We will continue our discussion of the IW draw, try to add to the excitement everyone is feeling about the year's first Masters. But first let's take-out the garbage. I love it. I will pound this blog with ATP insight until the cows come home, out-write and out-think my wealthier tennis punditry in straights; be …
Category: GOAT
February Tournament Play and Early 2017 Contenders
I watched Tsonga get his 2nd set break-of-serve of Goffin up 5-4 in their Rotterdam final, which became a run-away title for Jo-Willy 46 64 61. I was literally thinking, if he loses to Goffin here, it's over for Jo-Wilfried. That tenth game of the 2nd set was so typical Tsonga. Microcosm of his career. He …
Continue reading February Tournament Play and Early 2017 Contenders
Before the Dawn, The Collapse
The end of the year is near, hence the dawn of a new calendar that comes with another year of old traditions, the possibility of new ones, new or some of those repeated expectations, hopes and the manifestation of dreams. All of these things and more come when we turn from December to January. In …
Djokovic’s Run
All of the discussion right now is on the impressive run of one Andrew Barron Murray. Undoubtedly, he is having a fantastic year, including having collected his sixth ATP title of the year last week in Vienna. His 2016 achievements include, of course, an Olympic gold medal, so the Brit has indeed been on a big run, looking …
Follow-up to My “Novak is Doomed” Article
Did any of you think that I was saying in that article a few days ago that Novak would never win another major? That THAT was the end of Novak in Flushing Meadows at the hands of Stan the Man? Well, that's not exactly what I meant. i really wanted to underscore how big of …
Behold the Madness
Matt's Blog exists to counter some of the madness in the tennis universe by which vulnerable community members might become startled, confused, led astray, and disillusioned. Or worse. The sport seems to be under some sort of attack from tennis spokespeople who somehow think they know what the sport needs. In most of these cases, for almost any relevant …
Where Does Novak Go from Here?
That was certainly an interesting U.S. Open with plenty of let-downs like all of the defaults, or the first men's SF and plenty of highlights like Wawrinka's run or the witness to some younger games like that of Evans and Pouille (let me add Donaldson, the other American teen no one talks about who reached R3). You …
Looking Back While Moving Forward
I have not written in a while. Obviously. Nor did I watch much tennis other than some Olympics matches and a couple of Toronto/Cincy contests I sniffed perhaps by accident. Between the crumbling nature of competitive excellence on tour and the Djokovic fanboy blowhards, I needed a nice little break. My last post was a bit …
HRFRT: Roger Created a Monster (or Two)
The long and short of it concerns how Roger's massive championship success early and often through-out the tennis calendar year-after-year created a new and improved champion image and celebrity that became the new character, the new tennis "nature" that may have ruined tennis. In other words, the standards of excellence went through the proverbial roof and now …
HRFRT: Federera
Are you wondering about that build-up in the last article? Did you follow the reasoning, the design of the argument? The tour was still evolving massively with our current Masters and Majors landscapes, that we see today, not quite in full bloom. When you watched tennis in the 90's, the Americans were pretty dominant, with Sampras …
