Archives

Maria Sharapova: to the very end, a happy contradiction

To the very end of her illustrious career as a professional tennis player, Maria Sharapova remained a pleasing and positive puzzle, one the sports world had a hard time solving. Sharapova’s retirement on Monday, announced before her 29th birthday in April, offered one last revealing glimpse into an athlete who was easy to judge from […]

Serena Williams continues to define professionalism

Serena Williams really does deserve her own entry in the dictionary of the English language. Serena Williams (noun) – A professional, and everything that word means. * Interestingly enough, another American female tennis player owns a connection — albeit a very tangential one — to this idea of professionalism and how Serena so fully embodies […]

Serena wins Rome, as the 2016 season swiftly shifts again

Serena wins. Yes, she does… a lot. Yet, Sunday’s championship in Rome — won against Madison Keys in a classic veteran-steals-the-cookies-from-the-young-challenger kind of match — was Serena’s first title since the summer of 2015. It had been a long time since Serena hoisted a trophy… which is an utterly odd thing to say in light […]

Novak Djokovic’s 2015 season takes its place in tennis history

(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 […]

10 big stories from the 2015 U.S. Open

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 […]

Italy’s cup overflows on Flavia Pennetta’s big day

Italy is a nation known for a number of things, vineyards being near the top of the list. Italian tennis has featured four industrious professionals in the 21st century, all of them players who have been able to reach a major-tournament singles final. In 2012, Sara Errani reached the French Open final. This Saturday afternoon […]

Veni, Vidi, Vinci: Serena is conquered in an all-time sports upset

On the sprawling canvas of life itself, one day blends into the next. We get up, we work, we aspire, we do what we need to do. We enjoy — if we’re lucky — some escapist evening entertainment in a comfortable room with ample food and drink. We might find a few hours per week […]

Simona Halep and an allowance for the unexpected

It was supposed to be Victoria Azarenka’s time again. At least, it felt as though the one nicknamed “Vika” was in great position to record a victory on Wednesday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Azarenka has stood up to Serena Williams better than anyone else on the WTA Tour over the past three years, certainly […]

Serena defeats Venus, saying more about us than her tennis

Just a few days before September 11, 2001 — when the world and America’s perception of it were quite different — Serena and Venus Williams met in their first major final. That meeting, in the 2001 U.S. Open final, was significant enough in its own right and on its own terms. More than 40 years […]

U.S. Open Women’s Draw Analysis

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 […]

Federer and Serena Win Cincinnati, But There’s More To The Stories

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 […]

5 Takeaways: The WTA At Wimbledon

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 […]

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