There are two weeks to go until the final major of the year begins and already we have two huge favorites. You simply cannot look past Novak Djokovic on the men’s side and Serena Williams on the women’s.

The Serb’s run this year been absolutely astonishing. Victory at the Rogers Cup in Montreal was his ninth title of 2011 and his fifth at an ATP Tour Masters 1000 - a record - which means he has now won 53 out of his 54 matches - with that lone loss coming to 16-time grand slam winner Roger Federer in the semifinal of the French Open.

Not too long ago it was Rafa Nadal and Swiss Federer who dominated men’s tennis and Novak was a bit of an afterthought, but how things have changed. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

We have a new men’s world number one and Wimbledon champion in Novak Djokovic.

His semifinal Wimbledon win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was simply sensational and my favorite match of the fortnight. There was a highlight in almost every game with both men leaping about all over the place and then laughing and grinning afterwards. You simply couldn’t ask for more. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

The questions about Serena Williams’ continuing desire to play tennis after her near-death experience earlier this year were clearly answered with her performance and subsequent emotional outburst in Tuesday’s first round match with Aravane Rezai.

I can’t remember ever seeing Serena cry, but she was blubbing away both into her towel and afterwards in her post-match press conference with former CNN presenter Phil Jones, remember him?

Even when Serena loses she doesn’t shed a tear (in public at least) and though I’m not one for too much emotion, it was really heartwarming to see. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

I wonder if Andy Murray ever curses the fact that he’s playing in an era with two of the greatest tennis players of all time? I suspect he does.

The Scot has all the attributes to be a major winner; he can play every shot in the book, is incredibly fit, loves a challenge and has great court-craft and intuition, but so far this total package hasn’t been quite good enough. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN Sports Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

The news that Serena Williams is to return to action for the first time in nearly a year certainly gives added spice to the build-up to the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon.

Williams has been sidelined since winning her fourth title at the All England Club since July, not hitting a ball in anger unless you count a money-spinning exhibition match against Kim Clijsters in Belgium in front of a record crowd for a tennis match.

But days before she had stepped on a shard of glass in a restaurant in Germany to set in course a train of events which she will want to banish to the back of her memory bank. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

It’s been a pretty awful week in sports, with corruption, match-fixing and bribery claims and counter-claims flying every which way, but the latter stages of the French Open have restored my faith in the world we know and love.

The top four male tennis players have shown a gulf in class once again. After a very average first week, in relative terms, world No. 1 Rafa Nadal has got better and better as he bids to equal Bjorn Borg's record of six Roland Garros titles,.

His straight-sets semifinal win over Andy Murray showed that the Spaniard is just as good as ever, despite certainly being overshadowed this year by Novak Djokovic. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

When Pete Sampras won major title number 14, I thought nobody would ever break the record. Then along came Roger Federer.

When I thought the Swiss maestro was the undisputed greatest of all time, along came Rafael Nadal. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

Another clay-court tournament, another win for Rafael Nadal.

This part of the tennis season is becoming all too predictable, with the world number one hoovering up titles in Monte Carlo and now Barcelona with imperious ease for the loss of just one set.

It was his seventh straight title in Monaco, a record which will take some beating, and sixth in seven years in the Catalan capital. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sports Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

Maria Sharapova’s driving forehand doesn’t really fill me with wonder and excitement, but I am full of admiration for her drive to succeed.

She burst onto the tennis scene as a 17-year-old in 2004, beating two-time defending champion Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final, but having reached the top of the rankings herself, her career went into decline from late 2008 after a long absence due to injury. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic's victory over world number one Rafael Nadal in the final of the Miami Masters extended his winning streak in 2011 to 24 matches.

Djokovic has now won four titles this year, including the first major of the year – the Australian Open. His winning run is impressive but it's not on my list of the best winning streaks in tennis – at least not yet!
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Tennis