The Tennis Thread - Part 3

[regwec]

Nick Kyrgios threatened to do that; you sense his time will come soon.

 

[Sakuraba]

The teeny tiny grass season is the only time things get shaken up and the play actually changes. Greater emphasis on serve, more net play, greater rewards for playing first strike tennis, different more baby-step footwork, and with all that shorter points overall. It is the only place a slice can still consistently be used as an offensive, tactical weapon and not just a last gasp stay-in-the-point stroke.

I think there was great balance in the 90s, each major was different and required different tactics and skills to win. You had slow hardcourts in Oz, red clay at Roland Garros, grass at Wimbledon, and fast hardcourts in New York. Then, to boot, you had carpet as the Year End surface. I guess the tourney organizers couldn't figure out a way to slow down the carpet so they just eliminated it all together.

 

[Sakuraba]

I am excited about some young guys. Dimitrov and Raonic seem to be the only ones consolidating their gains. Jerzy Janowicz arrived at Wimby last year too and he has since regressed as a player

 

[Kaleb]

Anderson close to US switch

if the reports were to be confirmed, Anderson could make himself available to represent the US in Davis Cup competition next year.

 

[Bim]

Nadal anounced today he wont be playing the US Open. Damn, my excitement has dropped a bit, i wont deny that. Federer is looking good on hard court, so he's a contender. Ferrer and Tsonga have also looked good. Novak hasnt had a consistent season so far, but of course you cant rule him out. Should be interesting to see who takes the Open this year on the men's side.

 

[raisethe3]

Nadal anounced today he wont be playing the US Open. Damn, my excitement has dropped a bit, i wont deny that. Federer is looking good on hard court, so he's a contender. Ferrer and Tsonga have also looked good. Novak hasnt had a consistent season so far, but of course you cant rule him out. Should be interesting to see who takes the Open this year on the men's side.

Not too surprising. You noticed that Nadal never defended a hard court title? Not especially with the way he's playing right now. Taxing his knees and all. What happened to playing 2013 US Open series style? (ie, hit flatter, serve faster, finish points quicker). By playing grinding points, that's what you get.

I think Djokovic will win the US Open.

 

[Sakuraba]

Draw is king, so we will see where the chips fall Thursday. Before then, some pre-preliminary thoughts:

No Nadal is unfortunate, but it isn't exactly the worst thing. It opens the draw up and there has been a trend for youngsters to play big in Slams this year. Who's to say there won't be another surprise Slam winner this year.

This is Djokovic's most consistent tournament, I am almost willing to mark him in as a finalist without seeing the draw and even given his post Wimby disasterpieces he's been painting all over North America.

His performances in Toronto and Cincinnati mean little. He'll play himself into shape in the early rounds by devouring qualifiers and other low hanging fruit. I guess the big question would be how satisfied he was with the Wimbledon win and if he's going to resign himself to losing if he runs into a difficult match.

-Federer has gone 21-2 since the French Open, but I think this is more a normalization of his game and not an indicator that he is a serious Slam contender. Those 21 wins haven't come against Djokovic or Nadal, but it is has come against plethora of top ten players, and shows Federer is healthy and motivated, as opposed to last year when he couldn't do much of anything right.

The US Open was arguably Federer's finest court, but since squandering match points against Djokovic in 2010 and 2011, he lost to frequent tormentor Tomas Berdych in the quarters and then an execution at the hands of Tommy Robredo of all people in the 4th round last year. He should be ready to go this year, no health excuses, no Nadal, and the second tier of players back to being tamed against him. He's already had a better year now then all of last year, and since he's enjoying himself more now, even in defeat, maybe he can ride the good vibrations to a 5th Open title.

-Lastly, it's painful to watch ESPN show classic matches from Open's past featuring the once dominant American men. It's great to see Murray in Wimbledon, Tsonga have match points against Djokovic at Roland Garros, but there isn't a serious American contender and there hasn't been in some time, and nothing on the immediate horizon. So I say speed the courts up all the way, and give Pete Sampras a wild card!

 

[Bim]

No Nadal is a horrible thing for us Rafa fans, Sakuraba! I'd rather see no Novak, Murray or Roger instead To me, Rafa's game is the most entertaining one.

I agree, Novak is a contender. I'll give him that even if he hasnt looked as solid as previous years in the pre- US Open tournaments. He's also probably extremely happy with no Nadal this year. Last 2 Us Open final between those guys have been classics, and it's a shame we dont get a chance for another this year . But hey, i still hope we get some great tennis regardless of who ends up in the final.

I think Roger is looking good, and yeah he must be thrilled with no Rafa, not only cause he doesnt run into the chance of having to play him, but it guarantees him he wouldnt meet Novak until the final. Is he consistent enough to win another Us Open? I honestly dont know. But he does have a better chance this year for sure.

I was away on vacation last week, and they had the tennis channel available. I had a blast watching some older guys tournament (i dont remember the name, sorry lol), and got the chance to see Agassi play vs Courier (Andre won!) and then vs Blake to win. The old guy still has some game in him! Would have been awesome to see Agassi vs Sampras, but Pete didnt play it. Not sure if he plays much in the old pros tourneys. Isner is the most solid american guy atm, but for some reason despite having that killer serve he just cant break through. Maybe the crowd can inspire him in the Us Open? who knows.

 

[Sakuraba]

A Murray-Djokovic quarterfinal? Not so fast, Murray has a hellacious draw, and he kinda sucks this year. Haase, Stepanek, Verdasco, Benneteau or Tsonga in the 4th. That's pretty stiff for the Scotsman. I have no doubt that Djokovic will mow through his portion. Who's gonna stop him? And I guess Isner and Kohlschrieber have a chance to meet for a third straight US Open. It took Kohl five sets in 2012 and four sets last year. Maybe this year he'll straight set him.

The second quarter is wide open, maybe Wawrinka and Raonic will meet up. Raonic is playing better at the moment, but Wawrinka has never lost to him.

The third quarter is even more wide open. There's about eight different guys that could make the semis. I guess my pick here is Cilic.

I don't see anything in the fourth quarter to stop Federer.

All said, this should be another Djokovic-Federer final.

 

[Dr. Evil]

It should be Novac and Roger again.

 

[goldvk1565]

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[Bim]

^ what the

...aaand back to tennis, some nice action planned for today: Wawrinka, Murray, Raonic, Tsonga, Wozniacki. Great match going on right now between Touzhny and Kyrgios.

Sharapova vs Kirilenko, Djokovic are the matches for tonight.

 

[Sakuraba]

When I see Sloane Stephens hit her backhand down the line I find myself screaming at her to come in behind it Jimmy Connors style, but then I actually see her volleying and hush up.

 

[Sakuraba]

Come on Bellis! God, I miss the teenagers.

 

[Sakuraba]

There is some serious storms on the near horizon in the top half of the men's draw. Lots of good matches to look forward to

 

[Bim]

So Errani took out Venus, Bencic defeated Kerber and Lucic-Baroni defeats Halep for the first major upset of the tournament, since Halep was the number 2 seed.

I gotta say though, for tomorrow Raonic plays Burgos, a player from my country. He's the first dominican man who makes the US Open main draw and wins a match, and he's made it all the way to the third round. We're quite proud t:. But damn, he gets Raonic next lol. Sadly a tree took out my cable, so unless they fix it tomorrow i'm screwed this weekend

 

[Rowsdower!]

Federer is playing some guy named Granollers.

If Granollers doesn't make it as a top-seeded tennis player, he should start release his own line of high-protein granola bars.

 

[Sakuraba]

It's kind of fun watching the two elastic men play each other in a big match again.

 

[raisethe3]

Murray vs Djokovic live streaming now.

 

[Bim]

I expect good things from the Djokovic vs Nishikori match t:

 

[Sakuraba]

Two gusty holds to open hit service games, big hitting and great defense to get a 4-2 lead, and now Monfils is yelling at the umpire... why?

 

[Sakuraba]

Federer's putting a lot of air under his shots in the windy conditions, and when you can't hit flatter, that's got to be a benefit to Monfils. Any extra time and he's chasing down everything including a few sublime drop shots.

Federer has had about four bad shanks thus far, coming off both sides

 

[Sakuraba]

Federer follows his biggest backhand of the match with his biggest shank

Federer has had some short balls to deal with and he's been playing cute. Monfils is eating him up in the cat and mouse.

6-4 Monfils

 

[Sakuraba]

Federer's going bigger on his forehand now, which has resulted in two winners and three errors

 

[Sakuraba]

Federer's forehand is in disarray, and his shot selection is poor.

Federer on the ropes as he is broken to start the second set