US Open - Matches

First topic message reminder :

Have changed the topic so that this thread can run through the tournament. Hope that's OK

Yes!!!! Laura breaks back! Great returning.

Tie break...

Robson playing some great stuff here and has the upper hand at 4-2 in the tie-break.

Laura Robson seals a very good win over Caroline Garcia winning 6-4 7-6 and lines up a Third Round match against Li Na. Well done Laura.

Yes!!!! GSM Robson.

Tremendous stuff.

Plus she knows she can beat Li Na, should be a good match. Good luck to Murray later, I'm going to bed

That sounded like a very good performance for the most-part but perhaps she was a little shaky at the end there and did well to close the match out. Li Na up next for Laura but she did it last year when Li was coming into this tournament in better form.....

Yes TSJ it was as Caroline Garcia is one of those promising up and coming players tipped for the top who serves very well. Robson came through with flying colours.

Most importantly the serve looked good and her movement looked good and if she does those 2 things well she can beat anyone

with these rain delays this is the slowest moving slam I can think of for ages, it just feels really flat. There has been bad weather in the past but this feels different, it just has not got going at all, it needs a good match to spark it into life

Andy's title defence is off and running with a polished performance. In beating Michael Llodra 6-2 6-4 6-3 he played a lot of sharp tennis, his serve was accurate but felt it was controlled with more pop on i to come if needed. Winners were plentiful whilst unforced errors were miserly. A good way to start his title defence and up next is Leonardo Mayer.

Murray's outfit last night indicates which team he was supporting in the Celtic - Shakhter Karagandy match.... Anyway, 'twas a good win for Sir Andrew and seeing as Monaco and Almugro have been knocked out, his path is pretty much clear to the QF. I like Berdych but I wouldn't be against someone beating him!!

James Blake has now retired after blowing a two sets to love lead against Ivo. I wonder what we can say about his career. Unlucky with injuries but should have done better?

Sounds like a solid 1st round from the top 4. Only saw the nadal match (including that phenomenal winner in the opening game by nadal) but sounds like Murray and Djokovic were very comfortable. Going by the pictures of Murray smiling, his match with Llodra must have been played in good spirit! Nice to see.

Still have a feeling nadal could be the man to beat, particularly if he serves well. His confidence seems to be sky high.

Well done to Murray and Robson.  

The Special Juan wrote:Murray's outfit last night indicates which team he was supporting in the Celtic - Shakhter Karagandy match....  Anyway, 'twas a good win for Sir Andrew and seeing as Monaco and Almugro have been knocked out, his path is pretty much clear to the QF.  I like Berdych but I wouldn't be against someone beating him!!

James Blake has now retired after blowing a two sets to love lead against Ivo.  I wonder what we can say about his career.  Unlucky with injuries but should have done better?

I wouldn't be against someone beating Berdy too! Anyone know who his 3rd round and 4th round opponents are?

In the Second Round Berdych plays Denis Kudla (USA).

Third Round:- Jeremy Chardy or Julien Benneteau

Fourth Round:- Likely to be either Kevin Anderson or Stan Wawrinka

Hmm it looks like only Stan will stand between Berdy and Murray. I hope Stan's coming into this tournament fit and can give Berdy a very good game. Ignoring any potential match with Murray, Berdych v Stan would be a great match if both played their best!!

I am not too worried about a potential Berdych match-up for Murray to be honest. A few things have me not too concerned such as Murray's ability to now raise his game for slam matches whereas does Berdych have that trait? Also if the match goes long I'd put money on Andy over Tomas any day and we know the result the last time they met in a slam. Another stat is that Tomas's conversion of slam quarters are nothing great. He has reached eight slam quarters and won three of them whilst Murray has reached sixteen slam quarters and won thirteen of them. It won't be easy but everything apart from head-to-head record points to a Murray win in my opinion.

Craig - I like your confidence, but hasn't Berdy had some great slam results against top players? Beating Federer a couple of times, Murray and Djokovic?

I would really like someone to knock him out before the quarters as he'd have a good shot against Murray.

Really I am not too fussed. My philosophy is that if Andy were to lose to Berdych then it is obvious he wouldn't have beaten Djokovic or Nadal either. I remain quietly confident.

slashermcguirk wrote:Going by the pictures of Murray smiling, his match with Llodra must have been played in good spirit! Nice to see

Yup, Llodra was fun as always. When Murray was 2 points from the match, Llodra tried to sneak in an underarm serve, but Murray was sharp and just got to the ball, made the return and eventually won the point. Both were chuckling.

Match point, Llodra came into the net (as he usually does), didn't do enough with a volley so Murray had plenty of time to choose his shot. Llodra stuck his arms and legs out as wide as he could in both directions, and made ooga-booga faces at Murray to try and distract him. Andy just pushed the ball over Llodra's head and Llodra threw his racquet in the air to try and get the ball (which would have been an illegal shot anyway) but he missed. GSM.

Was entertaining  

Just found a clip of the underarm serve on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojm9YxZhYAY

Sneaky!  

Robson has grown a nice pair of hips, I volunteered to massage her after last nights tough match

I think people are harsh on berdych record in slams. He has beaten federer at US Open, beat Murray at the French open and beat federer and djokovic back to back at Wimbledon. He has an excellent record against Murray to be fair to him. Even in a howling wind at us open last year he nearly took Murray to a 5th set!!

Nobody is being harsh on his slam record just merely pointing out the facts. His conversion rate of quarters into semis is at 37.5% whilst Murray's is at around 79%. Yes Tomas has the lead in the head-to-head but three of his six wins have come on clay where we know Andy is not at his best. Their clay meetings aside Murray leads 4-3. Now no way am I saying it is going to be easy, I know it isn't but there are more reasons to be hopeful than not in my opinion.

Here's a fun stat.  Murray and Berdych have both won 416 matches but Berdych has lost exactly 100 more (he is sitting on 230 career losses).

Jahu wrote:Robson has grown a nice pair of hips, I volunteered to massage her after last nights tough match

How very thoughtful of you Jahu.

Pray tell ...... how did you get on ... ? And how was it for Laura ?

Wow, Serena had to work hard for that first set.....

lags72 wrote:

Jahu wrote:Robson has grown a nice pair of hips, I volunteered to massage her after last nights tough match

How very thoughtful of you Jahu.

Pray tell ...... how did you get on ... ? And how was it for Laura ?

Jahu probably got a whack where it hurts.   'New balls please?'  

shivfan wrote:Wow, Serena had to work hard for that first set.....

Yes she got a little ragged at times but into the second set and I think she has broken her opponent's spirit - she leads 3-0.

Evans v Tomic - how do we see this one going?

Dan Evans warming up and getting ready for Second Round action against Bernard Tomic. I will stick my neck out here and tip Evans to win.

Come on Dan. Good start.

Think this will be a tight one.

Bernie's playing some good stuff here but as we know, there could be a huge blip very shortly.

evans broken twice, 5-1 down.

Tomic takes the first set 6-1. Evans just needs to elevate his levels to those he had on Monday but credit to Tomic who played very solidly but how long can he stay so consistent?

The backhand sliced return is proving to be quite effective against Tomic. He should try that a bit more often, especially on those break points where he's trying to just blooter the ball.

The slice played a big part in him taking out Nishikori so convincingly.

Let's hope he can get stuck in here.

Where's this tennis come from? Superb stuff from Evo!! He's now up a break!

And 3 UEs and a poor volley/Tomic wonder shot give it right back. He just rushed through that service game and did not take his time at all.

I think the word 'flashy' was invented for Evans. He is red hot at times, then just has little spells where he loses about 5 points in 45 seconds!

He just needs to slow down a bit and be a bit more patient. Of course, the game is easy from my sofa!

Come on Dan! 2 BP's

5-3!

Maybe I'm missing something simple here but can anyone explain this strange "Positive Sentiment" bar shown against each player's name on the IBM Slamtracker scores (ATP website) ...... ??

The Fed has just pocketed the first set 6-3, winning 33 points to Berlocq's 19. But the positive sentiment reads
79% for Federer versus 92% for Berlocq .........  

Come on Dan !!!

Maybe Berlocq is feeling a bit better than his last foray onto a US Open showcourt.

6-3!

Danny_1982 wrote:I think the word 'flashy' was invented for Evans. He is red hot at times, then just has little spells where he loses about 5 points in 45 seconds!

He just needs to slow down a bit and be a bit more patient. Of course, the game is easy from my sofa!

Come on Dan! 2 BP's

Did you watch the Vancouver final where he lost the first set in about five minutes? Anyway Dan wins the 2nd set and wins me some money.

Evans ups his level and finds chinks in Tomic and takes the second set 6-3.

Is it too much to suggest Evo's slice is in the top 20 on tour?

Elsewhere Federer in control on Arthur Ashe against Berlocq leading 6-3 3-1. Ferrer involved in a bit more of a scrap against fellow Spaniard Bautista Agut. He is level at one set all but a break up in the third. For me Ferrer's quarter of the draw is wide open.

Evans breaks again at the start of the 3rd set.

The Special Juan wrote:Is it too much to suggest Evo's slice is in the top 20 on tour?

There's times you can watch Evans play and be convinced that if he could really get high in the rankings and then there's other times you watch him and you wonder "How did he beat....?",