The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

i have to be honest,really rather disappointed in federer because he neither gave credit nor barely acknowledged berdych in his presser. it's a shame because berdych is a very capable opponent and he did play his best tennis last night.

i agree though....it is nice to see some different faces.....although we still have that familiar multi-major champ in nole. would be even nicer to see new faces across the board on the big stage.

talk about andy murray or shall i say cilic choking yesterday. andy had absolutely no business winning that second set with cilic up 5/1 and even an advantage as cilic was trying to serve it out. and he never recovered. and people wonder why this guy has not fulfilled that promise that was bandied about so long ago?

 

[Scott]

just heard the announcement that martina hingis and michael stich were shortlisted for the hall of fame 2013. i'm actually surprised mary pierce wasn't chosen first since she was away a year or two before hingis officially retired.

 

[Chaky]

Well, for the first time since FOREVER, no Federer and no Nadal in a slam semifinal. They are great champions obviously, but this is so refreshing! Delpo could win, or Berdych or Murray, or Ferrer or Nole. I doubt Tipsy will. But anyhow, it feels like there are new possibilities!

I think Murray deserves to get a slam and it's been soooo long since a British man won one. But I'm not convinced after watching the match against Cilic. That was a mega-choke. Didn't see Andy's match against Raonic but everyone was saying he'll win the title easily after that. And then this weird match of two halves.

My second choice would be Delpo because he's done it once before and I'd like to see him right back regularly challenging the top 4 for the titles.

 

[ALAUU]

I think this is Andy's chance. As much as I love Novak because he hams it up and is entertaining, I really want Andy to win. I think he's so passionate and it would just be nice to see someone who's never won it before win it this year.

 

[anaa lpz]

I'm so so so so so happy for David!

and I think I'm the only one here who doesn't like Andy at all

 

[pixiedust1603]

I don't like Andy and I'm probably the only Brit who doesn't. But I still want him to win as it's been ages since a Brit has won a Grand Slam and he has talent.

 

[anaa lpz]

well, I'm probably the only spaniard who doesn't like Nadal, so...

if Andy or Thomas win here I will be a bit dissapointed, but only because my favourites are on the other half of the draw!

but, in general, I'm happy because my favs have done super well so far

 

[ALAUU]

^ Well at least the two of you have someone from your country to cheer for. The last guy I could cheer for retired yesterday. Now all I've got left is a man called Mardy Fish & even he couldn't get very far, but with a name like that I didn't really expect him to .

 

[Scott]

some match between djoko and del potro tonight! too bad the result in the second set ended that way otherwise it could have gone the distance because it was really closely played,some exhilarating points,but djoko kept painting those lines with every shot he hit. and del potro was sending some bomb forehands over the net too.

 

[Scott]

^ Well at least the two of you have someone from your country to cheer for. The last guy I could cheer for retired yesterday. Now all I've got left is a man called Mardy Fish & even he couldn't get very far, but with a name like that I didn't really expect him to .

i honestly don't think mardy will be around for much longer seeing the heart condition he's developed now. isner,he may be able to get deep into majors but i find him too up and down and his conditioning is awful match to match. and like we saw here i think players are also figuring his game out more and more.

to be honest i haven't rooted for any american man since i started watching tennis. i just find that too many of them are either terribly uninteresting(not shy but no personality) or overly obnoxious for my taste. never an in between like a guga kuerten or roger federer.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

The tennis matches in all the QFs men's side were of high quality, except perhaps Murray/Cilic, only because it was such a see-saw. Cilic is so sweet, but he doesn't have the mental fortitude and Andy was playing badly at first - so hard to judge on that. Fed wasn't at his best versus Berdych but there were flashes of it, just that Tomas played SO well and straight through; he never gave up. Ferrer/Tipsy was epic, and Nole/Delpo was amazing tennis in set 2. Just jaw-dropping at times. We're lucky.

Good luck to All!

Same for the ladies: first lady from Italy or Belarus in the USO semis. Maria and, of course, Serena, are stalwarts. May the best women on the day march on!

 

[Scott]

i cannot believe they scheduled djoko and ferrer's match the way they did and then in-turn cancel it! since they knew the weather was imminent and they had already cancelled the women's final for tonight,why on earth did they just not put nole and david on armstrong at the same time? terrible fortune for them as they will have double duty tomorrow with the final monday plus david up 5-2 in the first set.

 

[Scott]

btw,super comeback yesterday from vika. and i'm glad she was the one that carved that out to play serena because at least there may be a glimmer of hope the final might be competitive. sharapova has lost the last three times to serena 3-1,3-1 and of course we can't forget the olympics but i refrain to post the score out of embarrassment. never mind sharapova hasn't taken a set off serena in three years....hasn't even beaten her in 8 years. but she and vika's last match at wimby was a very tight affair in second set with the tie-break extremely close,and here last year vika pushed serena in another very tight tie-break.

 

[Chaky]

i cannot believe they scheduled djoko and ferrer's match the way they did and then in-turn cancel it! since they knew the weather was imminent and they had already cancelled the women's final for tonight,why on earth did they just not put nole and david on armstrong at the same time? terrible fortune for them as they will have double duty tomorrow with the final monday plus david up 5-2 in the first set.

Word is that the players themselves plus the TV broadcasters insisted they played on Ashe. Monday final is nothing new anymore, it's almost become the new norm.

No more Super Saturday next year. Without a roof it really has such a chance of going wrong schedule-wise and the last few years have proved that to be the case.

 

[ALAUU]

^ Yes and if you listen to the announcers they're always vouching for a change in scheduling because it gets rained out every year and they end up having to play on Mondays anyways. Plus having the semis & the final on back-to-back days just seems unfair on the players. They need some time to rest if they're going to play at their best for the finals, but you know, the people who run things are a bit thick

 

[Scott]

i didn't know about the players but i expected that from broadcasters. and you know yesterday they didn't even have the women's doubles final scheduled at all and for they to make the decision well in advance on the women's singles final,i can't understand why they didn't make a more earnest decision about the second semi,knowing the imminent threat of severe weather that afternoon. instead of getting them out there to stop it at 5/2. NYC had two tornadoes touch down near brooklyn and queens yesterday afternoon that apparently did affect parts of flushing meadows with debris and such.

this will make it 5 straight years in a row that the open has completed on a monday. but apparently broadcasters and even the organisers aren't exactly keen on monday finishes. and i guess to a certain extent it's understandable why since monday is a work and school day unlike the second monday of the fortnight which is a national holiday here. but from a perspective on the player's side,you put the women's final on sunday and men's on monday,the men get a day off in between semis and final and the women would get a day off in between as well.

 

[Chaky]

The men's semis need to be on Friday with the final on Sunday. Women's on the Saturday. The other three slams manage this somehow pretty much every year so why not the USO?

 

[Scott]

because it's about filling their pockets at the end of the day here,unfortunately. the pomp and circumstance of it all,if you will. remember last year this tournament was criticised heavily,even to the point of threats of striking,by the top players for literally feeling like their concerns and their well being were being undermined and taken for granted over the organisers,the sponsors and the broadcasters. it's not even a mere tennis major....it's a big corporation. as long as they put on the big show and they reap the benefits financially,i don't think they will ever care about the players all that much.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Next year there will be a day between the semi and final - that's what I read. I think Andy has a wee advantage with the extra 24 hours. Will he use it?? Be interesting to watch - should be a cracker of a final!!

Meanwhile, Vika just broke Serena in the 3rd set - yes, you read that correctly... Serena is in a third set!!!

 

[ALAUU]

^ Holy crap, Serena is amazing. That is all I have to say.