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: […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/10/2015
In January of 2003, another old man — in tennis terms — won a major title. Andre Agassi, three months short of his 33rd birthday, became one of the oldest ATP major champions in the Open Era of professional tennis. His opponent in the final of the 2003 Australian Open, though, was not Andy Murray, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/29/2015
Lleyton Hewitt’s tennis career isn’t over, but his Wimbledon career is. Jarkko Nieminen, also playing in his last Wimbledon, extended his stay another match (but only one more match; Novak Djokovic is next) at the Big W. In a marvelous match, Nieminen defeated Hewitt, 11-9 in the fifth set. The battle took almost four hours […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 1/15/2015
What is true for women’s tennis is also true for men’s tennis. Through 1987, the Australian Open was not so much a fourth major as a major in lighter clothing. Without a full 128-player draw, seeds received byes into the second round. On plenty of occasions, top pros didn’t make the trip Down Under to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/21/2014
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 7/2/2014
There were two kinds of upsets to marvel at on Tuesday, as Wimbledon became “Wimbledonnybrook.” One of those upsets offered a portrayal of an underdog surpassing a favorite on the favorite’s own terms, as Angelique Kerber outfought one of the best fighters in women’s tennis, Maria Sharapova. The write-up for that match is here. The […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/17/2014
The following list is sure to raise some pointed questions and spirited disagreements, but it is based on the simple contention that a significant match and a great match aren’t one and the same thing. Many far greater and more memorable matches have been staged at Wimbledon, but only a few other men’s matches can […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/8/2014
Major-tournament finals are played on the same tennis rectangles used for first-round matches and fourth-round matches, but they advance the story of tennis in ways the preliminaries rarely if ever do. When a 13-time major champion takes on a man who has made nine of the past 12 major finals (not including the 2013 Roland […]
