US Open 2014

Draws out! http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/index.html

Nightmare draws for Halep and Djokovic in particular. Simona has Muguruza in R3, Venus or Giorgi in R4 and then maybe her nemesis Sharapova in the QF; Nole has a possible Isner R4 and then Murray or Tsonga QF. Cakewalks for Kvitova (who needs it) and Raonic (ugh).

- Serena's R1 vs Taylor Townsend should be fun to watch if not competitive
- Watch #32 seed Zhang Shuai go 0-12 in Slam R1s, she's drawn Barthel this time
- Kvitova seems to be playing well in New Haven after a terrible USO swing? Keys is certainly dangerous on paper in R3 but the match-up favours Petra, while that big victory/deep run just always seems to elude Madison
- Bouchard has another easy section but I have a feeling a flop is coming
- Mrs Krumm just never ever ever gets a break in Slam R1s. Venus AGAIN :(

- Happily, Isner getting his USO nemesis going back to 2012, Kohlschreiber, in R3, might save us from the nightmare scenario of Isner beating Djokovic in R4
- Kyrgios vs Youzhny, big opportunity for the kid against a declining veteran
- ew, please let Nishikori be healthy enough to beat Odesnik at least
- wondering whether Thiem is ready to navigate the Gulbis/Lopez section? hmm
- Tomic vs Brown, what a fun R1
- LOL @ the US media whining yet again about Harrison's "tough draws" as if the world #184 shouldn't be getting on his knees and giving thanks that his nationality permits him a place in the draw in the first place. Scalp him, Grigor!
- And hoping for Fed to mete out a triple bagel to that awful wanker Matosevic

Qualies have been pretty exciting as ever. Disappointing that a lot of the young talents flopped - Konjuh, Kulichkova, Zverev, Kokkinakis, the last of whom doesn't seem to have comported himself with any class according to this: https://twitter.com/rourkeytennis/status/502521070998781952 Pinch of salt as per Twitter but scrolling that guy's timeline and he doesn't seem like someone who's making shit up.

But some interesting names in the final qualy round: young talent represented by Krejcikova (who beat MLDB), Abanda and Siniakova on the women's side, by Nishioka, Escobedo and Coric on the men's. Notable that all four Chinese women and both Chinese men in the qualy draws are in the final round (and at least one will qualify, with Saisai Zheng and Lin Zhu playing each other).

And an excellent article about the Murray/Mauresmo relationship! http://online.wsj.com/articles/andy-murrays-new-tennis-partner-1408659814

4R predix, pending qualifiers:

S.Williams d. Vandeweghe
Ivanovic d. Rogers
Kvitova d. Kuznetsova
Diyas d. Watson
Kerber d. Jovanovski
Radwanska d. Safarova
Wozniacki d. Sharapova
V.Williams d. Muguruza

S.Williams d. Ivanovic
Kvitova d. Diyas
Radwanska d. Kerber
Wozniacki d. V.Williams

S.Williams d. Kvitova
Wozniacki d. Radwanska

S.Williams d. Wozniacki

Kohlschreiber d. Djokovic
Tsonga d. Murray
Robredo d. Wawrinka
Raonic d. Sock
Lopez d. Klizan
Ferrer d. Janowicz
Dimitrov d. Monfils
Federer d. Bautista Agut

Tsonga d. Kohlschreiber
Raonic d. Robredo
Ferrer d. Lopez
Federer d. Dimitrov

Raonic d. Tsonga
Federer d. Ferrer

Federer d. Raonic

(it is SO HARD to ever pick against Serena, even after her Slam flops this year) (typing Vandeweghe and Raonic happened on the basis that the worst will always happen)

I was just about to question the Vandeweghe pick

she's legit improved this year and I am extremely fucking pressed about it. Vekic in R1 is a virtual bye right now (Vekic split with her coach a couple of weeks ago), CSN hasn't been playing well since her RG choke and can be overpowered, Vandeweghe already beat Stosur this year (her height means it's a decent match-up for her). Plus, Vandeweghe has always been one of those players who does ten times as well on home soil as anywhere else

the halep/sharapova bracket is kinda stacked

i watched querrey/garcia lopez @ the wake forest tourney last night -- that'll be a good 2nd rd match

she's legit improved this year and I am extremely fucking pressed about it.

haha I completely understand, I just hate her

Nice set of qualifiers. Françoise Abanda becomes the third 1997-born kid to play a Slam main draw, I think she's more talented than Bouchard as far as Yung Canada goes (and she got Lisicki, who's always beatable off grass). Ons Jabeur, first Tunisian woman in a Slam since Selima Sfar. Great to see Borna Coric come through on the men's side, shame he drew Rosol - too tough right now. Radu Albot - first Moldovan in a Slam ever? I can't remember any others. Slam debuts for Yoshihito Nishioka, James McGee, Niels Desein, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Saisai Zheng, Qiang Wang as well. Slam comebacks for Steve Darcis (first Slam since beating Rafa at Wimbledon last year) and Yung-Jan Chan.

Nice to see that Petra is finding a semblance of form in New Haven.

lol yung canada, thats a p good rap name

I watched the following practice on Thursday: Dmitrov, Azaranka, Vesnina (?), Ferrer,
Vedasco, and Fonini, along with unidentifed others. Dmitrov won me over ... It was just
practice but he made some very stylish shots. I don't much about tennis but the free qualifying
week at the U.S. Open is so much fun. I didn't realize how beautiful tennis ladies are. And how loud.

I bought a ticket for the night session next Thursday, but I'll be way up high in Ashe.

never heard of james mcgee

27 so no novice, save at this level

and theres a reasonable chance he will get to play tsonga

Starting with Ons Jabeur and Andrea Petkovic!

Halep a set down to an unranked college player. Oh dear.

Petkovic staved off a really spirited first set challenge by Jabeur...

is there a good stream for kyrgios youzhny

yeah http://www.drakulastream.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html

Halep's got this now but Muguruza will eat her alive in R3

Jabeur really dictating vs Petko, who hasn't taken advantage of her movement at all

Kyrgios given a game penalty for swearing, ha

not bad response service game

Mrs Krumm with the early break on Venus...

Gutted for Kimiko. AGAIN against Venus, always like this :(

End of the Murray match was a mess. Kyrgios v impressive closing out Youzhny.

raonic is fuckin blasting the ball

Muguruza won't be eating anyone alive. She lost to Lucic, who you would imagine is now completely incapable of winning another match without UE-ing herself to death, because, well, it's Lucic.

And Giorgi managed to lose to Rodionova. Halep's nightmare draw clearing itself for her.

Okay, what good matches are happening.

right now, Cirstea/Watson is probably the best televised one? but I don't feel sad that I still have a bit of work to do

(or time to keep an eye on the scores and see which ones stay close/upset-brewing)

Yeah, I'll switch over to Cirstea/Watson for now.

id prob watch lu/Garcia-lopez or niemenen/karlovic

is Lu/GGL streamed anywhere? I can't see it as an option

well, Cirstea hammered Watson, it seems

#32 seed Zhang Shuai is now 0-12 in Slam matches in her career (while her qualifier compatriots Wang Qiang and Zheng Saisai have both scored wins on their main draw debut). To be fair to her, none of those losses are that terrible, she just has rotten luck with draws...

Oh Sweta

DFing on MP in a third-set TB to lose in R1 on the 10-year anniversary of your USO title is very...in-character

Vesnina has gone from 6-0 5-0 up to 6-0 5-5. Why is this not being televised.

Isner takes the first and I die a little inside

I just need Isner to get off my TV. Campaign to always schedule him on outside courts

Vesnina avoids the meltdown, wins 7-5.

whoa, Coric a set up on Rosol. NO STREAM THO UGH

34yo Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos, the oldest ever USO debutant, gets his first ever Slam win over Sijsling :)

Coric storming to victory over Rosol, up 6-4 6-1 5-2. Super-impressive givenn Rosol's form.

Meanwhile, Azarenka is being dictated to by Misaki Doi lmao.

i watched some of doi play v nicole gibbs in new haven, she looked solid tbh

15yo CiCi Bellis is a double break up on Cibulkova :o AGAIN NO STREAM

Two DFs in the TB from Vika, she was 2-0 up... Doi is playing fearlessly

Three DFs and Doi has the set!

Vika is toast, right

The scoreline flatters her if anything, Doi is treeing and Vika is a total shadow of herself as she has been since her comeback

man if Vika goes out in round 1 this will have been a successful US Open for me

I mean, I could envisage Doi's high-risk game slipping if she gets nervous and Vika outsteadying her, but it's like Vika doesn't even have weapons any more. Not that they were huge in the first place but when you can't dictate against Doi...

Doi definitely tightening up now

Vika serves for the set...two DFs. Back on serve

Found a stream for Bellis/Cibulkova at 3-3 in the third...they rigged up a hand-held camera out there http://cricfree.sx/live/watch/the_u.s._open_tennis/52247

Bellis playing like a boss, wow

Fucking hell, she's good tho

this is remarkable, historic

She's done it

I really didn't have any doubt she'd finish it off, she was composed the whole way

youngest player to win a US Open match since kournikova in 1996

She was just blazing winners by the end.

Youngest player to win a match in the women's draw since Kournikova in 1996

ha xp

she was generating crazy power, you would think it was just redlining but it seems to be just how she plays

I wonder who was the last player to be this young and in the top 2 of the juniors?

She doesn't even seem that powerfully built like eg Konjuh (who I think is the answer to your question)

I did notice that she seems to have huge hands

oh wow I didn't realize Konjuh was still just 16

and now 17 year old Jared Donaldson is pushing Monfils. Great I/O FH

anyone see any of Serena/Townsend? Scoreline not a surprise but I wonder whether how much of Taylor's promise showed.

Interesting quote from Coric's interview, seems to support what I've long thought about the tours getting older - really talented teenagers should still be able to make their mark:

Q. Your first 12 months really playing pro tournaments full time, I mean, what is the biggest thing you have learned about life on the tour and about your game in these last 12 months?

BORNA CORIC: Well, I learned on the tour that, you know, it's maybe tougher in the sense that all the guys are not gonna just give you the match if you win first set or if there is some bad call or something. So, you know, I just learned that. And also, I saw that they are not so much better than the juniors. Of course they are better, but if you get used to it, you can change it quite quickly.

Azarenka's interview is kind of self-parodically grumpy: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2014-08-26/201408261409095697250.html

Taylor smacked the shit out of the ball in the first set but Serena's serve was working, so there wasn't much she could do; eventually Taylor started spraying unforced errors and I turned off the 2nd set for a previous engagement.

Way more exciting to watch than Sloane Stephens. (shocker, I know)

Peng playing really well vs a lacklustre Aga...for now.

Bencic/Nara was a pretty absorbing first set.

For some reason I hadn't checked the Peng/Radwanska h2h and all four of their matches have gone three sets, and the one time they played at the USO (2010), Peng won!

Peng teetering between closing/choking...

And falls on the side of closing. That pass to set up her last MP was >>>>>>>

Stephens lost to LARSSON? The last six games from 2-0 up? That is a woeful loss even by her standards

Weird times...

did you happen to see the random on Twitter who yelled at me for saying Sloane was okay but not The Future? good times

I didn't see that but I have been yelled at by insane Kirilenko fans on Twitter before...

the turning point downhill of Sloane's year was when she bragged about being a better Slam player than Halep and her small tournaments right before Halep disposed of her easily at RG. Then two weeks later Keys and Vandeweghe both won titles. Cue "Slam" Stephens crashing out of Wimbledon to semi-retired Kirilenko...

Petkovic/Puig's a little tense here.

Petkovic with a down to the wire win.

stevie johnson has to retire up 2-1 in sets cuz of cramps, tough tourney already for 'murricans

So nice to see Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in R3 for the first time in sixteen years! She made R3 on her 1997 debut and the following year, back when she was a teenage prodigy...she's floated frustratingly between 80 and 120 for the past few years, she'll go on stretches of terrible losses but always seems to have a big run here or there.

Watched a bit of Sharapova/Dulgheru, it was as annoying as every Sharapova match against a plucky lower-ranked player I like always is. Same match over and over again. Fucking fighting spirit.

Sad to miss Petko/Puig :(

Interesting stat, cribbed from TF: in the bottom quarter, all eight players left competing for the SF spot are past Slam SFists: Sharapova, Lisicki, Petkovic, Wozniacki, Errani, Venus, Lucic-Baroni and Halep...

Pliskova bashes her way to the opening set over Ivanovic!

LMAO the minute Pliskova actually hustled to get that smash back you knew Ivanovic was missing the second smash

Meanwhile the Azarenka match seems to be streeeeetching out.

Pliskova looking solid.

Bahh sucks I can't stay up much longer... Now at a point in my career where I can no longer function on three hours of sleep. Have barely been able to watch any matches. :(

Oh dear Ana, what a horrible time to challenge BP down. Pliskova to serve for it.

Meanwhile the Azarenka match seems to be streeeeetching out.

These matches started at the same time:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwI3qiyCIAAC9Rj.jpg

Pliskova does it, barely reacts. Hurrah.

In Ivanovic's so-called return-to-form year, she goes QF, 3R, 3R, 2R in the Slams.

http://i.imgur.com/7S6cV6r.gif

Why isn't BZS vs Niculescu on a TV court yet Isner is AGAIN on my actual TV cry cry cry

http://i.imgur.com/7S6cV6r.gif

― abcfsk, Thursday, August 28, 2014 12:47 PM (36 minutes ago)

lol what is the story behind this?

Ivanovic pulled some shit in Cincy a couple of weeks ago, stopped mid-game to call the trainer but didn't get any treatment; claimed she couldn't breathe or something but looked right as rain on resumption. She also pulled the same trick at one of the Doha YECs a few weeks ago. I think that Sharapova snark was from later in the match when Ivanovic called the trainer again? Perfectly in her rights to snark tbh

*a few years obv

There was more back and forth this US open, MS suggesting a fee for every medical time out and Ivanovic throwing shade back later on.

I did think she would last a bit longer though.

Aleksandra Krunic! Only got back at 4-4 in the decider but how amazing to see someone as tiny as that take down a player double her size and power. She looks about 10. What an absolute disastrous meltdown from Keys, though, she was a total emotional wreck by the end.

Also good to see out of the corner of my eye the injury-beleaguered Kanepi get another upset win over Stosur...

And well done CSN for putting an end to my nightmare vision of a Vandeweghe second week run :)

Oh, lol, apparently Vandeweghe refused to shake the umpire's hand AGAIN

props 2 diyas she played smart and p safely, long rallies, not going for many winners, altho idk if i see her advancing much further

Bouchard/Cirstea is turning out crazy at the end here.

Ivanovic pulled some shit in Cincy a couple of weeks ago, stopped mid-game to call the trainer but didn't get any treatment; claimed she couldn't breathe or something but looked right as rain on resumption. She also pulled the same trick at one of the Doha YECs a few weeks ago. I think that Sharapova snark was from later in the match when Ivanovic called the trainer again? Perfectly in her rights to snark tbh

― lex pretend, Thursday, August 28, 2014 5:29 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they came out and checked her blood pressure.

Sharapova just yelled that later in the match after she double faulted on break point.

lmao @ Maria, that's pretty OTT. But Ana deserved it.

props 2 diyas she played smart and p safely, long rallies, not going for many winners, altho idk if i see her advancing much further

yeah I heard she was playing unusually passively, when I saw her at Wimbledon she was going for more of her shots. Sad I had to go to bed before that match - fucking Boredo going five sets ughhhh.

For all the talk of Bellis beating a Slam finalist at 15 it has to be noted that Diyas beat a Slam finalist at 16 (Jankovic) before personal problems (parents I think? or money?) derailed her for a year or two. I read that the crowd did not comport themselves very well. Anyway, scoreline definitely confirms Bellis's talent to me.

Surprised Kuznetsov came back to beat Verdasco in five, looked like Verdasco was on top of him when I went to bed - hitting all his spots pretty easily.

Coric losing to Estrella Burgos was disappointing but you can't not be happy for VEB - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/sports/tennis/burgos-an-improbable-trailblazer-takes-aim-at-us-open.html?_r=0

Honestly I think the crowd was fine. They were super biased obviously but they didn't really do anything other than whistle at a few of Diyas' errant tosses, which were so absurdly numerous that they deserved a little derision.

Jelena Jankovic def Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-0

eternal lol @ Sloane Stephens

dag venus

lucic is really pushing halep

the quality of play in venus/errani has def dropped off the last few games here back of 3d set

Safarova/Cornet's turned into a pretty tense one.

Why do I ever leave the house during Slams? Crazy shit always happens when I do. That Venus/Errani scoreline? 60 06 76? ERRANI WINNING? Peak WTA. And so so so heartwarming to see Lucic in the second week of a Slam again after 15 years. And lost amid those, two extremely impressive wins from young guns Thiem (from two sets down over BFF Gulbis) and Bencic (I did wonder about that possibility, given Kerber's difficulties generating her own pace and Bencic way outclassing her on the BH side...). Also, I assume that Fognini tanked again. Also, LOL @ Tomic withdrawing again rather than face Ferrer.

Seems like Gulbis pulled his hamstring midway through the match and his movement was badly restricted in the last two sets. But, still, yay Thiem.

yea his last game was really bzarre, like even a ball hit at him he purposely sliced like directly into the net i guess going for the perf winner drop shot or nothing but the way it looked hed of been better off retiring

WHY IS MY TV SHOWING RAONIC instead of Kvitova losing. Ugh. Estrella Burgos did just hit one of the best FH crosscourt passes I've ever seen, but still, yuk.

Not just because Raonic's game is the epitome of serve-bot, but that fluro yellow Tetris shirt he is wearing is all kinds of hideous too.

Kvitova looks awful.

Netra Kvitova :(

Stream anyone?

The score says Kvitova lost the 1st but is up a break on the 2nd?

Watching on a real TV. Kvitova was up 2-0 but has just lost 4 games in a row.

yeah scores just updated :-( bummer but she has always said NY is the slam she is least comfortable in.

Krunic huh

Krunic is impressive. Tiny, but variety and aggression. Flexible too, she's done a few splits. I mean, half-decent Kvitova should blast her off the court 9 times out of 10 but you know, when do we even get that.

Oh wow, even as an avowed Petra stan, I feel bad that the break has gone back after some help from the net cord.

PETRA GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT

Krunic is kind of half Jankovic and half Cibulkova.

Just tuning in and WTF PETRA

Her backhand was so garbage all match, she didn't deserve to win. Krunic took the match, she attacked the BH and hit some great passing shots.

Ugh at this women's draw. Am I now cheering for Wozniacki to win the whole thing? REALLY? (I guess, really, Kanepi, but she won't last much longer.)

lol Raonic at the net never fails to amuse

not a ton of competative matches yet today

11 deuces 1st game! and tsonga ultimately breaks

Kohlschreiber trolling Isner remains my favorite US Open tradition

Federer and the other players who use P1 have racquets restrung before every match. P1 used to regrip Murray’s racquets, but the British player now handles it himself. Ferguson and Yu don’t feel slighted. “Some guys like to do it because it gives them something to do before a match,” Ferguson said. All of P1’s clients are men. Ferguson said that, over the years, he has fielded inquiries from Serena Williams and other female players. “Once I told them the cost, I’d never hear back from them.” He said that the women generally use fewer racquets than the men do so they have less of a need for a full-time stringing service. Also, “Guys care more about their tools—their sneakers, the technical aspects of their racquets,” Ferguson said.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/stringing-roger-federers-nine-rackets?src=mp

yea his last game was really bzarre, like even a ball hit at him he purposely sliced like directly into the net i guess going for the perf winner drop shot or nothing but the way it looked hed of been better off retiring

― johnny crunch, Saturday, August 30, 2014 2:22 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Gulbis finished it out because he and Thiem are best buddies.

so he wanted to spend more time together just bro'ing out ok w/e

Kohlschreiber trolling Isner remains my favorite US Open tradition

― groovemaaan, Saturday, August 30, 2014 4:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is otm obv

so he wanted to spend more time together just bro'ing out ok w/e

― johnny crunch, Saturday, August 30, 2014 10:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's considered good sportsmanship to finish it out instead of giving your opponent the retirement win

kyrgios is dominating

ok kyrgios literally cannot hit a backhand i guess maybe

no his backhand is quite good, maybe too flat for windy Ashe tho

I think Kyrgios probably has fitness issues that are being tested here

Kyrgios' situational grunting is annoying and not cool

robredo played v well this set

<half-assed patriotism>

Kohlschreiber trolling Isner remains my favorite US Open tradition

― groovemaaan, Saturday, August 30, 2014 4:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Couldn't believe Isner was the betting favourite.

Fucking hell, Petra, can't roll my eyes hard enough. Oh look an open draw for Azarenka or Bouchard aaaargh

vika's played herself from looking horrible to competitive unless vesnina and mchale just played that badly

shame Kyrgios made all those mistakes today, but i'm still proud of him. it takes time to assert yourself in men's tennis, and he's had a remarkable year.

really getting behind the women's draw this time round. much more so than usual.

Your women's last 16:

(1) Serena Williams vs. Kaia Kanepi
(11) Flavia Pennetta vs. (29) Casey Dellacqua
(Q) Aleksandra Krunic vs. (16) Victoria Azarenka
(17) Ekaterina Makarova vs. (7) Eugenie Bouchard
Belinda Bencic vs. (9) Jelena Jankovic
(14) Lucie Safarova vs. Shuai Peng
(5) Maria Sharapova vs. (10) Caroline Wozniacki
(13) Sara Errani vs. (Q) Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Two qualifiers in the second week! Can't remember the last time that happened. Lots of potentially good matches there. Predicting Serena, Flavia, Vika, Katya (1-0 h2h over Bouchard who really hasn't been playing well), Belinda (great opportunity for her, I somehow can't envisage deep Slam runs from Jankovic any more), Shuai (the h2h is way in Lucie's favour but Shuai looks like she's on a mission), Caro, Sara.

Caro would be a nice upset over Sharapova. might stay up for that match.

not strictly a Dellacqua fan (despite being Australian), but she seems nice, and it'd be good to see her make it her first quarter final.

Lucic vs Errani was almost comically extreme - I think Errani ended with 3 winners and 6 UEs, and Lucic with 40 winners and 50+ UEs. Happy that Lucic showed what she was capable of in set two, unsurprised she flopped in set three.

Simon's defence is outstanding vs Ferrer

woz is playing v scrappy, nice break

Loved Wozniacki exhorting the crowd after Sharapova dumped a volley into the net. Her defence was pretty insane but it was her clutch serving as she headed towards the finishing line that really impressed me. Best thing about that match-up is that Sharapova can turn on her hysterical fighting spirit as much as she wants, Wozniacki will not give one flying fuck

don't have strong feelings about Woz either way but purely for matchup reasons it's good having someone with sick defence playing this well (especially with halep out already)

Thiem!!!:)

Dreaming of epic 5 set Thiem-Coric finals (that Thiem wins)

monfils/gasquet is a fascinating matchup if both are playing well

would be great to see Bencic with a strong performance here

Godfin just bageled Dimitrov and I am once again annoyed that I am nowhere near a tv showing the tennis right now.

Goffin Davydenko'd him in the first set, gonna be a physical battle now tho.

Bencic!

It would be so great if Goffin was a top 10er, he adds a lot of variety to the game

Goffin is either Davydenko, the poor man's Davydenko, or Davydenko without the insanity.

Bencic now has an excellent chance to make the semis, amazing

fuckin' a Woz, this is the first time I've liked you in years

all my women's R4 predix correct so far :) Amazing from Bencic, let's see whether the hype train moves towards her now. Her transition from top junior to pro tour to elite Slam run has been seamless.

Fantastic for Peng to finally make her first Slam QF as well!

Shame Goffin couldn't keep it up but after so long floundering, his past month of godlike form has been very welcome.

Your men's last 16:

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (22) Philipp Kohlschreiber
(9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (8) Andy Murray
(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (16) Tommy Robredo
(10) Kei Nishikori vs. (5) Milos Raonic
(6) Tomas Berdych vs. Dominic Thiem
(14) Marin Cilic vs. (26) Gilles Simon
(7) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (20) Gael Monfils
(17) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (2) Roger Federer

That's a damn good line-up, only the Fed match seems uninteresting. Djokovic has looked a lot sharper than I expected but then hasn't played any real threat...I'll predict Kohlschreiber, Tsonga, Robredo, Raonic (ugh), THIEM, Simon, Dimitrov, Federer.

Those are some beautiful predictions lex

I'll go
Djokovic
Tsonga
Stan
Kei
Berdych :(
Cilic
Dimitrov
Fed

Lex what stream do you use - used to have one but my bookmarks disappeared a few months ago..

does usopen.org only work in the US?

Man its such a clear route for Fed. At times like this you - dare I say - miss Nadal.

Yeah tried it only works in the US Matt.

I find my streams at http://www.drakulastream.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html

I was gonna go with Cilic then I looked at the h2h. 4-0 to Simon and he looked brilliant against Ferrer.

tx!

Kohlschreiber and Djoker have only played twice on hardcourt, both at indian wells with the last coming in 2010.

All these Pennetta/Dellacqua games are going to deuce and yet it's so, so, so boring. Flavia looks, uh, not her usual quite lovely-looking self, she looks pissed (well, she's seen the outfit she's wearing, so) and is almost barking Petra-style.

Dellacqua is so bad

It was a great match to fall asleep to.

Djokovic/Kohlschreiber isn't much more exciting

Murray played about as badly on that BP as he played well on SP in the first set

Makarova looking very much superior to Bouchard as expected

Makarovaaaaaaa

Looked like Bouchard's MTO would make her wobble but she sorted herself out in time. Gotta be the favourite to make her first SF now.

Murray very impressive overall tbh. Very good serving and it was good to see him really aggressive on the FH side. Massive flop final game from JWT

Yeah Tsonga just ate it there at the end. Should have flipped over to see Makarova at a few points but it being a holiday and hot I felt disinclined to move much.

Whoa Wawrinka into the seats there!

Looks like he just couldn't stop himself on that run. Tight match so far.

krunic!

Need to check that out a bit now.

ha yeah enjoying this

Krunic just now, insane.

This has also been worth it for Azarenka's 'what the FUCK' faces after some of these points.

http://instagram.com/p/sbFVkeksDA/

if krunic won this match she'd increase her career earnings by over 150%

Alas.

h8 azarenka

she's an embarrassment to the sport

and seriously just say Monfils is your boyfriend you fucking weirdo

i thought she did well to pull herself together and win the match

Nishikori wins the 2nd set tiebreak, this could turn out interesting.

very well-played tiebreak from Kei!

now if he can only hold his serve more consistently...

I'm going to wake up and this match will still be going.

this match feels strangely terrible. Some great shots but something's off.

it's coming alive now...

...and into the fifth we go. i've literally finished work for the day and this match is still going. it's Tuesday.

very unfair to these guys that they have to turn around and play on wednesday

but I guess that's part of the magic of the US Open, can't have these night matches without people getting screwed.

dreading the inevitable Nishikori injury retirement in the next round

they tell me that the latest finish ever at the US Open is 2:26 am: Matts Wilander vs. Mikael Pernfors in the second round in 1993. this'll go close to clocking out around the same time.

and yeah: imagine it will be very tough going in the next round for whichever of these guys makes it through (looks like Nishikori, but who knows).

Oh shiiiit the night matches looked amazing, with one brilliant result (Nishikori yassss) and one disappointing one (Krunic pushed Vika harder than I thought she would though).

Krunic gives really really good interview btw, very articulate and funny. Hope she sticks around so we hear more from her.

Your women's QFs:

(1) Serena Williams vs. (11) Flavia Pennetta
(16) Victoria Azarenka vs. (17) Ekaterina Makarova
Belinda Bencic vs. Shuai Peng
(10) Caroline Wozniacki vs. (13) Sara Errani

Only one top-tenner, lol.

Williams leads Pennetta 5-0 (4-0 on hard courts, 1-0 at the USO)
Azarenka leads Makarova 3-2 (2-0 on hard courts)
Bencic 0-0 Peng
Wozniacki leads Errani 2-1 (1-1 on hard courts)

I'll go with Williams, Makarova, no idea...Bencic, Wozniacki

Certainly can't recall the night session still going when I was basically dressed for work, London time. Looks like they tied the Pernfors-Wilander record (i need it down to the second, dammit!). And I was happily unemployed in Sept '93!

Inevitably, Murray-Djokovic will get the night session on Wednesday, so Kei has under 36 hours to recover for Stan.

Wow. I went to bed thinking it probable that the blister issues would take away the extra step Nishikori needed to keep gnawing away at the big man's serve, but no! Happy he made it through. Also, almost forgot how fun it can be to watch two stoic players go at it, both playing well.

And yes: Please keep making runs, Krunic, we love you!

pretty hot out there today

serena just DFed on consecutive points to lose their doubles match. oof

Man Monfils held on just right for the second set there.

yeah he pulled that out of his ass

while having some sort of temperature tantrum

And now there's Shoegate for Dimitrov

Hardfought but hell of a victory.

Monfils walked out listening to Partition :D

Well Wozniacki breezed through that.

Caught the tail end of Cilic/Simon, sad for Simon.

Bencic disappointing but Peng has really been on a mission this tournament, hasn't even been taken to 7 games in a set let alone lost one.

Errani: 82% of first serves in, 18% of first serves won, eight points won on serve in total. Only player to have given out two bagels and received two bagels. I love having her around just because she makes stats like those possible.

Huh, Bellis lost in R2 of juniors to a very undistinguished opponent. Gotta keep the hype machine away from her. Good that her new ranking still won't get her into WTA events so she'll get to work on her pro experience in ITFs that the press won't care about this autumn.

Your men's QFs:

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (8) Andy Murray
(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (10) Kei Nishikori
(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (14) Marin Cilic
(20) Gael Monfils vs. (2) Roger Federer

Damn them for making Nole/Andy night match. And Berdych's sudden good form is a bit unexpected.

Djokovic leads Murray 12-8 (10-6 on hard courts, Murray leads 1-0 at the USO)
Wawrinka leads Nishikori 2-0 (1-0 on hard courts)
Berdych leads Cilic 5-3 (3-1 on hard courts)
Federer leads Monfils 7-2 (3-2 on hard courts)

ehhhh Djokovic, Wawrinka, Berdych, Federer, boringly

Just hate the men's draw - while the top half kill each other Fed sails through to a slam final.

If Andy and Stan go through I don't know who I'll go for.

Fed will most likely have to play Berdych in the semis which will be a huge test for him. I doubt he'll sail through it. Cilic, maybe idk.

I still refuse to believe that Murray has really found any kind of form here and Nishikori is probably already injured so:

Djoker
Wawa
Berdych
Fed

Monfils really played an amazing match vs. Fed in their last meeting and it could have gone either way, but it's Monfils.

Murray played a lot better vs Tsonga than I expected, serving was especially impressive. And Djokovic was very close to dropping that second set vs Kohli.

In-form Berdych is as much a threat to Fed as Stan is to Nole/Andy...

Djokovic, Monfils (!), Serena, Makarova and Peng are the only players not to have dropped a set so far

Is it 5pm (local time) Monday again for the men's final?

yup p sure

Vika/Kate started off OK, then briefly got very very bad from both, but seems to be a bit better, at least from Makarova, though definitely not from the umpire

Vika collapses from 40-15 up, Kate takes advantage and the first set

WHAT has Jennifer Capriati been tweeting in the past couple of days btw? Is she actually serious about wanting to make a comeback. Poor thing.

(Comebacks that actually will happen: Nicole Vaidisova is on the list for an ITF in Albuquerque in a couple of weeks...)

Azarenka's NOISES are audible as I chat to my mum, who is watching it on ESPN.

*right-wing piffle*

OOOOH!

*right-wing piffle*

OOOOH!

lol

be thankful you can't hear her singing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0hbvyktmcc

Azarenka has no consistency, two horrible points for every great one

Makarova has no killer instinct, did absolutely nothing on those BPs. She could've really sped off with this match by now

That point just now!

ludicrous that Makarova still lost it

RACQUET SMASH

I kinda want pro wrestling moves now.

Actual killer instinct from Makarova...

And she wins it!

Five Slam QFs and now a Slam SF for Kate Makarova. And she's beaten Serena at a Slam before!

"Macarena Makarova", nooooooo Pam nooooooo

And to be fair to Vika, that was the first match of her comeback that's made me think she's actually on the way back, albeit slowly, rather than slumping worse and worse

stan seems kinda depresso :(

Split opening sets and then Kei strips off his shirt in the bargain during the break.

i love matches where one player looks dead in the water at the beginning then starts to work their way into it but still you dont believe then all of a sudden its so on

Nishikori looked a lot more tired a set ago and Wawrinka didn't put him away...

loving the chang reaction shots

Damn, just missed seeing that rally.

Insane tb

stan so far back wow

*gawps*

good stuff

Whew.

Ridiculous quality in that TB. Never thought Kei could take it like that after fucking up so spectacularly earlier

A stat I hadn't been aware of:

Oleg S. ‏@AnnaK_4ever 2m
Wawrinka's career tiebreak record now is 118-141. Beyond terrible for a Top-50 player.

omggggg Kei aargh

and now I need to go to bed. WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST WIN THERE AND THEN

kei def squandered a huge opportunity there

Been watching the whole match - 3rd set was great after that attempt at Seppuku by Kei.

A bit flat for most of the time. How long can Kei hold out here?

Still here, just about. No idea how Kei just played a game as good as that. Please just win quickly. For me.

Nice dropshot. 5-4 Kei

MATCH POINT

what a terrible DF from Stan!

Incredible way to make his first Slam SF really

Really!

And Nishikori of all people to do it such a gruelling way

Not sure how much he'll have left for the SF.

But he's made it. Suppose he is the first Japanese men's player to get this far in a slam in the modern era..

That's what we said about the QF!

But we'll be right this time :(

xp

(although, he'll have two rest days...)

Damn, missed all this on the way home. Still, what an effort!

Yeah hope he will be ok for that, don't want a flat SF.

Time for bed. God I so want to stay up. Might er put my alarm for 4am..

amped for kei

h8 both these fuckers

i like them both

thats srsly messed up man

yeah i cant get into these guys at all

andy murray shd be locked in a dungeon

djokovic should be flayed alive then

smh both these fools begging the crowd to love them

*so intense, athletes at the top of their game*

over/under on when this match ends, eastern time

psh u guys are haters they are both fun players

feel like djokos gonna take it in str8 sets but ya these points r very long

haven't been watching -- how many times has murray shrieked 'come on!'

like 50-60 maybe

by their standards this is a great match

murray has been a complete mess inside the baseline

improbable set point for murray

this is great tennis

A series of male coaches had attempted to get Murray to play with balls, and now a coach who literally doesn't have them has cracked the code.

is murray hurt or is it just me

sigh, murray's mailing the rest of this one in. swinging for the fences on every shot. clearly either hurt or tired

Feeling ill just reading about this: 15 BPs..*sigh*

Well done Novak, and if he does make the final against Fed you'd think he'll win. Looks like this has sharpened him up.

re: Murray. McEnroe said "he was looking for excuses". I think two slams is about his limit right now. That is the same as fkn Hewitt. Crap.

Come on just one more and it'll be the same as Kuerten. I can live w/that!

Expected I guess, pleased Murray made it somewhat close at least. Eighth QF loss this year though, and still no title or even final. Slowly moving in the right direction under Mauresmo, at least. Two Slams is decent considering for a while it looked like he couldn't get over the final hurdle at all, and he'll certainly have many more chances given that at some point he'll be only contending against Djokovic and the post-Big Four Void.

Women's SFs h2h:

Williams leads Makarova 3-1 (all on hard courts, 1-0 at the USO). Yeah it's a point of mild excitement that Kate actually beat Serena at a Slam once but I don't see her bringing it in her first SF and really she hits hard but her patterns are a little too one-dimensional for Serena in this form. The only danger to Serena is a Wozniacki/emotional meltdown combination.

Wozniacki leads Peng 5-1 (3-1 on hard courts). Peng's in spectacular form, just look at her stats, but she hasn't beaten Wozniacki since 2007 and ultimately I just don't think Peng's aggression can hit through Wozniacki. The only close post-2007 match they've played was the 2011 Brussels final which was an absolutely ludicrous moonball fest from both.

Gah, Federer is the night match *again*. I think he's only played once in daylight this tournament. Was hoping to stream a little of it but it's not even the opening night match, there's an exhibition pushing it until 1am BST at least.

I woke up at least three times last night; I assume my brain wanted me to check the Nole-Andy score.

I struggled to go to sleep for a good hour after Kei-Stan. Really wanted to stay up.

Hilarious if Woz won her slam. Trolling Rory right back for winning two majors in a row. Unfortunately I never believe Serena can be beaten in a slam (unless she meets an in form Kvitova I guess) until she actually is.

Wozniacki is more of a threat to beat Serena than Kvitova off grass imo. The two Serena/Wozniacki matches in this USO series were real battles and right now Wozniacki actually seems to be playing more freely and confidently than during her fraudulent No 1 reign. I expect Serena ultimately to have too much firepower for Wozniacki (à la the Vika finals here) but I expect it to go three sets. If Serena gets over-emotional, then Woz will have a chance at actually winning.

Juggling Slam finals with weekend socialising is, once again, a huge fucking faff. Do I go out on Fri OR Sat? Neither men's nor women's SFs look like potential can't-misses. As for Sun, my current plan is afternoon bbq => take laptop, check out and watch women's final in handy Brixton café (are there such places??) => evening thing in Camberwell.

There should be plenty of cafe type things with the TV on. Brixton lol village, after all.

Currently set to go out on Fri, hope it stays that way as I'd prefer to catch men's SF on Sat.

k3vin k.
Posted: September 4, 2014 at 12:41:21 AM
is murray hurt or is it just me

seemed like just working his way back from surgery maybe some over compensation issues def not full strength

Cilic a set and a break up.

hes putting on a cilic

Berdych is Lendl's next assignment.

Okay what was that Monfils shot just now.

wld not be upset if monfils won this

First set!

monfils is dominating!

love federer but this is pretty cool

o shit man

Two up!

this is insane

YOU GUYS

I either want some insane comeback from Federer or Monfils to just close it out.

gael looks like hes playing on fuckin ice skates w/ all this sliding

Fed's down a set and yet it seems to me a foregone conclusion he'll win

Fuck knows at this point.

so much is happening so fast

huge

oof

oh dear

Tiebreak at the end of this set, please.

nah fed's gonna blow him out

i hate to see either of these guys lose but this is gonna be brutal for monfils

yeah rip

he had it in his hands, he had a shot, and he did not hit it

so cooked

cant watch this

space for rent inside monfils' head

Ah well. Still I'll take five sets. Ending of the fourth set made it worth it.

According to a tennis guy on twitter Fed ties Todd Martin for most comebacks from 2-0 down with 9. Gilbert said Krickstein has 10 tho?

And fin. Still, amazing to watch.

this is probably Fed's greatest comeback, slightly edging Benneteau.

Waking up every 20min since 3am to check the score... Wow. At least the last night session is Sat/Sun...

Have been on holiday past few days - last two sets were basically the first tennis I've been able to watch this week. Rooted for Monfils but always knew he would unravel after those lost MPs.

Considering the sheer amount of tennis he's played in his life, I'm always impressed at how well Fed remembers and can describe in vivid detail key points he's played, scorelines etc. Dude has amazing powers of recall.

Regardless of whether he is able to win the US Open this has got to be the best a 33 year old has played at a slam ever right? Always insane to compare different eras and we all think are our own time is the most advanced, etc.

agassi took federer to four sets in the us open final at age 35

jimmy connors went to the 1991 us open semis at age 39

fuck time zones ;_; ;_; ;_; ;_;

mookie - true how soon we (or I) forget, except I believe this era to be the best ever ;-)

But consecutive slam finals (surely Cilic won't do anything) at 33 is an achevement of sorts. Looking up only Connors is comparable (a few late looking SFs), but this is after 17 slam wins. Maybe someone who knows their history can say some more here.

Federer surely has to be unique in that he's doing this at 33 on a consistent basis and without having taken any extended leave of absence from the game during his career (à la Agassi, Li, Serena).

except I believe this era to be the best ever

mmm, I would say that the Big Four generation could well be the best ever, but all of this is certainly a knock on the void generation beneath them - Federer's survival in the top 3 is partly because no competition has really come through.

Djokovic tied with Nishikori 1-1. Nishikori leads 1-0 on hard courts, that was at the end of 2011 when Nole was a dead man walking.

Federer leads Cilic 5-0 (4-0 on hard courts). But Cilic has spent this tournament overturning unfriendly h2hs and definitely seems less prone to headcasiness since returning from his ban. Their match a couple of weeks ago in Toronto was probably their closest (76 67 64), I expect Cilic to get a set and maybe even two. But not the win.

This is why I had the ";-)". I've only been alive through really a couple of eras...roughly the one dominated by American tennis with Sampras/Agassi and loads of clay court specialists and then this one (with the void of Hewitt/Roddick in between). Then given the changes in courts and rackets and the like.

Taking all that into account Fed's longevity is pretty much unique anyway..

Yeah his consistency is just as, if not more, impressive than his performances. This is his 60th consecutive Slam appearance - dude has not missed a single Slam tournament in 15 years, just think about that for a second.

This is part of why - until the numbers say otherwise - he's my GOAT. The economy and fluidity of his game just don't seem to take the same toll on his body that others' playing styles do. Y'know, it's just sort of tough that Nadal has missed so many potential majors given that his very best 2008-13 is probably better than anyone else in that timeframe, but if your style demands that you win points at the expense of your knees, there's the trade-off.

Agassi at 33 was at approximately the same level relative to his peers as Fed is now (spells at #1, his last Slam two months before he turned 33), Connors a little below (his last year as a legit contender = 1984, when he was 32, but his runs at Wimb '87 and USO '91 were astonishing to behold, esp the latter). Going back a bit further, Laver and Rosewall were still very, very good in their mid-30s - but in a sort of beat-anyone-on-their-day way rather than accumulating titles.

And now I've said all that he'll retire injured a set down to Cilic and miss half of 2015.

Its the only way Cilic is getting through Fed that's for sure.

The way Mirza and Soares blew five straight championship points, oh boy. Luckily their opponents couldn't get a ball in court either. Always nice to see Mirza win things! I miss her in singles.

Peng hitting some lovely shots here but also errors. Wozniacki not playing anywhere near as well as she has of late

Peng getting better and better to break!

neither of them dealing with the wind particularly well, Peng doing just slightly better than Woz atm

xpost ah dammit I'm on the stream that's a few minutes behind lol

really distracted by Peng's belt that's just hanging loose around her dress - has it been like that this whole tourney? tighten it up or take it off, hon.

Wozniacki turns to moonballs to break back. Sigh.

Yassss Shuai, play the wrong-footer more

Whoa, bad cramp here?

so what's the rule now?

peng should have to forfeit the game at least

this is a disgrace if wozniacki has to serve the game out

Hmm, well she's back.

Okay this is ridiculous. It has to end now.

feel terrible for peng -- by far the best tournament result of her career, and she clearly wanted to give it everything she had

Yeah, a terribly sad way to end here. Makes me wonder what the second semi will be like.

That was terrible to watch, got to think the cramps were stress induced, Peng is a fit player. No one seems to know the actual cramping rule (apart from @vrcsports on twitter). Ridiculous that Ivanovic and Lisicki can take mid-game breaks for no reason but Peng should have been forfeited a point at least (but...wasn't?)

OK, it seems it's being reported that Peng had heatstroke. I assume this was the excuse given so that she could take the MTO, which she shouldn't have been able to for cramps (bc heatstroke is a medical condition whereas tennis defines cramping as a fitness condition). Basically the rules are fucked up.

this will be a quick one

That was terrible to watch, got to think the cramps were stress induced, Peng is a fit player. No one seems to know the actual cramping rule (apart from @vrcsports on twitter). Ridiculous that Ivanovic and Lisicki can take mid-game breaks for no reason but Peng should have been forfeited a point at least (but...wasn't?)

― lex pretend, Friday, September 5, 2014 4:32 PM (26 minutes ago)

no one knows why cramps happen tho. lebron james is probably the best athlete in the world and he's gotten cramps twice in the biggest games of his life. sometimes it just happens

that said, i don't think a distinction should be made for medical/fitness issues. if you are unable to play you're unable to play. wozniacki having to sit there at 30-40 while peng got treatment (not to mention being iced at 30-30 while peng limped around) wasn't fair

Nishikori dining on Nole's second serve, is up a break

... and takes the first set!

yikes, djokovic is rolling now

yeah some vv poor shot choices from Kei in this set too... wth were those drop shots?

another dumb dropshot in the middle of a neutral rally. :/

Ten minutes now, this game?

Seems like it. Amazing effort from Kei to hold.

kei's backhand is very...effortful

Great... Blackout in my neighborhood means no more tennis for the night. Just as well, I'm supposed to get up in a few hours anyway. goddamn time zones.

Hoping for a Nishikori miracle, but this is prob Djokovic's in four?

kei was just serving for the set at 5-3 but was broken back

I'm reduced to watching the choke via Twitter. -_-

up a mini-break!

power came back on, and so did Nishikori. LOL this is amazing.

three points away from a final!

some sports books were paying 2-1 on kei about 20 minutes ago. wish i knew a good way to place bets from america :|

WOW

SPECIAL KEI!!!! <3 <3

What a run... beats three top 5 players in a row on the way to the final.

KEI KEI KEI KEI

"I hope it's big news in Japan. I feel the support from Japan. It's 4 o'clock in the morning but I hope a lot of people are watching."

just going to predict that this probably will be big news in japan, if it isn't big news everywhere else

Wonderful.
Cilic-Fed not looking too likely today, going by the forecast. Tomorrow looks fine.

Awesome Kei - hope he can get that slam now.

Cilic - Fed is apparently due to start.

that was so dope!

nishikori is tough as hell

Dark Sky shows lots of nasty stuff rolling in from the west but perhaps it'll all miss Queens. Dryish after 7pm local.

Damn. I was out at lunch and missed the end of the first semi, holy heck.

Not so keen on a second upset. Fed lost his serve from 40/love. He could do with a rain break.

he looked pretty bad v monfils too

Fed has to break here because another two-sets-down comeback, no way

who predicted the nishikori-cilic final

omg!

And yet...

fed breaks!

not that he isnt already a god but if federer comes back again he is a god

Yeah, Cilic breaks back, not looking good.

Cilic played a couple of tight rallies: 2-2

1 BP Cilic..

Breaks at the 2nd attempt!

Cilic serving bombs for 5-3.

what the hell is going on

don't think Cilic was that arsed, weirdly enough.

Now to serve for the final.

He wasn't arsed because he served 3 aces to win that

wow

What a day. Kei for the title.

who predicted the nishikori-cilic final

― lag∞n, Saturday, September 6, 2014 2:31 PM (39 minutes ago)

Whoever did, I want to know what their call for the final is.

First match I've actually seen in full from beginning to end this Open. Time zones and employment grrr. Idiot yelling out "double fault" = not cool. Cynical happiness at cunt networks having to build excitement for a Cilic/Nishikori final. And even as a Fed tard, always annoyance at palpable crowd/commentator discontent at Another Dude With A Funny Eastern European Name cnroaching on Federer's perfect acceptable Westernness.

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 1m
US Open final (Cilic vs Nishikori) will be 1st Grand Slam final that didn't feature Djokovic, Federer or Nadal since 2005 Aussie Open.

And even as a Fed tard, always annoyance at palpable crowd/commentator discontent at Another Dude With A Funny Eastern European Name cnroaching on Federer's perfect acceptable Westernness.

― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, September 6, 2014 6:14 PM (13 minutes ago)

it couuuuld be that, or it could be that federer is the best player ever and has been a blast to watch

http://www.changeovertennis.com/atp-dark-age-coming/

interesting post

I reckon Djokovic is good enough for a few more years yet - he had a bad serving day and Nishikori hit some astonishing screaming winners - that Generation Kyrgios/Thiem/Vesely have time to come into our own to save us from Dimitrov taking the transitional champion mettle a Hewitt or Ferrero would have run with had they not run into the Federer buzz-saw. I don't see the dark age coming, more a short interregnum as we had before with a decent if not overwhelmingly great group to pick up where Nadal's generation leave off.

i believe in lord kyrgios

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqbyEvGWIBg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udSFhuo3y9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CtsaM7wToY

been wondering what that "in" patch on his shoulder was

Burst out laughing when I woke up and checked the scores this morning. Best ever.

I love how both wins feel... earned, neither seems like a fluke. We all know about Kei's talents and his struggle with injuries, his long steady climb into the top 10. Same with Cilic, who has always been a decent player with a tendency to choke at the worst moments. Feels like a breakthrough moment for both of them.

I have found solace in commiserating with other tennis fans on Twitter who chose social engagements above the tennis yesterday. So so so so hyped tho! Brilliant final, Roz otm that these wins feel earned and legit.

- Love how at Wimbledon we were like, no one will put the Big Four out of its misery. Now, people have! No time for sentimentality: a young gun coming through and upsetting the established order is what we've craved for so long and now we have it
- So stoked that it's Kei who did it. Always the most overlooked of an oft-disappointing generation compared to Raonic and Dimitrov, now look who has the Slam final. Really hope he wins
- The Cilic narrative is one of someone who always had the talent but always choked finally getting it together. He was meant to have had a star career and it never panned out but now...

Cilic was basically bash, blast, refuse to miss. Like Del Potro at the US Open or Soderling at the French, only the latter didn't win, and I think Cilic will. Federer didn't even look especially bad, just that level of power and depth is unplayable if it's not accompanied by lots of errors. Nishikori was great for the sets I saw, especially some of those forehands from outside the court, but Djokovic had a subpar serving day. Cilic in 4, but would prefer the opposite.

About 4 or 5 years ago, this would have seemed a totally normal and predictable outcome for the 2014 US Open. Glad both players have been able to overcome injuries and disappointing results in the interim.

Back in 2009 or so, I thought of Cilic as Del Pony's twin - born five days apart, both 6'6, killer serve and forehand, surprisingly quick for such tall dudes. Their games are almost identical, it was always the mental side that let Cilic down.

The time off from his doping ban (for what was commonly agreed to be an accidental ingestion of a banned substance) seems to have renewed his focus - in recent interviews, he's talked about how angry he was about not being able to play and having to grow up a bit.

Am supporting Nishikori for the win but will be equally happy if Cilic takes it. :)

Delpo >>>> Cilic

!00% riding for nishikori, love his shot making, h8 the power game

del potro easily my favourite player of the ~88 gen, a lot more than just power

not sure who i prefer to win this final, will see how it goes

xp I take it all back
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bw6XZ2WCQAAkM8Q.jpg

Delpo >>>> Cilic

That's obvious, even when they were kids lol. Delpo = bigger forehand, better at the net, mentally tougher, more er... style. He's prob my all-time favourite player tbh, surpassing Safin even.

I just mentally filed them together back when they were first turned pro because apart from the similarities I already mentioned, they were the two tall players who weren't boring serve-bots ala Isner/Karlovic.

Meantime I give you the shocking news that the Bryans have won their first set.

are they playing with their robot avatars *shoots tv*

They'd probably still win with those.

Annnnd 100. At this rate they'll go for 200 for shits and giggles.

I wonder if it ever bothers Bob that Mike won a couple of titles early on with other partners (Long Island w/Bhupati, Nottingham w/Knowles, both 2002) and so he's never gonna catch up unless he too plays away.

Every so often Bob will put a little something extra into the chest bump. "Hey sorry about the cracked rib there..."

Missed this earlier, Martina got engaged! https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/508345697754939392

Aww...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bw4AxdOIgAEpTe8.jpg

good brand awareness

nick jonas just did things to god bless america i didnt know were possible.

Thankfully missed that, instead seeing Billie Jean King being her damn great self.

huh is serena gonna play in a nike sportscoat

nope.
that white leopardskin dress + pink headband combo is knockout

I had to go to Home Depot but I got so many satisfying lols from Nick Jonas before I left the house

i almost texted you about it

That rally!

kind of a not great final. some really good points tho. glad she reached #18

Scoreline really flatters Wozniacki, who never really turned up and who thus never was in it. Wozniacki can't afford to make those errors against most top 50 opponents let alone Serena. Bad strategy? Looked like she was trying to be aggressive but I think moonballing for her goddamn life would've been smarter, or maybe not because Serena never showed any sign of wobbling. 18 is special for Serena and Graf's 22 is within reach bc her game is still that awesome, though not if she has to take 3 Slams to get over her nerves for each one henceforth.

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 THANK FUCK. YESSSSS

excepted a lot tougher. wozniacki could've pushed serena a lot more, she was so nervous especially in set #1. serving really picked up in the 2nd. so glad she didn't have to serve for it omg my heart

Happy Serena's often bizarre slam year has ended well.

now go nishikori!!! <3

New rankings.

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Simona Halep (2)
3. Petra Kvitova (4)
4. Maria Sharapova (6)
5. Agnieszka Radwanska (5)
6. Na Li (3)
7. Eugenie Bouchard (8)
8. Angelique Kerber (7)
9. Caroline Wozniacki (11)
10. Ana Ivanovic (9)
11. Jelena Jankovic (10)
12. Sara Errani (14)
13. Dominika Cibulkova (13)
14. Lucie Safarova (15)
15. Ekaterina Makarova (18)
16. Flavia Pennetta (12)
17. Andrea Petkovic (19)
18. Carla Suarez Navarro (16)
19. Venus Williams (20)
20. Samantha Stosur (21)
21. Shuai Peng (39)
22. Alize Cornet (23)
23. Svetlana Kuznetsova (22)
24. Victoria Azarenka (17)
25. Garbine Muguruza (26)
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (25)
27. Sloane Stephens (24)
28. Madison Keys (27)
29. Casey Dellacqua (32)
30. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (29)
...
33. Belinda Bencic (58)
44. Roberta Vinci (30)
57. Daniela Hantuchova (37)
80. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (121)
100. Aleksandra Krunic (145)
106. Taylor Townsend (103)
112. Ana Konjuh (116)
179. Francoise Abanda (205)
431. Catherine Bellis (1208)

It's pretty funny looking at the draws of our 2014 Slam champions:

Li, AO: Konjuh, Bencic, Safarova, Makarova, Pennetta, Bouchard, Cibulkova
Sharapova, RG: Pervak, Pironkova, Ormaechea, Stosur, Muguruza, Bouchard, Halep
Kvitova, Wim: Hlavackova, Barthel, V.Williams, Peng, Zahlavova-Strycova, Safarova, Bouchard
S.Williams, USO: Townsend, King, Lepchenko, Kanepi, Pennetta, Makarova, Wozniacki

Only ONE top 10 win (Halep) in all four Slam runs combined. That's insane. Only two wins over former Slam champs (Stosur, Venus).

Li and Kvitova not only didn't beat a top 10 opponent en route to their Slam, but neither have beaten a top 10 opponent in 2014 yet.

Interesting that the three best teenage prospects all feature - if Konjuh, Bencic and Townsend fulfil their potential these Slam runs could look more impressive in retrospect.

Cilic with the first break. Apart from a slight wobble in the first game, he's been rock solid. Kei still seems a bit nervous.

I know it's a Monday but the low turnout on Arthur Ashe so far is pretty depressing.

Kei looks more out of gas than nervous to me :(

cilic is playing p well too

seriously though, when did cilic learn to serve like that?

oof. Kei can't seem to do anything right now. :(

his timing has deserted him

http://i.minus.com/inn8fdrAvbluc.gif

It's all a bit sad

Cilic is relentlessly good, Nishikori is dead on his feet and has fucked up the two-three half chances where it seemed like Cilic might choke

On the plus side we are heading to a neatly symmetrical pair of finals, score-wise.

rip my mans kei

this nu-Cilic is kinda terrifying, I'm so used to him being a headcase

btw has anyone seen Mario Ancic? He lives in NYC now doesn't he? still miss that dude

so many absolutely dreadful first serves from cilic
difficult to respect him for that reason alone

he doesnt just miss his first serves he hits them into the net about 15 inches above the ground

Ancic is a lawyer now isn't he?

Third Croatian Slam winner in history. Iva Majoli, Goran Ivanisevic, Marin Cilic. And the next generation of Croats is waiting in the wings...

nu-Cilic will be interesting.

Hope Kei can put it together in future, just not at the races today.

I always think Cilic is older than he is. He's more in Nishikori's generation than he is in Wawrinka's. So he'll have a lot of time to embed himself as nu-Cilic, not just a veteran peaking late in the day.

Kei looked spent, didn't do enough with Cilic's weak second serve which is what he did well against Djokovic. I really hope he gets another chance one day.

I hope he gets to another Slam final and doesn't exhaust himself en route, yes. Very satisfying to see him there before Dimitrov and Raonic.

Liked the wild DF on the first championship point. Little homage to Goran.

haha

lol xp

Ancic was apparently celebrating in the Columbia cafeteria, haha: https://twitter.com/callejonshair/status/509117063341015041

Goran ws hilariously nervous. Like chill out man, hes got this.

Haaa was just coming here to post that tweet Roz

Goran's face as Cilic was serving for it bringing back memories of him serving for Wimbledon!

So Croatia has an RG title, a Wimbledon and a USO. Over to you to bring home the AO, Konjuh or Coric or Vekic...

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Marin Cilic
Women's singles: Serena Williams
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina
Mixed doubles: Sania Mirza & Bruno Soares
Boys' singles: Omar Jasika
Girls' singles: Marie Bouzkova
Boys' doubles: Omar Jasika & Naoki Nakagawa
Girls' doubles: Ipek Soylu & Jil Belen Teichmann

Gotta be the first Turkish Slam title of any kind for Soylu in the girls' doubles.

god it is still so weird to see Cilic's name there.

No repeat winners this year!

AO: Li Na, Wawrinka
RG: Nadal, Sharapova
Wimbledon: Kvitova, Djokovic
USO: Cilic, Serena

New rankings:

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Rafael Nadal (2)
3. Roger Federer (3)
4. Stan Wawrinka (4)
5. David Ferrer (5)
6. Tomas Berdych (7)
7. Milos Raonic (6)
8. Kei Nishikori (11)
9. Grigor Dimitrov (8)
10. Andy Murray (9)
11. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10)
12. Marin Cilic (16)
13. Ernests Gulbis (12)
14. Juan Martin Del Potro (13)
15. Roberto Bautista Agut (19)
16. John Isner (15)
17. Fabio Fognini (17)
18. Gael Monfils (24)
19. Kevin Anderson (20)
20. Feliciano Lopez (21)
21. Richard Gasquet (14)
22. Tommy Robredo (18)
23. Alexandr Dolgopolov (22)
24. Philipp Kohlschreiber (25)
25. Leonardo Mayer (26)
26. Gilles Simon (31)
27. Lukas Rosol (27)
28. Nicolas Almagro (29)
29. Julien Benneteau (28)
30. Guillermo Garcia Lopez (33)
...
32. Mikhail Youzhny (23)
36. Dominic Thiem (45)
46. David Goffin (56)
53. Nick Kyrgios (60)
69. Victor Estrella Burgos (80)
150. Alexander Zverev (157)
167. Yoshihito Nishioka (245)
176. Borna Coric (204)
206. Nikolay Davydenko (183)

And the tennis wagon continues to Hong Kong, Québec City and Tashkent - where Wimbledon girls' champion Jelena Ostapenko has just won her first WTA match over Peer...

Bit harsh on whoever is at #31, Lex.

Not sure what Cilic has to defend points-wise this autumn but to not be top 10 / into the ATP Finals by year-end would be bizarre for a male Slam winner. Thomas Johansson the last, maybe?

#31 is Karlovic! (I just did the top 30 + points of interest elsewhere, one of which was Youzhny's fall...)

Cilic is only #11 in the Race despite having nothing to defend (almost literally - he was still banned this time last year, only came back in Paris and won one match). Murray is only #10. London YEC better prepare itself for Murray not to make it.

Johansson got into the YEC as an alternate after Agassi w/d - I think you have to go back to Kuerten in '97 to find someone who didn't qualify in any capacity. Can't remember what happened in '98 - neither Korda nor Rafter were at the YEC, I presume Korda had been banned by then and Rafter was injured because I'm sure he was top 10?

It could happen on the women's side this year too, with Li only #6 in the race and still out (and rumoured to be on the verge of retirement). Ironic given the fuss made over bringing it to Asia this year.

Ah, Johansson did make it - right.

Yeah, Rafter was top three at that time, I think. Lost a tight match at Paris Indoor vs Todd Martin first week of November so he was fit at that point (and no Davis Cup F to distract). Korda wasn't banned until '99 but wasn't actually ranked high enough to make the YEC in '98; his ranking took a knock when he failed to defend his Stuttgart title in the October (I know this makes no diff re: race points, but basically he was top 10 as a result of Stuttgart '97 + AO '98). He was #13 by Nov '98, despite the Slam. So he might be the one.

(Also, Korda only won another four matches in 10 events after losing in the '98 Wimb QF to Henman and testing +ve for nandrolone, though the test result wasn't made public until the end of the year (I guess Korda knew?) and I think his Wimb points stood until then. Oh, Petr.)

Lex where do you get the rankings from, read this in a report:

Cilic’s victory means Andy Murray will drop out of the top 10 for the first time in six years, with Cilic climbing to ninth, one place behind Nishikori.

ATP website confirms list above. Did wonder, seeing as the tournament ended on a Monday and the rankings are published on a Monday, whether perhaps they were incomplete, but the jump in Cilic's points (1800 to over 3000) suggests that it's all in there.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx

but I've worked out why it's wrong there - the ATP still put new rankings up on Monday and presumably will just add another 800pts to Cilic later today. Which is a terrible way of doing it, but hi tennis authorities. I thought that was an unusually small climb for Cilic!

So yeah, Cilic up to 9, Dimitrov 10, Murray at 11 and out of the top 10 for the first time since 2008.

xp I haven't looked at the points, I just went to the rankings thread on MTF...it's pretty sad when amateur statisticians on both tennis forums are so much more reliable than the ATP and WTA themselves

Ah, right!

Would it kill them to release the ranking on a Tuesday after the only Monday-finish Slam?

Especially as a few times in the past the rankings have been released on a Tuesday because they forgot to do it on a Monday!