‘Greatest Match’ Ump Working Court 13

It’s a long way from the greatest tennis match of all time to a first-round matchup on Court 13, but maybe everything’s going to be something of a letdown from now on for Pascal Maria.

Maria, a 36-year-old Frenchman, was the chair umpire for the epic 2008 Nadal/Federer Wimbledon final. He’s featured in Read More

Access to Men’s Locker Room: Denied

Reporters are not allowed to enter the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The rule was apparently put in place because players were complaining that it was a tad bit uncomfortable having reporters in their changing space, according to Marc Berman’s New York Post blog last year. I remember learning of the rule last Read More

In the Women’s-Tennis Galaxy, Many Stars Eclipsed by Venus

Venus Envy: A Sensational Season Inside the Women’s Tour , by L. Jon Wertheim. HarperCollins, 225 pages, $25.

Why would L. Jon Wertheim write a book about the women’s tennis tour, a group top-heavy with brilliant and fascinating players, and give it the sexy but ultimately misleading title Venus Envy ? I must begin my Read More