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.
Copyright 2019 The Maven
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.
Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.
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.
Copyright © 2015 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Featured Columnist
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.
Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.
By Art Spander
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.
Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — Maria Sharapova was starstruck, which tells you how big David Beckham is.
Beckham, pro golfer Ian Poulter and onetime English soccer ace Bobby Charlton were among the Royal Box guests as Wimbledon celebrated its annual sports heroes Saturday.
Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — The big names held serve and their places at the top on Tuesday at Wimbledon, meaning those who prefer their tennis played by the rich and famous never had to hold their breaths. Unlike a year ago.
Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, both ranked No. 1, scored straight-sets victories in opening matches. So did Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, who, as the other two, are former Wimbledon champions.
Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — The sun was shining Saturday, softening the gloom in the wake of that World Cup failure the Times of London called "England's Shame."
Wimbledon begins Monday, and with England's certain departure from the World Cup, tennis will take over the headlines.
Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to the Times
She went back to where it all started, to the wall in Sochi. Maria Sharapova, out of boredom really, as a child began smacking a tennis ball while her father played his weekly game a few feet away.
"My career started in Sochi," Sharapova said Wednesday, reviewing her trip home and to the Winter Olympics.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
By Art Spander
For the Los Angeles Times
LONDON — The little world of tennis spun out of control Wednesday. Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova took figurative tumbles at Wimbledon far earlier than anyone believed, and others took actual tumbles on lawns apparently too slick for the purpose.
Federer, who advanced to the quarterfinals in his previous 36 Grand Slam tournaments, was knocked out of Wimbledon this time in the second round. And by a 27-year-old Ukrainian ranked 116th, Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — For 9 1/2 years, 36 consecutive events, Roger Federer had never failed to reach the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam tennis tournament. But this Wimbledon he couldn't get past the second round.
A 27-year-old from the Ukraine, Sergiy Stakhovsky, 116th in the world rankings, defeated Federer, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5), a stunning conclusion to a long Wednesday afternoon of upsets, upset competitors and withdrawals.
Copyright © 2013 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — Another Wimbledon begins Monday on the lawns of the All England Club, and what's Wimbledon without rain and wind — both made an appearance Saturday — and without a controversy?
Maria Sharapova took a huge shot at Serena Williams Saturday, lashing back at her when asked about a Williams comment — the author assumed it to be about Sharapova — in Rolling Stone magazine.
Copyright © 2013 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England -- They call it Manic Monday here. Think of it as a tennis version of March Madness. Everyone remaining is scheduled in a fourth-rounder. The next thing you know, a favorite is defeated, and the survivors are tiptoeing to the quarterfinals.
As Serena Williams will be. As Maria Sharapova will not be.
Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
Special to The Los Angeles Times
WIMBLEDON, England — The way Maria Sharapova was talking, discussing her French Open victory last month as opposed to her Wimbledon loss Monday ("I'll have that for the rest of my career"), it was easy to think of the film "Casablanca."
"We'll always have Paris," Humphrey Bogart says in that familiar line. So will Sharapova.
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com
WIMBLEDON, England — It always comes down to money, doesn't it? Whether you're A-Rod or some kid just drafted into the NBA or a relatively successful and - herein lies the issue - relatively unknown tennis player named Gilles Simon.
Fame usually brings wealth. Wealth often brings fame. Everybody wants more of both, which is the reason there are holdouts and lockouts and player strikes in team sports, and there is jealousy in individual sports, such as tennis.
© RealClearSports 2012
WIMBLEDON, England — She was an ingenue with a forehand and determination. Maria Sharapova hit the top when she was hitting her teens, and then after an injury she has struggled to return.
She carries a Russian passport but has lived in the United States for years, speaks better English than many Americans and plays her game better than most people anywhere.