Tennis

©Colette Lewis 2013-- Urbana, IL-- Thursday's miserable weather, with cold, wind and rain forcing matches indoors, gave way to a glorious spring day at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Center at the... For the complete story, click on the title of the post to go to zootennis.com

The younger Williams sister is the top seed, and opens against Anna Tatishvili. Her stiffest opposition will come...I don't know, never? Maybe Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka in the final, two players she rolls on red clay. Yawn.

Photo by AP Photo/ Christophe Ena Want to join the Nadal News Racquet Pool? Sign up! Pool Name: NadalNews; Password: allHaveR@FAtowin? (If that doesn’t work, try allHaveR@FAtowi) There’s a good chance you’ll get to point and laugh at me – I did my picks half asleep and super-fast. Articles: Nadal back for number eight – by Kate Battersby (rolandgarros.com). Includes some quotes from Rafa’s media interview. Rafael Nadal says he’d rather win tour events than one Grand Slam – AFP via dailytelegraph.com.au Rafa and Nole together – via rolandgarros.com 2013 French Open Profiles: Rafael Nadal – via tennis.com Tennis 15-30 French Open preview – digizine by tennis.com Rafael Nadal’s secret garden – by Greg Garber (espn.com) Nadal: “Roland Garros siempre tendrá un lugar especial en mi corazón” – via rtve.es (mangle) Photos: Sharapova, Nadal, Serena Williams, Federer play night tennis – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com) French Open draw: good news for Serena, Federer; bad for Djokovic – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com) No. 4 in the World, Nadal Is Still One to Beat at French – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com) French Open preview roundtable – via si.com Parisian Thoroughfares – by Steve Tignor (wish I knew who to credit with the perfect selection/placement of photos) Serena: Rafa is chasing my comeback – by Matt Cronin (tennis.com) French Open men’s seed report – by Jon Wertheim (si.com) Nadal : «L’ambition est la même» – by Carole Bouchard (lequipe.fr) And here’s the mangle. Why Rafael Nadal Will Win the French Open (In Case It Wasn’t Otherwise Obvious) – by Eric Dodds (time.com) Videos/Audio: rtve report on the draw – includes some comments from Rafa. Practice footage from raquettemania: getting ready; 16 minutes of footage; smacking it (not sure if this is included in previous vid or not) and one more. More footage from the Nike event. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams discuss their chances Short video from the draw. Photos: Pictures from the draw on the Roland Garros site. Also from the tournament site, media day photos. Nice photos from Barcelona. Media Day and more via the Roland Garros Facebook page. They posted some draw photos too. Rafa does social media: Was that spectacular or scary, Rafa? Rafa did his best impression of an eager tot asking you to play. A chilly looking Rafa playing poker with chilly looking French people. Social media related to Rafa: A practice Vine (am I the only one who doesn’t get the appeal of Vine?) Nice promo from KIA. [View the story "May 24th - Rafa in Social Media" on Storify]

A few smallish photos from today’s draw. Photos by AP Photo/Christophe Ena and EFE/Christophe Karaba

So I've never been a big fan of legit contenders playing in those tiny warm-up events the week before Grand Slams. Maybe it's a deep-rooted thing from way back in '95, when Andre Agassi played and won nearly every week before the U.S. Open then ran out of steam in the finals. I just think when you have a shot at going for your first or 14th Major, don't play the Aucklands and Strasbourgs of the world.All of that said, I think this can be one of the most intriguing French Opens in years because of the above train of thought. The very top tier of players on the ATP and WTA tours took the week off from competition. There are three, in particular, to me that really stand out by standing down: David Ferrer, Agnieszka Radwanska and Nicolas Almagro.Those three have been consistent top-10 threats for years, racking up titles. But they only have one Grand Slam final between them. Granted, they do compete in a pretty tough era, but what if they set their sights higher in regard to scheduling? It looks like that might be the case this year at Roland Garros.And maybe a Slam breakthrough is in the cards

Video from the Nike promo event featuring Rafa, Roger, Serena and Maria. Posted by niketennis. More footage and some outtakes: And short interview clips: Posted by LizaIzmaylova.

The French Open 2013 Prize money has significantly increased compared from last year’s. From €18,718,000, this year’s total prize money has risen to €21,017,000. The positive side of the increase is that everyone wins in the long run. A significant increase in the prize money for the early round losers from the main draw and The post Roland Garros 2013 French Open Prize Money Breakdown appeared first on Tennis Guru.

No one can pinpoint exactly when and how the Love-15-30-40 scoring system came into play, though there are several theories, some ranked higher than others.

In case you missed it, Roger Federer participated in a Reddit Q&A (or AMA) Friday.