0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/24/2016
The French Open didn’t occupy a prominent psychological place in Andy Murray’s tennis season — not in the distant past. Murray’s favorite major tournament is and has been the U.S. Open. His most consistent major tournament is the Australian Open, where he’s reached five finals dating back to 2010. The major tournament freighted with the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/21/2016
To a certain extent, it will always and inevitably be true that draws don’t matter that much in tennis. What looks good on paper often becomes nothing other than a dream. For blockbuster semifinals to emerge at the 2016 French Open, four players — Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal — must […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/18/2016
Anyone who has ever loved tennis knows the sport possesses a singular quality, a uniquely combative nature which resonates across much of the globe. This is a violent sport. It’s anything but the longstanding and laughably empty stereotypical image of a “sissy” or “genteel” activity. Yet, the competitors don’t suffer black eyes, fractured jaws, or […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/4/2016
The 2016 Miami Open might become something very different in the course of time… and that’s part of what made it such a fascinating tournament to observe. We could look back on the past week and a half in Key Biscayne, Florida, and realize that the journey led to predictable endpoints in 2016: Novak Djokovic […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/10/2015
(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 […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/14/2015
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.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
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 […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/11/2015
If ever an athlete or team felt at home — physically, emotionally, spiritually, holistically — Roger Federer at Wimbledon would rate as a top example. Andrea Pirlo in an Italy uniform, representing the Azzurri. Usain Bolt on any track at a high-stakes event. Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. The San Francisco Giants in an […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/10/2015
Weren’t we here a year ago at the U.S. Open? Short answer: No – a year ago, the men’s semifinals would have been played on Saturday, and there would have been a lot less shade and wind protection available for Novak Djokovic, who will play his 2015 semifinal in much more comfortable conditions. Long answer: […]
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 07: Kevin Anderson of South Africa celebrates after defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain during their Men’s Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2015 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2015 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/8/2015
Kevin Anderson — whose wife is, like me, a tennis blogger (and that’s pretty much where the similarities between our lives end) — surely heard the voices in his head. “Oh no — not again. Not this time. No, it can’t be. Please, God, no. I’ve worked too hard for this. I’ve come too close. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/27/2015
The U.S. Open men’s draw is out. Here’s your bracket sheet. * See the cover image above? That’s the new look this year for Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof which will cover the court in future years is not in place, but the outer portion of the structure has been erected. This points to the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/17/2015
When tennis fans and pundits sat down to preview the tennis season’s big week in Canada — with the WTA in Toronto and the ATP in Montreal — they couldn’t possibly have known what was about to unfold in the great North. Try to go back to the morning of Sunday, August 9, when the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/13/2015
The ATP side of the Wimbledon divide offered plenty of fascinating stories. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will get their own stand-alone treatment, so here are the five big non-final observations from the past two weeks at SW19: * 5 – CANADIAN SUNRISE There was no Canadian Sunset at Wimbledon — not when one realizes […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/8/2015
A timeless lesson is something which exists in any point of human history. However, when talking about tennis or baseball or a few other sports, the idea of “timelessness” is more specific, since those sports aren’t played against the backdrop of a clock. Baseball players and solo-sport athletes — and any other athletes in sports […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/26/2015
The gentlemen’s singles draw for Wimbledon 2015 has been released, with seeded players in white: Here are the items of foremost importance after the revelation of the brackets: The biggest question in the men’s draw, in terms of pointing the path to the eventual champion, was whether Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer (the top two […]
