It was a heated quarterfinal match between Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens, a veteran American who might be considered the best ever versus an American teenager looking to make her first Grand Slam semifinal ever.

And the pressure got intense during the third set as Serena went down 1-2 and took it out on her racket.

Williams had struggled with back problems before this, winning the first set 6-3 before dropping her first set since last year's U.S. Open 5-7. It was this moment after Stephens won her serve that Williams lost it, breaking her racket and tossing it under her own chair.

No worries, as Williams went on to win her next service game.

Australian Open, Day 9: Ferrer survives, Williams sisters fall

Shane Bacon — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:50:40 PST

We all have that one buddy that is just better at stuff than we are. They can beat us in ping-pong and horseshoes and H-O-R-S-E and no matter how hard you try, or how many points you get up that person, it's inevitable that eventually he will come back and take you down.

Now imagine you are the 10th ranked player in a Grand Slam field and make a quarterfinals only to see that friend of yours across the net. That is Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer. Both from Spain, Almagro headed into his Tuesday quarterfinal match against Ferrer with a lifetime 0-12 record against the fourth ranked player in the field and it was pretty obvious that over their careers, Ferrer had his number in basically all capacities.

But the match started out different. Almagro was hitting some great passing shots and was pounding his serve and Ferrer seemed a step slow to basically all the Almagro punches.

The first set went to Almagro and then the second, and it seemed that the bagel record that he held against Ferrer was finally going to fall. But Ferrer snagged the third set and then it was on to the fourth, where nerves seemed to be grabbing at both players. But Almagro still had a chance to win the match serving up 5-4, but you could almost see it in his face at the break points went to Ferrer that it wasn't going to happen.

Ferrer won the fourth set tiebreaker handily and what seemed like an inevitable match win even though they still had the fifth set to play. Almagro was tightening up both mentally and physically and when it was all said and done, his record against Ferrer went to 0-13.

The Williams sisters fall in doubles -- It's not often that the No. 1 seed can win a match and it be considered an upset, but that happened on Tuesday when Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci took down Serena and Venus Williams 3-6, 7-6, 7-5.

It was a strange match for the Williams sisters, who seemed to be cruising after the first set but some weak serving and what seemed like a couple of almost-injuries to both players cost them a spot in the semifinals.

Djokovic and Sharapova continue to roll -- If you thought Novak Djokovic might be a tad exhausted after his five-set win in the fourth round then you don't know Novak.

The two-time defending champion rolled Tomas Berdych 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to his 11th straight semifinal in a Grand Slam.

Sharapova also made it look easy as she took out fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-2.

Key Match Times Tonight

Serena Williams vs. Sloane Stephens - 8:30 PM ET (approx.)

Roger Federer vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 3:30 AM ET

Video: Li Na hits one of the worst serves in professional tennis history

Shane Bacon — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:28:00 PST

There are plenty of times professional tennis players frame a shot. Someone might pummel a serve their way or a mean forehand and in an attempt to put the racket on the ball, barely make any contact at all with the ball.

But on a toss? Yeah, that isn't really the time when you see the sixth ranked player in the field basically shank a serve.

Li Na did that on Tuesday at the Australian Open. Playing Agnieszka Radwanska in her quarterfinal match, one serve got a little away from her. No worries, as Na went on to win her match 7-5, 6-3, but one of the best quotes in the game said afterwards of the nasty shanked serve, "I wanna have good communication with the fans."

Na is set to play the red-hot Maria Sharapova on Thursday in her semifinals match and is trying to advance to her second finals at the Australian Open in the last three years.

Video: Novak Djokovic almost took out a ball boy during his five set win

Shane Bacon — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:44:25 PST

A tennis ball can be one of two things. Tossed around the house, it's a light, soft alternative to something heavy that might do some serious damage if your brother or buddy doesn't have the best hands. Smoked at 130 miles per hour, it can really cause some damage to any part of your body (just image the welts you used to have from wallball and multiple them by 50).

On Sunday, as Novak Djokovic was in a heated five-set match with Stanislas Wawrinka and during the fourth set tiebreaker couldn't make solid contact with a Wawrinka serve. The result? A near decapitation of one of the poor ball boys.

The ball brushed the front of the kid's face and true to Australian form, the boy barely blinked, staying in position for the next point. Thank goodness that bill looks like the one from "Sandlot," kiddo.

Australian Open, Day 8: Williams & Stephens set up all-American quarterfinal

Shane Bacon — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:49:13 PST

Before last week, if you were checking out the 2013 Australian Open draw, a quarterfinal match-up of Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens would have been a pretty exciting prospect.

Williams, the 15-time Grand Slam champion, has been an inspiration for Stephens, who at 19 seems to be the "next big thing" in American tennis. After her 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 win over Bojana Jovanovski, Stephens was asked about the potential of a quarterfinal meeting with Williams (Serena still had to play her fourth round match against Maria Kirilenko, that she won easily 6-2, 6-0) and the 19-year-old seemed downright giddy about the possibility. Stephens, who has never made it to a Grand Slam quarterfinals nor beat Williams in a match) mentioned that before the fourth round Williams reached out to her and mentioned she needed to make more noise on the court (i.e., grunting during shots).

It was a fun little moment that showed just how excited Stephens must be to have made it this far in Melbourne and how these two playing against each other this far along in the tournament could potentially be a passing of the torch in some ways.

[Also: Djokovic almost took out a ball boy during his five set win]

But, of course, Williams is the favorite. She's been rolling through her matches in Australia, dropping just eight games in her four rounds, and looks to be eying a sixth Australian Open title. But the Americans meeting will definitely be must watch TV for tennis fans, and as Stephens said after her match, she will make it as fun as possible for the fans in Rod Laver Arena.

Wozniacki bounced by Kuznetsova -- It's been a strange story for Caroline Wozniacki, the former No. 1 in the world that has still never won a Grand Slam title. Each event is another opportunity for her to shut up the critics and it seems each one ends with a disappointing exit a round or two too early. After making it at least to the quarterfinals each of the last two years in Melbourne, Wozniacki has struggled to stay healthy and play consistent tennis, bowing out of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the first round and now the fourth round exit in Melbourne.

You have to give her a little credit for fighting back after dropping the first set 6-2, but it seems like this will be another disappointing Grand Slam for Wozniacki.

Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set up exciting quarterfinal match -- Every great champion has a thorn in his side. For Federer, that thorn might by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The two have met 11 times in their careers, with Roger winning eight of those matches, but Tsonga is definitely a guy that Federer probably hates to see this early in his quest.

[Related: Federer shuts up cocky Australian]

The biggest upset by Tsonga of this matchup came at Wimbledon in 2011 when it seemed Federer was on cruise control. Tsonga overpowered the No. 2 seed on his way to a quarterfinal win and it seems we could be in for another show when the two meet on Wednesday.

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Novak Djokovic went ‘Hulk’ after his five-set win over Stanislas Wawrinka (PHOTO)

Shane Bacon — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:39:28 PST

There are plenty of terms you could use to describe Novak Djokovic. In a former life we knew him as a guy that couldn't always get it done, but the guy is a stud now and is looking to become the only player in the Open era to win the Australian Open three times in a row.

And now, maybe we can call him The Hulk? Novak ripped off his own shirt after beating Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 12-10 in an epic five-set match on Sunday in Rod Laver Arena.

The result of the ripping? Novak, ripped up, with photo and video below.

Australian Open, Day 7: Djokovic survives epic match against Wawrinka

Shane Bacon — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:30:51 PST

It seems any match these days that goes the distance is automatically considered "a classic." A top champion gets shoved to the ropes and critics are quick to glorify what happened, win or lose, but on Sunday at Melbourne Park, Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka gave us what is sure to be the match of this Australian Open.

Djokovic is the two-time defending champion, attempting to become the first man in the Open era to win the Australian Open three times in a row. Wawrinka is the 15th ranked player in the field, hoping to just survive for as long as possible before going up against one of the big boys.

And survive he almost did. Djokovic dropped the first set in epic fashion before bouncing back to win to win the second 7-5 and the third 6-4. When that happens with a guy like Novak you can basically turn off the television and catch up on a few more hours of sleep, but Wawrinka wouldn't go away. The fourth set went to a tiebreaker that Wawrinka snagged 7-5 and here we were, in the fourth round of the tournament that Novak dominates wondering if the champion was going to be sent packing before the second week even started.

[Photos: Novak Djokovic goes all Hulk Hogan after epic win]

The fifth set is where the term "classic" is normally tagged. You can have a solid back and forth for four sets but normally guys like Djokovic and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finish the job here in dominating fashion. But Sunday showed that Wawrinka wasn't going down without at least sending a message to the world that he can hang with these guys.

The match ended in a fifth set that took 1 hour, 44 minutes and went 22 games. Novak broke Wawrinka's serve in the final game with a backhand cross-court winner that ended the match 12-10 and had everyone in Melbourne buzzing despite the fact that it was already Monday morning.

It seems to happen every year for the winner of Grand Slams. At some point a guy is seeing the ball at a different level that day and you have to find a way to beat them. Tennis is one of those sports that the favorite normally always wins but that doesn't mean it can't take every ounce of effort do so. Wawrinka played out of his mind on Sunday and did everything he could to take down Djokovic. Sadly, everything he had was just a couple of games short of shocking the world. Now Novak can happily rest knowing that what I like to call his "smelling salt" match is over and now he can wake up and get ready for Tomas Berdych.

Maria Sharapova rolls over another opponent -- It's starting to get ridiculous how easy Sharapova is moving through her draw at the Australian Open. On Sunday, the former champion beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-0 with the latter match being the fifth set in this tournament that Sharapova has won without her opponent snagging a single game. In four matches, Sharapova has dropped just five games and that includes a third round match against Venus Williams.

Sharapova will now face Ekaterina Makarova in her quarterfinal match, an opponent Sharapova has never lost to in four career meetings.

NHL video on Yahoo! Sports

Australian Open, Day 6: Roger Federer shuts up Bernard Tomic

Shane Bacon — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 10:43:07 PST

There had been plenty of mouthing out of the 20-year-old Bernard Tomic heading into his third-round match with Roger Federer. Tomic, a young Australian with a lengthy wingspan and even bigger ego, had spent the better part of two days saying how much he was excited to play Federer and hopefully take down arguably the greatest player of all time.

Before the match, Tomic gathered his inner Rory Sabbatini when he said that "this is the perfect time to play (Federer)," hinting that he felt the icon was losing a step at the ripe tennis age of 31. But if you've watched Federer play these early matches at the Australian Open, you know that he's hitting the ball with as much conviction as he has to start the season in years, and the tone was set in the first game of the match. Federer promptly broke Tomic's serve and basically closed the door on an upset possibility.

Federer went on to win his match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 and showed exactly why it isn't smart to tout off to a legend.

Now two trains of thought here; I do think that Tomic is a bit too cocky for his record, but I understand that he thinks a lot about his game as he should. That said, I think you have to appreciate someone that comes into matches with the utmost amount of confidence, and while he might just be saying things to say them, at least he doesn't appear scared of someone like Federer when they pair up in Grand Slams.

And Federer showed on Saturday why he is simply the greatest that has ever played. Sure, he's 31, and yes, his chances at winning Grand Slams are slowly fading with the rise of guys like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but he still springs around the court and plays to opponent's weaknesses and seems smarter than anyone he is playing in the game.

The opponents will only get tougher as next week rolls around, but the first week has definitely been a positive for Federer and things look up for a possible 18th Grand Slam.

Sloane Stephens advances to fourth round -- It was a matchup of teenagers when Stephens, the young American with plenty of promise, took on Great Britain's Laura Robson on Saturday at the Australian Open.

Stephens got the best of Robson, advancing to the fourth round in a Grand Slam for the second time in her career with a straight-sets win. If Stephens wins her next match and Serena Williams takes care of business, the two American women will meet in the quarterfinals at the Aussie Open.

Video: Radek Stepanek takes an interesting approach to the net game

Shane Bacon — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:49:15 PST

It seems these days when playing Novak Djokovic there isn't much you can do to make him miss a shot and it appears that going Randy Moss on him doesn't work either.

That's what Radek Stepanek did in his third round match against the two-time defending champion. Stepanek approached the net, hit a poor volley that was basically dead meat and then turned around in hopes that giving him the half moon might be good enough to throw off the No. 1 ranked player.

It didn't, and even though Djokovic rolled in straight sets, it was a match full of fun antics from Stepanek.

h/t Game On!

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Australian Open, Day 5: Maria Sharapova takes out Venus Williams

Shane Bacon — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:10:26 PST

It's not often we get such a high profile match this early in a Grand Slam week, but that's what happens when Venus Williams' ranking drops to 25. The seven-time Slam winner hasn't made a quarterfinals in one of the big four events since the 2010 U.S. Open, but that doesn't stop Venus going up against Maria Sharapova from being a lot of fun in the first week in Melbourne.

Sharapova entered her third round match having not dropped a single game, and while this match looked exciting on paper, it was pretty one-sided in the Russian's favor. Sharapova won the opening set 6-1, followed that up with a second set win of 6-3 and the match lasted just 1 hour and 19 minutes.

If you're looking at possible favorites in the second week of the Australian Open in the women's side, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone hitting the ball as well as Sharapova is right now. Sure, she had just 17 winners in the two-set win over Venus, but she sure seems to be seeing the ball incredibly well early on in this major and if she keeps pounding it from the baseline like this it would be surprising not to see her in her second straight Australian Open final.

American men are done in Australia -- With John Isner pulling out of the Aussie Open before it kicked off, it didn't seem likely that we'd see a lot of red, white and blue into the late rounds of this Grand Slam. The best hope seemed to be Sam Querrey, who was looking to make it past the third round for the first time in his career in Melbourne.

That didn't happen, as Querrey met up against Stanislas Wawrinka and after dropping the opening set tiebreaker 7-6 (8-6), lost in straight sets to the 15th ranked player in the field.

The loss by Querrey means there are no American men left in the Australian Open with still half the third round yet to be played, a disappointing but not surprising fact in 2013.

Radek Stepanek keeps the Djokovic win interesting -- The fact is that Novak Djokovic won his third round match against Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. What the scores don't tell you is how much fun it was watching Stepanek run down lobs and drop shots by Novak all evening, getting the crowd involved during his inevitable defeat.

You can tell the two enjoy playing against each other, and even as Djokovic was serving for the match, Stepanek hit an incredible over-the-shoulder shot that forced Novak to hit a soft volley that turned into a point won by Radek and him giving the crowd one more finger point and run around the court.

After the match the two smiled and hugged at the net and while the two-time defending champion moved on easily, it wasn't without a little fun for the fans.

Australian Open, Day 4: Robson wins marathon third set, Federer & Murray advance

Shane Bacon — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:32:21 PST

On a day that can only be described as scorching in Melbourne on Thursday, one match seemed to stand out ahead of the others. That was the No. 9 seeded Petra Kvitova taking on 18-year-old Laura Robson. The British rising star made it to the fourth round at the U.S. Open last year and has shown some signs that she's ready to take the next step, and her play in the second round at Rod Laver showed just that.

After dropping the first set 2-6, Robson bounced back with a solid 6-3 second set win to set up both players for a lengthy third set. The best part might have been how Robson scratched back in a third set that saw her go own 3-0 to start, and ended with her serving out the match to win the final set 11-9.

It definitely wasn't the prettiest of matches, especially with how poorly Kvitova was serving the entire time, but the English teenager is moving on in one of the biggest upsets yet of this 2013 Australian Open.

The top seeds move on easily -- It was exactly what you'd expect from the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka in their second round matches.

Federer and Murray both dusted their opponents in straight sets while Williams and Azarenka combined to drop just three total games in their matches on Thursday.

Williams, who hobbled off the court in her opening match after rolling her ankle, seemed perfectly fine just two days later, hitting 10 aces and 28 winners in just under over a hour on court. Williams almost added another win when her and sister Venus took down their first round opponents 6-3, 6-1.

Australian Open, Day 3: Djokovic rolls, Stosur chokes

Shane Bacon — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:18:05 PST

I can't even imagine what the pressure must be like to be an Australian with a chance to win the Australian Open. Lleyton Hewitt has been dealing with this all his life (it might be why this Grand Slam seems to be the one he struggles at the most), and we've seen how the English players deal with Wimbledon when they have a chance to finally break that drought.

And then we have Samatha Stosur. The 28-year-old Aussie with the massive guns and the 2011 U.S. Open crown is Australia's best chance at breaking the drought that has kept an Australian woman out of the winner's circle at this event since 1978. That was, until Wednesday.

Stosur, the No. 9 seed, was playing Jie Zheng in her second round match and after splitting the first two sets it seemed that Stosur had finally found her game and was rolling to the third round.

But then it happened. Stosur, up 5-2, was broken on her own serve, giving Zheng some hope. And after the 29-year-old held her own serve to get it to 5-4, Stosur again served for the match and a sigh of relief. The problem was, that service game and the one before it were eerily similar. Both times Stosur was up 30-15, two points away from the match, and both times she couldn't pull it out.

Zheng broke her again, and after winning her service game, forced Stosur to serve to stay in the match. It ended, almost predictably, on a Stosur double-fault and Rod Laver Arena sounded like it was on mute.

Afterwards, Stosur admitted that she choked, telling reporters "At 5-2 up in the third, double break probably is a bit of a choke."

As a sports fan, it was tough to watch. No matter the person you're rooting for, the last thing you want is to see an athlete that can't finish the job. As gritty as Zheng played in those final few games, it was Stosur that couldn't find that final gear to close out her match and will be searching for something else the next time she's in this position in Australia.

Novak rolls again -- With the was Novak Djokovic is currently hitting the ball, expect to read those words over the next few days. Novak took care of American Ryan Harrison quickly on Wednesday, beating him 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

The two-time winner faces Radek Stepanek next.

Maria Sharapova bagels another opponent -- In what one announcer called the most lopsided second round match she may have ever seen, Maria Sharapova again didn't let her opponent win a game.

Sharapova took down Misaki Dio 6-0, 6-0 on Wednesday after doing the same thing to Olga Puchkova in the first round. I'm not sure what's in those new candies of hers, but it appears it's giving her the ability to smoke the ball past opponents.

Video: Jerzy Janowicz melts downs, eventually wins Australian Open match

Shane Bacon — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:12:40 PST

The bigger the tournament, the tenser the competitors get. That's a theory that holds true in any tennis tournament, and as the world is introduced to another season of Grand Slam tennis, some athletes have a hard time dealing with the heat in Australia.

Welcome Jerzy Janowicz, a 22-year-old Polish professional tennis player, who was playing his second round match on Court 8 against India’s Somdev Devvarman. When a forehand by Devvarman was called in with the first set tiebreaker leaning 9-8 in favor of Janowicz, the Pole completely lost it.

Janowicz approached the chair umpire, Marija Cicak, screaming and begging about the call, eventually falling to his knees. After calming down, the tiebreaker continued, but after Janowicz lost it to drop the first set he went even crazier, hitting the umpire's chair and tossing a water bottle.

The best part? Janowicz eventually won the match in five sets, advancing to the third round in a Grand Slam for only the second time in his career.

Australian Open, Day 2: 42-year-old becomes oldest woman ever to advance

Shane Bacon — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:49:40 PST

There are few things in sports that really make you sit back and just smile. One of those happened on Tuesday in Melbourne, as Kimiko Date-Krumm became the oldest woman to ever win a match at the Australian Open. How old is Date-Krumm? A spry 42-years-old.

Date-Krumm took down the 12th seeded Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-0, not only advancing to the second round as the oldest female ever to do so in this event, but winning her first Australian Open match since 1996 (!).

The Japanese veteran took 12 years off of tennis before returning to the game in 2008, and joked after her Tuesday match that she's old enough to be a lot of her fellow player's moms.

Date-Krumm will take on Shahar Peer in the second round.

Serena goes down, still doesn't drop a game -- When players are as good as Serena Williams, the only way they go out in the first round is an injury.

That almost happened on Tuesday Hisense Arena, where Serena landed awkwardly on her ankle on the fifth game of her opening match of this 2013 Australian Open and had to hobble to her seat. The injury looked nasty, but a few rounds of heavy tape later and Williams, looking to win her fourth straight Grand Slam title, came out and didn't drop a game.

Williams won 6-0, 6-0, and thanks to the injury gave us the quote of the tournament so far from defending champion Victoria Azarenka, who said after her match, “I heard she won love and love, so what kind of injury are we talking about [laughter]?"

Federer and Murray both roll -- Along with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray are the names on the mens's side of things with what seems like a realistic shot at winning this Grand Slam.

And the two that played on Tuesday took care of business rather swiftly in their opening matches.

Federer and Murray both dropped just seven games in their straight sets win and advance as predicted through the first round.

Janko Tipsarevic admits his wife won’t allow him anymore tattoos

Shane Bacon — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:03:20 PST

As a professional athlete, I'm sure there are plenty of things your wife requests that you not do. Traveling all the time away from the family can be tough for both sides, but the recent request of Janko Tipsarevic's wife might be one of my favorites.

No more tattoos. Janko's wife, television host Biljana, has requested that the tennis star get no more tattoos on his left forearm. "I am currently on an embargo from my wife not allowing me to do any more," Tipsarevic said.

I guess it makes sense. If you're the one that has to look at someone the most of anyone else, asking them to cut out the ink on their body isn't that bad. And hey, maybe it's working. The 28-year-old took down local favorite Lleyton Hewitt on Monday in his first round match at the Australian Open 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 and is currently ranked No. 8 in the Aussie Open field (he made it to at least the third round in every Grand Slam in 2012).

But if I'm Janko, I make a simple request; the day I win one of the big four, I get another tattoo anywhere I want it. Probably a safe bet with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the field, but still, why not shoot for the stars?

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Australian Open, Day 1: Sharapova, Djokovic roll

Shane Bacon — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:47:03 PST

The opening few days to the Australian Open are interesting for sports fans. The tennis world is focused on the first big tournament of the year that just so happens to be a major, and while we've seen some of the big guns play over the past few months, it seems like an eternity since the 2012 U.S. Open.

But nothing super surprising usually happens in the early matches in the first week of Melbourne. Here is our Day One recap.

Maria Sharapova tosses out doughnuts -- Sharapova bucked her Grand Slam drought last year at the French, completing the career Grand Slam, and is looking to add to that total at this year's Aussie Open. If her first round is any indication that her game is on point, it could definitely happen. Sharapova took down fellow Russian Olga Puchkova 6-0, 6-0, with Puchkova winning just 23 total points in the match that saw Sharapova rack up six aces and 18 winners.

Novak Djokovic wins 15th straight match at Australian Open -- The defending champ wasted no time taking care of business against Paul-Henri Mathieu, winning 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. It was Novak's 15th straight match win at this event as he looks to win this event for the third straight time, and fourth in the last six years.

Americans have a successful first day -- While the American women are still relevant in the big picture of winning this event (Venus Williams won her match on Monday 6-1, 6-0) it is the American men that are questionable to be successful at any Grand Slam, but things went fine for them in the first round. Sam Querrey, ranked 20th in this Australian Open field, and Ryan Harrison were able to both win their opening matches in four sets.

Along with those men, Madison Keys won her match in straight sets and Tim Smyczek was able to win his match in straight sets over Ivo Karlovic. Of the nine Americans that played on Monday, only three weren't able to advance.

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Maria Sharapova seems to be doing quite well off the court

Shane Bacon — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:54:57 PST

The Australian Open starts next week, but even if Maria Sharapova gets bounced in the first round she is off to a hot start in 2013. Why? Because her candy line, Sugarpova, has been killing it for the four-time Grand Slam champion.

According to a Bloomberg report, Sharapova is set to more than double her initial investment in the candy company in just the first year as projections skyrocket for the gummy candy introduced in the United States in August.

Sharapova put up $500,000 for the candy company, chump change for an athlete as marketable as the 2012 French Open champion, but the 25-year-old gets somewhere around $1.10 per bag sold of the $5.99 bag of gummy candy and people seem to be interested.

We don’t really have a big budget at all for marketing and advertisement,” Sharapova said. “So it’s pretty incredible that the awareness that it has so far is where it is."

How is it taking off? I hope you're sitting down, but social media has been a huge help.

If it was me, and I made $1.10 off every bag of this candy sold, I'd be sitting in candy shops wherever I went pushing this stuff like a guy with watches inside his jacket. (And Maria, articles this are like probably helping you out so, ya know, a little something for the effort?!)

Sharapova might have name brands accredited to her fame, but having your own business set to do this well has to feel good.

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Highest-ranked American pulls out of Australian Open

Shane Bacon — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:04:49 PST

American tennis is on the decline. Nobody has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick did it in 2003 (Roddick has since retired from competitive tennis), and while we've seen glimpses of talent come through the ranks, nobody has really taken the reigns as an American that could really make some noise in the upper echelon of professional tennis.

And it keeps getting worse. Top-ranked American John Isner, who won two titles in 2012 and made it to the third round of the Australian Open a season ago, has pulled out of the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne with bone bruising in his right knee.

Isner, who broke the top-10 a year ago before finishing No. 14 in the world, was the highest ranked American, leaving Sam Querrey with that title at No. 22 with Isner pulling out.

It's just been a strange few years for Americans. Roddick came on the scene with that booming serve and quick forehand, but he never seemed to have all the pieces to compete in today's tennis. Now the U.S. has a guy like Isner who also can smash his serve like nobody in the game but the 6-foot-9 American has only made one quarterfinals in his career, and that came in 2011 at the U.S. Open.

Querrey has never made a quarterfinals, but he did make it to the third round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2012.

Isner tried to play through the pain at the Sydney International, where he was the top seed in the tournament, but said the pain was too much as he lost in straight sets to fellow American Ryan Harrison.

To say the American men look bleak again this season could be an understatement.

Rafael Nadal officially withdraws from Australian Open

Shane Bacon — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:23:34 PST

Health has always been a concern with Rafael Nadal, but things are starting to get so serious that his opportunity to ever be competitive again in Grand Slams could come into question.

The 11-time Slam champion officially announced he would not be at next month's Australian Open (also skipping Qatar Open) because of a stomach virus, but some think it might have more to do with his aching knee than something bad he ate.

Nadal said in a statement, "My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors, but this virus didn't allow me to practice this past week, and therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha and the Australian Open."

Problem is, others aren't necessarily buying it. Spain's Nicolas Almagro said in a media session on Friday that he is a little shocked that Nadal won't be making the trip to Australia, and he didn't mention much about the virus when talking about why he thought Nadal was skipping out on the first Grand Slam of the year.

"Well, of course it's a surprise, we were talking with him and he told me he’s not 100 percent right now and wants to wait a little bit. He doesn't want to play in Melbourne, it's five sets, his knee's not really good, he's not ready for that. Well, we are waiting for him, we need to wait until South America, in one month, maybe he will be ready."

It's a shame that Nadal has gone from making the finals in Melbourne a year ago and then winning the French Open to basically playing on one knee at Wimbledon and having to completely miss the U.S. Open, but I'd say it's smart if he can wait as long as possible to come back in hopes of actually making a serious return.

Like Nadal said in his book, Rafa, there were times he never thought he'd be able to play tennis again, and while he has made some incredible comebacks in the past, the 26-year-old isn't exactly a spring chicken anymore in terms of tennis years. He has years ahead of him to be competitive, but rushing back when his health isn't 100 percent seems shortsighted if he really wants to be competitive late in his career. The French Open will always be Nadal's best shot at a Slam, and heading into that as healthy as possible seems to make the most sense.

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Novak Djokovic the odds-on favorite in Australia

Shane Bacon — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 08:50:17 PST

Don't look now, but we're just more than two weeks away from the first Grand Slam of the season kicking off. The Australian Open in Melbourne starts on Jan. 14, and while this could be the most up for grabs tennis season in recent memory in terms of picking a winner, there is still an obvious favorite to win on Rod Laver.

Novak Djokovic, winner of the last two Australian Opens, is listed as the betting favorite by Bovada. The 25-year-old is 5/4 to win the first Slam of 2013, with Andy Murray right on his heels and Roger Federer right behind.

Here are the players listed at better than 100-t0-1 to win.

Novak Djokovic -- 5/4
Andy Murray -- 3/1
Roger Federer -- 9/2
Juan Martin Del Potro -- 14/1
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -- 33/1
Tomas Berdych -- 33/1
Milos Raonic -- 33/1
David Ferrer -- 40/1
Bernard Tomic -- 66/1
John Isner -- 50/1

With no Rafael Nadal in Australia, it seems that you'd have to think one of those top two names are the most likely to win, but I feel like has the makings of the 2009 U.S. Open, when Juan Martin Del Potro came out of nowhere to snag his one and only major.

Nonetheless, betting money remains on Djokovic and Murray, not that shocking if you've watched either play a match in the last couple of years.

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Andy Murray, part of 1996 school shooting, offers up support for Sandy Hook

Shane Bacon — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:03:49 PST

In the minutes, hours and days following the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary in Newton, Conn., plenty of politicians, celebrities and athletes offered up support, donations and heart-felt sorrow for the victims of this horrible tragedy. But few people actually know from experience how tough this can be.

Andy Murray, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, was part of a 1996 school shooting at Dunblane Primary in central Scotland that left 16 students and a teacher dead, and offered up his support for the Connecticut community on his Facebook page this last weekend.

"My heart goes out to all those poor children, their families and the community in Newtown in Connecticut, so, so sad," Murray said.

[Slideshow: Sports world honors Connecticut shooting victims]

The shooting in 1996, according to this USA Today report, was a very similar situation to that of Sandy Hook, and while Murray doesn't talk much about this, understandably, he has mentioned at times of what happened all those years ago.

Murray and his brother took cover under a table in a classroom, and his mother even commented to ESPN that this particular day was, "The worst. The worst thing you could ever imagine having to go through in your life. Sitting, waiting and not knowing if your child is alive or dead -- you can't imagine what that was like. It was quite horrific."

Murray mentioned in his book Hitting Back that, "The weirdest thing is that we knew the guy (Thomas Hamilton)," a former scout leader that took the lives of these 17 people before taking his own.

The aftermath of the Dunblane shootings was then Prime Minister Tony Blair putting a stop to firearm sales in the United Kingdom, with similar reactions being thrown around in this country after Sandy Hook.

Funny or racist? Caroline Wozniacki draws heat for her Serena Williams impersonation

Jay Busbee — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:56:53 PST

Tennis players have a habit of impersonating one another for a laugh while in exhibition matches, and one of the more notable, for any number of reasons, is Caroline Wozniacki's overstuffed take on her friend Serena Williams. This past weekend, playing a match in Sao Paolo against Maria Sharapova, Wozniacki added a bit of padding and played a point "as" Williams.

Funny little goof, right? Because Wozniacki and Williams are friends, and especially because Williams herself has no problem making fun of her own figure? But no, this is an era where no joke goes unscrutinized, and no humor apparently exists without sinister subtext.

In other words: People are actually saying Caroline Wozniacki was performing a racist act.

One blogger on Tumblr wrote, "this isn't 'harmless fun' as one article described it. its racist. out and outright racism. mocking and making fun of the bodies of black women for a laugh? real funny, stupid white girl. real real funny." (Link not provided because of nonstop profanity in the rest of the post. And the words "stupid white girl" in a post condemning racism presented without comment.)

Another Tumblr blogger actually tried to make a point, wondering why Wozniacki's routine is acceptable and Williams drew criticism for her "Crip Walk" after winning gold in the Olympics. It's a fair question, if only because Williams didn't deserve the grief she got.

Thing is, this isn't the first time Wozniacki has done a Serena impression. For that matter, Wozniacki isn't the only tennis player to do Serena impressions; Andy Roddick did the same thing in 2011. Both of those moments received plenty of publicity; why is this only a racial issue now?

It's a fine line here; had Wozniacki come out in blackface makeup, the line would obviously be crossed. Here? One could argue that Wozniacki was making fun of Williams' figure outside the context of race; there are, of course, white curvaceous women's tennis players. Throwing out accusations of racism is all too easy for such a serious charge, particularly on the Internet, and the likely outcome of this is simply that Wozniacki won't do this particular gag again. An apology may be forthcoming, but it shouldn't be.

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Novak Djokovic is buying the world’s entire supply of donkey cheese

Jay Busbee — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:27:16 PST

We know that "Novak Djokovic is buying the world's entire supply of donkey cheese" sounds like the kind of headline that would show up around April Fool's, but it's apparently legit. The world No. 1 is spending millions to purchase all of the rare cheese made from, uh, donkey milk.

The cheese, known as pule, is white, crumbly and made from donkey's milk. It runs over $500 per pound, in part because one pound of the cheese requires over three gallons of milk. It's produced in Djokovic's native Serbia, and he plans to use it in his soon-to-open chain of restaurants. (Too much to hope that the restaurants are named "Donkey Cheese"?)

Pule recently received the distinction of the "world's most expensive cheese." Created at one farm in one town in Serbia, the cheese is derived from milk on one of Serbia's most well-known natural reserves. Djokovic purchased the farm's entire year's supply.

"It will save a lot of effort having to deal with various restaurants, with only one customer buying the lot we don't have to worry too much about salesmen," said Slobodan Simic, manager of the farm. "It is a great vote of confidence as well in what we do here." Simic recently told Reuters that the cheese could fetch as much as $2,900 a pound if it were sold on the open market, but it's sold privately at around $576 a pound to promote the farm's conservation efforts.

Congrats to Djokovic for cornering the donkey cheese market. We look forward to Donkey Cheese Sticks and Donkey Cheese Omelets showing up on his menus very soon.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Andy Murray plans to stop swearing so [censored]ing much while on the court

Jay Busbee — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 06:42:14 PST

Tennis can be a frustrating game. When you play your heart out and lose the point, screaming out a "[censored]" or "[censored]" or "[censored] you, you [censored] [censored] ball" feels really, really good. Problem is, if the world's watching, cursing like you're in a Tarantino film lacks a certain decorum.

As such, Andy Murray, reigning U.S. Open champion and swearing maestro, has decided that he'll clean up his mouth, starting with next month's Australian Open, according to Scotland's Daily Record.

"Obviously, me saying [censored but starts with 's'] or whatever is bad and wrong, and it's something I want to try to stop doing," he said, then added the kicker: "But it isn't as bad as some of the stuff the foreign players come out with. I wouldn't want to name any names, but some of what they say is ghastly. It's just that all of the umpires speak English." (Someone needs to start a website with translations of foreign tennis player curse translations, pronto.)

Noise on the court is, of course, a perpetual and growing issue for tennis and its players. Mostly, complaints have centered around absurdly loud grunting and shrieking, like this melodious exchange between Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki. Murray received an official warning for his cursing at the Rome Masters this year, and was dinged in Paris in 2011 for using the word "bollocks," which means nothing in America but is the equivalent of [censored] or perhaps [censored] in Murray's native Great Britain.

Earlier this year, Murray became Great Britain's first male Grand Slam winner in 76 years when he took the U.S. Open, which, for British tennis fans, was absolutely [censored] awesome.