Tim Smyczek vs Donald Young will play first round in Atlanta. Just out of curiosity I checked the head to head and was surprised to learn these two have played against each other sixteen times already!

That’s right – 16. The first thirteen meetings were in ATP qualifying, Challengers and one Futures back in 2007. The most recent three all were contested last year on the ATP Main Tour.

Young won the first four meetings in straight sets. Then Smyczek finally got on the board in 2009 at the Winnetka Challenger, winning 62 76. Young regained the mental edge by winning the next two meetings in three sets in 2010 and then Smyczek regained the edge winning the next two. Overall, Young leads the sub ATP Tour matches head to head 8-5.

Atlanta · ATP · Donald Young · Smee

One of my favorite old re-runs is the Dick Cavett Show on Decades Network. The witty Nebraskan was a popular TV figure in the 70s with his own interview show. A couple of weeks ago I taped the two-segment show with Arthur Ashe as the guest and was quite startled to learn that Ashe completely disagreed with the equal prize money issue which was orchestrated by Billie Jean King.

Arthur Ashe · Billie Jean King · equal prize money

By Scoop Malinowski

Status: ATP no. 74. Former ITF Junior world number one and Junior French Open champion 2014. Just won Umag title as a LL defeating Lorenzi in final.

Ht: 6-2 Wt: 178

DOB: October 20, 1997 In: Moscow, Russia

First Tennis Memory: [Laughs] I don’t know. Because I play tennis since I know myself because my mom was a tennis coach. So I don’t know.

ATP · Rublev · Umag

Garbine Muguruza won the 2017 Wimbledon Women’s Singles after defeating legendary Venus Williams in a shockingly one-sided victory, which ended 7-5, 6-0 in a short and stunning two-set match.

2016 French Open champion Muguruza lost the 2015 Wimbledon finals to Venus’ sister Serena Williams, so this year marked her chance to get back on the grass and show the world what she was capable of. Muguruza did just that, with an almost flawless Wimbledon run that saw her drop only a single set (to Kerber) throughout the competition.

Muguruza · Wimbledon

Ivo Karlovic lost 67 76 67 to Peter Gojowyczk in the Dell Technologies Newport Hall of Fame Open quarterfinals on Thursday. And after the match the defending champion apparently engaged in a verbal spat with a fan.

Exiting the court to cheers, Karlovic, age 38, did not proceed directly to the locker room area at the porch. Instead Karlovic stepped into the canopied bleacher and, from my view about 30 feet away in the same bleacher, appeared to take pictures with fans. Then he seemed to engage in a conversation with an older tennis fan, who was at least sixty years of age. Maybe older.

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Tobias Kamke, Newport quarterfinalist who is 31 and had no ATP Tour main draw wins in 2017 before this week: “I was working hard even though the results were not that good. I kept on working on the things I thought were necessary to improve. Now, of course, if you get more wins, especially on the ATP Tour events, it feels very good. I feel comfortable moving here. I like my game on grass. I’ve been here once before, made the semis.”

Isner · Karlovic · Newport

When you hold a quarterfinals on a beautiful but hot Thursday in Newport, RI, the home of the tennis hall of fame, and three of the four players contesting the two quarterfinal matches are ranked well north of No. 100 in the rankings (Matthew Eden–249, Tobias Kamke–185 and Peter Gojowcyk–131), there’s a good chance there won’t be overflowing crowds attending and it’s not going to be particularly pretty.

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[gallery ids="5932"]Newport Hall of Fame Championships presented by Dell has another attractive draw this year with John Isner and Ivo Karlovic as the top two seeds, joined by other ATP standouts Taylor Fritz, Reilly Oeplka, Stefan Kozlov, Rajeev Ram, Sam Groth and Leander Paes in doubles (with Groth). Here is the day one schedule which I will be attending…

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Roger Federer won his eighth Wimbledon title today with a decisive straight set triumph over Marin Cilic. That’s 19 majors overall for the soon-to-be 36 year old icon who is showing no signs of losing his winning touch.

His game is as great if not greater than ever before, in every aspect. Now he has more experience and “fun” playing, as he told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi after.

Federer · Wimbledon

Garbine Muguruza is plowing through Venus Williams at the moment, up a set and a break and it looks like there is no way to halt this outrageously dominant display of power tennis by the Spaniard.

Muguruza showed a sampling of this unbeatable form vs Angelique Kerber earlier in the week and she has maintained the level.

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