Nancy Gill McShea calls herself a 99 percenter. She has held many jobs since age 9, including two stints as a secondary English teacher and Librarian, and she competed in varsity basketball and baseball, all before she jumped on the tennis bandwagon in the early 1970s at the beginning of the Open era. The timing was perfect, as tennis coincided with her commitment to the young feminist movement, her volunteer work in politics as a Democratic committeeman and her years spent auditioning for television commercials in Manhattan.

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It seems like it’s been going on for as long as an old clay court point between Borg and Harold Soloman with wood rackets (How do you spell that dude’s name? Didn’t he once–at Ollie Rochus height–get to the finals of the French way back in the 70′s? How quaint Old World Tennis is that!). Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Estoril, Munich…all these old European cities coming out to watch clay court tennis. Like going to the Met to see the opera.

The endless clay court season

If you follow tennis year-round the way I do, there are certain parts of the year that attract my attention much more than others. I love the Australian Open, getting up early in the morning and the action is underway on my telly. Then there’s a month hiatus before Delray Beach and then Indian Wells/Miami pops up and I’m usually good to attend at least one of those events. Monte Carlo is always a novelty, the first clay event of the season. But now between Monte Carlo and Madrid/Rome, there is another lull.

And Tennis Junkies suffer

Name: Karen Pestaina

Occupation: Editor-in-Chief of Tennispanorama.com and Contributor to The New York Times.

Resides In: Fort Lee, N.J.

First memory of tennis: I have two “first” memories. Although I was very little, I barely remember when Arthur Ashe upset Jimmy Connors to win Wimbledon in 1975. I had an uncle and cousins in London calling my father to give him match updates until we could find the match on my father’s shortwave radio. Later I remember watching the match on tape-delay on NBC.

In 1977 I witnessed the last U.S. Open at Forest Hills when Guillermo Vilas upset Jimmy Connors in four sets for the championship. This was the first tennis match I actually attended and I did not realize the significance of the match until years later. This match branded me a Vilas fan for life.

Karen says she's a "Vilas fan for life"

Status: ATP tennis pro. Winner of three ATP singles titles. Member of Canada’s Davis Cup team.

Ht: 6-5 Wt: 185

Age: 21

Birthplace: Montenegro

Residence: Ontario, Canada

First Tennis Memory: “A lot of time with the ball machine. I think that’s how I started out, mostly. That’s where I started to get my level up. And my dad (Dusan) was there picking up the balls and I’d be just standing and hitting tennis balls non-stop .”

Tennis Inspirations: “Pete Sampras, by far the biggest one. Spent many hours watching his matches. Not just once – twice, three, four times. And sort of he was the inspiration who taught me to work so hard on the serve.”

Milos spend many hours watching Pete Sampras play

Some of you may know the name Brian Baker. A top American junior, #2 in the world, lost in finals of junior Roland Garros to Wawrinka. Beat #9 seed Gaudio at the U.S. Open, took a set off Moya on Armstrong. Has lifetime wins over Monfils, Djokovic, Murray.

Baker makes final of Savannah Challenger

Nadal is just a machine on clay, but eventually the stunning loss to an outsider will come. Wonder who it will be?

Milos Raonic could be that man this week, but Raonic has to get by Ferrer today.

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What inspired you to put this book together?

Marcelo Rios was one of the most inspiring and talented players I ever saw play the sport. He had a stylish, colorful way of playing that many tennis figures admired and appreciated, people like Roger Federer, Mats Wilander, Luke Jensen, Brad Gilbert, among many others, respected Rios and the way he played, when at his best. Rios was also controversial because he was different and had a rebellious atttitude. Rios should not be forgotten, he was an important player in tennis history. One worthy of some kind of book or tribute.

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Chasing The GOAT: Roger, Rafa, Nole & The 2012 Golden Slam Year
By Dan Markowitz

The King Falters As the Dark Prince Ascends

Roger Federer stepped up to the baseline to serve at match point against his great rival, Rafael Nadal, in the semifinals of the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, CA. Unbelievably, Federer had not beaten Nadal on a hard outdoor court since 2005. It was now March 2012 and as Federer lined up to serve on the ad court, he thought he’d hit the ball down the middle at the T. In mid-toss, though, he suddenly had a change of mind and decided to serve out wide. The ball scorched down on the singles sideline inside the server’s box and Nadal, flat-footed and fooled, could not even make a move to return it. Federer went with his impulse and he was rewarded with an ace and the match.

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I thought Rafael Nadal played a superb match, it was a typical Nadal clay court beatdown, he seldom missed, ran down everything and even served more unreturnables than usual. He made the #1 player in the world look ordinary.

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