The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

james made a lot of memories on those courts so hopefully they'll do something more ceremonious for him some time during the event.

flavia pennetta just knocked out errani!! flavia whom some of you may know had to endure a terrible wrist injury and surgery last year this time and it's taken her a long time to find some grains of her old self again and today she brought it. she served unbelievably well an aspect of her game that truly isn't given enough credit and she really has become a lot freer on her ground game as well,experienced a little cautiousness early in the comeback with that wrist. really excited for her. always one of my favourite players on tour. hope she keeps it going....this should be huge for her confidence and hopefully a big boost in her ranking.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Huge win for Leyton over Delpo. Certainly didn't see that one coming.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

What an upset. Though I am always rooting for Delpo, Leyton played in top form.

Excited for Serena v.s. Sloane!

 

[Scott]

and flavia backed up the win over sara with her first defeat in 5 tries over sveta today!

meanwhile simona halep who has been on fire the past few months thrashed kirilenko today. expect this one to go deep. she's in a great part of the draw with wozniacki and just beat caro last week at new haven.

and petra today....terrible performance. as competent as riske with her attacking style,petra gave away too many free points and loose service games. i think that has to be the worst she's looked in already up and down year. i am beginning to think petra might need to have a visit with a sports psychologist at this juncture because she just looks so lost out there with no control or real strategy but to blast everything.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Wozniacki craps out again at another slam. Same ole.

 

[Scott]

not surprising when she regresses the way she does. so night and day when it comes to aggression.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

Serena had me on the edge in that first set, but she sailed through the second. Sloan played some great points, but her unforced errors were just too many, especially against Serena where every play matters. Team Serena treads onward

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Scott, you must be pleased; Penetta did it!

 

[Scott]

well it was honestly a difficult match for me because yes i've been a long-time fan of flavia and since she's returned really have been pulling for a big run like that but also i have become a big fan of simona halep as well....was really hoping halep would have pulled that second set out coming back after the rain just to even it up and let the ships fall where they may in a third. but flavia played the more impressive match overall....i think simona was a little bit too impatient and probably felt a bit of pressure as she had more expectation obviously. so disappointed for halep after the magical run of form she's had but super happy for flavia as well....and she has a real shot the way she's playing to get to past vinci and move into her first semifinal.

 

[Scott]

btw,how perfect and on was li na last night against JJ? i was expecting that one to be tougher but egads na has improved so much on the control part of her game and she's moving forward a lot! 10 of 12 at net last night. it's just too bad na is in the same half of the draw with serena because her form is worthy of a major final and i would prefer seeing that type of final than the overhyped serena and azarenka one. i don't know anybody in the top 10 who consistently can go toe-to-toe with serena like na has. for as much as vika has improved,i still think it can just as easily be an absolute thrashing too.

and roger out to a resurgent tommy robredo. tommy has become the men's version of flavia pennetta this fortnight. but for roger,compounds i feel the struggles he's dealt this season.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

It felt kind of sad watching Fed losing like that. He's never been my absolute favourite player but his tennis, when it is all clicking, is something to behold. The thing is: it clicks less and less now. And when it's not clicking it can be sad to watch, all those shanks. Tonight, though, Robredo did play well, but I thought Fed played poorly on big points, let sooooo many break points go missing.

 

[Scott]

flavia into the semis!!! sorry that it came at the expense of robi who's had a very solid year and would have cracked the top 10 finally with the win but after everything flavia has been through with the wrist injury and surgery itself and then the struggles in the comeback it's been great to see that she's been able to lift her game this fortnight. this will also be very good for flavia's ranking who's at 83 at the moment so she will have some better draws after this. also,comparatively speaking if it is potentially vika progressing past daniela,flavia i feel will be the more dangerous player for vika than vinci. they haven't played since early 2011 but it was a season where vika started to find her game again and flavia did beat her the last time on HC at dubai and the inspired way she's been playing and the patchy play of azarenka so far.....i think that might be a tough match.

for vinci though i do hope she has some good results on the asian leg into the autumn because i still would like to see her get into the top 10....she's very much earned it.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Happy for Flavia.

And Gasquet!

 

[VogueDisciple93]

Super happy for Gasquet as well!

 

[Chaky]

This year's US Open has been a pretty disappointing one for me, with Fed and Aga going out in 4th round.

Out of what I've seen on the women's side there have been very few memorable matches. The semis weren't high quality and were thrown into sharp relief with the men's yesterday. Djokovic vs Wawrinka was match of the tournament for me. The third game of the fifth set which lasted for over 20 minutes and featured 12 deuces was incredible. Gotta feel Stan really deserves a shot at a slam title. The first set and a half from him was lights-out tennis.

I'm hoping Serena vs Vika tonight is a great match so it can end on a high note for the women.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

I think the surface at the AO might be even more suitable for Stan. So if he preservers, and doesn't get discouraged, I think he has a real shot there next year.

 

[Scott]

not to mention petra going out early...sam stosur who was in with a real shot this year after a great summer season....but generally we did see some interesting surprises like giorgi and of course flavia pennetta who i'm happy to say has shot back up to 31 from 83 this week. and you mentioned aga,but i have to say i was thrilled for makarova in that.

but the women's semis kind of fell flat for me as well. as much as flavia tried all her might to do something even she admitted afterward that she went away from the aggressive strategy she had implemented all week. still happy to see her back on form again and i hope it only gets better from now on. li na against serena obviously was a strange one to comprehend. really an anomaly as she's improved so much in the control aspects of her game. i only got to see the first set of the women's final tonight as i had engagements to take care of but it was a nail biter and then i came home saw that vika won in the tie-break 8-6 that second set and couldn't get over serena in the crucial moments in that final set.

to tell you the truth the women's doubles was probably my favourite part of the whole fortnight for me on the part of the women....seeing andrea and lucie come out with their guns blazing against venus and serena in the semis and seeing them finally overcome the previous major finals they were in...was great to see that happen for them. and hopefully something that will re-establish their status on the doubles court as they've struggled with results and lucie being injured this year.

and the men's tournament has been rocking all two weeks. watching stan wawrinka with his magic taking out berdych,andy and giving his all against novak was a highlight. then seeing tommy robredo,who i've always been a fan of dispose of roger federer rather handily was odd but thrilling for the comeback of tommy. and lleyton hewitt against del potro.....it's been a strange but rather a highly entertaining transpiration for the men nevertheless.

 

[YoninahAliza]

So I know I just pop into the tennis thread every so often when my favorites are doing well but I have to say, YAY RAFA! Was very psyched to see that my all time favorite won the US Open. Also, major congrats to Serena for her win, her 17th Grand Slam title which is pretty amazing!

 

[Chaky]

Wow at the men's final! I'm not the greatest Rafa fan but he was super-impressive. So was Novak but he couldn't seem to sustain his level into the 4th set. That 54 shot rally was incredible. I feel very jealous of the people who managed to get tickets for this (although I do still wonder whether the people right at the top can actually see anything). How long till Rafa is no.1?

and the men's tournament has been rocking all two weeks. watching stan wawrinka with his magic taking out berdych,andy and giving his all against novak was a highlight. then seeing tommy robredo,who i've always been a fan of dispose of roger federer rather handily was odd but thrilling for the comeback of tommy. and lleyton hewitt against del potro.....it's been a strange but rather a highly entertaining transpiration for the men nevertheless.

Yeah there were some great matches in the men's. But you had to know where to look. I was really happy to see Lleyton doing well. I like a scrapper! At this stage of his career it was good to see him pull off some impressive victories.

But I also thought there were a load of the feature matches on Ashe that never caught light, or were complete blowouts. So many bagels and breadsticks!

 

[Chaky]

My favourite ever player on the WTA, Anna Chakvetadze, has officially announced her retirement today in an interview with a Russian paper.

I guess I knew this was coming for a long time but it's sad to hear it finally confirmed. Anna was suffering with a chronic back injury sustained during a training session in 2011. She's been doing some commentary on tennis matches for Russian TV since then and she's also going to try her hand at coaching - she's working with a junior at the moment to see how it goes.

I was glad I was able to see her play live twice (Birmingham and Wimbledon) and she won both times! She's also the only tennis player I've ever asked for an autograph. (I'd ask Roger too if I ever got the chance.) And my tfs username is from her!

I hope she finds success and happiness in this new phase of her life.