US OPEN 2015

Murray/Kyrgios round one BRING IT ON

From qualifying: battle of the ages, 16yo CiCi Bellis beat 44yo Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round, 46 61 64. Poor Kimiko. That would've been a neat youngest vs oldest match except 15yo wild card Claire Liu, born in 2000, has caused quite the stir - wins over Cepede Royg and Cepelova, just Panova between her and the main draw. Thrilled to see 19yo Mayo Hibi and her 1HBH into the final Q round too. Meanwhile Taylor Townsend and Donna Vekic just keep falling - qualifying losses for both, Vekic stays out of the top 100 but Townsend is now firmly outside the top 250.

In the MD...I'm guessing Serena has her token scare against Lucic-Baroni in round 2? It's hard to predict against her getting that calendar year Slam. Hoping Bencic is her QF opponent, would like to see a rematch.

Sharapova hasn't played since Wimbledon and gets the feisty Gavrilova in round one, that's an upset special in the making.

Bouchard has beaten three players since March and has drawn two of them in her opening two rounds, what luck. Meanwhile Kerber has come into the last three Slams in terrific form only to be rinsed with her R3 draws - Muguruza at RG and Wim, Azarenka here. Speaking of Muguruza, also thinking that she'll fall to Witthoeft in R1.

Nadal/Coric round one! REPEAT YOUR WIN BORNA! Even if Rafa escapes that, a draw of Fognini, Raonic/Lopez and then Djokovic in the QF isn't going to halt his decline.

I keep forgetting Cilic is the defending champion but that's as soft a draw as you could ask for. Slumping Dimitrov, Ferrer who hasn't played in months, permanently injured Nishikori.

Ugh, Nedovyesov is just the kind of journeyman that Hewitt grinds out another ~heroic five-setter over before we're finally rid of him.

Kokkinakis/Gasquet round one is sort of the B version of Murray/Kyrgios.

Murray/Kyrgios round one BRING IT ON

High Drama! I don't even know which outcome I prefer!

Ugh. Looks like Karlovic has a walk thru at least to the 3rd round. How dull.

Digging Bencic lately. Like her game a lot. Flew under my radar for a long time I guess.

Murray/Kyrgios round one BRING IT ON

― lex pretend, Friday, August 28, 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You don't skip a beat :-)

Can't wait

Maria's out

:(

Predictions. I made these before the Sharapova w/d!

(1) Serena Williams d. (29) Sloane Stephens
(15) Agnieszka Radwanska d. (19) Madison Keys
(12) Belinda Bencic d. (23) Venus Williams
(8) Karolina Pliskova d. (Q) Anett Kontaveit
Daria Gavrilova d. Kristina Mladenovic
Heather Watson d. (17) Elina Svitolina
(21) Jelena Jankovic d. Roberta Vinci
Dominika Cibulkova d. Polona Hercog
(32) Anna Karolina Schmiedlova d. (5) Petra Kvitova
(18) Andrea Petkovic d. Johanna Konta
(Q) Jelena Ostapenko d. Timea Babos
(4) Caroline Wozniacki d. (26) Flavia Pennetta
(6) Lucie Safarova d. Tsvetana Pironkova
(20) Victoria Azarenka d. (11) Angelique Kerber
Camila Giorgi d. Barbora Strycova
(2) Simona Halep d. (Q) Shelby Rogers

S.Williams d. A.Radwanska
Bencic d. Pliskova
Gavrilova d. Watson
Jankovic d. Cibulkova
Schmiedlova d. Petkovic
Wozniacki d. Ostapenko
Azarenka d. Safarova
Halep d. Giorgi

S.Williams d. Bencic
Gavrilova d. Jankovic
Wozniacki d. Schmiedlova
Azarenka d. Halep

S.Williams d. Gavrilova
Azarenka d. Wozniacki

S.Williams d. Azarenka

(1) Novak Djokovic d. Teymuraz Gabashvili
(14) David Goffin d. Jerzy Janowicz
Fernando Verdasco d. (WC) Mardy Fish
(8) Rafael Nadal d. Steve Johnson
Alexandr Dolgopolov d. Benoit Paire
(19) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. (16) Gael Monfils
(9) Marin Cilic d. (17) Grigor Dimitrov
(27) Jeremy Chardy d. Filip Krajinovic
(5) Stan Wawrinka d. (28) Jack Sock
(WC) Frances Tiafoe d. Ernests Gulbis
(Q) Andrey Rublev d. Benjamin Becker
(3) Andy Murray d. (30) Thomaz Bellucci
(6) Tomas Berdych d. Sam Querrey
(12) Richard Gasquet d. (24) Bernard Tomic
(21) Ivo Karlovic d. (13) John Isner
(2) Roger Federer d. (29) Philipp Kohlschreiber

Djokovic d. Goffin
Nadal d. Verdasco
Dolgopolov d. Tsonga
Cilic d. Chardy
Wawrinka d. Tiafoe
Murray d. Rublev
Berdych d. Gasquet
Federer d. Karlovic

Djokovic d. Nadal
Cilic d. Dolgopolov
Murray d. Wawrinka
Federer d. Berdych

Djokovic d. Cilic
Federer d. Murray

Djokovic d. Federer

kei out to paire is def a decent hedge if he still has any sort of injury concerns

I don't think tiafoe is ready to get that far but would like to be wrong abt that

Letting the basic broadcast online happily wash over me today (as I'm quite tired).

what are ppl using for streaming?

I'm just using the US Open site w/ the ESPN streaming.

Doesn't appear to be free across the pond - Lex?

rip nishikori, ivanovic

those were good lex upset picks, cibu looks back in good form & is gonna be a tough out theres no one in her section she couldn't beat imo

RIP kei, damn

i really hope lex had some money on that kei match

http://static.underthegunreview.net/2014/09/puig.jpg

keep getting a-frames in my head whenever i see raonic

already can't stand the coverage of this, record time espn kudos

First year I haven't had Sky Sports, watching on tiny screens via the Bet365 website :-(

dear god what is this opening ceremony gtfo diblasio

can isner pls come hit a 145 mi serve at josh groban

literally who is this for

like id ask for part of a refund back if i bought a ticket to this irl

sloane out, dolgo out

haider-maurer over pospisil 0/1 in 4th/5th set is kindof crazy what happened there

rip monfils

Tatishvili d. Pliskova 6-2 6-1

lol @ karolina

i really hope lex had some money on that kei match

― usic ally (k3vin k.), Monday, August 31, 2015 6:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yup! also the CSN, Ivanovic and Kuznetsova upsets. Shocked that Pliskova lost to Tatishvili of all people. Six retirements on the men's side already?

Doesn't appear to be free across the pond - Lex?

― xyzzzz__, Monday, August 31, 2015 5:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

we have Eurosport + this seems to be the new best streaming place - http://www.realstreamunited.com/tennis-live-streaming-video.html

Okay, settling in here, what to watch...

I need to move to a civilised country that allows me to easily bet on tennis - def wouldve had tsurenko/lepchenko today already and timia bacsinszky to get upset

it's surprising to me that the US doesn't have a fantasy sports tennis option.

Murray looked really bad but we've been through that early rounds dance with him before

yea kyrgios prob couldve won that match

Robson's collapse from 4-0 up in the third was kind of sad...her comeback is going very slowly. Bacsinszky losing wasn't a shock either, her good form seems to have evaporated post-Wimbledon. Surprised Muguruza didn't get upset though! She looked a mess in the warm-ups and Witthoeft was a tricky opponent.

Tiafoe was really impressive in patches, but Troicki unexpectedly kept it together.

Rublev needs to work on his returning, but that's pretty much his only major issue from what I can see. Best 17 year old since Rafa imvho

Thanks for the link Lex.

Rublev's temperament is...also a thing. Not necessarily a weakness but not always edifying either.

Dunno how much of this week I'll catch, on a press trip in Toronto

Kasatkina apparently winning that set with 0 winners

bertens up 5-3 on serena o_O

why can't i find a stream with commentary? US tennis coverage is the pits

wow serena takes the set in the tiebreak 7-5 on a forehand off the tape that just catches the line

bertens needs to continue to just get everything back and see what happens, serenas not playing v well

i watched the last 20 mins of that set on mute -- is it windy? serena can't serve for shit

rip bryan bros

tennis people are so corny man

Feliciano López ‏@feliciano_lopez 12 hours ago
Fair to say you @MardyFish were better player 2day but tennis is crazy sometimes.Pleasure playing u 2day and always.The very BEST in ur life

Aww.

Pretty wild how, despite his leg not working toward the end, Mardy able to position himself early so well and rip crazy winners. Sorry to see him go. One of the good ones, as they say. Go rip em up on the PowerShares Tour, dude!

~murray~

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/mardy-fish-us-open/

Great read. I never knew about Mardy's struggles.

damn kontaveit bagels brengle in 3d set to advance to play venus

loser of this genie/cibu match has to forsake their neon kicks

great first set.
simultaneously surprising and unsurprising that these 2 have never met before

god that scrambling

novak was made for this shit, so amazing

h8 u djokobitch

harsh

everyone hates djoko he is despicable.

couldnt be more impressed w him rn tho

lag∞n
Posted: September 13, 2015 at 6:56:52 PM
roger killin me

win a break point maybe wth

whats he eating dates

xp obv vs anyone else he would have, djoker has played most of those insanely well

seems like people mostly dislike him cos he's eastern european and has a weird face

his face is def bad, also the uniqlo

djoko plays good but roger straight up nerfed a bunch of breaks

hopefully it doesnt break down that rog loses cuz he chose to hit that weird reflex running overhead that was sailing out and then was broken

when i really started hates djoko tho is when i saw his terrible impressions of other players

obv personality wise roger is superior to every athlete ever p much

interesting both these guys earlier in their careers were somewhat combustable now theyre both so stoic

fed has been a unmitigated disaster at the net

you know who has had the best match out of anyone -- aside from one of the ball boys who's nonchalantly caught several 130mph errant burners -- is the chair umpire, she's made several overrules and has been right every time

yup

does fed play this aggressively against everyone now or djust djoker?

everyone

fuck this bullshit world

I like djokovic. Explain why I shouldn't.

hes bad

I want Roger to win this set tho

yea finally a killer volley @ net

prob too late

holy

almost

gdamn

Disclosure: Djokovic looks a little like (a younger more handsome more athletic smarter more well rounded idealized better version of) me

lol

rich too

novak has had a really incredible year, props

oh no I'm rich

sweet

saw the first set-and-a-half before falling asleep, felt a lot like the Wim final. Commentators fawning over Federer's surprise returns making me cringe now, can't even bring myself to acknowledge their name for it and knew that it wouldn't be successful against Djokovic a second time - it's a mental tactic more than anything else. Awesome year for Novak, feels routine at this point. RG is the question now...

I saw three sets and went to bed at 3am. I am thanking the gods for the existence of coffee..

It was closer than Wimbledon and the 'surprise return' was deployed every now and then - it did seem to seed bits of doubt in Djokovic. Overall it was quite a thing to see in a slam final, from someone like Federer who is thought as the height of elegance. He'll do what it takes, and we all know that.

Overall though it was a brilliant match - the way D answered some of that stuff from Fed (those remarkable back-to-back lobs), the 20-shot game where Novak held on for dear life and really was under the cosh for most of the 3rd set before - really almost out of nowhere - turning around with some magnificent tennis to break Fed's serve. Knew the game was up at the end of that.

btw people who yell during someone's toss should be waterboarded

― usic ally (k3vin k.), Monday, 14 September 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cosign

Only criticism of Fed is he didn't seem to carry those kinds of tactics in the 1st set.

But its stil head-scratching how he can keep defying his age (all the questionable strength of the tour aside) and doing all of this. Maybe 35 year old slam champions will be the norm in 20 years.

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Novak Djokovic
Women's singles: Flavia Pennetta
Men's doubles: Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut
Women's doubles: Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza
Mixed doubles: Martina Hingis & Leander Paes
Boys' singles: Taylor Harry Fritz
Girls' singles: Dalma Galfi
Boys' doubles: Felix Auger-Aliassime & Denis Shapovalov
Girls' doubles: Viktoria Kuzmova & Aleksandra Pospelova

Auger-Aliassime is the youngest player in the ATP top 1000, born in 2000...

New women's rankings...

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Simona Halep (2)
3. Maria Sharapova (3)
4. Petra Kvitova (4)
5. Lucie Safarova (6)
6. Caroline Wozniacki (5)
7. Ana Ivanovic (7)
8. Flavia Pennetta (26)
9. Garbine Muguruza (9)
10. Karolina Pliskova (8)
11. Angelique Kerber (11)
12. Carla Suarez Navarro (10)
13. Timea Bacsinszky (14)
14. Agnieszka Radwanska (15)
15. Belinda Bencic (12)
16. Elina Svitolina (17)
17. Andrea Petkovic (18)
18. Madison Keys (19)
19. Roberta Vinci (43)
20. Ekaterina Makarova (13)
21. Sara Errani (16)
22. Samantha Stosur (22)
23. Victoria Azarenka (20)
24. Venus Williams (23)
25. Jelena Jankovic (21)
26. Eugenie Bouchard (25)
27. Sabine Lisicki (24)
28. Kristina Mladenovic (40)
29. Alize Cornet (27)
30. Irina-Camelia Begu (28)
...
33. Sloane Stephens (29)
58. Johanna Konta (97)
80. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (101)
96. Anett Kontaveit (152)
97. Aleksandra Krunic (65)
104. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (48)

I saw about 5 minutes of this in a bar last night. What has Robert Redford got on his head these days?

Also I bet Boris Becker still has awesome thighs.

great tourney imo

didn't know pennetta and fognini were dating/engaged, that's cool

anyone who missed the late nite fab/nadal match shd check out @ least the last few sets. I mean I saw it and I want to rewatch it

petition for 50% fewer shorts of stoic celebrity coaches tho

about two of you remember Becker as a player, right?

that's the one I most regret missing

New men's rankings...

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Roger Federer (2)
3. Andy Murray (3)
4. Stan Wawrinka (5)
5. Tomas Berdych (6)
6. Kei Nishikori (4)
7. Rafael Nadal (8)
8. David Ferrer (7)
9. Milos Raonic (10)
10. Gilles Simon (11)
11. Richard Gasquet (12)
12. Kevin Anderson (14)
13. John Isner (13)
14. Marin Cilic (9)
15. David Goffin (15)
16. Feliciano Lopez (19)
17. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (18)
18. Ivo Karlovic (21)
19. Grigor Dimitrov (17)
20. Dominic Thiem (20)
21. Viktor Troicki (22)
22. Roberto Bautista Agut (23)
23. Bernard Tomic (24)
24. Gael Monfils (16)
25. Andreas Seppi (25)
26. Jeremy Chardy (27)
27. Tommy Robredo (26)
28. Fabio Fognini (32)
29. Jack Sock (28)
30. Thomaz Bellucci (30)
...
32. Benoit Paire (41)
42. Nick Kyrgios (37)
51. Donald Young (68)
92. Nicolas Almagro (114)

about two of you remember Becker as a player, right?

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, September 14, 2015 10:23 AM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

um hello thats why hes a celebrity

Having congratulated myself at getting the kids to bed by 9:40, the rain delay totally ruined any chances I had of streaming this so I was left with fitful dreams in which Federer went 6-1 6-3 up, only to wreck his ankle stepping on a stray ball. Woke at 1:45am to see (through my ScoreFlash phone app only - no video) that Fed was still capable of walking, but actually a set down. Woke again around 3:15 to see Djokovic go a double-break up in set 4. Drifted in and out of sleep as Fed mounted his comeback. If he'd taken any of the bps in the last game I may well have sat up and tried to find a stream on the laptop, sleep be damned.

Looking fwd to the roof next year - though the USTA will probably go with 8pm local Monday night or something idiotic for the men's final.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO2QhvrWEAAXXfU.jpg