Love, Balls and Courting: Tennis V

[Sylvia]

Just saw this headline online: "Madison Keys fired 45 winners to edge Svetlana Kuznetsova and win the biggest title of her career."

 

[Lacey]

Yes, Madison Keys was fab, came from behind in both sets, her coach or she figured out that she could hit short ball winners to Kuznetsova, who wasn't moving from behind the line. Great match for the American..

 

[nylynnr]

And Nadal crushed Medvedev like he was nothing!!! so that means to me really that Nadal is best hard Court player right now and will win US open very easily.

No. Medvedev choked in his first Masters' final and first match vs. Nadal. He came to Cincy more experienced. I would say he and Djokovic are favorites for the U.S. Open, with Novak likely to prevail over five sets.

 

[vanillashake]

Medvedev is not the favorite for the U.S Open. It is silly to put him up there after just one good tournament. I would say the favorites for the U.S Open go:

1. Djokovic- still clearly one to beat
2. Nadal- a close 2nd at this point
------big gap------


3. Federer- that Wimbledon final seems to have taken some steam out of him, and he has made only 1 U.S Open final since 2009 which he lost. His last U.S open title was 2008. Only have him this high since there is nobody else.

4. Thiem- He is mostly a clay courter but still won a hard court Masters this year, and has a lot more experience than Medvedev and the other young players.

5. Medvedev- This is being generous, and again mostly by default since there is literally nobody else.

I remember some said Fognina would win RG after he won a clay Masters and he went out in an early round at RG.

 

[nylynnr]

I remember some said Fognina would win RG after he won a clay Masters and he went out in an early round at RG.

I don't know who said that, although I suppose there's always someone spouting off outlandish things. Fognini does not have the mental focus to win a slam, much less defeat Nadal in a RG five-setter.

Medvedev has had more than one good tourney, he's had three good NA hardcourts in a row and some good results prior to that in Brisbane, Barcelona, etc. I can't for the life of me understand placing Thiem above him as a favorite at USO. It's past time one of these young (<24) guns had a great slam and I'm betting on Medvedev. That said, my tennis bets are only slightly better than my figure skating predictions.

 

[vanillashake]

I don't know who said that, although I suppose there's always someone spouting off outlandish things. Fognini does not have the mental focus to win a slam, much less defeat Nadal in a RG five-setter.

Medvedev has had more than one good tourney, he's had three good NA hardcourts in a row and some good results prior to that in Brisbane, Barcelona, etc. I can't for the life of me understand placing Thiem above him as a favorite at USO. It's past time one of these young (<24) guns had a great slam and I'm betting on Medvedev. That said, my tennis bets are only slightly better than my figure skating predictions.

Believe me I would love for a true young gun to break though, but I just dont have the same confidence in his chances you do. We have gone too long before a young player even came that close (Thiem is not even really a young player anymore), to go too overboard on the chances of a young player who doesnt even have a decent slam history yet. Yeah he has more shot than Fognini did at RG of course, but I am just using him as an example of not jumping the gun for 1 big win or a couple good warm up tournaments.

And I think it is kind of stupid to put Medvedev above Nadal on the favorites list when he just lost a Masters final to him 6-3, 6-0, regardless of it was an off day. Especialy when Nadal's 2nd best slam is the U.S Open and Nadal has a long proven pedigree in slams that is non existing for Medvedev currently. Especialy when Medvedev has not even had a competent slam tournament yet. Irregardless of his Cincinatti win, 1 win over Djokovic, and strong summer.

At best I might agree with putting him as high as 3rd over Federer (only since Federer looks to be feeling the predictable emotional low of the Wimbledon final, and looked awful in Cincy; plus his U.S Open record of late is fairly mediocre anyway), or atleast 4th over Thiem, but that is it. I do think he can win the U.S Open and it would be the best thing for the game if he or someone like him did, but jumping him to co favorite with Djokovic going in for 1 win is wishful thinking.

As for why I might put Thiem over him, while Thiem's best surface is clay obviously, he is also shown he can contend on hard courts, and he has some slam pedigree with the 2 RG finals and some strong performances at the U.S Open despite continously losing epic matches to people like Nadal, Del Potro there in 5 sets. As noted Medvedev has not done squat in slams yet, so until he actually does he should not be put that high on any favorites list.

Considering Medvedev's slam history thus far constitutes of a grand 1 round of 16 and otherwise a mix of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round losses, I think putting Medvedev somewhere from 3rd to 5th favorite is optimistic enough.

 

[eusebius]

Yeah, after seeing that Pennetta-Vinci final a couple of years ago I just don't put much stock in the whole "favourite" thing anymore ...
ETA it was in 2015. Yikes. Time flies ...

 

[Choupette]

Amanda Anisimova's father (and coach) was found dead today. Poor her, what a huge loss. She obviously withdrew from the US Open.

Another player, Laslo Djere, 23, lost his father last December and somehow won his first ATP title last February. He had previously lost his mother. I have no idea how he found the energy to compete at that level after just a few months.

EDIT: here is the link to the first media to report the news: https://tennis.life/2019/08/19/konstantin-anisimov-father-of-amanda-anisimova-found-dead/

 

[ilovepaydays]

The U.S. Open draw ceremony was today!

Men’s singles bracket
Women’s singles bracket

Anyone want to predict this Round 1 match?

 

[eusebius]

Anyone want to predict this Round 1 match?

That's a crazy draw for both. FAA/Shapovalov and Tsitsipas/Rublev should also be good, though I'm sad that one of the nextgen Canadians has to lose in R1...

 

[caseyedwards]

I was hoping Murray would play and face like Djokovic or Federer in first round! Just to have a blockbuster! Maria Serena is lame because now Maria has no talent as a tennis player against Serena. ZERO. Sad really.

 

[vanillashake]

Well so much for a Djokovic/Medvedev final. I predict Djokovic to win that quarter final if it happens.

 

[becca]

Naomi Osaka is incredible she showed respect by playing Coco hard but such kindness afterwards.

 

[Lacey]

Well, there might be two of us watching the US Open?

I don't know how to do spoilers, so will leave out tonight's men's results...

 

[Habs]

Well, there might be two of us watching the US Open?

I don't know how to do spoilers, so will leave out tonight's men's results...

I've been watching but not posting - because I was there!

 

[quartz]

I’ve been watching what I can - the Monfils vs Shapovala match was highly entertaining! Rooting for Bianca Andreescu - my new favourite. Very annoyed that her match last night started so late and I could only watch the first two sets.

 

[Lacey]

I've been watching but not posting - because I was there!

How cool is that, you lucky thing!

Weird with Djokovic out, and I was rooting for Wawrinka.

 

[Habs]

How cool is that, you lucky thing!

Weird with Djokovic out, and I was rooting for Wawrinka.

It was so much fun! An experience of a lifetime (and the tickets were a gift from Mr. Habs)

 

[Rob]

Well so many of us wanted Federer/Nadal, but now Im hoping for Medvedev/Nadal. I also wanted Osaka at the end, but now I’d like to see Serena get #24. I worked at the US Open for 3 years in vending (CBS Sports merchandise and Virginia Slims, it was so long ago). It was great because we would leave one person in the booth at a time and take turns watching tennis. We couldn’t go to the final, but the ushers would take a tip and find us an empty seat down low for at least part of a QF or SF match.

 

[annie720]

This set has become very interesting. Go Schwartzman!

 

[nylynnr]

Up late watching Nadal-Schwartzman -- a painful win for Nadal, sweating buckets, taking salt tablets to ward off cramping and just doing everything he could to put Schwartzman away. Then to read headlines (ESPN, AP) like, "Nadal cruises into the semifinals" written by editors who glanced at the score, didn't watch the match or read the articles. So ridiculous. Sportswriters should make a stab at writing the headlines to stories, and then editors tweak. Big pet peeve of mine.

 

[vanillashake]

Up late watching Nadal-Schwartzman -- a painful win for Nadal, sweating buckets, taking salt tablets to ward off cramping and just doing everything he could to put Schwartzman away. Then to read headlines (ESPN, AP) like, "Nadal cruises into the semifinals" written by editors who glanced at the score, didn't watch the match or read the articles. So ridiculous. Sportswriters should make a stab at writing the headlines to stories, and then editors tweak. Big pet peeve of mine.

Most of them probably didn't watch the match and couldn't have been bothered to unless they heard it was in a 4th or 5th set. By the score you can't blame them for the lazy conclusion, and they don't care enough about tennis in what on paper sounds like an unexciting match to really know better.

 

[quartz]

I would have loved to stay up to see the Nadal vs Schwartzman match - darn these late games on work nights.

 

[vanillashake]

Nadal uses his power and talent to beat the Argentine.

 

[eusebius]

BIANCA
Reprise of Toronto final incoming. I hope we get a healthy Serena this time because this match should be one for the ages!!

 

[Lara]

While I was catching up on the Riga JGP men’s SP, Bianca Andreescu made the finals (will face Serena).

Any skating I’ve missed will have to wait Saturday lol.

 

[vanillashake]

Given Serena's form this tournament I doubt it will be a match for the ages. Unless Serena's form drops I see the best case being a respectable type loss. If they played each other either of the two next 2 nights Serena would have won easily, Andreescu will have to raise her level just to keep it close if Serena even maintains hers.

 

[quartz]

I friggin adore Bianca - she is an incredible athlete on the rise, mature beyond her years and yet still has moments of awkward, goofy, angsty teenager. She’s worked her ass off this tournament and Serena has been cruising through, so it will be interesting to see how much gas Bianca has left in the tank. I think Serena will likely win, but Bianca is on one heck of a roll, and the adreneline and youthful exuberance, along with her terrier-like tenacity is going to go a long ways in making the final an entertaining match. And, if she loses, she gets 1.9 million dollars which isn’t too shabby for a 19 year old. She is a star even if she doesn’t win here - endorsements will be rolling in like crazy.

 

[Vash01]

I don’t want to jinx Serena. Whenever I watch her match, expecting her to win, she loses. So I am not going to watch it on Saturday. I think Andreescu has the power, the serve, and the will to beat Serena. She will not face the pressure Serena will. I really want Serena to get her record 24th win. She is already one of the all time greats.

Bencic had an epic meltdown in the second set. With a 5-2 lead, she seemed poised to win that set and make it a three set match. She just could not win a single game when she was in a position to easily win that set. Her meltdown reminded me of Jana Novotna’s against Stefi Graf at Wimbledon, many years ago.

 

[vanillashake]

If Serena plays as she has so far she will win atleast 50% of the rallies even if Andreescu plays at her best. The big difference then would be the serve, Serena has the GOAT serve and Andreescu has a shaky one that isn't even much of a weapon yet.

I think the only way Serena loses or probably even goes 3 sets is if she is really tight like her recent slam finals but she seems far more relaxed and at ease her.