Britain’s Andy Murray speaks before being presented with the runner’s up trophy after he was defeated by Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in their men’s singles final match on day fourteen of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 31, 2016.

There’s Far More To Andy Murray’s Life Right Now Than Another Australian Open Finals Loss

Tennis, like sports as a whole, mirrors and reveals real things about the humans who play inside the lined rectangle. However, tennis is not life itself, at least not a representative version of it. ** There was Andy Murray, accepting the silver platter again. The two-time Grand Slam winner has seemed tortured at the Australian Open, and […]

Roger Federer of Switzerland wipes the sweat from his face during his semifinal match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.(AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Roger Federer’s Twilight Zone isn’t what you think it is

Roger Federer, being 34 years old, could be viewed as a tennis player who is stepping into the twilight of his career. Whether or not that view is supremely fair or substantive is another question, but the idea that a 34-year-old tennis player stands in or near the twilight realm of his (her) journey is […]

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 28: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates match point in his semi final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland during day 11 of the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic is just not fair

When a remarkable athlete performs at his best, a turn of phrase which most readily comes to mind is “a cheat code.” That’s what Novak Djokovic has become. He reminded us of this reality on Thursday night in Melbourne. In 2011, Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final in four sets. With the […]

Absence, Presence, and Ascension: Angelique Kerber figures it out

What does it look like when a talented player finally puts the pieces together in the moment when she most desperately needs to do so? Samantha Jane Stosur did this at the 2011 U.S. Open against Elena Dementieva on one Sunday, and then against Serena Williams one Sunday later. Francesca Schiavone, after many years of […]

Canada’s Milos Raonic celebrates victory during his men’s singles match against France’s Gael Monfils on day ten of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 27, 2016.

Milos Raonic Leaps Into The Australian Open Semifinals

Tennis fans have waited years for another men’s tennis player to take the proverbial leap, becoming a player not necessarily on the level of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray, but clearly a step above the rest of the top 20. We might be watching Milos Raonic make that move. The Canadian dispatched Gael […]

The economy of tennis and the “next match fallacy”

One relatively common, pervasive and durable component of tennis analysis — especially in relationship to the practice of predicting outcomes — is the citation of a player’s form. He’s the more in-form player at the moment. Based on current form, she should be the favorite. The idea is easy enough to understand, and it’s not […]

Medical staff use a stretcher to carry Ana Ivanovic’s coach Nigel Sears, from the stadium during the women’s singles match between Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic and Madison Keys of the US on day six of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2016.

Australian Open: Nigel Sears, Andy Murray’s Father-In-Law, Collapses During Ana Ivanovic’s 3rd-Round Match

The scene at Rod Laver Arena during day six of the Australian Open suddenly became about far more than tennis. Early in the second set of Saturday’s third-round match between Ana Ivanovic and Madison Keys, Ivanovic’s coach Shriver added that Ivanovic knew about “a history” of health issues which may have explained the incident and likely […]

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 19: Rafael Nadal of Spain speaks to the media during a press conference following his loss to Fernando Verdasco of Spain during day two of the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 19, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Ranking the Australian Open’s first-round upsets

Between the men’s and women’s draws, 17 upsets emerged in the first round if viewed strictly through the prism of seeded players losing–five from the men and a whopping 11 on the women’s side. Some of these came out of nowhere, some were more-or-less expected, some were in between. In order of most expected to […]

5 Takeaways From the Australian Open Men’s Draw

The draw for the 2016 Australian Open is here, and everyone has been poring over it since it was first announced. So, without further ado, here are the five things that most jumped out to me when I first looked at the draw: 1. Lleyton Hewitt Has the Perfect Opportunity However much this tournament will […]

Novak Djokovic’s 2015 season takes its place in tennis history

(NOTE: A story on Novak Djokovic’s 2015 season was originally posted here after Mr. Djokovic won the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals in late November, days before the Davis Cup. It was accidentally deleted and unable to be retrieved. It was not scrubbed or purposefully removed. Life just happened. What follows is therefore not a […]

Novak Djokovic: the greatest in 2015, with the gates of history opening wide

One set all. 4-4 in the third set. The U.S. Open final. The two best ATP stars in the world, playing their hearts out before 23,000-plus spectators (many of them poorly behaved, but that’s another story). This is the moment every professional tennis player dreams of. It’s the moment every tennis pro tries to reach. […]

NY 29Aug2015 Roof scaffolding Ashe Stadium wide angle view from top on Art Ashe Day with shadows.

10 big stories from the 2015 U.S. Open

BLOGUIN NOTE Before we begin, a reminder for readers: Attacking The Net is a major-tournament tennis blog, not (yet) a full-service year-round tennis blog. You’ll get coverage of the Davis Cup semifinals and finals; the WTA Finals; and the ATP World Tour Finals, with perhaps a wrap-up of the Masters 1000 events in Shanghai and […]

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