US Open - Matches

First topic message reminder :

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

ryan86 wrote:I was just thinking about Nishikori there, and him being ranked 12th etc. and I can't remember him ever doing anything. It feels as if he's never at the sharp end of tournaments.

I guess you mean slams - AO 2012, USO 2010, RG 2013 are not too shabby. Basel over Djokovic?

Rain cancels Ashe Stadium's last match. It has been a strange summer, in more ways than one.

Some very exciting matches with Tomic and Dodig pulling out some nice 5 setters. So far so good as we even have an upset with the evans kid over nishikori. Real opportunity for bernie to make a run unless he goes mental again.

Venus knocks out twelfth seed Flipkens at one and two....
 

Well done to Evans and Robson yesterday, especially Evans as that was a massive upset.  

ryan86 wrote:I was just thinking about Nishikori there, and him being ranked 12th etc. and I can't remember him ever doing anything. It feels as if he's never at the sharp end of tournaments.

He gave Milos a right royal thrashing in the final of (Tokyo?) last season but that's about all I remember him doing.

The Special Juan wrote:
He gave Milos a right royal thrashing in the final of (Tokyo?) last season but that's about all I remember him doing.

A large amount of his points are just from Tokyo, as you mentioned, and also the Memphis 500 at the start of this year. Other than that the only real points of note are a couple or R16's in the French and Australian Opens, which are always handy... and a QF in Madrid.

Incredible how high you can be ranked just by playing moderately consistent for most of the year.

Cogen wrote:

Incredible how high you can be ranked just by playing moderately consistent for most of the year.

I fully understand the point you make here Cogen, but of course consistency is the very thing the rankings system is designed to reward - and rightly so.

There are countless examples of players over the years quietly working their way into the top 20, and squeezing inside the top ten, without doing anything noticeably 'special'. But to make that very elite top five you need to win serious stuff and then keep doing it, which I guess is why it's been a bit of a closed shop for so long.

Even today there's a guy sitting at number 7 who (from what I can tell) has had a pretty ordinary season and personally I've no idea how he got there ..........

lags72 wrote:...consistency is the very thing the rankings system is designed to reward - and rightly so.

Completely agree. I'd much rather see people rewarded who have worked consistently hard throughout the year than someone who maybe had one good streak in a slam and then returned to obscurity! It is just just unusual to see someone knocking on the door of the top 10 with so few semifinals and quarterfinals to their name.

lags72 wrote:Even today there's a guy sitting at number 7 who (from what I can tell) has had a pretty ordinary season and personally I've no idea how he got there ..........

Come on now, that's a little harsh. Yes Federer has had a bad year by the standard we've become so used to, but he's still reached the semi of one slam, the quarter of another, and a bunch of semis and finals in 500s and 1000s. Plus he still has the WTF final on his record! ... Pretty typical year for a #5-10 player.

I didn't watch Memphis, so the fact that Kei had won it had slipped my mind. For instance, and maybe it's just an illusion because we all like him, we seem to talk about Tommy Haas a lot, being involved in these matches with the big guns and yet when we look at it, he's ranked below Kei.

Anyway Wickmayer v Kirilenko sounds thrilling.

Maria Kirilenko makes short work of Yanina Wickmayer, cruising through her first round match 6-1 6-1 in just 59 minutes. The Russian only hit three winners, but that was three more than her Belgian opponent.

Grigor flattering to deceive once again

Janowicz out as well but clearly unwell. Shame as I thought he had a decent shot to make the semis.

The USO are doing everything in their power to get a Nadal-Djokovic final as Murray is the first night match tomorrow

It's quiet here for a Federer match...

Almugro's currently being whipped by Istomin which is a shame because I put money on him

Cogen @ 6.11pm ....... Your assessment of Federer's season to date is a lot more useful than my flippant remark, but it was only intended as a bit of tongue-in-chief mischief from me ....

When Federer's first spell at Number 1 eventually came to an end, I initially found it a little strange to hear him introduced as World Number 2. But the new ranking of 7 sounds positively weird !

As you say, the season only seems poor when measured against his own standards - one title isn't much to show for his efforts, and is his worst return since way back in 2001. But, yes, by any normal benchmark the overall performance would be deemed perfectly respectable for anyone at the 'lower' end of the top ten.

Roger is in one of the serving moods, I look at my laptop for 1 minute and Zemja is serving again, feels like he has been serving the whole match

Fed fans should be pretty happy right now- he's 2 sets up, and Stakhovsky got knocked out in 1st round...

Disappointed that JJ is out. I enjoy his unusual and confrontational style.

Anyone know what time Heather is due to start?

Federer through with minimum fuss. It is hard to judge his form due to the quality of the opponent but he got the job done in quick time so will remain relatively fresh.

Danny_1982 wrote:Disappointed that JJ is out. I enjoy his unusual and confrontational style.

Anyone know what time Heather is due to start?

After Young has routed Klizan I think.

Klizan really needs to go back on the Challenger circuit and get a bit of confidence going.

The odds on Mayer beating Monaco were greater than evens. That was worth a £10, if I had one ( Almgaro!!!!!)

It's been a bit of a slow day so far, nothing interesting has happened. There's been a double bagel but that's about it. Hopefully tomorrow picks up with Murray and maybe Robson + Evans.

I had a tenner and I've put half of it on Mayer at 4/6 following your post.

Heather Watson takes the first set 6-4 against Halep. Holding herself together pretty well.

Watson out, 6-2 final set. 60 UEs in the match and 54% 1st serves isn't going to get the job done. That said, Halep is the most improved player on the women's tour. Looks like her operation was just what the doctor literally ordered!

ryan86 wrote:I had a tenner and I've put half of it on Mayer at 4/6 following your post.

Monaco retired when trailing 3-0 in the 3rd set after Mayer took the first two. Does that mean the bet is void now? If so, that's bloomin unlucky.

Don't believe it's void. Am pretty certain this will be treated as a win for Mayer in betting terms, in the same way that it is (effectively) a win within the sport itself.

Im a tad suprised that no one has mentioned the Vicky Duval story. Feel Good story if ever there was one

kingraf wrote:I'm a tad surprised that no one has mentioned the Vicky Duval story. Feel Good story if ever there was one

Nice report on this match on the WTA official site.

The Special Juan wrote:

ryan86 wrote:I had a tenner and I've put half of it on Mayer at 4/6 following your post.

Monaco retired when trailing 3-0 in the 3rd set after Mayer took the first two.  Does that mean the bet is void now?  If so, that's bloomin unlucky.

Yep, it's void. I mean, I'm not too gutted because the return itself was only about £3.50 and you win some, you lose some. I've been saved a few times by the guy I was backing retiring.

Sounds like your bookmaker is treating you harshly ryan.

This from the tennis section of the Sky Bet website :

Injuries and Retirements :Please be aware that a number of Tennis markets are only ruled void if a player retires in the 1st set. If the 1st set has been completed, bets will often stand. For further details, consult the specific market rules below.

Full list of 'normal' rules here, although I guess not all bookies may choose to follow these 100% as outlined

https://support.skybet.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/271/~/tennis-rules

I guess though had I put money on Monaco at Skybet, I'd have lost so in time it will even itself out.

Well at least you didn't suffer in the way that a certain punter did. His claim to fame is that he placed the single largest bet ever in the history of tennis and promptly lost the lot.

Any guesses as to  a) how big the stake was and b) which match was involved.

I'll give a couple of clues if it proves too much of a conundrum .....

Mmm, I'm guessing it featured one of the top players and probably a slam, but just in case I'll add in No.4

1) Soderling v Nadal, RG 2009
2) Rosol v Nadal, Wimb 2012
3) Djokovic v Federer, RG 2011 (after his invincible streak)
4) Jimmy Wang v Daniel Udomchoke, Busan Challenger 2012

Well done Ryan ...... you're on the right track.

What if I asked you to narrow your options down to just one .... ?

Soderling - Nadal I reckon, that was the most unexpected result

The most unexpected, yes. But no, that's not where the big money went.

Wang was ranked 170 places above Udomchoke at the time so it was quite surprising that he lost, Chequered Jersey.

True, but it was Rafa's only ever loss at RG and at the time he looked utterly invincible there, even against the next best players on Clay

ryan86 wrote:Wang was ranked 170 places above Udomchoke at the time so it was quite surprising that he lost, Chequered Jersey.

Whenever Wang loses a match it is a shock.

Wang facts (wait, what?)

Guess it's time to reveal all ..........

http://news.williamhill.com/a/2011-specials/mega-punter-is-back-with-largest-tennis-bet-ever/

Laura Robson gets her match under way against Garcia.

Laura takes the first break

Laura Robson dealing pretty well with a very tricky, big serving opponent. She leads 6-4 2-1 and should she win she would play Li Na in the Third Round.

They might not be Team Flurray, but Team Flarray are into the next round.

Fleming and Marray through in the Doubles beating Berlocq and Schwank.

I'm not watching it but this match again proves when Laura can find a lot of consistency with her serve she's very, very difficult to beat.

Fantastic match this is. Laura looking really great in spells. She's improved her movement loads.... Great, as I'm typing this she falls 3 break points down! And she's broken. Dammit!

Little chance of Muzza starting any time soon. Delpo just lost the second set tie break and it's now one set all.

Ugh, I'm not staying up to watch the Murray match then. I remember staying up last year to watch Murray v Raonic. It was freezing and there was no heating on!!

Yeah same here Juan. One for sky plus I think.

I will watch the rest of Laura though. She's saved 2 set points and back to deuce.