0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/5/2015
Our story begins not with a review of the first week of the U.S. Open, but with a story about the evolution of American college football. Europeans and other international readers, you’re not going to get an explanation about the innards of Yankee-style football, merely a note about the culture of this sport and how […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Tennis fans might not resist change as a regular inclination. Plenty of fans (and commentators as well) are entirely comfortable with the idea of on-court coaching during the four major tournaments. That’s not allowed at the present time, but if the sport moved in the direction of more on-court coaching, you’d find plenty of support […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Before those of us who write about sports made the decision (or were granted the opportunity) to write about sports, we were fans first. Whether as a writer or a fan, anyone who follows sports — for pleasure or for a living — remembers where s/he was when something truly remarkable happened. Truly remarkable. Epic. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/31/2015
A few weeks ago, the global tennis community left Canada dazed and exhausted after a ridiculously absurd yet entertaining week crammed with surprises and plot twists. One of the basic themes of that week, however — lurking beneath headline-grabbing events from the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Belinda Bencic, and Andy Murray — was that the […]
Novak Djokovic is still looking for a first French Open title, and he’s also searching for a second Wimbledon after losing to Andy Murray last year. The losses in major finals have piled up for Djokovic since June of 2012. It’s time for the Serbian superstar to make a stand and show a level of resilience that was missing in the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals against Federer.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/29/2015
If Novak Djokovic fails to win the 2015 U.S. Open, he still has two majors in the bag this year; more Masters 1000 titles than anyone else; and the year-end No. 1 ranking. He successfully defended a major title outside Australia for the first time in his career. He is, by any measure, the best […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/28/2015
The Super Saturday format used at the United States Open tennis championships was officially retired in 2013. That year’s tournament marked the end of the United States Tennis Association’s decision (in partnership with CBS television) to put two men’s semifinals and the women’s final on the same order of play. Yet, in reality, the possibilities […]
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 […]
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The U.S. Open women’s draw is out. Here is the bracket for the year’s final major. We all know who the main story is in Flushing Meadows, New York: Serena Jameka Williams, whose initials — “SJW” — could just as easily refer to the reality of life on the WTA Tour: Serena Just Wins. It […]
Aug 23, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Serena Williams (USA) holds the Rookwood Cup after defeating Simona Halep (not pictured) in the finals during the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/24/2015
Before telling you about tennis over the past few weeks in North America, take just two minutes to appreciate the site of Roger Federer’s and Serena Williams’s victories on Sunday afternoon. * Cincinnati, for the international readers in the crowd, is an American sports city starving for a professional sports success story. The Reds are […]
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
On an immediate level, the Wimbledon men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer marked an occasion to salute Djokovic for the greatness he has achieved. When you pass Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewall, and Fred Perry on the all-time majors list, with a few prime years left in your career, you deserve […]
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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 […]
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The latest edition of Wimbledon provided plenty of off-court controversies and sideshows, but Attacking The Net wants to keep the focus on the court. What were the most important developments of the past fortnight in suburban London for the members of the WTA Tour? Let’s take a look: * 5 – THE ART OF THE […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/12/2015
In the 2009 Wimbledon final, Roger Federer — down a set — fell behind in the second-set tiebreaker, 6-2. He improbably won a point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5 in that tiebreaker and eventually won the tiebreaker. Federer won the third set and then outlasted Andy Roddick in one of Wimbledon’s greatest championship matches. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/11/2015
Purely in a chronological sense, Serena Williams stands in the autumn of her career. If her career could be likened to a 12-month calendar year, she’s in late September as opposed to early April. More years are behind her than in front of her as a transcendent tennis player. Her first major title came 16 […]
