ANALYSE THIS: The disappearance of the top teenage tennis player

TENNIS – If, like me, you grew up watching tennis in the late-1970s and early-1980s, you’d remember numerous teenage players at the top of the women’s game. At Grand Slam tournaments during those years, it was perfectly common for around one third of the seeds in the Ladies’ singles to be teenagers. However, at this year’s Australian Open there is one seed yet to celebrate her 20th birthday, the maximum there has been at each of the last seven editions of the year’s first Grand Slam.

ANALYSE THIS: Mighty Djokovic closes in on Federer

TENNIS – Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in one of the most anticipated Grand Slam quarterfinals in a long time. Djokovic prevailed by winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-1, his first straight sets victory over Nadal in a best-of-five, and has yet to lose a set at the 2015 French Open.

IN THE NEWS: Titleholder and top seed meet unusually early at Grand Slam

TENNIS – A much anticipated quarterfinal in the men’s singles tournament at Roland Garros sees the top seed, Novak Djokovic, take on the titleholder, Rafael Nadal. Only once in 188 previous Majors, the number 1 seed ran into the defending champion before the semifinals. At Wimbledon in 1993, Pete Sampras, the top seed, overcame titleholder Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals.

REVIEW: Serena Williams claims 19th Major title

TENNIS – Serena Williams secured her 19th women’s singles title in a Grand Slam tournament by seeing off Maria Sharapova in the final of the 2015 Australian Open.

ANALYSE THIS: Current men’s tennis generation features major dominators

TENNIS – When looking at games (the ones that make up sets in tennis, not to be confused with matches) won at Majors in men’s singles in the Open era (1968-present) three active players rank in the top six all-time. Below we list the 20 most dominant men in the Open era, by these criteria.

MILESTONE: Roger Federer’s 1,000 career wins

TENNIS – By beating Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the Brisbane final, Roger Federer joined Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) as the only male players in Open Era with 1,000 ATP career wins. Click on ‘continue reading’ to read more about Federer’s milestone of 1,000 wins at the ATP-tour.

REVIEW: The 2014 ATP World Tour

TENNIS – The 2014 ATP World Tour officially ended with Switzerland’s first ever win in the Davis Cup final. With this win, Roger Federer added another price to his trophy case and finished his season on an incredible high. Click on continue reading to see how the big guns in tennis performed in 2014.

ANALYSE THIS: Is the ‘Big Four’ dominance over?

TENNIS: Marin Cilic won his first Grand Slam title last Monday by beating Kei Nishikori in the 2014 US Open. This was the first Grand Slam in nine years (since 2005 Australian Open) no member of the ‘Big Four’ reached the final. Since that final in Melbourne four players have been dominating men’s tennis: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. In only three of the last 39 Grand Slams the title has NOT been won by a ‘Big Four’ player: Juan Martin Del Potro (2009 US Open), Stanislas Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open) and Marin Cilic (2014 US Open). It is remarkable that two of those wins came in 2014 which raises the question if the dominant spell of the ‘Big Four’ is over.

PREVIEW: 2014 US Open Men’s Singles Final (8 September)

TENNIS – On Monday 8 September Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic will battle it out for the last Grand Slam title of the year, the US Open. In the semifinals both the number 1 seed, Djokovic, and the number 2 seed, Federer, were stopped in their quest to add another Grand Slam title to their honours. It was for the first time since 2005 that no player of the Big Four was in the final of a men’s Grand Slam.

PREVIEW: 2014 US Open Men’s and Women’s Singles (25 August – 7 September)

Tennis – The following is a preview for the 2014 US Open men’s and women’s singles. Rafael Nadal not be defending his title, Novak Djokovic aiming for back-to-back Majors and Serena Williams for her third consecutive US Open title.