US OPEN 2013

Maria Sharapova, the richest female athlete in the world, is planning the most audacious move of her career — changing her surname to Sugarpova for the two-week duration of the US Open, in honour of her line of sweets.

The 26-year-old Russian, a former world No 1, has asked about a “quickie” name-change through the Supreme Court of Florida, where she has a base, and would revert to Sharapova after the tournament. It is understood also that the striking emblem of Sugarpova candy, a pair of red lips will feature somewhere on her attire during the final grand slam of the year.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article3847544.ece

now i hope she wins

I can't believe that story is real. Her total commitment to shilling her nasty sweets is just embarrassing now. Serena and Vika must be laughing their asses off right now, especially as you know a first-week exit is impending.

Lol, it's silly beyond silly, to the point where you can hardly believe it's true, but as much as we're talking neon colored sugar lumps at least it's her thing yknow? She's not shilling Pepsi, she's shilling her own silly little business idea.

haha as mitigating factors go...

anyway qualies start today! http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/qs/index.html

lots of exciting names, I'm very interested in Mayo Hibi - she's 17, she won the USTA national playoffs (but already has a pro ranking in the top 300), and apparently her game = slice BH and big FH, which sounds intriguing...meanwhile Hlavackova, who reached the 4th round last year, is stuck in qualies this year; Paszek was 28th seed at Wimbledon and is unseeded in qualies here (!!!); thankfully Oudin didn't get a WC this year.

I really want Paszek to pull it together but I don't think she will.

sharapova is among the top seeds. sugarpova, however, will have to qualify.

My heart sank opening up twitter this morning. Not this shit again, no no no.

This isn't going to shift any sweets.

My first thought was that it was a protest against not being allowed to change her name.

I wonder if she knew all along. No chance to shill her sweets at the USO so toss that publicity stunt at the media and get a ton of coverage instead, then when you withdraw injured sympathy trumps the mockery.

Tsonga is out too :(

Oudin lost in the first round of qualies to Baltacha hahahahaha. Nicest story so far probably Pemra Ozgen, a 27-year-old Turkish woman who in over a decade in the ITFs had never played a Slam or been ranked in the top 250 until she won her first 25K in Woking a few weeks ago. That put her in USO qualies in the last week before the deadline - her first ever Slam - and she's taken advantage, beating Kudryavtseva. Apparently very emotional when she won. I saw her play at a 10K earlier this year, she has a really old-skool finesse/slice game and no power whatsoever.

Well no she was practicing on the courts with her dad.

DRAWS!

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

- Possible Serena vs Sloane R4...unless U-Rad or Hampton beat Sloane first
- Jankovic with the kind of "nightmare draw" that she'll probably end up coming through...Keys then Puig then Cirstea
- Give it up for Alisa Kleybanova, first post-cancer Slam
- LOL at the Wozniacki/Errani quarter though I won't be laughing if Woz comes through it. I think...Halep? Will Sweta suddenly peak at a Slam again?
- SO weird seeing Federer as the 7th seed, that's lower than Wozniacki. Another Fedal possible QF...maybe another hilarious Slam in which they both lose?
- The Ferrer/Gasquet quarter is the ATP version of Errani/Wozniacki. Gulbis or Janowicz to take advantage?
- If Paire vs Fognini in R3 happens it'll be insane

Predix:

Women

Serena Williams d. Sloane Stephens
Angelique Kerber d. Carla Suarez Navarro
Agnieszka Radwanska d. Ekaterina Makarova
Jelena Jankovic d. Na Li
Caroline Wozniacki d. Elena Vesnina
Simona Halep d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Samantha Stosur d. Andrea Petkovic
Victoria Azarenka d. Ana Ivanovic

Williams d. Kerber
Radwanska d. Jankovic
Halep d. Wozniacki
Azarenka d. Stosur

Williams d. Radwanska
Azarenka d. Halep

Azarenka d. Williams

Men

Djokovic d. Granollers
Del Potro d. Youzhny
Murray d. Almagro
Berdych d. Stepanek
Raonic d. Tursunov
Gulbis d. Janowicz
Federer d. Tomic
Nadal d. Isner

Del Potro d. Djokovic
Berdych d. Murray
Raonic d. Gulbis
Nadal d. Federer

Del Potro d. Berdych
Nadal d. Raonic

Nadal d. Del Potro :(

really really hope Sveta takes that quarter. i'd be happy with another Vika-Serena final and think both players would play way better than they did in the weird Cinci one.
draw looks good for Bouchard to make a breakthrough maybe. hope so, i really like her game.

Williams d. Li Na
Azarenka d. Vinci

Williams d. Azarenka

Murray d. Djokovic
Nadal d. Janowicz

Murray d. Nadal

or something

I can't believe that story is real. Her total commitment to shilling her nasty sweets is just embarrassing now. Serena and Vika must be laughing their asses off right now, especially as you know a first-week exit is impending.

― lex pretend, Monday, August 19, 2013 6:40 PM (3 days ago)

haha i was gonna say, she may only need to change it for one week instead of two

really had no idea sharapova was the richest female athlete in the world, but now that i think of it, i can't think of anyone else obvious (other than serena?)

because of all the shit women's tennis gets it's kind of easy to forget how far ahead it is of most other women's sports

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45imfe/10-yani-tseng/

yeah, 7 of the top 10 are tennis players

lol I forgot about Danica Patrick, oops

also I am surprised but kind of happy Li Na makes more than Serena

I think this report of Larcher de Brito's qualy win last night (from @unseededlooming who is a vg twitter follow for tennis) needs to be c/ped in full.

So we come back in approximately the next century, Diyas wins two quick points on serve & they sit down again for a changeover at 41*. MLDB broke back & held for *55 and I honestly thought she was going to finish in two sets. Then things got weird.

Diyas held and we get into this marathon game on MLDB's serve at *56 in which she has multiple GPs. Finally on set point, Michelle hit a forehand long that was called good by the lineswoman. Engzell overruled to give Diyas the set. You guys, if I had cat-like reflexes or could see the future, I would've loved to have taken a video of the next 10 minutes. It was the greatest experience of my 19-year, 11 & 1/2 month life.

ACTUAL CONVERSATION:

Michelle: "You've gotta be freaking kidding me?!?!"
Engzell: "She called it good but it's my call. Michelle, it's out like this. *gestures le space*"
(I was sitting on Michelle's side of the court & saw it out so it was a great overrule. She actually had like three really good ones in the second set.)
Michelle: "Well, then why didn't she call it?!"
Engzell: "......I don't know."
Michelle: "THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!!"

MLDB then proceeded to go into hysterics on the set break, without the actual tears. Those came later.

Having a child + the time off has seriously been good for Engzell because I've never seen her be so authoritative and take command of things AND ACTUALLY MAKE GOOD UMPIRING DECISIONS (that mess at RG with AMG not withstanding since it was like her third match back) like she did today & in Peer/Pervak. I mean, I guess crying children are nbd for her now so props for her. (It won't last so I'll give her credit while I can tbh.)

So the third set starts and now MLDB is just on the edge. I honestly thought she was going to lose it, like totally lose it. She got broken in the second game, broke a racket and got a code violation. She channeled her inner McEnroe (You cannot be serious, this is so stupid!) and Janowicz (How many times are you going to let this happen?) on every call she disagreed with.

Diyas held in a marathon, 10-minute game for 30* (in which Michelle cracked another racket but continued to use it because I guess she was still of sound mind to realize that a point penalty was awaiting her) and that's when Michelle started crying on the changeover as Diyas was getting a consult from the trainer.

I honestly have no idea how she got herself back into the match. Questioning every call (mostly ones that were inside the line because why not at this point), shaking her head, gesticulating and saying 'Oh my goodness' a lot, and other such behavior. I think Diyas got distracted by all of her histrionics, took her foot off the gas a little bit and kind of let Michelle back in. So, Michelle breaks back and is serving at 32* when she and Engzell go at it again off of an overruled serve.

Michelle: "Why do you wait so long to call it though?"
Engzell: "Because I have to wait for the line umpire...that's his job."

Diyas' coach was on the opposite side of the court from me and you could see him getting nervous in the later stages. I guess he's experienced her choking a lot or something. I also don't know if these two have any history because they were fistpumping and celebrating each other's errors the whole time, barely looked at each other during the handshake. Michelle made like no eye contact with Engzell either. Diyas got tight and MLDB really seized her opportunity. Credit to her, but if she considers herself 'calmer than ever' now, yeah I don't really know what to say about that. I kept track & she screamed "Come on", "Vamos", "Let's go", "Forza"???, and "Davai"??? at various portions in the match.

Kvitova GOATing out of nowhere in New Haven semis :D :D :D

her form seems to be sort of heading in the right direction. and she's been grinding out wins when she hasn't been playing well. hope she isn't too knackered for USO

New Haven Open ‏@newhavenopen 3h
Zakopalova: "I have to forget this match. Anyone who would have played her would have lost. She was too good" #nho13

Giorgi wins her final qualifying round 6-1 6-0. she's so great

halep takes out woz in n haven; first time woz has ever lost in nh actually

woz badly missed an overhead smash @ 5-5 40/40 in the 2nd set

the New Halep is really impressive. never been high on her game before but haven't seen much of her since she suddenly started killing everyone. good to see her new level is sufficient to take out Woz - bodes well for their possible USO QF.

I have no faith in Kvitova, I think the phrase Always In Doubt sums her up these days.

Surprised Townsend lost in qualies, happy to see Slam debuts for Ying-Ying Duan and Aleksandra Krunic. Disgusted that Vandeweghe qualified tbh.

Happy to see Monfils hitting form in Winston-Salem, we'll need him to beat Isner in R2.

Halep has scored nine top 20 wins since May, which is more than both Wozniacki in 2013 and Stephens in her whole career.

didn't know it was that many. that's incredible

While Nadal's form has been impressive I just don't have the confidence he'll pull it out of the bag over two weeks anywhere but the French.

Murray or Del Potro to win.

yeah i think his Masters record this year is as much down to his hunger to win absolutely everything as it is down to his actual level, high as that may be.
finding it really hard to separate the top 3 but surprised that the bookies all have Murray as 3rd favourite.

can't see delpo getting past djokovic tbh

Murray's having a (quite understandable) post-Wim slump atm...I think it's more "comedown" than "peaking for the USO".

Think the Big, er...three? are more vulnerable than we've seen in an age, and Delpo is ready to take advantage imo. He nearly got Nole at Wim and hard courts are far more his thing.

(And I think he can beat Rafa in the final, that prediction was more "bet on the result you don't want")

trying not to get too excited about Delpo in case he goes and gets injured again. if he makes it to the last 8 then he's as credible a champion as any of them though for sure

And we're off. Suggest some matches plz.

robson-ldl has been alright so far. wanted to watch kanepi-king but it's not streaming apparently

why is Nishikori down two sets to a person I don't know? :/

Ramos/Tomic is going along nicely enough.

xp it's Dan Evans! he's playing really well and nishikori has been awful

nishikori's ranking is such a joke

venus beat flipkens easily?!? no drama? how did this happen!

i'm in texas doing a study abroad year. i already miss the insomnia involved in staying up for the night matches actually :(

minella is up *5-2 against stephens lmao
ffs at none of these streams working :@

oh wait i can actually watch the official HQ usopen.org streams now! FUN

Dan Evans! Who was the last male Brit in the top 100 who wasn't Andy Murray? Seems he's on his way at last.

dodic/verdasco is p entertaining

lol Gulbis out in the first round. I doubt even Lex, who tipped him to make the quarters, is surprised at this.

minella played p decent! i feel bad for her

omfg verdascos break game @ 4-4 4th set

I was at carnival yesterday, it doesn't feel like I missed much. Rybarikova's exit is the only surprise on the WTA side (seriously WTF happened there though). Gulbis flopping is actually a major shock to me, for all his craziness he hasn't really had any WTF losses this year...until now. Maybe he looked at his open draw, I don't think Ernie deals well with Slam pressure. Very disappointing from Kei as well.

LOL @ "peaking for the Slams" Stephens getting taken to a 3rd set TB by MINELLA. I'd now be quite surprised if she got through U-Rad let alone Hampton.

I didn't expect CSN to double bagel Davis! Excellent! Do the same to Vandeweghe next!

Keys withdrew from Toronto injured and has had a disappointing USO series - that was a popcorn match on paper but I'm not really surprised JaJa routined her.

Ugh, Ashleigh Barty getting inflated points handed to her on a plate. So gross that she's been wild carded into SIX of the past eight Slams just because she's Australian.

No mention of Kleybanova? Best/biggest R1 story - her first post-cancer Slam win. So happy for her.

Am I right in remembering reading that Gulbis' only wins at slams have been when he's been unseeded?

Stephens will probably beat U-Rad who has never strung two decent matches together at a Slam IIRC. A defeat by an infinitely more talented and creative shotmaker in Hampton will be super-sweet if it happens. Barty getting inflated points still puts her nowhere near Slam MD status, although that's a pretty lucky draw for her -- we'll see if she gets a lot of Baltacha/Minella level draws. And I guess if she ever gets in the top 90 or so it just means wildcards for Rogowska IDK make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop. Sad for Puig because I like her but she's got loads of time on her side; a few more wins like that in the short term could make or break Alisa's comeback so that's a super-great result.

I have tickets for Saturday night, 3rd round. What matches should I be anticipating/fantasizing about?

Djokovic/Dimitrov might be entertaining...the pick of the projected R3s is definitely Paire/Fognini though, that should be wild (antics wise and tennis wise).

Excellent feature on Li Na -

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/magazine/li-na-chinas-tennis-rebel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

ny media churning out the tennis content - nyer piece on djoko

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/09/02/130902fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all

good read but are they not underestimating Djokovic's popularity there? definitely gets nothing like the level of ill-informed antipathy that Venus and Serena have faced.
my Daily Mail reading nana loves him anyway

FUCK YOU PETRA WHY DO YOU DO THIS EVERY TIME

(i.e. win a set convincingly and then fall in a heap. Get a psychologist, ffs)

hardly anyone in Ashe. must be weird playing in such a big stadium that's so empty

Giorgi wins first round 6-2 6-2 :D Hsieh next

LMAO I just got to the bf's house and tuned in just in time to see what I presume is Peak Giant Duan bossing Woz around :D

WTF is Janowicz doing?! LOL @ Grigor flopping.

Unexpected Hsieh win :D Well, Zakopalova is now 0-10 in her career at the USO...

not sure exactly how injured Janowicz is but he's looked way off it

underarm serve!

lmao @ grisha

i clicked on the stream right as janowicz was getting off the ground after receiving some kind of treatment. not a fan of his, but still a shame. maximo, despite having a fantastic name, isn't going to make a dent after this one.

liking this 17 y/o Vicky Duval a lot. seems like most of today's most interesting matches are happening now

she beat Stosur. amazing

her voice is too much

it is deathly impossible to watch espn primetime coverage of this. i need to skip work 2 watch daytime tennis channel i think

Fucking LOL @ Stosur losing to Duval
This shit never gets old

damn klizan was trashed by DONALD YOUNG? is he injured or something?

Klizan's been in pretty poor form recently but I assume injury to lose by that score to Young.

OMG @ Duval beating Stosur. I like little Vicky Duval (she has a great back story - her dad was rescued from the Haitian earthquake etc) but in qualies her average first serve speed was like 71mph. Really happy about the result though!

While we're laughing at terrible AUS players, Sarita double bagelling Rogowska is a perfect result as well. I can't believe Rogowska has competed in NINE Slam main draws. Eight via WCs and this one as a lucky loser. Not once has she made direct entry or even come through qualies. Completely undeserving of all those opportunities but at least she continues to prove that she does NOT belong at this level.

Matt Cronin ‏@TennisReporters 8m
Well then: Apparently Marion Bartoli is 'unofficially' dating Jack Sock. Her "Wimby trophy" BF?:)

Marion Sock

get it girl, tbh

on another note, nice to see the tournament finally rid of Vandeweghe. CSN, we owe you one

will this be another us open heartbreaker where venus teases a comeback but ends up losing anyway :(

:(

hewitt and baker just exchanged 15 consecutive backhand slices from the baseline, neither of them moving more than a foot the entire time

oh man what a point murray/llodra

every
fucking
time

that volley at 5-5 in the TB. I CAN'T HELP YOU IF YOU WON'T HELP YOURSELF, VENUS.

blake/karlovic in a 5 set ~thriller~

blake begone

you prefer karlovic?

i enjoy seeing blake lose more, plus this time it will be for good!
i have no reason to care about karlovic really, especially these days he's not very noteworthy

blake ends his career losing from 2 sets to 0 up :D and not on arthur ashe :D

don't end your career on a losing challenge. i know it just caught the line, but no one was surprised. seemed a pitiful way to go out.

by that i mean no one was surprised he lost the challenge because we all saw the ball scrape its ass across the damn line

yeah lol the failed challenge was the icing on the cake. such a perfect way to end his career.

why the hell would anyone hate James Blake

anyway big ups to Ivo, his comeback from near death this year has been an amazing story

Annoying. I planned out a block of time in the evening to watch and there were thunderstorms. Everything happened when I was asleep :(

Happy for Jay-Z, even in her own decline she still manages to be a thorn in the side of fellow decliners.

So the crazy Fognini/Paire R3 won't be happening because their craziness struck in R1 instead. WTF Fabio, who the hell loses to Rajeev Ram. In a SLAM!

Ivo's story is fantastic, yeah, still h8 his game obviously. Blake was horribly overhyped by the US media for those two years he was top 5, too many NO HE WON'T WIN A SLAM YOU IDIOTS aneurysms to feel positively about him. (Of course they all completely ignored/dismissed the superior Davydenko...)

i get finding it hard to root for someone who's overhyped but actively rooting against them for that reason seems a bit much. especially when it's James Blake playing his last ever tournament :(

I always liked James Blake. Any time when he was ranked ahead of Roddick was a good time.

lmaoooooo

Matt Cronin ‏@TennisReporters
Well then: Apparently Marion Bartoli is 'unofficially' dating Jack Sock. Her "Wimby trophy" BF?:)

Marion bartoli ‏@bartoli_marion
@TennisReporters absolutly notttttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!! Just a friend!!!! Matt if u see me,an advice : runnnnnnnnn!!! As u fast u can

:D
the fact that her and Sock are friends still makes me smile

(Of course they all completely ignored/dismissed the superior Davydenko...)

... who also never won a Slam.

Davydenko ended five consecutive years in the top 10, four in the top 5. 21 titles including three Masters wins (also, both the YEC and Miami which are the two biggest non-Slams). Four Slam SFs and six Slam QFs across three different Slams; reached the second week at every Slam in his career.

Blake ended two years in the top 10 and one in the top 5. 10 titles, no Masters wins (two Masters finals and one YEC final are the closest he got). No Slam SFs, three Slam QFs, never made the second week at RG or Wim.

Blake leads the h2h 7-1 though (but most of their matches came on his favoured US hard courts). Pretty sure Davydenko had a better record against the elite players, too.

But going by how the Anglo media treated them you'd think Blake was a Slam-winning talent who just had bad luck or choked, and Davydenko was some journeyman lucky to have scraped the top 10 at all.

My recollection is that American media spent a lot of time rooting for Blake (because duh, likable American who gives good interviews) and treated Davydenko as a legitimate threat/talent who was overshadowed by Federer (and Roddick, because America),

I was just looking back and remember when Thomas Johansson won the Australian Open? Good times.

oh 2002. Johansson and Costa as Slam winners (cheers for that, Safin and Ferrero). I don't think even the WTA sank that low. Maybe with Ivanovic.

the US and UK media are absolutely shameless in their nationalistic bias, I really loathe it. I guess it's magnified with the US media because there are so many more American players and ALL of them get over-hyped; it's like both countries have forgotten that "talented top 20 player" is a category that exists in between "tour scrub" and "great champion".

Like this Vicky Duval girl. I really like her, I've been following her in the ITFs for a couple of years. I also know that prior to this year's USO she was considered too lightweight to be a real US hope. She's obviously changed that and seeing players develop unexpectedly is all good fun but WHY am I seeing articles talking her up as the saviour of US tennis, a future great etc, based on one match? The entire trajectory of a player's career has to be taken into account...

It helps that I do genuinely like a good number of the American players, so I don't mind so much when they are overhyped, but I absolutely agree that the domination days are over and Serena is the only one on the scene right now who is dominating talent in the same way the Americans of the past were (and while it's great seeing your country dominate the rankings, I absolutely enjoy seeing the much more cosmopolitan rankings we have now).

it's like both countries have forgotten that "talented top 20 player" is a category that exists in between "tour scrub" and "great champion".

Murray's the only British player who i out and out support but most of them seem pretty likeable and i enjoy seeing them do well even if the hype is kind of offputting

haha also the UK media's hype process is also really contradictory, it has this real knack of overhyping home players but also not actually giving them any credit for non-Wim results.

but honestly, I'm reading Wertheim's mailbag and he actually says it's impossible to gauge Ryan Harrison's game because he keeps drawing top seeds in the first couple of rounds at Slams. 1) he is unseeded and when you are unseeded that is just what happens, 2) what about gauging him on his underwhelming results over the REST OF THE YEAR?

davydenko had a vanilla personality (at least to americans) and a not terribly memorable game. he was obviously a very good player but there's a reason no one's gonna remember him

this first set between Bouchard and Kerber was amazing. shame which way it went

thing that comes to mind for me when i think about Davydenko is him beating Nadal, Federer and 2009 Del Potro at that YEC. mainly cos the Delpo-Soderling semi was the first ever match i went to

I thought Davydenko was an amazing player to which, amazing speed and precision. Blake wasn't as rudimentary a basher as your Querreys or Isners (duh) but the whole big serve/big FH combo is just tremendously dull.

Gooooo Angie.

Closing stages of this McHale/Svitolina match, hoo boy. Win would be huge for both and you can tell. That sitter McHale missed on MP...

If you keep drawing seeds at slams it means that you are unable to make it to #32 in the world and you are either not good enough, you're underperforming at your apparent level, or you need to go down a level of tournament to pick up more points ffs. I was also under the impression that Davydenko's personality was actually as a bit of a low-key funster.

I have no comment on this Duval other than to say that she was wearing a really brilliant outfit that made her look like a star, even if she doesn't become one. Also I need to watch more of this.

McHale got through in the end, her trajectory is such an object lesson in how illness/injury at the wrong time can send your career down a completely different path though.

Sweta barely squeaked by a visibly distressed and injured Peng. Poor Shuai :(

Errani lost to Pennetta - not entirely surprised, Flavia's USO record is strong and seniority despite form often takes precedence when countrywomen play each other...

Thrilled that Kurumi Nara beat Cirstea! Three years ago an 18-year-old Nara stormed up to her career high of 101 (!) and looked like the next big thing for JPN. Then she just DIED. Belatedly she finally makes the top 100 in style!

Epic clown point from Federer there. He looks pretty aggressive and sharp.

- Watching Jack Sock struggle against Maximo Gonzalez is hilarious. Sock literally has no BH, something the US hype machine neglected to mention. Future top player my ass
- Just as at Wimbledon, Bautista Agut won a set from Ferrer then flopped
- Does anyone know what happened to Dan Evans' sexual assault case from a few years ago? Cannot cheer for him, even over Tomic, til I find out

AFAIK, the case was dropped. After initially volunteering to help the police with their enquiries when he and two other pros were spotted in a photo taken at the club where the assault happened, he was subsequently arrested. But it didn't go to court.

come on gael

But going by how the Anglo media treated them you'd think Blake was a Slam-winning talent who just had bad luck or choked, and Davydenko was some journeyman lucky to have scraped the top 10 at all.

― lex pretend, Thursday, August 29, 2013 12:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's hard to be beloved when one of your matches is presumed to be fixed by bookmakers.

Isner is a new man this summer: returning better, moving better, less pushing.

kev just give up on Monfils, it's not worth the heartache

yeah it's sad seeing him like this

did brad gilbert just say "you could use it" after wishing joe girardi good luck?

rafa is hitting some disgusting shots on defense

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9609580/can-juan-martin-del-potro-anyone-else-join-tennis-big-four

crowd pulling for another set

Can someone explain to a noob why a crowd in NYC seems to favor the French player over the top-ranked American?

everyone loves Monfils' antics, one of the most entertaining players on tour. And Isner is a serving machine with the personality of a potted plant.

gael.....

crowd might get back on isner's side if this goes 5

you can make a strong case that Monfils is the biggest waste of talent ever.

yeah definitely, 4 titles with the kind of talent he had is pretty sad.

dammit

4-15 in finals says it all

I had hopes for Monfils beating Isner :( Good to see the NYC crowd showing some taste, though.

dam ram really does give me sampras flashbacks

this is a cool mens match

ok ram cant hit a 4hand, i see

such a bad overhead slam by ram

Jamie Hampton flopped so badly against Sloane. It was all the same. Get into aggressive, potentially winning position in a rally, then hit way outside the lines. Ugh. The only thing that can salve the pain is if Nara comes back at beats Jankovic in 3.

glad Murray has stopped wearing those form fitting t shirts

I would rather die than watch any match involving Leonardo Mayer.

dammit come on del potro you are not going to lose to freaking hewitt

this sucks. it doesn't look like delpo has it in him to go 5 tonight. c'mon!

that was one of the most nerve wracking sets i can remember watching. still don't think Delpo's out of this. i really don't like this matchup

if it carries on like this he'll be fine tho

getting really tired of announcer saying "where's the urgency"

if this goes to a 5th i'm gonna pass out

as ambivalent as i am about hewitt, esp at this point in his career, his wife is still really hot

http://www.sanfords.net/Spots_free_graphics/Wizards/wizard14.gif

ugh del potro about to get knocked out

ffs :(

dam ram really does give me sampras flashbacks

― johnny crunch, Friday, 30 August 2013 18:29 (Yesterday) Permalink

Pistol 'Jeev Rampras

wait serenas really playing rite now

Delpo lost?!! Gross... I know Hewitt was his idol growing up but you'd think he'd be over this by now. :/

I am sad for Pony. But my mum who is in hospital (fuck cancer etc) is still a big Hewitt fan and she's really rapt about the result... I guess, she can have this one.

Hewitt was Delpo's idol?! How does that even happen.

Happy for Ed's mum but this is suuuuuuch a gross result. Bad for the game, too. ATP desperately needs Delpo to be really good again.

So Silliams/Sloane is ON, huh. I hope drama happens.

On the plus side, we are just one set away from both Ivanovic and Kirilenko losing on the same day, so that's something. How Kvitova can go down 3-6 0-3 to someone who has won fewer tour-level matches on hard court than she's won titles I don't know.

omg this cornet person can't even hit the ball

How Kvitova can go down 3-6 0-3 to someone who has won fewer tour-level matches on hard court than she's won titles I don't know.

power of the burgh

Kohlschreiber snatches 2-1 lead vs Isner.

had no idea gasquet had climbed back into the top 10. speaking of disappointing players i love

he'll be gone by january

Camila Giorgi is ridiculously fun to watch. and just perfect in every single way

CAMMMMIIII. that was amazing :))))

Yeah, we were there for the Giorgi match, lots of fun. Woz seemed listless in comparison. Giorgi will need to get a handle on her errors, but she's got plenty of nerve.

fun 4th set stan v baghdatis

Yeah, Stan really prolonged that match unnecessarily with the stupid third set TB blip though

Interesting that Krajan is coaching Baghdatis - a hard taskmaster for a notorious lazybones? Maybe Baghdatis will finally get his fitness in order.

with baghdatis and monfils out, gasquet is stands alone in the underachievers-i-love cohort

Suarez Navarro has such a pretty game and is so useless at crunch time :(

SERENA/SLOANE TIME. I expect Serena to deliver a beatdown.

wish JJ-Li Na wasn't on so late

OMG, those Serena DFs.

This feels a lot like their Brisbane match. Ostensibly tight, but a bit misleading in that all of Sloane's service games are battles but she hasn't touched Serena's serve (apart from that weird DF game).

Serena started out of the gates very fast and hard, esp on her service games where she was usually blowing Stevens away. She still looks strong in the 2nd set, but not quite as overpowering as she did early.

Stevens has shown a lot of toughness, even though she's making far more unforced errors than Serena. She fought back from a hell of a lot of break points to eventually hold serve several times in the first set.

Sooooo happy for CSN. Held her nerve for once - third Slam QF and her celebrations were amazing. Had to double up the streams there...

Serena ran away with it easily in the end, unsurprisingly, because Sloane is simply a fine top 20 player, not in any way a talent to rival Serena.

good 2nd set

annoyed i missed most of suarez navarro/kerber! glad about the winner

WHY IS LLEYTON HEWITT IN THE SECOND WEEK OF A SLAM UGHHHHH

It's fun to read exasperated Lex posts in the voice of Master P

Stupid Sky Sports, I pressed the red button to continue watching Jamie Murray's doubles match when Nole started on the main channel earlier and it gave me a menu asking me to upgrade to Sky Sports. I'M WATCHING SKY SPORTS ALREADY I HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO IT YOU IDIOTS. Ended up watching the doubles on a stream on the laptop while watching Djokovic crush Sousa on the telly, but ffs, I pay you fuckloads of money for this shit against my better ethical judgment, the least you can do is let me actually watch the stuff I want to see.

I'm still in mourning for DelPo going out and hope horrible bad things happen to Hewitt in the next round.

(also, hi, tennis thread, I would post in you more often but I am scared because you lot all know much more than me. I feel like such a dilettante with my fairly casual tennis interest)

Hewitt must be a shot against Youzhny, but don't worry, he won't go any further than that, if he does. Also everyone with a casual interest should post in us more often.

first 2 games of this have been incredible hitting from li! only dropped a point.
end result will be 7-6 in the 3rd probs

radwanska won first 4 games of the set, and lost the last 6...
makarova wins 1st set 6-4

god this is horrible
every match involving li is always so lifeless

Aga continues to underwhelm at the USO. Makarova's Slam results (and big-name scalps) are so disproportionately better to her early-round exits everywhere else.

Wow, Li trashed JaJa. SF vs Serena maybe ahead...

I like Youzhny but we needed Haas to beat Hewitt, ugh. Saying he'll go no further is scant comfort when Lleyton is in a Slam QF in 2013. Disgusting.

Men's 4th round set.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Marcel Granollers
(21) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Lleyton Hewitt
(3) Andy Murray vs. Denis Istomin
(9) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (5) Tomas Berdych
(8) Richard Gasquet vs. (10) Milos Raonic
(18) Janko Tipsarevic vs. (4) David Ferrer
(7) Roger Federer vs. (19) Tommy Robredo
(22) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Women's is half done but for completion:

(1) Serena Williams d. (15) Sloane Stephens
(18) Carla Suarez Navarro d. (8) Angelique Kerber
(24) Ekaterina Makarova d. (3) Agnieszka Radwanska
(5) Na Li d. (9) Jelena Jankovic
(Q) Camila Giorgi vs. (10) Roberta Vinci
(21) Simona Halep vs. Flavia Pennetta
(WC) Alison Riske vs. Daniela Hantuchova
(13) Ana Ivanovic vs. (2) Victoria Azarenka

disappointed Aga lost but it means Li Na will hopefully burn herself out less in the QF and then be able to seriously challenge Serena (and still probs lose in 2 tight sets)

So, one more win each and we have our Fed-Nadal US Open meeting... that we seem to have been waiting most of a decade for. I know Fed is likely to lose (maybe even to Robredo if he has one of those spray-days) and the H2H is unarguable, but it does seem like there really were a lot of tournaments in 2005-10 when Rog and Raf were the top two and Raf didn't show up for the meeting. Maybe it evens out (esp 2008-), but it did feel back then that, outside of clay, Fed was living up to his seeding more often than Nadal. Perhaps I'll do the sums and see if the alternate H2H (tournaments in which they were seeded to meet in the final) is a little closer than the actual H2H.

Well, just for a bit of fun, and to avoid actual work, I looked at the 211-week period when RF and RN were continuously #1 and #2, July 2005-Aug 2009. They were seeded to meet in the final* of 53 events in that period; their actual H2H was 11-6 to Nadal, their tournament H2H was 25-23 to Nadal (with 5 events tied, where they were eliminated at the same stage). Fed won 20 tournaments in this period (only one in 2008 when Nadal was in the draw!), Nadal won 18.

Not counting events where they were seeded #1 and #2 and then one of them withdrew ("one of them").

(* - they actually met in two YEC semis in Shanghai in this period - round-robin qualification, etc - and Fed won both).

(Sorry, "won xx tournaments" = "won xx tournaments in which they both competed").

i was hoping stan would go as far as possible, but with the way berdych has been playing i fear this may be as far as possible.

three games in and Halep/Pennetta is super-high quality

Superb from Flavia, just brilliant.

Giorgi a break up in the first and then tightened up and started making errors, about to go 4-5* down now

Switched just in time to see Giorgi DF on BP.

Pennetta massively choking now. 4-2 to 4-5.

Damn it. Pennetta is a comeback story you can actually enjoy. I don't want her to lose while bloody Hantuchova wins.

The switch in momentum was so sudden and absolute even by WTA standards. Anyway, rain break at SP for Halep!

Flavia wins on resumption :)

First time in her comeback she's looked remotely like her old self. Can she finally get her Slam SF? H2H vs. Roby is 4-4...

Hantuchova's glorious path to the QFs: (WC) Maria Sanchez (rank 111), (Q) Victoria Duval (rank 296), (Q) Julia Glushko (rank 128), (WC) Alison Riske (rank 81).

Fed-Robredo feels like it'll be a long one

re: Hantuchova, that's a cake draw but the seeds she was supposed to face probably would have lost to her as well. Idiotic and apparently unwell Kvitova, coachless, rudderless Stosur and... remember when Petrova was looking really good by the end of 2012 and was knocking on the door of the top 10? That was only last year. Out of the top 50 by yearend, Nadezhda. What a useless mess.

ALSO FLAVIA PLEASE BEAT VINCI AND THEN PLAY THE MATCH OF YOUR LIFE VS AZARENKA K THX BYE

lmao Robredo with the first set over Fed. Those net approaches in the TB from Roger, so woeful...

weird set. Fed alternating between sublime and awful. Robredo playing fearlessly but i'm still shocked he actually won the TB

has anyone tried to add up the ages of the top 25 players and compare the average to where it's been historically? because it's got to be higher than ever -- i really wonder how much of that is due to better conditioning/nutrition/PEDs vs just an actual dearth of good young players

ugh, if federer loses to robredo this will be the worst US open ever

otm

how is David Ferrer about to reach another slam quarter final? he's incorrigible

rather him than tipsarevic though obviously

fed blows a drop shot, 0-30 3-3

three straight errors

four. RIP

Tipsarevic has been a break up in all three sets.

Gawd, I fear for Roger's rating once the WTF final and AO SF points come off.

kohlschrieber is hitting some absolute screamers off the BH side

And he takes the first set off Rafa..

i really like Kohlschreiber. imagine if this happens

i often find myself reflexively rooting against rafa, something that probably stems from the days where fed and nadal met in every final and you had to choose one

Klutchschreiber :D :D

gasquet with a really gutsy chip and charge on raonic's serve to force set point

...which he loses

gasquet is trying to return raonic's serve from 15 feet behind the baseline

gasquet wins the 4th!

Fourth round, fifth set, the first break of service.. all the ingredients are here for a quintessetnail choke.

Man Gasquet used to be so hot. I mean he still has a great arse, but still... he's not going to age well I don't think.

raonic tightening up. 0-30 serving at 4-4

Amazing.

I'm really confused by Gasquet winning a tough five setter in this heat.

so happy!

genuinely more surprised by Gasquet winning a R4 Slam match (in five sets!) than Fed losing. Maybe Gasquet's infamous litany of wussing out (his R4 record is now 2-15) can be passed on to Raonic (now 0-4, and let's hope that continues).

I don't think Robredo has ever had any big wins, not even when he was top 5. Until now! God, it really is time to retire for Fed.

They really didn't have enough time for Ivanovic/Azarenka yesterday? Hrrrm.

Gotta say, this is not shaping up to be the most enthralling set of QFs ever. Vinci/Pennetta will be fun, I guess. Silliams/CSN and Azarenka/Hantuchova - no. Makarova/Li - only if Na collapses. Gasquet has probably used up his resistance. Robredo/Nadal - not in one hundred million years. Murray against the Berdych/Wawrinka winner could be fun but also NID.

i'm not sure - berdych has a great record against murray and last year's SF was quite close (even though berdych's game was severely affected by the wind).

Yeah and I just remembered Berdych beat him the other week and Murray also managed to lose a set to Leonardo Mayer.

Incidentally, Federer has ONE top 10 win in 2013 - Tsonga at the AO.

Ah, it's sad that Fed has these dips now. The Federer of 48 hours earlier probably wouldn't have had much trouble with Robredo but he just can't find that level with any consistency now. Strange to think he was #1 just 10 months ago and now seems likely to miss out on the year-end champs.

Unless the back issues really force him to stop, I don't see him walking away from the sport just yet.

He should still make the WTF I think - 7th in the race, with #8 Tsonga out injured and Wawrinka/Gasquet/Haas still quite far back. But strange to think it's even a possibility...

In previous years any Fed slippage was only relative to the rest of the Big Four but actually looking at his 2013 results in one place is just sad.

don't think Murray having lapses in early rounds is anything unusual but it looks like Berdych is playing pretty well and could definitely beat him. which i'd be sort of ok with if i thought he had a shot at Djokovic or Nadal let alone both of them

Ah, you're right - Fed has a huge lead over Tsonga in the 52-week rankings, and a small but significant one (only enhanced by Fed's R16 vs Tsonga's absence) in the 2013 race. Thought it was closer than that. A Gasquet USO semi or a Wawrinka 1000 final (Paris?) could change things, assuming Fed is still crumpling vs top 20 opposition through the autumn.

If Roger needs motivation, the threat of not being part of the Handsome Eight at the O2 should be all he requires. He's on all the posters! It would be quite a blow to the ego.

I think everyone here could have predicted exactly how Ivanovic trying to serve out the set would go, right down to the DF and the awry service toss.

lol what a choke from hewitt

I'm not sure whether to classify that as one choke, or two discrete chokes.

who cares really, as long as he's out

Intermittently good match, though I may have missed some extra-bad bits when I flicked over to watch Li.

youz played p smart defense when he needed to

YASSSS it feels even better to have Hewitt lose in that manner

Lol @ the Nole score, tbh every Granollers match should go like that. I trust I'll be seeing a ton of pieces complaining about the lack of depth on the ATP and how they don't deserve equal prize money tomorrow?

Granollers doesn't deserve any prize money, he deserves a muzzle and a huge slap.

Federer did that to Del Potro in an AQ qf, lest we forget. ;)

Serena is looking fucking awesome here. I am so going to fall asleep on the couch with the laptop on my knees watching Andy Murray later.

One of you can tell me the last time someone got double-bagelled in a QF.

Oh, wait, commentator just told me. Martina v Maleeva, 1989.

happy birthday, suarez navarro

murray injury, who had 4th game 1st set in the pool

So how many games was that in a row on that court won by the higher-ranked player? Gotta be a record for consecutive bagel sets on a court.

istomin...wtf

did murray get winded or something after that long rally @ 5-3

the fuck is with istomn hitting the ball between his legs? maybe he's just a complete idiot who's never heard of tennis etiquette but...it's the 4th round of the US open and it looks like you're trying to show the 3rd best player in the world up

stan is about to make this stan excited

the fuck is with istomn hitting the ball between his legs? maybe he's just a complete idiot who's never heard of tennis etiquette but...it's the 4th round of the US open and it looks like you're trying to show the 3rd best player in the world up

what was this?

nothing wrong in the lower-ranked player trying to show the higher-ranked up, lord knows it happens often enough the other way round, as Nole and Serena proved last night

really glad Stan won too!

Just realised - can't be too often one player both gives and receives a double bagel in the same Slam, as CSN did here! (She opened by double bagelling Lauren Davis...)

this is quite a nice little article on Paula Ormaechea, who strings her own racquets http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/sports/tennis/with-touch-of-self-sufficiency-argentine-strings-her-own-rackets.html

The disapproval from the professional stringer is quite funny - he says it's detrimental to her tennis but dude she's made the top 100 in the world and is rising. Maybe it's that if other players realise how easy it is you'll be out of a job...

when she starts retrieving her own balls all hell will break loose

lex "showing up" doesn't just mean "defeating resoundingly"

istomin was up a break in the first set, which he eventually gave back. murray had game point at *4-5, drew istomin into the net with a drop volley, and instead of hitting the ball into the open court, istomin literally tries to fake murray out by looking down the line and putting the racquet between his legs and going cross court. he dumped it into the net and lost the game. istomin's demeanor was just weird, you have to have been watching. but doing that was a huge no-no in terms of tennis etiquette

a player of that level stringing their own racquets is pretty crazy tbh, haven't read the article but she has to waste an hour a day just doing that

yea istomin was being a weirdo

I still don't see how that's weird? I've seen Murray do the racquet-between-legs fake-out before (albeit with actual success) vs Tsonga. It's not much different to Federer or Radwanska playing the fake dropshot right? Or the Chang/Hingis underarm serve? It's just another way to try to win the point. All Istomin has to castigate himself for is fucking it up.

OK, it's on youtube - at 1:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZ8rklWz6g

it would have been an excellent play had Istomin made it

the fake dropshot (assuming you mean when you raise your racquet like you're going to drop, but then push the ball deep) is a legit shot. the underarm serve is...kinda pushing it, i mean in chang's defense he claims he couldn't even lift his arm. but i think anyone who's played competitive tennis on any level would tell you that what istomin did was a breach of unwritten rules, something that would have justified murray putting one in his chest at some point in the match, which i'm surprised he didn't once it got out of hand

to istomin's small credit he did seem to get in murray's head a bit for the first third of that match or so

completely disagree (and I play tennis), there's nothing untoward or unsportsmanlike going on there at all - it's virtually the same rationale as for the fake dropshot

I mean, things like stalling between points or even strategic bathroom breaks/MTOs are far, far worse - that's literally just a clever shot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_US_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles#Draw

nice little spanish flag next to the fourth semifinalist box

save it for the exhibition match, mansour

xp

also, it IS the exact same shot I've seen Murray do before

we'll have to agree to disagree on whether it's a bush league shot, but if murray's known for that shot (not aware of this, but i believe you) then that changes the calculus a bit. but still, trying to show up the 3rd best player in the world with his own circus shot (which it must be stressed is an extremely stupid low-percentage play) is still a bad look for a journeyman like istomin.

that Vinci volley <3 <3

still hope Flavia wins this though

xp he's not so much known for it as I've seen him do it once, and no one complained or judged it bush league then. Istomin doing it was a bad look but only because he missed - if he makes it, it's a brilliant play.

Don't get what their rankings have to do with it, should Istomin be showing more respect to top players by...not trying to outthink them?

Lower-ranked players outfoxing great champions will always be one of my favourite sights in tennis

it was a dumb play though, everyone in the stadium knew that as soon as he tried it. he was being a goofball in the biggest match of his life. be an adult, basically

that was a fun first set between Pennetta and Vinci

Flavia 6-4 5-1. No sign of choking in her last two service games, finished the last with a fabulous BH DTL winner

FLAVIAAAAAA! Such a cool-headed lob on MP. A year after wrist surgery, after losing three Slam QFs...she only got into the MD when Putintseva withdrew. First Slam SF, so happy for her

Such a weird stat that between them, Vinci and Pennetta have appeared in six Slam QFs...all at the USO

Gasquet winning this would be great. haven't seen Istomin's hot dog but i'm fine with that sort of stuff, even that ridiculous Monfils spin against Haas a while back that looked stupid and made no sense

lol why is anyone actively offended by that istomin shot

wonder if any oddmakers actually had gasquet as the favourite after going 2 sets to 0 up

Gasquet is the only player I can think of for whom dropping behind an early break in set 3 after taking the first two 6-3 6-1 seems like a fatal blow. Ferrer favourite now. Must find a stream...

Xp, obv.

Found a stream... and this is really great stuff. Gasquet BH still a thing of wonder.

that backhand dtl winner <3

Of course I say that and... . Of course I may be a minute or two behind live, so no peeking at the website for me.

Ferrer somehow holds for 4-2.

not able to watch but gasquet, for the love of god, please win this match

And then a fairly hopeless game for the double-break. It's going all the way. Inevitably.

2 sets all. shocker!

COME ON RICHARD. also i love this claret polo he's wearing. lacoste put everyone else to shame at the moment

And suddenly Ferrer throws in a sloppy one (two groundstroke errors, missed volley, DF) and Gasquet is serving for 5-2...

gasquet serving for the match! this should be interesting.

strong BH winner :o 15-0

ferrer error. 30-0 o_O is this really happening

FH shank from gasquet. that's more like it. 30-15

defensive play from gasquet. ferrer hits BH winner. 30-30

ferrer error for MP! gasquet wants the winning ball back

hooray

well i'm shocked

fuck yeah!!

Incredulous at this result, no other upset compares to Gasquet displaying mental fortitude for the second time in a decade

Please repeat vs Nadal!

After failing to break Ferrer in that mad 11min game in the middle of the 4th set, and immediately getting broken again, I thought we were looking at a real hiding in the 5th. And yet... he became more consistent and Ferrer cracked.

Ugh, I hate cheering for Hantuchova because, save for that glorious match at the French against Wozniacki, why would you bother? And this is Azarenka's good surface. Still, come on Dani.

216am thinking this will be over before 4

yeah this is going to be a quick one

nada
l

robredo might consider this a good time to try out any novelty shots hes been working on

nadals winner on the line call point was sweet

i like this article http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9636668/stanislas-wawrinka-richard-gasquet-big-three-us-open

some of these shots paes is hitting...

stepanek to serve for the match against the bryan bros

Yasss no grand slam for the bryans

Paes is such a cocky bastard lol. Dude was so sharp today - actually feel kinda bad for the Bryans that they didn't get their grand slam, but it was almost like they were up against three people.

tht grantland article is pretty good. i like this

I'd like to watch Federer play at 35, losing in the second round, but still — every once in a while — curling that forehand into the far corner.

yeah just reading it now.

When friends ask me who's going to win, I make my dopey predictions. But what I want to say is that I hope the Open will be Bartolied. I hope someone deserving but random will win. Of course, there's very little chance. Come Monday, we'll probably be talking about Murray, Djokovic, or Nadal for the thousandth time — maybe with awe, maybe with elation, but for the thousandth time.

Been feeling like this for the past three years at least.

bartolied is a good word

theres an incredibly skeezy advert for some forex trading company on eurosport

Players should retire when they want imo. Playing past your peak b/c you love the sport so much is obv more dignified than playing b/c you're deluded that you can go out in a blaze of glory, as fans we can comment on that I guess b/c it's sad to watch former greats like Federer and Venus like this.

I don't think they're tarnishing their legacies or whatever. No one remembers ASV for losing R1 to nobodies for a whole year.

I agree that talking about established champs is so dull after a while, Wim was so refreshing in that regard.

Murray's lost 1st set. from the repors it looks like the end of his defence.

reports

I've got a stream on. He's not playing great but Stan is hot'n'cold. Anybody's.

murrays not looking very good but the first set won on one really long game that to use the vernacular could of gone either way

jesus christ murray

vvrinka 10 str8 pts

And just as we say that, Murray has the most lethargic service game you could imagine and is broken to love. xp

Hate that Nadal could win the title - really thought if Murray could make through to the draw he'd beat him.

But it has been a post-Wim slump, so that was unlikely.

nadal looked boss last night and i want him to win now

2-0

hes primal screaming now

never change

you can tell he is up against it now by the intermittent anguished expats in the bleachers screaming COME ON ANDY

YES look at the bh down the line. eat it murray

YES yes YES

i think stan's put The Fear into him. love it

he has gone to shit

Pretty comprehensive, that.

god what a load of turd

6 4
6 3
6 2
6 1
6 0
6 murray retires from tennis go away

haha jk. i'm just happy

this day just can't get any worse and there's still two hours of it to go.

so we're rooting against andy murray now, ok this thread

obv full support behind gasquet at this point

no if he was still there and actually competitive i would prefer him vs anyone other than nadal but that was just straight dogshit from the time he lost the first break in the second set

not surprising given the score i suppose (he should have made easier work of istomin too tbh), i wasn't able to watch tho

my anti-murray enthusiasm doesn't nec reflect that of thread. xp

I'm really happy and unsurprised that Stan is the beneficiary of Murray's post-Wim slump. C'mon, dude was losing sets to Leonardo Mayer and Denis Istomin having been pretty shit all summer for a very understandable reason, he was never gonna repeat. Only hope vs Rafa is Nole and it's obvious Rafa has the edge :(

oof
happy for wawrinka though. him vs gasquet at roland garros was great but can't believe that they're both in a slam SF

For some reason I never get round to looking up the actual Murray/Wawrinka H2H but I'm pretty sure Stan's given him hell many times.

I'd love a Wawrinka/Gasquet final. That's not gonna happen, is it :(

if gasquet wins the thing then i will be happy, or happy for him, but i'm not going to get emotionally invested in him before that happens

xp They christened the Centre Court roof in '09, of course - Murray in five. Murray leads 8-5 but has had precisely two straightforward wins over Stan - it's usually a struggle.

Order in which I would like the SFists to win this:

1. Wawrinka
2. Gasquet
3. Djokovic
4. Nadal

1. Li
2. Pennetta
3. Williams
4. Azarenka

OH WAIT Nole hasn't even played yet lol. Well pretend I've posted five hours later

I love Li so so so much but I'm tempted to say that I kind of want Pennetta more. So happy she's got another chance at a big result... though in hindsight that QF loss to Kerber in 2011 doesn't look bad at all. Who knows, etc.

So the evening session starts with an exhibition doubles between Evert/Seles and... Jason Biggs & Rainn Wilson. What?

Well if you've seen Seles lately you wouldn't expect her to be anywhere near the best on court!

I taped the Murray match as we were out tonight at a pub quiz in a pub without a TV, but everyone was away googling the score between rounds, so I was well and truly spoilered. Worth watching, or was it just a total collapse? I think I'm maybe Team Gasquet now, but maybe be stanning for Stan, dunno. Anyone but Rafa, basically.

Oh, this edited "highlights" package they're showing on Sky just now is just unforced error after unforced error. Ouchie.

rooting for Wawrinka/Gasquet obv and Li Na but fine with any women's final as long as it's high quality and competitive

That rally <3

^. Nole being bad at the net is still funny though

And now, deep thoughts

http://deadspin.com/why-do-tennis-players-say-come-on-so-much-1249903336

Sooooooo annoyed Putintseva is injured and was unavailable to be interviewed for that. Her entire MO is "why yell c'mon once when you can yell it three or four times at top volume in multiple languages right at your opponent" #ALLEZDAVAIVAMOSCMONNNNNNNN

Hahaha perfect.

Like if Sloane thought that Serena exhortation was disrespectful, if she ever plays Putintseva she'll probably retire through shock

http://www.changeovertennis.com/gifs-yulia-putintseva-celebrates-win-against-laura-robson/

I guess the only angle the article didn't cover is the "c'mon" that's just a bad disguise for your own lack of confidence and sheer desperation *looks at Ivanovic*

Ana's fist pump leg kick thing is really cute though

nahhhh. I liked it when JaJa mocked it

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view8/4762570/jankovic-fistpump-o.gif

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c177d28429eda38047ff9a23e49546e1/tumblr_msoe38lVQb1rezzono1_500.gif

<3
:(

Nacho Mühlenberg ‏@NachoMuhlenberg 5h

Richard Gasquet en @TennisWorldit: "Tengo más posibilidades de vencer a Rafa Nadal en la Playstation que en la vida real". Increíble.

Can someone help me with a stream for Azarenka/Pennetta?

i'm watching it on sportlemon.tv

Ta. Tuned in just in time to see Azarenka hit two double-faults and a shitty error to endanger her break. FORZA.

how has she won 2 slams with a serve like this, seriously

those net approaches are comedy gold

She has won two slams because of injured Clijsters in 2012 and injured Serena in 2013, obviously

And because everyone else in the WTA apart from Serena has a shitty serve.

Lol the linespeople hate Azarenka so much. Can it be arranged for Hawkeye to be rigged? I'd like that too.

The only noise I like coming out of Azarenka is those comedy squawks when she flubs it at the net. Which is often!

BEST winner from Pennetta to save SP :D :D :D

Sadly, given the tenacity Azarenka has, shared by all of the world's most insufferable people, five more came :(

time to stop watching this

yeah, any time I want a match to go the other way this badly, the palyer I like gets like 40% of their first serves in and gets creamed. FUCK.

still, she'll be back in the top 40 after this tournament. good for her.

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/09/02/fueled-with-rice-li-na-marches-into-u-s-open-quarterfinals/

peak WTA, this match

don't think it's been thaaat bad. if Vika serves like that in the final then she'll get crushed though

ah well nothing to see in the 2nd semi.

lol na

Wow, glad I decided not to rush home for either SF. Typical, every time Na has played Serena it's been close except this one. Useless. Really can't wait for the next gen of women's tennis.

serena 72 games, opponents 16

how long is she going to keep playing

she still seems to be in excellent condition at 31

when you're twice as talented as anyone else on tour age matters less probs

do i have a bad memory or is it not normal for the mens semis to be on saturday?

i don't like her personally, but she is p. amazing

play the events you want, show up whenever, totally dictate play -- even when she loses it's almost always because she fucked up too much, not that her opponent took it to her

she's only played 700 odd career matches and e.g. Federer has played 1123. so still pretty young in tennis years

always been a Venus fan but i definitely root for Serena now more than i used to. probably because as i've got older i've taken more notice of how amazing she actually is

good morning, us open 2013 thread. stan with 2 breaks in opening set! it's too early to get excited, i know

wtg stan; djoko seems off tho idk

very off, no doubt

stan's only at 33% 1st serves now. gotta improve that for when djokovic wakes up and has some coffee

love those bludgeoning forehands. allez Stan

idly turn this on & am greeted with an incredible standard of tennis

Jesus that rally.

so...wawrinka

this is some incredible tennis

stan's inside-out backhand is on some cheat code shit sometimes

the most inappropriate sporting use of that shit pitbull xtina joint since qpr four months ago

on to the 5th! wawrinka seems to have tweaked something in his leg on a lunge earlier in the set (i've got it on mute) and is grimacing, but looks like he's moving fine

kind of boring match this but punctuated with occasional great points. Djokovic is still there for the taking

oh man what a pass

deuce #10!

this is str8 tiresome. hold pls

otm

djokovic reckons he's got him now, even at 40-40

but nay!

:D

this is thrilling stuff. tiresome???

thrillingly tiresome

the match hasnt been that great but that game was

i otm'd as in making me tired for them

And done. So! Another match to go!

sean connery is a hipster

That was so strange to see. I assume Stiller was clowning it up on camera but if he's been like that for the entire time Connery really should lay the smack down.

welp

didn't have the energy to watch nadal/gasquet after that. first serve trouble and some lapses in concentration aside, stan's got nothing to be ashamed about. but those are exactly the kind of things djokovic isn't going to let slide, even if it takes him 4 sets to get his act together. ah well.

even when she loses it's almost always because she fucked up too much, not that her opponent took it to her

nah it's easy to say it's all on Serena's racquet when she hits loads of unforced errors but the players who've given Serena most trouble in her career are those who make her hit errors.

Wish I'd seen Nole/Stan but not for the sadly inevitable result. I have no hope w/r/t the final :(

you think rafa is gonna roll him?

i'm going with Rafa in 4. just cos he's playing well and looks a lot more confident at the moment. they'll probably contrive to take it to a 5th set tie break though

and Serena in 2 i guess

slam final nervessssssssssss

keep reminding myself that at worst serena has won the french open this year <3

Ana Konjuh just won her second junior Slam of the year, beating Tornado Alicia Black (that name, I CANNOT) 8-6 in the third set TB :)

actually kinda think Vika might win? god knows the women could really do with a three-set classic, has there even been a single classic match at this USO?

I foresee a big Serena win with bakery products actually. Vika's serve is shit and Serena is not playing awfully which should easily be enough.

Okay maybe 6-4 6-2 is more realistic but Serena played awfully in that last match of theirs and it was still close.

Vika wasn't at her best in Cinci either tbf, it was just a weird match. not that she's been playing any better here so far

it's easy to say "oh Serena played awfully" but after their last three hard court finals it's a pattern now - Vika kind of drags Serena's level down, she knows how to do it

lol, Serena smacking the putaway right back to Vika.

That reflex lob was pretty great.

was worried that the wind was gonna turn it into a mess but they both seem to be coping ok now

Vika is coming up with all the highlights reel points...

Serena's been annoyed into raising her game...that was an important hold for 5-5.

Every time Vika looks down as she begins serving, she looks even more like David Cameron than usual and this is off-putting.

Yeesh, that spate of Vika DFs.

LOLOLOLOLOL SO GREAT

Vika's volleys are so average.

Serena just massively choked for the title.

Hilarious challenge there. Worthy of Federer.

Serena chokes for the title AGAIN with a DF on BP.

fully expecting that first choke there but surprised at the 2nd one. i want another set now

Serena choking again. I would selfishly like this to go into a third set because I'm not ready to go to bed yet and I missed the first set due to stupid pub landlord not turning the telly over even though it was on silent during the quiz so I had to watch Kasabian with the sound off instead, wtf is the point of THAT?

Serena in full-on histrionics now...

was impressed with how calm she'd stayed up until that point. 3rd set here we go!

That TB was pretty crazy. Vika straight-up outgutted Serena.

*checks bookies* Serena still odds on *throws money at Vika*

Serena opens third set with a DF. Will be so interesting to see how she plays this set...

RT @BBakesTennis: Maybe the wind will go away if you complain more? #composure

Vika wins a great touch point at net but DFs on BP. But way too soon to write her off...

Some of Vika's challenges MUST be either desperate or strategic.

Pretty limp collapse from Vika now. How can you be so NAILZ in the second set TB and then just give away service games like that?

ultimately always root for serena but will never not hate the jumping after she wins a tournament

me I root against Serena but always like the jumping

such a weird anticlimactic final set after the first two were everything a Slam final should be

like, you're the coolest player on tour, why do you want to look like a drunk kangaroo

dowhatyafeel

i like the jumping. and the crip walking

the emphasis on money in the USO trophy ceremony will never not make me cringe, so fucking unseemly

that was a hilarious mess. could not be more relieved.

the emphasis on money in the USO trophy ceremony will never not make me cringe, so fucking unseemly

But that's what makes it American! Wimbledon has green lawns and royalty, the U.S. Open has bankers and giant checks. Don't hate our culture.

Also, I think Serena did a Miley tongue-stick when they mentioned the dollar amount.

I still can't believe they made the Monday final official. This was the only way they could solve Stupid Saturday? What a shame there were no other two-week tennis events of similar stature that could have provided a sensible scheduling blueprint. Also, won't most Americans be in work for this?

New women's rankings...

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Victoria Azarenka (2)
3. Maria Sharapova (3)
4. Agnieszka Radwanska (4)
5. Na Li (6)
6. Sara Errani (5)
7. Marion Bartoli (7)
8. Caroline Wozniacki (8)
9. Angelique Kerber (9)
10. Jelena Jankovic (12)
11. Petra Kvitova (10)
12. Roberta Vinci (13)
13. Sloane Stephens (15)
14. Kirsten Flipkens (14)
15. Carla Suarez Navarro (20)
16. Sabine Lisicki (18)
17. Ana Ivanovic (15)
18. Samantha Stosur (11)
19. Simona Halep (19)
20. Maria Kirilenko (17)
21. Ekaterina Makarova (25)
22. Sorana Cirstea (22)
23. Dominika Cibulkova (21)
24. Elena Vesnina (24)
25. Jamie Hampton (26)
26. Kaia Kanepi (27)
27. Nadia Petrova (23)
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova (29)
29. Alize Cornet (28)
30. Daniela Hantuchova (48)
31. Flavia Pennetta (83)
...
57. Alison Riske (81)
78. Kurumi Nara (109)
79. Camila Giorgi (136)
191. Victoria Duval (296)

Not much movement there

lol @ jankovic in the top 10

Wait, it's 5pm local time? I thought it would be an evening session. Oh wait, that would clash with the sacred tradition of Monday Night football (Eagles-Redskins tonight?).

They can find space in their schedule for a pro-celeb knockabout at 7pm on Ashe during the second week, but they can't manage to play the men's semis on the Friday.

Not sure, but my guess is the scheduling has something to do with American football being played on Saturday and Sunday, and CBS not wanting the tennis coverage to interfere with that.

doesnt the us open usually coincide with the first week of nfl

i don't really approve of the us open having to fit around regular season nfl games but then that's not a bad time for watching in england

It always coincides with week 1 of NFL but normally there is only 1 final to be played on Sunday, this year there needed to be 2.

Also, hasn't the USO men's final been played at least in part on Monday almost every year anyways?

I'm so weary I'm going to bed before this even starts.

I did just think, god, I really don't want to pull an all-nighter...

rafa ✓

novak has a bit of lassitude about him

couple extra sets on saturday but not just that i think

he's been like that in a lot of big matches these last few months. maybe it's just general fatigue after so long at the top idk

Brutal already.

yeah i think so xp

idk if it's just the last few months - Nole has never really rediscovered his peak 2011 form imo - that being the only spell in which he dominated Rafa

I mean, it's all relative, he's descended slightly to the level where he's just the clear No 1 rather than being superhuman and unbeatable

rafa has a bit more of that borderline sociopathic urge to dominate and overwhelm whereas novak seems to just want to be an alltime great tennis player and he got there a while ago

drop-shots fail more than any other sporting play i can think of

certainly vs Rafa they do

dropshots at rg vs nadal were a disaster

idk if it's just the last few months - Nole has never really rediscovered his peak 2011 form imo - that being the only spell in which he dominated Rafa

I mean, it's all relative, he's descended slightly to the level where he's just the clear No 1 rather than being superhuman and unbeatable

yeah djokovic doesn't seem as disciplined as he was in 2011. i guess that just wasn't sustainable. really hope this final will catch fire.

aaaagh why go to nadal's forehand right then

no matter...

yeah he's definitely not at his 2011 level but also he seems to maybe be losing more tight matches and throwing in more loose sets than he was in 2012. could still end up with 2 slams though

Well, if Nole couldn't take those BPs...

oy vey, novak's footwork

Nice celeb rundown moment there.

rafas serve not that great if he can attack it

lot of these pedestrian second serves would be eaten up by djokovic in form

Nole hits a decent volley for once!

heating up now

That point.

djokovic played that one a bit tentatively, nadal magnificent tho

how difficult must it be to nail a not-quite-half-volley like that. tennis, eh

my goodness

54 shots

that changes things

wowww that was good

omfggggggggggg

that is the best point ive seen in ages

the denouement reminded me of level 9 of curveball.swf

^^^haha yes

Oh no Nole you're not gonna get broken to love right after that surely

this is fairly awful from both players as a follow-up. odd

Anticlimactic.

RT @Noleksa: Nole yells in Serbian "WHY?! WHY?!"

Nole seriously earned that break. Again

that point was shaping up along similar epic lines until nadal played a drop-shot. ban drop-shots

o god not again

Heart in mouth whenever Nole has to hit an overhead. He hasn't fucked one up today yet!

great finish

The angle on that return!

NOLE WOULD

PEAK NOLE

i'll enjoy it whilst i can

this is more like a couple years ago, nole dragging rafa around the court until he is sufficiently ragged to place dropshots out of his reach

now that was a dropshot

whoever is doing color on the web stream makes me yearn for bud collins

i'll give it a stay of execution then

novak beastmode; his errors & winners dictating now. arguably his to lose. nadal has to pull something fierce out

i love watching rafa do subtle things brilliantly

its closer than that, any novak hesitancy and rafa is up again

another case for the dropshot defence

all the dropshots earlier were rubbish mind you

novak has largely done away with hesitancy in the last few games, for worse and largely better

laaaaargely

underestimated his capacity to go to shit i guess

nadal is not playing the dominant, forward-stepping tennis of the first set but typical nadal scrappery; novak seems to have lost his zone. weird. probably not unexpected.

i'll enjoy it whilst i can

yep. was good whilst it lasted.

sexy slice lob

does novak regularly just take breathers in the middle of sets before resuming beastmode?

hold.

Nice point there.

aaargh

that was incredible. how did he just win that set wtf

while nilmar analyses exactly what subtle shift in playing-style brought about that hideous collapse, i think i might go to sleep

wau

I have basically just sat here going wau for ages now.

ya really. sick get & angle by novak

I can't believe I drifted off to sleep just as Nole was on the verge of going a double break up in the 3rd, then woke up just in time to see him lose the set. UGHHHHH FML. I assume it's p much over now, I might go back to sleep

ugh finally home in time to watch this, ugh f nadal

while nilmar analyses exactly what subtle shift in playing-style brought about that hideous collapse, i think i might go to sleep

― ... Jenkinson ... Neu! military spending ... snkkt! ... Özil ... ... (imago), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 00:55 (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol my peak tennis ITK was probably winning prep school tennis cup vs the only good player in the year who had the disadvantage of being just about the smallest too, im just slams and the odd cincy/atp finals now

"tennis has never been played like this"

Collapse from Nole now. Those errors :(

stop shushing

oh well, as I predicted. Nole probably did better than I expected and I'll never know what happened in the stupid third set. BEDTIME now.

oh I just remembered I put money on a Rafa win. silver lining

rafa is just so great

nole gave it to him but even another set of form and purporse from him and rafa would have kept it competitive just out of will

Nole gave it to him b/c he's out of ideas in this match-up

if i watched more of the atp id probably become slightly tired of the relative lack of variety in his game compared to nole/fed but i love the simplicity, the contorted geometry, the power and the force of will

of all the things I dislike about Rafa, his game is not one of them

the intensity of their matches really disguises the fact that apart from Nole's streak of 7 in 2011-12, Rafa has dominated their h2h pretty comprehensively

for about half an hour there nole was running tings, its more lack of composure than limitations in the matchup i think, some of his errors was as mindless as that failed smash at rg

/were/

yeah but he can't sustain that level across the three necessary sets

i mean if nole had that cold impeturbability id guess the hth would be roughly equal, rafa is just so tough

also, the weird stat of Serena and Nole never winning the same Slam continues

caveated by watching fewer of their games of course, but unforced errors roughly 5:2 is not just nole being unable to sustain precision beyond 20minute periods

anyway i will try to watch a couple more tournaments before the australian, is jmdp going to get his shit together

caveated by watching fewer of their games of course, but unforced errors roughly 5:2 is not just nole being unable to sustain precision beyond 20minute periods

not precision, aggression

Novak's game is not tailored to relentlessly blowing an opponent away but post-2011 he can't outgrind Rafa any more

anyway bedtime so I can wake up to watch a bit of Tashkent, the tennis calendar moves on and so do I :)

just went down a tennis wiki hole and learned that nole's first GS singles match was an 0,2, and 1 drubbing by none other than marat safin

not precision, aggression

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 01:54 (3 minutes ago)

yeah that's it i think

reducing sports to alpha oneupmanship crap is the least interesting way to analyse them but when the technical disparities are small, it becomes evident how especially resilient rafa is

i wondered if the injuries would grind him down to the lower reaches of the top 10 and an enforced early retirement

oh I think people have been wondering about that since he first started winning Slams, he's outlasted everyone's predictions really. Good for him.

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Rafael Nadal
Women's singles: Serena Williams
Men's doubles: Leander Paes & Radek Stepanek
Women's doubles: Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka
Mixed doubles: Andrea Hlavackova & Max Mirnyi
Boys' singles: Borna Coric
Girls' singles: Ana Konjuh
Boys' doubles: Kamil Majchrzak & Martin Redlicki
Girls' doubles: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova

- Well done Hlavackova, suddenly a three-time Slam champion. It's funny how doubles and singles success rarely correlates - both she and Hradecka's singles rankings have been tanking all year (and Wim champs Hsieh and Peng have been having terrible results in singles this year too). You'd think some confidence at least would carry over
- Croat junior double - if (probably when) Coric, Konjuh and Vekic come good (maybe Tomljanovic as well), this will be a huge story
- Krejcikova and Siniakova started playing doubles at RG and since then have gone 24-0, including three Slams, without dropping a set. Quite the winning streak

Enthralling new men's rankings.

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Rafael Nadal (2)
3. Andy Murray (3)
4. David Ferrer (4)
5. Tomas Berdych (5)
6. Roger Federer (7)
7. Juan Martin Del Potro (6)
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (8)
9. Richard Gasquet (9)
10. Stanislas Wawrinka (10)
11. Milos Raonic (11)
12. Tommy Haas (12)
13. Kei Nishikori (13)
14. Jerzy Janowicz (14)
15. John Isner (17)
16. Gilles Simon (16)
17. Fabio Fognini (18)
18. Nicolas Almagro (15)
19. Tommy Robredo (22)
20. Mikhail Youzhny (24)
21. Kevin Anderson (20)
22. Andreas Seppi (23)
23. Janko Tipsarevic (21)
24. Marin Cilic (19)
25. Philipp Kohlschreiber (25)
26. Feliciano Lopez (26)
27. Jurgen Melzer (27)
28. Benoit Paire (28)
29. Grigor Dimitrov (29)
30. Juan Monaco (32)
...
47. Denis Istomin (65)
58. Lleyton Hewitt (66)
65. Martin Klizan (46)
149. Daniel Evans (179)

Anyway this tournament puts Rafa and Serena on the brink of some big historical milestones - he's one behind Sampras (hahahahahaha yessss) and she's one behind Navratilova/Evert. Arguably Rafa's career slam puts him ahead of Sampras already - I would argue this - but whatever, hard to imagine both won't get at least one more Slam each, and will probably surpass those greats.

It's actually not remotely implausible to start thinking about Rafa catching Roger's 17 and Serena catching Steffi's 22.

Very interested to see what Rafa does indoors for the rest of the year. This is usually where his year drops off (has he ever won an ATP-level indoor event? Runner-up in Paris, Shanghai and Rotterdam, but I think that's it).

he's only won three post-USO titles in his career - Beijing and Madrid 2005, Tokyo 2010. (Madrid was indoors.) The YEC is the only significant trophy missing from his cabinet.

Oh, I was forgetting about the Madrid event being indoors before 2009.

http://deadspin.com/what-does-it-take-to-get-kicked-out-of-the-u-s-open-1302446054?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

this is great