US Open - Matches

First topic message reminder :

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

Spending my day in the midst of the action. Sitting on Armstrong - where I suspect most of the good action will be today - and hoping the rain will hold off for as long as possible.

Very fortunate to be seeing it all at first hand .......

Enjoy !

summerblues wrote:Spending my day in the midst of the action.  Sitting on Armstrong - where I suspect most of the good action will be today - and hoping the rain will hold off for as long as possible.

I am "well jel".

Thanks.

I like to go for the atmosphere. I have to say that when I really care about a match, I prefer watching it on TV - slow motion replays, multiple angles, cmmentary. When I found out about the draw and scheduling, was briefly tempted to get the tix for Wed night (good chance Roger vs Rafa will be there) but in the end I decided I preferred to watch that match on TV at home.

But for the atmosphere, it is hard to beat seeing the early rounds live. 3rd/4th rounds are my favorite.

The Special Juan wrote:

summerblues wrote:Spending my day in the midst of the action.  Sitting on Armstrong - where I suspect most of the good action will be today - and hoping the rain will hold off for as long as possible.

I am "well jel".

You're so down with the kids aren't you Juan!

I think it will be a sick day of tennis.

Know what you mean wrt atmosphere summerblues. Used to feel the same when watching football, ie atmosphere at the stadium way beyond anything that can be experienced at home/pub. Very rarely go to footie matches these days and as you say, coverage of sport on tv so good now that you actually get to see more on the box.

And we have become so used to our tv diet that it can feel a little odd when you witness a goal being scored at the ground itself and then instinctively wait in vain for the slo-mo replay from six different angles*.......

(*although I think some of the snazzier football stadia can now provide that too ........ ?)

Enjoy Summer, I quite agree with your point re: Live vs the couch. Its actually funny, I went to watch a cricket match beginning of the year, and I think 90% of the crowd have no idea whats happened at any given moment. In the end, I suppose it depends on whether you prefer the almost manic haze of live sport vs actually knowing whats going on. Given the chance, I always choose live...

What matches are being played at Armstrong today?

Looks like the Grand Slam is out of reach for the Bryans this year as they're down a set and a break to Nestor and Popsicle.

Pity, that would have been massive in tennis history. It has to end eventually, ey?

kingraf, agree with your sentiments. Watching Stan vs Marcos with Stan just taking a two set lead. Haas vs Youzhny are on later but there is a ladies' match in between, so will have to decide whether to stay here for that (and keep my decent first-come-first serve seat) or look for something else elsewhere.

If Andy somehow gets in trouble on Ashe, I will probably go there - after all I paid for an Ashe ticket - but otherwise more likely to check out some other courts.

kingraf wrote:Pity, that would have been massive in tennis history. It has to end eventually, ey?

Maybe not yet. They managed to win the second set 7-5 and it's early days in the 3rd.

And there's the break!! From a break down in the 2nd to a break up in the 3rd the Bryans have turned this match around. Might this be the match that wins a Grand Slam?

There's the set and the match. The Bryans win 6-7 7-5 6-2.

Elsewhere in the doubles, 12th seeds Team Flarray have taken the first set against 6th seeds Bopanna and Neville Roger-Vasselin.

Team Flarray are through to face the Bryans in the QF with a good win over the 6th seeds.

Murray's playing pretty decent tennis so far. His first serve is non-existent at the moment and if he gets that working this match should be over in the next 90 minutes. However, as long as it's not working Mayer has a great chance if he carries on holding.

The court looks really slow today. I hear it's hot and humid - would that affect the speed?

This is looking a bit hairy... Murray's first serve is at 30% and he's not moving well at all. Not playing very well either.

Is there something up with him or just a slow start? I'm a tad worried...

Danny_1982 wrote:This is looking a bit hairy... Murray's first serve is at 30% and he's not moving well at all. Not playing very well either.

Is there something up with him or just a slow start? I'm a tad worried...

Nah he's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. Remember the 3rd round last year? That was hairy.

Yes Juan... That match started with a winning tie break too!

He's a set up I suppose, so I'll stop moaning.

It's funny, Murray wasn't overly convincing in that set but turns up at the right time and plays a blinder of a tiebreak.

Now he's in great form... Was obviously just messing about for a bit.

Wow, that's a massively impressive set from Sir Andrew Murray. It's looking like he'll play Istomin in the next round as he's leading Seppi by 2 sets to 0. Alwhogro?

Some spectacular stuff being played by Murray here. It must be hot as Murray is incredibly aggressive. Much more so than usual.

Great to watch.

From the tiebreak onwards, I've not seen Murray play this well since Federer in Shanghai last year.

I saw fear in Serena's eyes during that pre-match interview. Sloane to win.

BBC Tennis ‏@bbctennis 39m
Overheard in the corridor: Somebody referring to the next match as "SloRena". #usopen

Nerves? Maybe it was wind. Serena's playing great and leads 4-2.

Come on Sloane, knock her hairdo.

Sloane given up, still a superb display of her skills and some amazing shots. She just seems to have lost the match in her head. Not good.

Andy Murray safely into the Fourth Round then after a straight sets win over Florian Mayer. I can't rate the performance as was working and missed the match. Next up for him Denis Istomin in the Fourth Round.

youzhny a set and a break to the good vs haas, ditto for granollers vs smyczek.

What's with all the hype for the Williams-Stephens match. They really aren't in the same class. A 17-year-old Serena would probably still trounce her. The girl hasn't even won a WTA title.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Andy Murray safely into the Fourth Round then after a straight sets win over Florian Mayer. I can't rate the performance as was working and missed the match. Next up for him Denis Istomin in the Fourth Round.

Struggled a bit in the heat first set Craig, and didn't serve well at all.

Then from the first set tie break up until the end if the match, he was absolutely brilliant. Almost making the ball talk. He looked awesome for the last hour or so.

Thanks Danny. I followed the match on the US Open app along with the stats and they had Andy's first serve % down at 30% and there were more errors than I'd expect yet he still won the set. After that the stats and reports tell a different story. When he goes up through the gears he looks a totally different player.

Novak getting under way against Sousa on Arthur Ashes - should be straight forward.

djoko serving out up a bagel. haas turning it round, likewise for smyczek.

Convincing scoreline from Novak last night.

But...

Serving for the match 5-1 in the third, he loses his serve for the first time. It's ridiculous how many times he has failed to serve out matches that are as good as won this year.

In fairness HM Murdoch, Novak had probably nearly fallen asleep at that point. I think it can quite easily happen when you are winning by such a huge margin. Didnt see it but he probably went for quick winners and was careless or maybe his opponent threw caution to the wind. I agree that Novak has been careless but wouldnt be too bothered with a 6-0 6-2 6-2 win in the 3rd round of a slam. Hard to really criticise.

That being said, i still am not convinced with him at the moment, it is Nadals tournament to lose i feel. He has to be the big favourite.

Slasher, yes, it feels silly to complain when he has only dropped 4 games in 3 sets!

It's just that, because it keeps happening,  I see it as a symptom of the inconsistency/lack of concentration that he's shown this year. He needs to tighten this kind of thing up because it will (and has) cost him in closer matches against better players.

I agree on your assessment of Rafa though, he's in scary form. Andy also is looking very good.

Agreed Muroch.............he cannot afford to have these lapses against the top players. Nadal is in ominous form, reminds me a bit of what he was like in 2010. My main memory of that US open win in 2010 was his serve and the amount of free points he was getting off it.

Murray is also looking very good and will be a big obstacle to overcome. I fear for Novak as he has been losing a lot of close matches in recent months. I really thought after he beat Murray at Oz open and then beat Nadal at Monte Carlo that he could really kick forward. Instead he has shown some sloppy form and has had some tough losses.

When you look at 3 losses in particular.........hard to criticise him losing in 5 sets to Nadal at the French but he certainly had his chances there. Who knows how he might have kicked on had he won that match !!

The loss against Murray at Wimbledon was bizarre, I still cant believe he blew a 4-1 lead in 2nd set and 4-2 lead in 3rd set. To lose in straight sets when he should have been leading 2 sets to 1 is very hard to explain. That is not to take away from Murray who fully deserved his victory and showed great composure. The loss to Nadal in Montreal summed it all up, went toe to toe in a great match and then went on a mental walkabout in final set tie break.

The funny thing is that had Novak even won one of those three matches, we could be looking at his current situation so differently. Such a fine line in tennis, I do believe he will come out stronger from it in the long run but right now, Nadal and Murray will sense their opportunity.

I think the other losses this year to lesser opponents are less important. It is these key battles against his rivals that matter the most. Should he beat Murray in semis and lose to Nadal in final, i think he would at least be able to take some comfort in at least beating one of them. Never thought i would say that with Novak but that wouldnt be the worst result.

Of course Murray will likely have to come through Berdych or Wawrinka first, both of whom are very tough customers........particularly Berdych in that match up that he seems to enjoy with Murray. However Berdych needs to navigate past Wawrinka who he has had mixed results against in the past.

Slasher, those are my thoughts exactly. None of the results are bad in themself. There's no shame in losing close matches to Rafa and Andy. It's just the manner they came about that really got my goat.

You used the word "sloppy" and I think that is about right.

I'd also add Cincy v Isner to the list. The way he threw that final game away was just odd.

I wish I knew what changed. When he won Dubai his match record post USO was incredible, I think he'd lost just one match in that time. Then, seemingly overnight, it went belly up. Monte Carlo was a notable exception but we also had Haas in Miami, Berdych in Rome (maybe the weirdest loss of them all), Dimitrov in Madrid. It's as if his form just evaporated.

slashermcguirk wrote:Of course Murray will likely have to come through Berdych or Wawrinka first, both of whom are very tough customers........particularly Berdych in that match up that he seems to enjoy with Murray. However Berdych needs to navigate past Wawrinka who he has had mixed results against in the past.

Makes no difference. Other than his three main rivals, Murray has lost the most matches to these two and, significantly, more than once on hard courts

Wawrinka flying with his backhand is a nightmare for Murray who often has no idea where he's going with it. He made Murray look stupid earlier this year and here, in 2010

My wish is for a 5 set grind between the two!!

Personally, I think either of these two are ready to do something great and I'll be bold enough to predict that the winner, of the event, will be one of the three in this quarter. Certainly Berdy, must see this as his time

Lol stan or bird winning it. No chance.

Berdych doesn't have a time.

I hope you are correct

Remember it is about match-ups. Either one could beat Murray

And I certainly think that Berdych could beat Novak, Roger and / or Rafa - remember, we still have to see how the latter is at the tail end of a hard court slam. Plus Berdych's hard hitting game could trouble Rafa anyway

Stan's is admittedly a bit more far fetched!!

If Berdy or Stan are to win it, Someone would have to knock Rafa out before the final. I can't see either beating him or threatening to, their games don't match up favourably against him at all

Berdych hasn't beaten Rafa since he was a teenager and of the 15 straight wins over him Rafa has, 2 matches were grass, 4 were clay and 9 were HC including one on indoor HC. Berdych has got no chance in hell of winning this tournament with this draw

If its Murray v Berdych it will be a close one to predict. Berdy will be hoping its on Armstrong which is a touch quicker and somewhere Murray traditionally struggles. Stan will be hoping the same thing. In that sense, it might be good news that Delpo lost... As Delpo v Novak would have been a certainty for Ashe.

I would be happier if its Stan, but he has beaten Murray here before (on Armstrong I believe) and we saw against Novak in Melbourne how dangerous he is when he's on it.

Both have decent match ups against Murray. I hope Stan v Berdy is a 5 setter, tie breaks every set, with Stan winning the 5th set tie break 42-40.

ChequeredJersey wrote:Berdych hasn't beaten Rafa since he was a teenager and of the 15 straight wins over him Rafa has, 2 matches were grass, 4 were clay and 9 were HC including one on indoor HC.  Berdych has got no chance in hell of winning this tournament with this draw

I'm not sure about that. I would give Federer more than "a chance in hell" against Rafa and then Berdych would be laughing or at least have a better chance...

mthierry wrote:What's with all the hype for the Williams-Stephens match. They really aren't in the same class. A 17-year-old Serena would probably still trounce her. The girl hasn't even won a WTA title.

Exactly....

Wow, Serena really crushed Sloane in that second set....

Giorgi - Vinci. The worst match I've ever seen.