OT: Pro Tennis Thread

[fsquid]

Weird not having Wimbeldon on NBC. I'm not big into tennis, but never missed a Sat/Sun Championship weekend on it.

[wco81]

Serena is not coming across as too sympathetic, despite the "I almost died" and "got my foot sliced off" stories.

Apparently the gravity of the pulmonary embolism is exaggerated and nobody can find the Munich restaurant where she got injured.

But even if you give her the benefit of the doubt on these stories, you remember the ugliness at the US Open a couple of years ago.

[rhymes450]

There's so much you could say about this shot from the Wimbledon final but it might be better to just let it speak for itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAeFXIIq95A

[rhymes450]

Appears that this US Open will bring down the curtain on Andy Roddick's fine career in the game. Could've been so much better had he not coincided with the great Federer but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Hopefully, he'll do a job on the talented Tomic in what might be his last match as a pro at 7 pm in New York. Either way, I'm sure the crowd will give the guy a great reception.

Meanwhile I caught some of Mardy Fish almost shooting himself in the foot against Davydenko, who looked physically ill-prepared for the match so it wasn't a huge surprise that Fish managed to recover from a 2-set deficit. Think he's up against French warrior Gilles Simon next. I caught the middle two sets of the four it took Simon to overcome Jimmy Wang. Gruelling stuff with lung-bursting rallies. Wang closed out the 2nd set after a set point rally of fifty (50!) strokes. Should be a nice contrast in styles between Fish and Simon.

[10spro]

Not sure if it's because of the Olympics but a lot of players appear already beat up. Raonic had a scare in the 1st round, Fish looked dead out of the water for so long trying to find that forehand that kept sailing on him for most of the match. Tsonga is gone, Murray is playing OK but I am not totally sold on him in this tournament.

With Rafa out, it just seems to me that the Open is missing a certain spark but what a chance for the great Federer to win back to back GS just when people were writing him off and players of his generation are retiring.

I wish Roddick all the best. Like you mentioned rhymes, he was unlucky to play a guy like Federer for the longest time and maybe deserved better luck at the big W in his better days. Having said that, he needed to attack the net more with that big serve and polish his groundstrokes more to have better luck when facing players of his generation.

Back at the Open, unless players like Murray and Delpo take it to another notch, Federer may just add another trophy to his great career.

[rhymes450]

I've got the latest Mardy Fish pun detection software installed on my computer so this did not get past me:

Fish looked dead out of the water

Agreed on Roddick's limitations as a player but he had enough strong points (serve and forehand) to stay at the top of the game for many years. Ultimately, he wasn't good enough to emulate the long line of hugely successful American male players and I suspect his reign as US No. 1 has coincided with dwindling general interest in watching tennis in America. The US (and the game of tennis) would benefit if a top American player were to emerge, which is probably just a matter of time.

Federer is looking good, though Simon is a possible fourth round opponent if he manages to reel in Fish. Simon has a 2-1 lead in the h2h with Fed and the Swiss confessed that the Frenchman "gets under my skin a bit" after beating him in five sets a couple of years ago in Australia. I guess it'll be the usual suspects (including Delpo) who will dispute the latter stages of the tournament. Rafa is a loss to any tournament so hopefully he'll recover and get back on track.

[wco81]

Roddick seems like a one dimensional player. If he's not getting aces or service winners or easy points from weak returns, he seemed to get into trouble, especially with any kind of extended rally. HIs game seems barely better than when he first broke in as a teen with that booming serve.

He's rich and he can ride his wife hard and put her away wet.

There have been plenty of US players who just reached a ceiling and could never reach and stay in the top tiers. Guys like Courier and Chang. Sampras and Agassi are more the exceptions than the rule in the last 20 years or so.

These days, even some athletic kids are funneled into golf, which seems more all-around lucrative.

[rhymes450]

He's rich and he can ride his wife hard and put her away wet.

(Whoa! Had to double check for a second there to make sure I was still in the right thread )

I think both of them will have been pretty excited by Roddick's performance last night. He played pretty well against Tomic too . He served great, was rifling the forehand, hit the two-hander pretty well (often the shot that lets him down IMO), was very effective with the backhand slice and recovered from a shaky first few volleys to have a pretty good night at the net. Has to be said that Tomic was disappointing, making a lot of mistakes off the ground. In the press conference after his first round win, he said that he expected to be better than Roddick off the ground. That sounded pretty reasonable to me at the time but certainly didn't turn out to be the case. Tomic has been touted as a future winner of majors and he's got a pretty interesting style but he'll really need to get his act together after a very poor recent spell.

Caught Hewitt coming back from a 2 sets to 1 deficit and toenail problems that hampered his movement to win in five. He looks to be hitting the ball pretty well and his match-up with Ferrer could be a cracker if he's physically up for it.

[10spro]

Caught Hewitt coming back from a 2 sets to 1 deficit and toenail problems that hampered his movement to win in five. He looks to be hitting the ball pretty well and his match-up with Ferrer could be a cracker if he's physically up for it.

Get ready for the longest match of the year. Hopefully, he'll have enough in the tank to fight Ferrer. Now, there's a guy who I thought would be retiring since he's been struggling with injuries the last couple of years but there's just no die attitude in this Aussie.

Something that maybe Tomic should learn as he just simply threw his match ino the tank after the second set. One can tell that he's got good potential but mentally he's fragile.

Roddick should last until the quarters.

[rhymes450]

10s, I think Roddick should get past Fognini but if he does, he'll probably meet Del Potro in the round of 16. Delpo v Roddick on the Arthur Ashe court would be an appropriately big match to end his career but if Roddick could somehow make it through to a possible QF with Djokovic (with whom he's had his ups and downs), I think the atmosphere would be electric. Anyway, the way his year has gone, it's Fognini first and the rest later...

James Blake was and is a class player but going toe to toe with a real heavyweight like Raonic was probably asking a lot at this stage of his career, especially given the punishment his body has shipped over the last ten years or so. Slicing and dicing was never really his game anyway. Murray, who played a fine match with Lopez, has the ability to mix things up a lot more and it'll be interesting to see how Raonic deals with it.

Fish has done well to edge by two tricky opponents and give himself a shot at Fed in a match where he's got so little to lose it wouldn't surprise me if he played well, provided the main man is at least slightly off top form.

[10spro]

I stayed up late to watch Fish-Simon last night, as the game finished way past 1AM EST. I don't know what to thnk about Simon's career really. There just something missing for Simon to reach the next level, you know the semis or quarters of a major tournament. You can't tell whether he's hurt because all of the sudden he'll come up with winners out of nowhere, but last night he was just content to sit back and outlast Marty.

Problem was, the American did play well the patient game and was more aggressive on key points forcing Simon wide on his forehand. I thought the Frenchman could have done more but again I am not sure if mentally or physically he can take it to another level. In any case, Federer should take care of Fish easily.

If they can, I am sure that the USTA will try to accommodate Roddick at the AA stadium for as long as he can last, which in my estimation should be next match against Del Potro. There should be a few sparks there.

Another player that I thought could do some damage yesterday rhymes, was the Spaniard Lopez. But he's just too erratic on pressure points and Murray took good care of him in the tie breakers. Raonic's success as you know, relies on his serve. If he serves as well as he did against Blake, he may rob a set or two against Murray and a potential upset is set for this match.

But let's face it, the way 1 and 2 are playing so far, they look to clash next weekend and honestly I'll be fine with that.

A couple of years ago, I mentioned that the only thing that may stop Nadal fom reaching the very top and staying there, was his tendinitis in his knees and concern now is that he may be shut down for the remainder of the season as his injury looks more serious than previously thought. Hope he can heal well, the game needs Rafa.

[rhymes450]

In many ways I think Simon is an overachiever. On US Open Radio last year, Matt Cronin (more or less) said, "I love watching Gilles Simon. When you look at him playing you get the impression that he shouldn't be as good as he is". I really like his attitude. He fights for every ball and he's great under pressure but he was never going to be world number 1. His style involves so much running that after a few rounds of a major he must be feeling the pace. I'm a bit surprised that Fish managed to pressure his forehand wing because he normally hits very well from that side. At times his running forehand is almost Sampras-like. A good example is this amazing effort against Nadal in the semis of Madrid 2008, when Simon eventually finished runner-up to Murray:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6eMF7pkEo

For me, that point kind of sums up Simon. All the admirable qualities are on view but a few matches of playing points like that is going to leave a body in bits.

Maybe Rafa is also suffering from the miles he's put in retrieving ball after ball. Fed is quite a bit older but I suspect his legs have clocked up less mileage than many of his direct competitors and this has helped prolong his spell at the top. Hopefully Rafa will recover and get back on track.

[10spro]

By mixing his return stance, Kohlschreiber managed to tame 6'9" John Isner's huge serve in the second latest night match of the US open. Match just finished and I thought Isner had enough to win the match but as usual in his case he finds a way to self destruct with uncanny errors at the most unopportunistic time. Full credit to the German who reminds me a bit of David Ferrer, a warrior that keeps on fighting.

A couple of weird bounces in today's matches where the ball hits the net post in the double alley and ends up in the middle of the court. Next for the German is Tipsarevic and that should get a few miles from both of them as well.

DelPotro looked solid in dismantling Mayer and I look forward to his match with Roddick in what could be his last game.

There's just something about night matches at the US open. Crazy, wild stuff. Love it.

[rhymes450]

By mixing his return stance, Kohlschreiber managed to tame 6'9" John Isner's huge serve in the second latest night match of the US open. Match just finished and I thought Isner had enough to win the match but as usual in his case he finds a way to self destruct with uncanny errors at the most unopportunistic time. Full credit to the German who reminds me a bit of David Ferrer, a warrior that keeps on fighting.

A couple of weird bounces in today's matches where the ball hits the net post in the double alley and ends up in the middle of the court. Next for the German is Tipsarevic and that should get a few miles from both of them as well.

DelPotro looked solid in dismantling Mayer and I look forward to his match with Roddick in what could be his last game.

There's just something about night matches at the US open. Crazy, wild stuff. Love it.

I think Kohlschreiber is very complete, no real weaknesses and a great one-handed backhand. Maybe lacks a big serve and a bit of power that the big guns have. Pity that Isner went out but he's gone off the boil a bit after a good 2011 and that Davis Cup win over Fed. The more American representatives, the better the atmosphere at those night matches. And I agree it's a special vibe, one I think I'd prefer to the Wimbledon hush, though that has its charm too. Only problem is the time difference. The night session begins here at 1.00 am. The Roddick V Delpo match, for instance, will probably start around 3.00 am CET. Could be a historic match though so I'll have to consider staying/getting up for it.

[10spro]

Tough bad news for Rafa fans as they found a tear in his knee and will be sidelined for another 2 months. Personally, I think he should take the rest of the year off and heal properly.

Not much of a match between Raonic and Murray as the Olympic champ just schooled Milo's easily in straight sets.

[rhymes450]

Things could really hot up if Roddick can snatch that 1st set breaker from Delpo when the match resumes today.

Wonder if Cilic could trouble Murray and even be a fair outside bet for the title. He beat Murray in the US Open in 2009 and reached the semis of the AO in 2010. He looked as if the sky was the limit a few years back but faded a bit since. Could this be the big breakthrough for him? Matt Cronin, who previews each day's big matches on the official website, doesn't think so. Here's the link to his picks for today's big clashes:

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articl ... promo=home

[10spro]

It's all in hindsight now but when I read that article, I said to myself: What the hell is this guy smoking? If he watched Berdych's match against Nicolas Almagro and the easiness in which he beat the Spaniard whom I thought was playing the best tennis of his life, I knew Federer woud have his hands full. Not to the extent where it would create a major upset as it happened, but that it would a be walk in the park for the Swiss player was totally out of touch.

Maybe the long rain delay obviously did more harm than good to Federer who looked rather rusty, especially on his right side, but Berdych simply served very well and just kept on pounding the ball. If he can maintain his current level, watch out or the big Swede.

Wish Roddick a happy retirement, he just simply run out of gas against Delpotro. All of the sudden the tournament is wide open.

[rhymes450]

It's all in hindsight now but when I read that article, I said to myself: What the hell is this guy smoking? If he watched Berdych's match against Nicolas Almagro and the easiness in which he beat the Spaniard whom I thought was playing the best tennis of his life, I knew Federer woud have his hands full. Not to the extent where it would create a major upset as it happened, but that it would a be walk in the park for the Swiss player was totally out of touch.

Maybe the long rain delay obviously did more harm than good to Federer who looked rather rusty, especially on his right side, but Berdych simply served very well and just kept on pounding the ball. If he can maintain his current level, watch out or the big Swede.

Wish Roddick a happy retirement, he just simply run out of gas against Delpotro. All of the sudden the tournament is wide open.

TBH 10s, i've just re-read Cronin's preview and I'd say it does actually coincide with your feeling that Fed was going to have his hands full but not to the extent of Berdych causing the upset. Anyway, I only caught the first set (3 in the morning round my neck of the woods) and Federer was having one of those bad days at the office, mistiming forehands and shanking backhands, that anyone who has watched him a lot over the years will be familiar with.

Cilic blew a 5-1 2nd-set lead to go 2 sets to love up against Murray, who then took complete control. Murray's forehand has come on in leaps and bounds but it's still that awesome backhand that catches my eye.

Very worthy performance from Roddick against an outstanding player in his last match. He played a blistering tie-break to win the first but probably needed the 2nd as well to have a chance. Ran out of steam as you point out. Delpo was very sporting ("a class act" in the words of Roddick later) in deflecting all the post-match attention towards Roddick. I think Roddick comes across as an ok guy, with what I think is a nice line in dry humour (I'll never forget his response to the journalist who asked him if he'd had fun on court after he'd been pummelled to within an inch of his life by Nadal at last year's Open). I've enjoyed watching his matches too so I hope things go well for him.

[10spro]

A brilliantly played QF game between Delpo and Djoko that ended in straight sets but it definitely felt like it went the distance the way these two warriors played. Obviously, my heart was cheering for the Argentine but the #2 player in the world came up with some incredible defense taken straight out of Rafa's book of counter punching.

Playing in consecutive days didn't help DP but with his wrist injury looking better and better I am sure he'll be among the top 4 in the World again next year.

Agree with Mac that the second set was one of the best sets I've ever witnessed among 2 top players. DP definitely had his chances with an earlier break in the set winning 10 straight points but this is where mentally Djokovic has improved so much in the last couple of years. He never panicked, never gave up the set and consequently ended being one of the best sets ever played quality wise.

Rhymes, with Fed out the Serbian has to be the favorite now. The other semis is a toss out for me between Murray and Berdych.

[rhymes450]

A brilliantly played QF game between Delpo and Djoko that ended in straight sets but it definitely felt like it went the distance the way these two warriors played. Obviously, my heart was cheering for the Argentine but the #2 player in the world came up with some incredible defense taken straight out of Rafa's book of counter punching.

Playing in consecutive days didn't help DP but with his wrist injury looking better and better I am sure he'll be among the top 4 in the World again next year.

Agree with Mac that the second set was one of the best sets I've ever witnessed among 2 top players. DP definitely had his chances with an earlier break in the set winning 10 straight points but this is where mentally Djokovic has improved so much in the last couple of years. He never panicked, never gave up the set and consequently ended being one of the best sets ever played quality wise.

Rhymes, with Fed out the Serbian has to be the favorite now. The other semis is a toss out for me between Murray and Berdych.

Sounds like a great match between Djoko and Delpo and I think you're right about Delpo slowly getting better and better after the wrist injury that kept him out for almost a full year.

The Tipsarevic-Ferrer match was also outstanding, with Ferrer having to come back from 1-4, 0-30 in the 5th and serve twice to stay in the match before clinching a hard-fought breaker. Great effort from Tipsarevic, who has really shown that his breaking into the top ten is no fluke. He really took the match to Ferrer and was unlucky not to make it over the line.

As you say, Djoko has to be considered favourite now. He's got 5 majors compared to zero for the other three players. Just checked and apparently he's 8-5 overall against Ferrer, but that improves to 7-2 on hard courts and obviously he's shown his capacity to perform at this stage of the big tournaments. All in all he should have too much for Ferrer, who served particularly well yesterday BTW.

Apparently, Berdych is 4-2 in the h2h with Murray (2-2 on hard) and is the third similar type of player in a row for Murray after Cilic and Raonic. What's pretty sure is that he's not going to collapse like Cilic did if he goes a set and 5-1 up so Murray will need to get on top of things from the off. My preferred final, purely in terms of tennis, would be Murray v Djokovic.

[rhymes450]

Looking forward to the Murray Vs Djokovic match. Djokovic was impeccable in the last 3 sets against Ferrer and Murray deserved his win over Berdych by sticking to the task over the entire match in farcically windy conditions. Berdych more or less checked out of the match in sets 2, 3 and the beginning of set 4 and paid the price.

Serena started very well and finished fantastically well to stave off Azarenka. I thought Azarenka was very impressive and I especially liked the way she dealt with Serena's crushing returns to the server's feet, refusing to concede an inch and crunching back half volley drives off the baseline with incredibly quick footwork.

[10spro]

Looking forward to the Murray Vs Djokovic match. Djokovic was impeccable in the last 3 sets against Ferrer and Murray deserved his win over Berdych by sticking to the task over the entire match in farcically windy conditions. Berdych more or less checked out of the match in sets 2, 3 and the beginning of set 4 and paid the price.

Serena started very well and finished fantastically well to stave off Azarenka. I thought Azarenka was very impressive and I especially liked the way she dealt with Serena's crushing returns to the server's feet, refusing to concede an inch and crunching back half volley drives off the baseline with incredibly quick footwork.

Your wish for the finals come true. I felt for the players over the weekend playing under those horrible conditions, just brutal. At one point seeing the chairs and rackets being blown by a gust wind was unreal. A miracle the umpire was still in his seat.

Looking at how the men's finals had to be decided on a Monday the last couple of years, the USTA should seriously consider making it a Monday night men's finals event. it gives the men's that day off on Sunday, making it a much more appealing way to fight for the Championship.

Picking Djoko to win it all in 4 sets.

[rhymes450]

Picking Djoko to win it all in 4 sets.

I'd've gone along with that prediction because he played so well against Delpo and Ferrer but now he's got to do it in 5. Windy again today and Murray seems to be coping a bit better with the conditions. On the verge of history now for Murray. Interesting to see how he copes with the pressure.

[10spro]

Picking Djoko to win it all in 4 sets.

I'd've gone along with that prediction because he played so well against Delpo and Ferrer but now he's got to do it in 5. Windy again today and Murray seems to be coping a bit better with the conditions. On the verge of history now for Murray. Interesting to see how he copes with the pressure.

Just some incredible, top notch stuff going on out there, wind and all....

[rhymes450]

Murray time at last. His achievements were beginning to dwarf those of the other best players never to have won a slam, such as Davydenko and Nalbandian.

Tough match, great fightback from the Djoker but Murray outlasted him. Interesting year, with the top four all taking a major each. A strange stat that occurred to me is that Murray is the first player to have won a major since at least 2004 without having beaten Federer or Nadal (apart of course from Federer and Nadal obviously...I think I understand myself here ).