Love, Balls and Courting: Tennis V

Wow - the US ladies are 3/4 of the way to having all US semi finals after Coco Vandeweghe ended Karolina Pliskova's reign as world number one and made it three American women in the US Open semi-finals with a straight-set win. And Madison Keys has to be the favourite against Kaia Kanepi this evening. Honestly it's as if Serena not being in the draw has somehow enabled them to come out from beneath her shadow!!
 
I think I am getting senile, but I could swear someone yesterday said (was it Chrissie?) that she had picked Keys for the whole tournament win from before it started. Not sure I am there yet. Think Coco and Madison have some big serves/shots, worried Venus is running out of gas, and feel Sloane has the least power of the four, but great tennis gamesmanship developed or coming for all 4.
 
Apparently this is new stuff for Sloane, but she was the ultimate fighter out there tonight.

Somewhere along the line, probably when she was a very young player, someone taught Sloane to return to the center of the back line after every stroke of her own in order to set herself up for the next stroke by her opponent, and I think that being in the right spot and her unbelievable coordination are what enabled her to stay in many points. Very smart game, so very well played.
 
Still stunned how soundly Madison Keys defeated Coco Vandeweghe- & I was rooting for MK. But a boring match.

And weird story about traffic jams & Team Coco getting to stadium late - admit it, you probably flubbed your pre-match schedule/ routine.

I was preoccupied during the 1st part of Venus/Sloane, and when I'd check in to it I couldn't figure WHAT was going on. "A breadstick and a bagel!" Venus is such a great person tho.

Rafa is my fave male player, but even if he makes the final it seems like a big snoozer to me cos of who the potential opponents are. (LOL but then I bitch when the SAME player or two is dominating every final.)
 
I was totally expecting Venus to take that 3rd set in record time but Sloane dug deep, defending well and showed a determination I don't ever recall seeing before. So congrats to her for making her 1st GS final.

And was also not expecting that 2nd semi scoreline either. I wanted Madison to win but though it would go to 3 tight sets. Coco just didn't turn up. I'll admit to being glad as she was the only semi finalist I just don't warm to. I think it is her entitled WASP personality that rubs me the wrong way.

Anyway no real fav for the final either lady would deserve it IMHO. Just fingers crossed it is a good final.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rob
Rooting for Del Potro today. I hope he comes through. It'll be great if he could win it all again.
 
I caught the final set of Sloane vs. Venus. Sloane played out of her mind! Great stuff. I wanted Venus to win (she's a class act) but it's nice to see Sloane breakthrough. I didn't see the 2nd semifinal between Madison and Coco, but doesn't sound like I missed much.

A little sad Del Potro took down Roger, but I had a feeling Roger might not be at his best when he went to 5 sets in his first two matches. But I'm beyond thrilled with his year, winning both the Austalian Open and Wimbledon, so nothing really I can complain about. ;)
 
Hope Sloane vs. Madison will be an exciting, well-played Final today!
 
OMG Sloane Stephens over Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0. I am a huge fan of any sport, I love women's sports, I love tennis, I love new players, I love Sloane Stephens. Such AMAZING strength and poise.
 
Well done Sloane - and what an amazing comeback as she was unable to walk earlier this year after a foot injury. She was 83 in the world prior to the US Open and will now be up in the teens I believe. Hopefully she can make it up into the top 10 at some point - as 11 was her previous career high.
 
Serena posted pictures of her baby Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. I love that she has her dad's name. I think it's rather original. And she's freaking adorable.

Is it me or did Serena start looking more and more like Venus during her pregnancy? There were a couple of instances where I mistook her for Venus in different pictures.

Adorable video here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-ohanian-jr/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.ed0f0d9cd896
 
Here's more about Serena and her new baby girl from a publication that is tabloidy, but they usually have good pictures:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4880394/Serena-Williams-shares-photos-baby-girl-Alexis.html

It looks like she and her fiance Alexis Ohanian have made a very extensive video diary of the entire pregnancy and the birth of their daughter. Good luck to Serena, and I'm glad the in-hospital complications were resolved and she and baby Alexis are doing well. I wonder if she will have another child after eventual retirement?

Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. What a name! It's lovely and kind of daunting at the same time. ;) But, well, I'm sure little Alexis will have the ability to grow into it with the parents she has, and the nurturing she surely will receive.

First, it's the hard work of coming back to tennis competition, which Serena seems determined to accomplish! And as Serena says: "Either I win, or I don't play..."
 
Well, it didn't help his game today but that color-blocked outfit that Gilles Simon wore was absolutely fabulous! If you must go down in defeat, at least go down looking good! My compliments to the designer! C'est chic! ;)
 
Last edited:
It was a very good event and the players were really into it - Nick Kyrgios was gutted when he lost the last match to Federer.
 
Fabulous comment by Federer regarding Nadal:

"We will always be rivals as long as we are active. And after this we will be rivals again. But this was something very special. It's been an absolute pleasure sharing the court with Rafa," Federer said of Nadal after Saturday's doubles.
Click to expand...
 
Aussie Open, anyone. Altho the sudden switch from winter sports to summery tennis is almost jarring.* But I luv these early days of a major tourney, so many matches.(In the same way you bingewatch during the OOOOOs.)

On the first day (night for me), I've mostly gone back and forth between the Stephens-Zhang match and Dolgopolov.

(* Moving from FS to tennis has me thinking: How could skating utilize a challenge system? Perhaps a topic for Trash Can.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 9 (members: 0, guests: 9)

Similar threads

TAHbKA
Vaytsekhovskaya's interview with Pluschenko
2
Replies
32
Views
8K
Amantide
Amantide
K
Elena Vaitsekhovskaya's interview with Tamara Moskvina
Replies
2
Views
3K
Cherub721
Cherub721
TAHbKA
Vaytsekhovskaya's interview with Pluschenko
Replies
0
Views
2K
TAHbKA
TAHbKA
TAHbKA
Konov's interview with Zhulin
Replies
17
Views
7K
kwanfan1818
kwanfan1818
TAHbKA
Panina's interview with Bazarova
Replies
7
Views
3K
hanca
hanca
Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information