Palm Springs Life: Serena Starts Slow, Finishes Fast

By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life

She’s the world No. 1, as the public address announcer bellowed several times before the first shot and after the last, and although not outwardly arrogant, the 34-year-old Williams well understands her place in the sport, indeed in all of sports.

When she was asked if, not having competed in an event since a finals loss at the Australian Open the end of January, she wasn’t tournament-ready, returned with, “I’m tournament-ready. I have been playing professional tennis for over 20 years. Yeah, if I’m not tournament-ready now, then I’m never going to be. It’s time to think of other jobs. Maybe I can become a reporter.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.

Palm Springs Life: Slow Return Tests del Potro's Patience

By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life

He had lost, which was understandable. And given the circumstances, acceptable.

Yet, this time Juan Martin del Potro was been beaten by the man across the net, Tomas Berdych, not his own body.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.

Palm Springs Life: Novak Djokovic Is the Whole Package

By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life

He is the best in the game right now, No. 1 in men’s tennis, a ranking earned, not bestowed, which perhaps is the reason Novak Djokovic seems less intimidated by the position — you know the adage, nowhere to go but down — than invigorated by it.

“My thinking, my approach,” he said in response to a question of what should we expect, “is not that I have to win this, I’m supposed to win this, but I’m going to believe in myself, and I carry the confidence that has brought me to where I am at this moment.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.

Palm Springs Life: Fritz Fizzles at BNP Paribas Open

By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life

Taylor Fritz didn’t have his serve Thursday — hey, sometimes Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras struggled — but he did have his sense of perspective. After Fritz was whipped by the other young American hotshot, Francis Tiafoe, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, in their first-round match of the BNP Paribas Open, he was asked how long it would take him to get over a loss.

Until that moment, most of Fritz’s comments in the media room were the sort expected from a disappointed 18-year-old: that he made too many mistakes; that he usually handles pressure very well. But the recovery time after a defeat?

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.

Palm Springs Life: Even in Absentia, Maria Sharapova is Hot Topic

By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life

This was the scenario at the BNP Paribas tournament Wednesday (March 9): The ladies who were there, if not yet playing — champions such as Angelique Kerber, who just won the Australian Open, and Petra Kvitova, who has two Wimbledon titles — were compelled to talk about the lady who wasn’t there.

That, of course, would be Maria Sharapova, who pulled out Indian Wells with a sore forearm — that’s forearm, not forehand — before it was announced she had failed a drug test and faced a suspension from the game.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.