Tennis

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal sat in his hotel room in "unbelievable pain," his right knee cracking and his leg cramping. He wondered if he'd be able to play his first-round match at the Australian Open.

He already had plenty on his mind going into the year's first Grand Slam tournament. There was his ailing shoulder and his spat with Roger Federer over player conditions on the tour, a rare clash between these respectful rivals that has since been smoothed over.

After hours of medical tests and treatment, Nadal decided to play but was "scared" when he took the court against American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov. Judging by the scoreline, the outcome looked very matter of fact: Nadal won 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, but it was anything but that for the 2009 Australian Open champion.

OREM -- Ogden High’s Abbey Anjewierden had so much fun winning the state girls doubles championship a year ago, she went out and did it again.

Anjewierden teamed up with sister Nicole to win the state 4-A championship at No. 1 doubles last season. This season — with Ogden in the 3-A ranks — Anjewierden teamed with Meredith Tribe for the season. Weather pushed the semifinals and finals to Monday at Timpanogos High School.

The Tigers duo topped a Judge Memorial squad in the semifinals 6-1, 6-1, then took on Snow Canyon’s Abbey Hafen and Madi Harrison in the final.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Are the girls playing tennis or dodgeball?

The state 3-A, 4-A and 5-A girls tennis tournaments have been rescheduled, moved around and adjusted several times over the past two days as UHSAA official try to create a level playing field for the state's elite athletes as they dodge rain storms and an untimely cold snap.

The 3-A tournament will start a day late, with action starting at 9 a.m. today at BYU. If needed, the finals will be staged on Monday at 3 p.m. at a site yet to be determined.

Cursing the NFL for not offering a game every evening, Morty slapped his remote into warp drive and sped through the high-def channels looking for sports. He inexplicably paused on a tennis match long enough for his wife to plead, "Hold it there, dear." Morty, strictly a meat and potatoes sports fan, winced at the offering of steamed broccoli.

"This is the U.S. Open in New York," Bernice said. "Wud ja just look at the size of that crowd."

Just then, the TV announcer whispered, "Federer was down love-40, but Nadal double-faulted twice and netted a backhand drop shot, so now it's deuce."

"What the hell's this guy talking about?" groaned Morty.