By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
NEW YORK — Yes, if you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere. It’s New York, where the heat isn’t bad this year — only in the mid-70s Tuesday — the traffic heading to Billie Jean King Center is terrible and the tennis is terrific.
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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.
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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — Everyone knows the best part of Serena Williams' game is her serving — she had 13 more aces Thursday while sweeping through her Wimbledon semifinal -- but her bewildered opponent, Maria Sharapova, pointed out another Williams asset.
"I think one of the things she does extremely well is to take [herself] from a defensive position to offense. I was not able to that," sighed Sharapova after losing to Williams a 17th consecutive time.
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Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Wimbledon Email Article By Art Spander
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NEW YORK — We called her the Woz, a word play on the Wiz, and on a court Caroline Wozniacki certainly looked like a wiz, a winner, even if she didn’t own a Grand Slam. There wasn’t a shot she couldn’t chase down; there wasn’t a ball she couldn’t return.
She was No. 1 in the women’s rankings for 67 weeks, and in 2009 she made it to the final of the U.S. Open. A loss to Kim Clijsters seemed only a blip, a hiccup as the tennis people say. The Woz was 19, and had to get better.
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Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — A teenager nicknamed "The Wild Thing" stunned Rafael Nadal and in the process all Wimbledon, recording one of the biggest upsets of the last 25 years.
Nick Kyrgios, 19, a 6-4 Australian with a vicious serve and a positive approach, took apart the top-ranked Nadal, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, on a Tuesday of surprises.
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