0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/28/2014
The biggest story from day three of the U.S. Open emerged in the women’s singles event, as Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 4 seed in the draw and a player given a more-than-reasonable path to the semifinals, crashed out in the second round to Peng Shuai. The relatively meek 3-and-4 loss won’t eliminate the satisfaction Radwanska […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/27/2014
Who knew that the big story of day two at the United States Open — which was not as boisterous and complicated as day one, but still provided some teasing, twisting matches such as Victoria Azarenka’s three-set escape against Misaki Doi — would come from a player who would refuse prize money in order to […]
0 comments by TiqIQ on 8/26/2014
The biggest tennis tournament in the country is under way. As the first round of the U.S. Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens is in process, demand for U.S. Open tickets on the secondary market has been increasing compared to both last year and just a few weeks ago. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/21/2014
Bracketed tournaments — in basketball, soccer, tennis, water polo, and anything else under the sun — always elicit certain kinds of conversations when the brackets are first revealed. Some people are bracket zealots, in that they think the draws mean everything. Other people, tired of the bracket zealots, think that draws mean absolutely nothing, or […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
There’s a very clear theme to be found at the 2014 United States Open, now that the draws have been announced in a ceremony held early Thursday afternoon in New York. The women’s draw is here — click on each highlighted section to see the pairings. * THE ESSENTIAL U.S. OPEN QUESTION: “WHO WILL […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
You saw this same list (shortened) before the French Open. You saw it before Wimbledon. Now, you get to see it before the U.S. Open. Just so I don’t get any hate mail or hate tweets, this is not a list of the greatest U.S. Open matches of all time. Significance and greatness certainly intersect […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/20/2014
Attacking The Net did it for Roland Garros. ATN did it for Wimbledon. Now, ATN offers a list of the 10 most significant U.S. Open women’s matches of all time. Reminder number one: This is not a list of the best matches, only the most significant. Reminder number two: See reminder number one. Reminder number […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/18/2014
We’ve seen two utterly fascinating weeks of North American hardcourt tennis since the world’s best (minus Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro, and Li Na, among others) came to Canada in early August. Tour action continues this week in New Haven (Connecticut) and Winston-Salem (North Carolina). Moreover, a few of the big names on the WTA […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/11/2014
A weekend in Canada, a change of sceneWas the most I bargained forAnd then I discovered you, and in your eyesI found the love that I couldn’t ignore. — Canadian Sunset, 1956 * Norman Gimbel, the lyricist for a song that’s almost 60 years old, knew what a weekend in Canada could do for the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/6/2014
NOTE: Attacking The Net was created this year to cover the major tournaments, with the possibility (no guarantees, though…) that it could cover more of the tennis calendar in the future. This blog will go largely dark for the next month. You’ll get post-tournament wrap-ups on the Monday morning after the Canada and Cincinnati tour […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The story of ESPN’s performance in week one at Wimbledon is archived here. Why was this account so lengthy? Very simply, ESPN (and at times, ESPNEWS) covered Wimbledon with only one television channel at one time. ESPN covered tennis until the early World Cup match came on, and ESPNEWS then filled in. However, the WorldWide Leader […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The story of a memorable gentlemen’s singles final at Centre Court Wimbledon begins in Melbourne, Australia, on January 29, 2012. On that night, Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open final, 7-5 in the fifth set over Rafael Nadal. Djokovic was so close to winning in four sets, but Nadal uncorked a string of clutch points […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/5/2014
One of the most influential figures in the history of modern tennis, Billie Jean King, has uttered one of the most succinctly profound truths about competitive athletics: “Pressure is a privilege.” If you’re feeling the butterflies that accompany a Wimbledon singles final or any other championship match, you’re enduring the pressure every tennis player wants […]
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
0 comments by Matt Zemek
For the casual sports fan — in America but also in other nations — the final weekend of Wimbledon is much like Christmas or Easter Mass for the fallen-away or secularized Catholic. You watch. You go. It’s an event. You might even catch a moment of inspiration and walk out of the cathedral with a new […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/4/2014
One of the most important sports books of all time, whether or not you’ve read it, is Timothy Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Tennis, published in 1974. Gallwey explored the mental dimensions of tennis, unearthing insights that coaches in the sport have used ever since. Gallwey’s view of tennis has spread to other sports. Pete […]
