The Tennis Thread - Part 2

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That's awful, and I know it gets worse from there. Whenever she does retire, I know the haters are going to miss her and romanticize the "Serena days".
Truth.
Indeed.

My issues with Serena have always been her reactions when she wins and loses. I'm all for excitement with a win and disappointment with a loss, but she looks really childish most of the time (to me). She's a great player and i would never deny that, even if i dont like her much. Out of the Williams sisters my favorite was always Venus.

And today we have the men's final, which i unfortunately wont be able to watch due to being a monday and me having to work. Is anyone else as annoyed with this "final on a monday" idea, or is it just me? I think it's really stupid for a grandslam final to play out on a monday when they could have had it on sunday like usual, since weather improved and they didnt have delays for the last few days.
Yeah she can be a bit childish in defeat which can look silly at times. Like she has this thing where she has to shake the umpire's hand first and when Vika beat her in Cincy she HAD to do it even though she lost. Little things like that can appear annoying, lol. :o

And I think the Monday final is only until ESPN takes over the US Open in 2015.
We need some predictions!

I'm going out on a limb here and saying Djokovic in four.
Whether it goes three, four or five I'm picking Nole as well.
I'll go against you and say Nadal in 4. Someone needs to come in and break this tie :oldrazz:
:awesome:

Two hours to go!
 
And I think the Monday final is only until ESPN takes over the US Open in 2015.
How so? I've been seeing it on ESPN anyways (latin american ESPN though).

I hope this final goes to 5 sets, no matter who wins. Maybe give me a chance to get home and at least catch the end of it :oldrazz:. I have a meeting at 4, but i hope u folks will be commenting and updating here for all the poor souls like me who cant see it live, so i can catch up when i return.
 
How so? I've been seeing it on ESPN anyways (latin american ESPN though).

I hope this final goes to 5 sets, no matter who wins. Maybe give me a chance to get home and at least catch the end of it :oldrazz:. I have a meeting at 4, but i hope u folks will be commenting and updating here for all the poor souls like me who cant see it live, so i can catch up when i return.

From the US Open wiki page:
It was announced in December 2012 that the Men's Singles final will be played on a Monday night in 2013 and 2014, a decision which has proved unpopularwiththe Association of Tennis Professionals. The past five Men's Singles finals had been delayed by one dayduetountimelyweather conditions. From 2015,the men's final will move back to its traditional Sunday night time-slot.
Think it was Cahill that mentioned it as well, forget. :D

I'd like for it to go five for the sake of it going five. :hehe: But if either takes it in 3 or 4 then more power to them because this will also be for the number #1 ranking.
 
ESPN owns the American rights to show the week day matches, CBS owns the tv right for the weekends and the Monday final.

The Monday final is stupid. They could have simply scheduled the tournament like other Slams and fit the Men's final on Sunday and the women's on Saturday. It was a weird decision. If you're going to eliminate Super Saturday, then just reorganize the schedule to work like every other Slam. What if it rained today (it won't, the weather is immaculate in New York today)? Then you'd have a TUESDAY final.

The Monday final makes little sense to me. The USTA is trying to prepare for something that isn't predictable. Giving yourself a planned extra day is great, but what if it rained on Monday? That's not even getting into how tourist unfriendly a Monday final is.

Anyway, we'll surely have returned to a guaranteed Sunday final in a few years when Ashe gets its roof.
 
I'm hoping for nadal in five. If djokovic plays like he did against wawrinka, it'll be over a lot quicker. But I'm expecting a close, high quality match today.
 
Hey, Bim, aren't you from the British Isles? Or am I confusing you with some of our other tennis heads?

I think Frico and I will have you covered on the point by point.

I hope this match goes six hours, and these guys are toweling themselves off after every point. I hope they have two hundred and fifty 30 shot rallies and they take a minute between each point. Why?

I want the CBS Monday prime time to be totally circumvented by the sweaty grunting of our two grinding gladiators. Now CBS sitcoms are all repeats, but this show at 10pm called Under the Dome is a hit and has a new episode tonight.

Nadal and Djokovic reaching 5+ hours is a lot to ask, but this show is within striking distance of these two.
 
So what does this US Open final mean for Djokovic and Nadal?

I think the item that goes at the top of the ledger is Nadal's hot pursuit of Federer's Slam record. Nadal sits at 12. I'm going to make the possible mistake of saying that Nadal will not win another six French Opens. So, if Nadal is going to eclipse Federer, he needs to win today. His knees are always an issue, we don't know when they'll become a problem or a career-ender. It doesn't appear that he is capable of competing for a Wimbledon crown anymore since getting down a low balls is a problem. It limits his options. He needs more French Opens and to take his opportunities like today. If I were a betting man, I would say Nadal falls maybe one Slam short of tying Federer.

-More immediately, Nadal is putting together an all-time great season. He can't reach the win/loss excellence of 1984 McEnroe or the out and out year long dominance of Federer in '05 or '06. It is hard to argue with Nadal's results this year. I will be interesting to see if he can sustain it into the fall where the bounces are lower and the courts are faster.

-The thing that impresses the most about Nadal is his domination of his top ranked peers, and just about everyone else in the rankings too. A win today would almost solidify his advantage in the head to head of the Open Era's most brutal rivalry.
 
For Novak Djokovic:

-It's important for him reestablish his dominance of hardcourts and his rivalry with Nadal. Nadal has taken back the reins of the rivalry by putting some lumps on Djokovic on clay and then his epic triumph in Montreal. As mentioned above, Nadal's dominance of his rivals is nigh complete. Only Djokovic managed sustained success and seemed to get into Nadal's head. Nadal was the one searching for answers. Today is the first match of the rest of their storied rivalry.

-This is firmly the Federer-Nadal era, but if we include Djokovic it's with a lower case d. He's the little horn on the beast's head. Suddenly, his old rival WIMBLEDON GENTLEMEN'S CHAMPION Andy Murray is now competing with him for Slams too. Djokovic will eventually get to the capital D, and this is an all too important match for his legacy. The dominance of 2011 is over and it's hard to imagine that Djokovic peaked as player two years ago. Unfairly, he is gaining a reputation as a soft #1.
 
Hey, Bim, aren't you from the British Isles? Or am I confusing you with some of our other tennis heads?
Not me nope lol. Latin american gal here :woot:

-The thing that impresses the most about Nadal is his domination of his top ranked peers, and just about everyone else in the rankings too. A win today would almost solidify his advantage in the head to head of the Open Era's most brutal rivalry.
For me the impressive thing about him is the fact that he's gone from the king of clay, to a threat on all surfaces, not just clay. The guy fights hard, and finds ways to stay motivated.

I think Novak needs to stay strong mentally today. He cant let Nadal get inside his head, or get down on himself. If he hangs tough, it will be a tough match and it could go either way. I want both guys in top form playing their best. That's all i ask :oldrazz:
 
^
His development on grass was especially sudden. As I mentioned with Gasquet and Uncle Toni the other day, Nadal has never stopped adding to his game. It's been amazing to watch.

Both players have taken the court, Nadal performs his sprint to baseline. Djokovic looks positively Federer-esque in his fitted red Uniqlo polo and black shorts. Nadal is wearing the eye bludgeoning sweat-stain kit that Nike cooked up for him.
 
Odd, Ashe looked incredibly full yesterday.
 
We are under way!

Both men sailing some balls.

30-30, they are slugging a bit now. Djokovic is the man on top of the baseline for his opening service game and he has benefited from a few Nadal short balls. Ace up the T makes a hold for Djokovic
 
Novak with the ace took close out the first game - long rallies already.
 
Quickly 30-0. McEnroe says 120 will not do for Nadal's serve.

30-15 Djokovic moves around a second serve to gain the upper hand

Djokovic returning deep to Nadal's forehand kind of tying him up. Nadal is game. 40-15

Forehand down the line off a second serve. Rare clean winner early going. Deuce
 
McEnroe now reading my thoughts as I was about to point out as well that Novak's hitting the ball with more pop compared to when he was playing against Wawrinka.
 
My mistake. It now deuce. His deep returns to Nadal's forehand are putting Nadal on the defensive right off the bat. Nadal needs to find his first serve.

He does and Djokovic sails a fh. Nadal holds with a forehand down the line Djokovic cannot handle.

Not a lot of balls getting by these guys at the moment
 
Rafa with the signature whipping forehand down the line after Novak hit a pretty sweet backhand. 0-15.
 
McEnroe now reading my thoughts as I was about to point out as well that Novak's hitting the ball with more pop compared to when he was playing against Wawrinka.
He has to play with all the tricks today, they both have to. They are deserving of their #1 and #2 rankings, these two will punish any opening they get.
 
Forehand down the line is winner for Nadal. The shot of the summer

Yes, Frico. This is some heavy ass hitting.

15-15. Nadal giving a lot of room up to the T in his return position. Almost daring Djokovic.

30-15 Djokovic finishes a volley that wouldn't have been necessary against anyone else. Good get from Nadal.

The return off a second serve deep and Djokovic is jammed. 30-30
 
Nole hits the backhand wide and it's Rafa with the first break chance.

Edit: Nadal's turn to miss the backhand - this time in the net. Now deuce.
 
He has to play with all the tricks today, they both have to. They are deserving of their #1 and #2 rankings, these two will punish any opening they get.
Yeah you get that sense more with Djoker - he already looks different from when they played at the Rogers Cup. Still some errors in this game from him though. Break point Rafa again.
 
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