0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/26/2015
The women’s draw for Wimbledon was announced Friday morning. Here it is: The first thing which stands out about the women’s draw is that the bottom half is a vast green field (word choice intentional, since this is lawn tennis) of opportunity for everyone in it. Petra Kvitova has to be very happy with the […]
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/23/2015
The month of July honors America’s independence from Great Britain, and this July, American dreams of calendar Grand Slam glory will either reach a crescendo or die a fiery death across the pond. Later in July, Jordan Spieth will head to the British Open trying to do the unthinkable. He’ll attempt to capture the third […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/1/2015
For the men at Roland Garros, the end of play on Monday evening marks the calm before the storm of four blockbuster quarterfinals. For the women competing for a major championship in Paris, everything is possible… despite what you might think about the hollowed-out nature of the bracket. In 2013, Serena Williams fended off Maria […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/27/2015
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (pictured above) didn’t score an aberrational victory over Simona Halep in last year’s U.S. Open in New York… because she defeated Halep again in the second round of the 2015 French Open on Wednesday. Lucic-Baroni, whose remarkable tennis story can’t be repeated enough, won a 7-5 first set and then hammered Halep (and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/22/2015
The women’s singles draw for the 2015 French Open has been announced. What stands out about a bracket that features so many delicious (or perilous, depending on your viewpoint) uncertainties? You can debate which item is the second most important one on your list, but there should be no discussion about the top story to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/21/2015
It is a basic reality of any bracketed tournament: It’s generally best to wait until the draw comes out to make more finite assessments of what’s at stake, who has a profound opportunity to create a lifelong memory, and which performers are uniquely vulnerable. With this in mind, we don’t yet need to delve into […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/17/2015
In 2012, Maria Sharapova conquered Rome and then Paris. Being able to win the last prominent lead-up tournament to the French Open, and to then claim Roland Garros itself, represented one of the more substantial clay-court achievements in recent women’s tennis history. Sharapova has once again lifted a trophy in Italy’s ancient city, but as […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/10/2015
The 2015 Mutua Madrid Open — like the ones before it — is a point of intrigue and fascination, because this tournament has an inconsistent relationship with Roland Garros, the crown jewel of the clay-court season each year. On one hand, Madrid’s higher elevation lends itself to a more aggressive style, one in which quality […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/23/2015
For when the One Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – But how you played the Game. – Grantland Rice * Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing. – Red Sanders * The two above quotes — one from a giant in American sportswriting […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 2/3/2015
The Australian Open is done, and so is daily coverage of tennis at Attacking The Net… for now. This is still a major-tournament-focused blog. We hope to branch out in the coming months, but at the present time, our resources only enable us to cover the majors in full. We will provide Sunday or Monday […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 1/15/2015
The draws are out for the 2015 Australian Open. In both the women’s and men’s events, the first few days of the tournament offer the promise of a few main-event matches, which is not always something you get at a major. It can take time to stumble upon the kind of centerpiece which pushes other […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/26/2014
The Women’s Tennis Association moved its end-of-the-year showcase event from Istanbul to Singapore this year. The time difference put a lot of matches on American television in the middle of the night. The sport is bigger than one country or continent, and Li Na — who retired before the 2014 WTA Finals began — had […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/5/2014
The just-concluded China Open in Beijing is not quite a crown jewel on the Women’s Tennis Association’s annual calendar. Yet, it owns the distinction of being the last main-stage event before the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, which begin on Oct. 20. You can identify this event as part of the “Asian swing” on the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/9/2014
The last major tennis tournament of the year is over. The Davis Cup semifinals begin this Friday, and there are a lot of points to be won (or defended, depending on the player) in the Asian swing and the fall indoor portions of the tennis calendar. Both the WTA and ATP will unfurl their year-ending […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 8/31/2014
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether the women or the men are carrying the run of play at a major tennis tournament. Not this time. Not in New York. Not at the 2014 United States Open. The women have ruled the Big Apple in the first of the two weeks at the Billie Jean King […]
