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. […]
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 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 […]
He played in the 1954 and 1974 Wimbledon singles finals. Ken Rosewall might not have written the book on tennis longevity, but he certainly authored several chapters.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
When he attends the Australian Open, Ken Rosewall is a distinguished guest. He is a global legend, one especially cherished in Australia. He’s part of the phenomenal golden generation of Australian male tennis players, the group of marvelously skilled wizards who — from 1950 through 1967 — won 14 of 18 Davis Cup championships, part […]
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 6/7/2015
The 2015 Roland Garros men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka carried the weight of history. It also carried the flavors of the 2009 final between a Swiss player and a man who had beaten Rafael Nadal earlier in the tournament. In 2009, one man was trying to win a career Grand Slam, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/19/2015
Every tournament matters. Every non-exhibition competition in sports possesses value. Every time professionals take the court — in tennis or any other endeavor — they enhance their levels of integrity to the extent that they take pride in their work, putting in an honest day’s effort for an honest day’s pay. If one dares to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/7/2014
The U.S. Open’s trophy presentation ceremonies are usually the tackiest in tennis, even worse than the Australian Open’s prolonged affairs. The U.S. Open ceremony becomes something of a game show, with the CBS emcee rattling off the prizes and money totals for the champion and runner-up. This time, though, the U.S. Open ended with an […]
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 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 6/26/2014
To the uneducated observer, tennis is a simple sport — just whack the ball and keep it within the painted white lines. Thock! Thock! Thock! Thock! The sport is easily pigeonholed as a genteel pursuit in which fans seated on the sides of a stadium turn their heads — left, right, left, right — as […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/9/2014
The four major tournaments do a lot to redefine the sport of tennis. Yes, these two-week events affirm many of pre-existing truths — Rafael Nadal’s a tolerably good tennis player on clay; Maria Sharapova is no longer a cow on ice when it comes to crushed red brick — but it’s always particularly fascinating to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The year’s clay-court major is over, but the memories from Paris are fresh and demand an overview. What were the biggest (though not always the best) headlines from the past two weeks of tennis on terre battue? Without further ado: 5 – IVANOVIC’S AGONY The upsets of Serena Williams and Li Na were notable, to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The second week of a major tennis tournament will regularly offer broadcast outlets fewer chances to make mistakes in terms of programming and match selection. The first week is chock full of matches, so in many ways, that week tests a network’s commitment to tennis in ways the second week can never really match. The […]
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 […]
