You know that the North-American leg of the Tour starts when…

This year, because of the Olympics, the tennis world had to cut short its holiday. The US tour starts in August, with the US Open in the sight at the end of the month...

  …Planes fly above the courts. …Nadal and Djokovic leave the tabloids and St-Tropez, and move, once again, to the back pages of the ‘papers. …Even if, Rafael Nadal is mostly returning to hospital. Every year, when the time to cross the Atlantic comes, the Iberian is either injured, convalescent or just missing. …Caroline Wozniacki and Andy Murray start looking like lobsters with measles. …It’s back to Deco turf and ligament pain, and osteopaths make their fortunes. …You get back to work when the rest of the world is watching the beach weather forecast. …a few old-timers make their come-back; Jimmy Connors yesterday, Tommy Haas today. …it’s the start of sunstroke season…and of weird injuries. …your TV needs sunscreen. …The American find their form. Andy Roddick above all. …Courts become lagoon blue; to remember the holiday and forget Madrid. …Caps become a necessary accessory... Except for those who wear it back to front. …Ladies keep changing World Number 1. ….Roger Federer wins either the Canada Open, or Cincinnati. …The Williams sisters (re-)appear from out of the blue. …late-comers do their extra-hours at Winston-Salem. …The female players grunt louder: it's the summer, pheromones and all that… …great oafs approaching 6.5 feet with stilts for legs, endless shorts and inevitable backwards caps, play Neanderthal, percentage tennis. Raonic, Isner, Karlovic etc… …Maria Sharapova catches a virus. …Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hit a fire hydrant in the streets of Toronto and gave up at Cincinnati. His agent could have found a better excuse. …Agnieszka Radwanska never fails to disappoint. …There are tournaments in the Bronx and no one talks about it… …You read the results of the day before in the papers of two days later. …The gangways of the stadia look like a rubbish dump after an all-night session. No, pop-corn isn't eco-friendly.   Rico Rizzitelli